If you listen closely, you can hear people’s lives being changed at mailboxes across the country.

Why?

Because we just mailed them the Acuff family Christmas card.

Is “life change” an exaggeration of what’s possible upon reading our Christmas card? It is. An under exaggeration. It’s more like “family change” or “town change” or fine, I’ll say it, “world changing.”

We don’t send Christmas cards out, we start revolutions. It’s not a Christmas card; it’s more of a movement. People have been known to start kickstarter campaigns just to raise money to build mantles so that they have a fitting place to put our cards.

How did they get so awesome? How did our cards become so frame-demanding? Why is Thomas Nelson thinking about publishing a book called, Acuff Family Christmas Cards Through The Years? I’m glad you asked, and I’m finally ready to share some of our Christmas card secrets.

The truth is that creating a fantastical, Narwhale level of awesome Christmas card is pretty easy. You just have to pick from the five versions of Christmas cards. Here they are:

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Here’s week 2 of the new video series I did with LifeChurch.tv. Today’s video is titled, “The Mustard Sundae.” (Here’s the link to part 1 if you missed it.)

Check it out!

(It’s guest post Friday! Here’s one from Jeff Jones, the drummer for Big Daddy Weave. Their song “Just the Way I Am” is one of my favorite songs. You can follow Jeff on Twitter @jeffdrummer. If you want to write a guest post for SCL, here’s how!) 

The 4 types of clappers. By Jeff Jones

Having played drums in over 1,500 concerts with my band Big Daddy Weave, you can imagine I have observed things from stage that render me speechless from time to time. I’ve seen full-out sprints run around the sanctuary, dance moves that defy description, and heard fish-shaped streamer clad tambourines played with technique to make a Juilliard-trained symphony percussionist green with envy.

However, nothing quite captures my attention from behind the drum set like the different methods of hand clapping displayed in the audience. I have narrowed the different methods down to 4 distinct categories. Make no mistake: There may be different versions within each category, but I have found these 4 to represent the majority.

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(It’s Christmas time, which means it’s the perfect time to share some “Christmas Classics,” from the archives of Stuff Christians Like. Here’s one from the Stuff Christians Like book. Enjoy!)

Last year, someone gave my family an “Elf on the Shelf.” If you’re not familiar with it, it’s essentially a small elf in a box and a book. The book tells you that you’re supposed to hide the elf each night during the holiday season and let your kids find it. It’s magic or a messenger of Santa or something. It was wildly popular last year and is probably continuing to sell well this Christmas too.

But as I started to think about the whole “real meaning of Christmas” debate and “is Santa bad?” discussion that you almost are required by law to have if you’re a Christian blogger, I started to think about that elf. He was just sitting there with a smug look on his face perched on the fireplace mantle looming over our nativity scene below on the hearth. Instead of the traditional Santa vs. Jesus discussion, I began to imagine what would happen if that elf ever ran into the characters from the nativity scene. What would that conversation look like? I present you:

Elf on the shelf meets the characters from the nativity scene.

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A few weeks ago, while I was dropping my kids off for Sunday School I saw this under the stairs. (Harry Potter fans please insert your own joke right here.)

I thought of you and immediately took a photo.

How would you caption this? What sermon series, Sunday School activity or woodsmen based outdoor activity could these collection of items possibly be used for?

Caption please:

I recently hit A-list status on Southwest.

Which means, well, absolutely nothing.

When the packet of info came in the mail announcing my new status, I kept flipping through the brochure looking for the benefits. “I already check in early, so A-status check in isn’t special. But surely there’s something?” I thought. Nope. There is nothing.

There’s no special club at the airport that smells like lavender.

There’s no first class for you to sit in.

There’s no diamond, platinum or gold package you earn.

You get to receive 25% more miles every time you fly. And you can apply those miles to … nothing.

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This is a true story. But, at times, it will feel like fiction.

It will careen over mountains and oceans, unraveling across decades, crossing closed borders and speeding through open technology.

And the whole thing starts with a small flute.

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I love my church.

I attend Cross Point Church in Nashville and absolutely love it. Allow me to count the ways:

1. There’s no mysterious “e” at the end of “Point.” (Not what you would put at the top of your list? Fine, we’re different.)
2. Pete Wilson is an amazing pastor and it’s great to sit under his leadership.
3. Our family has really found a sense of community there and made some awesome friends.
4. Cross Point is sharing the gospel in Nashville and around the world.
5. The worship on Sunday mornings is fantastic.

I could go on and on, but at some point I have to segue to the main idea of this post.

Every Christmas though, deep down inside, I secretly wish that my very contemporary church would go old school. All year long, I love how modern we are. Man, oh man, that speaks to my contemporary heart. That is my jam!

But, as I take my last bite of turkey on Thanksgiving Day, I turn into old school traditional church guy and start to long for an old fashioned Christmas church experience. This isn’t unique to Cross Point either. I felt the same exact way when we attended North Point in Atlanta. (I can only attend churches that end in “Point.” I’m sorry, that’s just how I was raised.)

What does that mean? Old school Christmas? Well here are 9 things I want our church to do at Christmas.

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I’m such a luddite when it comes to technology, but this year I want to change that. I want to post more videos, photos, etc. Starting today.

Recently I had the chance to shoot a four part video series with LifeChurch.TV. (Craig Groeschel, awesome church, Oklahoma, creators of YouVersion, wildly creative staff.)

The series is titled, “Booty, God, Booty,” based on the post I wrote about that and the chapter in the Stuff Christians Like book.

For the next few weeks I’m going to post one of the videos on Saturday. (Except for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve of course.)

I did the series as part of their Switch program for high schoolers, but the content is designed for all ages.

Check out week 1 of Booty, God, Booty: The Prayer Shot Block.

(It’s guest post Friday! In order to celebrate the holiday season here at SCL, the next few weeks’ guest posts will all be Christmas themed! Today’s is from Amy Green, a blogger and a junior Professional Writing major at a Christian college. We’re grateful she broke her vow about listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving in order to write this post! If you would like to guest post, here’s how.) 

Kids’ Christmas Program Field Guide. -By Amy Green

While visiting relatives’ churches around the holiday season, I’ve noticed something startling: there are certain kinds of kids you will find in every choir. This year, instead of cringing your way through a painfully off-key version of “Silent Night,” play Choir Bingo and try to spot the following kids:

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