THE GIFT OF CHRISTMAS

If you live in the Dallas area, you don't want to miss The Gift of Christmas, an absolutely stunning presentation by the Prestonwood Choir & Orchestra, along with our Students and Children's choirs. Gift of Christmas starts tonight at 7 p.m., the first of six performances.

I was at the dress rehearsal last night and I can tell you that this is truly the best Christmas presentation we've had in a long time. We're combining beautiful voices (1,000 of them, including adults, students and children), with pageantry (flying angels!) and technology (a 60-foot long LED wall)...

It was great to share this incredible night with many folks from our Special Needs Ministry and from our English as a Second Language Program. Being able to provide them the opportunity to come as our guests was a blessing.

Some 30,000 people will be taking in this presentation over the next few days... My prayer is that the Spirit will open hearts to the miracle of Christmas.

You can purchase tickets to one of the six performances at prestonwoodgoc.org.

Watch this video for a sneak peak...

Powerful Testimony of Life-Change

I wanted to share with you a testimony from one of our newest members, John Potter. I am grateful for the amazing work that the Lord continues to do at Prestonwood.

PCA STATE CHAMPS -- AGAIN!

Congratulations to the PCA Lions on their second consecutive state championship! Last night our football team took the TAPPS Division I title a year after winning TAPPS Division II. And what a game it was against Fort Worth Nolan, a powerhouse team going for a three-peat...

The Lions scored the go-ahead touchdown on an 80-yard-drive in the final three minutes, and then linebacker Zac Grogean sealed the 38-35 win with an interception in the endzone.

I'm so proud of these guys for their hard work and perseverance. The Lions lost once to a tough Celina team and once to these FW Nolan Vikings, who squeaked by. I'm so grateful for Head Coach Chris Cunningham and the rest of the coaching team for their leadership and guidance...

Thanks for an awesome season, boys!

(And thanks to Prestonwood staff member Cliff Traverse for these photos, including this great shot of the game-sealing interception...)

The Best Christmas Music

Can you imagine Christmas without music? I celebrate Christmas year-round and listen to Christmas music year-round. But there's something so incredibly wonderful about listening during the Christmas season. Don't you agree?

Here's a list of some of my favorite music; songs that I seem to listen to most. Let me know what your faves are ...

Top 10 Christmas Carols
1) Joy to the World
2) Silent Night
3) Carol of the Bells
4) God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
5) How Great Our Joy
6) The Birthday of the King
7) O Come All Ye Faithful
8) O Come O Come Emmanuel
9) Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire
10) I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day


Top 10 Classics
1) I’ll Be Home for Christmas
2) It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
3) White Christmas
4) Here Comes Santa Claus
5) Santa Claus is Coming to Town
6) Mary’s Little Boy Child
7) It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
8) Sleigh Ride
9) The Christmas Story
10) Do You Hear What I Hear?

Three Generation Baptism

We have had incredible stories of life-change at Prestonwood this year. This weekend our church family witnessed a very touching baptism of three generations of women. Watch the video.

Decision Points

I'm one of the million-plus people who bought a copy of Decision Points by President George W. Bush as soon as it was released. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed it...It's a great read. I've been touched by the personal stories and the story, in his own words, of how God changed his life is powerful.

Here's a condensed version of the excerpt:

As I read the Bible, I was moved by the stories of Jesus' kindness to suffering strangers, His healing of the blind and crippled, and His ultimate act of sacrificial love when He was nailed to the cross. For Christmas that year, Don Evans gave me a Daily Bible, a version split into 365 individual readings. I read it every morning and prayed to understand it more clearly. In time, my faith began to grow.

... Surrendering yourself to an Almighty is a challenge to the ego. But I came to realize that struggles and doubts are natural parts of faith. If you haven't doubted, you probably haven't thought very hard about what you believe.

Ultimately, faith is a walk—a journey toward greater understanding. It is not possible to prove God's existence, but that cannot be the standard for belief. After all, it is equally impossible to prove He doesn't exist. In the end, whether you believe or don't believe, your position is based on faith.

That realization freed me to recognize signs of God's presence. I saw the beauty of nature, the wonder of my little girls, the abiding love of Laura and my parents, and the freedom that comes with forgiveness ... I moved ahead more confidently on my walk. Prayer was the nourishment that sustained me. As I deepened my understanding of Christ, I came closer to my original goal of being a better person—not because I was racking up points on the positive side of the heavenly ledger, but because I was moved by God's love.

What did you think of the book?

Give Thanks in all Circumstances

Thou that hast giv’n so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart.
Not thankful, when it pleaseth me;
As if thy blessings had spare days:
But such a heart, whose pulse may be Thy praise.
—George Herbert

Every year at the end of November, we join family and friends over a great feast to reflect upon blessings and give thanks to the Lord. Thanksgiving Day can be a wonderful time, a holy time, of pausing to express gratitude to God. But just like prayer and praise and listening to Him, thanksgiving isn’t only meant for special gatherings, for a date on the calendar.

The psalmist says in Psalm 34:1, I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. And the apostle Paul implores the church in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to “give thanks in all circumstances.” In fact, it is the “will of God in Christ Jesus” that we do so.

No matter what we are experiencing, good or bad, thanksgiving will not change your circumstances. But, thanksgiving and praise will change what your circumstances do to you. Your circumstances in life will either destroy you or strengthen you if you learn how to give thanks.

And when we say thank you, we recognize that beyond us and beyond our circumstances and beyond what’s going on in our lives, there is a sovereign God who loves us, who has a wonderful plan for our lives, who plans to give us a future and a hope, who is overall, above all, in all, through all, and in everything!
So, today, and every day, we give thanks.