The Hope of Christmas
Dave Andrews • Dec 04, 2020
The Hope Of Christmas
You’re still the hope of Christmas
You’re still the light when the world looks dark
You’re still the hope of Christmas
And You’re still the hope of my heart
Those words are from that great new Christmas song from Matthew West, which you can hear on KJOL right now. Don’t those lyrics hit home this year? When the world looks dark, Christ is still our hope and our light.
I have thought a lot about the sad state of affairs our country and world is in lately. The fear is almost palpable. And when fear arrives, so does panic; and with panic, all common sense is thrown out the door, no matter who you are. We as believers in Christ know who fear comes from. We also know Who courage, love, and hope come from. And if the last few months have proven anything, those wonderful attributes certainly do not come from our own hearts…the hearts of humanity have collectively failed.
“We all like sheep have gone astray.”
But for those of us who place our trust in Christ, we have the Shephard. Christ is the Author of the noble heart. In fact He is the Great Physician…He does the most important heart transplant. For those who don’t know Christ and are living in darkness, transformation occurs when they see the great Light. And after we find the Light, we now can walk righteously in the light of life. It’s not merely a baby boy’s birth we celebrate at Christmas. Romans 5 tells us about the real Hope of Christmas…Christ’s sacrificial work of salvation and grace.
“But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!” v.15
Now that’s what I call a gift! It’s something that “a weary world can celebrate indeed. But there’s one issue…how will the world in darkness see the great Light unless someone guides them (to quote the Ethiopian eunich)? That’s why we are here in the power of Christ.
Do you feel it? Do you feel the fear and the darkness around us? Shine the Light this Christmas…and empower others to do the same. KJOL is in a unique position to do just that. We are also motivated to do just that. But we literally need your support to do just that. We need your prayers…and your support in action…your financial gifts.
Your year-end gift
makes it possible to proclaim the gift of grace through the sacrifice and resurrection of the Son, and lead others to walk in the light of life. Will you join us?
Please pray about and then make a gift to KJOL this month to help us finish the year strong, and keep us going strong in 2021. God bless you and let’s rejoice together in all God has done this Christmas.
-Dave Andrews
KJOL Station Manager
Our annual Spring FriendRaiser is underway for the month of April; and as a part of that, our theme this year is Share The Light. As you share the Gospel and the Light of Christ, KJOL has compiled 30 tips for every day of the month. Here they are:
During KJOL’s April “Friendraiser” month, we want to say THANK YOU to our faithful supporters. And THANK YOU to everyone who makes a first-time donation. And finally THANK YOU to God, the giver of all good gifts in our lives, starting with Jesus Christ! KJOL has a lot of new songs that say THANK YOU. I hope you enjoy them! That Thank You Song! Citizen Way Thank God Stars Go Dim Thank You Life.Church Worship I Thank God Housefires Thanks Giver Crowder Thanks and Praise Lucy Grimble and Vineyard Music A Thousand Thank Yous Sarah Kroger Thankful VERSES Thank You Jesus For The Blood Charity Gayle
In January, we told you about four new artists at the KJOL music blog . This month, we have four more new artists. Jordan Smith “This Is Jesus” Jordan Smith is a 30 year old Kentucky native who grew up singing in the church choir. In 2015, he won NBC’s The Voice. He sang “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” and "Mary Did You Know." Natalie Layne “Amen” Natalie Layne is a 24 year old Colorado Springs native, where she was a worship leader at New Life Church. She received a masters degree in piano from Belmont University in Nashville. In 2019, she won Belmont’s Christian Showcase. She continues to serve as a worship leader at her church in Nashville. Terrian “Big God” Terrian (Woods) is a singer/songwriter from Memphis. She is also a member of TobyMac's band Diverse City. And she serves on the staff of AngelStreet in Memphis, which mentors girls as part of an all girls choir. Seph Schleuter “Counting My Blessings” Seph Schlueter ( pronounced “seff shleeter”) spent 7 years as a missionary. In 2020 he formed the worship collective Damascus Worship, in conjunction with the organization “Damascus” which conducts two-year programs to develop leaders who will impact their generation for Christ with the aim of bringing revival to the Catholic Church.
He had noticed we had been off the air on 94.5 FM in Delta…and I related to him it was one of “those” weekends for our poor equipment. Not only did our AM 1400 Delta transmitter go down causing us to make a very expensive replacement only weeks before, but our FM transmitter in Delta went down at the same time as our Montrose 91.9FM transmitter, and only hours after our whole network went down across the Western Slope!
The other day a kindly woman knocked on my door asking for a donation to help build the local swimming pool. I came back with a glass of water. Doesn’t it feel great to give to a good cause??
The English version of the hymn “How Great Thou Art” turns 75 years old in 2024. To mark the anniversary, a new recording has been released, including a brand new verse by Matt Redman. First a little history… Swedish pastor Carl Boberg wrote the original lyrics in 1885. Boberg said that after a strong thunderstorm passed by, he opened his window and heard church bells ringing. He immediately was inspired to write his poem, set to the tune of a Swedish folk melody. It was translated into Russian, where English missionary Stuart Hine heard it while in Ukraine in 1931. He wrote two new verses (3 & 4) and translated it into English in 1949—which is the 75 th anniversary. British missionaries around the world soon began to spread the song. Eventually it reached Billy Graham and George Beverly Shea , who performed it during Graham’s 1957 New York Crusade. The audience liked it so much, they asked Shea to sing it over and over. Graham then used it every week on his Hour Of Decision radio program. Fifteen artists have now collaborated to record the 75th anniversary edition, called “How Great Thou Art (Until That Day)” . When you hear the song on KJOL, the first two voices are from Chris Tomlin and Hillary Scott . The remaining voices include: Kari Jobe and her husband, Cody Carnes Naomi Raine (Maverick City Music) Taya (formerly with Hillsong) Blessing Offor (from Nigeria) Matt Maher (who also plays piano) Matt Redman For the 75 th anniversary, the Stuart Hine Trust commissioned Matt Redman and Mitch Wong to write a new fifth verse: Until that day When heaven bids us welcome, And as we walk this broken warring world, Your kingdom come, Deliver us from evil, And we’ll proclaim our God how great You are! And we’ll proclaim, our God how great You are Redman said they wanted to tie the verse to Stuart Hine’s work in Ukraine, especially in light of the current conflict there. “I wanted the word ‘war’ in there,” said Redman . “It’s kind of a gritty word. But we have to sing about both the everyday and the eternal.” Time will tell if the fifth verse becomes a staple in hymnals. But few will argue that “How Great Thou Art” is one of America’s favorite hymns. And with this new rendition, hopefully it will continue to be loved by future generations.
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