During 1647 and 1660, Christmas songs were sung everywhere in England but not in churches.  Oliver Cromwell had deemed that the whimsical and frolicsome nature of Christmas carols was inappropriate for a worship service.  Thus, instead of singing Christmas songs in church, many Christians would make it a tradition to go from house to house singing these carols.  Maybe it is déjà vu all over again.  On the day after Thanksgiving, if you visit shop in the malls or dine even in McDonalds, you will hear songs about Mommy kissing Santa Claus.  You will learn all the names of Santa's reindeers.  You may even pick up some Spanish as you sing along with "Feliz Navidad."  Christmas sure is an exciting season.  But in many churches, the opposite is true:  each year congregations slough through the old Christmas canticles with that antiquated Victorian-sounding organ accompanying along.  One of the blessings that North Point Music brings to the church is that it has resourced for us a collection of Christmas songs for congregations to be excited about the birth of Jesus Christ again!  They do it in two ways: first, they have provided for us 4 new (or relatively new) Christmas songs for congregations to be enthused about.  And second, they exemplify for us how to lead some of the traditional carols with a rejuvenated passion for King Jesus imbued with the refreshing cadence of today's sounds.  

North Point Music is the gathering together of worship leaders, songwriters and musicians to influence the next generation of believers in worship.  They are birthed out of North Point Community Church, a mega church that attracts 33,000 worshippers each Sunday, helmed by senior pastor and author Andy Stanley.  Collectively, they have are known for their highly successful recording "North Point Live: Here and Now" as well as "No One Higher."  And individually, the worship team has released a few of  its leaders to record their own solo endeavors including Seth Condrey's recent "Keep on Changing" and Casey Darnell's eponymous effort.  

"North Point Christmas: Let there Be Light" is the team's second  foray into Christmas music with their debut being "North Point Christmas," released three years ago.  This time round the 11 freshly cut songs finds 11 of their leaders each taking the lead on one song each.  And holding all of them together is none other than one of today's hottest Christian producers around is Nathan Nockels (Matt Redman, Laura Story & Passion). Of the 11 cuts, four of them are relatively newer songs.  The opening cut "Hallelujah" is indeed an exercise of brilliance. When it comes to worship, Eddie Kirkland shows us that there doesn't need to be a divide between traditional carols and newly composed songs.  Kirkland shows us that the contention can be resolved by incorporating phrases and melodic bars of "O Holy Night" into his own composition creating a gorgeous amalgam piece of neo-traditional worship.  

Congratulations are in order for Chinua Hawk who with the aid of some subtle strings and gentle guitar strokes has delivered a heartfelt rendition of Michael W. Smith's "All is Well."  "Unto Us," which finds Paul Taylor Smith on lead, is modern ballad with an ultra catchy chorus that will get us singing in no time.  Other than its lyrical content which speaks of the ushering of a new dispensation in Christ's coming, "Dawn is Breaking" is more of those worship standard with an explosive chorus. 

On the traditional front, "I Heard the Bells" is a poignant carol that presses for God's justice in a world of evilness and sin. However, often its meaning is lost when we sing it with the same sentimental gloss as we sing "Silver Bells."  With such a commanding presence and with its marching drive, Casey Darnell challenges us again to place anew all issues of injustice in the hands of our Christ King.  "Emmanuel Come" is a hybrid between the old and new as new sections have been added to the carol "O Come O Come Emmanuel." With songs like these, churches are going to brim with life, excitement and the Spirit's presence this Christmas.  And with a collection like this, Christmas songs will not teach us about kissing Santa Claus or the names of Santa's reindeers, but they will teach us eternal truths of our blessed Savior.