A Christmas Selection Box 2023

It’s Christmas, and in Ireland that means chocolate selection boxes are multiplying everywhere. It’s a great tradition—who wouldn’t like a box filled with a variety of different chocolates to enjoy over the holidays? Today I’m joining in with the spirit of this tradition. I can’t give you chocolate, but I’ve collected a variety of treats for you from around the internet. Enjoy!

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• First up, a spoken word from Glen Scrivener about the different ways we celebrate Christmas—a good one for all the Charlie Browns and Cindy-Lou Who’s out there who are questioning what Christmas really means:

• Going deeper, here’s an article exploring the reality at the heart of why we celebrate: Does the Incarnation Really Matter?

• And here’s some wonderful pictures of the Irish coast. I know they aren’t Christmassy, but this kind of beauty is always in season: Love your coast photography competition winners 2023

• Next up, a lovely Christmas song from Celtic Worship (based in Scotland):

• And how about a Christmas quote from the man they called the “Prince of preachers”, Charles Spurgeon:

“But, now, when the new-born King made his appearance, the swaddling band with which he was wrapped up was the white flag of peace. That manger was the place where the treaty was signed, whereby warfare should be stopped between man’s conscience and himself, man’s conscience and his God. It was then, that day, the trumpet blew—’Sheathe the sword, oh man, sheathe the sword, oh conscience, for God is now at peace with man, and man at peace with God.’ Do you not feel, my brethren, that the gospel of God is peace to man? Where else can peace be found but in the message of Jesus?” – If you’d like to read more Christmas quotes from Spurgeon, you can find some here.

• Finally, here’s a flashback to a Christmas post I wrote several years ago: I Refuse To Be Content With Shorthand Reality This Christmas