Why It's Important for Christmas to Wait Its Turn

I went into a large box store in the days leading up to Halloween. I was shocked to see Christmas decorations and decor up already and ready to sell. I went into a dollar store and was thrown off by seeing Christmas, Halloween, and Thanksgiving decorations lining one wall. Even social media is chiming in with memes about "Santa needing to wait his turn" or "why I can choose to be holly jolly for more than one month a year."

This Christmas mania in October and November sets me ill at ease. I know that it's important to celebrate each holiday in its own season, but I struggle to articulate why.

I want Christmas to wait its turn because the Christmas season, as modeled by the consumer market, is not about anticipating Jesus' birth, but rather the Christmas season has become a time of overindulgence, overspending, greed, and gluttony.

But Christmas is not waiting its turn! And now, it is spreading throughout the year. Advent and the Christmas season used to make up 7%-11% of our year. Advent is a season of anticipating the coming of Christ. It encompasses the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas in the church year. On Christmas and for the next 11 days, many Christians celebrate Christmastide or the 12 days of Christmas. If you celebrate just Advent, it is 7% of your year. If you celebrate Advent & Christmastide, it is 11% of your year. But now, Christmas is spreading like a virus to other months, as it is approaching 25%+ of the year because it is taking over October, November, December, and even popping into July!

The beauty in mixing cultural holidays with the celebrations of the church year is being blurred and lost by the spreading of Christmas. We are missing out on a critical season of thankfulness. As soon as the air starts to turn crisp, we start thinking of what we want for Christmas and what we hope to get. We are not counting our blessings, we are looking for more stuff.

Furthermore, Christmas' meaning has become unfortunately marginalized or lost. We may still read Luke 2 as a family before we tear into our giant pile of presents, but Christmas is increasingly becoming a season to focus on indulging ourselves and surrendering to a bad case of the Christmas Gimmes. We build up our wishlists and dream of what we might get for Christmas.

Additionally, Black Friday, the unofficial start of the secular Christmas season, has been creeping into Thanksgiving. Many people leave a meal called Thanks-Giving to fight over more things to put into their houses!!

We are losing our spirit of gratitude. We are losing our ability to give thanks. We are losing sight of Christ in His manager because our presents block Him from our view. But we can invest in and cultivate a spirit of gratitude. We can relearn how to be thankful.

Ways to Cultivate a Thankful and Grateful Spirit

*Take time to brainstorm all the reasons that you have to be thankful. Not necessarily by posting things on social media, but grab a pen and paper as you write out a list of everything you have to be thankful for.

*Give thanks to God and the people He used to bless you. Thank them for what they have done and who they are.

*Take time to count your blessings.
"Count your many blessings; name them one by one"
"When I'm worried and cannot sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep. And I'll fall asleep counting my blessings."

*Keep a loose grip on your stuff...or it may get a tight grip on you! Look through your possessions to find stuff you can give away and share your blessings with others.

*Volunteer in a homeless shelter or soup kitchen! Serve on a mission trip! Find ways to interact with or serve those who have less. Remind yourself when you are serving them, that Jesus told His disciples that when we serve the stranger, the hungry, the sick, the prisoner, those who lack clothes & basic needs, we are serving Him.

*Commercials, advertisements, and window shopping awaken a spirit of discontentment, envy, and longing. Try to find more wholesome, simple pleasures to replace these activities & their negative repercussions. Take walks in the fall (or winter) weather. Take joy in seeing beautiful Christmas lights displays (as long as you are not becoming jealous & discontented over yours!) through walks or drives around town.

*Make a gratitude tree. Cut out leaves on which you & your family write blessings and things you are grateful for.

*Take time to time to sit in silence and listen to the Lord.

*Find a Bible Study (or make your own) that focuses on rejoicing, be glad, joy, thankfulness, and other similar words. Immerse yourselves in these verses and memorize them.

Remember that you are heading off in a different direction from your popular culture. It will seem like an uphill battle. You may be called a Scrooge or a Grinch for not joining in the Christmas frenzy early. Who knows? After a month of thankfulness and gratitude, you may find that your Christmas season is impacted too.

What other ways do you practice and cultivate gratefulness and thankfulness?

What Do I Put in My Mind?

