Coming up on Life Today.
Sheila Walsh explains the powerful history
of the gifts of Christmas.
SHEILA: And for that one Christmas Eve,
they all put their weapons down
and they come out of the trenches
and they meet in the middle.
And suddenly, they're no longer enemies.
They're sons and fathers and brothers.
And they're singing about the gift
that makes us all put our weapons down.
♪
RANDY: Welcome to LIFE Today.
I'm Randy Robison.
Tammy Trent is with me.
And also,
someone who was in this chair
for six years is here.
Sheila, I just want to say,
I know I've told you this but
you meant so much to me
on this set
in front of the whole world.
I sat here and I learned
and it is just an honor
to have you back.
SHEILA: Well, thank you!
That's the sweetest thing.
And honestly, I've told
your mom and dad this,
you taught me a lot.
Because one of the things
that Randy taught me --
RANDY: What not to do?
SHEILA: No! Absolutely not!
But sometimes I'd kind of
over-prepare for shows.
So I'd have like 53 questions
for the guest, and Randy
would say to me sometimes,
"After question two they said
something interesting
that maybe you should have
gone with that."
I learned as much from you,
so thank you.
By the way, you two are
just doing a brilliant job.
I'm so proud of you!
TAMMY: Thank you so much.
SHEILA: Tammy,
I feel like your mom.
TAMMY: I know!
You're like
such a big sister in my heart.
And I've known you
for so, so long.
It almost felt like
I sat under your ministry
at Women of Faith
for so many years.
I love the depth that
you find in the Word of God
and how you bring it to life
for so many people.
You've done that for me
for years.
You're truly
one of my favorite
Bible teachers.
And the way you tell a story.
And you're one
of the funniest people I know,
Sheila.
Going through
The Gifts of Christmas,
I can't tell you
how many times
I laughed out loud.
There are so many incredible
Christmas past stories,
and inspirational stories,
and things I didn't know
about Christmas.
But also
some hilarious moments
throughout your life,
your marriage, just stuff.
SHEILA: Well,
you've met my husband.
There is a lot
of material there.
TAMMY: It makes
so much sense to me.
But I love you so much.
RANDY: So you mentioned it,
we're talking about
The Gifts of Christmas,
which is Sheila's book.
I know you love Christmas.
Do you ever take
your Christmas tree down?
SHEILA: Our Christmas --
now you make it seem
like it is one tree.
No, no!
We're talking four trees
have been up since COVID.
Four trees,
the big one in the den,
which I get up every morning
and let
our wee dog Maggie out,
put our Christmas tree on,
we have one in the bedroom
and we have two downstairs.
RANDY: Why is that?
SHEILA: Because I like them.
It's cozy.
I think during COVID
everything seemed so bleak
after a while.
And everything
was so uncertain.
There was something about
putting on
the Christmas lights.
And it was just --
Barry and I
are Christmas nuts.
We start watching
the Christmas movies
usually about July the 5th.
Not quite,
but I don't know why
but I absolutely love it.
RANDY: I think
it is a comfort.
TAMMY: I was just going
to say that, Randy.
I think it is comforting,
I was going to say.
There is something
that's not --
the evergreen
that doesn't change
on a Christmas tree.
So to know that things
can change all around us
but that's something
that never changes.
And when you actually
see that every day and go,
I can take a deep breath
no matter what's going on
in my life and know
that God never changes either.
SHEILA: That's really true.
And even just doing
a little research,
because I've never written
a Christmas book before.
This is my first ever.
And just doing research
on some things
like the origin
of the Christmas tree.
I wanted to know
where did that come from?
Going way back
to the 16th century,
and realizing
it was Martin Luther
walking home one snowy night
in Germany and he sees
that the snow has fallen
on the evergreen trees.
And the way the moon
is hitting the trees,
they're sparkling.
And he thinks
I think my children
would love that.
So he cuts down a tree
and treks it home.
And that was the first
Christmas tree in a home.
So things like that
are just fun to learn about.
TAMMY: Yeah, and I think
that to me in your book,
just like that story,
so many things, I had no idea.
You also talk in the book
about -- what day is it?
We're talking days here,
which I love, 25 days.
I almost didn't want
to read it yet.
I wanted to save it
to start it December 1st.
But it is a book
that you can read
throughout the year,
but especially at Christmas.
But there is a particular day
when you talk about
"Silent Night."
I had no idea the meaning,
really the depth
behind "Silent Night."
SHEILA: That really,
blew me away.
I've always loved finding out
the origin of songs.
