37 Days of Christmas

Day 15 of 37 Days of Christmas 2024 – Dwelling of Praise

When Jesus visited the earth, He was literally Creator God with us. Here’s another song from “back in the day” that I used for a few seasons to open my concerts. It was my intention to use this song to set the tone for the gathering – we were going to create a ‘dwelling of praise’ of God. The phrase “praise is a dwelling place for God” means that when people praise God, it is considered as a place where His presence can be most readily felt and experienced, essentially creating a space where He can be “found” or “dwell” among His people; this idea is primarily derived from Psalm 22:3 which states, “But you are holy, O you who inhabit the praises of Israel.”

Dwelling of Praise

Words and music by Douglas C. Eltzroth

Verse 1

Come build a temple where Jesus can dwell
Made not of stone, but of praise
Come make it simple, majestic as well
The purpose alone is to praise
Move the soles of your feet
Move your soul, move your heart
Move the air with your voice
Tear the silence apart
Come build a temple where Jesus can dwell
Made not of stone, but of praise

Chorus:

Build Him a dwelling of praise!
Something new of the Ancient of Days
Build Him a dwelling of praise!
Not to confine Him, but to magnify Him
By building a most holy place
A dwelling of praise!
(Let’s build Him a dwelling of praise!)

Verse 2

Come build a castle where Jesus can reign
In wisdom and power and truth
Bring ancient traditions to use as the frame
Bring the fresh and wild of youth!
Wave the palms of your hand, or
Wave a palm of a tree
Wave the banner of music
In a Spirit-filled breeze
Come, build a castle where Jesus can reign
Made not of rock, but of praise!

(chorus)

Bridge

Come lift up these rafters
With shouting and laughter
Let noises of joy fill this place
With praises ascending
These walls will need mending
So, let’s use the mortar of grace!

(chorus 2x)

Day 14 of 37 Days of Christmas 2024 – Turn the Heart

Today we’re still reminiscing about some old songs of mine – but we’re moving from the children’s songs to this one – a song for dads and other adults. Written for a men’s ministry called, Promise Keepers, the year they used the phrase “Turn the Heart” as their theme.

(one of my favorites…what do you think?)

Turn The Heart

Turn the hearts of the fathers to their children
Turn the hearts of the children to their dads
Turn the heart of the husbands far away from other maidens
Turn the wife’s heart to the passions she once had
Turn the heart of the soul that goes out wondering astray
Back to the threshold of their loving father’s home
Turn the hearts of broken people to their Maker
To remake their hearts of flesh now turned to stone

Chorus:

Turn the heart
Turn the heart
Remake the heart of flesh now turned to stone
Turn the heart
Turn the heart
‘til the whole heart seeks God’s own heart alone

Turn the hearts of the family towards each other
Turn the heart of the companion to their friend
Turn the heart of a nation to its own forgotten people
Turn that ol’ transgressor’s heart away from sin
Turn the heart of the mother to the unborn and the aged
Turn the hearts toward the skin of different shades
Turn the heart of the Church back to her first love
Who loves His unfaithful Bride through faithful grace

(chorus)

‘til the whole heart seeks God
‘til the whole heart seeks God’s own heart alone
Turn the heart

Day 13 of 37 Days of Christmas 2024 – I Asked God

Christmas is the season of giving and the season of asking. Asking God for things is a theme throughout the Scriptures and a theme in my life, for sure! Here’s a song for children and their families – simple but pretty profound at the same time…I’m still trying to grasp the concept of how God answers prayers.

I Asked God

_{Words and music by Douglas C. Eltzroth}

I asked God for something special
And He said, “yes, that’s a green light go”
I asked God for something special
And He said “yes” not no

Chorus:

Because He loves me and knows what is very best for me
He loves me and knows what is very best for me

I asked God for something special
And He said, “no, that’s a red light stop”
I asked God for something special
He said, “absolutely not!”

(chorus)

I asked God for something special
And He said, “wait, that’s a yellow light, slow”
I asked God for something special
And He will let me know

(chorus)

Bridge:

Sometimes He gives answers
Not read or yellow or green
Much better than I asked for
Much better than my dreams
It was not on my prayer list
He thought it up for me
Much better than I hoped for
Exactly what I need

(chorus)

Day 12 of 37 Days of Christmas 2024 – I-M-U-R-F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N

One of my favorite sentences that Jesus ever spoke was, “Forgive them, Father! They don’t know what they are doing.” Take a listen to another song of mine from back in the day when one of my focuses was writing for children.

I confess, I am forgiven!