What do I put in my mind? Although I could look at this question in terms of dvds, video games, or other forms of entertainment, I will answer in terms of books. Books are my primary source of entertainment, so while there are many similarities between these forms of entertainment, the wording of this post will be asking about books.

A lot of us tend to view the world in terms of black and white, right and wrong, good and evil. Sometimes, especially it seems, when it comes to entertainment, there are a lot more shades of gray than we are comfortable with.

There are multiple categories of books and not all should be read. We may be used to viewing books in two categories (good or evil), but more categories are needed to fit all the different types of books in the world. Today, we will look at three categories (good, garbage, and fluff).

Good, pure wholesome fiction or non-fiction: These books challenge you and spur you on to be more Christlike as you continue to follow His way. Some of these books encourage you to look back at how far you've come, to give you strength to keep running the race ahead of you. These are the best books (in my completely unbiased opinion).

Garbage fiction or non-fiction: These books are filled with trash, due to their language, explicit content, and ungodly examples. Garbage books make you want to take a shower after coming into contact with them. These books urge you to leave the racecourse in the name of your freedom and blaze your own trail through sin-soaked land. The path you are leaving behind is the godly path. These books are better left on the shelf or better yet, in the trash.

Empty, fluff fiction or non-fiction: These books have none (or few) of the negatives associated the garbage books, but neither do they have (many of) the positives associated with the wholesome books. I think of these books like cotton candy or a sleeping potion. They congratulate you for being such an awesome person and give you the impression that you have arrived, that you are done changing and growing.

There's a lot of confusion over the empty, fluff books. A lot of us read them and think that we are reading good books. Yet, instead of challenging you and spurring you on to go deeper into your faith, these books placate you and subtly imply that your race is done. They feed you the lie that you do not need to keep changing and for that reason, they are highly dangerous books.

I do enjoy a good fiction book, but I don't like a lot of contemporary fiction, even those sold in Christian bookstores! Books like Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys, Pollyanna, An Old-Fashioned Girl, Eight Cousins, Rose in Bloom, and more along these lines are fiction, but they still challenge me to conquer my little vices along with the characters in the books. I love fiction books that teach great Truths so subtly through their pages so that I can see Jesus just out of sight on the page. Sometimes, I'll even stop reading to join the characters in making a change to my life or house!! At the end of the day when I read this kind of book, I feel pleased with how I spent my time. It was relaxing, profitable, and challenging all at the same time.

On the other hand, when I read fluff books, I read and my life stays the same. I am not inspired to grow and change with the fictional characters. After reading this type of book, I end my day feeling mentally bloated from too much reading and dissatisfied from wasting my day. I am not a better person or more Christ-like after reading a fluff book, and that spoils the enjoyment I get from reading.

So my question for you is this: what kind of books do you read: wholesome books, fluff books, or garbage books?
What books (fiction or non-fiction) challenge you and spur you on in your efforts to be more Christ-like?
What books hold timeless truths and glimpses of the divine on their pages?
What books do you go back to reread when you need encourage to keep in the race?
What books do you recommend to others?

Doing Your Half in Marriage

A lot of times, I hear people talking about how they do their half in their marriage. But marriage isn't about doing your half. It's about two people giving it their all.

Below is a picture I took when this idea was bumping around my head. Ironically, to get this picture, I made all of the bed and then unmade my husband's half for the picture...only to remake his side too once the picture was taken.

Look at the ridiculousness of this picture. How silly the bed looks half-way made!!

All too often we Christians do this in our marriage because that is what the world teaches. Instead of following the world's teaching, we should follow Christ's way because His way is the way to life everlasting.

The world teaches us that we should only do our half of the chores, but Christ's way reminds us to be merciful, have compassion, and serve our spouse.

The world teaches us that we should nag our spouse to get things done, but Christ's way reminds us to pour ourselves out like an offering.

The world teaches us to demand our rights and our "fair" share, but Christ's way calls us to surrender our rights and treat our spouse as we want to be treated.

The world teaches us that we "deserve" Hollywood's version of romance or we have the right to look for someone else to make us happy, but Christ's way reminds us that love is patient, kind, forgiving and so much more. We look to God for our true source of joy, not another fallible human.

