Book Review: The Poetic Wonder of Isaac Watts

If you peruse any of the hymbooks in use today, or glance at the author's name as you sing soild traditional hymns in church, one of the names you'll notice popping up regularly is Isaac Watts. Not knowing anything about him beyond his famous hymns, this little book appeared on Kindle for free back in the summer, so I bought it to discover more about the hymnwriter.

As the foreword puts it, in Christian history there are 'followers worthy to be followed' - godly men and women who should be imitated. The author, Douglas Bond, contends that Isaac Watts is such a follower, as they portray his life, his influences, and focus in on his hymnwriting. This is the focus because 'in a day where there is much shallowness in corporate worship, the church must recapture a high view of God that leads to transcendent worship. In the final analysis, it is theology that inevitably produces doxology.'

So why look at Isaac Watts? 'First, we need Watts' poetry in our lives... Second, we need Watts' voice in our worship... and Third, we need Watts' example as we live in our frailty.'

There was much that I learned about Watts. I had never realised he was a nonconformist, his father the pastor of Above Bar Church in Southampton (where David Jackman was pastor much more recently), refusing to take a scholarship to Oxford or Cambridge in order to 'take his lot among the dissenters.' He began hymnwriting at the age of 16, when walking home from church one Sunday in 1690, referring to the 'ugly hymns' they had sung, and challenged by his father to 'give us something better.' What a challenge, and what a result!

The rest of the book takes the themes of some of the hymns he has written, including When I survey the wondrous cross; Joy to the world; Jesus shall reign where'er the sun; and O God our help in ages past.

Watts based many of his hymns on the Psalms, some of which we still sing. Yet there was always something I couldn't quite understand when we sung them in church. He seemed to introduce Jesus/the cross into the otherwise faithful Psalm paraphrase. Why did he do it? The author quotes Watts in his own words:

His defence of his method indicates that Watts wanted the Old Testament to be understood in light of its fulfillment in Christ: Where the Psalmist... speaks of the pardon of sin through the mercies of God, I have added the merits of a Saviour. Where he talks of sacrificing goats or bullocks, I rather choose to mention the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God. Where he promises abundance of wealth, honour, and long life, I have changed some of these typical blessings for grace, glory, and life eternal, which are brought to light by the Gospel, and promised in the New Testament. And I am fully satisfied, that more honour is done to our blessed Saviour by speaking his name, his graces, his actions, in his own language, according to the brighter discoveries he hath now made, than by going back again to the Jewish forms of worship, and the language of types and figures.

An interesting idea, which needs more thought, I reckon, and not entirely positively.

There was one little bit I didn't quite understand. The author appeared in one chapter to show that Watts refused to go up to Oxford and Cambridge, but in another chapter, reflecting on the irony that a textbook he wrote became the standard text at those institutions, 'institutions that refused to admit a Nonconformist such as Watts.' Both can't be the case!

Overall, this is a really good book. His life is detailed, and his hymns are explained with stories from his life. Those who enjoy hymns, theology or church history will particularly enjoy it. At times, though, there is a slight American bias to the writing and focus - in addressing his legacy in the 'New World' more than in his native England. It's also slightly disappointing to see great English compositions and diary entries rendered in American English!

The Poetic Wonder of Isaac Watts by Douglas Bond is available from Amazon for Kindle.

Things I Want To Say

Facebook is a great way of keeping up to date with former school friends. Just last week, I noticed that one of my contemporaries from Wallace High School in Lisburn is soon to be launching her debut album, Things I Want To Say. I ordered my copy on Friday evening. In the meantime, Ruth was on Radio Ulster on Saturday morning, and I couldn't wait for the album to arrive! Yesterday morning it did arrive in our letter box, direct from Ruth Trimble, and it's the only thing I've listened to since.

