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.

Citing his Arkansas heritage, Christy Award winning author Ace Collins defines himself as a storyteller. In that capacity, Ace has authored more than seventy books for 25 different publishers that have sold more than 2.5 million copies. His catalog includes novels, biographies, children’s works as well as books on history, culture and faith. He has also been the featured speaker at the National Archives Distinguished Lecture Series, hosted a network television special and does college basketball play-by-play.

In 2015, Ace released a new novel, Hollywood Lost, a mystery from Abingdon Fiction set against the backdrop of the motion picture business in 1936. Coming in October is The Fruitcake Murders, a comedy/whodunit set in Chicago in the days just after World War II. Elk Lake continues to release new episodes of In The President’s Service, a groundbreaking series that first hit the market in 2014.

One of Ace’s most talked about books was released in late 2015. The Color of Justice earned the Christy Award winner for Best Suspense Book. This novel is a courtroom drama examining racial prejudice in 1964. Also in 2014, Abingdon released Ace’s Man’s Best Hero at the Book Explo of America. This nonfiction book earned the IndieFab Book of the Year Winner and Christian Retailing’s Gift Book of the Year, as well as generating interest well beyond the dog community.

Ace’s first devotional book, Music For Your Heart, was released in late 2013 and earned numerous five star reviews. A fall novel from the same year, The Cutting Edge, mixed suspense, romance and intrigue in a tale of survival and victory. In the summer of 2013, Ace’s novel, Darkness Before Dawn, was chosen by several different book clubs and publications as one of the top reads of 2013. This novel also made the most inspiring book list on iTunes in July and Hope For Women’s “Top Five Summer Reads.”

Ace’s publishing history includes the novels Farraday Road, Swope’s Ridge and Jefferson Burke and the Secret of the Lost Scroll for Zondervan, The Yellow Packard from Barbour, Reich of Passage for Bay Forest, and The Christmas Star for Abingdon. His fiction writing has covered everything from value-driven plots, to adventures, mysteries, historical stories, sentimental tales and comedy.

In nonfiction, Ace has scored bestsellers with The Cathedrals, Lassie A Dog’s Life, Turn Your Radio On, The Stories Behind The Best-Loved Songs of Christmas, Father Does Know Best, and The Stories Behind The Great Traditions of Christmas. His books have been made into two network television specials and a CBS movie. The Stories Behind The Best-Loved Songs of Christmas hit #3 on the Amazon bestselling list for all books and #1 in several other categories and still continues to sell well more than a decade after its release. Ace’s books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, German and Indonesia (Mayla).

Beyond books, Ace has penned more than 2000 magazine features, appeared on every network morning television show, as well as CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and Fox. He also does scores of radio interviews each year. His speaking engagements have taken him from churches and corporations to the America’s Dog Museum in St. Louis and the National Archives in Washington DC. Beyond normal writing circles, Ace has penned several production shows. He also speaks regularly to college classes on the art of writing.

Ace’s hobbies include sports, restoring classic cars and Wurlitzer jukeboxes, and running. He is the play-by-play voice for Ouachita Tiger basketball. Ace is married to the Chair of the Department of Education at Ouachita Baptist University, Dr. Kathy Collins. The couple lives in Arkadelphia, Arkansas and has two sons.

Ahead of the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving, a new look at the Plymouth colony’s founding events, told for the first time with Wampanoag people at the heart of the story.

In March 1621, when Plymouth’s survival was hanging in the balance, the Wampanoag sachem (or chief), Ousamequin (Massasoit), and Plymouth’s governor, John Carver, declared their people’s friendship for each other and a commitment to mutual defense. Later that autumn, the English gathered their first successful harvest and lifted the specter of starvation. Ousamequin and 90 of his men then visited Plymouth for the “First Thanksgiving.” The treaty remained operative until King Philip’s War in 1675, when 50 years of uneasy peace between the two parties would come to an end.

400 years after that famous meal, historian David J. Silverman sheds profound new light on the events that led to the creation, and bloody dissolution, of this alliance. Focusing on the Wampanoag Indians, Silverman deepens the narrative to consider tensions that developed well before 1620 and lasted long after the devastating war-tracing the Wampanoags’ ongoing struggle for self-determination up to this very day.

This unsettling history reveals why some modern Native people hold a Day of Mourning on Thanksgiving, a holiday which celebrates a myth of colonialism and white proprietorship of the United States. This Land is Their Land shows that it is time to rethink how we, as a pluralistic nation, tell the history of Thanksgiving.

