Sunday Song Lyrics: "How Many Kings?" by Downhere

The Album:

The Lyrics:

Follow the star to a place unexpected

Would you believe after all we’ve projected

A child in a manger

Lowly and small, the weakest of all

Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mothers shawl

Just a child

Is this who we’ve waited for?

Cause how many kings, stepped down from their thrones?

How many lords have abandoned their homes?

How many greats have become the least for me?

How many Gods have poured out their hearts

To romance a world that has torn all apart?

How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Bringing our gifts for the newborn savior

All that we have whether costly or meek

Because we believe

Gold for his honor and frankincense for his pleasure

And myrrh for the cross he’ll suffer

Do you believe, is this who we’ve waited for?

It’s who we’ve waited for

How many kings, stepped down from their thrones?

How many lords have abandoned their homes?

How many greats have become the least for me?

How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Only one did that for me

All for me

All for you

All for me

All for you

Andrea's Take: 

I was looking for a song to post this Epiphany weekend, besides the obvious "We Three Kings," and my friend Melissa, whom you heard from earlier this week, recommended this. She calls it her newest favorite Christmas song. 

It certainly is appropriate as a Christmas song. Even more so as an Epiphany song (though few people in the modern Church would trouble themselves to write an Epiphany song). But it really is universal. In fact, I heard it on the radio just this week, long after most of us have put Christmas behind us.  I have heard my almost 5 year old daughter singing several times since then too.

Told from the viewpoint of the wise men at their introduction to the Christ child, it explores the wonder they may have felt at finding Him in a humble country stable instead of in the grand palaces of Jerusalem they had so recently left. 

It expresses the wonder we all should feel. At Christmas, at Epiphany, at Easter, on the second Tuesday in September. All the time.  Wonder should fill our hearts every time we think of where He came from and what He gave up to come here and save us.

My favorite lines are these:

Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mother's shawl

This is not the only reference in song to the cloths that Jesus was wrapped in, but I think it's my favorite. Would Mary and Joseph have carried extra supplies on their long journey? I doubt it. Would they have wrapped the baby in just any old dirty rag? Certainly not. But a mother would easily sacrifice her own garment for the comfort and safety of her child.

How many Gods have poured out their hearts

To romance a world that has torn all apart?

My faithful readers know me to be an an avid romance reader, so it should come as no surprise that I cherish the picture of God giving up His greatest prize in order to woo his Bride.

And of course:

How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Only one did that for me.

A stark and simple question with its stark and simple answer.

I hope this Epiphany weekend has you in awe and wonder as the wise men must have been on that day. Let's always be sure to offer our best gifts to Him as they did. After all, He gave His best gift to us.

Sunday Song Lyrics, Christmas Edition: Away In a Manger

This is  the cover art from a lovely book we have. Thomas Kinkade presents the Christmas story and this wonderful song in beautiful detail. I just love this picture. I imagine this is what it looked like before the shepherds came to see him and the wise men arrived with their wonderful gifts.

Mary holding Jesus in the starlight, memorizing his features and marveling--as all mothers do--at the little miracle in her arms.  Joseph doing his very best to make their meager quarters as comfortable as possible. 

The Lyrics:

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed

The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head

The stars in the sky look down where he lay

The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing the baby awakes

But little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.

I love thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky,

And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay

Close by me forever and love me I pray.

Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,

And fit us for Heaven to live with thee there.

Andrea's Take:
The Bible tells us that Jesus's message is so easy a little child can understand.  This song is just that way. It's lyrics and music so simple and beautiful.  It's the first Christmas carol I ever learned. Now my daughter loves to sing it too.

The last line is often rendered, "And take us to Heaven to live with thee there."

I prefer "fit us for Heaven" because I think that's exactly what Jesus does with us while we're living on this earth.  He shapes us and molds us, making us fit to live with him in Heaven.

I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas with many reminders of the baby in the manger...the man he became...and the Savior he is today.

