Good Christian Men Rejoice, our latest traditional carol for Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series), is an interesting example of how music evolves from an original through translations and into the present day. I won’t often do a citing straight out of Wikipedia, but today’s is really fascinating, presented in a way one cannot duplicate. In […]
Everything sounds more theological in Latin. Today’s Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series) hymn, O Come All Ye Faithful (also known as Adeste Fideles), is no exception. I remember singing it in our high school choir…in Latin. I especially liked singing Venite adoremus Dominum. O Come All Ye Faithful is attributed to John F. Wade with […]
Today’s carol, Infant Holy Infant Lowly, is the first one we’ve explored as of Polish origin through the course of our Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series). It’s a good time to pause and remember that Christmas is a worldwide celebration. From Jesus’ humble human beginning in the womb of virgin and His laying […]
Have you ever been hated? I have. In fact, if I tell you the truth and that’s my policy: I am regularly hated by quite a few people. It’s not a particularly happy experience, that’s for sure. But, if you’re hated by the right people for the right reasons, it can actually be a good […]
The audio version of The Believers’ Prayer (click link) with 5 Strategies for Dealing with Persecution is now available on YouTube. For those of you receiving these emails for the Advent Devotional Series, Carol Me Christmas! I still post both the audio and the sermon text versions of messages I preach on Sundays along with the day’s Advent devotionals. I […]
Yesterday, in our Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series), I suggested that carols could be used as theological education for children. Just don’t use this one. Away in a Manger is a favorite of adults and children alike (despite its being wrong on two counts): Its attributed subtitle as Luther’s Cradle Hymn Its theology as […]
Today’s carol in our Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series) is less familiar to me. Perhaps that’s because it was written by Martin Luther and A Mighty Fortress is Our God eclipses his other hymns outside of Lutheran circles. From Heaven Above to Earth I Come was written by Martin Luther (yes, of Reformation […]
Continuing our theme of the holy night (with holiness meaning set apart) today’s selection in Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series) is O Holy Night, known also as Cantique de Noël. The words in the original French poem by Placide Cappeau would be literally translated as: Midnight, Christians, it is the solemn hour, When God […]
Today’s carol in our Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series) is arguably the all-time favorite Christmas carol of many people. It’s often sung as the final song at Christmas Eve services to the glow of handheld candles. It’s beautiful. It’s peaceful. It’s sentimental. It’s Silent Night, Holy Night. I don’t want to be the […]
Today’s carol in our Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series) is one of the more famous of the Christmas carols, O Little Town of Bethlehem. The words to this carol were written in 1868 by an Episcopal priest by the name of Phillips Brooks who was Rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, […]
