Heaven is Definitely For Real!

Since we first opened one of our most popular books has continued to be "Heaven is for Real."  The story of little Colton Burpo and his journey to heaven has captured the hearts of many.  Folks just keep coming in to get the book and pass it along to others.

Last October the Burpos added another book to the collection entitled, "Heaven Changes Everything."  Filled with short chapters on the implications of the original book, it makes a great devotional and/or study on the reality of heaven.

At Swannanoa First Baptist we will be celebrating our 128th Anniversary Homecoming by giving away copies of "Heaven is for Real" to anyone giving at least $5 toward our Nehemiah Fund offering to get our church absolutely debt-free.  I will be preaching from Philippians Chapter 1, where Paul wrote those powerful words about his desire to go on to heaven, which he described as "gain."  It is a powerful message on the reality of eternal life and the consequences of missing it.  I'll be sharing some other powerful stories of those who have returned from death to tell their stories.

At Greentree you can get "Heaven is For Real" for only $6.95, "Heaven Changes Everything" for only $9.95, and several other books on heaven.  We have D. L. Moody, Trudy Harris, Billy Graham and Joni Eareckson Tadi, and others writing about the reality of heaven.  Come by and check out the great selection for yourself and share one with a friend.

Books on heaven make great Mother's Day gifts, but we also have some other gift items to thrill that special mom in your life.  New artwork, Bible covers, magnets, coffee mugs, jewelry and figurines are all available now.  Come on in while the selection is good, and don't forget the Mother's Day card!

See you soon at Greentree!

Anniversary Sale!

Can you believe we have been in business at Biltmore Square Mall for TWO YEARS???  During the same time we have watched several Christian bookstores close and others scale back their business due to the tough economic climate.  We are truly thankful to God to still be here providing a great selection of books, Bibles, greeting cards, gifts and toys for your family.  And, to celebrate we will be having our great Anniversary Sale, now through March 30.  Here's just a sampling of some of the extra deals that can be found ONLY in our Biltmore Square Outlet Store:

• All greeting cards, buy one, get one FREE
• Christian themed T-shirts for spring - 20% off our already discounted prices
• Bible Covers also an extra 20% off
• All Jewelry except Calypso - 20% off
• Melissa & Doug Sale featuring ALL PUZZLES - buy one, get one FREE
• All Sunny Patch products - buy two, get one FREE
• All Beeposh pants and boots - 40% off

We continue to have great Easter items available at discount prices.  And, don't forget to give a copy of Heaven is For Real this Easter for only $6.95 each.  That's $10 off retail price!  Check out our entire selection of books on Heaven and Easter with prices that will bless your Easter basket!

Thanks for a wonderful first two years.  We trust you will have a wonderful Passover and Easter season as we celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Greentree will be closed on Easter Sunday, April 31.  We hope you will worship somewhere with a congregation of other believers celebrating this holy day of our faith.  If you don't have a church home, I would invite you to worship with us at Swannanoa First Baptist Church, where I'll be preaching a message entitled, Searching for the Living Among the Dead, from the Gospel of Luke.  It will be a message for our times on the resurrection and its importance today as our world searches for meaning in the dead philosophy and politics of our generation.  

Marvelous March!

We are all about ready for SPRING, so hop on down to Biltmore Square Mall and find some great deals this month!  The Munchkin Market returns this week with a great selection of kids clothes and toys for your little ones.  Bring any Munchkin Market receipt into Greentree this weekend and get an extra 20% off any Melissa & Doug item or a children's book.  And, yes, that even includes children's Bibles!  Since all of those items already carry the great Greentree outlet prices, you can really save big with an extra 20%.

If you are watching the Bible series on the History Channel, you can pick up some of the books that go along with the series at Greentree.  We also have a great supply of Easter books, DVDs, greeting cards and those wonderful resurrection eggs.  If your little one likes Veggie Tales, browse our $6.97 bargain collection of DVDs.  And, we've just added a new line to our Bible covers with bright new colors for spring.

We are also blessed to be serving the First Baptist Church of Swannanoa during their transition time searching for a new pastor.  The highlight of our year is the Easter Passion Play, which will have six performances starting March 15.  Evening performances are on Friday and Saturday along with a Sunday afternoon performance the weekends of March 15 - 17 and 22-24.  And, don't miss our special guest speaker, Rabbi Andy Meyerson, on March 17 at the 11:00 am service at First Baptist.  For more information or free tickets to the Passion Play, call the church at (828) 686-5123.

