Renee Fleming--"O Holy Night"

I got nothin' to add. I'll just let the woman's voice speak for itself.

(PS--Do you know how hard it is to find a version of this where they don't chop out the parts that talk about "His gospel", or "His law" and especially "Christ is the Lord"?)




O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Sheri Easter--"What Child Is This?"

What Child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise a song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Tom Lehrer--"The Element Song"

Listen closely, because there's going to be a short quiz afterwards! This one is for all you science folks out there.



There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium,
And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium,
And nickel, neodymium, neptunium, germanium,
And iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium,
Europium, zirconium, lutetium, vanadium,
And lanthanum and osmium and astatine and radium,
And gold and protactinium and indium and gallium,
And iodine and thorium and thulium and thallium.

There's yttrium, ytterbium, actinium, rubidium,
And boron, gadolinium, niobium, iridium,
And strontium and silicon and silver and samarium,
And bismuth, bromine, lithium, beryllium, and barium.

There's holmium and helium and hafnium and erbium,
And phosphorus and francium and fluorine and terbium,
And manganese and mercury, molybdenum, magnesium,
Dysprosium and scandium and cerium and cesium.
And lead, praseodymium, and platinum, plutonium,
Palladium, promethium, potassium, polonium,
And tantalum, technetium, titanium, tellurium,
And cadmium and calcium and chromium and curium.

There's sulfur, californium, and fermium, berkelium,
And also mendelevium, einsteinium, nobelium,
And argon, krypton, neon, radon, xenon, zinc, and rhodium,
And chlorine, carbon, cobalt, copper, tungsten, tin, and sodium.

These are the only ones of which the news has come to Havard,
And there may be many others, but they haven't been discavard.

ApologetiX--"Story of a Squirrel"

Thanks to Really Robin for telling me about ApologetiX, a Christian parody band. This is a video for their song based on "Story of a Girl" by Nine Days:



This is the story of a squirrel
Whom God preserved when He drowned the whole world
And while things looked so dark and Noah's ark was absolutely flooded
Yet she's fine

How many days were they there?
Afloat in the boat it was over one year
And how come the world didn't prepare?
Meteorologists said it would clear
How could they stand that raining?
Where was the hope in the souls of the crew?
Life on the waves is severe when it's Gilligan's Island combined with a zoo
But Noah was aware the world would get sprayed
And the rain would never fall in quite the same way
But two of every creature would come out of things O.K.

This is the story of a squirrel
Whom God preserved when He drowned the whole world
And while things looked so bad and Noah's raft was absolutely flooded
Yet she's fine

Have they discovered the place
Where the boat came to rest when the rain was all drained?
Why don't we climb up its face?
Walk up the mountain from Genesis 8?
It's probably still there waiting there in the snow in the cold altitude
How do we get there today when you walk into Turkey and hiking's refused?
They've closed up the Ararat Mountains these days
There's terrorists there besides -- it ain't safe
And they're 17,000 feet high -- I think we'll wait

This is the story of a squirrel
Whom God preserved when He drowned the whole world
And while she took no bath and those giraffes were absolutely stubborn
Yet she's fine

Well, you're told to prepare as well and get saved
And the end of the world it might be on the way
But you'd never think you'd run out of time today

This is the story of a squirrel
Whom God preserved when He drowned the whole world
And when we look close at Jehovah's wrath I absolutely shudder
This is the story of a squirrel -- I tried to sing it about the old girl
But all this went so fast -- I've noticed that I accidentally snubbed her
Yet she's fine -- Yes, she's fine

Weird Al--"Smells Like Nirvana"

What is this song all about?
Can't figure any lyrics out
How do the words to it go?
I wish you'd tell me, I don't know
Don't know, don't know, don't know, oh no
Don't know, don't know, don't know...

Now I'm mumblin' and I'm screamin'
And I don't know what I'm singin'
Crank the volume, ears are bleedin
I still don't know what I'm singin'
We're so loud and incoherent
Boy, this oughta bug your parents
Yeah

Its unintel-ligible
I just can't get it through my skull
Its hard to bargle nawdle zouss
With all these marbles in my mouth
Don't know, don't know, don't know, oh no
Don't know, don't know, don't know...

Well, we don't sound like madonna
Here we are now, we're nirvana
Sing distinctly? we don't wanna
Buy our album, we're nirvana
A garage band from Seattle
Well, it sure beats raising cattle
Yeah

And I forgot the next verse
Oh well, I guess it pays to rehearse
The lyric sheets so hard to find
What are the words? oh, nevermind
Don't know, don't know, don't know, oh no
Don't know, don't know, don't know...

