If you ask ten adults to name some of the favorite things about the Christmas season, most all of them will list the music of Christmas in their top five. Those who don’t are deficient in understanding and soul, and should be exiled from civilized society. Now, to be clear, when I talk about the music ofContinue reading “The Story Behind “O Holy Night””
Category Archives: A Favorite Hymn
Christmas Eve: Happy Birthday, Silent Night!
Happy Birthday, Silent Night! A blessed Christmas Eve to all. Tonight, in our traditional Christmas Eve candlelight service we will sing Silent Night, along with people all around the world. What’s special in 2018 is that it marks the 200th anniversary of the singing of this matchless Christmas hymn on this night. In fact, ourContinue reading “Christmas Eve: Happy Birthday, Silent Night!”
Your Top Three Hymns?
We’re going to riff off of Jonathan Aigner today. Over the weekend he noted a post by Chuck McKnight over at Hippie Heretic: “Top 25 Hymns of Progressive Christians.” Then, Jonathan asked his readers, from a more diverse theological and ecclesiastical background, to share some of theirs. Here are the top ten hymns that stillContinue reading “Your Top Three Hymns?”
Mike Bell: Canadian Office reopens with a Waterfall Tour!
Over the years interacting on Internet Monk, Klasie Kraalogies and I have become quite good friends. We both have lived in Southern Africa and Saskatchewan, love rocks, and like to hang out at Internet Monk. Klasie still lives in Southern Saskatchewan. Google “Southern Saskatchewan Waterfall”. Yes, there are no results! When I heard that weContinue reading “Mike Bell: Canadian Office reopens with a Waterfall Tour!”
A Favorite Hymn: Lord of All Hopefulness
A Favorite Hymn Lord of All Faithfulness On Sunday, we sang one of my favorite hymns. It is sung to the tune “Slane,” an old Irish melody that also accompanies the hymn “Be Thou My Vision.” It describes an “ordinary day” of trusting Jesus and asking him to be with us through the course ofContinue reading “A Favorite Hymn: Lord of All Hopefulness”
Another Look: A Favorite Hymn — This Is My Father’s World
Ever since I was a child, one of my favorite hymns has been, “This Is My Father’s World”, by Rev. Maltbie D. Babcock. I’m sure what first caught my attention was its lovely melody, which is said to have been adapted from an English folk tune by Franklin L. Sheppard. This hymn (or poem asContinue reading “Another Look: A Favorite Hymn — This Is My Father’s World”
Musical Stories
I became a Christian in 1973 in Centerville, Ohio. In case history is not your strong suit, this was the height of the Jesus People movement. And it was also one of the most tumultuous times our nation has ever experienced. Some wondered if we would make it another three years to our bicentennial. TheContinue reading “Musical Stories”
Another Look at a Favorite Hymn
Ever since I was a child, one of my favorite hymns has been, “This Is My Father’s World“, by Rev. Maltbie D. Babcock. I’m sure what first caught my attention was its lovely melody, which is said to have been adapted from an English folk tune by Franklin L. Sheppard. This hymn (or poem asContinue reading “Another Look at a Favorite Hymn”
The Life Of Faith
One of my favorite hymns, I Heard The Voice Of Jesus Say by Horatius Bonar, outlines beautifully the process of the Christian life in three stanzas. The first stanza begins with my most pressing need: rest. I am “weary and worn and sad,” battered by the world, by work, by relationships, by senselessness and violenceContinue reading “The Life Of Faith”
A Hymn for Ordinary Time (12): Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
By Chaplain Mike One of Bach’s cantatas for Trinity 12 takes a different form. Cantata BWV 137 creates variations on the five verses of Joachim Neander’s great hymn, “Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren,” which English hymn singers know as, “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.” This happens to be one of myContinue reading “A Hymn for Ordinary Time (12): Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”
The Internet Monk Archives 