Enriched Affections

As we look around the world, 2,000 years after the birth of Christ, it might be hard to think about peace on earth. All many of us have to do is look at our own lives, our own trials, to long for a sense of peace. It's easy to become discouraged and bogged down with the weight of everyday life. Even joyful things can bring an underlying stress with them, like expecting the birth of a child or starting a new job. Yesterday I had the joy of leading my first Christmas concert at my new church. While the concert turned out to be a wonderful thing, there was a lot of stress and worry leading up to it. One of my favorite choral songs I like to sing at Christmas is this new arrangement of I Heard the Bells . It takes the familiar words from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and matches them to a powerful tune. The words of the second verse seem to echo the sentiment I mentioned above, how it's hard to see peace on earth amid the evil of this world. But, peace isn't based on our perce...

Another sacred holiday is quickly approaching. Easter is just a few weeks away, and with it brings the tension between celebrating the true meaning of the holiday and getting caught up in its commercialization. Much like Christmas, Easter has become less about the resurrection of Christ and more about Easter egg hunts, Cadbury Cream Eggs, jelly beans, and spending time with family and friends. It wasn't always this way. The Christian celebration used to be the main thing on Easter Sunday. So, how has this changed? We could lump Christmas in with this too. How have the two biggest celebrations on the church calendar become secular holidays? To answer that we can look to our history; to the very start of these holiday celebrations. The beginnings of Christmas give us the clearest answer. In the early church, it was celebrated on January 6, the same date that Epiphany is still celebrated. However, as the first and second centuries progressed, there was competition between this Ch...

Wind-Up Wednesday: "Matthew's Begats" by Andrew Peterson This is a favorite folk artist of mine, singing that passage at the beginning of Matthew that most of us skim in order to get to the Christmas stuff. Enjoy!

After my daughter's last day of preschool, she informed me that she was a little afraid heading into Christmas. When I asked her why, she responded by saying she was scared she would be on the naughty list and that Santa was watching her all the time to see if she was good. I was a little surprised to hear this. She went on to tell me that her teacher told her that Santa was real and would be keeping an eye on her. I'm not writing this to judge how you do the whole Santa thing in your home, but we have already told all our kids that Santa is just pretend, like Dora or the Backyardigans. Yes, he was a person a long time ago, but not like in the movies. They've taken this information in stride and we haven't had any real problems with it. But now I had a dilemma. I had the uncomfortable task of telling my child that her teacher was wrong, a thing I don't like to do. This brings up the larger issue of the true meaning of Christmas and how it is taught. It bothers...

Each Sunday of Advent I'll be featuring a different Christmas song we use in our worship. Hopefully, you'll be introduced to some new and engaging songs that will bring freshness to your personal and corporate worship. (12.2 - O Sing a Song of Bethlehem / 12.9 - Christ the Lord is Born Today / 12.16 - When He Comes / 12.23 - In the First Light ) "In the First Light"  written by Bob Kauflin (1988), arranged by Todd Agnew, released on Do You See What I See (2006) Why I recommend this song for worship- This is another wonderful Christmas song which emphasizes the importance of Christ's life, death, and resurrection. As it examines Christ's first coming, it points us forward to His return, blending In the First Light  with Do You See What I See?  in a wonderful way. We performed this song in both our Christmas concert and morning worship service. While the melody may be difficult at first for congregational singing, the message is worth the effort. It...

Each Christmas our family puts together a little compilation video of the events from the past year. Some years there is a ton of footage to sort through. In the past few days I think I've sorted through over 300 short little videos to find the best for our little video. One thing I love about doing this is remembering how much I love my family and the rich heritage we have. So many of our traditions, from Hanukkah to singing crazy Happy Birthday songs, are inherited from our family. I am so grateful for these gifts even as I'm grateful for the ones who gave them. One of the most precious gifts I've been given from my family is my love and talent for music. My father is the especially talented one in the group. Last week my mom sent me an old recording of him singing "O Holy Night" from our days back at Grace Community Church in California. I have to say, of all the singers that attempt to sing this song, I love my dad's voice the best. Take a listen, an...

Wind-Up Wednesday: "Hallelujah" from The Voice   and a FIF Christmas This past week I've enjoyed the many tributes to those who lost their lives in the tragic CT shooting. The one from The Voice this past week is one of my favorites: As Christmas is quickly approaching, here is my favorite Christmas morning song. We play this every year to get the kids out of bed. I hope you enjoy it, and Merry Christmas!

Each Sunday of Advent I'll be featuring a different Christmas song we use in our worship. Hopefully, you'll be introduced to some new and engaging songs that will bring freshness to your personal and corporate worship. (12.2 - O Sing a Song of Bethlehem / 12.9 - Christ the Lord is Born Today / 12.16 - When He Comes / 12.23 - In the First Light ) "When He Comes" by Joshua Huff (2012) (this is a live recording, performed at our annual Christmas concert by my wife Moriah and myself  in December, 2012) Why I recommend this song for worship- I love the Christmas season. Each year we celebrate one of the most significant events in recorded history, but it isn't the most significant. In fact, it is really Christ's life, death, and resurrection which bring importance to His birth. What I've tried to do with this song is capture the complete scope of Christ's coming. It begins with looking forward from the perspective of an Old Testament saint, ...

