If your family is anything like mine, you probably have an Advent calendar sitting around. Let's be honest: The chocolate ones really are the best.

The Church of England recently released a video Advent calendar as digital Advent calendars become more and more popular.

There's even an Advent calendar application for the iPhone. I am not cool enough to have an iPhone, so I asked our news intern Ruth Moon to spare .99 cents to review it for me. Here's what she says:

The calendar is organized in the shape of a cross, with the four Sundays of Advent as the points. Each day features a painting related to Advent or Bible history; day one's painting is Rembrandt's "Moses Smashing the Tablets of the Law." The day's meditation consists of a Scripture-based opening liturgy, with Bible verses compiled from this year's Advent liturgy.
Several verses from a hymn constitute the Meditation, and Day One concludes with an Old Testament Advent reading from Isaiah and a prayer incorporating the day's readings and the Lord's Prayer.

The application is not incredible - it would be nice for it to include mp3s of the hymns quoted, and the meditations have a few too many exclamation points for this reviewer's taste, but for $0.99, the application is a convenient and affordable way to have an Advent liturgy within a finger's reach this season.

You can also listen to some songs for free through Sojourn Artists (h/t Justin Taylor).

Last but not least, Susan Wunderink has been putting together compelling images and liturgy for Christianity Today's online Advent calendar.