14
Dec
2011
Jesus Is Dead & Santa Clause Is Alive!!?!
As you examine your life, is there more evidence for the existence of Santa Clause than there is for the existence of Jesus? Has “Jesus is the reason” has been exchanged for “Santa is the reason”? When you look in the mirror do you see evidence of an imbalanced focus on Santa? So if I am going to be honest, my answer would have to be a yes. At times I do struggle with keeping the right focus during Christmas! There are just so many things I enjoy about this time of year!! I absolutely love snowshoeing into the back country and cutting down an ugly 11 foot Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I look forward to hanging all our friends’ Christmas cards by the fire place. I am already dreaming about my deep fried turkey! And I can’t believe I am going to admit this…but I am totally digging the new Justin Bieber Christmas album and I look forward to surprising my kiddos with a handful of gifts! I’m not one of those guys that believes we have to throw the excitement of Christmas into the trash bin, but as parents I believe our job is to be cognizant of Jesus’ slippage and we MUST take Santa out of the manger and put Jesus back in. If you’re looking for ideas on how to put Jesus back in the manger, check out these tips…
- SPEND MORE & GIVE LESS: A bit odd? As parents we should commit to spending MORE TIME and GIVING LESS gifts. Ask a single mom and her family to have Christmas dinner at your house. Take a trip to the nursing home and simply talk to the residents. Serve food at the community Christmas dinner.
- 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS: Take the 12 days before Christmas and teach your kids about 12 gifts that Jesus has given your family. (healing, eternal life, provision)
- THE GIFTS I SEE IN YOU: When you sit down for dinner, go around the table and speak life into your kids’ soul. My wife and I will look our kiddos in the eye and say, “the gifts I see in you are…”. We will share the spiritual gifts that we believe Jesus has deposited into their spiritual DNA. Try it, this can be such a rich experience for all families.
- THE ULTIMATE GIFT: If you’re looking for a great family night idea, you should watch the movie, “The Ultimate Gift”. Your family will laugh, cry, laugh some more and did I say cry!?! This movie will teach your kids the importance of giving and not receiving.
I would love to hear how your family plans to take Santa out of the manger this season?