One of the greatest things about the Christmas season is the smell of the Christmas tree in the house.
Happy Birthday Jesus! Merry Christmas! Welcome! This is the Lifespring Family Audio Bible and I'm coming to you from Riverside, California, podcasting since 2004.
I'm your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is the daily podcast where we're reading through the entire Bible in a year.
And tomorrow I'll be leaving with a lovely Lady Leanne on our much anticipated and much needed vacation.
But have no fear.
I've recorded enough fresh episodes that we'll stay on schedule to complete the Bible in a year.
I ought to be back on about January 13th, if all goes according to plan.
I hope you're having a wonderful Christmas.
Our reading today is Mark 13 and 14, and I'm calling the episode A Sweet Fragrance.
Plus, I'll have a special encore presentation of the Christmas story that I did with James Cooper of whychristmas.com way back in 2010 with several of our friends for the LifeSpring Why Christmas podcast.
And at the end of the show, I'll play my favorite Christmas song of all time.
Today's show notes page is at lifespringmedia.com slash S12E117.
And for the time being, my email address is steve.lifespring at gmail.com until I get the email situation ironed out.
With that, let's get right to it.
Mark chapter 13
Jesus was leaving the temple.
One of his disciples said to him,
Look, teacher, what huge stones, what wonderful buildings.
Do you see these huge buildings? Jesus asked.
Not one stone here will be left on top of another.
Every stone will be thrown down.
Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple.
Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him a question in private.
Tell us, they said, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign that they're all about to come true?
Jesus said to them,
Keep watch. Be careful that no one fools you.
Many will come in my name. They will claim, I am he.
They will fool many people.
You will hear about wars. You will also hear people talking about future wars.
Don't be alarmed. Those things must happen.
But the end still isn't here.
Nation will fight against nation.
Kingdom will fight against kingdom.
There will be earthquakes in many places.
People will go hungry.
All of those things are the beginning of birth pains.
Watch out.
You will be handed over to the local courts.
You will be whipped in the synagogues.
You will stand in front of governors and kings because of me.
In that way, you will be witnesses to them.
The good news has to be preached to all nations before the end comes.
You will be arrested and brought to trial.
But don't worry ahead of time about what you will say.
Just say what God brings to your mind at the time.
It is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
Brothers will hand over brothers to be killed.
Fathers will hand over their children.
Children will rise up against their parents and have them put to death.
Everyone will hate you because of me.
but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
You will see the hated thing that destroys.
It will stand where it does not belong.
The reader should understand this.
Then those who are in Judea should escape to the mountains.
No one on the roof should go down into his house to take anything out.
No one in the field should go back to get his coat.
How awful it will be in those days for pregnant women!
How awful for nursing mothers!
Pray that this will not happen in winter.
Those days will be worse than any others from the time God created the world until now,
and there will never be any like them again.
If the Lord had not cut the time short, no one would live.
But because of God's chosen people, He has shortened it.
At that time someone may say to you,
Look, here is the Christ, or, Look, there He is.
Do not believe it.
False Christs and false prophets will appear.
They will do signs and miracles.
They will try to fool God's chosen people if possible.
Keep watch.
I have told you everything ahead of time.
So in those days there will be terrible suffering.
After that, Scripture says, the sun will be darkened.
The moon will not shine.
The stars will fall from the sky.
The heavenly bodies will be shaken.
At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds.
He will come with great power and glory.
He will send His angels. He will gather His chosen people from all four directions.
He will bring them from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
Learn a lesson from the fig tree.
As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.
In the same way, when you see those things happening, you know that the end is near.
It is right at the door.
What I am about to tell you is true.
The people living at that time will certainly not pass away until all those things have happened.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
No one knows about that day or hour.
Not even the angels in heaven know.
The Son does not know.
Only the Father knows.
Keep watch.
Stay awake.
You do not know when that time will come.
It's like a man going away.
He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge.
Each one is given a task to do. He tells the one at the door to keep watch. So keep watch.
You do not know when the owner of the house will come back. It may be in the evening or at midnight.
