Wowza.
Something happened today. Advent Conspiracy exploded. Apparently somebody told someone, who told someone else, who probably told an Uncle, who told CNN about this little movement of ours. Then Yahoo featured us on their homepage. We were all, like...Yahoo! (sorry, obvious joke). And now we’re being hounded by the press and a whole lotta extra people are learning about us. This is all a really cool thing. Scratch that. This is an amazingly holy thing. We are thankful that God has called each of you into this movement. He’s definitely up to something...as if we should be surprised.
But don’t believe the hype. First, we are incredibly thankful that the press has latched on to this. It’s neat to see that this concept is making sense to a wide variety of people. But you all know how the press works. It’s like an electronic version of the “telephone game”. Remember playing that as a kid? You tell one sentence to a friend, who tells a friend, who tells a friend, and by the time it gets back to you, the sentence that started as “Jane walked her brown dog.” has been morphed into “Boba Fett threw the dance instructor some beef jerkey.” That’s what happens when you let someone else tell your story. No offense to any of the press, and I will say for the most part they’ve done a really good job of covering what we’re about. But I also know some of the facts could use a little help. So if you’re new, welcome, and here’s what you need to know straight from the reindeer’s mouth:
1. [AC] was created by three pastors who simply wanted to challenge people to make Christmas personal again. We are asking folks to consider doing four things: Worship Jesus Fully, Consider Spending Less on gifts that are bought out of obligation, Give More relational gifts, and use a little bit of the money you didn’t spend to Love All by helping those in need.
2. No money comes through, to, under, over or around [AC]. We are not an organization. We’re a movement.
3. We really love giving people clean water (did you know the lack of clean water is the number one killer in our world). You should check out Living Water International for more info. That being said, we want you to make this a personal thing between you and God. If you have another organization that you wish to support, go for it!
4. ALL of our resources (brochure, stickers, logo, videos) on our website is FOR YOU. Take it, download it, change it up. This is an open source movement. Just make sure you link it back to [AC]. Oh, and we like to give gifts too. We made you a mixed tape...ok, a mixed...mp3. Check it out by clicking here.
5. Don’t make this a fad. Equip yourself. If we’re asking you to buy one thing, it’s the book we released this year. It’s full of good info about HOW to worship fully, spend less, give more, love all, and why it’s so important. I promise you it’ll be the best ten bucks you’ve spent in a while. And, a portion of the money from each book sale will go to drilling clean water wells. Very very cool. You can buy the book here.
6. We’re not Scrooge. We love gifts. We just think you should give gifts that actually mean something, rather than gifts that’ll make the rounds at the next white elephant party.
7. Mom, if you’re worried about how your kids will respond to maybe receiving one or two less gifts at Christmas, fret not. Kids are the first ones that actually get on board with this thing. They love thinking of new ways to help those in need.
8. There’s a TON of great relational gift ideas found on this site: www.rethinkingchristmas.com (don’t worry, they’re not all glitter glue and Bedazzler projects)
Those are the basics. Beyond that, welcome to all our new friends out there. Let’s turn this Christmas upside down, shall we. It’s not too late.
The [AC] Team
Comments
A few years ago I pondered who invented the Christmas gift-giving & shopping aspect of Christmas? It started in the early days of Macy’s department store. A few years ago, I stopped with having the big tree. I now have a few decorations with the Advent Wreath being the center and the Advent Calendar and the Manger Which I add a new character every Advent Sunday saving the Baby Jesus to put in the crib on Christmas Eve. I proclaimed to my family that I no longer wanted to participate in the family “gift giving” exchange. They did not get it. I was shunned because of it. My Church still has two Christmas Eve services and a service on Christmas Day! Thank God for that! Thank God for this movement!
Praise God for what you guys have started and thank you for being so humble and listening to God’s call. Our church has truly been blessed by AC this year and hopefully for many years to come. Keep up the great work guys.
We just celebrated our first AC Christmas and it was the most meaningful Christmas our family has had. We did have gifts but everyone had fewer and the money we didn’t use went to Living Water Inc. We had gifts of pictures put on canvas, shoes donated to Soles4Souls, books of family quotes, and donations to a well. We raised $2400 toward a well! We worshipped more, spent less, gave more and the Spirit of God moved over our celebration. I had started trying to get us back on track a few years ago but you gave me the resources. Thank you for sharing your ideas and may God richly bless your ministry.
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I was a small disappointed to determine the desire expressed that the author may perhaps “come back to her faith” (it really is challenging getting viewed as deficient/ lacking/ in will need of pity since of one’s lack of belief in God) but like a christian web page, such a sentiment is understandable.
Regards,
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Great post about the what the AC is really about. Love the movement.
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I offer the thoughts above as general inspiration but clearly there are questions like the one you bring up where the most important thing will be working in honest good faith.
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Tony, I heard you speak on KGO radio (in San Francisco) this afternoon, and I was so touched by your movement and the way you represented it! I have emailed a link to your site to my friends, and I am so thankful that the Lord put it on you hearts to start this up!
As a young child, it was always the baby in the manger who drew me in. I am grateful that my own son also loves Jesus, and knows that the season is to celebrate His birth.