Father Christmas & Rebel Jesus

Here's a couple of different Christmas songs that have been running through my mental play list. Yes, I know the lyrics are not the full story, the full gospel, but they both pick up some important elements of the living out of a kingdom life.


First up is: I Believe in Father Christmas
While U2 made the song well known, it was written by Greg Lake [of King Crimson & Emerson, Lake & Palmer]. When U2 did it, they made a minor but significant change to the lyrics. In the second verse:

They sold me a dream of Christmas,
They sold me a silent night, 
And they told me a fairy story, 
'Till I believed in the Israelite.

Becomes: 

But I believed in the Israelite.

It may seem minor, but it's significant declaration.

They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on Earth
But instead it just kept on raining
A veil of tears for the virgin birth
I remember one Christmas morning
A winters light and a distant choir
And the peal of a bell and that Christmas Tree smell
and eyes full of tinsel and fire


They sold me a dream of Christmas
They sold me a Silent Night
And they told me a fairy story
'Till [But] I believed in the Israelite
And I believed in Father Christmas
And I looked to the sky with excited eyes
'Till I woke with a yawn in the first light of dawn
And I saw him and through his disguise


I wish you a hopeful Christmas
I wish you a brave New Year
All anguish pain and sadness
Leave your heart and let your road be clear
They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on Earth
Hallelujah Noel be it Heaven or Hell
The Christmas we get we deserve

Greg Lake  


U2


The other song is a Jackson Browne song - The Rebel Jesus, [It was also done by the Chieftains.] There are some powerful lyrics here.