It's a beautiful album from a very talented lady, with a variety of emotions and moods from her distinctive style. The title track Things I Want To Say is a poignant, quiet song to a dear friend, dearly departed, and almost had me in tears, such is the power of the emotion in the lyrics. Fighter is an upbeat pop song celebrating her little nephew's birth and growth with a catchy chorus. Tonight returns to the quieter type of song, reflecting on a lost love. Let You Go is a lovely tune on the break-up of a relationship with a powerful chorus (which was featured on the radio on Saturday). Awaken My Soul is a smooth song packed with longing and hopefulness. The pace picks up with Set You Free, and slows for Goodbye as the relationship continues to break down. Judah has an Irish feel, with its tin whistle and accordian, celebrating the birth of her nephew. You Took My Heart highlights her prowess on the piano in this quiet and haunting tune. May It Be picks up the pace with the guitar leading the band as her faith comes to the fore in this worship song. The Fourth of November is a beautiful instrumental, written for her friend's journey up the aisle, which could easily feature in a pipe band's repertoire. The album closes with the majestic God Knows, reflecting on the providence of God in her life.

All in all it's a great debut album, and one that you need to get in your ears. Copies can be bought at Ruth's website.

Christmas in New York

We often complain about Christmas coming earlier and earlier each year. It is a bit ridiculous when the Hallowe'en and Christmas decorations are on the supermarket shelves at the same time. Perhaps they do it right in New York, where the tradition is that Thanksgiving is the beginning of the Christmas season, and Christmas doesn't begin until Santa Claus appears on the final float of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.

For that very reason, while the angels are standing to attention, the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center (perhaps the world's biggest) wasn't being lit until last night, and so was still under scaffolding while we were in New York:

Yet for us, Christmas came early at the world-famous concert venue, the Carnegie Hall. On Sunday 20th November, we experienced Christmas in New York, courtesy of David Phelps and the American Festival Choir with Marcia Ware.

The American Festival Choir were brilliant - as we were gathering in the museum and gift shop before being admitted to our seats, we had heard a sneak preview, but nothing could have prepared us for the sight! The choir consists of 360 voices from 13 church choirs across the United States, and almost completely filled the Carnegie Hall stage. Their leader, Phil Barfoot (along with Rebecca J Peck) created 'The Hope of Christmas' which was performed for the first time on the night.

The soloist, Marcia Ware also sang several pieces over the course of the evening, but we didn't hear enough of her!

The star of the show and the main attraction, though, was David Phelps. I must admit that I wasn't overly fussed on him beforehand, having heard some snippets of his CDs and appearances on the Gaither musical productions. My opinion changed, not before the end of the night, but by the end of the first song! His range, tone, and ability is outstanding, combined with the fact that he had written quite a few of the songs himself.

Among the numbers he performed were his version of Hark the Herald:


Joy, Joy:


and the modern classic, O Holy Night:

(videos are obviously not mine, and not from the concert!)

Perhaps the funniest moment was when he forgot the words to one of his own songs - 'End of the Beginning', and so went back to start again, and forgot the same words a second time, but the audience kept him on track! Poor David, he was so embarrassed!

This was no ordinary concert, it was truly a time of praise to the newborn King. In a place where applause has rung for many of the great performers, there was just one being praised that night - the Lord Jesus Christ. A taster of heaven, perhaps, when not just 360 voices combine to sing the Hallelujah chorus, but a multitude without number fill heaven's high arches with the song of the Lamb.

The Journey

Last Saturday night we were all Fired Up in Dungannon by a very special worship concert. Leading British hymnwriter, Stuart Townend rolled into town on the last night of a week touring Northern Ireland, and lifted the roof off the Leisure Centre.

As the evening began, there was a special treat, as Stuart introduced his band, led by Mark Edwards. The band played three instrumental numbers, including a jazz version of Abide With Me. At the start I was a bit dubious, but ended up buying Mark's CD as well, the band were so good!

Through the rest of the evening (with a break in the middle for CD sales and a cup of tea!) Stuart led worship, sang some familiar songs and taught some new ones, from his latest album The Journey. Having previously seen him lead the singing at the GAFCON/FCA event in London a couple of years ago, this was very different - a style I might call Hillbilly Hallelujah! At times there was a Mumford and Sons sound, others like a ceilidh band sound; always fairly folk with guitar, keyboards, double bass / bass guitar, drums, violin, saxophone; and various other instruments the talented band members could play - xylophone, a mouth organ type thing, tin whistle, accordion, flute etc.

