Jason Crabb | Charisma House

Jason Crabb, a soulful Southern gospel celebrity who left his family group and embarked on a more eclectic solo career, encourages readers who are going through hard times, in Trusting God to Get You Through: Lessons I’ve Learned Through the Fire About Grace, Loss and Love.

Lyrics from “Through the Fire,” a song his father wrote, accompany each of the book’s eight chapters, which address topics including loneliness, finding strength in weakness, God’s protection and refusing to give in to the enemy of the believer’s soul.

The oldest son in The Crabb Family, he tells of the challenges and blessings of being raised in a traveling, gospel-singing group, and of his own personal trials, such as his parents’ eventual divorce and the miscarriages his wife, Shellye, suffered before the birth of their two daughters.

Crabb focuses the reader’s attention on God’s character, reassuring them that they can walk through the fires of adversity with His help. Readers needing compassion and encouragement will find it here, and this debut book should draw fans of the Grammy-nominated artist and his well-known family.

Click here to purchase this book.

Considering how ultraviolent 300 and Watchmen were, I was a little tentative to watch director Zack Snyder's first fully animated film—Legend of the Guardians: The Guardians of Ga'Hoole, now avilable on DVD.

Based on the first three books of the popular children's series by author Kathryn Lasky, Snyder's fantasy film has been described by several movie reviewers as Lord of the Rings with owls.

The film tells the story of Soren (Jim Sturgess), a young owl who grew up listening to—and loving—his father's stories about the Guardians of Ga'Hoole—a mythic band of winged warriors who once fought a great battle to rescue all of owlkind from the evil Pure Ones. Meanwhile, his older brother, Kludd (Ryan Kwanten), rejects the stories of heroism and good, but is actually drawn to the Pure Ones.

Best-selling author and pastor John MacArthur believes that a mistranslated word has changed the message of the New Testament. He asserts that the term servant instead of the term slave has misconstrued what it means to truly be a follower of Christ.

The following is an excerpt from his new book, Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ (Thomas Nelson).

A Word That Changes Everything

Since its first appearance in Antioch, the term Christian has become the predominant label for those who follow Jesus. It is an appropriate designation because it rightly focuses on the centerpiece of our faith: Jesus Christ. Yet ironically, the word itself appears only three times in the New Testament—twice in the book of Acts and once in 1 Peter 4:16.

In addition to the name Christian, the Bible uses a hose of other terms to identify the followers of Jesus. Scripture describes us as children of God, citizens of heaven and lights to the world. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, members of His body, sheep in His flock, ambassadors in His service, and friends around His table. WE are called to compete like athletes, to fight like soldiers, to abide like branches in a vine, and even to desire His word as newborn babies long for milk. All of these descriptions—each in its own unique way—help us understand what it means to be a Christian.

Yet, the Bible uses one metaphor more frequently than any of these. It is the word picture you might not expect, yet it is absolutely critical for understanding what it means to follow Jesus.

It is the image of a slave.

To help us celebrate the most wonderful time of year, Charisma asked several artists to share a favorite Christmas memory or tradition. From Dec. 20-24, each day we will feature two artists who shared their thoughts with us.

From all of us at Charisma, Merry Christmas!

My favorite Christmas memory is when my wife and I picked out a tree and decorated it for our first Christmas together. Not only was it a blast, but it was an amazing feeling realizing that I had started a family of my own. —Phil Wickham

My favorite Christmas memory is Christmas Day, 2002, when my daughter, Skye, was born. I remember it was 3 o’clock Christmas morning. Tim, my husband, and I were holding our baby girl. We were the only ones on the floor and the nurses had turned all the TVs in each room to Christmas music. “Silent Night” was playing, and I will never ever forget those moments. God truly blessed us. —Heather Williams

For exclusive videos, podcasts and songs, check out this month’s digital edition of Charisma magazine at charismamag.com/digital