Phil, like the song says, in a cave.  Just 
because the Word says, manger, people assume 
stable.  I read somewhere that swaddling clothes  could be a sign of death.

earlier, Phil Scovell, wrote:
>I've posted this before but it's time to do so again.
>
>Bill Rice has been dead for many years.  He was a cowboy early on in his
>life.  He later went into ministry work.  When he died, he owned a 1500 acre
>ranch out east in one of the Carolinas, as I 
>recall, but his full time ministry
>had turned into a ministry for the deaf.  Every summer, about 1500 deaf people
>came to his ranch and would spend two or three weeks on the ranch.  They rode
>horses, camped out, sat around huge bond fires, and those trained in sign
>language would translate everything, including the Bible studies they had, and
>the preaching services.
>
>Bill went to the Bible lands once, maybe more than once, but this one time
>I know about, he said, during an off time, he asked the guide to take him to a
>place that he, the guide, thought was like where Jesus was truly born.  The
>guide explained to him that throughout  Palestine, especially in those days,
>they didn't need stables or barns because of all the thousands of small caves
>throughout the countryside.  Of course, many 
>were likewise buried in such caves.
>Anybody come to mind right off whom you can think of?  Jesus for example?
>Anyhow, before speaking on this same topic today at church, I read through the
>Christmas stories, so called, and realizing I didn't see the word "stable" in
>the stories, I did a computer search.  I was positive that I had read the word
>"stable" in the birth of Jesus passages of Scriptures.  Guess what?  The word
>isn't even in the Gospels.  Yes, it says he was 
>wrapped in swaddling clothes and
>laid in a manger, but it says nothing about a barn or a stable.
>
>Bill rice said the guide took him to a cave which had been used once as a
>stable for farm animals.  The cave was empty at the time so Bill asked the man
>if it was ok for him to go inside.  The guide said that there was no light but
>he was welcome to enter.  Bill said when he stepped inside, the smell nearly
>knocked him out.  This was coming from a cowboy who was used to being around
>such smells.  Secondly, Bill said that the animal manure he stepped into came
>nearly to his boot tops.  The entire cave was like this.  He moved around and
>examined the manger that was there.  He stood in 
>this cave and realized for the
>first time in his life, this was really like the 
>true humble birth of the God of
>the universe.  He said it changed his life just thinking about it.  It has
>changed my life since I heard this story, too.  I trust it will change your
>thoughts about Christmas and who Jesus really is.  Think of it.  If this was
>like the place Jesus was born, that is, in a 
>cave, he was also buried in a cave,
>and rose again from a cave.  Go Jesus.  Show 'um.
>
>It Sounds Like God To Me
>WWW.SafePlaceFellowship.com

John
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