I love Christmas. I love Charles Stanley. A Christmas Book written by Charles Stanley? Now that is a win win!
First, I want to mention the cover, because it’s lovely. The silver on the Christmas ornaments is actually glittery and sparkling, so this would make a beautiful gift.
The book is hardback and not large – just the right size to put on a coffee table or side table during this wonderful season. If you just love Christmas and everything about it, you’ll really enjoy the vibrant and eye catching photos in this book if you give yourself a minute to take a breath from all of the craziness and dwell on why we celebrate Christmas in the first place!
There are eight inspirational chapters in the book:
- When the Time Comes – God with You, Wherever You Are
- Because Perfect Isn’t Possible – God, Your Redeemer
- When Everything is Chaotic – God, Your Prince of Peace
- When You Must Wait – God, Messiah in the Impossible
- When You Feel Defeated – God, Sovereign over History
- When You Long to Be Understood – God as Man; A Sacrifice of Love
- Living Out Your “Thank You” – God; Your King, Priest and Savior
- Unwrapping the Gift – God with Us as We Go
The book starts out with Stanley recalling some of his boyhood Christmas memories. I remember Christmas being a magical time as a child…every moment of it!
My birthday is just two days after Christmas (and now, as an adult, my anniversary is on December 12) so December has always been a happy whirlwind. That’s why I love the chapter “When Everything is Chaotic”. This chapter is focused around the word ‘Peace’, a word used more than four hundred times in scripture. From the moment of Jesus’ birth, we have a promise of peace. Remember what the angels were saying? “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men…”. Peace is sometimes hard to come by during the holidays, but I promise you if you’ll fix yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea, and sit down with this book for a few minutes, you’ll find a moment of peace and tranquility. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you…”. And let’s not forgot the beautiful words, “Sleep in heavenly peace.” Being a musician, I also love the Christmas carol lyrics sprinkled throughout the book.
Another really clever thing in the book is that each chapter has a different color focus to bring it all together. All of the photos and backgrounds center around that color theme. Brilliant!
This is a very “non-threatening” book to give to someone who’s not a Christian. It’s certainly not full of hell, fire and damnation, but rather, peace, love and redemption. They will read about God’s promises and God’s son from the viewpoints of Mary, Joseph, the Innkeeper, and even the prophet Isaiah. You can get your own copy at Family Christian Stores here.
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