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Monday, November 28, 2005

New Series

Last Saturday, we finished up our series on "Finding Real Meaning In Life". It was a great night of thanksgiving and worship. Special thanks to Chad, who gave his testimony of his recent bout with cancer and how God has been his strength throughout such a difficult time.

Also, special thanks to Kristen, who helped lead worship with me. You can download a song we did together on the "Harvest@Home" page. It rocks.

Next Saturday, we'll be starting a special Christmas series called, "The Songs of the Season".

I have a strange disorder. I call it the Foote Ear Disorder. I can't not hear music if it's playing. If I'm in a restaurant or a department store or the dentist's office, the background music is in the foreground for me. The other night, Abby and I were in Kohl's, doing some Christmas shopping. Not only did I notice the music, but I was really enjoying the song that was playing (it was the great Bruce Cockburn). Suddenly, right in the middle of the chorus, the song abruptly stopped and was replaced by, "Attention Kohl's associates, a customer needs assistance in shoes." I nearly went into cardiac shock. Not because a customer needed shoe help, but because of the groove-killing intercom. NEVER stop a song mid-chorus. It ruined my entire shopping experience and I'm seriously considering withdrawing my patronage from Kohl's forever. The disorder may be more serious than previously believed.

It is for this reason that I've always dreaded the Christmas season. For 10 and a half months a year, there are millions of songs that fill the background. From mid-November on, the number shrinks to about six. If I didn't know better, I'd think there are only six Christmas songs. On commercials, on the radio, on the Muzak that stores pipe into their P.A. systems, it's the same six songs every year. And you know "Jingle Bell Rock" is one of them. For someone with Foote Ear Disorder, it can be torture.

This year, as I thought about the accursed six (because, as I mentioned, I can't NOT think of them), I tried to think of other, better Christmas songs that don't get the same airplay. Songs like "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" or "O Holy Night", and I realized that there are some Christmas songs with real power behind them. Power and meaning that go beyond building a snowman and calling him Parson Brown.

So over the next 4 weeks, we'll be unwrapping some of these songs to find out how the message can change our lives.

December 3: O Come, O Come Emmanuel (the heart of God)
December 10: The Little Drummer Boy (the worship of God)
December 17: Away in a Manger (the humiliation of God)
December 24: Go Tell it on the Mountain (the proclaiming of God)

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