This year, the editors at Thomas Nelson have gathered meaningful and heartwarming works of literature that celebrate the Christmas season and published them together in A Classic Christmas: A Collection of Timeless Stories and Poems. Authors like Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning often wrote about the spirit of Christmas and the…
Imperfect Faith
What Joy Davidman’s Spiritual Journey Teaches Us Today “If we should ever grow brave, what on earth would become of us?” This question asked by Joy Davidman does more than beg for an answer, it might also set us off on a spiritual journey that irrevocably alters our lives, which is exactly what happened to…
The Miracle of God Coming to Be with Us
In many households, expectations around Christmas are high. Not in mine. ‘When will Dad be ill?’ is a fairly frequent comment from the children, who are used to the fact that by Christmas Day vicars get to the point where they run out of resistance to any disease going. Or, ‘So what’s going to…
Christmas Lights
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. — Matthew 5:14 No one loves Christmas more than my dad. My parents had a way of making it magical every year, and a huge part of that experience was the decorating. There was only one kind of Christmas…
Tucked Away Jesus
He knows the secrets of the heart. — Psalm 44:21 NKJV It was a small nativity scene. A little box holding a few plastic pieces my mother had brought home from her travels. I had hesitated before I shoved it onto a shelf. Shouldn’t I just put it in the garage-sale box? I had wondered.…
One Thousand Gifts OBS Week 3 — All Is Grace
All is grace… because God is transfiguring all to bring glory to Christ alone. To make us more into the image of His Son. ~ Ann Voskamp And looking up to Heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves. — Matthew 14:19 Welcome to week three of the One Thousand Gifts Online Bible Study with…
It’s Your Serve
Through love serve one another. — Galatians 5:13 I remember him as a large man, built like a concrete block. He wore a crew cut, neckties, and short-sleeved white shirts with an ever-present pocket protector. I was one of four fourth-grade boys who attended his Bible study each Wednesday at the Parkview Church of Christ…
Bethlehem: Church of the Nativity
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. — Micah 5:2 I was deeply disturbed when our tour group visited modern-day Bethlehem. Scripture tells us Bethlehem was…
Jesus Calling Family Devotions
For Adults: The Power of Words Watch your words diligently. Words have such great power to bless or to wound. When you speak carelessly or negatively, you damage others as well as yourself. This ability to verbalize is an awesome privilege, granted only to those I created in My image. You need help in…
Choosing Gratitude
When Joshua Kaufman survived Hitler’s brutal concentration camp in Dachau, he had only one wish: he wanted to thank one of the United States soldiers who had liberated him. Joshua waited seventy years for that moment… Eighty-nine-year-old Daniel Gillespie was making his way across the street. The soldier who had entered Dachau as a strong,…