So the world's way or Christ's way? Halfway or all-the-way sold out. Selfish or selfless? Serving yourself or serving your spouse? Looking out for your rights/#1 or loving your closest neighbor as you love yourself?

A piece of advice? Don't just do your half in a marriage, go all the way, 100%, no reservations, completely all in for your spouse. Even if they never fully reciprocate, you still are obeying God and your marriage is getting 150% between the two of you. Don't follow the world's way, but follow God's.

Will You Choose Death or Life?

Imagine that you had a superpower. It's not the power of flight, super-speed, or invisibility, but it is the ability to cut a person down where they stand or raise the downtrodden up. What is this superpower?

It is the power of words on your tongue. It is a superpower that we all have.

Far too often, we cannot tell the difference in the conversations of a Christian and the conversations of a non-Christian. Well, one may say "heck" instead of "hell," but the conversation themes are frighteningly similar.

We even hear the same phrases uttered by either group.
"I'm just telling it like it is."
"If I'm mean/sarcastic/insulting, it's a sign that I like you."
"It's better for you to hear it from me."
"Did you hear about _______?"
"It's just a joke. Can't you take a joke? I'm just kidding; lighten up!"

Frankly, I am sickened by the use Christians have been making with this superpower. We have the power to build each other up, but we are using it to tear each other down instead. Bah!!

I expect depravity and petty hurtfulness from the world and its people, but I expect more of Christians. We who bear the name of Christ are called to be light and salt. Instead of shining light on the path to Jesus and helping to preserve people, we are shining the light on the worst areas of people to ridicule them and then rubbing salt in their wounds. We have become all too fluent in the worldly language of sarcasm. Sarcasm has no place in the life of the believer. It is cruel and is designed to hurt or cut another person down. We use sarcasm to speak rude things to each other with a laugh and a thin smile.

PEOPLE ARE DYING!! PEOPLE ARE TAKING THEIR OWN LIVES!! Why?!?!? Because culture has convinced them that they are worthless, hopeless, irredeemable, and broken. And the church is reinforcing that message instead of speaking truth, life, and hope to people. We speak words of condemnation to those who are already hurting, instead of pointing them to the true source of grace, mercy, and healing. We speak of judgment, but fail to point to the hope people can have in Jesus Christ. We cry out that the wages of sin is death, but fail to mention that the gift of God is eternal life.

The Bible has a lot to say about words and their power.

Proverbs 6:16-19 lists 6-7 things that God hates. They include a lying tongue, a wicked/scheming heart, false witnesses, and conflict stirrers in a community. How many times have we added fuel to the fire by gossiping or saying things that we know will stir the pot? God have mercy on us!

Proverbs 12:18 tells us that "the words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." Are your words piercing people and their souls like swords, or are your words bringing healing to hurting people?

Proverbs 15:4 states that "the soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit." Are your words crushing the spirit of a person, or are your words soothing and a source of life?

Proverbs 18:21 tells us that "the tongue has the power of life and death..." Are your words bringing life or death to those who hear you?

Matthew 12:35-37 is a scary passage. Jesus is teaching that good people bring good things from the good inside them, but evil people bring evil things from the evil inside them. Every person on this earth will give an account before God on the day of judgment for every empty word that they have spoken. Your words will acquit you or your words will condemn you. The danger isn't just speaking evil words, but there is an equal danger in speaking empty words. How have you been speaking?

James 1:26 tells us that if you think of yourself as religious, but yet you have a loose tongue that is not reined in, you deceive yourself and have a worthless religion. Do you keep your tongue reined in or is your religion worthless?

James 3:1-12 is a whole passage on taming the tongue. It is called boastful, corrupting, fire-setting, and a world of evil. It is a restless evil and is full of deadly poison. How can we praise God and curse man with the same tongue? People are made in God's likeness. How are you doing taming your tongue? Are you letting it set fires?

Ephesians 4:29 is a familiar passage that exhorts us to prevent unwholesome talk from coming out of our mouths. Let words that build others up according to their needs be spoken. Speak words that benefit those who listen. Do your words tear others down or build them up?

1 Peter 3:8-12 challenges us to be like-minded, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble. We should not pay back evil for evil or insult for insult, but rather we should pay back evil done to us with blessings. Do you retort with evil/insults/curses or blessings?

