Tag: Christmas

Worship service

Three of My Favorite Un-Cheery Christian Songs

June 7, 2016

If you missed it in my Saturday wrap-up, Leah Libresco’s analysis of the unrelenting cheeriness of contemporary Christian music (CCM) is well-deserving of your attention. Looking through the last five years’ worth songs to wind up Billboard’s year-end Christian Top 50 charts, she found striking lyrical imbalance: There were 2.5 times as many mentions of “grace” as “sin” in … More Three of My Favorite Un-Cheery Christian Songs

La Tour, Nativity

Christmas at The Pietist Schoolman

December 26, 2015

Apart from preparing a year-end wrap-up, I’ll be taking off the rest of 2015. In place of my usual That Was The Week That Was post, today and tomorrow I’ll share several links via the Pietist Schoolman Facebook page. Meanwhile, if you’re a newer visitor to this blog, you’ll find plenty of Christmas-y reading material in our archive. For example: … More Christmas at The Pietist Schoolman

Coates, Between the World and Me

Truthful, Hopeful: A Christian Reflection on History

December 14, 2015

I’ve spent a lot of time this year trying to convince Christians to live “not as a people of fear, but as a people of hope.” Just last Thursday, in the midst of my grief at losing a dear friend, I concluded that “Contemplating the possibility of Stacey’s death had deepened my conviction that the Apostle Paul was right, that those … More Truthful, Hopeful: A Christian Reflection on History

La Tour, Nativity

Christmas Through Mary’s Eyes

December 24, 2014

Earlier this month our church used a Wednesday night to experiment with a more contemplative form of worship. Calling it “Christmas Quiet,” our pastors led us in prayer, meditation, and song. It culminated in Pastor Mark asking us to reread one of Christianity’s most familiar texts using a technique that is both old and, to most evangelical Protestants, … More Christmas Through Mary’s Eyes

Sainsbury's chocolate bar

On Advertising, Chocolate, and the First World War

November 18, 2014

One of the cultural residues of Britain being a post-Christian society is that companies try to outdo each other in celebrating the Incarnation by creating memorable “Christmas adverts.” The 2014 versions are coming out, and one has already garnered enormous attention — positive and negative: Yes, the supermarket chain Sainsbury’s not only produced a three-minute … More On Advertising, Chocolate, and the First World War