Christmas

In 1994, Richard Paul Evans, then an unknown writer, self-published a short book entitled The Christmas Box. That book went on to become an international bestseller, selling more than seven million copies and touching the lives of many more people along the way.

The Christmas Box Miracle is the story behind the book that has become a Christmas classic: how a man writes and publishes a book which helps grieving people to heal and lost souls to find their way home. It is Evans's story: his own spiritual journey and stories of people he encountered along the way -- miraculous stories of healing and divinity that often defy explanation.

In sharing the story behind The Christmas Box, Richard Paul Evans has given us a story of miracles, hope and healing for all seasons.

It began with The Christmas Box, a humble story about a caretaker and his family who befriend a lonely widow at Christmas time. In The Christmas Box Miracle, author Richard Paul Evans offers the back story, showing us how his self- published book became a runaway bestseller. We first meet the author as a young boy, learning about the family and faith that led him to become such as reliable and unpretentious narrator. As it turns out, Evans grew up in a Mormon household amongst a band of taunting brothers and a few childhood ghosts. His mother lost a stillborn daughter when Evans was a toddler. She also suffered from severe depression and suicidal tendencies. This backdrop helps us understand Evans's dedication to bring healing and hope to life. More than a publishing success story, The Christmas Box Miracle speaks about Evans's ability to change readers' lives and foster miracle after miracle. Fans of Evans already know to pull out their handkerchiefs. --Gail Hudson

Christmas is a magical time of year -- a time of family, friends, and traditions. Readers will revel in the 101 holiday stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Christmas Magic that spread the special joy, wonder, and blessings of the season with its tales of finding the perfect Christmas tree, being with family, seeing the awe in a child’s eyes, and enjoying the magic of the season.

Anyone who laments the excesses of Christmas might consider the Puritans of colonial Massachusetts: they simply outlawed the holiday. The Puritans had their reasons, since Christmas was once an occasion for drunkenness and riot, when poor "wassailers  extorted food and drink from the well-to-do. In this intriguing and innovative work of social history, Stephen Nissenbaum rediscovers Christmas's carnival origins and shows how it was transformed, during the nineteenth century, into a festival of domesticity and consumerism. 
   
Drawing on a wealth of period documents and illustrations, Nissenbaum charts the invention of our current Yuletide traditions, from St. Nicholas to the Christmas tree and, perhaps most radically, the practice of giving gifts to children. Bursting with detail, filled with subversive readings of such seasonal classics as "A Visit from St. Nicholas  and A Christmas Carol, The Battle for Christmas captures the glorious strangeness of the past even as it helps us better understand our present.  
    

This scholarly analysis of our modern celebration of Christmas pulls together a thoroughly convincing case for the widely accepted notion that it is a 19th-century creation, indeed a deliberate reformation and taming of a holiday with wilder pagan origins. Christmas was set at December 25 in the fourth century, not for any biblical link with Christ's birth, but because the church hoped to annex and Christianize the existing midwinter pagan feast. This latter was based on the seasonal agricultural plenty, with the year's food supply newly in store, and nothing to do in the fields. It was a time of drinking and debauchery from the Roman Saturnalia to the English Mummers. The Victorians hijacked the holiday, and Victorian writers helped turn it into a feast of safe domesticity and a cacophonous chime of retail cash registers.

Everyone loves Christmas and the holiday season.  We love reuniting scattered family members, watching the wonder in the eyes of a child, and seeing the joy on the face of a gift giver.  The rituals of the holiday season give a rhythm to the years and create a foundation for our family lives.  We love the chance to gather with our communities at church, at school, and even at the mall, to share the special spirit of the season, brightening those long winter days.

 

The first Chicken Soup for the Soup book was published in 1993, and became a publishing industry sensation, ultimately selling eight million copies.  Since then, more than 150 Chicken Soup titles have been published, selling more than 100 million copies.

 

Chicken Soup for the Soul has won dozens of awards over the past 15 years, and its founders, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen have become celebrity motivational speakers and authors. 