1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells us to "encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." Are we in fact encouraging each other and building each other up? Or are we doing something else?

Hebrews 3:13 commands us to "encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness." Do you encourage each other every day?

Your tongue is capable of speaking words of life or death. Which are you using? Which will you choose?

Citizens of God's Kingdom in an Earthly Empire

Paul talked about how to be a citizen of God's kingdom, while in an earthly empire. Throughout Acts and the Epistles, we see how Paul uses and refers to his Roman citizenship.
-He used his earthly citizenship for the benefit of God's kingdom, as we see when he pulled out the Roman citizen card to get out of an unjust beating and back to the mission field.
-He taught that we should be good earthly citizens and obey what we can.
-Yet at the same time, Paul taught that we should civilly disobey laws that contradict God and we should always resist empire idolatry.
-He showed through his life and the suffering he endured that we should follow God's law above all else, but expect to be punished by the pagan empire for such obedience.

But I have trouble imagining Paul writing a letter to the early church full of patriotic pride.
-I can't picture Paul encouraging them to put trappings of empire in the church.
-He instead encouraged them to focus on God's kingdom through reaching the people of the Empire.
-Paul taught that we should pray for the empire's leaders, but we should make sure to pray for God's kingdom to come at least as much as we pray for the empire, if not more.

Paul recognized that his cultural empire and God's kingdom were going in different directions and he decided to follow God's kingdom instead of the earthly Roman Empire.

As I reflected more on biblical-era Roman culture, I realized something profound...The USA is a modern-day Rome. We are not in a Christian culture, but rather we are in an Empire culture.

We are the Empire

An empire doesn't value young lives (Rome allowed infanticide; the USA allows abortion), but Christians should value all life, whether that life is unborn, newborn, prisoner, elderly, or enemy.

An empire celebrates violence (Rome gloried in violent games in the Colosseum; the USA revels in violent football, wrestling, and other sports in a variety of arenas), but Christians resist conforming to the patterns of the world and instead strive to overcome evil with good.

An empire practices idolatry (Rome worshiped its leaders; the USA worships its leaders and their political parties), but Christians worship the only One deserving of praise, honor, and glory.

An empire uses its military to achieve its goals (Rome prioritized and honored its strong, active military; the USA outspends the rest of the world in military spending), but Christians are peacemakers. (Look up the difference between a peacekeeper and a peacemaker). Christians love their enemies, pray for their persecutors, and turn the other cheek when attacked.

An empire encourages a hedonistic atmosphere (Rome had rampant homosexuality, prostitution, and fertility cults; the USA has the LGBTQ movement, prostitution, pornography, and the free love movement), but Christians put to death their sinful natures and keep the marriage bed pure. Christians do not participate in degrading and dehumanizing acts because they value humanity being made in the image of God.

An empire boasts of its power (Rome was thought to be the greatest empire in the world; the USA's citizens will tell you that this is the greatest country in the world), but Christians know that the Kingdom of Heaven truly is the greatest.

An empire oppresses the weak. (Rome achieved its "greatness" through oppression; the USA built its greatness on the backs of slaves, discrimination, and oppression), but Christians follow their Servant King's example as we honor one another above ourselves.

An empire's citizens are more concerned with their rights than if they should do something (Rome promoted individual rights-Paul needed to give his "you have the right to do anything, but not everything is beneficial" pitch for a reason; the USA declares that they have the right to ______ because this is the land of the free), but Christians value others above themselves as we look to the interests of others.

An empire promotes many idols. (Rome loved money, pleasure, and comfort; the USA has the same values. We consume more than our fair share of resources, in the name of our "right" to do so because of our hard work. We work long hours to earn more money to spend on ourselves), but Christians love God so much that we do not let ourselves get entangled in the trappings of the world.

You may be thinking that because you don't endorse or want the empire priorities, that therefore we are not in an empire. There were Christians back in the Roman Empire. They didn't endorse the empire's methods or priorities, but followed God's Kingdom priorities, even though they suffered for it. Our American culture values the same kinds of things that the Roman Empire valued.

But there is hope. When Christians, who live within an Empire, begin to faithfully serve God's Kingdom, lives are changed. We live in an Empire, but we have the choice to serve the Kingdom instead.