Sunday Song Lyrics, Christmas Edition: O Holy Night

The Album:

This is one of many album's by this title.  

While I do like Sarah Groves, I really picked it for the picture.

The Lyrics:

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining.

Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!

O night divine, the night when Christ was born;

O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

O night, O Holy Night , O night divine! 

Truly He taught us to love one another,

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.

And in his name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise his holy name.

Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Click here for a clip of seven-year-old Rhema Marvanne singing this song.  I'd never heard of her before I searched out a link for this post.  I confess it isn't my favorite performance, but the she is just adorable.

Andrea's Take:

This has long been a favorite carol of mine.  The beautiful sweeping melody is the perfect frame for the moving lyrics. I love for a Christmas song not only to focus on Jesus's birth, but also to remind us of  His greater purpose in coming to earth that long ago night.

As is common for me, my favorite lyrics are in the second verse (a verse often neglected in the performance of Christmas music).

Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother. 
And in his name all oppression shall cease. 

Peter tells us that "God is no respecter of persons." These lines embody that truth for me.  

Sunday Song Lyrics, Christmas Edition: Welcome to Our World

The Album:

The Lyrics:

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking

How we need to hear from God

You've been promised, we've been waiting

Welcome Holy Child

Welcome Holy Child

Hope that you don't mind our manger

How I wish we would have known

But long-awaited Holy Stranger

Make Yourself at home

Please make Yourself at home

Bring Your peace into our violence

Bid our hungry souls be filled

Word now breaking Heaven's silence

Welcome to our world

Welcome to our world

Fragile finger sent to heal us

Tender brow prepared for thorn

Tiny heart whose blood will save us

Unto us is born

Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around You

Breathe our air and walk our sod

Rob our sin and make us holy

Perfect Son of God

Perfect Son of God

Welcome to our world

You can click here for Michael W. Smith's rendition. 

Click here to hear a version by Chris Rice (I think this is the version I've heard on the radio).

Andrea's Take:

This song was part of a Christmas cantata several years ago at the church we attended. I absolutely loved it, and have since purchased the soundtrack so I can sing it myself (I don't do near as well as either of those men). 

Obviously, this is a song of welcome, and I love these welcoming words--the same ones I might say to an honored guest in my home: 

Hope that you don't mind our manger

How I wish we would have known

But long-awaited Holy Stranger

Make Yourself at home

Please make Yourself at home

I think he did make himself at home.  I'm certain he was the best son any mother could want. The best big brother a girl could ask for. And I know he was the greatest teacher and leader who ever lived. Every role he filled in his life on earth, I think he filled it to overflowing and made it his own.

The song is also a prayer:

So wrap our injured flesh around You

Breathe our air and walk our sod

Rob our sin and make us holy

Perfect Son of God

Perfect Son of God

"Injured flesh" speaks volumes to me. The healthy body of a perfect newborn--singing with life and potential as it does--is certainly, at its best, "injured" and imperfect compared with the body He gave up to come here.  And I love the image of him "wrapping" himself in this earthly form, like wrapping a present. Only this gift would stay sealed until a Sunday morning many years later, when he "unwrapped" and revealed the greatest gift the world will ever know.

"Rob our sin," paints a vivid picture.  "Rob" of course means to take something from someone else. This is one "robbery" I'll willingly submit to. Also Christ robs sin itself. He robs it of power over my life and over my death. 

How about you? In this Christmas Season do you welcome Jesus to your world?