It was interesting
you mentioned that
because when I went
to do the audiobook
of this devotional
when I got
to the "Silent Night" one
I had to stop
because it made me cry.
Because this gentleman wrote
the lyrics to "Silent Night"
and never thought
it would ever go any further
than his village
and his town.
But then it became
very popular in Germany.
Go to World War I,
it is almost Christmas time.
And Randy,
you're a student of history.
World War I was brutal.
I mean these British soldiers,
European soldiers,
and German soldiers
are in the trenches.
It is muddy.
It is freezing.
The Pope even asked,
"Could we have a cease-fire
on Christmas Eve
just to honor
something of the season?"
But no side
makes an agreement.
So it's bitterly cold,
miserable, and suddenly
this one German soldier who,
before the war, was part
of the opera in Berlin,
he was this
beautiful baritone,
stands up in the trench
with his gun and begins
to sing "Silent Night"
in German.
And there is
this kind of hush.
And then he starts to sing it
in English.
And the British soldiers,
they know it.
And suddenly,
they start to sing.
And for that one Christmas Eve
for just -- they all
put their weapons down
and they come out
of the trenches,
and they meet in the middle.
And suddenly,
they're no longer enemies,
they're sons and fathers
and brothers.
And they're singing
about the gift
that makes us all
put our weapons down.
RANDY: There is a great movie
was made about that.
I don't know if you know that.
SHEILA: Really?
No, I didn't know that.
RANDY: I think it may be
in German, but it is good.
Here's what I see in that
and what I think
you see in that
and what you want
the world to hear.
In a day and age
where we're so divided,
we can't seem to agree
on anything,
and every post on social media
is a weapon,
Christmas is a time
where we can say, hey look.
Let's look beyond
all the turmoil of this world.
Let's be still.
Let's be quiet.
Let's look to God.
Because there is something
transcendent in that
that we can't grasp
on our own.
We need help here.
SHEILA: That's why I wanted
to do 25 days
so it was like an advent study
so you would have one
for every single day.
I think people
get so distracted
at Christmastime.
In fact, it is something
that Barry and I have been
talking about.
That you know, you get so busy
trying to make sure
you've done everything
you're supposed to do
that you forget that no,
this -- this changed
all of human history.
If you draw
a line in human history,
what happened
when Jesus Christ
was willing to leave
the glory of heaven
and become
this tiny fragile baby,
which the more
I've been studying
in Revelation
for something else
I'm working on recently,
and the more you understand
the glory of what it's like,
where the angels
are crying out,
"Holy! Holy! Holy!"
Where it is just magnificent!
And he left that to come down
to say to you and me,
you're not alone.
And you're right, Randy,
everything is so polarized
at the moment
and people are so angry.
I'm just -- it's a calling,
it is a calling,
come in and let's be still
and be quiet and remember.
TAMMY: Yes!
And many people, I think,
even at Christmas
fight loneliness --
fight loneliness.
So even when you say
that he came for the one,
he came for the one
that was lonely
so you wouldn't have to be.
There are so many moments
throughout this book,
Sheila, that I also cried.
My tears are
right at the surface
and so is my giggle.
SHEILA: That's one
of the things
I love about you.
TAMMY: It doesn't take much
for me to cry or giggle
quickly on a dime.
But there were
so many moments like that.
So I looked today,
11, that hit me differently
because you share about
your personal journey there
a little bit.
And then you talk
about Ruth Graham
bringing you in
and reading to you.
It's the lamp in the window.
I said
I'm not going to cry today.
And I'm doing good so far
but can you share
a little bit of that
because it is so special?
SHEILA: It's,
when I think back
to this incredible privilege
of ever having known
Billy Graham
and his wife Ruth,
and particularly Ruth,
she was such
an anchor in my life,
such a motherly figure.
I'd met her before
because I used to sing
at the Billy Graham crusades
in England.
And so I'd met her
and she was always kind.
But it was after
I'd spent a month
in a psychiatric hospital,
and if you've lived
your whole Christian life
thinking,
that God's love for me
is based on my performance,
that was my understanding --
very wrong
but my understanding.
It wasn't on
the finished work of Christ.
It was because
my own dad seemed
to stop loving me
after his brain injury,
that I assumed
that was possible
with God too.
So I was going to get it
all right.
So when you end up
in a psychiatric hospital
for a month
I felt so lost and so alone.
Once I get out
of the hospital,
Ruth calls me and says,
"Listen, Bill's off
doing a crusade.
I want you to come to Montreat
and I want you to stay with me
for a few days."
I'll never forget
that first night
because she knew
I was very fragile.
I was just in a place
where I felt very vulnerable.