It may be when the rooster crows or at dawn. He may come suddenly. So do not let him find you
sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone. Watch. Mark chapter 14. It was now two days before
Passover and the festival of thin bread. The chief priests and the teachers of the law of Moses were
planning how they could sneak around and have Jesus arrested and put to death. They were saying,
we must not do it during the festival because the people will riot. Jesus was eating in Bethany at
the home of Simon, who once had leprosy, when a woman came in with a very expensive bottle of
sweet-smelling perfume. After breaking it open, she poured the perfume on Jesus' head. This made
some of the guests angry, and they complained, Why such a waste? We could have sold this perfume for
more than 300 silver coins and given the money to the poor. So they started saying cruel things to
the woman. But Jesus said, Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She's done a beautiful thing
for me. You will always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to, you can give to them.
But you won't always have me here with you. She has done all she could by pouring perfume on my
body to prepare it for burial. You may be sure that whenever the good news is told all over the
world, people will remember what she has done, and they will tell others. Judas Iscariot was one of
the twelve disciples. He went to the chief priests and offered to help them arrest Jesus. They were
glad to hear this, and they promised to pay him. So Judas started looking for a good chance to
betray Jesus. It was the first day of the festival of thin bread, and the Passover lambs were being
Jesus' disciples asked him, Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal?
Jesus said to two of the disciples, Go into the city, where you will meet a man carrying a jar of water.
Follow him, and when he goes into a house, say to the owner,
Our teacher wants to know if you have a room where he can eat the Passover meal with his disciples.
The owner will take you upstairs and show you a large room, furnished and ready for you to use.
Prepare the meal there.
The two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had told them,
so they prepared the Passover meal.
While Jesus and the twelve disciples were eating together that evening,
he said, The one who will betray me is now eating with me.
This made the disciples sad, and one after another they said to Jesus,
You surely don't mean me.
He answered, It is one of you twelve men who is eating from this dish with me.
The Son of Man will die, just as the Scriptures say, but it is going to be terrible for the one
who betrays me. That man would be better off if he had never been born. During the meal,
Jesus took some bread in his hands. He blessed the bread and broke it. Then he gave it to his
disciples and said, Take this, it is my body. Jesus picked up a cup of wine and gave thanks to God.
He gave it to his disciples, and they all drank some.
Then he said, This is my blood, which is poured out for many people, and with it God makes
his agreement.
From now on I will not drink any wine, until I drink new wine in God's kingdom.
Then they sang a hymn, and went out to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus said to his disciples, All of you will reject me, as the scriptures say, I will strike
down the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.
But after I am raised to life, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.
Peter spoke up, Even if all the others reject you, I never will.
Jesus replied, This very night, before a rooster crows twice,
you will say three times that you don't know me.
But Peter was so sure of himself that he said,
Even if I have to die with you, I will never say I don't know you.
All the others said the same thing.
Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he told them,
Sit here while I pray.
Jesus took along Peter, James, and John.
He was sad and troubled and told them,
I am so sad that I feel as if I am dying.
Stay here and keep awake with me.
Jesus walked on a little way.
Then he knelt down on the ground and prayed,
Father, if it is possible, don't let this happen to me.
Father, you can do anything. Don't make me suffer by drinking from this cup,
but do what you want and not what I want. When Jesus came back and found the disciples sleeping,
he said to Simon Peter, Are you asleep? Can't you stay awake for just one hour? Stay awake and pray
that you won't be tested. You want to do what is right, but you are weak. Jesus went back and
prayed the same prayer. But when he returned to the disciples, he found them sleeping again.
They simply could not keep their eyes open, and they did not know what to say.
When Jesus returned to the disciples the third time, he said,
Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough of this!
The time has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to sinners.
Get up, let's go. The one who will betray me is already here.
Jesus was still speaking when Judas the betrayer came up.
He was one of the twelve disciples, and a mob of men armed with swords and clubs were with him.
They had been sent by the chief priests, the nation's leaders, and the teachers of the law of Moses.
Judas had told him ahead of time, Arrest the man I greet with a kiss. Tie him up and lead him away.
