I didn’t want to bother you… but this could be awesome. So here you go!
This time of year everyone and his brother is sending you emails. Sing it with me….
“It’s the most… commercial… time of of the year.”
Sorry, you thought I was going to say “wonderful”?
Well, actually I think what I have to say is pretty wonderful. So why don’t we go with that?
Here’s the deal. I’ll give it to you straight.
My mother-in-law loves the book “I Will Sing of My Redeemer”. She lives close to me, so I see her frequently. And she tells me about it all the time. She tells me I should charge more for it (I don’t). I should market it. I should write another. She thinks its the best, most impactful thing I’ve ever written.
She probably reads the book once per month. It’s a devotional that leverages the words of the great hymns of the faith. The very same songs she grew up singing in church. It’s nostalgic. it’s uplifting. It’s something that hits her exactly where she feels spiritually alive.
I love her, and I love that she has such a wonderful response to the book.
So about 2 weeks ago I thought “Why don’t I do the same thing with some of the great Christmas carols?”
I hate how so many of the songs on the radio are about Santa and “Christmas Spirit”. It’s as if the people around us are trying desperately to convince themselves that they are fundamentally good people. They focus on all the positive feelings that come from Christmas and think that’s exactly who they are.
Unfortunately, if you read your Bible, you learn that people are inherently sinful, rebellious, selfish, sin-dominated. In desperate need of a savior.
In an act of defiance toward the culture, I undertook the writing project. I rounded up 10 great Christmas carols and took a look a the lyrics.
Wow!
They tell it like it is.
Nary a reference to “Christmas spirit”.
It’s about the babe in the manger and the compelling reason we have to worship Him.
Based on this, I called the book “Joy to the World!”. I think that sums up the message and tells you what to expect.
If you are wrestling with the attitude that the culture around you wants to pressure you into, this book could just be the thing that saves your life.
The great Christmas hymns give you the straight goods. They tell you what Christmas is all about and why it’s so wonderful. They remind you why Christmas matters. They walk you carefully through the pageantry of the Silent Night when Angels from the Realms of Glory proclaimed Joy to the World and bid the shepherds to go to O Little Town of Bethlehem…
Yes. This time of year you and I need to remind ourselves of the truth of the reason for the season. If we don’t, the continual pressure of the culture will have us saying inane things about Kris Kringle and the spirit of generosity that is sweeping our communities (gag me!).
I almost didn’t send this email because it’s already so close to Christmas. It feels like I missed the optimal window for telling you about it.
But as I thought about it, I realized that it’s never to late to fight for the truth of Christmas. And I don’t know how you are faring in your own journey to keep Jesus as the “reason for the season.”
So I worked late into the evening this week to get the book out quickly so I could tell you about it. I’m not going to put it on Amazon. It’s just available on my website in ebook format. That was the fastest way to get it to you, and with the least hassle.
So if you’re curious about how a series of Christmas carol/hymns could radically change your experience of Christmas, click the link to check it out.
https://www.dennis-stevenson.com/product/joy-to-the-world-ebook/
This is an ebook, which means it will deliver to you in a matter of minutes. I use a service called BookFunnel to deliver ebooks, so you’ll get an email from them with a link to the book. You can load it on your kindle (they are good at loading it that way) – or you can get the bookfunnel app and read it there.
Merry Christmas to you! If you live in the UK, I should say “Happy Christmas”. I hope this little book helps you stay centered in the craziness that is the Christmas Season.
Dennis
