Christmas Music You'll Actually Enjoy

The first Sunday of Advent is tomorrow, so it's officially the Christmas season. If you're anything like me, you have a love-hate relationship with the music of the season. On the one hand, there's a certain amount of enjoyment that comes from the traditional songs of the season, both "sacred" and "secular." It's hard to deny that Jingle Bells is a catchy tune that is especially fun to sing with energetic kids. Some of the Christmas hymns reflect the emotions of God's people so beautifully: longing, expectation, surprise, joy, elation and peace. Some of these songs are truly brilliant.

However, the expression "familiarity breeds contempt" doesn't even come close to describing the sickening feeling many of us have upon hearing the same tunes over and over and over again during this Christmas season. There are too few songs that are played too often and everywhere. For example, I studied Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker in my college orchestration class. It is, simply put, one of the most genius examples of composition and orchestration in all of western music history. However, whenever most of us hear some snippet of The Nutcracker, our reaction leans more towards acts of violence rather than peace on earth.

With that in mind, I am always thankful whenever a band or an artist has a fresh take on some of these classic songs. My wife and I both enjoy Bing Crosby or Dean Martin this time of year, but there's just something to be said for artists that can truly do some thing new with these fantastic songs. I also like some of the original tunes that come with an artist doing a Christmas CD. I would like submit the following list for your Advent enjoyment:

Sixpence None the Richer - The Dawn of Grace

Sixpence has been a personal favorite of mine since I was in high school. I am so bummed that they only got popular from what I consider to be their worst song ever, Kiss Me. Most of the songs are in the sacred vein, but there are a good handful of fun, even romantic Christmas-timey songs.

Dustin Kensrue - This Night Is Still Good Everywhere

Dustin is more well known as being the lead vocalist of the band Thrice, but his solo stuff has become some of my favorite for the last couple of years. Like Sixpence, there are some sacred and some secular songs on this record. One song in particular, This Is War, is without a doubt one of the most unique and powerful visions of Christmas I've ever heard. (You can watch the video here: http://youtu.be/k0RbWg0UCKE)

Sojourn - Advent Songs

Two words: wow and wow. This album has so much depth. Sojourn is a church in Louisville, Kentucky, and they have been putting out some of the most creative church music I've ever heard. Their Advent Songs record is no different. There are a few standards, a few standards with new melodies, and lots of originals. I'm singing at least one or two of these tunes at our church this advent season.

Future of Forestry - Advent Christmas EP's 1 and 2

I've been a little bit slow to catch on to this band, but holy cow they're good. Musically, they're very talented and diverse, and they put a ton of heart and passion into everything they do. These EP's have all sacred songs but done in such a fresh way that you'll feel like you're hearing them for the first time. For any guitar nerds or tone junkies out there, these EP's are definitely for you.

My Current Favorite Band-And-A-Half

Page CXVI is a band that is putting out updated versions of the hymns. I'm not entirely sure how I heard of them, but MAN I'm digging their stuff. They also perform original tunes (non "religious" songs, if you will) under the moniker The Autumn Film. I highly recommend their newest CD The Ship and the Sea. Hymns #3 comes out on November 30.

The Most Boring Section of the Whole Bible

For the last few days, my Bible-reading plan has taken me through some of the most boring chapters I could have ever imagined in the entire Bible: Joshua 15 through 19 or so. The book of Joshua, up to this point, has been recounting the military exploits of the people of Israel under the leadership of Joshua as they conquer the land of Canaan. The stories are full of intrigue, blood, drama, and interesting characters. But, at chapter 15, the narrative begins to describe how they divided up the land between the different tribes and groups of the Israelites. It is, without a doubt, one of the most tedious sections of scripture I have ever had the privilege to read. The specificity with which the geographical locations are named is tough to follow, much less understand.

Here is a brief snippet for you. Please try to stay awake all the way through:

The territory of the people of Ephraim by their clans was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was Ataroth-addar as far as Upper Beth-horon, and the boundary goes from there to the sea. On the north is Michmethath. Then on the east the boundary turns around toward Taanath-shiloh and passes along beyond it on the east to Janoah, then it goes down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan. (Joshua 16:5-7 ESV)

I hold to the view of scripture known as "Verbal Plenary Inspiration." Inspiration means that the Bible does not come from mere men, but that God himself spoke His Word through them (2 Peter 1:21). Verbal means that the specific words of the scripture are given to us by God (Matthew 5:18). Plenary means that the ENTIRE Bible was given to us by God and is for our good, even the seemingly irrelevant sections (2 Timothy 3:16). It is easy to appreciate the exciting stories in the Torah or the practical teaching from Paul's writings; it is often more difficult to appreciate the genealogies or the long descriptions of Levitical priestly practice or these long geographical descriptions. However, something happened recently that spoke volumes to me about these chapters in Joshua.

Two Sundays ago, a doctor from my church did a presentation on a medical mission that he is a part of in the Sudan. For those who don't know, the Sudan has been decimated by decades of civil war, ethnic strife, and genocide. It is undoubtedly one of the poorest regions in the entire world and in desperate need for God's people to step in and intervene. Dr. Jack was talking to my friend Rich about the fighting in the region and he said something very interesting. One of the major contributing factors to the fighting between people groups in Sudan is the lack of geographical boundary lines for their territories. The boundary lines were drawn up by government people looking at a map, not at the actual land. Dr. Jack said that if they were to have rivers and mountains dividing the people instead of imaginary lines, it would go a long way to easing the tensions.

Have you ever wondered why some of our United States are so weirdly shaped? It's because many of their borders follow the natural geography of the region. Only someone on drugs would think to draw a state shaped like West Virginia if they were handed a map and a marker. Only further out west, when the U.S. took control over huge regions of land, did we get boring, theoretical state shapes like Utah and Colorado. There is tremendous wisdom, sociologically speaking, in having people's boundaries marked by the natural divisions we see in nature.

Now, when I read Joshua 15 and such, I am thankful to God for His tremendous wisdom in giving the people of Israel the land according to natural markers. In fact, only 300 short years after the events in Joshua, the people of Israel became so divided that they actually split into 2 autonomous nations. Could you imagine if they hadn't had natural divisions? They might not have made it 50 years!! Once again, we see the hand of God at work in providing His people with the best possible chance for success as a nation. These potentially boring chapters can now, with a little understanding, open up our eyes to a greater measure of God's manifold wisdom and give us an opportunity to worship Him.

p.s. For those who may be interested, here's the website for the Alaska Sudan Medical Project: www.AlaskaSudan.org