Some of the old favourites were there - In Christ Alone, How deep the Father's love for us, and All my days (Beautiful Saviour); but lots of the new songs were also great and very catchy - several days later we're still humming them around the house - watch out for O My Soul; The Perfect Wisdom; The Man Who Calmed The Sea; a reworking of It Is Well With My Soul; and my favourite: Vagabonds. (click the link for samplers)

It wasn't just about the music, though, as Stuart revealed something of himself and his journey, chatting about how and why he wrote the songs on the current album, and what they mean to him. At the heart of all his songs, indeed at the heart of all the best music, is a longing to know and love Christ, and Townend's songs help us do that with solid content and meaningful words, as well as memorable and catchy tunes.

All in all a good evening, and a great album to listen - without a typical Christian CD feeling, which is no bad thing!

Seven Nation Army Stands Down

It was one evening in rural West Tyrone that I first encountered The White Stripes. I was working in Newtownstewart at the time, and had taken a wee trip up to Londonderry after work. On my way back to the village I was driving along in my blue Corsa, listening to Across The Line on BBC Radio Ulster. Medium Wave, because of the poor radio reception in the area.

As ATL often do, they were playing some upcoming releases, new music, and that's when the throbbing, unmistakable beat began. Even with the fuzzy Medium Wave reception, I knew it was a classic that first time I heard it.



Seven Nation Army will remain one of the best songs ever, which makes it sad that The White Stripes have announced they won't be making any more music. All that's left to say is, in the words of Abba, thank you for the music!

Motets Smote Mostest

Music technology is brilliant, when it works properly. Having seen an offer for some free music downloads from emusic, I got the Handel oratorio 'Israel in Egypt' (because I'm so very rock and roll!). It recounts the story of the children of Israel's misery in the land of Egypt, and how God came to their aid by sending the ten plagues on Egypt including the Passover, and brought them out to take them to the Promised Land. This afternoon I was listening it as I drove into town, and spotted a slight mistake in the track information for one of the tracks.

As you're probably aware, the track listing and title appears, so you know what you're listening to. However, someone has put the wrong information in, so that what should be a quotation from Psalm 105 ('He smote all the first-born of Egypt') actually appears as:

He smote all the first-born of Israel

It simply isn't true! In the tenth plague, the Passover, the firstborn of every family and every herd died. From the son of Pharaoh to the son of the captive in the dungeon (Exodus 12:29), death touched every house. Every house mourned. The Lord certainly smote all the firstborn in Egypt, but here's the surprising thing: none of the firstborn of Israel were smitten!

The next morning, the firstborn son of every family of Israelites was still living, in contrast to the firstborn of every family of Egyptians. What was the difference? In the Israelite households, a substitute died in place of the firstborn. A substitute the Lord had provided in his instructions to Moses:

1The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 "This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. 4And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.
7"Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover. 12For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

21Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 24You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 25And when you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26And when your children say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?' 27you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.'" And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. (Exodus 12:1-13, 21-27)

Imagine being the oldest son in the family, knowing that the sentence of death had been passed that evening. Every firstborn in Egypt would die. But there's a chance that the death of Larry the lamb will mean that you live. Would you be nervous as you lie down and go to sleep?

Then the next morning, you waken, you're still alive. You can truly say, the lamb died in my place. You live, because the lamb was slain. (It's the same for us - because Jesus died on the cross, in our place, the Lamb of God takes away our sin, and we can live). That's why our friend compiling the track information got it wrong - Israel wasn't smote, but Egypt was. Indeed, as the oratorio continues:

He smote all the first-born of Egypt, the chief of all their strength. But as for his people, he led them forth like sheep.

The Feeling and The Meaning

It all started the other night as I was making my way up to Belfast from Enniskillen. To aid my journey, I listened to two cds by The Feeling. Their quirky tunes, unusual lyrics and high energy songs made the trip seem fairly short. As I was listening to one of their songs, I finally realised (having heard it many times before) that it wasn't being sung to a girl called Rosie, but was rather a song to Rosé wine:



When I got home, I mentioned this on Twitter, which was found to be funny by some people, sparking a discussion on mishearing lyrics and making up your own lyrics. It was then that one of my friends made the following statement:

Art is never up for interpretation. None but that of the artist's.

