I have a confession to make: I love Christmas carols. I mean, really LOVE Christmas carols. Can I get a witness?

On the radio….on CDs….in the stores….in the car….they just uplift our spirits in this season, don’t they? There’s something about Christmas Carols that just seem to warm the heart and stir the soul. I know you’re not supposed to listen to them until after Advent, but I admit it before God and all of you: I cheat. I listen to Christmas carols before the 12 days of Christmas.

Now I know how serious an offense this is. For some liturgists it’s almost a chargeable offense. And I also know how some people dismiss carols as the equivalent of Sunday school ditties. One musicologist has argued that "Hymns are about what happens in the Bible, with a devotional point attached. Somebody …