That’s right, it’s officially the Christmas season! First thing Friday morning we turned on the Sufjan Stevens Christmas boxset, wore our pajamas most of the day, watched tv and ate junk. The tree is up. The wreath is mounted. The stockings are hung. It’s officially Christmas.

But was I love most is that Thanksgiving kicks off what should really be our mentality all season: thanksgiving. Sure, the day of Thanksgiving is about pilgrims and native Americans and deer meat and all that good stuff, but it was also a day to thank God for His bountiful harvest. But now we have something else to look forward to,

Yesterday kicked off Advent, a time that seems to be forgotten on most modern churches. Advent means “coming” and is a season of anticipation, both to celebrate the Messiah who has come (a.k.a. Jesus) and the Messiah who is to come (a.k.a. Jesus). And what better way to kick it off than Thanksgiving!

This morning, Katie and I read in our prayer guide about giving thanks to God for all He is, even the stuff that we don’t see or doesn’t necessarily apply to us at this moment. Stop thank God with a self-centeredness and thank God for everything. I think it only appropriate as we anticipate His coming.

A few things to check out this wonderful season of celebrating Emmanuel:

www.adventconspiracy.org

www.rethinkingchristmas.com

www.gfa.org/gift

Katie and I caught the last half hour or so of the wonderfuly crafted film masterpiece “13 Going On 30″ Saturday on the CW. I wanted to throw up.

Honestly, I can’t believe what these kinds of movies are teaching our kids. If you’re unfamiliar with the story, apparently Jennifer Garner wakes up and finds herself 17 years in the future and sees the consequences of her choices, namely Mark Ruffalo marrying some other chick. The climax of the movie is JG going to Ruffies’ house while he’s Bering ready for his wedding, and she begs him to pick her instead of Wendy.

Seriously? That is so far from being okay. And it’s not just this crappy movie, but other movies and tv shows telling us that:

1. Even if someone is committed to another, they’re not really committed until “I do”.
2. Infidelity is okay. Just because you’re married doesn’t mean you love them, and if you don’t love them it’s okay to sleep with someone else.
3. Skinny white girls can do whatever they want.

It’s a historic day in America. The thing is, I don’t really care that our president elect is (kind of) black, or that he won states that democrats haven’t won in decades. In my opinion there’s a much larger story below the surface.

This year, 136.6 million Americans voted. That’s 14.3 million more than in 2004. Pretty amazing considering Obama beat McCain in the popular vote by a little over 7 million. What if those 14.3 million more voters hadn’t turned out?

I really believe the reason we had so many more voters this year than four years ago is not just that the issues are more pressing (sure, we’re losing our houses, 401k’s, jobs, etc.), but Barack Obama rallied a people that wanted to be moved by something. His intitial platform of “change” – though somewhat diluted; full of promise, yet not much substance – gave people who wanted to believe in something, something to believe in. It was bigger than themselves, and they caught the vision.

Just think, how many people called you, knocked on your door, emailed you, perhaps harassed you, on account of trying to gain your support for Obama?

A lot.

Now how many for McCain?

Not nearly as many.

It amazes me how many people gave so much time, money, and energy trying to get your attention and your support of something that will last, at worst not even past November 4, and at best 8 years. Wow.

Now what if we spent as much time, money, and energy on something that mattered so much more than a presidential election? What if we spent as much time researching and arguing the issues of eternal significance as we did researching and arguing the issues of this election?

Love him or hate him, Obama will be gone in 4 – 8 years. We’ll do this whole song and dance again every four years, but does it really matter? I’m telling you (I’m not sure who you are, but I’m telling you) right now, it doesn’t. There is something so much greater, so much more powerful, and One who will actually deliver 100% on His promise.

So who’s stumping for Jesus?

This is everything wrong with our country. I’m voting for whichever candidate supports abolition of High School Musical.

This is Disney’s equivalent of crack cocaine. There, I said it.