Judas walked right up to Jesus and said, Teacher. Then Judas kissed him. And the men grabbed Jesus
and arrested him. Someone standing there pulled out a sword. He struck the servant of the high
priest and cut off his ear. Jesus said to the mob, Why do you come with swords and clubs to arrest me
like a criminal? Day after day I was with you and taught in the temple, and you didn't arrest me.
But what the scriptures say must come true. All of Jesus' disciples ran off and left him.
One of them was a young man who was wearing only a linen cloth, and when the men grabbed him,
he left the cloth behind and ran away naked. Jesus was led off to the high priest.
Then the chief priests, the nation's leaders, and the teachers of the law of Moses all met together.
Peter had followed at a distance, and when he reached the courtyard of the high priest's house,
he sat down with the guards to warm himself beside a fire.
The chief priests and the whole council tried to find someone to accuse Jesus of a crime
so they could put him to death, but they could not find anyone to accuse him.
Many people did tell lies against Jesus, but they did not agree on what they said.
Some men stood up and lied about him. They said, We heard him say he would tear down this temple
that we built. He also claimed that in three days he would build another one without any help.
But even then they did not agree on what they said. The high priest stood up in the council and asked
Jesus, Why don't you say something in your own defense? Don't you hear the charges they are
making against you? But Jesus kept quiet and did not say a word. The high priest asked him another
question. Are you the Messiah, the Son of the glorious God? Yes, I am, Jesus answered. Soon
you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right side of God All-Powerful and coming with the
clouds of heaven. At once the high priest ripped his robe apart and shouted, Why do we need more
witnesses. You heard him claim to be God. What is your decision? They all agreed he should be put
to death. Some of the people started spitting on Jesus. They blindfolded him, hit him with their
fists, and said, Tell us who hit you. Then the guards took charge of Jesus and beat him. While
Peter was still in the courtyard, a servant girl of the high priest came up and saw Peter warming
himself by the fire. She stared at him and said, You were with Jesus from Nazareth. Peter replied,
That isn't true. I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have any idea what you mean.
He went out to the gate, and a rooster crowed. The servant girl saw Peter again and said to the
people standing there, This man is one of them. No, I'm not, Peter replied. A little while later,
some of the people said to Peter, You certainly are one of them. You're a Galilean. This time,
Peter began to curse and swear, I don't even know the man you're talking about. At once,
the rooster crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had told him,
Before a rooster crows twice, you will say three times that you don't know me.
So Peter started crying. You know that fragrances, aromas, smells can have an enormous effect on us,
right? One of the greatest things about the Christmas season is the smell of the Christmas
tree in the house. It brings back memories of Christmas's past, and it just gets me into the
Christmas spirit. The smell of the classic version of Old Spice aftershave makes me think back to when
I was a little boy and watching my dad shave. And the lovely Lady Leanne has a favorite perfume that,
whenever I catch a whiff of it, makes me think of her. As I was reading Mark 14, which I have many,
many times, something occurred to me that I've never thought of before. It was when Jesus was
in the home of Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
You may remember an earlier time when Jesus visited their home. He was speaking, and Martha
was busy being a hostess, probably preparing a meal, making sure everyone was comfortable,
and keeping the house in order. Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet, hanging on every word. And Martha
finally complained to Jesus that Mary wasn't doing her fair share of the work, and Jesus said,
Calm down, Martha. It's okay. Don't worry about the little things. Concentrate on what is important.
Well, here in our chapter today, Jesus knows that his crucifixion is literally just hours away,
and he's come to visit his beloved friends one last time. And Mary, from a deep love for this
man who has been such a good and true friend, pours an expensive and sweet-smelling perfume
on his head. And from the account of this scene in John's Gospel, we see that it must have run down
all the way to his feet, because she wiped his feet dry with her hair. Now some of the other
guests who saw this got upset. They said, We could have sold a perfume for more than 300 silver coins
and given the money to the poor. And they said some nasty things to her. But Jesus told him to
leave her alone. He said, She's done a beautiful thing for me. You will always have the poor with
you, and whenever you want to, you can give to them. But you won't always have me here with you.
