We're All in Jail

I’ve never committed a crime or had reason to sit in a jail cell, but I imagine it would be a pretty desperate situation to find oneself in.  Can you imagine the tiny space, the cold stone floor, the drab gray bricks, the public potty with absolutely no privacy, the lack of daylight, and the complete boredom?  I think I’d go insane after a couple of hours, not to mention a couple of months, and certainly not a few years.

And then what if you were all alone?  No parents or rich uncle to come bail you out?  I cannot visualize a more miserable scenario.

Guess what.  That IS our condition!  We were locked in our sin with no way out.  Oh, we could be nice to the jailer, but that would never get rid of the awful things we’ve already done.

But there’s good news!  Someone HAS come to bail us out, and His Name is Jesus.  We were under a sentence of death, so God in His great love sent us His only Son to redeem us from our jail cells.  It’s His Birth we celebrate at this time of year—what an awesome gift—and it’s His Death on the cross that swings the cell door wide open!  Jesus paid a debt He didn’t owe, because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay. 

Is there any gift you could receive this Christmas better than the promise of eternal life?  I don’t know about you, but there’s no package sitting under my tree that surpasses living forever in heaven.  And the gift is yours.  All you have to do is take it.  Revelation 3:20 will tell you how!

Camouflage

I have one more fun game for you to play when family or friends gather at your house for Christmas.  To prepare for this game, you’ll need to locate 20-25 small objects, such as a wooden matchstick, a safety pin, a red thumbtack, a paper clip, a white button, etc.  “Camouflage” is a search for these objects hidden IN PLAIN SIGHT in your living room, kitchen, entrance, or wherever you decide to tell your guests they have been placed.  The key is to hide them beside something of the same color so that they are not noticed.  It is always fun at the end to show your guests that the objects were “right under their noses,” such as the red thumbtack hidden in this wallpaper border or the silver key glued to this phone plate.

                           

For example, a black shoelace could be tied around the black leg of a piano.  A paper clip could be hung on a metal light fixture or from a chandelier.  It is important to emphasize to your guests that the objects are not UNDER anything but in plain sight beside something of a similar color.  Also, guests should be instructed not to give away the locations of the objects when they find them.  After all, why help anyone else in a game that’s a competition?  Give your company a limited amount of time to find the objects, such as ten minutes, or maybe fifteen if you have hidden quite a few things, then have a prize for the person who finds the most.  When you are going back over the list, let the guests who found the items show the others where they were hidden, something that will make them feel victorious!  

Before everyone arrives, type out a list of all the objects you are hiding, such as the list below, then make copies and give each person one, along with a pencil to write down where he/she found the particular item.  Your guests will love it, I promise!

ITEM                                 WHERE FOUND

1.  Penny                           ____________________________

2.  Bobby Pin                    ____________________________

3.  Key                              ____________________________

4.  Toothpick                     ____________________________
5.  Silver Earring                ____________________________

Ho Ho Ho!

If you’re planning a Christmas party, allow me to share with you two games your family and friends will love to play—games that will provide lots of fun and laughs. 

Divide your guests into two teams, and you’re ready to play “The Last Shall Be First.”  One team starts by naming a well-known Christmas carol.  Then you call out the LAST letter of that song for the benefit of the other team, who in turn must come up with a Christmas carol that STARTS with that letter.  Next name the last letter of their song, and the first team must think of a carol that starts with the new last letter.  Each team has fifteen seconds to come up with a correct title.  When a team is stumped, the other team scores a point, and the first team to score three points wins! 

Allow me to demonstrate exactly how this plays out:  Let’s say Team A starts the game by yelling out “Jingle Bells” for their song.  Then you say, “Now Team B, give me  a song that starts with an S,” to which they reply “Silent Night.”  Following that, you say, “Team A, a song that begins with the letter T,” and they respond with, “The First Noel.”  Team B must think of a song beginning with an L and could come back with “Let It Snow.”  The game continues until one team cannot think of a title within the time limit, and the opposing team scores.  The game is super entertaining so your guests may want to play again!

                                                                               

                                                                      

The second game I call “The Smells of Christmas.”  Round up all the candles in your house or buy enough small candles so that you have one for every guest.  On a piece of paper write numbers from one to the number of guests who will be playing.  Copy the  name of each scent beside a number.  Next write the numbers ONLY on a different sheet of paper, cut them apart, and glue each number onto the corresponding bottom of the candle with that scent, carefully covering the name of the scent.  Have your guests sit in a circle, and hand each one a piece of paper and a pencil, along with a candle.  Have them number the paper from one to the number of guests participating in the game.  Explain to them that they will have ten seconds to smell the candle, then write down the name of the scent beside the number of that candle.  Give them ten seconds to identify the smell before saying “Pass the candles.”

The game is over when everyone has smelled each candle, and the person with the most correct scents wins!  Don’t forget that prizes always make a victory more fun!

True or False?

I’ve got another fantastic game for you to play with your friends over the holidays.  I say “friends” because most likely family members will know you too well to pull this game off with any degree of credibility.  I’m speaking of a game called “True or False.”  It’s big fun, and your guests will love it.

To speed things along, I give my company a “heads-up” about the game before they arrive.  If I don’t, chances are they will not be able to come up with a convincing memory on the spot.  I ask them to think of a time they did something extremely unusual or daring or strange and to practice telling that event in a couple of minutes or less.  Then I tell them also to invent another “story” about themselves that is NOT true yet quite incredible or jaw dropping.

When we’re ready to play the game, I pass out paper and pencils to all my guests.  Then starting at one end of the room, I invite the first person to tell his/her two stories, one true and the other false.  It doesn’t matter which order they tell them in.

For example, my first guest would say, “My “A” story is that I once had a date with an Olympic gold-medal winner, and my “B” story is I met Elvis when he was stationed at Ft. Hood and had my picture made with him.”  Then the remaining guests write the person’s name beside #1 and which letter they think represents the TRUE story.  Every person takes a turn, and at the end, we start over with Person 1 again. He or she tells which story is the true one, and everyone else marks that number right or wrong, depending on if they guessed correctly.

The fun comes in hearing more details about the true story.  I can guarantee that True or False will provide your party with lots of great conversation, quite a few surprises, and lots of laughs!

Stay tuned because next week I’ll share with you two games perfect for a Christmas party!