false 0 2009-03-25T14:41:41-07:00 549488 150 2009-03-25T14:41:41-07:00 0 2009-02-28T17:14:42-08:00 446009 18 2009-02-28T17:14:42-08:00 5 0 false false Tue Apr 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Feb 12 12:55:58 -0800 2009 Sat May 02 14:29:04 -0700 2009 at church this spring.

This is the first Max Lucado book I've read, but now I understand the hype because the man is really fantastic. He's not just a good minister (i.e. full of sound insight), but he's actually a talented writer as well, full of rich descriptions and apt metaphors without cluttering the language.

Cast of Characters is a collection of devotionals on various men and women in the Bible, some quite well-known and others obscure. Lucado's observations on each of them at first don't seem to follow any particular theme or order, but by the end of the book a theme emerges: that throughout history, God has used flawed, relatable, three-dimensional people to accomplish great and significant things. Lucado often takes liberties in re-contextualizing well-worn Bible characters in a fresh, contemporary setting, and imagining the rest of their lives beyond the peek through the knothole that the Bible gives us. (By the way, that metaphor comes from the chapter.)]]>