Coming to you live from Christ's Church of the Valley (CCV) in San Dimas (1440 W. Covina Blvd, west of the 57 and south of the 210), for the opening weekend of their JOY Celebration: A Christmas Music Experience for the Entire Family, with some great comedy skits between an elf and a psychologist that teaches the difference between happiness and joy, along with a powerful, life-changing message by pastor Jeff Vines. Your kids can even join Santa on stage! And, of course, everyone will join in with the carols Silent Night and Oh Holy Night.
It's free, but you'll need tickets from CCV in order to get in! They've reserved 100 seats for my listeners for tonight's show, so all you guys need to do is "come on down" and mention my name, and you'll get in. For any of the upcoming 12 shows, hop online right now at ccvsocal.com/joy.
They've got 12 shows after tonight: tomorrow (Saturday) at 2pm and 8pm, one show Sunday at 2pm, then shows Tuesday night at 7pm, two shows Wednesday and Thursday nights at 5pm and 7pm, then four shows on Christmas Eve at 3pm, 5pm, 7pm, and 11pm. Childcare is available for ages 3 and under for all shows but the 11pm Christmas Eve show.
400-408 – Jeff Vines, senior pastor of Christ's Church of the Valley (ccvsocal.com), and Executive Pastor Dana Erickson, talk about the heart behind JOY. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, they'll mobilize over 2,400 volunteers to reach 10,000 lives, with everything from feeding 5,000 families and repairing 12 dilapidated homes, to providing toys for over 1,000 kids. Their hope is that through JOY, people would come to understand the difference between happiness and joy, and that the source of true joy is in Jesus Christ.
• Thanks to Lori Barragar, family owner of Shelton's Premium Poultry (sheltons.com), for her generous donation of Christmas turkeys this year. Be the 6th, 12th, AND 18th callers and get your free turkeys!
413-423 – • Telegraph (12/17/2010) European Commission criticized for omitting Christmas on EU school diary: The European Commission has come under fire for producing more than three million copies of an EU diary for secondary schools which contains no reference to Christmas but includes Jewish, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim festivities.
• KOCO (12/17/2010) Feds Force Okla. Bank To Remove Crosses, Bible Verse.
• Newschannel9 (12/8/2010) Secret Santa Drops Thousands in Salvation Army Kettle.
• Joplin Globe (12/17/2010) 'Santa Claus' donates $100,000 to Joplin Salvation Army.
• CBS Minnesota (12/16/2010) Anonymous Donor Gives $40K To Local Food Bank.
428-437 – Calls – What's your "intentional act of random kindness"?
443-452 – Calls – What's your "intentional act of random kindness"?
(:40) Gayla Peevey, "I Want A Hippopotamus" from 1953.
458-508 – Jeff Vines and Nick Lacy, the Senior Associate Pastor and Pastor of Worship, who's "The Man" behind JOY.
512-523 – Kim Wier, founder of Engaging Women Ministries in Texas (engagingwomen.com) and co-author of Redeeming the Season: Simple Ideas for a Memorable and Meaningful Christmas, who shares some of those ideas.
528-539 – (4:48) Sherri in Glendora shares her favorite Christmas story about just missing Santa when he visited their house (from 12/9).
544-554 – Jeff Vines and Dawn Frazer, the Senior Associate Pastor and Pastor of Community Life and Children's Ministries, who talks about what JOY is doing for kids.
558-608 – Debunking 21 Myths of the "Traditional Christmas Story"
It was the year 0, late in the evening on a cold winter's night on December 24. A young homeless couple in their early twenties are looking for lodging in the large city of Bethlehem. The woman is at full term in her pregnancy. Their names are Joseph and Mary Christ, and they're going to Bethlehem seeking shelter. Mary is riding upon the back of a donkey, while her husband walks beside her. Having little luck finding a hotel with a room, they eventually come to the last hotel on the far side of Bethlehem. Sadly, the marquee out front is flashing "No Vacancy." Joseph, in desperation, begs the night manager for anything out of the winter's cold. Taking pity upon the poor homeless couple in obvious need of a place to spend the evening, the night manager reluctantly agrees to allow them to spend the night in the stable out back.
Joseph and Mary are led to the back of the property where they are shown their evening's quarters, a lean-to shelter filled with hay and farm instruments. As they settle in out of the weather, the barnyard animals peer through the cracks in the slats to see their new guests. Joseph looks around and notices an old crude wooden feeding trough (or manger) sitting in a corner, and he breathes a sigh of relief. "Just in case," he says to himself. He has just gotten his wife comfortable for the evening, when – just as he is about to fall asleep near midnight – he hears the words "Joseph, I think its time...."
At that very moment, a few miles away, two young shepherd boys are fast asleep when all of a sudden, a cascade of light falls upon them and they open their eyes to behold a choir of singing angels. Overcome with awe and wonder, the angels instruct the shepherds to go back to town to visit a stable where the King of Kings lies as a newborn. The shepherds immediately arise and go directly to the manger in haste, just in time to behold Mary, and the only son she would ever bear. Now, also arriving at precisely that same moment are three old wise men following a star and bearing gifts.
The scene is now complete: Joseph and Mary on either side of the manger, the three wise men standing at a short distance with gifts in their hands, the two young shepherd boys kneeling beside them, and all the barnyard animals staring at the wonderful event that has just occurred in an obscure village in a remote part of Judea. The angels begin singing "Silent Night," the cattle begin lowing, and the set fades to black...
612-623 – The Christmas Story
628-639 – The Christmas Story
644-656 – The Christmas Story
• Infowars (12/15/2010) Yet Another iPhone Snitch App Released.
• Charles Krauthammer, NRO (12/17/2010) The New Comeback Kid: Obama's comeback is occurring in his presidency a year ahead of Clinton's.
• Kim Strassel, WSJ (12/17/2010) Republicans Kick the Spending Dope: The GOP passes its first big spending test—barely.
• Wilfred M. McClay, WSJ (12/17/2010) Rebuilding Noah's Ark, Tax-Free: Kentucky offers incentives to a "Biblically correct" theme park, controversy ensues.
