Religion & Spirituality
Date Published: 11-25-2022
Publisher: OACC Media
Come with me to Bethlehem. A sleepy hamlet in the mountains of Southern Israel. Here we will find a newborn baby lying in a manger surrounded by his parents and barn animals.
It doesn’t seem like the most idyllic Christmas. There is no tree, no presents, and no stockings hung by the fireplace. Everything is ordinary. Jesus lying in a mound of hay is the furthest thing from extraordinary. Yet, the Savior of the world begins his first moments here in this barn, in this village.
During this journey, you will discover the true meaning of the season. It’s not the glow of lights or the smell of pine needles. We celebrate Christmas because of Jesus Christ, God’s gift to us.
Interview
What was your main drive to write this book?
I wanted individuals to have hope in one of the most
hopeless seasons of the year. Christmas is a time when we run ourselves ragged
trying to please those around us. I want people to know that Christmas is not
about the rat race it is about enjoying God’s gift to us, Jesus Christ.
Too often, we forget that Christmas is a time to celebrate
gifts that have already been given. We focus on the gifts to be given and
received, and we lose sight of the gifts already given in our daily lives –
Faith, Family, Friends, Pets, and Resources.
What do you hope readers will learn by reading this book?
Christmas is a time to celebrate all the good things that
God has given us over the last year. To ponder and reflect how we have changed
and grown in our personal lives, in response to the good things that God has
blessed us with.
Did you do much research when planning this book?
I have a Doctor of Ministry and Master of Theology, so I
didn’t do much research to write Journey To
Bethlehem. I wrote from the heart using the knowledge I had gained in my
graduate and post graduate studies.
Did you have any main people who helped you in the process
of this book or influenced you to write it?
The Biblical characters that I reference in JTB had a
great deal of influence on my writing. Often, we associate the Bible with an ancient
time that is not relevant to us. This could not be further from the truth. The characters
in the Bible had similar struggles to ours. While they lived in a different time,
they still shared the common issues that have plagued humanity from the
beginning of time. We gain a better understanding of the Bible when we
correlate it to our life in the twenty-first century. The more we identify with
the Bible the more we come to comprehend it.
How long did this book take you to write from initial
thought to hitting publish?
It began as a series of blog posts. I would not publish it
as a book until a year after I had already released it on my blog.
Do you have plans to write more about this topic or new
topics?
I plan on writing a
Christmas fiction story sometime in the near future. The story will be based on
the first Christmas but put in a twenty-first century setting.
About the Author
Joseph Guy serves as the President of Joseph Guy International Ministries, an organization dedicated to reaching people around the world through digital ministry. He is the host of the podcast Biblical Insight With Pastor Joseph, and winner of the 2022 Readers’ Favorite 5-Star Review Award. It is his goal to change the world one life at a time through the timeless message of the Gospel. The great outdoors is where you can find him when he's not building God's kingdom.
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