"A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more." - Jeremiah 31:15 quoted in Matthew 2:18 This is a troubling passage; troubling not because it is hard to understand, but troubling because of the story it's attached to. This passage finds its fulfillment in the slaughter of little baby boys, killed by a tyrant king who felt his rule was threatened. He was trying to kill Christ, who was recently born, but failed in that attempt as God provided a way of escape. We could just as easily speak these words today, after another tragic slaughter of young children. It didn't happen a long time ago or very far away. This was very near, in our own country. This morning, in a Connecticut elementary school, a son went into his mother's kindergarten class while she was teaching and killed everyone in the room, leaving 27 dead, 20 of them children. ( story here ) ...

Each Sunday of Advent I'll be featuring a different Christmas song we use in our worship. Hopefully, you'll be introduced to some new and engaging songs that will bring freshness to your personal and corporate worship. ( 12.2 - O Sing a Song of Bethlehem / 12.9 - Christ the Lord is Born Today / 12.16 - When He Comes / 12.23 - In the First Light ) "Christ the Lord is Born Today" by Mark Altrogge, released on Sovereign Grace 's album  Savior  (2006) Why I recommend this song for worship- Christmas is a time of celebration and thanksgiving, but what do we celebrate? Is it simply a huge birthday celebration for Jesus? What we really celebrate is the reason why Jesus was born, to become a Savior for all who are in Him. This song celebrates exactly that. It refers us back to the Old Testament prophecies of Christ's coming as well as the New Testament truths of what Christ accomplished after His birth. The melody behind these great lyrics is joyful and u...

Maybe you're familiar with the children's story 'Twas the Night Before Christmas . No one reads it quite like John Malkovich.

We are finally into December! That means less than a month until Christmas. In our house, December means decorating everything with lights, garland, and bells. Bells mean a lot in our house. Yes, I know that angels get their wings whenever a bell rings, but we have other meanings in the Huff house. We have one attached to our mistletoe at the front door. Whoever rings that can expect a Christmas kiss (either romantic or a loud belly-blowing one). We have bells on our stairway, bells on the mantle, and bells on the tree. The more I hear these little bells ring I think of a song we'll be doing in our Christmas concert this year, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day . I've put the song to a little video if you'd like to check it out. Bells ringing in peace is not something we often think about. However, I think it is very appropriate. In the old days, the town herald would ring a bell to signal an important announcement. We have bells rung to celebrate a marriage or a gre...

Each Sunday of Advent I'll be featuring a different Christmas song we use in our worship. Hopefully, you'll be introduced to some new and engaging songs that will bring freshness to your personal and corporate worship.  ( 12.2 - O Sing a Song of Bethlehem  / 12.9 - Christ the Lord is Born Today / 12.16 - When He Comes / 12.23 - In the First Light ) "O Sing a Song of Bethlehem"  text by Louis Benson, melody by Lucy Broadwood and Ralph Vaughan Williams Alternative arrangement and lyrics-  "How Suddenly a Baby Cries" by Keith and Kristyn Getty , released on Joy: An Irish Christmas , 2011 (this is the Getty's arrangement which gets pretty upbeat at about 1:40 into the song) You can find this original hymn in most of the hymnals at church. It is number 167 in ours. I like both arrangements of this tune as each emphasize different elements. Why I recommend this song for worship- The hymn text of this song traces the life of Christ from the cr...

As I've been reading through some of the books of prophecy in the Bible I have been struck with how similar our times are to those of ancient Israel. There is a common theme throughout these books of calling Israel to "Return to the Lord." Why have they walked away from God? Because they have grown complacent and forgetful in the midst of great prosperity and peace. There needs were all satisfied. Even their wants were satisfied. The generations that had fought for these blessings and had experienced the mighty deliverance of God were old or had passed on. Now, a new generation lived that expected this life of ease and prosperity to continue. They hadn't worked for these blessings and they certainly didn't see the need to keep working hard or to thank God for things they felt they deserved. Do you see yourself in that mirror? I sure do. It is easy to praise God when times are tough; when you don't know where the next paycheck is coming from, when your chil...

Our Christmas program this year is entitled "The Night Before Christmas." Part of that theme is looking at the Christmas event from the perspective of Ancient Israel, longing for Messiah to come. In a sense, we are still waiting for the fullness of that coming when Christ returns a second time. As I looked around for appropriate Christmas songs with the theme of waiting for Messiah, I didn't come up with much that would fit our context, so I just decided to write one. It does focus on the first coming of Christ, but I think it is a song to be sung throughout the year as well. I'll post the actual performance after our Christmas program next month, but for now I hope you are encouraged by the words. Some of the phrasing might be a little hard without knowing the melody, but you'll get the idea of the message of the song. Enjoy! ( click here for music for this song, now available ) When He Comes I have prayed for oh so long, waiting for the one; the one ...

Too early for Christmas? Are you still gearing up for Halloween or debating how many pumpkins should go on display in your front yard? When you're getting ready for an upcoming Christmas concert, the end of September is about as late in the year as you want to wait before thinking about Christmas. All that is to say I've been thinking about it a lot and listening to a lot of Christmas music, both good and not so good. As I ran through different themes for our upcoming concert with my wife, we listened through the song "The Night Before Christmas" by Steven Curtis Chapman (you can listen to it below). The title caused me to pause... The night before Christmas. Of course, we all think about Christmas eve and singing carols and what the different characters must have been thinking and doing that night, but what about 10 years before Christmas? 100 years? 1,000 years? What about then? The night before the day of Christ's birth was probably like any other ev...