Yesterday, The Welcome Wagon released their second record: Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices. Instead of reviewing the record (which I don’t think I’m qualified to do), I thought I would write up a bit of a rambling endorsement.

I not only think this album is good. But I also think it is good for you.

Let the rambling commence.

In his famous book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes about pretending. He says there is a bad kind of pretending and a good kind of pretending. The bad kind of pretending is happens when, for example, someone pretends they are going to help you. Instead of helping you, they take advantage of you. Everyone knows this is wrong.

But, Lewis says there is also a good kind of pretending. This happens when the pretending actually leads us towards becoming the thing we are pretending to be. For example, let’s say you’re in a bad mood and encounter a friend. Instead of taking out your anger on your friend, the best thing to do is to act friendly towards your friend even though you’re not feeling particularly warm and affectionate at that moment. Then, Lewis writes, “…in a few minutes, as we have all noticed, you will be really feeling friendlier than you were. Very often the only way to get a quality in reality is to start behaving as if you had it already.”

So what does this have to do with a talented Indie Rock band from Brooklyn?

The Welcome Wagon intentionally structured this record to reflect the content and flow of a historical Christian worship liturgy. On the album, they include songs that confess sins, wrestle with God in the darkness, claim God’s forgiveness, celebrate community with one another, celebrate community with God, and send people out into the world with God’s blessing. Precious Remedies is a very thoughtful and musically compelling interpretation of a traditional Christian worship service. For this, I think the record is brilliant.

Working your way through a worship liturgy involves the good kind of pretending. When we worship, it requires us to act in ways that we may or may not feel like at the moment. We may not feel like confessing our sins. But we give ourselves to confessing them anyway. We may not feel forgiven by God at the moment. But we give ourselves to the absolution and drink in God’s grace anyway.

The Christian’s hope and experience is God meets us in the midst of our pretending and shapes us to be the people we are pretending to be. We become people that are quick to own up to our faults. We become people who are defined more and more by God’s grace. We become people who become better and better at welcoming others into our lives. We become the liturgy.

Precious Remedies is a great gift in that it gives us an opportunity to “put on” the Christian qualities that we learn by worshiping ever week.  As the title indicates, the record works like medicine for the soul.

But there’s one more thing that is gripping about this album. It is devoid of pretense. It is relentlessly sincere and earnest. I think that is it’s greatest strength.

From the opening lines of the brutally honest call to confession I’m Not Fine, to the naked yet strongly confident I Know that My Redeemer Lives, to the jangly and unashamedly upbeat benediction of God Be With You Til We Meet Again, there is no self-protective posing allowed here. Instead, The Welcome Wagon is inviting us to be vulnerable, honest, and genuine. They are inviting us to join them unlearning all the layers of pretentious behavior that for many of us has become second nature.

Kind of sounds like what worship should be like, don’t you think?

My wife and I just finished a simple recording of some Christmas tunes this last week and we'd love to share them. It has been the driest December on record in Seattle this year (pretty cold too) and there has been an abnormal amount of fog in the mornings. Fog can be unsettling. It changes and disguises the appearance of the world around us. But after the morning, the fog lifts and the sun reveals what has been covered up and unclear. My hope is that these songs do the same thing. Though our lives can be bleak and at times unclear, the son of God has come down to reveal his truth, love, hope, and grace to us. Love came down at Christmas.

There is A LOT of Christmas music these days. Yes, much (maybe most) of this music is overly cheesy and sentimental; or just straight-up bad. I'm not against sentiment and I have plenty of guilty pleasures, but I think everyone can agree that Christmas music in general tends to overdo it… At best, many albums are marketing ploys for record labels to make more money off of songs that have already been written. No offense to the next big pop star and the next holiday "hit," but there is actually some really good stuff out there. And thanks in large part to the internet, we have more good things to choose from every year. It seems that the best music contains lyrical content that is rich with allusions to both the longing of advent and the raw and mysterious story of Christ's birth. Go figure! There are exceptions and  plenty of room for great songs that focus on the warmth of family and friends in this special season, but it seems that when over-sentimentality is not the focus, great art is made. So below are some listening recommendations that I've put together for this season of longing, hope, and celebration. Clearly, "good" and "bad" music is based on opinion, but I hope to at least expose you to some great music to listen to this season. I always HIGHLY recommend 'Songs For Christmas' by Sufjan Stevens and 'Salvation Is Created' by Bifrost Arts if you don't already have them, but I've only highlighted music that's come out this year below.

