Advent and Christmas Devotionals

Tired of the commercialization of Christmas? Ready to ponder and celebrate the riches of what Christmas is really about?

Christmas is more than a one-nighter. It is a season that is only just beginning on December 25 and lasts into the new year.

The four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas is known as the season of Advent, a time to prepare your heart to celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. Then the season of Christmas lasts twelve days, through January 5, the beginning of Epiphany. That's six weeks to explore the mysteries of how the Light of the World came and shone so brightly in the darkness.

To help you enter into the mystery and joy of it all, we have written this devotional:

From the Manger to the Cross: Advent and Christmas Meditations on the King who was Born in a Stable, Crowned with Thorns and Reigns Forever.

It's available in paperback from Amazon.com (where you can also preview it), in Kindle format (for Amazon's Kindle reader) and in PDF eBook from Lulu.com.

Advent begins the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so now is the time to order your copy.

Table of Contents:

• Christmas in Isaiah
• Christmas in Mark
• Watching, Waiting, Listening, Believing
• From the Manger to the Cross
• Mary and the High Favor of God
• Joseph and the Christmas Dreams
• Simeon and the Consolation of Israel
• Looking for Redemption
• Wise Men Discern Kings
• Herod's Rage
• The Word Became Flesh
• Behold the New
• Why Jesus Came
• The Reason for Every Season
• The Angels Came
• A Christmas Invitation

Healing Scriptures and Prayers on MP3

Our Healing Scriptures and Prayers CDs are now available as instant MP3 downloads from Amazon.com. You can preview all four volumes right here, or individually through the links below:



You can order individual tracks for $0.99 each or save by purchasing each entire volume for only $8.99 (almost half off of the regular CD price).

• Vol. 1: Old Testament Healing Scriptures
• Vol. 2: New Testament Healing Scriptures
• Vol. 3: Healing Names of God
• Vol. 4: The Healing Ministry of Jesus
  

November Update

Dear Barefoot Friends,

Another busy month. Writing, working on various projects, coursework towards a Master's, redesigning the website. In the Tuesday a.m. Bible study, we have begun a study in the book of Hebrews. It's about hanging in with faith when things get tough. Seems quite appropriate for these days. I recenlty returned to working on my Master's degree in Christian Studies through Luther Rice Seminary. Thought I was easing into it by beginning with one course this semester. What I didn't realize, though, was that it was a "mini-term," course which means a whole course squashed into half the time. So I was twice as busy on that as I had anticipated. Very invigorating. That's done now and I am free of coursework until next semester when I take a course on the Theology and Practice of Evangelism. The one I just finished was Spiritual Formation, and I got an A.

Much more to do and, of course, we are heading into the holiday seasons. We hope you have a very joyous Thanksgiving.

Walking Barefoot as a Bible Study Guide

We were delighted to learn last week about a little church in Mission, TX, that is currently using one of our books, Walking Barefoot: Living in Prayer, Faith and the Power of God, as a study guide for a ladies' Bible study group. We are so excited about it because this book has so much about the dynamics of prayer and faith we began learning about a dozen years or so ago. These are things that have changed our lives and catapulted us into a new vibrancy in our walk with the Lord.

To help encourage you in your faith, and maybe get a few more Bible study groups going, now through the end of the year we are offering Walking Barefoot at a special low price of $7.99 (4 dollars off the regular price). You can preview the book here, which is also where you can order your copies.

New Website Design

We have also recenlty completed a major redesign of our website, including a new logo and banner we believe is more reflective of our ministry as a Bible-teaching, faith building vehicle. It also features improved navigation and a new format for our "bookshop." Stop by and check it out at www.walkingbarefoot.com.

Our Guests on the Worldwide Web

Alberta (CAN), Athens (GREECE), Auckland (NZ), Birmingham (ENG), Bombay, Brampton (CAN), Copenhagen, Egypt, Finland, Ghana, Hanoi, Holland, Kenya, Korea, Kyoto, Limerick (IRE), London, Malaysia, Melbourne (AUST), New South Wales, Nigeria, Phillipines, Quebec, Queensland (AUST), Santo Domingo, Singapore, South Africa, Victoria (AUST), Virgin Islands, Zimbabwe.

These are all places we had received visitors from at our blog, The Faith Log, over the past week or so. Of course, we also had numerous visitors from points all over the US, too. We know this now because of the new little widget we recently installed on the blog. It not only notes where visitors are connecting from but it also plots it on a little map of the world. Pretty cool. It you'd like to take a gander, just visit the blog and find the little SiteMeter icon down at the bottom of any of the pages.

The Faith Log Celebrates 4th Anniversary

This month we celebrate the fourth anniversary of The Faith Log. It has been a great opportunity for getting out the Word and writing about the dynamics of prayer and faith. And as you can see from above, we have been getting visitors from all over the world (as I keep saying, it really is a worldwide web). We are up to almost 900 faith-building articles that we have written and uploaded. Some are short and sweet, others are longer, and we often include a brief invitation to receive Christ. We have heard from a lot of people who have been blessed by the blog. That's always nice and encourages us to keep doing what we're doing. We'd love to hear from you, too.

November Notes from Our Friends

• From Vocab Malone: "Great article." [About Post-Modern Culture is a Myth.]
• From Pastor Mett in India: "Gleaning through your site was a real blessing."
• From Wamaya in Kenya: "Am blessed with your dividing of the word of God for ease of understanding. May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you."
• From Myra: "Hey Jeff, I like the word 'twitter.' HA! Great Word ... can not base our decisions on fear of not having or toil-based ... Am gazing on the blessings of the Father!!!" [About Blessing-Based Living.]
• From Jeremy: "Your post [Partaking of the Divine Nature (Part 1)] hits on an important, and often overlooked, aspect of the Christian faith, I enjoyed it."
• From Jan: "Hello Brother Jeff, I would like to bless people on an online bulletin with a copy of your article Living In The Blessing. I am letting you know as you requested. Thank you for permission to do so. God bless you and I thank you for the blessing of this article." [We're delighted to be a blessing to you, Jan, and thanks for sharing our article with others.]
• From Staton: "Wow ... ISN'T this the TRUTH!!! I've noticed a lot of people complain to God, "Lord, how am I going to pay these bills?" "Lord, this is just too hard." I've noticed I've done so often. Instead we should pray for those bills to be paid on time and the strength to overcome all obstacles and HAVE FAITH!!!" [Yes, indeed. Talking about Whatever You Desire, When You Pray.]
• From Pat: "Thank you, folks ... TOTAL blessing, and praise You, Lord! 'When He looks at me, He sees not what I used to be but He sees Jesus' ... We used to sing that at Camp. Love in HIM, Pat" [About The Table of Divine Forgetting.]