The Pilgrims’ celebration of the first Thanksgiving is a keystone of America’s national and spiritual identity. But is what we’ve been taught about them or their harvest feast what actually happened? And if not, what difference does it make?

Through the captivating story of the birth of this quintessentially American holiday, veteran historian Tracy McKenzie helps us to better understand the tale of America’s origins―and for Christians, to grasp the significance of this story and those like it. McKenzie avoids both idolizing and demonizing the Pilgrims, and calls us to love and learn from our flawed yet fascinating forebears.

The First Thanksgiving is narrative history at its best, and promises to be an indispensable guide to the interplay of historical thinking and Christian reflection on the meaning of the past for the present.

Robert Tracy McKenzie (PhD, Vanderbilt University) is Arthur F. Holmes Chair of Faith and Learning and professor of history at Wheaton College. His most recent research interests center on the ways evangelicals remember their national heritage.

A Biblical Framework for Intentional, Spirit-Filled Worship. Music can be a source of tension in many churches. Whether driven by preferences for specific styles, popular trends, or traditional practices, corporate worship can feel more divisive than unifying. How can we cultivate worship that honors God and strengthens his church in the midst of these challenges?

Spirit-Filled Singing offers a biblical framework to help believers engage in musical worship with greater intentionality and gospel-centered purpose. Drawing insight from Galatians 5 and Ephesians 5, author Ryanne J. Molinari explores how singing and the fruit of the Spirit share a common purpose―to glorify God and edify his church. Through concise, thoughtful chapters that explore each fruit of the Spirit, this book invites readers to examine their worship practices, assess the condition of their hearts, and grow in Christlikeness through song.

• Biblical: Draws insight from Ephesians 5, Galatians 5, and Colossians 3 to help readers glorify God and edify his church through corporate worship
• Concise: Nine short chapters make it ideal for seminar classes or small-group studies
• Ideal for Current or Future Church Leaders: Helpful for high school and undergraduate music students, church study or staff groups, and worship teams
• Thought Provoking: Includes questions at the end of each chapter for personal reflection or group discussion

Ryanne J. Molinari (MLitt, University of St Andrews) is a collaborative pianist/organist and worship director based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She is a member of Prairie Bible Church, where her husband is lead pastor. To read more of her writing or inquire about speaking engagements, visit RyanneMolinari.com.

King of the Groove by Grammy winner, John JR Robinson brings us the behind-closed-doors stories as he reveals how a five-year-old, small-town boy just knew he would be playing (all over the world) along-side the living legends of the music industry for his entire career. His groove played a part in over 50 Grammy winning songs, over 200 US Billboard Hot 100 songs as well as more than ½ billion units sold, earning him a permanent spot in Rolling Stone Magazine’s, “The Top 100 Drummers of All Time” list.

JR gracefully uses his quick wit with his entertaining personality to share lessons of struggle, triumph and the power of believing in yourself to make your dreams come alive. His musicianship has helped define the pop, R&B and Jazz era for the last half century, making him the most recorded drummer in history. No one will forget JR’s landmark “drum fill” which opens the iconic song, “Rock With You,” (from Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall) which is and will always be an essential piece of pop music lore. From stories of the making of one of the highest grossing songs of all time, “We Are the World”, to the first time he met Quincy Jones, (who provides the foreword), to touring with Peter Frampton, working with Usher, Daft Punk, a heart-breaking story with Barbra Streisand, plus 60 more A-list musicians and producers’ stories. King of the Groove is a highly enlightening book that will delight and inform musicians, music fans and entrepreneurs alike. A tour de force experience from beginning to end.

To buy the book visit Amazon or https://www.johnjrrobinson.com

Christians often view Jesus’s miracles simply as proofs of his divinity. However, as prolific author Vern Poythress shows in this new book, they also serve as “signs of redemption,” foreshadowing the salvation that Christ accomplished through his cross and resurrection. This means that the stories of Jesus’s miracles—like the calming of the storm or the feeding of the 5,000—are relevant for both Christians and non-Christians alike, clearly pointing to the gospel. After setting forth a framework for viewing all of Jesus’s miracles through this lens, Poythress then reflects on the meaning and significance of 26 distinct miracles recorded in the Gospel of Matthew—helping modern readers understand and apply them to their own lives today.