We traditionally emphasize the cross and resurrection during the Easter season, but we also have a great sale on the Heaven is For Real series.  Yes, the resurrection is proof positive that Jesus Christ meant what He said when He promised eternal life to His followers.  Heaven is for Real is the poignant true story of a little boy who experienced it first hand and astounded everyone with his account of heaven's reality.  The book carried an original $16.99 retail price, but we have it at only $6.95.  The newest book, Heaven Changes Everything, is also available at only $9.95.  This hardback new release by Todd Burpo is a great follow-up to the story of his son, Colton, from the first book.  Get 'em both for Easter to read and share.

Let me leave you with a final scripture for the season.  I'll be using it as the basis for my Easter message, "Searching for the Living Among the Dead," which presents our futile attempts to find meaning in life's empty materialism, false religions and social jungles in contrast to the real life found in our resurrected Lord.  If you do not have a church home in which to celebrate Easter, I invite you to join us at Swannanoa First Baptist to hear this powerful message of new life in Christ.

"Why are you looking for the living among the dead?" asked the men.  "He is not here, but He has been resurrected!" (from Luke, chapter 24, HCSB)

The Great Valentine Sale

Now through February 14 we are featuring some fantastic bargains in our Biltmore Square store.  Here's a sampling of some of the great deals you'll find at Greentree this week:

• All Valentine Cards are just $1 each while they last
• Jewelry (except Calypso) is an extra 20% off
• All Melody Carlson books are buy one, get one free
• All calendars and planners have been reduced to ridiculous prices
• All Gina B and Carol Wilson note card sets are an additional 20% off
• All Bee Posh by Melissa & Doug is an additional 20% off
• Special selection of Veggie Tale tote bags are 50% off
• Bargain books that sell at a great reduced price of 2.95 to 3.95 can be bundled at 4 for $10

We will also be getting new shipments of great books and Bibles in the coming week to add to our great selection of over 9000 titles at up to 80% off retail.  To make room for these we have some books clearance priced as low at 99 cents!

So, make your plans to drop by Greentree this week and sample the great bargains!

February - Time for the Best Bargains & Selection

After Christmas season it seems like everyone is hibernating for the rest of winter!  Shoppers tend to buckle down and pay off the bills from Christmas and do their best to stay away from the mall.  During those times we are catching our breath, working on taxes and RESTOCKING!

That means you may find the absolute best selection of the year.  New gift, art, book and toy items are coming in almost daily.  And, we don't wait for a holiday to give you a great price.  Just today I spoke with one of our new customers, parent of a couple of beautiful children.  She loves Melissa and Doug products and was amazed at our prices, which beat the big box toy stores every day!  She picked up a special toy for her son and went out the door saying, "I'll be back!"

That's what drives us at Greentree.  We give you the best deal possible and depend on the loyalty of our customers, who have discovered the best Christian book outlet in our region.

But let me give you another reason to drop by soon.  February is also the month when we evaluate many of our current books and gifts, marking down some of them to even more ridiculous prices to make room for the new stuff.  We can't advertise these closeouts, but you can find  them in the store every day.

This is also the time of the year to plan for a new study for your small group or discipleship class.  If you want to get that new, cutting edge study, give us a call first.  If we can find it, we will probably be able to save your group some money.  We will check all of our suppliers and get you the best possible price.

Finally, let me remind you to pick up the FREE Journey Christian News at Greentree or hundreds of other locations around the mountains.  You will find great news and opinion articles along with information on great Christian events in our area.  I write church health articles for the paper from time to time and have a blast sharing the paper with others.

When you pick up a copy of Journey, be sure to look for the Greentree ad.  Each month we feature a special coupon to save you even more money on our already discounted prices.  This month we have a coupon for an extra 20% off all Bible covers.  That's especially good since we have a wall full of them with another 200 on the way!  So come in, check out the selection, and enjoy the savings!

Happy New Year from Greentree!

From my computer I'm looking across the s's tore to our front display where a particular book has caught my eye.  The title "Get Off the Couch" speaks loud and clear!  For many of us the extra eating at the parties and fellowships from Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Year's Day have caught up with us.  It's not unusual for an American adult to put on an extra 5 to 10 pounds just during the holiday season.

