Truth For The Heart
Christmas and the holiday season are not always times that are cheery and bright. Loneliness and loss can have a sharper edge in December. There are families in Connecticut who will have a very hard Christmas this year. Presents bought for little ones will bring grief instead of joy. Remember to pray for them. Pray […]
Read More– For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9 – The lyrics of “Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendour” were written in China by Frank Houghton, an Englishman. […]
Read More“I Wonder As I Wander” is an American Christmas carol with words and melody by John Jacob Niles. He based it on a few snatches of song he heard on July 16, 1933, in the small Appalachian town of Murphy, North Carolina: A girl had stepped out to the edge of the little platform attached […]
Read MoreMusic is one of the most wonderful aspects of the Christmas season. The songs of hope, joy and love span centuries and countries, and when we sing these words or listen to these carols, we join with other believers who in other times and in other places worshiped God with the same music. “Lo, How […]
Read MoreThere are some songs with words and music so personally significant, I still remember the first time I heard them. I heard Mary, Did You Know? sung by a small vocal ensemble at the water’s edge of a town harbor during an outdoor Christmas celebration over ten years ago. The lyrics and music throughout the song […]
Read More“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 (KJV) The roots of the music of Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel! go back to the 15th century.1 The Messianic titles in the lyrics, called the O Antiphons, are […]
Read More“Joy to the World” with its exuberant music and words of celebration is one of my favorite Christmas carols. The words are based on Psalm 98, and it is one of the more than 600 hymns written by Isaac Watts (1674-1748).1 He wrote the hymn, however, not of the First Advent of Christ, but of […]
Read More“In The Bleak Midwinter” is a lovely Christmas carol written by Christina Rossetti. “Our God, heaven cannot hold him, Nor earth sustain; Heaven and earth shall flee away When he comes to reign; In the bleak midwinter A stable place sufficed The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.” In these two videos the words are sung […]
Read MoreThe libretto of Messiah is taken from numerous books of the Bible: Job, Psalms, Isaiah, Lamentations, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Matthew, Luke, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Colossians, 1 Timothy, Hebrews and Revelation. If you’re not familiar with the passages selected by Jennens, you can read them at the above link. The first five verses of Isaiah […]
Read MoreWhen I was growing up we attended a church with a large music program, and I first sang in a choir as a young child. Our minister of music frequently had us sing the “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s Messiah during December. The adult choir was at the front of the church behind the ministers, while […]
Read MoreOn Sundays and Wednesdays this month I’ll be posting Christmas music. During the week before Christmas there will be several posts as well as more on Christmas Day. I’ll be adding links to each in the right sidebar. You will also find there works of art that depict the events surrounding the birth of Christ. […]
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Kindling for Candles 