"Proclaiming God's Word to the Nations"
Christmas 2008 from Bible.com

Dear Friends:

We know that Christmas has become a challenge for many of us, because of the busy lifestyles we lead and Christmas this year even holds a new challenge -- economic woes. We love the wonderful traditions of Christmas -- the carols, reading of scripture, church services, greetings, gifts, decorations and feasting, as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, we all struggle with the forces that seek to rob the real meaning of Christmas from us, mainly the materialism and commercialism that produce stress, as in the midst of it, we madly rush to address cards, decorate, bake, cook, shop, wrap, and ship our gifts to loved ones.

When Bud and I were young, Christmas was a lot different in this country. Who would believe there would come a day that there would even be a discussion about whether the greeting at Christmas should be “Merry Christmas” or the now, politically correct, “Happy Holidays?” We are now told we must include every other holiday greeting during our Christian holiday and thus crowd out Christ, our Savior. Biblical Christmas carols are forbidden in our schools and secular media shifts our thoughts to other things than the real reason for the season -- Jesus. May we all focus our thoughts and attention on Him!

All true Christians love to share Christ and what He means to us with others and that is what has made Christmas different than the other holidays. We, as Christians, not only share gifts with one another, we share with the poor by giving gifts to children who otherwise would have nothing. We feed the hungry in churches across the nation, take groups caroling to brighten up the lives of those in prisons and rest homes. Christians visit the sick, the hurting and the lonely. The spirit of Christmas has brought joy and blessing to the rest of the world and the one responsible for it, is our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of Him, we reach out in love. We must not allow those who hate Christ, to stop us from loving and giving, because that is what Christmas is all about. God sent His son to save us from our sins. What a glorious and wonderful gift to us!

We are reaching out on the Internet at Bible.com to millions of lost, lonely, and confused people who are finding the Lord, and answers to their problems by seeking help from the Bible -- the wonderful Book God gave to mankind. Muslims, Jews, Hindus and those who have no religion come seeking, and the Holy Spirit touches them through something they read on the site. What a unique plan of God to use computers and the Internet for evangelism. We are so happy to be cyberspace missionaries. Thank you for being a part of what we are doing through your love, prayers and support. Your help is bearing much fruit for the kingdom of God. We also appreciate your ongoing support to help us. Although this has been one of the most difficult years for us, we are grateful that His mercy endureth forever. He is ever faithful to be there for you, as well, if you are experiencing hard times.

He came to bring “Peace on Earth and Good Will to All Men.” This proclamation is true in spite of the current worldwide economic crisis. We can have peace and guidance in the midst of the chaos that is in the world because although we are "in the world" we are not "of the world." We operate in the kingdom of God where there is no lack because the King upholds all that is His! We must all remember this when we are tempted to be fearful for all the things coming upon this earth. Let us remember our Lord's Words in:

Luke 21:25-28:
21 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

With our Lord's return so near, we must all work to get the gospel out and share our faith with those who are without Christ. That is what Bible.com is all about -- getting the message of the Bible out to the world

One of the major projects we will be working on this coming year is the addition of audio and video on the site. We would appreciate your prayers as we go into the next phase of growth for the Bible.com site.