She's done all she could by pouring perfume on my body to prepare it for burial. You may be sure
that whenever the good news is told all over the world, people will remember what she has done,
and they will tell others. Now here's the part that I'd never thought of before. Back then,
people rarely bathed. So there is every possibility that Jesus still had the aroma of that sweet
perfume on him when he was taken to be tried in front of the Sanhedrin, and when he was taken to
Pilate, and when he was beaten, and when he hung on the cross. I can just imagine him catching the
aroma during that beating, and when he was hanging in agony on the cross. You know that there had to
be a part of him that remembered this beautiful loving sacrifice that Mary made for him, and the
love and admiration in her eyes when she poured it on his head and wiped his feet with her hair.
And I think it made him think of his love for her and for you and me.
I think it helped to give him comfort in the darkest hour anyone has ever experienced.
What do you think? I'd like to know.
Comment at LifespringMedia.com slash S12E117.
Tomorrow's reading is 2 Corinthians 1-3.
Boost, boost, boost!
On this date in Church history, December 25th, the year 336.
The earliest reference to observing Jesus' nativity on December 25th
is found in the Philokalian calendar of 354,
which dates the Roman origin of the practice to 336.
And on this date, December 25, 1413.
In a letter composed 19 months before he was burned at the stake,
Bohemian reformer Jan Hus proclaims,
Rejoice that the immortal God is born, so that mortal men may live in eternity.
Amen to that. Hallelujah.
Let's pray.
Our Lord, how we thank you for Christmas.
Not the glitz, not the lights, not the tinsel or even the gift exchanges.
We thank you for the birth of our Savior, Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus of Nazareth.
That first Christmas gift will forever be the greatest and most costly gift.
How generous, how gracious, how loving that gift was and forever will be, Lord.
We thank you.
Today is about Jesus.
I pray that as we gather with family and friends today, or even if we're alone today,
I pray that we will remember to give Jesus our attention and love.
I pray this in Jesus' name.
Thank you.
Amen.
Well, beloved, even when I'm on vacation, please send in your prayer requests and praises.
I'll be checking my email every day and responding, and as always, I'll pray for you.
Go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com and put your prayer requests and praises in there.
Not long after I started the LifeSpring podcast, probably sometime in 2005, a listener in England
and I became email friends. His name was James Cooper, and he contributed sound bites and such,
and he told me about a website that he'd created called whychristmas.com, and he asked if I'd be
interested in doing a seasonal Christmas podcast with him. I did, and we collaborated to create the
LifeSpring Why Christmas podcast, which we did for a few years. I think it was in 2010 that we put
together what I'm going to play for you now. It's The Christmas Story, as performed by several of
our friends. James wrote it, I narrated it, and at the end of today's show, after playing my favorite
Christmas song, I'll read the cast members' names and give you a thumbnail sketch of who they are.
There are some very talented people in this cast.
Long ago, actually about 2,000 years, when King Herod ruled Judea, that's now part of Israel,
God sent the angel Gabriel to a young woman who lived in a village called Nazareth.
The girl's name was Mary, and she was engaged to marry a man named Joseph.
Gabriel suddenly appeared to Mary.
Peace be with you. God has blessed you and is pleased with you.
As you can imagine, Mary was very surprised by this and wondered what the angel meant.
But Gabriel explained more to her.
Don't be afraid, Mary. God has been very kind to you.
He's chosen you to be the mother of His own son.
You will give birth to a baby boy, and he will be called Jesus.
How can I have a baby?
You will become pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
Your baby will be God's own son, and His kingdom will never end.
Your cousin, Elizabeth, who everyone said was too old to have a baby, is six months pregnant with a baby boy.
Nothing is impossible with God.
I don't completely understand what you mean, but I trust God.
So let it happen as God chooses.
The baby Elizabeth was to have was also special.
He would be called John, and as an adult, he would prepare people to welcome Jesus.
Gabriel had told Zechariah, Elizabeth's husband, about their unexpected son when Zechariah was in the Jewish temple working as a priest.
Zechariah didn't believe the angel, so Gabriel had made him mute until after John was born.
So, a few days later, knowing her cousin was pregnant, Mary said goodbye to her family and friends and went to visit Elizabeth and Zechariah.
Elizabeth was very happy to see Mary.
She knew that Mary had been chosen by God to be the mother of His Son.
