This is the song I woke up with this morning–Angels We Have Heard on High, performed by I don’t know who: I wish I could give him credit by name.
There are dark and evil forces strenuously at work in our time, and Christmas needs to work on our hearts all year round. Easter, too! Our weapons are spiritual, our shield is faith, our sword is the word of God.
Listen, listen, listen for the angels…
Oh! This one almost slipped right past me. But not to worry–Christmas has to work all year round.
The Carol of the Bells, sung by Libera–I dare you not to bob your head and tap your foot. Glory to God in the Highest!
I’m not quite ready to stop posting Christmas music. Christmas must live and work all the year long, in our hearts.
Patty found me this Celtic-style rendition, by Blackmore’s Night, of I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing. It ought to loosen you up pretty good.
Now I have to go to the nursing home to visit Aunt Joan, but this is the last day of the year, and I’ll have more blog posts for you.
This is the song that was in my head this morning. And this is Jars of Clay performing it.
Please join together in prayer.
O Lord Our God! Now let this Christmas work, every day throughout the year. Let it draw our hearts to Jesus Christ our King, and bind us to Him with unbreakable cords of love. In our hearts, O God, let us hear the angels sing. In Jesus’ name, amen.
If you missed it this morning when Linda posted it as a comment, here’s an ITV News report on Kaylee Rogers, the little autistic girl whose performance of Hallelujah this Christmas season has lifted spirits all over the world. We are privileged to hear it.
Linda attached a more detailed video to her comment posted earlier today under, “For Christmas: Hallelujah!”
Susan asked for this: they sang it at her church this morning–To Us a Child of Hope is Born, here sung by the congregation at the First Presbyterian OPC Church in Perkasie, Pennsylvania.
If I may, I ask for your prayers for Susan’s parents’ cat, The Judge. He’s the last of a household, Susan’s mother and father having died recently–so it would be hard for her to lose the cat, too.Father in Heaven, in Jesus’ name, please spare your servant grief. Amen.
[Oops, the video I originally selected didn’t take–don’t ask me why. So here’s another one, this one with lyrics.]
There was a lot more to Burl Ives than singing “Jimmy Crack Corn.”
This carol defies the evils of a fallen world. What more can we add to that, but “Sing Louder!”
I don’t know how many versions there are of Away in a Manger, but I do know there’s an American version and this British version: same lyrics, very different melodies. I love them both.
This is by the King’s College Choir at Cambridge.
Well, now I have to go to the nursing home, do a couple of last-minute errands, and rush back home to trim our tree. We will have duck for supper, and tonight it’s presents.
Even so, I remain poised to post Christmas hymns requested by any and all readers. Don’t catch yourself sometime in February muttering, “Gee, I wish I’d asked him to post such-and-such a Christmas hymn! Oh, what regret I labor under!” And so on.
Well, we’ve just set up our Christmas tree, and tomorrow we will trim it. The cats are enthused.
Meanwhile, here’s Angels from the Realms of Glory, a rousing rendition by the Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Is anybody going to ask for any Christmas hymns today? We’re ready to post ’em!
First published in 1700–that’s right, 1700–While Shepherds Watched is an antique Anglo-Irish carol: sung here the old-fashioned way by Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band.
Meanwhile–Hey, everybody, only two days left to request Christmas hymns before it’s Christmas! You ask for ’em, I’ll post ’em.
The enemies of Christmas are now working harder than ever to take it away from us. And for us that means: Sing louder! For our God will hear us.
