EricN Publications by Eric Niewoehner

The Advent Conspiracy

For about half of my adult life I have been seeking to untangle Christmas from the web of materialism and secularization that it has become in the western world. When I began expressing my concerns I was often provided that peculiar glare from people who thought you were Scrooge-incarnate. But I persisted and I can't tell you how happy I was when I came aross a web site titled "The Advent Conspiracy." Here I found my kindred spirits. Their website is simple, and the main page says it all.

Can Christmas still change the world?

The Christmas story is a story of love, hope, redemption and relationship. So, what happened? How did it turn into stuff, stress and debt? Somehow, we’ve traded the best story in the world for the story of what’s on sale.

Founded by five pastors, they posed four tenets:

Worship Fully
Spend Less
Give More
Love All

The essays listed below are reflections on these four tenets. They are my journey, yet you will most likely find threaded into the stories your story as well. There is hope for Christmas.

What's Missing?

Cash-Only Please

Preparation

Spend-Less, Give More?

Christmas: It's a Tide, not a Day