I’ll be honest: I don’t listen to much “Christian” music. I listen to lots of music made by Christians but not much that would be classified by most people as “Christian.” I listen to even less Christmas music. So it was a bit of hesitancy that I agreed to listen to the new project from my friend Daniel Renstrom. I really liked Renstrom’s earlier project Adore and Tremble and even blogged about it on my earlier, now defunct blog.

At eight songs, the album is split evenly between Christmas hymn-standards and originals. What’s refreshing here is that the theology of the incarnation is front and center throughout, both in the standards and originals. For example, “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” “Angels We Have Heard On High,” and “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” Renstrom understands that these songs are more than simply sentimental favorites, they are theological meditations about the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, God come in the flesh and he presents them as such.

We know that he understands this because of the original material Renstrom presents. The meditation of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” leads into the Renstrom original “Rise and Fall,” with the wonderful lyrics (also quoted in whole by my friend Steve McCoy):

The dawn of the light
Is breaking tonight
At the birth of this dangerous King

And shepherds and kings
Bow down and sing
At the birth of this dangerous King

Many will rise and fall
At the birth of this King, the birth of this King

Those who oppose
Stumble on this stone
The birth of this dangerous King

But many will hear
Believing in fear
Will hope in this dangerous King

Like Dustin Kensrue’s “This Is War,” Renstrom wants us to meditate on more than a cute baby wrapped in cloth. Jesus was that, but He was so much more and Renstrom succeeds in weaving heavy theology with adoration. He succeeds in reminding us that truth about Jesus ought to drive our hearts to Him.