So she showed me to my bedroom
and beautiful Swiss linens
on the bed that she had
from when she was over
at some things that she did
with Mr. Schaeffer
and that kind of stuff.
And she said, "Let me
bring you a cup of tea."
And she brought me
a cup of tea.
And then she said, "Do you
mind if I read to you?"
I'm like, "Gosh, no."
I felt like a child again.
She sat on the end of the bed
and she read me
this story from a book called
Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush
which she then signed
and sent home with me.
And it's all about
this Scottish man
who is very religious man
and he has a daughter.
And after the wife's death,
the daughter starts to rebel
a little bit.
But the father is so harsh,
there is no grace.
There is just
here's a list of things you do
to make God love you.
And if you break any of them,
forget it.
And she's had it
and she leaves
and goes to London.
And he takes this thing --
in Scotland,
like my grandmother had this,
you have a family Bible.
It's usually
in the middle of the table,
and all the names
of the new children
as they're born
and the grandchildren,
the dates.
Well, Lachlan MacLachlan,
the father, takes his pen
and he rubs out of the name
of his daughter, like
you're no longer my daughter.
You're not pleasing to God
so you're not pleasing to me.
And then
a lady from the church
comes over one night and says,
"Have you heard
from your daughter?"
And he opens the Bible
and says, look.
And she says,
"Lachlan, if God treated you
the way you've treated
your daughter,
we would all be lost."
And God, in that instant,
in that glorious way
the Holy Spirit can do,
when it's like
he holds up a mirror
and you suddenly see yourself
in all your sinfulness.
So he breaks
and he lights a lamp
and he leaves it in the window
in case his daughter
ever comes home.
Not knowing
that only in the way
that God can do,
God is working
behind the scenes.
For those of you
who think your kids are lost,
for those of you
who get on your knees
every night and you think,
God, I don't even know
where they are,
God is on the move.
And that's what's happening
with this girl in London.
She's miserable and wretched.
She finds herself
outside a church
and she creeps into the back
and she hears this message
about the grace of God.
And she thinks,
what if that could be possible
for me?
And she decides to take a risk
and she goes
all the way back home.
And as she is walking
across the hill
she sees a light
in the window.
And she runs
into her Father's arms.
And he writes
in the book that night,
"My darling daughter
lost on -- found"
and puts the new date in.
And that's what Christmas
is all about.
We're all messed up,
we're all lost,
but when you've placed
your trust in Jesus,
he writes your name
in the Lamb's Book of Life
and nobody gets to touch it.
TAMMY: Welcome home.
Welcome home.
RANDY: I think that Christmas
for many people
is like that lamp.
It is that reminder that
okay, maybe there is
some hope in this dark world.
This is a very --
we joke about
you leaving the trees up
and things like that
but I think there is something
really deep going on
even within you
that you're able to express
through your love
of the meaning
behind so many things
about Christmas.
I don't know,
where are you in your life
that --
what's important to you now?
I'm just curious.
SHEILA: That's
a great question, Randy,
and let me relate it
to one of the days in here.
Because I've never liked
mistletoe.
Because people hold it up
and they're supposed
to kiss you.
I was not
an attractive teenager.
I mean, I had bad skin
and greasy hair
and I was plumper
than I am at the moment.
In Scotland,
we eat for ballast.
It's windy.
So we eat to stay secure
on a windy night.
I just wasn't
an attractive girl,
that's how I felt about myself
anyway.
So mistletoe was always --
I avoided it like the plague.
But it was only recently
when I was doing
some research for this
that I found that mistletoe,
it's called,
I think it is called
the thief of the forest.
Mistletoe cannot survive
on its own.
Unless mistletoe attaches
to another tree
and draws all its nourishment
from the tree it will die.
And the more
I've begun to understand
about my own life,
that I cannot survive
without Jesus.
And I don't just mean
three weeks down the line,
I mean today.
I mean every single moment.
So understanding this joy.
And I saw when we were in --
I was in Israel this year,
earlier,
and being able to talk
to some Jewish people there
about the honor of being
grafted into the tree;
about that those being
my ancestors now too,
Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob and David.
But it made me realize again
that God has left
these pictures everywhere of,
look at that,
do you understand
what that's saying?
That we need to be grafted in.
So to answer your question is,
I've never been in a place
where I feel more dependent
on Jesus.
More --
because I still struggle
with my own dark days
and that's why one
of the reasons
I wanted this to be
an encouragement to people.
Because I think people
used to think years ago
you give your life to Christ
and then it is just
plain sailing
but it is not.