In terms of art, I'm not sure if I would agree. After all, each of us can have differing reactions to a piece of art/music/literature; sometimes in line with what the artist intended, but not always necessarily so. Indeed, our reactions can add to the contribution of the art.

The other problem with that, though, is that you can't always know what the author was intending. Maybe it is my case of misheard lyrics; or the art being a complete mystery - I find most modern art unintelligible. Ideally, in order to hear what the artist is saying, we need an explanation by the artist.

It got me thinking, though, on our approach to the Bible. Many people would fall in the take what you will from it camp, so that the Bible can mean anything to you, whether it's close to the original intention or not. In this approach, the Bible becomes a launchpad for your own feelings, thoughts, emotions and directions, whether or not they are legitimate or 'biblical'.

Rather, as Christians, and particularly Bible teachers and preachers, we want to know the author's intention, so that we communicate the vital and essential message of the Bible, text by text and passage by passage. And not just the human author's intention either, remembering that men spoke by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21), so that the urgent question as we come to Scripture is: what is God saying in this section of his word?

To trifle with fancies and blind alleys of our own interpretations is dangerous and useless. To hear and understand the intention of the Author is the key to all our studies, meditation, and teaching. To do it, though, requires our effort and the help of the Spirit. Nothing else is good enough.

HMV Face The Music

Another new year, another major UK music retailer is facing hard times. Two years ago the shops formerly known as Virgin Megastores, repackaged as Zavvi closed in Belfast and across the UK. This was the same time as Woolworths shut up shop, and things looked bleak for the UK music sector on the high street. At the time, HMV purchased some of the Zavvi stores, including Abbeycentre and (possibly) the Victoria Square shop, and HMV was (in Belfast anyway), the only major music retailer.

Almost exactly two years later, and now HMV are reporting problems, with plans to close 40 HMV stores and 20 Waterstones branches this year. While they haven't announced which shops will close, it's fairly likely some of these will be in Northern Ireland, which raises the question of where we'll be able to actually go and buy a CD in and around Belfast in the next year.

It seems that Apple downloads and Amazon mp3s and online shopping is bringing about a big change in the music market. Rather than having to go into town to actually buy a cd, now you can lie in bed, hear a song on TV and within a minute or so buy it, download it, and be listening it on your iPod. How can high street shops compete with that? Tough times are ahead, and not just for the staff who will be laid off as these shops close.

Under Control?

The debate is hot and heavy; whether the Black Eyed Peas have ruined a classic song through their remixing and updating. Their new release, last week 'The Time (Dirty Bit)' uses the chorus of '(I've Had) The Time of My Life', the finale song from 1987 movie Dirty Dancing.

Yesterday I got in the car and missed the opening section, so didn't realise it was that song. Will.I.Am was rapping, and it was then that I heard this line, which set me thinking about how a Christian is to be counter-cultural in the realm of control.

So come on, let’s go
Let’s lose control
Let’s do it all night

The way to have a good time, it seems, is to lose control, to let go of yourself. As I considered it for a moment or two, I realised that the Black Eyed Peas are not the only ones in today's culture promoting this message.

Eminem urges us to 'Just Lose It', while Beyonce's new song declares that 'we only find ourselves by losing all control', and The Saturdays are 'gonna lose control tonight.' The message is clear, to have fun you have to lose control, and go wild.

It's not surprising, then, that we find the counter-cultural message of Christianity loud and clear on this very point. It's right there in the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5: 'the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.'

I was reminded of this important element of the Christian life through the teaching of Vaughan Roberts from Paul's letter to Titus at NIMA this week. Self-control is mentioned a number of times as one of the signs of godliness which comes about through the grace of the gospel.

It's one of the qualifications for the elders / overseers (church leaders) (1:8); it's required of older men (2:2), young women (2:5), younger men (2:6), and is implicit in the behaviour of the older women too (so that you don't feel left out!). Why the repeated emphasis on self-control? Why is it so very important as to be mentioned time and again?

