| Hey, what about Advent? Theres a radio station in DC that has been playing nothing but Christmas music since Thanksgiving. A church I attended in early December stood up and sang, Joy to the World with gusto during worship. Shopping malls and stores in general have had Christmas displays out for weeks, some since before Halloween. Theres something wrong here. I think we as a society are confused and the church has bought into this mess. Its become my mission to set things right. Christmas, according to the churchs calendar, starts Dec. 25. Not Oct. 31, Nov. 27 or Dec. 1. The Christian church season of Christmas starts Dec. 25 (or the evening of Dec. 24) and runs 12 days until Epiphany begins on Jan. 6. When I was serving in a local church, it was my policy to not sing Christmas carols in worship during Advent. I was called a Scrooge and worse because of my actions. In my opinion, singing Christmas carols during Advent is the same thing as singing Christ the Lord is Risen Today during Lent. Why should the church follow the rest of society and launch Christmas early? Whatever happened to Advent? Whatever happened to waiting, preparing? In todays instant society, we dont like to wait. Instead, we want what we want and we want it now, be it cash, credit, consumables or Christmas. Some people say that we should celebrate Christmas all year long; that we cant possibly celebrate Christmas enough. In a world grown cold with threats of war, terrorism, unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, they say we need all the Christmas we can get. Now dont misunderstand me. Im all in favor of keeping the Christmas spirit alive and well 24/7. But theres a reason for Advent, for a time of waiting, preparing, making straight the paths for Christs arrival in our lives. When we begin celebrating Christmas early, we blur out Advent; we fail to spiritually prepare ourselves for Christs arrival. That lack of preparation is a leading cause of Christmas burnout and stress, if you ask me. Not doing the spade work for Christmas is like not preparing ones garden for spring planting: you can throw some seeds down on the ground and a few will sprout here and there, but your crop will be reduced significantly. Im sorry, but Im hungry. I want a bumper spiritual crop this Christmas. Ive suffered enough bleak midwinter Christmases to last me a lifetime, thank you. I want to experience joy, thanksgiving, peace, love and forgiveness this Christmas. I want the same for you, too. As you read this, Christmas is about one week away. There is still time to do the prep work needed: Bible study, prayer, meditation and spiritual reading. I invite you now to make time in your already busy schedule to do the work in preparation of the Lords arrival. Most of the time, my house is kind of messy, and thats fine with me. In other words, my house spends most of its time in a state of not ready for guests to arrive. Heres Good News: a Guest is coming! Whats the spiritual clutter and mess that you need to straighten to receive the blessings of Gods Son? Thank God we have time to prepare our way now, to make straight the paths that Jesus may fully enter in. Thank God with Bible study, prayer and meditation. Thank God with carols of joy and praise of the Saviors birth. Um, just no Christmas carols during Advent, okay? | 
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