Last night,
interestingly enough,
I was studying that passage
where Paul is talking
about his thorn in the flesh
but realizing that Paul
had this unusual gift,
and he doesn't tell us.
He says,
"I was taken up to heaven,
whether I was in my body
or I wasn't I'm not sure.
And I heard things
and I saw things
I'm not allowed to talk about
down here."
And he said,
"In case I became too boastful
I was given this thorn
in the flesh."
I am so -- and I'm not like,
Lord, get me out of here.
I think, Lord, make me
useful while I'm here.
But I have such a sense
of the fact
that our real lives,
it's almost not begun yet.
We're in this place
where the whole point
is to become more like Jesus.
And so that's really,
like my heart is like Lord,
every single day
I want to become
more like Jesus.
I don't want to become
like the times
we're living in.
Even people we all know
who are like, you know what?
Yeah, I'm not so sure
about my faith anymore.
And I'm not so sure
about that.
And I'm not so sure
about any of that.
And I'm more sure of that
than I have ever been.
But the Word of God,
you can rest your life on.
RANDY: At the risk
of sounding a little weird.
SHEILA: Oh, Randy,
we all know and love you
just the way you are.
RANDY: You think about
nine months in the womb
and we don't remember that
but we were there.
But it is formative.
And it's preparing us
for living in this world.
I wonder sometimes
if this life isn't like
the womb spiritually,
preparing us for eternity.
SHEILA: No, I get that.
I think
that's a great illustration.
Or it is like a seed.
I used to wonder
how must my grandmother
could take these bulbs
that looked like nothing
and plant them.
And then suddenly,
when spring came, there were
these gorgeous flowers.
I think that's a bit like
because I used to think,
Lord, I long for something
that nothing down here
is working for.
You know,
you think if I could just
get a nice house.
If I was just married,
if I could only have a kid.
If I could just get that job.
Or if I could
just be ten pounds thinner
then I'd be happy.
And I used to despise
the longing,
now I embrace the longing
because it is there
for a purpose.
It is to remind us
we're not home yet.
RANDY: What better reminder
than Christmas?
Okay,
so I have a lot more things
to ask you about.
We didn't talk
about candy canes
or the shepherds
or the Christmas star
or Tickle Me Elmo.
[Laughing]
Can you do another program?
SHEILA: I'd love to!
RANDY: Because
I know people love Christmas.
And I know people will want
to get The Gifts of Christmas.
In fact, Tammy, I'd love
to send this to everybody
who is watching.
And we're going to ask you
to do something.
If you will support
our outreach
to show people the love
that we're talking about,
this Christmas love
that God is with us,
then we will gladly
send this to you
when you request it.
But watch this
and see how you can be
a blessing to someone.
ISAK: All there is, is the dry, burnt-out remnants
of the last crops that were here,
the dry soil that is a testament
to the fact that nothing can grow here.
Monica has brought her child here
to this screening clinic
in the Kabul area of Angola today.
You can see, I don't have to describe
the condition of this child.
You can see that this child is suffering.
But you know the reality is
it is not just a lack of crops.
It is not just dry, parched soil,
it's lives.
Lives that have been stolen by the lack of food.
Not a war,
not some human-made crisis,
simply the fact
that there isn't enough rainfall to grow crops
to feed their children.
And that is what is stealing their lives.
This child is suffering from severe malnutrition.
Why? Because there is no food at home.
Literal starvation,
children in these areas are starving to death,
and children dying of malnutrition.
Many parents telling us, we don't know what to do.
We don't know where to turn.
We've done everything we can do --
but we can't feed our children.
For five years there has been a drought in this country
that's meant that mothers like Veronica
are not able to grow food for their children,
and are not able to provide
what their children need.
And you can see that this child Samuel
is just a representation
of more than 250 children
that are here today,
250 mothers that have brought their children
saying, "Please! Help me!
"Help me save my child's life."
The solution is food.
The solution is expressing God's heart
and extending his hands.
And I'm asking you to do that today, please.
Give that gift.
Give the gift of food.
Give the gift of life.
TAMMY: They have done
everything they can do
but they can't feed
their children.
But I want to help.
I want to be the one to help.
And I want to ask you
if you would consider
helping as well.
They're doing everything
they can do
but they need help.
So I know you hear us often,
every day, talking about
the need out there
and asking you
to help join with us and
make a difference in the lives
of these children.
I hope you don't grow weary.
I hope it is not hard
to keep hearing the stories.
And especially
for those people
over in those countries
that are hurting
so desperately
and are asking for help,
I hope we think about them
in this season, in this moment
to know that
we can be a difference.