Sunday Song Lyrics: Adoration by Newsboys

The Album:

The Lyrics:

I’m here with the others

Who saw the heavens testify

Now I hang back in the shadows

I want to come close

I want to know

She sees me shivering here

She smiles and with a nod

I walk through the mud and straw

To the newborn Son of God

Come, let us adore Him

He has come down to this barren land

Where we live

And all I have to give Him

Is adoration

He raises a wrinkled hand

Through the dust and the flies

Wrapped in rags like we are

And with barely open eyes

He takes my finger

And He won’t let go

And He won’t let go

It’s nothing like I knew before

And it’s all I need to know

Come, let us adore Him

He has come down to the world we live in

And all I have to give Him

Is adoration

God is with us here

Our Immanuel

God is with us here

Our Immanuel

O come let us adore Him

O come let us adore Him

Jesus, our Immanuel

Is with us here and He won’t let go

Andrea's Take:

I don't usually post the entire song, but this one is good from beginning to end.

It's one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands. I have the album. I bought it for "He Reigns" (a song that could easily appear in a Sunday Song Lyrics post in the future). "Adoration" was the hidden jewel on the album for me.

Favorite Lines: 

These lines lend this song the feel of "Little Drummer Boy" only it's Biblical (as much as I love LDB--and I really, really do--no such person is mentioned in Scripture).

She sees me shivering here

She smiles and with a nod

I walk through the mud and straw

To the newborn Son of God

The persona is rather like Simeon and Anna, those two devout elders who saw Jesus as a baby in the Temple, but they knew right away that He was The One.

He takes my finger

And He won’t let go

And He won’t let go

It’s nothing like I knew before

And it’s all I need to know

And finally:

And all I have to give Him

Is adoration

As though he wanted anything else...

Two Big Announcements

Big Announcement #1: Sunday Song Lyrics
I'm debuting a new feature today. I already give you my take on novels I've read (almost) every week. I occasionally post my take on Bible passages. So I figure, why not give you my take on the songs I love as well.

The title has a double meaning. The feature will be posted on Sunday, obviously. But most importantly, the songs are what I call "Sunday Songs," great songs that have touched my heart because they glorify God. And isn't that what Sunday is all about?

So, without further ado...Sunday Song Lyrics

This is the Stuff  
Performed by Francesca Battistelli

I lost my keys in the great unknown
And call me please 'Cuz I can't find my phone

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

~~~

Click here to see the lyrics in their entirety

Andrea's Take

The first two lines convinced me that this is my theme song. The chorus reminds me that God uses every little thing to bring me closer to him, as long as I am willing.

My four year old loves it too and can sing every word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Big Announcement #2: The Birthday Bash

Today is my birthday! Okay it's not my birthday, but it is my blog's birthday. One year ago today, I wrote my first blog post. See That Post Here

In honor of this auspicious occasion, I'm giving away free stuff.

I alluded to some giveaways in a couple of posts during September. Well, this is it. This week I'm giving away my copy of each book I reviewed in the month of September in the order in which I reviewed them.

Monday: Hailee by Penny Zeller

Tuesday: A Most Unsuitable Match by Stephanie Grace Whitson

(I'm skipping Wednesday because that's the usual "What I Read" day, and I don't want to cause any confusion by featuring a book I'm not giving away. And because I have only four books to give away).

Thursday: The Lady of Bolton Hill by Elizabeth Camden

Friday: Wings of a Dream by Anne Mateer

Each day I will post an interview with the featured author. These ladies have been very gracious, agreeing to participate on short notice (since I've thrown this thing together at nearly the last minute).

A comment will get you in a drawing. Following my blog will be an optional entry each day. Some of the authors will have pages to "follow" or "like" or newsletters you can subscribe to for even more entries. Drawings will be open until Sunday, October 16, and winners will be announced one day next week.

It's gonna be a blast!

Before you leave today, check out my beautiful "Blog Birthday Bash" button. It was designed by my very best friend, and first ever follower of Andrea's Take, Melissa Jagears. Didn't she do a lovely job? Feel free to grab that bonnie button and post it on your own blog or website.

Okay, that's all for now. Come back bright and early Monday morning for my interview with Penny Zeller.

(Psst...Penny has offered to include a bookplate personalized to the lucky winner of her book. Isn't that lovely? I think so.)