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    The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: A Countdown to Christmas
    The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: A Countdown to Christmas
    The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: A Countdown to Christmas
    Ebook186 pages2 hours

    The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: A Countdown to Christmas

    By Ace Collins

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    About this ebook

    For Christians worldwide, the month of December is filled with joy and wonder as we anticipate the celebration of Christ’s birth. There is no other time of the year that can compare to the Christmas season for both the young and young at heart.

    From December to New Year’s Eve, reawaken the wonder, joy, and magic that is Christmas with daily scripture and inspirational readings of stories behind popular Christmas traditions, carols and movies. Enjoy a wealth of fun activities to help make the most of the season, including heartwarming holiday recipes and homemade gift ideas.

    With this soon-to-be-cherished holiday devotional, best-selling author Ace Collins will capture your imagination and help to make each day of December more memorable and meaningful to you, and those you love, by shining a light on the real spirit of the season.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAbingdon Press
    Release dateOct 4, 2016
    ISBN9781501822612
    The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: A Countdown to Christmas
    Author

    Ace Collins

    Ace Collins is the writer of more than sixty books, including several bestsellers: Stories behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas, Stories behind the Great Traditions of Christmas, The Cathedrals, and Lassie: A Dog’s Life. Based in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, He continues to publish several new titles each year, including a series of novels, the first of which is Farraday Road. Ace has appeared on scores of television shows, including CBS This Morning, NBC Nightly News, CNN, Good Morning America, MSNBC, and Entertainment Tonight.

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    Reviews for The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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    • 5/5
      What a beautiful book this is. As the holidays get closer , I am always looking for something to read to lessen the stress of the holiday rush. When I started going through this treasure, I immediately knew this would be something I would return to every year.
    • 5/5
      I loved Ace Collins’ latest book, The Most Wonderful Time of The Year. Billed as a devotional, I think it is so much more. Filled with heart-warming stories, thought-provoking devotions, interesting facts, and great recipes to fill the stomach and sooth the body, this book is a wonderful way to plunge you right into the Christmas spirit! And though it is especially meaningful for use during the month of December, it’s message and lessons will be remembered long throughout the new year. The story Ace shares about George Handel’s writing of the great oratorio, The Messiah, really struck a chord with me. I am sharing it with my Bible study group, along with a recipe for a very sweet treat — Sugar Cookie Truffles. So if you want to bring a bit of extra meaning into the hubbub of the holidays, you need to get a copy of this book. Or get 2 or 3 — this book makes a fabulous early Christmas present!Highly recommended.Audience: adults(Thanks to the publisher for providing a complimentary ARC. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

    Book preview

    The Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Ace Collins

    Half-Title Page

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    More books by Ace Collins

    More books by Ace Collins

    Nonfiction

    Man’s Best Hero

    Music for Your Heart

    Fiction

    The Fruitcake Murders

    Hollywood Lost

    The Color of Justice

    The Cutting Edge

    Darkness Before Dawn

    The Christmas Star

    Title Page

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    Copyright Page

    THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

    A COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

    Copyright © 2016 by Ace Collins

    All rights reserved.

    No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission can be addressed to Permissions, The United Methodist Publishing House, 2222 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., PO Box 280988, Nashville, TN, 37228-0988 or e-mailed to permissions@umpublishing.org.

    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

    Names: Collins, Ace, author.

    Title: The most wonderful time of the year : a countdown to Christmas / Ace Collins.

    Description: First [edition]. | Nashville, Tennessee : Abingdon Press, 2016.

    Identifiers: LCCN 2016021753 | ISBN 9781501822605 (pbk.)

    Subjects: LCSH: Christmas—Miscellanea. | Advent—Miscellanea.

    Classification: LCC BV45 .C5893 2016 | DDC 242/.33—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016021753

    Scripture quotations are taken from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by the Common English Bible. All rights reserved. Used by permission. www .CommonEnglishBible.com.

    The majority of the ingredients (such as the essential oils) used in the Pamper / Feed the One You Love! sections can be found at natural and organic food markets. For storage containers or craft items, visit your local arts and crafts stores.

    All song lyrics are in the public domain.

    Dedication

    I see the joy and true meaning of Christmas whenever I look into Gracen Seabaugh’s eyes.

    Contents

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    Foreword

    1. It Is a Wonderful Life

    2. Cherishing the Past

    3. When Christmas Is Near

    4. Putting Gifts into Perspective

    5. Time to Empty the Trash

    6. The Importance of Encouragement

    7. Vision

    8. Worry Is a Thief

    9. The Sweetnbess of the Faith

    10. The Least of These

    11. TyingChristmas to Easter

    12. A Burning Fire

    13. The Power of the Written Word

    14. If You’re Happy, Then Show It

    15. Amazing and Lasting Grace

    16. The Blessings of Childlike Faith

    17. Witnessing . . . Words Optional

    18. The Most Powerful Gifts

    19. Becoming the Christmas Bell

    20. Escaping Bondage

    21. The Message in the Branches

    22. X Marks the Spot

    23. Opening Our Eyes to Joy

    24. Home

    25. Describing Jesus

    26. Boxing It Up

    27. Standing Up for Others

    28. Extending the Spirit of Christmas

    29. A Symbol of the Power of Faith

    30. This Little Light

    31. Living a Calling

    Foreword

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    If you were to ask my closest friends what are the most important things in my life, most would likely say, The Lord, her family, and then her books. I am a voracious reader. It would not be an exaggeration to say that reading is central to who I am and is at the core of my being.

