The War on Christmas: Battles in Faith, Tradition, and Religious Expression

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from Handlebar Publishing, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it


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The end of last month I shared with you my review of this book
and today is my stop of the War on Christmas Advent Tour!
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Welcome to the 2013 Advent Blog Tour featuring 20 posts from bloggers on the book The War on Christmas: Battles in Faith, Tradition, and Religious Expression (Bodie Hodge, General Editor), released by Master Books.

This tour reflects on the history of Christmas, as outlined in the book, and the distinctions between traditionally held beliefs about Christmas, and the biblical basis for Christmas.
First, here is the trailer for the book, to refresh your memory about it:



The chapter I’m assigned to review is Chapter 18- Mary Did You Know. Which seems awfully ironic, as Ave Maria has always been my ultimate Christmas song, and I have always loved Mary Did You Know!

I loved that the author shares how honest and human Mary's reaction was when the angel told her she would give birth to a son. Her innate human curiosity demanded to know HOW this was possible as she had no husband (been with a man), It was not doubt, but a natural reaction. And when they Holy Spirit told her the how, she was satisfied and put her trust in God. Mary, just like later with the disciples, put their faith and trust in God and Jesus, that what was to come to pass, would.

How many times can we let go of doubt and worry, and trust in God?

Just think, as a parent, would you have been able to watch your child growing, knowing he was to die horribly on the cross, FOR you, and not try to intervene in God's plan?

For most of us, that answer would be NO, wouldn't it? 
As a parent, our instinct is to protect our child, no matter how old they are, or what they have done. 
What if you knew your child would die in a wreck in 2 weeks. Would you change their lives?
Of course you would.

And there is the key to scripture. 

God knows us. He made us in his image. He loves us for our curiosity and our instincts to protect our family. But he knows too much knowledge can be a bad thing-it makes us try to change HIS plans. And as our preacher talked about this weekend, only God is omnipotent and can do that. To try to change God's plans is truly blasphemy (seriously, check the definition). And if we TRULY believe and put our faith in him, then that is something we would not do. So God's plan was not truly understood until after Jesus' death, even by Mary, his most faithful servant. 

So did Mary know?

Mary knew that she had been chosen, that her child was the Son of God, and that he had a plan.
The rest? She let go and put her faith in God.

We could all take a lesson from Mary's devotion, and do the same when problems arise in our lives. Trust that God has a plan, and while you may not be aware of it, HE knows what he has planned for you. Faith will show you when the time is right, what that plan will be.

So be like Mary- TRUST!


I think Amy Grant's song, the 'Breath of Heaven' says it best:







Enter to win a copy of the book and a T-shirt below!







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Be sure to check out the rest of the tour for more reviews and giveaways, 

the tour continues through December 24th!

Comments

  1. I pray that one day, I can be just a 1/4 of how strong Mary was to go through what she did as a Mom. Great post! Tweeted!

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  2. I commented on http://blesstheirheartsmom.blogspot.com/2013/12/refresh-your-house-before-company.html?showComment=1387374781793#c4866681185788109657

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