Welcome Back! We're back in the swing of normality, well, at least as normal as you can get in December! Have you peeked under the tree, or shaken any boxes yet? Be careful, Santa Clause is watching you!!!
We are 2 Tuesdays into December! We had a grand start last week as we recapped the top 10 out of our 56 Christmas Tuesday's Musical Notes! Tuesday's Musical Notes - "12 Days Of Christmas" (Straight No Chaser) We hope you enjoyed that flashback as much as we did and that it prepared you for what the remainder of December holds as Clarence gets his wings, Fred Gailey proves there is a Santa Claus, and Bing gets the girl of his dreams...twice!
The countdown to the 25th has begun and for children of all ages, excitement levels are rising as it can't seem to get here quickly enough. It seems that with each passing day, the question on many people's lips is...
and
and
"Where Are You Christmas?" by Pentatonix from the October 26, 2018 album Christmas Is Here! (because they are one of our favorites!!!)
Mariah Carey (who co-wrote the song with James Horner and Will Jennings) was originally slated to record "Where Are You Christmas?" as a single release from the soundtrack of The Grinch starring Jim Carrey. (Not Tuesday's Musical Notes' favorite iteration, remember covers are rarely as good as their originals...Tuesday's Musical Notes - "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" (Thurl Ravenscroft)) The single was recorded, yet never released as Mariah was going through a divorce with Tommy Mottola, then president of Sony Music Entertainment, Mariah's label. Mariah's recording of "Where Are You Christmas" got caught up as a part of the litigation and has never been released. The label still wanted the single to go out, and Taylor Momson's (who has since retired from acting and has become the front woman for the band The Pretty Reckless) rendition from the movie was not suitable for wide release.
As a replacement, the label hired country music star Faith Hill. Her cover of the song, (the only version anyone has ever heard, so does that make it the original? Sorry, I digress...) became a Christmas favorite, even though chart performance would be relegated to the top of some of Billboard's less recognizable recaps. (The song peaked at #10 Adult Contemporary, #26 Hot Country Songs, #40 Adult Pop Songs, #65 Hot 100, and in 2015 it went as high as #15 on the Seasonal Hot 100 Chart)
Since its release in December of 2000, "Where Are You Christmas?" has been covered several times on recordings released for the Christmas season by a wide variety of artists (not surprising, The Pretty Reckless has never had a cover...have you seen their discography?). None of these covers have achieved the acclaim of Hill's rendition of the song. Perhaps one day Mariah's Queen of Christmas status will prevail and we will hear her version which should soar up the charts. In the meantime, I guess we can keep asking the question that the song gives us, much like a question some curious folks of old had...
For the last year or so, Tuesday's Musical Notes has been attempting to tell some of the great stories of the Bible. There seems to be a growing illiteracy to those stories and we wanted to do our part to curtail that by working our way through the Bible telling the stories in only the way that Tuesday's Musical Notes can. Most recently, we have been telling about the life of Jesus. There is much to tell about Jesus' life. We have been providing only glimpses into some of those stories. In The Gospel of Jesus according to John, a fisherman, chapter 21, verse 25, NASB/AMP/ESV/KJV the apostle says, "But there are also many other things which Jesus did, which, if they were written in detail, I expect that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written." We hope to have provided you with enough of a taste of Jesus' life, that you'll want to begin your study of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Perhaps, you would want to invite a few friends to begin reading about Jesus together. What a great resolution that would make! Oh but let us not rush things, we were wondering where are you Christmas?... right?
We have talked about John the Baptist before. He is the one that Scripture says would be the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare you the way of the Lord! (my paraphrase, here's Isaiah to put it better: Isaiah 40:3-8 NASB/AMP/ESV/KJV) John had been in prison when he began to hear about all the things that Jesus was doing. While John had encountered Jesus previously and been witness to the miraculous that surrounded Jesus, he still sent some of his remaining disciples to ask Jesus a question of some import. Where are you Christmas? Well, John's disciples didn't ask Jesus that, but in some ways, they asked a similar question: "Are you the coming One or are we to look for someone else?" Maybe the question in our context would be...are you Christmas?
Jesus' reply? Go and tell John about what you have seen and heard. The blind can see, the deaf can hear, the immobile can walk, the leper is healed, the dead are raised to life and the poor are hearing the Good News! In the context of today's blog...Christmas is HERE! That's the story of Christmas, the Good News of Jesus coming to fulfill the purpose of restoration that mankind needed and only He could provide.
Where are you Christmas? In a stable of a small Israelite town. Where are you Christmas? Among the sick and downtrodden providing healing and hope. Where are you Christmas? On a cross perched on a Jerusalem hillside. Where are you Christmas? At the right hand of God being our mediator.
You see friend, Christmas is not found by looking under a tree, but on a tree. Christmas is found when restoration to God is made complete through Jesus. Christmas is found by accepting this ultimate gift of an eternity future spent with God, our Creator. Christmas is found in investing in others by telling them this story and discipling them.
Where are you Christmas? From the first pages of Genesis to the closing of the book of the Revelation of Jesus you can find Christmas. January 1 is coming. Let's discover Jesus together. Got a Bible?
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy
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