Well, I'm yellin' and were playin'
But I don't know what Im sayin'
Whats the message I'm conveyin'?
Can you tell me what I'm sayin'?
So have you got some idea?
Didn't think so -- well, I'll see ya
Sayonara, sayonara
Ayonawa, odinawa
Odinaya, yodinaya
Yaddayadda, yaaahyaaah
Ayaaaaaah!

Mercy Me--"I Can Only Imagine"

I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk
By Your side
I can only imagine
What my eyes will see
When Your face
Is before me
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

[Chorus]:
Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for You Jesus or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

I can only imagine
When that day comes
When I find myself
Standing in the Son
I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever
Forever worship You
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for You Jesus or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine, yeahh
I can only imagine, yeaahhh

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for You Jesus or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all?

I can only imagine
When all i will do
Is forever
Forever worship you
I can only imagine...

"He Is"--Aaron & Jeoffrey

Q: Where can you find Jesus in the Bible?
A: Everywhere!



In Genesis, He's the breath of life
In Exodus, the Passover Lamb
In Leviticus, He's our High Priest

Numbers, The fire by night
Deuteronomy, He's Moses' voice
In Joshua, He is salvation's choice

Judges, law giver
In Ruth, the kinsmen-redeemer
First and second Samuel, our trusted prophet

In Kings and Chronicles, He's sovereign
Ezra, true and faithful scribe
Nehemiah, He's the rebuilder of broken walls and lives

In Esther, He's Mordecai's courage
In Job, the timeless redeemer
In Psalms, He is our morning song

In Proverbs, wisdom's cry
Ecclesiastes, the time and season
In the Song of Solomon, He is the lover's dream

He is, He is, HE IS!

In Isaiah, He's Prince of Peace
Jeremiah, the weeping prophet
In Lamentations, the cry for Israel

Ezekiel, He's the call from sin
In Daniel, the stranger in the fire
In Hosea, He is forever faithful

In Joel, He's the Spirits power
In Amos, the arms that carry us
In Obadiah, He's the Lord our Savior

In Jonah, He's the great missionary
In Micah, the promise of peace
In Nahum, He is our strength and our shield

In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He's pleading for revival
In Haggai, He restores a lost heritage

In Zechariah, our fountain
In Malachi, He is the son of righteousness
rising with healing in His wings

He is, He is, HE IS!

In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, He is God, Man, Messiah
In the book of Acts, He is fire from heaven

In Romans, He's the grace of God
In Corinthians, the power of love
In Galatians, He is freedom from the curse of sin.

Ephesians, our glorious treasure
Philippians, the servants heart
In Colossians, He's the Godhead Trinity

Thessalonians, our coming King
In Timothy, Titus, Philemon He's our mediator and our faithful Pastor

In Hebrews, the everlasting covenant
In James, the one who heals the sick.
In First and Second Peter, he is our Shepherd

In John and in Jude, He is the lover coming for His bride
In the Revelation, He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords

He is, He is, HE IS!

The prince of peace
The Son of man
The Lamb of God
The great I AM

He's the alpha and omega
Our God and our Savior
He is Jesus Christ the Lord
and when time is no more
He is, HE IS!

Trinity Church Choir--"Hallelujah Chorus"

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

For the lord God omnipotent reigneth
Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
For the lord God omnipotent reigneth
Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
For the lord God omnipotent reigneth
Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
(For the lord God omnipotent reigneth)
Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

For the lord God omnipotent reigneth
(Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah)
Hallelujah

The kingdom of this world;
is become
the kingdom of our Lord,
and of His Christ
and of His Christ

And He shall reign for ever and ever
And he shall reign forever and ever
And he shall reign forever and ever
And he shall reign forever and ever

King of kings forever and ever hallelujah hallelujah
and lord of lords forever and ever hallelujah hallelujah
King of kings forever and ever hallelujah hallelujah
and lord of lords forever and ever hallelujah hallelujah
King of kings forever and ever hallelujah hallelujah
and lord of lords
King of kings and lord of lords

And he shall reign
And he shall reign
And he shall reign
He shall reign
And he shall reign forever and ever

King of kings (forever and ever)
and lord of lords (hallelujah hallelujah)
And he shall reign (forever and ever)

King of kings and lord of lords
King of kings and lord of lords
And he shall reign forever and ever

Forever and ever and ever and ever
(King of kings and lord of lords)

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
Hallelujah

"The First Noël"

Not sure where these kids are from. But they're pretty good. I like finding stuff like this, just people singing from their heart, maybe they're not in perfect pitch, maybe a little crack here and there. So what? I'm sure God is enjoying it quite nicely!