For Paul, the grace of the gospel brings about conversion and change in the lives of those who hear and repent. Grace must lead to godliness, so that previous ungodly desires, passions and pleasures are removed and godly desires and works are produced, as we become more like Jesus. It's most clear in one of the three summaries of the gospel within Titus:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14)

In contrast to the world around us, we no longer have to lose control to feel good; we no longer have to go wild in order to be free. The God whose service is perfect freedom releases us to live self-controlled lives, testifying to the power of the gospel to change us and make us more like Jesus. We become self-controlled not because we are repressed, or because we're strict legalists, or because we're hypocrites, but because the grace of God changes our passions, pleasures, affections and desires.

To be self-controlled is to shine out like a light in the dark sky in this world, where the culture urges no forms of control at all. In doing so, we shine for the glory of God, as a testimony to his grace and goodness.

Orthodoxology?

In perhaps coining a new word, I want to think for a moment or two about orthodox doxology - or as I've put it, orthodoxology. What I'm trying to get at is the oft neglected subject of our hymn singing and praise of our Heavenly Father - is what we sing correct, sound doctrine; in other words, are we orthodox in our doxology?

The presenting reason came about last week at the clergy conference. During one of the sessions, we were being led by the American team from our partner diocese. We were about to sing the Getty Townend classic 'In Christ Alone', but the lady playing the keyboard drew our attention to an alteration to the well known words, asking us to be careful to sing what was in the powerpoint screen words.

What had changed? As suspected, the second verse had been changed from:

'Til on that cross, as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied...

Instead, the new version stated:

'Til on that cross, as Jesus died,
The price of sin was satisfied...

Several thoughts crossed my mind. First of all, is it ethical / legally permissible to change the lyrics of a copyrighted song?

But more importantly, what are the altered lyrics really saying? Had Getty and Townend written 'the price of sin was satisfied' it would have been fine - but given that they didn't decide on that option, but affirmed the wrath of God which had to be satisfied to make atonement for our sins, what is being said when the words are changed?

Is it an attempt to ignore or brush over the wrath of God? Are we trying to deny one of the essential attributes of the character of God? Is it to be more politically correct?

The price of sins was being paid on the cross as Jesus died - but at the same time, the price of sin was so that the wrath of God against those sins could be satisfied. Isn't that what Romans is showing us - that 'the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men' (1:18), but that wrath is satisfied, turned away from us because it has been borne by the Lord Jesus on the cross - 'whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith' (3:25) - so that we are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is it Christ Jesus.

Or as that great wee chapter from Isaiah puts it:

I will give thanks to you, O LORD,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me. (Isaiah 12:1)

The wrath of God is not something to take lightly. It took the death of the Lord Jesus to deal with it. We can't quickly ignore it. It is both vital for understanding what the Lord Jesus has done for us (orthodoxy), and also to respond appropriately with praise (doxology) - or in my new favourite made-up word, Orthodoxology!

[Update: having written this last night, I came across a good cover version of In Christ Alone recorded by Adam Young of Owl City - in which the whole second verse is missing! H/T Pizza Preacher]

Inflation of Greed

We're hearing much these days about the economy, and the risk of inflation due to economic pressures. Money may be scarce for many, with long-term unemployment being the situation many find themselves in, often through no fault of their own.

Despite the credit crunch, recession and all the rest, there is one measure of economics that continues to grow steadily, with no foreseeable decline - the inflation of greed. I noticed it the other day with the new song from Travie McCoy 'I wanna be a billionaire so so bad'.

A few years back, Kelis and Andre 3000 were singing about being a millionaire, but that just doesn't cut it any more. McCoy has to go one further, in this inflation of greed to be a billionaire! The primary reason (according to his chorus) is so that he can

Buy all of the things I never had
Uh, I wanna be on the cover of Forbes magazine
Smiling next to Oprah and the Queen

While he makes some interesting points in the verses, talking about how anyone near him wouldn't know what hungry was, the repeated chorus has him wanting his name in lights, being in a different city every night. The philanthropy or charity goes out the window when it comes to fame and fortune.

There are many people wanting the same thing as Travie McCoy, although they don't sing about it to the world in the charts. The desire for riches, fame, success continues to grow and consume people, but they ultimately don't satisfy. As we're reminded in the Bible, we brought nothing into the world and we take nothing out of the world. Dressing our desires up with some fancy lines about charity just won't cut it - after all, you don't need to be a billionaire to help other people; you don't need to be loaded to relieve someone else's burden.

