The crèche is a familiar sight during this time of the year. You can find simple nativity scenes on the mantles of homes, and more elaborate ones on town squares. Some churches even host live nativity scenes, complete with costumed characters and barnyard animals. Have you ever noticed that in many...

My wife surprised me with a whirlwind trip to New York at Christmas. Seeing the Big Apple during the holidays was on my bucket list, so I soaked in everything from the sparkling Rockefeller Center tree to the Rockettes holiday show. It was a grand trip made even grander by our...

  The Nativity is the story of an ordinary miracle. Look closely at the tapestry of Christmas, and you will notice it has been woven with common thread and shining strands of gold. First, consider the utter humanness of this story: JESUS WAS BORN Jesus was a human infant. He didn’t mythically spring, fully-formed, from the...

  Santa wants you to skip church this Christmas. Or, at least, a billboard Santa does in an ad campaign sponsored by the American Atheists. Running in Colorado Springs, CO, and Winston-Salem, NC, St. Nick beams, “Go ahead and skip church! Just be good for goodness sake. Happy Holidays!”  David...

I’ve posted some pretty heavy stuff lately, so I thought it was time for a spot of levity. Hence, here are the … Top Ten Ways to Know If You’ve Been Really Naughty This Year Santa orders Rudolph to drop a “calling card” down your chimney. Buddy the Elf doesn’t...

With the Newtown, Conn. school shooting still fresh in my mind, the children of Richland Hills United Methodist Church in NRH, TX looked especially precious to me when I performed my Christmas magic show on Sunday afternoon. About thirty kids and “kids-at-heart” gathered in the fellowship hall to watch my goofy...