The first Noel the angel did say
Was to certain poor shepherds
in fields as they lay;
In fields as they lay, keeping their sheep,
On a cold winter's night that was so deep.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.

They looked up and saw a star
Shining in the east beyond them far,
And to the earth it gave great light,
And so it continued both day and night.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.

And by the light of that same star
Three wise men came from country far;
To seek for a king was their intent,
And to follow the star wherever it went.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.

This star drew nigh to the northwest,
O'er Bethlehem it took it rest,
And there it did both stop and stay
Right over the place where Jesus lay.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.

Then entered in those wise men three
Full reverently upon their knee,
and offered there in his presence
Their gold, and myrrh, and frankincense.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.

Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord;
That hath made heaven and earth of naught,
And with his blood mankind hath bought.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.

Newsboys--"Adoration"

The Nativity story as told from the shepherds' perspective.

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I’m here with the others
Who saw the heavens testify
Now I hang back in the shadows
I want to come close
I want to know
She sees me shivering here
She smiles and with a nod
I walk through the mud and straw
To the newborn Son of God

Come, let us adore Him
He has come down to this barren land
Where we live
And all I have to give Him
Is adoration

He raises a wrinkled hand
Through the dust and the flies
Wrapped in rags like we are
And with barely open eyes
He takes my finger
And He won’t let go
And He won’t let go
It’s nothing like I knew before
And it’s all I need to know

Come, let us adore Him
He has come down to the world we live in, yeah
And all I have to give Him
Is adoration

God is with us here
Our Immanuel
God is with us here
Our Immanuel

O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Jesus, our Immanuel
Is with us here and He won’t let go

Come, let us adore Him
He has come down to the world we live in, yeah
And all I have to give Him
Is adoration

"Shepherd, Your sheep are lost"

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Shepherd, your sheep are weary
Cold and tired, battered and bruised and torn
Shepherd, your sheep are hungry
We got what we want but we still need something more

Chorus:
We need to hear your voice
Whatever You might say
We just need to hear your voice
Show us the way

Shepherd, your sheep are lost
We chased our wants that we thought were needs
Now we can’t get home
Shepherd, your sheep are longing
We ate and we ran, we played and we danced, but we’re empty

--From Shepherd by Todd Agnew

I love this song. In fact, there aren't many songs from Todd Agnew I don't like. This one is one of my favorites from anybody. But as I thought about Shepherd this morning, something dawned on me. In this day and age, many of God's sheep aren't "weary", or "hungry", or "longing." Many of God's "sheep" are full, and comfortable. They've followed the Shepherd to the green pastures and the still waters. But rather than take just a moment to be refreshed, revived, and nourished, they've decided to remain there.

Many of these "sheep" have eaten and drunk so much that they don't feel the need to follow the Shepherd along the paths of righteousness. "That's a rough and rocky path, filled with dangers. I might have to give up something. No, I think I'll just stay here and continued to be filled. I don't need to pour myself out. That's just something I don't feel led to do." (Isn't that the excuse we always give when we don't want to go where God is trying to push us? We say we "don't feel led." It makes us sound spiritual to others while assuaging our own guilt.) We don't want to teach Sunday School to the children, because their snacks aren't as good as the Krispy Kremes and Starbucks in our own little "small group study."

If you are a sheep--if you have begged God to forgive your sins, and turned your back on yourself, and crucified your own fleshly desires on the cross of Christ--where are you today? Are you lazing around the green pastures and still waters, content to stay there and never move? Or do you find your joy in traversing the path trodden by the saints who came before you? Those saints "of whom the world was not worthy?" (Hebrews 11:38)? The path that follows in the footsteps of our dear Savior? The path that is not always filled with the scent of flowers and the calls of songbirds--but the one that is rocky, and difficult, and narrow, and leads to a narrow gate.

Are you hungry? Are you longing? Or are you comfortable?

Indescribable--Chris Tomlin

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Indescribable! Uncontainable!
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God!
All powerful! Untameable!
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God!

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go?
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow?
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light?
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night?
None can fathom

Indescribable! Uncontainable!
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name
You are amazing God!
All powerful! Untameable!
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God!
You are amazing God!

Indescribable! Ucontainable!
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God!
All powerful! untameable!
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God!

Indescribable! Uncontainable!
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God!
Incomparable! Unchangeable!
You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same
You are amazing God!
You are amazing God!

"The Wonderful Cross"--Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman

A little video I made for the song.