When Elizabeth saw Mary arriving, she knew that something very special had happened to Mary.
She told Mary,
God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed.
I am so honored that the mother of my God is visiting me.
When I heard you coming, the baby inside me jumped for joy.
You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what He said.
Mary was also very excited, and she sang a special song of joy to God.
With all my heart, I praise the Lord, and I am glad because of God my Savior.
God cares for me, His humble servant girl.
From now on, all people will say God has blessed me.
God, the Mighty One, has done great things for me, and His name is holy.
He shows mercy to everyone who worships Him.
The Lord has used His powerful arm to scatter those who are proud.
God drags strong rulers from their thrones and puts humble people in places of power.
God gives the hungry good things to eat and sends the rich away with nothing.
God helps His servant Israel and is always merciful to His people.
The Lord made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his family forever.
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home to Nazareth.
When Joseph found out that Mary was expecting a baby
before their marriage had taken place,
he was very worried.
He thought Mary had been unfaithful to him
and wondered if he should cancel the wedding altogether.
Then an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream.
Don't be afraid to marry Mary.
She has been chosen by God to be the mother of his son.
The baby will be called Jesus, and he will save his people.
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel had told him to do and married Mary.
At this time, the land where Mary and Joseph lived was part of the Roman Empire.
The Roman Emperor Augustus wanted to have a list of all the people in the empire
to make sure they paid their taxes.
He ordered everyone to return to the town where their families originally came from
and enter their names in a register or census there.
Mary and Joseph traveled a long way, about 70 miles or 115 kilometers,
from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the town where Joseph's family came from.
Most people walked, but some people had a donkey to help carry the goods needed for the journey.
Joseph and Mary traveled very slowly because Mary's baby was due to be born very soon.
When they reached Bethlehem, they had trouble finding somewhere to stay.
So many people had come to register their names in the census
that every house was full and every bed was taken in all of the spare rooms.
The only shelter that they could find was with the animals, in a cave, stable, or in the bottom floor of a house, where the family animals were kept.
So, in this unclean and probably smelly place, Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God.
It was the custom to wrap newborn babies tightly in a long cloth called swaddling clothes.
People thought it helped you grow straight arms and legs.
Jesus' bed was the manger, the animal's feeding trough.
Out in the hills and fields outside Bethlehem,
some shepherds were looking after their sheep through the long night.
Wow, it's cold out here!
Put another log on the fire, Amos.
But as the new day began, an angel suddenly appeared,
and the glory of God shone around the angel.
The shepherds were very, very frightened
But the angel said
Don't be afraid
I have good news for you and everyone
Today, down in Bethlehem
The Savior sent by God has been born
You will find him as a baby
Wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger
Then many more angels appeared
Lighting up the sky
All the angels sang
Praising God
Wow, that was amazing.
Let's go to Bethlehem and see what happened.
Great idea. Let's go. Come on.
Yeah, let's go. Last one there is a Philistine.
Let's go.
So the shepherds went to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph.
The baby Jesus was lying in a manger just as they had been told.
When they saw this, they told everyone what the angel had said to them.
Man, this angel just suddenly appeared!
It was so scary!
Yeah, but the angel said it was okay that a special baby had been born here in Bethlehem.
Yeah, then all these other angels were singing to God.
It was the best singing I've ever heard.
So we decided to come down and see if it was true.
And it was, just like the angel said.
Amazing.
The people who heard their story were also amazed.
And the shepherds went back to their sheep on the hills,
praising God for sending his son to be their savior.
When Jesus was born, a brand new bright star appeared in the sky.
Some wise men in a faraway country saw the star.
They were very clever men that studied the stars.
I say, that's a rather bright star up there.
Indeed, let me have a look in the old manuscripts to see if it means anything.
I've already found something.
Listen to this.
A star in that part of the sky at this time of year means that a new and very important king has been born in Judea.
So, knowing how important this event was, they set out to find the new king and bring gifts.
The wise men followed the star towards the country of Judea.
When they got to the capital, Jerusalem, they began to ask people,
Where is the child who is born to be the king of the Jews?
We've seen a special star and have come to see him.
And we brought presents.
