It's getting late and we're sorry! But, we can't miss an opportunity to reach out to everyone with an invitation to participate in our Third Annual Christmas Story Contest.

The theme of this year’s Christmas newsletter is “Good News in Bethlehem”. Of course, we know WHO the Good News is … Yeshua, Jesus, the Christ, the Promised Messiah, the Redeemer, the King, the Lord of all! Setting aside any controversy about when the Messiah came to earth in the form of a tiny child, we’re asking you as a writer to share a story from your heart based on the theme “Good News in Bethlehem” and submit it to us no later than midnight on December 1st, only a few days from today.

Here are the guidelines:

1. Your story must be submitted via email to jan@journezine.com.

2. All entries must be received by midnight on December 1st.

3. Your entry (you may submit more than one) must be no less than 300 and no more than 750 words in length; please use a word-counter to help us stay within our limit. Any entry outside the word limit will be automatically disqualified.

4. Your story must be submitted IN THE BODY OF AN EMAIL—NOT AN ATTACHMENT! Please simply copy and paste your entry into the body of an email and send it to jan@journezine.com.

5. Because this is a Christian ministry, your entry must reflect Christian principles and somehow point to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

6. Because we are pressed for time, please help us by including the following information with your submission:

7. Finally, make sure your story (or stories) are edited and in publishable form.

By submitting your story, you confirm that you allow Heart of God International Ministries to use your story in their December newsletter to be mailed to all partners and friends of the ministry, to be displayed on the websites, and to be featured in the December issue of JournEzine if your story is chosen. Also you affirm that you release to Heart of God International Ministries the rights to use your story even if you have it copyrighted. Please only submit original material—any forwards or copied or plagiarized stories will automatically be rejected by us.

We have three independent judges who will read your story (or stories) anonymously; we will have removed your name and contact information before submitting the entries to them. We affirm there will be no favoritism—each entry will stand on its own merit.

Now for the good part … the PRIZES, and we’ve made it worth your while to enter! But, in order to keep this post down to a reasonable size, we have put the guidelines and the prizes on the website. Please click on this link for further information: CLICK HERE

We are excited to be able to up to TEN of the top entries in the December 2008 issue of JournEzine, as the judges recommend, primarily depending on the number of entries. But this means you will have to get your story or stories in quickly.

If you have any questions, get back with me as soon as you can. Please feel free to pass this invitation to participate along to your friends and colleagues. We look forward to hearing from you VERY, VERY SOON!