Vern S. Poythress (PhD, Harvard University; ThD, University of Stellenbosch) is Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Biblical Interpretation, and Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he has taught for four decades. In addition to earning six academic degrees, he is the author of numerous books and articles on biblical interpretation, language, and science.

Everything in a man’s life hinges on the kind of man he is.

Yet, none of us is naturally a godly man. That’s something we have to learn, pursue, and cultivate. We need a manual to help us.

This book is a manual for becoming the kind of man God intends for you to be, and leading other men to do the same. Taking ten qualities from the Apostle Paul’s short letter to his mentee Titus, The Titus Ten will help you grow in your understanding of the gospel, your identity, your character, your doctrine, and more. Each chapter includes questions for reflection and discussion, to both process the way the Lord is growing you, and read in a group with other men. As you grow in these areas of your life, you’ll become the kind of man God desires to use in your family, your church, and the world.

J. Josh Smith is the pastor of Prince Avenue Baptist Church in Athens, Georgia. He and his wife Andrea have four daughters and one son.

You can purchase his books at Lifeway https://www.lifeway.com/ or Amazon.

The Titus Ten – Bible Study Book with Video Access includes printed content for 10 sessions, personal study between group sessions, applicable Scripture, “How to Use This Study,” a leader guide, separate leader videos, and tips for leading a group.

Tucked away near the end of the New Testament, you’ll find Paul’s letter to Titus. Scripture provides few details about Titus. But from this 46-verse letter, author Josh Smith has distilled ten foundations upon which to build godly men.

Using his time-tested teaching process, this study can serve as a manual for becoming the kind of man God intends for you to be and leading other men to do the same.

Taking ten qualities from the Apostle Paul’s short letter to his mentee Titus, The Titus Ten will help you grow in your understanding of the gospel, your identity, your character, and more.

Each chapter includes questions for reflection and discussion to process the way the Lord is developing you and to read in a group with other men. As you grow in these areas of your life, you’ll become the kind of man God desires to use in your family, your church, and the world.

Features:

• Ten small group sessions
• Personal studies for ongoing spiritual growth
• Ten videos featuring author Josh Smith (included with purchase)
• Leader guide
• Promotional video

Benefits:

• Train men to follow Jesus and invest where it matters most.
• Start a discipleship movement among men in your church.
• Learn how to exercise the dominion God has given in a God-honoring way.
• Believe the gospel is for you and has something unique to say to men.
• Root your identity in Christ and the unchanging nature of His love for you.
• Approach your assignments and calling with clarity and purpose.
• Build your character in a way that honors God and those around you.
• Shore up the foundation of your essential beliefs so that you can stand for what matters.
• Invest your life in the places where you can have the most impact.
• Commit to serving God and those entrusted to your care with zeal.

Session Topics:

1. Dominion
2. Gospel
3. Identity
4. Assignments
5. Authority
6. Character
7. Doctrine
8. Mission
9. Zeal
10. Investments

10 Women Who Changed the World is seminary president Daniel L. Akin’s powerful tribute to the transformational work done by some truly inspiring female Christian missionaries. With each profile, he journeys into the heart of that gospel servant’s mission-minded story and makes a compelling connection to a similar account from the Bible. By reading each missionary story, and how each woman embodies a certain passage of Scripture, prepare to be challenged and inspired to follow in their footsteps—because intentionally living on mission isn’t something reserved for heroes of the past. It’s something each one of us can pursue in everyday life!

Women featured in this book:

1. Sarah Hall Boardman Judson (and how she embodies Psalm 138)
2. Eleanor Chesnut (and how she embodies John 13:34–35)
3. Ann Hasseltine Judson (and how she embodies Psalm 142)
4. Harriet Newell (and how she embodies Psalm 116)
5. Darlene Deibler Rose (and how she embodies Psalm 27)
6. Betsey Stockton (and how she embodies 1 Corinthians 7:17–24)
7. Bertha Smith (and how she embodies Galatians 2:20)
8. Charlotte Atlee White Rowe (and how she embodies 1 Corinthians 9:19, 22-23)
9. Yvette Aarons (how she embodies Proverbs 3:5-8)
10. Lilias Trotter (and how she embodies 2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

Daniel L. Akin is the president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He holds a Ph.D. in Humanities from the University of Texas at Arlington and is the author or editor of numerous books and Bible commentaries including Theology for the Church and the New American Commentary on 1, 2, and 3 John. He is also the author of 10 Who Changed the World and God on Sex, as well as co-author of Pastoral Theology: Theological Foundations for Who a Pastor Is and What He Does.