I wanna be a billionaire so so bad? Perhaps not. What's next - I wanna be a squillionaire, a trillionaire, or a bajillionaire? Let's hope not!

Plan B: Prayin'

It's interesting the songs that appear in the charts. Some have said that the postmodern generation don't do guilt and sin, yet upcoming star Plan B has made that the theme of his newest single release, Prayin'. Now, obviously praying should be our first resort, our Plan A, rather than plan B or further down the list of priorities, so let's look at some of what he's singing about:

I'm prayin', Lord I'm prayin to you,
Take away this guilt all up in my head
I'm pleading, Lord I'm pleading wit' you,
Got some things to do before the day I'm dead

I'm prayin', Lord I'm prayin' to you,
Save me from these sins weighing down on my soul
I'm pleading, Lord I'm pleading wit' you,
got some healing to do inside I'm feeling love.

These are the last two parts of the chorus, which seem pretty straight forward, a clear praying to the Lord to remove the guilt he's feeling and the sins weighing down on him. A fantastic prayer, and one the Lord delights to hear and answer:

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' (Acts 2:21)

The verses are a bit more murky, hard to understand on the surface without knowing what he's talking about, but perhaps we'll be able to point to this song to help us explain how to cry out to the Lord in prayer when reaching non-Christians with the good news of Jesus.

The Silent Monks Sing Hallelujah

This is brilliant!



H/T The SciFi Pastor.

On The Twelve Days of Christmas...

iTunes gave to me, not a partridge in a pear tree, but twelve freebies! Check it out at the 12 days website. Perfect if you got a new iPhone or iPod for Christmas, or just want to get some free songs and videos. Today's special offer is the Snow Patrol song 'An Olive Grove Facing The Sea'.

Matthew's Begats

Ever wondered about the genealogy at the beginning of Matthew's Gospel? Why the big list of unpronounceable names? Is there any way of remembering the names?

Check out this song by Andrew Peterson, entitled Matthew's Begats:



The song comes from a Christmas concert Andrew has put together: 'Behold The Lamb of God'

X-Factor at Xmas: Who's Got Your Vote?

So it's the final weekend of X Factor 2009 (or as Dermot mistakenly said in one of the links from the adverts "Welcome back to the X Factor 2008 Final!"). Stacey has been eliminated and just two acts remain: Olly Murs and Joe Mcelderry. Who will win? As UTV ask: Who are U voting for?

In the press, blogs and Facebook updates (particularly from William Crawley) there is plenty of discussion surrounding who has the X Factor. Whether it be their singing ability (or lack of, in the case of Jedward), their looks, their dancing, their entertainment potential, their flexibility or whatever, do they have the X Factor? I think Joe will win, but we'll see tomorrow night.

The X Factor raises lots of discussion. That X is the all important factor, the element that makes it all worthwhile. The thing that distinguishes the haves from the hasbeens. Reminds me of another X which causes discussion.

There is always a big fuss about people referring to Xmas. We need to keep Christ in Christmas, we're told, and so Facebook protest groups abound, and letters to the press. But did you know that Jesus is still in Xmas? In fact, it may even have been Christians who first used the shortened version, using the X or Chi, the first letter of Christos (Christ in Greek). So Xmas is still Christmas.

The X is a reminder of the Christ at the heart of Christmas, without whom there wouldn't even be a Christmas to celebrate. The X reminds us that, rather than the X Factor, Jesus has the Christ factor, God's Son, God's promised King. This is what separates and distinguishes Jesus from any other religious figure, the thing that makes it all worthwhile.

Jesus, the Saviour of the world is born, to grow up and die to save his people, freely offering God's grace to all who will receive it. The one whom crowds flock to hear preaching, who heals the sick and raises the dead to life. The one who dies that we might live. That's the real Xtra Factor, the X Factor at the heart of Xmas. So Merry Christmas, one and all!

Christmas With Hayley Westenra

Last night, I was in the Ulster Hall for the first time. Surprising and shocking, I realise that, but very true. You see, I never made it to Mannafest; have never been to a concert in it, and even missed the access all areas Flickrmeet when it was recently refurbished.

