» Christmas http://harmonyblog.org Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:24:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Copyright © 2010 harmonyofhearts@gmail.com harmonyofhearts@gmail.com http://harmonyblog.org/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://harmonyblog.org 144 144 harmonyofhearts@gmail.com no no Bluegrass/Yiddish/Christmas music http://harmonyblog.org/2010/12/24/bluegrassyiddishchristmas-music/ http://harmonyblog.org/2010/12/24/bluegrassyiddishchristmas-music/#comments Fri, 24 Dec 2010 12:28:47 +0000 Harmony of Hearts http://harmonyblog.org/?p=3289 Nothing says ‘Merry Christmas’ quite like  this version of Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

HT:  TokensShow.com

]]> http://harmonyblog.org/2010/12/24/bluegrassyiddishchristmas-music/feed/ 0 The Silent Monks present the Hallelujah Chorus http://harmonyblog.org/2010/12/22/the-silent-monks-present-the-hallelujah-chorus/ http://harmonyblog.org/2010/12/22/the-silent-monks-present-the-hallelujah-chorus/#comments Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:09:52 +0000 Harmony of Hearts http://harmonyblog.org/?p=3284 Some humor for the holidays (or anytime).

]]> http://harmonyblog.org/2010/12/22/the-silent-monks-present-the-hallelujah-chorus/feed/ 0 Wake up the world… http://harmonyblog.org/2010/12/21/wake-up-the-world%e2%80%a6/ http://harmonyblog.org/2010/12/21/wake-up-the-world%e2%80%a6/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 12:17:34 +0000 Harmony of Hearts http://harmonyblog.org/?p=3301 …the King has come.

Merry Christmas!

Courtesy of JJ Heller & K-LOVE

]]> http://harmonyblog.org/2010/12/21/wake-up-the-world%e2%80%a6/feed/ 0 The poverty of God http://harmonyblog.org/2010/12/20/the-poverty-of-god/ http://harmonyblog.org/2010/12/20/the-poverty-of-god/#comments Mon, 20 Dec 2010 13:02:54 +0000 Harmony of Hearts http://harmonyblog.org/?p=3259 During our Christmas celebrations, let us remember that our Lord came and identified with the poorest of the poor.

]]> http://harmonyblog.org/2010/12/20/the-poverty-of-god/feed/ 0 Christmas outreach for $1 per family http://harmonyblog.org/2010/09/15/christmas-outreach-materials/ http://harmonyblog.org/2010/09/15/christmas-outreach-materials/#comments Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:10:35 +0000 Harmony of Hearts http://harmonyblog.org/?p=3055 Here’s a great way to impact homes in your community this Christmas through Crossway Publications:

The Share the Good News of Christmas program is a simple, cost-effective way to help your church bring the gospels to your neighborhood. Rally your family members, church staff, small groups, and Sunday school classes to visit your neighbors and hand out cheerful Christmas bags. Each kit includes:

  • 50 cheerful door-hanger bags
  • 50 ESV Outreach New Testament Christmas Editions
  • 50 customizable invitations to attend a Christmas service at your church
  • 50 copies of The Good News of Christmas tract by Max Lucado
  • 50 cards announcing a FREE opportunity to explore the ESV Online Study Bible free for 30 days
  • 1 Instruction card
  • 1 Reproducible church bulletin insert

Each kit will be sold for $50.00. That’s only $1.00 per home!

This affordable package is a great ministry opportunity for your church family. It’s also a great ministry opportunity to spread the word about children’s programs, choir concerts, Christmas caroling, and more!

For more information, samples, and free promotional material, see the Share the Good News of Christmas website.

Video below or click here to view.

Share the Good News of Christmas from Crossway on Vimeo.

]]> http://harmonyblog.org/2010/09/15/christmas-outreach-materials/feed/ 0 Xmas is okay http://harmonyblog.org/2009/12/26/xmas-is-okay/ http://harmonyblog.org/2009/12/26/xmas-is-okay/#comments Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:32:49 +0000 Harmony of Hearts http://harmonyblog.org/?p=2476 Scholar R.C. Sproul has a short explanation on why using “X” for “Christ” in Christmas is acceptable:

The idea of X as an abbreviation for the name of Christ came into use in our culture with no intent to show any disrespect for Jesus.

The church has used the symbol of the fish historically because it is an acronym. Fish in Greek (ichthus) involved the use of the first letters for the Greek phrase “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.”

So the early Christians would take the first letter of those words and put those letters together to spell the Greek word for fish. That’s how the symbol of the fish became the universal symbol of Christendom.

There’s a long and sacred history of the use of X to symbolize the name of Christ, and from its origin, it has meant no disrespect.