When was Christmas first celebrated? How did December 25 become the official date for Christmas? How did the Bible's "magi from the East" become three kings named Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar who rode camels from three different continents to worship the newborn Christ? Why did medieval and Renaissance artists often portray Joseph as an old man? When did the first Christmas music appear? And who was the real St. Nicholas, and how did he become one of the most famous of all Christian saints? These and many other questions are answered in The Origins of Christmas. The story of the origins of Christmas is not well known, but it is a fascinating tale. It begins when Christmas did not exist, and finishes when Christmas had become an integral part of Christian life and Western culture. The Origins of Christmas covers a variety of topics in a concise and accessible style and is suitable for group discussions. Chapters are "The Birth of Jesus," "Creating the Christmas Story," "Creating Christmas Day and the Christmas Season," "Jesus, Mary, the Magi, and an Obscure Asian Bishop," and "The Popular Acceptance of Christmas." Joseph F. Kelly, Ph.D., who chairs the religious studies department at John Carroll University, is also active in the religious education apostolate of the Diocese of Cleveland. The World of the Early Christians (1997), The Problem of Evil in the Western Tradition (2002), and Responding to Evil (2003), published by Liturgical Press, are among his nine previous books. "What a wonderful little book this is—full of historical and scriptural information! It is readable and accessible to all. But best of all—what a splendid antidote to the commercialism of the Christmas season to be reminded of the true meaning of this happy, holy day." - Catholic Library World "One of the many pleasures this book has to offer is the chance to

Twenty-five celebrated Latino writers delight and move us with their recollections of Christmas in this splendid holiday extravaganza.
From Julia Alvarez's tale of how Santicló delivered a beloved uncle from political oppression to Junot Díaz's story of his own uneasy assimilation on his first Christmas in America, to Sandra Cisneros's poignant memories of her late father's holiday dinners, Las Christmas gives us true stories from writers of many traditions--memories of Christmas and Hanukkah that vividly capture the pride and pain, joy and heartbreak, that so often accompany the holidays in the Americas.
Richly illustrated and embellished with songs and poems, along with recipes for an unforgettable Christmas dinner--from traditional sweet tamales to Puerto Rican asopao (stew) and coquito (coconut eggnog)--this is an enduring treasury of Latino writing to read again and again.
A heartwarming holiday gift.

Take a look at Christmas from alternative angles.

Using an approach similar to his other BackSide books, Kalas crafts new insights into the scriptures of the Christmas story by looking at them from the back side

...taking unique starting points...creative re-telling from different views...examining the story through new lenses ...or looking through the eyes of a not-so-familiar character.

'The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, who look forward to something greater to come. For these, it is enough to wait in humble fear until the Holy One himself comes down to us, God in the child in the manger. God comes. The Lord Jesus comes. Christmas comes. Christians rejoice!' ---Dietrich Bonhoeffer Executed by the Nazis for his complicity in a plot to assassinate Hitler, Dietrich Bonhoeffer remains with us today through his writings---far-reaching ripples of deep thought, passionate words, and unflinching character. Including biographical insights, Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christmas Sermons spans Bonhoeffer's seventeen years as a preacher. This collection of vintage sermons and writings searches out the power and mystery of the Christmas season: its joyous riches and its implications for our lives. Also available Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Prison Poems Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Meditations on Psalms

Christmas is a time for peace on earth, a time for favorite carols, family dinners, and familiar traditions. It's about a beautiful story of a lovely babe in the manger. Or is it?

Preeminent hymn writer and liturgist Brian Wren offers this new collection of worship resources suitable for use in a variety of worship traditions. These theologically sound and creative worship resources include orders of worship (liturgies) and worship elements such as litanies, calls to worship, thanksgivings, and affirmations of faith, all crafted to encourage rhythmic public responses during worship.

This book is Scripture based and Scripture oriented. All the worship materials are compatible with the Revised Common Lectionary, but can also be used in churches that do not use the RCL. Additional features include a Scripture index, a topical index listing items that can be used on other occasions during the church year, and a searchable CD-ROM.