“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 […]
“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 the two videos below the words are […]
“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) – O Come, O Come, Emmanuel! is one of the oldest songs heard during the Advent season. The roots of the music of go back to the 15th century.1 […]
The 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 […]
Many people know that Handel wrote the music for Messiah, however, the man who chose the Bible passages for its libretto and gave them to Handel is hardly known at all. His name was Charles Jennens, and Messiah was born out of a tragic event in his life. Dr. Al Mohler, President of The Southern […]
Two years ago I read a mystery by George Bellairs that opens on Christmas Eve 1940 as Detective-Inspector Littlejohn is traveling to meet his wife who has evacuated to Yorkshire after their London flat was destroyed in the Blitz. On Christmas night they visit the Methodist church in a small village to hear the choir […]
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures… 1 Corinthians 15:3–4 – Into the devastation of our world came the God-man Jesus […]
O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down, Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown; O sacred Head, what glory, what bliss till now was Thine! Yet, though despised and gory, I joy to call Thee mine. What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, was all for sinners’ gain; Mine, mine was […]
“Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” Luke 12:6-7 – I was looking for a video of this song, and in God’s providence found this […]