Zechariah Loves to Sing

Here.

25 Days of Free Holiday Music

Every day through December 25, Amazon.com is unveiling a new holiday song available to download free for a limited time. Check back daily to see what’s next on the “25 Days Free”. Here are some of my favorites I downloaded…

“Medley,” Bela Fleck & the Flecktones

“Greensleeves,” Vince Guaraldi

“Last Christmas,” Leigh Nash

“Love Came Down at Christmas,” Jars of Clay

“A Child Is Born,” Benny Carter & Hank Jones

“Joy to the World,” Symphony Brass of Chicago

Christmas in Context

The latest installment of Ron Man’s Worship Notes is out, “Christmas in Context“. I find each month’s issue encouraging and thought provoking–a must read whenever it arrives in my inbox. And…just in case you missed them, here’s the whole 2008 collection.

• 3.12 (December 2008)  CHRISTMAS IN CONTEXT
• 3.11 (November 2008)  THE MINISTRY OF SONG
• 3.10 (October 2008)  THE PASTOR AND WORSHIP
• 3.9 (September 2008)  SPIRIT AND TRUTH
• 3.8 (August 2008)  THE TYRANNY OF TASTE
• 3.7 (July 2008)  DEFINING OUR TERMS
• 3.6 (June 2008)  THEOLOGY AND DOXOLOGY
• 3.5 (May 2008)  GIVING OUR BEST
• 3.4 (April 2008)  THEMATIC WORSHIP
• 3.3 (March 2008)  CALLED TO WORSHIP
  
• 3.2 (February 2008)  THIRSTING FOR GOD
• 3.1 (January 2008)  WORSHIP, CREATION & THE FALL

Need God-centered, Christ-exalting Christmas Music?

I recommended my favorite Christmas CD’s here.

Christmas Escapism?

“Christmas, then, is not a dream, a moment of escapism. Christmas is the reality, which shows up the rest of ‘reality.’ And for Christmas, here, read Christianity. Either Jesus is the Lord of the world, and all reality makes sense in his light, or he is dangerously irrelevant to the problems and possibilities of today’s world. There is no middle ground. Either Jesus was, and is, the Word of God, or he, and the stories Christians tell about him, are lies.”

N.T. Wright, For All God’s Worth: True Worship and the Calling of the Church, p.2.