(Note: Sam’s Christmas guitar arrangements below!)

My son, Sam, wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas from him and his guitar. Sam is in the eighth grade and just started playing guitar about two years ago. He worked hard doing lawn jobs over the last two summers and was able to save up enough money to buy himself his own brand, spankin’ new Martin D-15 at the end of this summer. Here he is with his new guitar.

I have been teaching him what I know, and he also studied with acoustic guitar wizard Brooks Williams this summer. Anyways, here are three of Sam’s original fingerstyle acoustic guitar arrangements played by Sam for you on his very own Martin D-15. They are all good, but my favorite of these is definitely Feliz Navidad — a nice spunky version with a great feel. Merry Christmas all and enjoy! And remember, you heard him here first!

Click on the song title to hear the MP3:

• Go Tell It on the Mountain
• Away in a Manger
• Feliz Navidad

Related posts:
    • Fowler Family Christmas Project
    • Free Christmas Music MP3 Downloads
    • Click here for more Christmas related posts.

The Feels Like Christmas site is offering free Christmas music MP3 downloads. All of the songs were submitted by the artists and are completely legal for free downloading.

One of my great joys in life is listening to (and playing) fingerstyle acoustic guitar, so my first download was this spirited arrangement of “Deck the Halls” by guitarist John Morgan from his Capture the Night CD. I like it so much I will probably end up buying the whole CD for Christmas this year.

Happy browsing and a merry Christmas!

Related post: A Very Merry Guitar Christmas from Sam Fowler
Click here for more Christmas related posts.

You know the type. In fact, maybe you are one yourself! I am talking about people who attend church only twice a year, usually at Christmas and Easter.

There is a whole slew of jokes about them, including the one about the person who complained to the pastor on the way out of the service: “Every time I come to church, you are always talking about the same thing. It’s always either the birth of Jesus or his resurrection!”

I was talking with a pastor friend this week who shared with me that one person on his way out of church this past Easter Sunday greeted him with a hearty: “Merry Christmas!” Whoops, wrong holiday.

And then you’ve got to appreciate the honesty of the couple who told my wife on their way out from our Easter service, “See you next year!”

You know, sometimes you just have to laugh.

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The Nativity Story was released on DVD today in the stores. If you did not see this movie back in December, let me recommend it to you as a biblically faithful, historically accurate and artistically sensitive portrayal of the events surrounding the birth of Christ. Seeing this movie in the theater was one of the highlights of this past year’s Christmas for our family.

I was surprised and disappointed that the movie did not do very well at the box office. Christianity Today has an article here discussing the timing of the film and the rushed schedule that did not allow for adequate publicity or proper promotion.

Regardless of box office performance, this is a beautifully made film that deserves to be seen by many more people now that it has come out on DVD. We will certainly be picking up a copy and making it a part of our Christmas celebration each year.

Okay, the Narnia Christmas series of messages from Christmas 2005 is now up and ready for viewing. You will find the following three messages under the Sermons tab at the top of the blog.

• The Lion is a Lamb – Revelation 5:1-14
• Always Winter, Never Christmas? – Galatians 3:10,21-23, 4:4-5
• The Cradle, the Cross and the Wardrobe – Matthew 1:21

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