Turn Your Christmas Upside Down | Advent Conspiracy
I’ve been thinking a lot about Christmas lately.
Anyone else?
I love this time of year for so many reasons: the Christmas music, the decorations, the excitement and energy, the family and food.
For the past several years, my church has participated in something called the Advent Conspiracy Movement. It has deeply affected me. In fact, it has totally changed how I view Christmas, how I give gifts, how I see the world water crisis and more.
And this year, for the first time, I picked up the book.
It refreshed me.
Advent Conspiracy is all about reclaiming the true purpose of Christmas (worshiping Jesus) by turning from the false religion we Americans tend to embrace this time of year (worshiping stuff… and ultimately at our own expense).
It’s everything my pastors have taught me… such a grounding reminder as November flows past me in it’s typical elusive manner.
It offers not only Biblical perspective for celebrating this holiday, but also so many inspiring and practical ideas for how to celebrate differently. Ideas like:
- How to give relational and meaningful gifts rather than the random, impersonal gifts to which we tend to resort.
- How to ground ourselves and our families in the mission and heart of Christ by sacrificially serve and loving the poor, both locally and around the world.
I so love the Advent Conspiracy Movement that I hope to get the word out about this new way of thinking over the next five weeks through my blog.
I hope that many of you will find freedom and joy in this time of year that you may have been lacking, just as I have.
None of this is original to me, but I have applied it to my life and found it so rich and helpful and fulfilling. I’ll share both personal stories and examples, as well as quotes from the book and explanations of the key principles.
Christmas was never meant to be what it has become in America. It’s FAR more than the debt, idolatry, selfishness and entitlement in which it often ultimately results.
But that doesn’t mean we should give gifts.
So stayed tuned in the coming weeks as we explore the four tenets of Advent Conspiracy:
Now, watch this video:
And if you’re interested, let me encourage you to read the book Advent Conspiracy: Can Christmas Still Change the World?
If you think your church might be interested in participating, check out their awesome website and resources at http://www.adventconspiracy.org/
[disclaim]There are NO affiliate links contained in this post. I am not profiting and neither is AC, just sharing about a resource I’ve found helpful for your benefit.[/disclaim]
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