My dear [old ] friend Robert passed this video along through Facebook and I felt compelled to share it since this blog is about books, reading, studying and all things that interest me – I thought it was very fitting!

My son Adam attends Veritas School in Newberg, Oregon and was a member of the Concert Choir last year. Their choir, directed by Sally Mehler, won the  OSAA 1A/2A Oregon State Choir Championship.  He has not been in the choir this year because of his very busy schedule. However, he has been able to work with Mrs. Mehler and rearrange his activities to re-join the choir this week – We are so pleased for him!

Here are come of the pieces performed by the choir at the State Choir competition.

“Masters In This Hall”

[The camera centers on Adam at time-marker 1:14]

“If Ye Love Me”

[The camera centers on Adam at time-marker 44 sec.]

“Bonse Aba”

The translation is “All who sing have the right to be called the children of God.”

[The camera centers on Adam at time-marker 1:07 - He must be a popular and photogenic guy!]

As you can tell from my blog, I’m of the opinion that Christians undervalue the importance of celebration, feasting and holidays – not the least of which is Christian holidays (formerly thought of as holy-days). Along with the proper concern and criticism of “commercialism,” Christians need to embrace the good that in Christian Christmas celebrations, including the purchasing and giving of gifts.

Stev Wilkins has written a delightful piece on Christmas giving that I am pleased to pass on: Shopping and the true meaning of Christmas

Doug Wilson posted his recent sermon on the subject of the Theology of Christmas Gifts, and I have included the video and the text (for those that do not have the time or patience to watch or listen to it, although there is more material in the actual sermon).

Doug Wilson’s INTRODUCTION:
One of the most obvious features of our Christmas celebrations is the gift-giving. How are we to understand this as Christians? What are the pitfalls? Are all the pitfalls obvious? Because our lives are to be lives of grace, and because charis means grace or gift, this is something we have to understand throughout the course of our lives, and not just at Christmas. But it has to be said that the machinery of our consumer racket does throw the question into high relief for us at this time of year.

THE TEXT:
“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh” (Mt 2:11).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT:
The first Christmas gifts were given by the magi to the young child Jesus. This happened sometime within the Lord’s first two years of life. Because three kinds of treasures are mentioned—gold, frankincense, and myrrh—it is often inferred that there were three wise men. There may have been, but we don’t know. What we do know is that the gifts were very costly. Read the rest of this entry »

My daugher-in-law Kathy posted this on Facebook today. I really like the creativity of those who made it as a way to tell the story of the birth of our Lord Jesus. The arrangment of O Come, O Come Emmanuel is very nice.

My son Ben recently introduced me to the music of Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser, now known as 2CELLOS.

“Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser are accomplished musicians, both having played the cello since childhood. They recently completed their studies, Luka at the acclaimed Royal Academy of Music in London, and Stjepan at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. The meteoric success of 2CELLOS started when former cello rivals Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser decided to join forces. In January 2011, they uploaded a unique duo cello version of “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson onto YouTube [below]. Within just a few weeks, their video became a huge viral sensation, receiving over 5 million views from across the world” (from their official website).