Weekly Update-Snow

We woke this morning to a thin dusting of snow across our urban landscape.  It is by no means deep, but enough to paint our streets white and remind us of the changing of the season.  Tonight we have our Fellowship @ Locke meeting, but after that is over I just may head over to Locke St.  The Cristmas wreaths are already hung, and when evening falls, the wreaths and street lamps glow, reflecting off the newly fallen snow.  With a cool, crisp bite in the air, the warm glow, and the slight crunch of snow under foot a late night stroll in the calm and peace could be a beautiful easing into the Christmas season; a needed dichotomy from the loud brash intro thrust upon us by the marketing machines. 

With December so quickly approaching, we have a lot in the go!  We are planning our next LoveLoud street outreach for Dec. 15 and are busy collecting blankets, coats, hat and gloves.  We are also beginning to prepare our annual gift baskets for our friends at The Beer Store.  If you are interested in participating or donating to either of these initiatives please send me a message.  

We are also planning a few things for Christmas Eve.  We will be hosting an open house, Dec. 24th from 4-7.  This is a drop in event especially for those who may not have family close by to spend Christmas with.  If you know of anyone in Hamilton without plans on Christmas Eve please invite them!  We will follow our open house with a small initmate Christmas Eve service at 9:00pm.  

Although December is quickly approaching, I don't want to forget the rest if November!  Tonight is Fellowship @ Locke's game night so if you are in the area please feel free to drop by!

On a more personal note.  My dad starts cancer treatment on Dec. 9, so we appreciate your prayers as he goes through this time.  The doctors are encouraged and going for a cure, but there will be some challenging days ahead.

BB King Christmas Album

If there is not a single sacred song, is a Christmas album really worth anything at all? Yes, if it is BB King. Although as a general rule I try to focus on the true heart of Christmas - which is Christ - there are some Christmas albums that have nothing to do with Jesus that I just can't help but enjoy (and then the flip side is also true, there are many albums with a lot of Jesus that I just can't stand!)
This morning I was walking to my bible study and so I took my Ipod along for the trip and thought I would have a listen to one of my wife's Christmas album purchases from a few years back - BB King's Christmas Celebration of Hope. This album is great, and here are a few reasons why:

The band - recorded a few years back when he ducked into the studio with his touring band, this group is great and the rhythm section, in particular, is tight.

The voice - the voice is the blues, and when you hear him sing there is a depth and experience that just makes everything sound like wisdom personified. So despite the trivial lyrics of most of the album, it still sounds like it should be meaningful, and that I could get a lot out it, and that I should be listening to what he has to say.

The guitar - when you listen to BB King you know that you may hear some guitar licks, and hear them often...but can there be too much of a good thing? And you know that there wont be any blistering moments of virtuosity but with that tone, and those tasty licks you want to savor every moment.

The strings - OK, so generally I hate string sections. Give me a fiddle any day, but a schlocky string section drives me crazy. But on this album everything else was so good I almost forgot that the Nashville String Machine was there.

The Lyrics - I have already said that most of the lyrics are nothing to write home about. There is some of the standard secular Christmas fare, which compared to the rich theology of the season always comes up short and trivial to me. But then there is the perverse side of my musical taste that had me laughing right out loud to the lyrics of Back Door Santa. They are terrible, but terribly funny, and having fun with the notion of Santa always makes me laugh.

So those are just some reasons tho check it out. I would love to hear what you think, or hear some suggestions as to great Christmas albums.