A Treatise on Western Christmas in the 21st Century
is a candid, theologically grounded journey through the way American Christians misunderstand, sentimentalize, and sometimes even distort the season meant to proclaim Christ’s Incarnation. Inspired by the artist’s 2014 blog post confronting the clichés and contradictions surrounding modern Christmas observance, the album unfolds like a Lutheran sermon: the first five tracks reveal the Law, exposing our blindness, pride, impatience, and misplaced zeal; the final two tracks announce the Gospel, where hope breaks through and Christ stands at the center.

This is not a cozy Christmas record. It is a clarifying one.

The opening tracks pull apart the seasonal glitter to show the truth beneath:

Born to Die confronts the heart of the Incarnation — not sentiment, but sin. Christ came because we needed saving, not decorating.

So This Ain’t Christmas laments the disappearance of Advent in a culture demanding joy without repentance, light without darkness, and salvation without cost.

Idol Talk challenges soft, surface-level faith by exposing the irony of rejecting symbols of Christ’s suffering while embracing polished, porcelain nativity scenes.

The War critiques the impulse to fight public battles over slogans and displays while neglecting the deeper spiritual war waged in our hearts, homes, and churches.

Put the X Back in Christmas dismantles outrage culture with humor and historical clarity, reminding listeners that “X” is not a removal of Christ but an ancient confession of Him.

Together, these five tracks operate as the mirror of the Law, revealing the spiritual condition beneath our cultural habits — our impatience, our ignorance, our pride, and our longing for a Christmas that affirms us instead of saving us.

Then, the tone shifts:

Joy Has Broken Through the Night begins the Gospel turn, echoing the prophets who sang of dawn while standing in darkness. Hope doesn’t erase sorrow; it breaks into it.

Behold, the Lamb Has Come completes the arc with a sweeping, hymn like proclamation of Christ’s coming — from Genesis’ promised Seed, to Isaiah’s Light, to Malachi’s rising Sun, to Revelation’s enthroned Lamb. It is the Gospel in full: the Christ who entered weakness, bore our griefs, conquered the enemy, and will be confessed as Lord by every knee and every tongue.

By structuring the album this way — Law leading to Gospel — the record becomes both a theological statement and an artistic one. It exposes us so that Christ may comfort us. It tears down our false visions of Christmas so that the true Christ may stand in their place.

A Treatise on Western Christmas in the 21st Century is not an attack on culture.
It is a call to remember that the manger leads to the cross, the cross to the empty tomb, and the empty tomb to the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb.

It is Christmas, re-centered.

Joy Has Broken Through the Night

Midwest Royal is the brainchild of song writer and musician Jonathan Rodebaugh. Through this outlet he brings his songs to life utilizing a collective of his favorite musicians, producers, and engineers. Jonathan believes that for songs to be their best, it takes a village. Midwest Royal is that village.