Hymns From Nineveh - 'Endurance In Christmas Time' |  A great collection of mostly original tunes and hymns based on advent and the season of Christmas.

'Endurance In Christmas Time'

Castle Island Hymns - 'Christmas' |  Original songs and new arrangements of old hymns from Citylife Presbyterian Church in Boston.

Forest Mountain Hymnal - 'Christmas Hymnal' |  Beautiful Appalachian folk arrangements of some great Christmas hymns.

Sam Billen (and various artists) - 'A Light Goes On' |  A wonderful compilation that Sam Billen put together with many of his musician friends. Each musician was also paired with an artist who created the cover art for each song.

'A Light Went On'

Sandra McCracken - 'Lo-Fi Christmas EP' |  It's just that... 3 beautiful Christmas hymns recorded on Garage Band with acoustic guitar and voice.

'Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming'

* Thanks to Ryan Phelps and Bruce Benedict (Cardiphonia) for exposing me to a couple of these...

This Sunday someone asked me, "Why aren't we singing Christmas carols in church right now?" That's a great question. We are three Sundays into Advent and have yet to sing a single Christmas carol. And this is on purpose.

At Grace, we are worshiping according to the ancient pattern of Advent first, Christmas second. Notice that Advent and Christmas are not the same thing. They are two distinct seasons. Advent is the four-week period immediately preceding Christmas Day. Christmas begins on Christmas Day and lasts until January 6 (Epiphany).

Advent is all about waiting and yearning. It's a time to recognize areas of our lives where we are not presently experiencing fulness. So, during Advent, we sing songs of longing like "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" and "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus". These are all sung from the context of our present lack. Advent is a time where we sit, at times uncomfortably, in the midst of our unfulfilled longings and unmet expectations. In our worship, we are trying to learn the very important skill of learning to wait on God. Jess even wrote a new antiphon for this Advent, "In the desert, Lord, let our cry come to you." Crying out to the Lord in the desert is what Advent is all about.

Of course, this can seem very strange and out of step. It seems like "Christmas Season" starts earlier and earlier every year. It even feels that some retailers start playing "Santa Baby" the day after Halloween. I think that's because, by and large, our culture doesn't know how to wait. We don't have a real category for how to deal with unfulfilled desires or broken dreams. We all want and expect comprehensive fullness right now.

But the reality is, God doesn't promise us that kind of life in the present age. Even as people who are connected to Jesus and the power of his resurrection, we are still looking forward to a day when God will wipe away our tears. This means we should expect some tears now. So we all desperately need to learn how to live faithful lives in the midst of our present longings and groanings. That's one of the reasons why celebrating Advent is a good idea. It helps us build and exercise this much-needed muscle.

We have to keep in mind, however, that to be a Christian means that unfulfilled desires don't get the last word. Advent leads to Christmas. For this reason, we also need to learn how to celebrate. So, the Christmas Carols are coming. We'll be singing "Joy to the World" and "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing", and many others. But we'll all have to wait just a little bit longer.

'Songs for the Supper' is a collection of music based on the Lord's supper from musicians and churches across the country. This compilation was put together by Bruce Benedict (Cardiphonia) with the hope that people inside and outside the church will be blessed by thoughtful, diverse, and creative music.

Songs for the Supper is the 3rd in a collaboration of songs dedicated to serving under-emphasized themes in our worship music. All of these artists have donated their songs to this end - that as you gather with family, friends, and churches you might have songs to voice your thanksgiving and praise, especially during the Lord's Supper. Some of these songs are quiet meditations, others look to the great rejoicing of the Lamb's Feast. All of them reflect the incredible diversity of postures and approaches to our Lord's table. We hope these songs are a blessing to you and your church.

Check out my song "Feast on His Love" below and download the entire album for free HERE.