I subscribe to podcasts from a church called Imago Dei. Rick McKinley is the pastor there. God has given him a gift of putting spiritual truths into words that are very relevant to my generation. Well, I have been hearing him talk, of late, about a thing called the advent conspiracy. I looked it up and it seems right on track.

The Lord has really been convicting me on this. What the whole thing is about is standing up against what Christmas has become and taking it back as Christians. Personally, I don't even think Christmas is something that should be celebrated once a year but rather a year round thing. Really if you look at it, we make Christmas into such a big deal when Easter should really be the big deal. Yes, God was incarnated into a man through Jesus and I'm not belittling this in any way but the true celebration should be His death on the cross and His resurrection. Through those he defeated sin and death and provided a way for our salvation and a return to a relationship with God and a hope for eternal life with Him.

OK, back to the whole Christmas thing though. As Christians, if we are going to celebrate Christmas we definitely don't want to do it like the world. Buy, buy, buy, go into debt, refinance our mortgage to cover our debt, or kill ourselves when we get our credit card bills in February. (Feb usually has the highest amount of suicides) We don't need to be going into debt to buy our children things that they will destroy in a matter of days. Even if we have the money, do we really need to lavish our children, family and friends with presents? Half the time we do it because we don't want them to think we're weird or stingy or not "with it". Gift cards are becoming more and more popular because then you don't have to put much thought into it and you won't be thought of poorly if you get them a gift that they don't like and can't return.

I like this advent conspiracy because at the heart of it they are saying, take back Christmas. Spend less money. Give gifts that actually took some time and tought. Something handmade or of your effort, that lets them know you care about them and who they are as a person.Take the money you saved and sow it into the kingdom of God. Give to the homeless, the needy. It could be someone next door or halfway around the world. Let the Holy Spirit lead. I personally feel that it is better to start as a missionary in your own backyard. It's more inconvienent and messy than sending money overseas but if you allow it, you can see God work miracles through your obedience, right in front of your very own eyes. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I hope and pray that your eyes aren't set on the materialistic viewpoint of this Holiday season.