So, get off that couch and come on over to Greentree and pick up a book or journal to help your New Year get started.  We have some great health and fitness books available at prices that won't empty your wallet.  And, if you take time to eat right and exercise, it's perfectly OK to sit on the couch for awhile and read a good book!

Get on your new health track with books like "What's Age Got to Do With It" by Robin McGraw, "Toxic Fat" by Barry Sears or "The Woman's Day Weight Loss Plan" all hardback books each only $5.  We also have a great 250+ page paperback "70 Ways to Beat 70" with the keys to living a longer, healthier life, also just $5.

While our journals are already a great price, they are all an extra 20% off this week.  Don't miss a single thing God is doing in your life.  Get a new journal, devotional or one of our combination books this week.  Good devotional Bibles are also available including the popular "Once-a-Day" NIV Bible for only $12.99.  It comes in a regular edition, women's, chronological and teen editions to help you read the Bible regularly this year.

We still have a few Christmas items remaining at 50% off our already discounted prices.  And, don't forget to pick up that puzzle to work on when winter traps you in the house with cold and/or snow!  Pick up the Journey Christian News anywhere in our region and find a coupon for 20% off any Melissa and Doug puzzle to work on with the kids or get that 500 piece puzzle for yourself.

Finally, let me say thank you for a great 2012.  Our first full year was a bounty of blessing coming from all the great friends we made.  The relationships with our customers is far more important than anything else, so we hope 2013 will be a year in which you grow in your faith and family.  And, we trust that Greentree can be part of your plan to make this year a Psalm 1 growing experience!

Why the World Won't be Ending Tomorrow

Dateline, December 20, 2012.  Well, we are almost there.  Almost to that fateful day when the Mayan Calendar says it all ends - or at least when some folks are claiming the Mayans said it would end.  But, will it?

The answer is an emphatic NO!  How do I know?  Because the real authority of all creation, time and the universe, the Lord Jesus Christ, said so.  No, he did not mention this date, but he did say some other things that clarify the whole situation.

First of all, concerning the Day of the Lord, he said "no one knows" the day or the hour (see Matthew 24:36).  That means no Mayan knows, no prophet knows, no fortune teller knows the last day of history.  Throughout history there have been many who came up with dates for either the end of the world or the second coming of Christ.  All have been wrong because they ignored this simple point.

Through the years I've collected a few examples of these date-setters in my files.  One of the most memorable for me was in 1988, when a Florida preacher wrote a booklet claiming 88 reasons why Jesus would come in 1988.  Similar to the preacher who predicted the Day of the Lord to occur earlier this year, these modern false prophets only succeed in making themselves look foolish.  If I had the money, I would have loved to put billboards across the country with an image of Jesus saying, "What part of 'no one knows the day or hour' did you not understand?"

Another reason I fully expect to go to work as normal tomorrow is further down in Matthew 24, when Jesus says in verse 44 that, "...the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect" (CSB).  It seems only natural that a day when thousands of deceived people are expecting the world to end would be the last possible day God would allow it to happen.

Finally, let's not forget what Peter said in his second epistle, chapter 3.  Before Jesus returns he predicts the rise of many "scoffers", who will point to the fact that years have gone by without the Second Advent.  They will openly mock it by asking, "Where is the promise of His coming?"  Every false alarm sounded about the end of the world from Y2K to the current Mayan calendar scam only builds the chorus of naysayers who doubt that Christ will ever return as He promised.

All these things must come to past before Jesus Christ returns to the earth.  But, make no mistake, He will return as He promised.  As we look around the world and see the pages of Scripture being fulfilled on every hand, we can be certain that God's timetable is set - but that day won't be tomorrow.

I look forward, as many of you do, to celebrating the Lord's Supper at Christmas with other believers.  Some view it as a sacrament, others as an ordinance, but all of us should understand one of the basic reasons Jesus told us to remember Him through the bread and the cup.

One of the most important purposes of the Lord's Table is to LOOK.  We LOOK BACKWARD to His body and blood given for us on the cross that we might be redeemed and reconciled unto God.  We LOOK INWARD to examine ourselves in the light of His love, sacrifice and resurrection.  And, we LOOK FORWARD to the promise of His coming again to restore God's reign on planet Earth.

So, keep looking backward, inward and forward, until He returns again.  Merry Christmas!