I-M-U-R-F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N

Words and music by Douglas C. Eltzroth

One, two, three, four
I-M-U-R F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N
I-M-I-M F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N
I-M-I-M F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N
I-M-I-M
That is why I sing and shout
That is why I dance about
I-M-I-M F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N

I agreed with God
That I’d done something wrong
I believed and He forgave
And gave to me this song
F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N
U-R-U-R F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N
U-R-U-R F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N
U-R-U-R F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N
Now it’s time to sing and shout
Now it’s time to dance about
U-R-U-R F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N

I confessed to God
That I’d done something wrong
I believed and He forgave
And gave to me this song

F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N
I-M-I-M F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N
I-M-I-M F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N
I-M-I-M F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N
I-M-I-M

That is why I sing and shout
That is why I dance about
I-M-I-M F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N

Day 11 of 37 Days of Christmas 2024 – Hello There, Children of the World

This song is not new to my children, but this arrangement is. (It was re-recorded on The Choices Project several years later) I love the intro of this version, spoken by Micah Joy (Harris) Macaulay – she was probably 5 or 6 years old…now she’s a pastor of worship in Chattanooga. Find her on facebook and enjoy her music! (BTW, her dad engineered and produced this project – we were just young dads trying to create something good for children and their families)

Hello, There Children of the World is from Jesus’ perspective singing to children about why he came to earth.

Hello, There Children of the World

Words and music by Douglas C. Eltzroth

His name is Jesus, He is God’s Son, He’s got something to say to everyone

Chorus:
Hello there, children of the world
I stopped by to say, “God loves you!”
Hello there, children of the world
I stopped by to say, “God cares!”
Hello there, children of the world
I stopped by to say, “I love you!”
Hello there, children of the world
I stopped by to say, “I care!”

Verse 1

Along time ago at the beginning of time
When there was nothin’ I mean nothing at all
I want you to know that my father and I
Created everything we made it all
From the top of the sky to the bottom of the sea
From the shortest of flowers to the tallest of trees
It all was good when we were through
But our favorite thing we made was you

(chorus)

People keep forgetting that we really love them
Or they just can’t believe that it’s true
It’s like y’all fell down and bumped your head
And now you just can’t remember we do

But we love you when you’re grouchy
And we love you when you’re grinnin’
We love you when you’re losing a
And we love you when you’re winnin’
We just can’t say that we love too much
We love ya we love ya we love you a bunch

(Chorus)

Day 10 of 37 Days of Christmas 2024 – A Guaranteed Yes

Tessa, our first born, was 1 year old when I recorded the children’s album, It Takes Love, for Children of the World / Campus Crusade for Christ. It was part of a curriculum and not so much part of our music ministry to children and their families as my album, The Choices Project. So, I’m enjoying paying these older songs and introducing them to my kids and my grandchildren and probably to most of you at the same time.

God said he would save the world and He did – He’s still in the business of keeping His promises.

A Guaranteed Yes

Words and music by Douglas C. Eltzroth
When God says “yes” it is a promise
When God says “yes” it is a promise
When God says “yes” it is a promise
It is a promise with a guaranteed Yes

Chorus:

It’s wonderful
It’s beautiful
It’s a promise with a guaranteed Yes
It’s wonderful
It’s beautiful
It’s a promise with a guaranteed Yes

When God says “I will” it is a promise
When God says “I will” it is a promise
When God says “I will” it is a promise
It’s a promise with a guaranteed Yes

(Chorus)

If He says that He will do it, He will do it
If He says that He will do it, He will do it
If He says that He will do it, He will do it
It’s a promise with a guaranteed Yes

(Chorus)

Bridge

If He made it He won’t break it
Just believe it you’ll receive
You can trust Him better than you trust the rest
‘cause if He said that He will do it
He will keep His word right through it
It’s a promise with a guaranteed Yes

(Chorus / Bridge)

It’s a promise with a guaranteed Yes
It’s a promise with a guaranteed Yes

Day 9 of 37 Days of Christmas 2024 – Sophia

In the Hebrew (the language of the Old Testament) every noun has a gender – wisdom is feminine, “Sophia”. In the Book of Proverbs 8, wisdom is personified as a woman, actively calling out for people to choose her path of life and understanding; this imagery is used throughout the book, to emphasize the value and attractiveness of wisdom.

Then the New Testament frequently refers to Jesus as “the wisdom of God”. God’s wisdom came and dwelt among us.

A couple of years ago Trailand made his first music video – “Sophia”, using some of his favorite books, his daughters play blocks and poetic lyrics singing of the wisdom of God.

Sophia

_{Written by Trailand Gent Eltzroth}

I knew I’d heard that voice before
When she looked in my direction
I remembered what my father said
“Son, one day you’ll see wisdom”
We shared a glass of her greatest truth
And I watched as her mouth became
A simple gift of love
She said her name

Sophia
Abide with me
Sophia
Walked into the room
Taught we wisdom

I lost her name after the day we met
I couldn’t find her in my phone for years
When I tried to look her up online
Oh I wasted a lot of time
When I found her she was on my shelf
In a book from an age gone by
When I held her on the very first page
I prayed her name

Sophia
Abide with me
Sophia
Walked into the room
Never left me

I can tell you where she is today
She is here in this very place
I can tell you of her gentle ways
As she teaches me of my many mistakes
I have tried to call her a thousand words
And each time they never sounded quite right
But I remember what my father said
How he sang her name

Sophia
Abide with me
Sophia
Walked into the room
Taught me wisdom

Day 8 of 37 Days of Christmas 2024 – To the Glory of God

“Glory to God in the highest heaven…” giving glory to God is a major theme of the Incarnation/Christmas story – the messengers from Heaven stated it clearly to the shepherds that glory was ascending to God and peace was descending to earth.