The occasion was a Christmas concert with the RTE Concert Orchestra and Hayley Westenra, supposed to begin at 7.45pm, but the rehearsals ran on somewhat, leaving the doors to only be opened at 7.25pm or so. Thankfully we had arrived early and were queueing inside the foyer, but there were many more people out in the cold for a long time. Last minute rehearsals left us slightly nervous that things wouldn't be as good as we had hoped, but things turned all right on the night.

There was a good mixture of orchestral instrumentals and items from Miss Westenra, some new pieces (to me) and some well known festive favourites. The orchestra were tremendous, with a great sound, although my favourite musicians were the percussionists, with their tubular bells, xylophones, drums, jingle bells, and the two bits of wood banged together to make the sound of the whip in Sleigh Ride.

This was the second time in 2009 we saw Hayley Westenra - the last time being in Bangor Elim. The major difference was that she had a full orchestra this time, as opposed to just a piano in Bangor, and the performance was superior for that reason.

After a packed performance (which, even with the interval and the two encores lasted less than two hours), we went through the farce of her parading off stage, waiting, then coming back on to sing Love Came Down at Christmas, then parading off again, pausing, and coming back to rapturous applause to sing her final song, O Holy Night.

For me, the only disappointment was in not getting to join in with some carols - performances are good, but to be really Christmassy it's good to sing as well, but then I'll have my first carol service tomorrow to make up for that.

It's now off to Dublin for Hayley and the Orchestra to do it all over again tonight in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, and then she's flying home to New Zealand for Christmas holidays.

One of the highlights for me was the line she finished the whole concert on:

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory Evermore proclaim.

Amen Hayley, Amen.

Britney Spears' New Thing

Have you heard the new song from Britney Spears in the Top 40? It's a bit dire, mixing some counting (1, 2, 3) with some immorality. The song's title is 3 and the lyrics recount the adventures of Peter, Paul and Mary. I won't even include the lyrics of the song, as they're so bad, but there's one line from the chorus I want to comment on.

Livin' in sin is the new thing

If you believe Miss Spears, then immorality is something new, and something 'merrier the more'. Aside from the fact that what she's advocating is immoral and outside God's plan and purposes, she's completely wrong on it being a new thing.

As the writer of Ecclesiastes says: 'there is nothing new under the sun.' (Ecc 1:9) Since our first parents, Adam and Eve, every person has been living in sin, as a slave to sin. There's nothing big or clever about it. It's despicable and evil for us to reject the goodness of God our Creator, and to shut our ears to the gracious Word of our life-giver.

That's why we need the Saviour, the sinless Lord Jesus, who saves us from the old ways of living in sin, and gives us new life. Eternal life is the only 'new thing' for us - and it's found in Jesus Christ, not sin.

Daniel Renstrom Interview

One time, when we were carol singing a few years back, a small spelling mistake crept through the editing process for the song sheets. It only came to light as we were singing through the carol, and it took a quick edit to ensure we were singing sound theology and not docetism or worse:

Word of the Father, not in flesh appearing

Of course, we sang the proper words celebrating the incarnation:

Word of the Father, Now in flesh appearing.
O Come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

Yesterday I reviewed the excellent new Christmas album which centres On The Incarnation from Daniel Renstrom. Having left a message on Daniel's website, he graciously got in touch to answer a few questions about the album:

Why do we need good Christmas music?

I am by no means an expert on Christmas music. So I don't want my
comments to come off as a guy who has seen the entire landscape of
Christmas music and has returned to give the right answer...haha.

I've noticed though that much of the Christmas music that I/we hear is
based heavily on sentimentalism and not Scripture. So in our
compiling of traditional Christmas songs and writing of new ones we
wanted to be very careful to tell the story of the incarnation as
Biblically accurate as possible.

How did you put the album together?

When we started thinking up the idea for the CD we put together all
the ideas that we thought should be highlighted in order to tell the
story of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. So from there we just
either found songs that fit into those themes or wrote new ones.

What is the essential Christmas message for you?

I think that the Christmas message is the same as the gospel
message...believe in Christ....worship Christ. The one line in the CD
that i love the most is the second verse of Rise & Fall, it says Those
who oppose stumble on this stone, the birth of this dangerous
King...But many will hear, believing will fear and hope in this
dangerous King. I love those lines because i think they convey the
gospel. Some people will look at the birth of Jesus and just say, he
was only a good man, born in the middle east. But others will believe
that he is GOD, and they will worship him.

