“The White Rabbit” requested this hymn, and today’s his birthday–so may it bring you barrels of joy, Dave! Magnificat by Keith and Kristyn Getty–of course it’s in the Christmas Carol Contest: the “Magnificat” starts off the Gospel of Luke, we don’t get the actual birth of Christ until Chapter 2; and you can’t have a second chapter unless you’ve had a Chapter 1.
Another little treat for those of you who made it here today: God Bless Us Every One, by Nick Bicat, the theme music for A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott as Scrooge, 1984–wonderful treatment of the story, and packed with good, old-fashioned, robust Christmas music.
That’s old Shrewsbury Cathedral, down at the end of the street.
Look at that–no Christmas hymn requests today, no carol contest entries. Guess I’d better provide one myself.
This is the English melody that goes with Away in a Manger, sung here by the King’s College Choir at Cambridge. Same hymn, different tune. Just as beautiful either way.
It’s a little late to start posting entries now, but tomorrow is another day.
Proclaim the joy of Christmas–and its truth.
Bob Knight, who has been a friend and mentor to me over the years, thinks the culture war is increasingly revealing itself as Christianity’s struggle–not against modern atheism, but against old-hat paganism that just won’t go away.
https://townhall.com/columnists/robertknight/2018/12/18/having-a-merry-pagan-christmas-n2537612
We know from St. Paul, in Romans Chapter 1, that we’re up against those “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.” (v. 25) Indeed, the older I get, the more and more this chapter seems to describe the totality of what we’re up against.
Astrology, ouija boards, hexes, crystals–all this tired old crapola, old as the hills–is easy to laugh at. Sally Quinn, widow of Washington Post honcho Ben Bradlee, seems convinced that she has acquired the power to hex people to death, implying that it’s really hard for her to resist the temptation to voodoo President Donald Trump into an early grave.
Meanwhile, assorted celebrities and their followers natter about “the universe” as some kind of deity in its own right, about god-ness residing not in any Creator but in all created things: serving the creature more than the Creator. Oh–and we’re all little gods and goddesses, too. Unless were Biggits.
It’s so easy to dismiss this as simple-minded twaddle; but it’s twaddle that’s hung on for literally thousands of years, despite huge advances in science: it seems to take science in its stride. What pagan wouldn’t say, “Oh, sure, I believe in science”?
“Science,” unless the word is thrown around so carelessly as to mean virtually nothing at all, cannot support the absurdities of Far Left Crazy ideology–all that “transgender” slop, to name just one. But paganism can. It always has. Whenever we need support for our most extravagant depravities, paganism is right there to provide it. Mixing it with “science” yields a particularly toxic brew.
Moses cried out, “Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me” (Exodus 32:26). And what occasion had provoked this cry? The people of Israel had lapsed back into paganism, and were worshiping the golden calf.
God already knows who’s on His side–but do we know?
It’s not a question for Him, but for us.
In 2013 Chalcedon’s vice-president, Martin Selbrede, explained our move into fiction–after a long history of publishing works on theology and Christian analysis of society and culture.
https://chalcedon.edu/resources/videos/christian-use-of-fiction
As exemplified by Our Lord Jesus Christ’s parables, fiction is “a vehicle for conveying ideas” and showing how Christian principles play out in real life, often accompanied by spiritual and personal conflict: “If there is no friction, there is no fiction,” Martin says, and he’s right. And that, of course, is the difference between a story and a sermon.
“We waited 45 years before we turned to fiction,” so as to lay a strong theological foundation for everything published by Chalcedon. We didn’t want mediocre fiction built on weak theology.
It was time to move into fiction, Martin says, because with fiction, “You can suddenly get people thinking.”
Martin has written a Christian novel, Hidden in Plain Sight, which explores the nature of reality; and we also have my Bell Mountain fantasy novels, with ten of them in print so far and No. 11, The Temptation, just about ready for publication.
Well, if you’ve ever wondered why a Christian educational foundation decided to publish fiction, this will explain it for you.
Jeremy requested Joy to the World by A Capella, but I couldn’t find it. But I did stumble upon this guy “Acapeldridge,” who uses modern technology to–well, he sings in perfect harmony with himself. And it sounds great!
Lyrics by Isaac Watts, 1719–and still growing strong, 299 years later.
The nooze is already knocking at my door this morning, with all the vileness of the fallen world. But first we have this–praise God, first we have this, the Good News–It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, sung by St. Peter’s Choir. Independently and simultaneously requested by SlimJim and Erlene (how did they do that?)
This is one of my favorite Christmas carols, and I had just decided to post it on my own when I received a message from Phoebe requesting it. Happy to oblige! I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing, by Blackmore’s Night.
Requested by Joshua–All the World Was Waiting, sung a capella by GLAD. Enjoy!
Okay, we’ve posted a lot of Christmas hymns for you today. Out here it’s raining, it’s dark, and Patty and I are still a little bit under the weather; so now we’re going to take a break and watch A Christmas Carol, the one with George C. Scott as Scrooge. I hope you’re all enjoying listening to this potpourri of Christmas music.
Something a little different, requested by Susan: Children, Go Where I Send Thee–with Kenny Rogers and Home Free. What a collection of voices, to make a joyful noise unto the Lord.