My young family was part of the dream and part of church plant in San Ramon, CA back in 1995-96. The sentence chosen to express our mission/theme agreed with the angels’ that it was our purpose to give glory to God. We expressed in this way, “To the glory of God, by the power of His Spirit, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are.” In the beginning season of this new congregation, we chose to put an emphasis on the arts in the expressions of our worship and teachings and I wrote the song, “To The Glory of God”. We were still a fledgling church when we recorded an album of some of our favorite worship songs; it included, “To the Glory of God”.

To The Glory of God
_{Written by Douglas C. Eltzroth}

To the glory of God
By the power His Spirit
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
We shall do what we do

To the glory of God
By the power His Spirit
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
We shall go where we go

To the glory of God
By the power His Spirit
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

We shall say what we say
We shall go where we go
We shall do what we do
To the glory of God

Day 7 of 37 Days of Christmas 2024 – Awesome Most Delicate Lord

Let’s go back to listening to a “whisper of a song” – and specifically about the coming of Jesus to earth – a Christmas song if you will. (Whisper of a Song” – is the phrase I use to describe the recorded demos of my songs. It seems more accurate than saying, catch a “glimpse of a song” – you know, the audio vs. visual thing – It’s not the final version/quality of the finished project, just a whisper of what’s to come.)

If the incarnation is true, (and I believe it is) if Creator-God became a person to become Savior-God of the world, (which I believe He did) and if he was conceived, born, grew into an adult, died and ascend back to Heaven as Lord of lords, (and I believe it all) then the telling of that story is the greatest expression of a mixture of power and humility / awesomeness and tenderness. This song attempts to capture that mixture.

Awesome Most Delicate Lord

O, most awesome, most powerful Lord
In your tender, most delicate form
You are worshipped; you are adored
Most awesome, most delicate Lord

I never saw such humility
As the night of the first nativity
When Son of God became the son of man
A super-natural earth-bound paradox
I never saw such humbleness
As God’s spirit wrapped up in human flesh
Like all the power of the universe
Confined to a tissue box

I’ve never seen anything quite like that before
Have you ever seen anything like that before
The world’s never seen anything quite like that before
And they’re never gonna see it again
It was an awesome most powerful Lord
In his tender, most delicate form

O, most awesome, most powerful Lord
In your tender, most delicate form
You are worshipped; you are adored
Most awesome, most delicate Lord

Have you ever read in our history
All the twists and turns and mysteries
How the Son of God became the Son of man
So we could become the sons of God
Have you heard the version of the story
How the virgin in the story
Just believed then conceived
And this daughter became the Mother of God

Awesome and glorious
Mighty victorious
Marvelous Wonderful Powerful Lord
In His tender most delicate form

Day 6 of 37 Days of Christmas 2024 – I Can Talk to God

I’ve spent a lot of my life on stage: musician, teacher, storyteller, pastor, singer-songwriter, actor, worship leader… and the stages have been small and large, close to home and on the other side of the world. Now the stage I’m on most often is in my hometown leading during chapel at Belhaven University… that said, the main stage would have to be in the grandparenting stage of life – and I don’t have to travel too much as the 8 grand kids (7 years of age and under) live within three miles of my house. Too wonderful! So, I get to talk to them most everyday – and they can talk to me most everyday. This Christmas season will be fun for sure! And today I’m going to play this song for them, that talks about being able to talk to God anytime, anywhere…. (Jesus’ visitation to earth sure taught us how to talk to God, didn’t it?)

I Can Talk to God

_{Words and music by Douglas C.Eltzroth}

Chorus:

I can talk to God anytime
I can talk to God anywhere
We can talk about anything
And He hears my prayer
He’s always there

Anytime
I can talk to God anywhere
We can talk about anything
And He hears my prayer
He’s always there
He always hears my prayer

I can talk to God
With my seatbelt on
I can talk to God
When my mom is gone

I can talk to God
When my friend can’t play
It doesn’t matter what time of day

I can talk to God
If I’m bowin’ my head
I can talk to God
If I’m layin’ in bed

I can talk to God
Just running around
It doesn’t matter if I’m up or down
And the list goes on and on and on and on and on

(Chorus)

I can talk to God
When I’m climbin’ a tree
I can talk to God
Down on my knee

I can talk to God
Right before a meal
It doesn’t matter about the way I feel

I can talk to God
If I’m feeling sad
I can talk to God
When I’m really mad

I can talk to God
When I’m afraid of the night
It doesn’t matter if dark or light
And the list goes on and on and on and on and on

(Chorus)

I can talk to God
When I’m singing a song
I can talk to God
Just walking along

I can talk to God
About the problems I’ve had
It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad

I can talk to God
About surprise things
I can talk to God
About everything

I can talk to God
Oh, yes I can
And it doesn’t matter if it’s anyplace anybody anyhow anymore
anyone anything anyway anytime any old any at all

(Chorus)