HT:  Justin Taylor

]]> http://harmonyblog.org/2009/12/26/xmas-is-okay/feed/ 0 Merry Christmas 2009 http://harmonyblog.org/2009/12/25/merry-christmas-2009/ http://harmonyblog.org/2009/12/25/merry-christmas-2009/#comments Fri, 25 Dec 2009 12:14:37 +0000 Harmony of Hearts http://harmonyblog.org/?p=2456 snowy-evergreen-tree

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior,

who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be a sign for you:

you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host

praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Luke 2:11-14 (ESV)

Merry Christmas!


]]> http://harmonyblog.org/2009/12/25/merry-christmas-2009/feed/ 0 Mary’s Magnificat and the poor http://harmonyblog.org/2009/12/24/marys-magnificat-and-the-poor/ http://harmonyblog.org/2009/12/24/marys-magnificat-and-the-poor/#comments Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:48:09 +0000 Harmony of Hearts http://harmonyblog.org/?p=2529 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

A Magnificat kind of Christmas, which understands Christmas as about God’s acts to redeem through the incarnation, is also about the poor…

I suspect that Mary understood the conception of the Messiah in her womb as the first act of God to establish justice through her son — he would scatter the proud and bring down rulers and send the rich away empty and he would also lift the humble and fill the hungry with good things.

]]> http://harmonyblog.org/2009/12/24/marys-magnificat-and-the-poor/feed/ 0 White Horse for Christmas http://harmonyblog.org/2009/12/17/white-horse-for-christmas/ http://harmonyblog.org/2009/12/17/white-horse-for-christmas/#comments Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:53:20 +0000 Harmony of Hearts http://harmonyblog.org/?p=2427 White_HorseBring me a white horse for Christmas
We’ll ride him through the town
Out into the snowy woods
Where we will both lie down

Underneath white birches
Our faces toward the sky
We will make snow angels
With our white horse standing by

Hush now baby
One day we’re gonna ride
Hush now baby
Our white horse through the sky

Bring me a white horse for Christmas
We’ll ride him through the snow
All the way to Bethlehem
2000 years ago

I wanna speak with the angel
Who said do not be afraid
I wanna kneel where the oxen knelt
Where the little child was laid

Hush now baby
One day you’re gonna ride
Hush now baby
Your white horse through the sky

No bridle will he be wearing
His unshod hoofs they will fly
Keep a watch out this Christmas
For that white horse in the sky

Hush now baby
One day we’re gonna ride
Hush now baby
Our white horse through the sky

Hush now baby
Let every angel sing
Hush now baby
One day we’ll ride again

  • Words & music by Linford Detweiler
  • Stream OTR’s Christmas album free here.

HT:  OvertheRhine.com

]]> http://harmonyblog.org/2009/12/17/white-horse-for-christmas/feed/ 0 “God is a great fugue” http://harmonyblog.org/2009/12/16/god-is-a-great-fugue/ http://harmonyblog.org/2009/12/16/god-is-a-great-fugue/#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:25:56 +0000 Harmony of Hearts http://harmonyblog.org/?p=2421

Peter Bannister is a modern classic composer who takes theology seriously.

Concerning his recent oratorio Et iterum venturus est (And He shall come again), he says:

The historic creedal statement…reminds us that the Christian faith not only calls us to remember the Word’s becoming flesh but also to live in anticipation of Christ’s return. Et iterum venturus est is conceived as a work pulled in the “two directions” … focusing on Christ as both the promised Savior and Judge of Christian eschatology.

For a long time I have felt that during the liturgical season of Advent (which will be the context for the first performance of the piece in December 2008) a great deal of attention is paid to recalling the (not-so-burning) Babe of Bethlehem and relatively little to the Crucified and Risen Christ’s future coming in glory … ‘to judge the living and the dead’ in the words of the Creed.

The danger of this is that the awesome, unfathomable mystery that is the Incarnation becomes domesticated, dissociated from the transformational call to repentance and its implications for both our individual lives and God’s world.

While being careful to avoid any kind of speculation on the time-frame for the parousia, I intend to juxtapose scriptural texts regarding these two comings of Christ within one work in order to demonstrate their inseparability within the Biblical witness and…to interpret the past in the light of the future.

The video above (also viewable on YouTube here), Peter reflects on the challenges he faced writing Et iterum venturus est, discussing the intrinsic connection between music and spirituality and how he realized the necessity of linking profound theological reflection with challenging musical scores.

Click here to download an interview with Peter Bannister by Greg Wheatley that aired on Moody Radio.

HT:  Chandler Branch, Soli Deo Gloria

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