A big thank you to Daniel for taking the time to respond. Daniel's new album On The Incarnation is available at iTunes, and even cheaper at Amazon downloads.

Favourite Christmas Album?

What's your favourite Christmas album? Perhaps it's a traditional album like Carols from Kings, or something more twinkly like Merry Christmas by Mariah Carey. Either way, there's a good chance your favourite CD quickly gets you into the festive mood.

The reason I'm asking is that I've found my new favourite Christmas CD, and it will be a tough one to knock from that position. I found it through a review on the Reformissionary blog, where Steve McCoy rated it highly. I love my Christmas music and had to sample it - and within five minutes had purchased the whole album!


But what makes it a good Christmas album? Forget about the jingle bells and songs about snow. A good Christmas album needs good tunes, good singing, and most of all, songs about Christ. On The Incarnation by Daniel Renstrom gives us all this, and sound theology to boot!

Daniel begins by taking some well-known Christmas carols, and putting his own spin on them - so Come Thou Long Expected Jesus is still set to Hyfrydol, only in an upbeat manner; Hark the Herald Angels Sing is in a quieter, more reflective style, which suits it extremely well; while the rocking beat returns for Angels We Have Heard On High. O Come, O Come Emmanuel is a haunting instrumental which leads into one on Daniel's own songs: Rise & Fall.

The dawn of the light
Is breaking tonight
At the birth of this dangerous King

And shepherds and kings
Bow down and sing
At the birth of this dangerous King

Many will rise and fall
At the birth of this King, the birth of this King
Many will rise and fall
At the birth of this King, the birth of this King

Those who oppose
Stumble on this stone
The birth of this dangerous King

But many will hear
Believing in fear
Will hope in this dangerous King

The sound of the song reminds me in some ways of Muse, while the words recall the words of old Simeon in the temple.

The album opens with a strong reminder of just what the incarnation is all about with a great musical kick:

Who has believed
This message we have loved
Invisible God, came in flesh from above

Mighty, wonderful God, Prince of Peace
Bringing sight to the lost, calling us to sing

Join oh join the angel melody
God with man is pleased to dwell
Sing confess, with all His company
Jesus our Immanuel

Promised One
Came with justice and Love
The ruined to claim
Sin and death overcame

Mighty, wonderful God, Prince of Peace
Bringing sight to the lost, calling us to sing

I had originally thought that Daniel completely avoided the jingle bells of Christmas on the album, but listening more carefully they appear during a section of this song - and deservedly so!

The last two songs are also Daniel's original work, a powerful acoustic reflection on the comfort Christ brings to us, and to the world through his birth and death:

Comfort ye heavy laden , The Son of God has come
His kingdom shines with lavish mercy, For those who’s hearts are drawn

Those who dwell in darkness , See the of Christ invades the night
Shining from His cross of anguish , His death brings many life

In Christ we know hope for the hurting
In Christ we know love for the lost
In Christ we know no other one can save

Comfort ye weary Christian , For just as Christ was raised
He will soon return to gather those, Who follow Him by faith

In Christ we know hope for the hurting
In Christ we know love for the lost
In Christ we know no other one can save

Immanuel
God with us
Son of God
Hallelujah

Immanuel
God with us
Son of God
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

The Immanuel bridge is the build up of the hope throughout the song, and celebrates the glory of the truth that the Son of God is one of us, and is with us.

Divine Messiah is the final track, a heartfelt cry to the Messiah to come, and a fitting end to the whole cd, as we wait for the return of the Lord.

On The Incarnation comes highly recommended, as a Christmas album which can be listened to all year round, and as all good theology should lead to doxology, this certainly leads to praise and worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Buy it from iTunes for £6.32, and even less at Amazon downloads and join the angel melody to praise the dangerous king. Check out the reviews from Steve McCoy and Zack Riesland to find out more about the songs, or check out Daniel Renstrom's site, where you can also download the chord charts and lyrics for the album.

Tomorrow we have an exclusive interview with Daniel as he shares with us about the album - watch this space!