Randy,
there is something simple
that we can do.
We've seen it,
we've been there
as we've traveled.
We know that that bowl --
that bowl is filled with life.
Every time
we give this to a child
and fill it up,
it changes their life.
I know that we want
to stop them from going
into a malnutrition clinic.
And we've been there too.
And I hold this
because I'm thinking,
I've been with children
that have been even tinier,
their wrist, than that.
So I know
we want to stop that.
There is a way
we can do that together.
And I know that you've been
a part of that too.
RANDY: Yeah,
it is the success of
the Mission Feeding outreach.
Literally, 350,000 children
every day get a bowl of food
because of your love.
Now let me explain
how it works.
The way we have people
on the ground,
systems in place,
and a track record
of doing this
so that we're able
to get food to people,
your gift today of $30
will help feed three children
for the next three months.
Your gift of $100
would help feed ten children
for the next three months.
So it really is that easy.
Many of you could give
$1,000, $5,000, $10,000,
whatever God
has enabled you to do.
I just ask you
to take a moment and say,
God, what would you have me do
to share your love?
Now, you can get
into the complexities
of the various situations
where we feed
but the bottom line for me
is regardless of the reasons
why someone
is in that situation
where they can no longer
feed their children,
the response
is what's critical in my mind.
Because we serve a God
who says,
don't forget the poor.
When you see someone in need,
don't withhold good
when it's in your power
to do something good.
So for me,
the world is a mess.
We know this.
There are all sorts
of negative things going on.
And sometimes,
it is just the circumstance
of weather,
the crops don't come in.
It doesn't matter to me.
I look at it and say,
what are we to do
as followers of Christ
to show his love to someone
who is hurting,
to people who are dying?
And this is it --
Mission Feeding.
We go in, we give them food,
we tell them why we're there.
We share the love of Christ
in word and deed.
I just pray
you will respond in love
to these people
who are dying and hurting.
Go to the phone, go online,
and make the best gift
you can.
Across the continent of Africa,
children are suffering, facing severe malnutrition
and even death.
With food reserves gone
and many areas experiencing severe famine,
we urgently need to replenish supplies
to keep feeding the 350,000 children
who are counting on us.
Through LIFE's Mission Feeding outreach,
your gift of love can be an answer to prayer
for a hurting and hungry child
in their time of need.
Call now with your lifesaving gift
of $30, $50, or $100 to help feed and care
for three, five, or ten children
for three full months.
With your gift of any amount,
we'll send you the brand-new LIFE Planner
bound in soft-touch leather.
This planner will help you in your daily walk
with space for you to record your appointments,
goals, inspirational notes, and prayers.
With your gift of $100 or more,
please request the "God's Promise" serving bowl.
This beautiful and versatile ceramic bowl
is decorated with 2nd Corinthians 9:8
and will make a lovely addition
to your table or home.
Finally, with your gift of $1,000 or more
to help feed and care for 100 children,
be sure to request our inspiring bronze sculpture,
"Consider the Birds,"
inspired by Jesus' words
in Matthew 6:26.
Please call, write, or make your gift online today.
TAMMY: Thank you so much,
honestly, for the way that
you've given to the ministry
for so many years.
Truly, you must know
the difference
that you're making in
the lives of so many people,
especially right now
at Christmas time.
What a gift we get to be
to so many children,
especially,
and they're families.
What a gift Sheila is to us.
I want to make sure
to get you this book.
The Gifts of Christmas:
"25 joy-filled devotions
for Advent."
It is an amazing gift
year round
but especially right now.
So when you request it,
we're going to get it to you
today.
Sheila, we love you so much.
SHEILA: Love you too.
It's an honor being with you.
RANDY: We look forward
to doing another program
with you.
Y'all come back
because we've got more.
We're going to talk
about Christmas a little more
with Sheila and Tammy.
TAMMY: I love it.
RANDY: Don't miss it.
We'll see you again next time.
♪
For over 60 years,
LIFE Outreach International has shared
the transforming truth of God's love
in both word and deed.
Call now to become a Friend for Life.
Your monthly support will help us continue
to bring God's love to a world in need.
SHEILA: It's always been about God's redemptive plan;
that we don't have to live alone anymore.
That God has come to us.
Tomorrow!
LIFE Today is made possible by the supporters of LIFE Outreach International.
Your gift will be used exclusively for the exempt purposes of LIFE.
The ministry features specific outreaches
as examples of the programs it supports and conducts.
Gifts are considered to be without restriction
as to use unless explicitly stipulated by the donor.
The ministry is a member of the ECFA.