    If you were to look at my bookshelves, you would find a wide variety of titles and authors. I even collect signed first editions. But as you search my personal library, an author that pops up again and again is Ace Collins. I deeply enjoy his work, but what fascinates me most about Ace is that his writing is so eclectic. His work ranges from history to biography to devotionals to novels, and in those pages he has introduced me to a plethora of fascinating people and stimulating facts. Yet, even though his books are so varied, there is always a theme that stays consistent in each. No matter the genre, Ace subtly encourages his readers to look out not in, to grow rather than stagnate, and to get involved to make a lasting impact.

    When I look back at my own career, I realize, like Ace, I’m pretty eclectic too. When I performed I constantly worked gospel, blues, rock, R & B, and country into my repertoire. Yet it was during the holidays when I had the most freedom to employ music from across the spectrum. Thus, one of my favorite recording projects was my Christmas album. For me, that experience allowed me to become fully immersed in the myriad emotions that make December the most wonderful time of the year.

    Perhaps my love of Christmas is why I am so drawn to this book. Inside the pages of The Most Wonderful Time of the Year are things you can cook, gifts you can make, and stories behind the songs that set the holidays to music. And while each of these elements is entertaining, what I most treasure about this project are the thirty-one devotionals. In these daily readings are deep and profound spiritual elements, and in the carefully crafted words are practical lessons you will recall and cherish long after Christmas has come and gone. I also love that this is an optimistic book that inspires as it informs. It spotlights not just the birth of Christ but the purpose for His life. Perhaps, most importantly, these daily devotionals connect Christmas to Easter and Jesus’s birth to His resurrection as they challenge us to live more like Christ all year long.

    The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is a special treat that will illuminate your holidays and make them more meaningful. It is a book you will likely bring out each Christmas and read again and again. I also think it is one you will want to share with others. I know I will.

    Have a merry and powerful Christmas, and may the Lord’s grace touch your heart with the wonder of the season.

    Barbara Mandrell

    1. It Is a Wonderful Life

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    The angel said, Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people. Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord.

    Luke 2:10-11

    For millions, Christmas is not Christmas until they view the 1946 Frank Capra film It’s A Wonderful Life. In this Hollywood classic, George Bailey sees what the world would have been like had he not been born. When faced with what might have been, George discovers that the world would have been a far darker place with-out him.

    A thousand years ago, advent was a time of personal introspection. One element of the tradition centered on how different the world would be if there had been no Jesus. As we begin embracing this new Christmas season, perhaps, to put things into the proper perspective, we first need to visualize a world where Christ was never born.

    For starters there would be no cards, no lights, no decorations, no Silent Night or White Christmas, no shopping, no gifts, and no family gatherings. December 25th would be just another day on the calendar, and the wonder and joy of this season would be something we would never experience. Yet that is just the beginning.

    Your salvation would not be anchored on grace but on the law. The church where you attended as a child, the place where you were saved, the building where you now gather with family would have never been constructed. The relationships you built in church would also be lost. There would be no church bells, no Amazing Grace, and no chance for redemption. The billions who have been touched through the gifts and missions of the church would have never felt the love of Christ. The compassion born of faith would be completely unknown.

    Without Christ there would have been no Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, Martin Luther, Lottie Moon, or Billy Graham. The purpose for their great work would have not been there to motivate or inspire them.

    It is easy to get overwhelmed with the demands of the season and fall into the trap of dreading the holidays. Fighting the crowds at the mall, decorating the house, wrapping the gifts, and meeting all the holiday obligations is never easy, but consider the alternative. If there were no reason for Christmas then, just like Bedford Falls without the influence of George Bailey, our world would be a much darker and depressing place. Christmas celebrates not just the birth of Christ but how Jesus changed the world and changed each of us. That dramatic change is one we should embrace on the day we kick off this month of joy as well as on each day of our lives! Yes—because of the wonderful life Jesus has given to this world and to each of us—there is a reason to celebrate! Because of Christ, there is not only a Christmas but also hope, light, and joy on each day of the year!

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    Irish

    -

    born James Montgomery was one of the leading voices for Irish independence. As the publisher of the Sheffield Iris, his fiery words landed him in prison several times. On December 24, 1816, Montgomery turned from revolution to inspiration and penned Angels from the Realms of Glory. Set to music by an Englishman, Montgomery’s poem would become one of the first Christmas songs ever sung in an Anglican church. In the end, the revolution the Irish Catholic writer started did not free Ireland, but it did open the Church of England to using Christmas music in worship services.

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    Angels from the realms of glory,

    wing your flight o’er all the earth;

    Ye who sang creation’s story

    now proclaim Messiah’s birth:

    Come and worship, come and worship,

    worship Christ, the newborn King.

    Shepherds, in the fields abiding,

    watching o’er your flocks by night,

    God with us is now residing;

    yonder shines the infant light:

    Come and worship, come and worship,

    worship Christ, the newborn King.

    Sages, leave your contemplations,

    brighter visions beam afar;

    Seek the great Desire of nations;

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