Absolutely last minute Christmas gift ideas

It is December 21st and you come to the sudden realization that you forgot to grab a little something for someone important in your life like a friend, cousin or maybe even your pastor.  The good news is that there is still time to go get something before stores become a circus on Christmas Eve.  So here are a few easy gifts to grab that don’t break the bank.

1) A good book

It is never a bad idea to grab someone a book.  Some people are readers who have a massive library who are always talking about the latest deep tidbit they pulled out of a book.  So getting that person a book is a “no duh” sort of gesture.  There are those in our life whose only reading is to read text messages on their cell phone.  For people like that, a book may seem a bit of a stretch, but with it you’re saying you care enough about their spiritual walk that you want to see them grow.  A couple of great new books out there are:

“Multiply” by Francis Chan

“Tempted and Tried” by Russell Moore

“Explicit Gospel” by Matt Chandler

2) A nice notebook/journal

There are so many times when I need to jot down an appointment or phone number.  Maybe I just need somewhere to have all the notes to sermons I’ve heard instead of having a slew of loose pieces of paper floating around the house.  Getting a nice leather bound journal for a man might seem girly, but trust me, you don’t realize how much good something like this can do until you have one.

3) A thin leather Bible

Nobody wants to stroll into church with a Study Bible that is big enough to kill a man with.  So when we don’t want to carry a dead body’s weight worth of paper to church, we just don’t bring a Bible to worship with us.  For $10-$15 you can buy a good thin leather (probably pleather) Bible so that the people you love can always have the Word of God with them.

4) A coffee breakfast pack

We are all over-stressed, over-worked and sleep deprived at this time of the year.  So maybe a nice gesture would be to grab a pound of coffee, a couple of mugs from Wal-Mart and maybe some yogurt or a homemade parfait.  Nothing says love like the gift of caffeine.

5) Homemade sweets

We’re the fattest nation in the world for a reason.  The key to our heart is our bellies.  So give the gift of brownies and you’ll bring smiles to a lot of faces.

6) iTunes gift card

Some people don’t like to give a gift card but this is a card with a tremendous amount of flexibility.  People can purchase music, movies, books and a whole lot more just with that gift card.  This is a great gift for the person you have no idea what you should get them.