The War on Christmas, Bodie Hodge, A Review

I’ve been wanting to share The War on Christmas, Battles in Faith, Tradition, and Religious Expression by Bodie Hodge with you – and I finally have minute to share.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book. I have so many different ideas about the time period between Thanksgiving and New Years. I’m not that into the whole “Happy Birthday Jesus” part of Christmas, since it isn’t His birthday.  We’ve run all away around the block as we came to terms as a family what our traditions would be. We’ve settled for paying attention to Advent – the Coming of Jesus as a baby, and the anticipated coming of Jesus in the future. We also live in America, and have fun enjoying the traditions of our community, stories and movies.

So I was surprised that I really enjoyed The War on Christmas. I thought it was going to tell me that “Jesus is the reason for the season” or that I needed to teach my kids to give to homeless and the hungry in December.

What it does, is break down several areas regarding Christmas.

In What About Christmas the book talks about Jesus, his name, when he was born, the history surrounding the day and making it relevant to this generation.

Confusion and Misconceptions dig into XMas, the Wise Men and singing Angels.

The 5 Areas presented are What About Christmas, Confusion and Misconceptions, It’s All Baby Jesus, How Christmas Came to Be, and The War on Christmas

Each part of the 5 parts of the book are straightforward and give what we have learned, that most Americans Church Goers really have quite a few bits of the story off.

In the end, it is worth celebrating, which is what we came to terms with as a family. Truth is good. Communication is great. This is a Master Books book from New Leaf Press. It holds the bar with what I’ve come to expect with presenting truth in print.

The 5 Areas presented are What About Christmas, Confusion and Misconceptions, It’s All Baby Jesus, How Christmas Came to Be, and The War on Christmas.

I received a copy of this book which was published by Master Books, a division of New Leaf Publishing Group for free in return for a blog post and a review on a company such as Amazon. My opinion is my own, and I’m allowed to be fair positive or negative. I think this is a great book, worth ordering and discussing with your family.

The Sound of Music Live!

(This is an ad post)

There are quite a few fun opportunities that come my way, being part of a great blog team. I was asked to host a Faith & Family Viewing Party featuring THE SOUND OF MUSIC, live on NBC!  - They sent me monies for snacks and prizes to give out – and I said YES!

So tonight, a few of my friends are going to gather with me to watch The Sound of Music.

You have a chance to join us online:

I will be giving away a prize package of a Poster, TShirt and Soundtrack on CD

Here’s how you can win:

Tweet with the tags #faithandfamily and #SoundofMusic and tag me in it – @pebblekeeper

Join me today – you may post anytime before Friday Morning – A tweet about your excitement? A tweet about how you feel with Carrie being Maria? A tweet about why you will watch it after it posts? Anything at all – with the tags #faithandfamily and #SoundofMusic and @pebblekeeper

Extra Entry – Chat about the movie on Facebook with the tags #SoundofMusic, #faithandfamily and #AngieWright – or tag me.

I will use these entries, assign a number to each, then use random number generator to pick a winner.

Additional prizes to be shared (post-party) are: poster, t-shirt, and soundtrack on CD!

 

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

From executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron ("Smash," "Hairspray," "Chicago") comes an instant holiday classic: "The Sound of Music," based on the original Broadway musical. Carrie Underwood and Stephen Moyer star as Maria and Captain von Trapp in this beloved story of the young novice who falls in love with Captain von Trapp and his seven children, set against the backdrop of Nazi-occupied Austria. The jewel in the Rodgers and Hammerstein crown, "The Sound of Music" contains some of the most famous songs ever written for the stage, including "The Sound of Music," "My Favorite Things," "Do-Re-Mi," "Sixteen Going on Seventeen," "Climb Every Mountain" and "Edelweiss."

This new version of "The Sound of Music" will be a faithful adaptation of the original stage musical, to retell the story for a whole new generation. And more than that, it will be broadcast LIVE, adding a whole new level of immediacy and excitement. Get ready to reintroduce your family to the most joyful, most emotional and most musical family adventure of them all. 

Discaimer: I received a $25.00 visa card from FlyBy Promotions Blogger Network to purchase snacks for my party in exchange for a blog post and promoting the movie with hashtags. I will be able to give a prize pack mentioned above through FlyBy Promotions Blogger Network to one winner.