When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Chorus
Oh, the wonderful cross!
Oh, the wonderful cross!
Bids me come and die,
And find that I
May truly live!

Oh, the wonderful cross!
Oh, the wonderful cross!
All who gather here
By grace draw near
And bless Your name.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Repeat Chorus

Todd Agnew--"My Jesus"

Found me a new toy on my computer last week. Windows Movie Maker. I fiddled around and made me my very first music video.

I've always had an idea to do one for this song, and to compare those who walk in his steps (those who serve the poor and homeless, and those who are in chains for His name) against the heretics and blasphemers of the "prosperity gospel" crowd (Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, $$$Creflo "chasing the almighty Dollar"$$$, etc.)

As the song says, "which one do you want to be?"



Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ
Why do you look so much like the world?

'Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant
So which one do you want to be?

Blessed are the poor in spirit
Or do we pray to be blessed with the wealth of this land?
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
Or do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand?

'Cause my Jesus bled and died for my sins
He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the rich
So which one do you want to be?

Who is this that you follow?
This picture of the American dream
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side?
Or fall down and worship at His holy feet

Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part?
Sometimes I doubt we'd recognize Him

'Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?

'Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
And I think He'd prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud

I want to be like my Jesus! I want to be like my Jesus!
I want to be like my Jesus! I want to be like my Jesus!

Not a posterchild for American prosperity, but like my Jesus
You see I'm tired of living for success and popularity
I want to be like my Jesus but I'm not sure what that means
To be like You Jesus
'Cause You said to live like You, love like You but then You died for me
Can I be like You Jesus?
I want to be like You Jesus
I want to be like my Jesus

--Todd Agnew, "My Jesus"

Sadly, this song describes many churches today. If you don't wear a suit and tie, or if you aren't wearing the "proper" clothing, they'd rather not have you in their midst. They have an image to keep up, you know. Wouldn't want anyone thinking they're dining with sinners and tax collectors, now. What was it James said about that?

The Prosperity Hymn

Sung to the tune of "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus", and sung weekly by the chiors behind Kenneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, Marylin Hickey, and $$Creflo$$ $$Dollarsign$$. (Original lyrics and melody here.)

O soul are you weary and troubled?
An old car in the driveway you see?
There is hope for you driving a Jaguar,
And cash more abundant for thee!

Turn your eyes upon riches.
Confess they now belong to thee.
Then the things of Heav'n will grow strangely dim
In the light of your big-screen TV.

Find yourself having wealth overflowing
If you sow a thous'nd dollar seed;
Claim this promise that He made to Israel,
Get all the toys you think you need!

Turn your eyes upon riches.
Confess they now belong to thee.
Then the things of Heav'n will grow strangely dim
In the light of your big-screen TV.

If you claim all these verses He promised;
He'll pour cash from His heav'nly vault.
So if you are not healthy and wealthy,
Then your faithlessness must be at fault!

Turn your eyes upon riches.
Confess they now belong to thee.
Then the things of Heav'n will grow strangely dim
In the light of your big-screen TV.

Newsboys--"He Reigns"

Every Tribe, Every Tongue, Every Nation!!



It’s the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers
Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir

It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns

Let it rise about the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this

And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word

When all God’s children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
All God’s people singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns

David Crowder Band--"O Praise Him"

Proof that you don't need to be clean-cut, buttoned-down, and spit-polished to come into the presence of the Lord and sing His praises.



Turn your ear
To Heaven and hear
The noise inside
The sound of angels awe
The sound of angel's songs
And all this for a King
We could join and sing
"All to Christ the King!"

How constant
How divine
This song of ours will rise
Oh, how constant
How divine
This love of ours will rise
Will rise...

CHORUS:
O praise Him!
O praise Him!
He is Holy!
He is Holy, yeah!

Turn your gaze
To Heaven and raise
A joyous noise
Oh, the sound of salvation come
The sound of rescued ones
And all this for a king
Angles join to sing
"All for Christ the King!"

CHORUS [2x]

Oh la la la la la...

O pra-ise Him!
O pra-ise Him!
He is Ho-ly!
He is Ho-ly!

How infininte and sweet
This love so rescuing
Oh how infinitely sweet
This great love that has redeemed
As one, we sing...

"Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
He is Ho-ly!
He is Ho-ly!" [2x]

O pra-ise Him!
O pra-ise Him!
He is Ho-ly!
He is Ho-ly!

Oh, La la la la la la...

"Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
He is Ho-ly!
He is Ho-ly!"

O pra-ise Him!
O pra-ise Him!
He is Ho-ly!
He is Ho-ly!

Oh la la la la la la...