All posts by Daniel Hautamaki

About Daniel Hautamaki

Husband of the best wife and dad of the coolest kids in Tallahassee, FL. Weapon of choice: guitar with a banjo backup. Hymns keep me sane, the Spirit keeps me persevering. Soli Deo Gloria.

Why Don’t We Sing the Wexford Carol?

I mean, sure it places a bit more emphasis on Mary than us Protestants tend to like, but it’s a good song! I can’t remember a time I’ve ever sung it in church, or at all. Can you?

“Good people all, this Christmas time,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done,
In sending His belovèd Son.
With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas Day;
In Bethlehem upon the morn
There was a blest Messiah born.

The night before that happy tide
The noble virgin and her guide
Were long time seeking up and down
To find a lodging in the town.
But mark how all things came to pass:
From every door repelled, alas!
As long foretold, their refuge all
Was but a humble oxen stall.

Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep;
To whom God’s angels did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear.
“Prepare and go”, the angels said,
“To Bethlehem, be not afraid;
For there you’ll find, this happy morn,
A princely Babe, sweet Jesus born.”

With thankful heart and joyful mind,
The shepherds went the babe to find,
And as God’s angel has foretold,
They did our Savior Christ behold.
Within a manger He was laid,
And by His side the virgin maid
Attending to the Lord of Life,
Who came on earth to end all strife.”

At least Alison Krauss and Yo-Yo Ma know what’s up:

Albums for Advent

I love Advent. I love that two millennia ago God Himself was pulled from the womb, cleaned up and wrapped in some blankets, and laid in a rough-sewn wooden trough with some hay that the animals were eating. I love that He entered this world covered in the blood of one of us so that our sins may be covered by the blood that flowed from Him. And more than anything I love the pull in my chest as we sing Come Thou Long Expected Jesus during Advent knowing that we don’t sing of a memory. It is still a very real expectation. O Come, Emmanuel. God with us then, will be with us once again.

Some of my favorite music for the season, hymns and otherwise:

Silent Night” by Red Mountain ChurchCome Thou Long Expected Jesus is such a good hymn, and they do it full justice.

Sweet Bells” by Kate Rusby: Eclectic selection from one of my favorite artists. Awake Arise Good Christians always makes an appearance at our Advent hymn-sings.

Behold the Lamb of God” by Andrew Peterson: Peterson is a great storyteller, and here he tells the bigger Advent story, from Genesis through the Gospels with the hope of Christ’s return resonating throughout.

What are some of your must-listens for the season?