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Rebecca St. James: Christmas

© Dana Olsen

To kick off the holiday season, here's a Christmas MIDI to get ya in the spirit while you're reading this article. Click on Carol of Bells to hear it play in MIDI format.

Rebecca St. James is a 1997 Dove nominee for "Female Vocalist of the Year" and a Grammy nominee for "Best Rock Gospel Album." She is a spokesperson for the youth of today. She calls them to turn their hearts toward God and stand completely and totally for Him in the midst of a generation that is often times on the wrong tracks and sometimes involved in drugs and other stuff in response to negative peer pressure.

Christmas, the new album from Rebecca St. James, was released by ForeFront Records on Oct. 7, 1997. The album is an enjoyable time out to listen to Christmas favorites in a modern pop/rock format. It was produced by Tedd T. ,the same guy who worked with her on her Grammy-nominated GOD album. Christmas has both traditional and contemporary holiday songs as well as some original tunes written by St. James.

Rebecca St. James isn't just singing Chrismas songs here — she's singing carols with a difference. For many, Christmas is cherished as a time to quietly meditate upon the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The album has moments where she does just that. Even though she exhibits contemporary approaches to the traditional holiday favs, she does so without compromising the power and testimony of their time-proven messages.

After the opener, "Sweet Little Jesus Boy," the next tune is the surprising choice of "Happy Christmas" by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The first Christmas hymn that has the St. James style is a slow and meditative "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," which has a dance-pop sound when she gets to the "Rejoice, rejoice" part. The next number,"O Holy Night" also has a bit of a refreshing but subtle disco beat. Below, you can click on the titles on the Christmas album and view the lyrics. (The sound files were not working the last time I was there, but ya never know! I wrote the webmaster about the problem, so they should be fixed soon.)

Christmas is an excellent choice for your Chrismas music library, with its invigorating traditional hymns that reflect that the true reason for the season is our Lord Jesus Christ's birth.

Here's what Rebecca said recently about the Christmas time of year: "One of the things that excites me most about Christmas is that it's the one time of the year that the whole world, whether they know it or not, is celebrating our Savior Jesus. Let's be faithful this Christmas to point those that don't know Him to the Hope that is in us."