Is Your Store "Christmas Friendly"?

I love this time of year. The lights, decorations, cookies, music, trees, and oh yes, the presents!!! I also love this time of year because it gives time to be with our families, share great memories, and be reminded of the birth of a baby boy that would become the savior of the world through his death on the cross.

In the past I have found myself getting upset at some of the political correctness that has surrounded the Christmas season in recent years, but I have mellowed out and most of that stuff doesn't bother me much anymore. I don't mind most of the holidays that happen around this time either, except for maybe Kwanzaa..would somebody please explain that one to me! In fact, I don't even get my underwear in a bunch when somebody wishes me "happy holidays" as opposed to "merry Christmas".

But recently I have found something that I was quite offended by. It wasn't a "holiday tree" or a "solstice festival". No, this time I found offense in a little website ran by our good friends at Focus on the Family . These self-proclaimed defenders of American evangelical Christianity has seen fit to create a website entitled "Stand For Christmas".

On the home page of this self-righteous website you can read reviews of various retailers and what they are doing to respect Christmas. If they are doing things like playing Christmas music all the time or wishing people "Merry Christmas", they receive a "friendly rating". If, on the other hand, their music selection is not 100% seasonal fare. Or they say things like "Happy Holidays" they will receive the dreaded "Offensive" rating. But, if they just don't care one way or the other, they are considered "Negligent". This website should be branded offensive.

You can also purchase various Christmas oriented and high quality products such as:

• 101 Ways to Have a Christian Christmas


• A button that reads "It's OK-Wish Me a Merry Christmas" for a mere $1.50 a piece


• Many various products from Rick Warren, just in case you didn't know the purpose of Christmas


• And, just in case you didn't know, Christmas is in need of redeeming. You can buy a FOTF radio broadcast to find out how you can redeem the holiday here

If we really wanted to take a stand for Christmas, wouldn't the best thing be to love all of these people who are working in these stores? Perhaps show them a little love with a smile and a thank you? I have worked in retail many years, and Christmas is not being drowned out be the retailers, its being suffocated by all the people that give into the commercialization and patronize these stores. All the while treating the person behind the counter as a lower class citizen. Perhaps Focus on the Family should start a website where retailers can post ratings of the consumers.

Merry Fricken Winter!

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In Defense of Halloween

It's that time of year again. The time of year when most people come out of their shells just a little bit and have some fun. For children they get to dress up as their favorite superhero or TV character and run around the neighborhood collecting candy from strangers. For adults, we get to dress up ( and loosen up) and be somebody we wish were more like for few hours at least. There are parties, decorations, pumpkins, cookies, and of course lots and lots of candy. But for some this day is a day not to engage the world, but to hide from it. To turn off their lights and sink into a corner and hope the devil doesn't get them.

Halloween is an interesting time for Christians. We really don't know how we are supposed to relate to this holiday that has its origins in pagan fertility rituals. Some think that because of its origins, they should not participate at all. Some Christians will go on the defensive and put signs up on their front door that state they "refuse to participate in the devils holiday". Others will open their doors to the little ghouls and goblins that come a knockin, but instead of putting a tasty treat inside their bag, they put some sort of track proclaiming the "Good News".

If churches do decide to engage the culture with a "celebration", they can't seem to bring themselves to have a "Halloween" party. No, instead they have a "Harvest Festival". And of course instead of just opening their doors and letting people come in and enjoy themselves, they have to "bible story" everything. "Make sure you wear your bible story costume! Our games are going to have salvation themes and bible story themes. If the kids win at the games, we'll give them some candy and a track explaining the gospel message." Christians want to make sure they are a "light in the darkness" on such a "worldly" night.

When I was a kid, Halloween was one of my favorite holidays. I dressed up as vampires, goblins, ninjas, and other various characters. I ran door to door collecting all the tooth decaying fare I could get. I never thought about all of the supposed "spiritual warfare" that was going on around me. I never thought of this being the worst, most evil holiday of the year. Since I did not grow up in the church, that kind of stuff never entered my mind. However, after I became a Christian, I began to realize that this kind of thought process existed. Now for a while, I was a good fundamentalist and did the same things that the others did. But then, I began to think that this was not the best way to engage the culture on this particular evening.

I began to have a few revelations:

• The devil has been defeated and does not control any holiday....ever. He is not in control. He does not go around trick-or-treating.



• Almost all holidays have roots in paganism. Christmas and Easter are just as pagan, if not more so, as Halloween.



• Harvest, Halloween, Fall festival...its all semantics....It's like drinking a mock cocktail at a fake speakeasy(inside joke). Or Christian swear words-we all know what you really mean so why don't you just say it.



• Do we have to spiritualize everything? Why not just invite the community over and have some fun. Meet some people. Start some relationships. If you want to dress up as a ninja, great! It doesn't even have to be a Christian ninja.



• All my tracks I hand out end up in the garbage first thing. So why not just give them candy and say a silent prayer for them instead. This not only gives me a chance to meet people in my neighborhood, it also keeps my house from getting toilet papered...

I like Halloween. I like to dress up. I like the pumpkins, candy and yes the skeletons and ghouls. I will not burn in hell for it. I am not opening myself up to "spiritual attack". My Jesus has freed me from this kind of frivolous nonsense. Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to get my costume on and have some fun this Halloween night.

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