An Even Better Christmas
Christmas is greatin fact, it’s better than all the commercial hype!
In the midst of the gift-buying, make-everybody-happy, food-gorging craziness that is Christmas, Matt Chandler helps us stop breathe and refocus our hearts.
In his uniquely humorous, honest style, Matt shows us that God gets involved with us, gives us joy and is worth our trust. And this joy and peace is not just for Christmas, it lasts all year round and into eternity.
About the Author:
Matt Chandler (BA, Hardin-Simmons University) serves as lead pastor of teaching at the Village Church in Dallas, Texas, and president of the Acts 29 Network. He lives in Texas with his wife, Lauren, and their three children.
During Christmas time are you more like the wise men or the religious leaders? Matt Chandler lays the question before us as we read his book An Even Better Christmas. He asked if rather than seeing the simple miracles God has done in your life, do you look for God to change the seasons?
While reading this book, I felt the Lord reaching out to me and talking directly to me through the words of Chandler. I felt him telling me that rather than being like the wise man, I was being more like the religious leaders. I was keeping God in a lamp and treating him like a genie that does my bidding, rather than the Creator of the World. He also was telling me that I was coming too accustomed to his word and rather than having child-like faith, I was being too accustomed to hearing the same things. The power of the cross was becoming too accustomed to me.
During the course of reading this book, I also noticed how accustom I am to the idea of miracles being things that are supernatural. In this book, Chandler shows us that the first miracle that occurred in his life was not God healing his brain tumor, but rather Chandler becoming a Christian. Before reading this book, I had never once thought it was a miracle that I was saved. I never once thought the fact that I grew up in a house where I was loved, cared for, and brought up to know, love, and trust the Lord was a miracle. I always was thankful that the Lord has provided me with these things, but I never considered it a miracle. To me, a miracle was someone being healed from a diagnosis that gave them years or months to live. After reading this book, Chandler showed me that is a miracle that I was brought up the way I did. While he has not healed me from a life-threatening disease, He has healed me from a life in Hell and that is a miracle.
You might think that what I am saying is bizarre, that there is no way that you could have learned all of that from such a small book. Well…you would be wrong in saying that. While the book is a mini-book, Chandler in no way holds back anything. He lays before you rock hard theology that everyone can understand. While he does often use words that you do not understand, you are able to infer what he is trying to say.
The thing I love about reading this book is that Chandler in no way tries to hide the fact that he has struggled, or that he has sinned. Rather he uses what has happened to him as a way to show all of us how the Lord works in mysterious ways. He chooses to show us bit by bit how the Lord has worked in his life to bring him to where he is now. That is not always easy. I know that for sure, but Chandler relies on the fact that the Lord will use his story as a means to glorify Him.
