The
Gospel According to (Christmas) Carol
Introduction
I
love love love traditional Christmas carols. My first, richest memories of
carols reach back to the early 1960s in my elementary school. Way back then, we
were allowed to celebrate Christmas in the schools. The Christmas pageant would
begin with
a procession of children in white smocks holding battery-powered
candles and singing "Joy To The World". It was simply the most
beautiful thing I knew.
 |
| Our Christmas card photo from 1966. That's me in the red boots! |
Now,
so many decades later, I appreciate the carols not just for their musical
beauty, but also how completely they tell the whole Gospel – The Good News – of
salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. So, I've added the name Carol alongside
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John… The Gospel According to Carol, Christmas Carol.
Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
Over
the next four weeks, as we approach Christmas Day, I'm going to share snippets
from four carols that tell the Gospel in a powerful way. I hope you'll read and
cherish each post in this series.
And
I'm doing a little bootlegging to share with you the soundtrack of this Gospel.
The group Acapella has a Christmas CD called, what else, Carols, that is
required listening in our house over the Christmas season. I'll share their
version of each carol. By way of honoring these fine voices (and to show I'm
not a Christmas music pirate), I invite you to add
their album to your music collection.
Just
a couple more things… If you feel like you need a fresh wind of inspiration in
your Christmas gift-giving experience, please visit TheJesusGifts.com. This is our
family's original idea that has given us wonderful Christmases for almost two decades now.
And…
you might enjoy the Christmas-themed articles previously posted here at Follow Illustrated:
The
Day I Discovered My Mom Had Given Me Syphilis (yes, it's really about Christmas)
If
you're new to the Follow Illustrated
blog, well… first let me welcome you and say "Thanks for dropping
by." I am Clark H Smith. I'm a
sometimes-pastor, a chaplain, a writer, but most importantly I am the husband
of one beautiful wife and the father of four dandy boys. This blog is my effort
to write out some of the things that rumble around in my head, specifically illustrations
about what it means to follow Jesus. I hope you'll dig through the archives and
find more inspiration to follow Jesus closely. And if you're a dad, too, have I
got a blog for you. Visit It's
Good To Be The Dad and get some encouragement and inspiration for the
wonderful journey you're on.
Bonus: Here is a nice post about the history of several most-beloved carols.
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