It's the most wonderful time of year, or so we say. The month of December is full of faith, family, and fun. It's a time to celebrate friends and family and the birth of our Savior. But it can also be overwhelming and the first thing that we tend to let go is ourselves. We tend to skip workouts, grab quick meals, rush through our quiet times and hope that we can get everything back in order come January. But what if this year was different? What if we slowed down a bit, chose to enjoy the season, and make our faith and our fitness a priority?What if we actually maintained a healthy lifestyle through the month so that we could begin January without feeling guilt and shame from December?With this guide, you can continue on, or even establish, your healthy living journey in December. This book is a combination of healthy living tips as well as devotions to guide you through this most wonderful time of year. It also helps you approach the new year with focus and clarity. No more need for restarts and resolutions when you apply the content of this book to your daily life. May you enjoy a happy healthy holiday.*Although this book takes you through the month of December, the tips shared within can be applied any time. Don't wait until December to grab it and start living a happy healthy life!

IVP Readers' Choice Award Do you ever find yourself stuck in the comparison trap? Speaker and author Richella Parham knows what this feels like. "I couldn't break free from admiring one person's achievements, someone else's personality, another's skills, yet another's relationships. And don't get me started on how I looked at other people's appearances," she writes. "I was haunted by the admirable attributes of other people, certain that I could never match their worthiness. No matter how well-intentioned the teaching or pithy the advice, I found that most of it didn't help me change my thoughts, feelings, or actions." While there are no easy answers, Parham has identified cultural and spiritual myths about others, God, and ourselves that keep us trapped. From there the journey is a spiritual one. We can pick up practices that help us walk in the freedom of Christ with confidence in ourselves. If you've ever suffered from tortured moments of comparison on Facebook, in the office, or in the hallway at church, you'll benefit from this fresh perspective.

The mass protests that greeted attempts to open the 1893 Chicago World's Fair on a Sunday seem almost comical today in an era of seven-day convenience and twenty-four-hour shopping. But the issue of the meaning of Sunday is one that has historically given rise to a wide range of strong emotions and pitted a surprising variety of social, religious, and class interests against one another. Whether observed as a day for rest, or time-and-a-half, Sunday has always been a day apart in the American week.Supplementing wide-ranging historical research with the reflections and experiences of ordinary individuals, Alexis McCrossen traces conflicts over the meaning of Sunday that have shaped the day in the United States since 1800. She investigates cultural phenomena such as blue laws and the Sunday newspaper, alongside representations of Sunday in the popular arts. Holy Day, Holiday attends to the history of religion, as well as the histories of labor, leisure, and domesticity.

Many people are shocked to discover the origins of our most popular religious holidays. They are also surprised to find that the days God commands us to observe in the Bible—the same days Jesus Christ and the apostles kept—are almost universally ignored. Why? Also, why are today's supposedly Christian holidays observed with so many rituals and customs that are not sanctioned anywhere in the Bible? Here are some questions to think about... Does Christmas really honor Jesus and His birth? Where did the Christmas holiday come from? How did it begin, and why? Did you realize that historians (and the Bible) agree that Jesus Christ wasn't born anywhere near December 25? Or that this particular date was well known for its pagan religious celebrations long before Jesus Christ was born? Would Jesus Keep Easter? Can we find any historical or biblical record of Jesus or His disciples keeping Easter or teaching parents and children to dye eggs and display bunnies on this holiday? Did Jesus or His apostles instruct any of His followers to worship His resurrection at sunrise on Easter Sunday—or at any other time, for that matter? If Easter were not sanctioned by Jesus or instituted by His apostles, then where did Easter come from? In other words, if Jesus were living among us today, would He keep Easter or encourage others to do so? Should you, as a Christian, celebrate Easter? Few people know why they believe or do the things they do—especially when it comes to their religious beliefs and practices. Inside the Bible study aid ebook, Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Observe?, discover the shocking truths about several of the world's most popular holidays. Perhaps even more surprising is how they came to be connected with Jesus Christ and the Christian religion. Chapters in this ebook: -- Crucial Questions -- Christmas: The Untold Story -- How Christmas Grew -- Christmas vs. the Bible -- Biblical Evidence Shows Jesus Wasn't Born on December 25 -- Easter: Masking a Biblical Truth -- The Resurrection Connection -- Fertility Symbols: Beneath the Dignity of God -- The Chronology of Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection -- Halloween: A Celebration of Evil -- What About Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Purim? -- God's Days of Worship -- God's Festivals in the New Testament -- Does It Matter to God? -- An Ancient Cultural Clash -- The Delights of Obedience Inside this Bible Study Aid ebook: "Did the writers of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) consider Jesus' birth to be one of the most significant events for Christians to acknowledge or celebrate?... Did Jesus Christ tell us to celebrate His birth? No." "A careful analysis of Scripture, however, clearly indicates that December 25 is an unlikely date for Christ’s birth. Here are two primary reasons..." "The word Easter appears once in the King James Version of the Bible, in Acts 12:4, where it is a mistranslation." "The New Testament does not mention an Easter celebration. Early Christians had nothing to do with Easter. Instead, they kept the Passover, instituted by God centuries earlier at the time of the Exodus (Exodus 12:13-14; Leviticus 23:5)." "The popular belief is that Christ was crucified on a Friday and rose on a Sunday. But neither of these suppositions is supported by the biblical record."

Does it make any difference which days we observe-or whether we keep them? Does the Bible establish whether we are to keep certain days holy to God? Were these days given to ancient Israel only? Are they binding today only on the Jewish people, while Christians are commanded to keep holidays such as Christmas? In this booklet: • Which Days Should We Keep? • What You Should Know About Pentecost • Feast of Trumpets and Day of Atonement • Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day This ebook is offered completely free of charge by the Philadelphia Church of God. However, please not that Google Play will need a verified Google Wallet account which requires your credit card information. In a small number of countries, a temporary authorization of $1 will be charged to your account but will be refunded. This refund can take up to 1 month to process.

What are the origins of some of our holidays? Why are eggs decorated on Easter? Why are there wreaths on doors during Christmas? What is the real reason for decorated trees in living rooms around the world? Through a Christian prospective this book will examine popular holidays that have a significant religious meaning. Digging through layers of history, this book will uncover the pagan origins that make up many of our holiday traditions.