Skip to main content

My Top Five Contemporary Christmas Songs

 


I. Noel, Christ Tomerlin feat. Lauren Diagle, 2015





There are many renditions of Noel, but Lauren Diagle singing it is like an angel from the heavens, I love the second chorus, “Son of God and Son of Man, There Before the World Began. Born to suffer, Born to Save, Born to Raise Us From The Grave, Christ the Everlasting Lord, He shall reign Forevermore.” The song feels otherworldly, it truly contains the Parousia, mentioning Christ’s first and second coming. Lauren conveys a transcendence that makes you feel you are in the New Jerusalem and New Heaven. 


II. Gloria, Michael W Smith





A classic. I love the sound and beat. Michael W. Smith really captures the spirit of worshipping Jesus, the chorus, “Gloria Eclesio Deo,” is so good! It is one of the few Latin sentences I adore, and connects us to Christians from the Middle Ages who sang in latin!  



III. This is Christmas, Kutless, 2011





Kutless has been a consistently brilliant Christian band throughout the years. This song is very unique because it paints a picture of what our world would be like without Christ born in a manger, then it shifts gears to proclaiming his birth. I don’t think any Christmas song is like it in ambition and scope. It will shake you you a little, but that may be a good thing this time of year. 


IV. Emmanuel, Amy Grant, 1983



Amy Grant sings Isaiah 7 & 9, and its so powerful, it has that 80’s cheerful sound and beat you’ll never hear again. It is such a charming song, at Grant’s peak of popularity.  


It is amazing we have ancient prophecy that foretells Jesus’ birth. Here are the passages Amy sings, “Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.” (Isaiah 7:13-16), and “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)


V. You Gotta Get Up, Rich Mullins, 1993



Rich Mullins somg captures what it felt like as a kid on Christmas morning. We all at one time or another wanted a bike or red wagon, and he conveys the nostalgia of simpler days when we waited all year for Christmas Day. He of course mentions the Reason for the Season, “I hope there will be peace on earth and good will toward men, on account of that Baby born in Bethlehem.”  


These are my top five picks. They each capture the Spirit and Meaning of Christmas. I think each is a masterpiece, and will one day be considered classics like Handel’s Messiah. Amen. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Israel’s Conquest of Canaan: The Nephilim and Giants

  Christianity Today asserts that the conquest of Canaan can be a “stumbling block” for believers. This probably is because of a foolish idea of comparing it to a modern conquest happening in our world. The truth is that God had Israel conquer Canaan because it was ruled by evil giants, “We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (Numbers 13:33). These are Anakim or Nephilim, the children of angels and human women, “When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God (angels) saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These w
Post a Comment
Read more

Dispensationalism

John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) was a man who did two things, he took 70th week of the Book of Daniel and stretched out to the End Times, and he was the father of  Dispensationalism , a belief system that God dispenses different peoples with separate blessings and covenants. According to Darb'ys doctrine of Dispensationalism, God dispenses different covenants. There are total of seven dispensations that divide the history of man: I. Dispensation of Innocence (prior to the Fall, "Do not east of the Fruit of Good and Eve, Eden), II. Dispensation of Conscience ( You must assuage guilt and sin with blood sacrifices.) III. Dispensation of Human Government (Multiply and Subdue the world, example the Tower of Babel Gen 11:1-9, and Genesis 1:28). IV. Dispensation of the Promise (Dwell in Canaan, Jerusalem) V. Dispensation of the Law ("Obey the Law of Moses and the Prophets"). VI. Dispensation of Grace (The Church, Jesus Christ has come and died for our sins an
Post a Comment
Read more

Jesus’ Name in Aramaic

There has been a trend to render Jesus’ name Hebrew, יֵשׁוּעַ , Yeshua. The problem is neither Christ nor his apostles, nor the Jews in 30-33 A.D. spoke Hebrew, they spoke Aramaic. A ramaic is the oldest language on earth and was the language Jesus spoke. In fact, the oldest Old Testament is the Septuagint a Greco translation around 132 B.C.E. (165 Years Before Christ)that was translated from Aramaic. The Masoretic Text, The Hebrew Old Testament most Bibles use, dates from 7th to 10th Century A.D. (Medieval Times).  This translation does not cross reference with the words of Christ in the New Testament which are Aramaic and Koine Greek.  If the Aramaic was what Jesus spoke, then by what name would have been called? Jesus’ name in Aramaic is Isho or Eesho, spelled ܝܫܘܥ . That is the name of our Lord in Aramaic! He would have heard his name in this dialect, “Hail Isho or Eesho!” as well as the Greek, Ἰ ησο ῦ ς , Iesous.  Aramaic is disappearing, only a few people are endeavo
Post a Comment
Read more