When Herod, the king of Judea, heard this,
it made him very angry to think that someone might be going to take his place as king.
So he called the wise men to the palace and tried to trick them.
But Herod really had an evil plan to kill the new king
and wanted to use the wise men to find him.
The wise men followed the star towards Bethlehem
where the old writing said that the king would be born.
It seemed to stop and shine down directly over the house where Jesus and his family were now living.
The wise men entered the house and found Jesus with Mary.
They bowed down and worshipped him.
The wise men spread the gifts they had brought before Jesus.
The gifts were gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
In a dream, the wise men were warned by God about Herod's trick and evil plan,
so they returned home to their countries in the east by a different way.
When the wise men had gone, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream.
Get up quickly and escape to Egypt with Jesus and Mary.
King Herod wants to kill him.
Stay there until I tell you it's safe to come back.
So Joseph got up, took Jesus and Mary,
and during the night they left for Egypt, where they stayed until Herod died.
When Herod realized that he had been tricked by the wise men,
He was furious and gave orders to kill all the boys age two or younger in Bethlehem and the surrounding area.
This was to try and kill the new king, as his plan to find the location of the new king from the wise men had failed.
After Herod had died, Joseph had another dream in which an angel appeared to him.
Get up, take Jesus and Mary and go back to Israel, for the people who tried to kill Jesus are dead.
So Joseph got up, took Jesus and Mary, and they went back to Israel.
But when they heard that Herod's son was now king of Judea, Joseph was afraid to go there.
So instead, they returned to live in their old town of Nazareth.
I interviewed this man in August of 2006.
He's a talented singer and songwriter.
He's a very funny guy, and he wrote what I consider to be the best Christmas song in my lifetime at least.
He was a member of the Gaither Vocal Band, and while with that group, he wrote,
Mary Did You Know?
I don't know how many times other people have recorded this song,
but it doesn't get any better than hearing it sung by the guy who wrote it.
This is Mark Lowry with Mary Did You Know?
And remember, after the song, I'll read the credits for today's Christmas story.
I'd love to sit down with Mary.
I want to know some things.
I won't be able to ask her those questions
until I get to heaven,
but I did write a few of them down a few years ago.
And on the Gaither bus one weekend,
I handed this lyric to Buddy Green,
and he called me on Monday
and sang this to me over the phone.
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you delivered will soon deliver you, Mary.
Did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little baby, you've kissed the face of God.
The blind will see, the deaf will hear, and the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak the praises of the Lamb.
Mary
Did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I
Hell.
A huge thank you to everyone who's taken part in this recording.
James and I are very, very grateful.
Gabriel was played by Anthony Gedick, a very talented voiceover guy and a friend of mine.
He used to have a podcast on the Godcast Network.
You can find him at gettig.net, G-E-T-T-I-G.net.
Mary was played by Carmen Tyler.
You can find her at carmantyler.com.
Elizabeth was played by Natalie Nicole Gilbert,
a talented singer and voiceover artist,
who you can find at natalienicolegilbert.com.
The Angel was played by Bob Sauer,
another very, very talented voiceover artist.
He used to work for the Billy Graham organization.
He's at bobsauer.com.
Shepard number one was played by my friend, Brian Duncan at brianduncan.com.
Shepard two was played by Kenny Metcalf.
Kenny's the guy that introduced the members of what would become the band Striper to Jesus.
He also does a great tribute show to Elton John, the early years.
Shepard three was Dave D'Andrea, another very talented voiceover man.
He's at davedandrea.com.
Wise man number one was played by Ron Plouffe, my very good friend.
You can find him at griddlecakes.com.
He does a fantastic podcast.
Wise man number two was Ron Stroop.
He's at ronstroop.com.
He was an early podcaster.
Wise man number three was Rev Tim.
He was also on the Godcast Network.
King Herod was played by James Cooper.
And yours truly was the narrator.
I'll have links on the show notes page.
And that does it for this Christmas edition of the Lifespring Family Audio Bible.
Until tomorrow, and actually until January 13th, may God bless you richly.
Thank you for being here.
Have a Merry Christmas.
My name is Steve Webb.
Bye.