When children act out the nativity in a school play or nursery group, it really doesn't have much in common with the historical Christmas.
Over the course of time, we've cut huge, crucial bits out. We've added in nice but completely made-up details. We've made it into a tale for children and forgotten the real events. There were certainly no kings or a donkey!
We have turned Christmas history into a nativity play.
I don't want to spoil the party. Nativity plays are a part of the whole Christmas experience, along with desperate last-minute shopping and sending cards to people who you didn't make the effort to see last year. I've been in the front row of both my son's nativity plays smiling proudly. It's just that the real Christmas is much more interesting than what we've turned it into. It's worth rescuing and re-telling.
And that is just what Carl Laferton has done in Christmas Uncut. Read more HERE and get the book for just £1 until midday on Monday. Simply use the code cu1113 at the checkout.
Dean is the Sales Manager at The Good Book Company. He engages with churches, organisations and individuals to provide them with useful resources for their varying ministries. Dean attends St John's Church in Woking, where he lives with his family.