By Erica, Contributing Writer

We are used to the common phrase, “You can’t see the forest for the trees,” habitually at Christmas time we can’t see Christ for the Christmas gifts!

 So, with that thought, I bring to you, this idea list that may boost your ability to help others (and yourself) include Christ in your Christmas gifts.

Audio Books & Dramas

• Lamplighter Audio Dramas – available in MP3 or on CD.  Our family loves these, our favorites are Teddy’s Button, Sir Malcolm and the Missing Prince, and Jessica’s Prayer.
• Jonathan Park – this is an exciting audio series that follows Jonathan, the son of a paleontologist on worldwide adventures learning about the wonders of Creation. There are 10 different albums available, these are enjoyed by children and parents alike.
• Patch the Pirate – Patch the Pirate offers over 35 different audio adventures that will teach your children about the Biblical themes such as salvation, right friendship, running the Christian race. Each story also includes great songs that will encourage your children to love the Lord and obey Him. Good for ages 6-12.
•  Down Gilead Lane, Red Rock Mysteries, Devotionals by Keys for Kids are great audio stories that will encourage your family to love the Lord and each other more. Kids for decades have been listening to Uncle Charlie give his daily devotions on Keys for Kids, but these are a great extension of that same type of Bible teaching.

• Chuck Black’s Kingdom Series or Knights of Arrethtrae Series. These books are an exciting Biblical allegory set in a medieval time period. As you listen you begin to recognize the Biblical characters as you listen to the storyline. These are for teens and adults are a personal favorite of my  husband.
• Consider giving a membership to Christianaudio, similar to Audible, with a large selection of audiobooks that will encourage Christian faith.

Books

•  Raising Real Men by Hal and Melanie Young encourages parents to challenge their boys in different areas of their life through careful parenting, so that they can become strong leaders and men of God.
• For married couples, Now You’re Speaking My Language by Gary Chapman helps couples learn how to communicate more deeply through honesty.
• Women of all ages will enjoy books by Barbara Johnson. She was a funny author and encourager of people who are going through difficult times, as she herself had extremely hard times when her son went into a prodigal lifestyle, her husband was in a horrible car accident, and another son was killed in war. She has a few serious books, but a majority of them have funny titles.
•  Changed Into His Image by Jim Berg is a great book for someone looking to deepen their relationship with God.
• The trivia guru will enjoy a book like The Complete Book of Bible Trivia which has over 4,500 questions and answers about the Bible inside.
• Christian Heroes Then and Now Books by the Benge’s are biographies of Christians with inspiring faith and obstacles in their life that God helped them overcome. Great for kids ages 10+. They also have a Young Readers Series for ages 5-10.
• The Terrestria Chronicles by author, Ed Dunlop, is another allegory of Biblical stories and truths in a medieval time frame.

For the Home

• Etsy is filled with shops that have great quotes of Bible verses, hymns and Christian song lyrics painted on objects, as vinyl decals, or available for digital download for you to frame and give as a gift.
• Use Tagxedo  to make an encouraging mixture of Bible verses or words, like pictured above, and frame them yourself!

Apparel, Jewelry, and Misc

• Kerrusso has a lot of Christian themed t-shirts, hoodies, jewelry, keychains, and more.
• CTA, Inc. has a lot of good gift ideas of mugs, ornaments, mini-calendars, and other items centered around God.
• Blank Journals with a Bible verse or godly quote on the cover, are one of my favorite gifts to give with a note inside that says, “Write down the blessings God has given you inside this book or keep track of how God has worked in your life inside.” Affordable journals can be found at Hobby Lobby.
• Olive Tree App with Strong’s Concordance – This will help the Bible buff be able to study quickly by simply tapping on the Bible word choice of study and having the Strong’s definition pop up. There are also many other options on using this app by taking notes, highlighting, and adding other Bible study tools you can purchase and add to your app.

Movies & Technology

• Give a family gift of a Clearplay Membership – Clearplay has three different ways you can filter movies and edit out inappropriate parts. You set the settings on how strict you want them to edit your movie for your kids and for yourself. It will silently bleep out cussing, inappropriate romance, skip over violence, disrespect to parents, etc. They now allow you to use Clearplay on streaming, DVD, and Blu-Ray. This is a great way to make family movie night guaranteed to be wholesome. [vimeo 110215383 w=500 h=281]
• Kids will enjoy Noah Justice’s Awesome Science DVD’s – Noah teaches how earth science backs up the Biblical record of events. There are 9 DVD’s including Explore The Grand Canyon, Explore Yellowstone, and  Explore Mount St. Helens.
• If your recipient loves history, KJB: The Book That Changed the World is a great documentary and acting scenes that teaches how King James made the choice to translate the Bible into English.

This list of gifts is in no way complete so please add your Christ-centered gift ideas in the comments! We would love to hear about them.