Rebel to Redeemed…Sharing HIS Kind of Love
This is a beautiful Thanksgiving hymn, which has often been forgotten and overlooked. The hymn is often known as “We Praise Thee O Lord For The Bountiful Harvest“. The hymn was written by famed hymnists, Fanny Crosby. Fanny Crosby wrote well over 8,000 hymns and is considered a prolific hymnists. She was blinded at the age of six weeks and […]
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Blest Be the Tie that Binds was written by John Fawcett. John Fawcett was born on January 6, 1740 in Yorkshire, England. By the age of twelve, he was an orphan and “bound out” to a tailor in Bradford. The hours were long and hard. He learned to read and is said to have mastered the John Bunyan classic, Pilgrim’s […]
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“The Stars and Stripes Forever” is a patriotic American march written and composed by John Philip Sousa, widely considered to be his magnum opus. By a 1987 act of the U.S. Congress, it is the official National March of the United States of America. Sousa wrote in his autobiography, Marching Along, that he composed the march on Christmas Day 1896. […]
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This is an interesting hymn story, my brother asked me to write. I can’t believe it took me so long to discover this hymn story. I Have Decided to Follow Jesus originated in Assam, India. By the late 1800s, India was formally closed to the gospel. However, it did not stop the sweeping missionary movement from Wales, England, Australia, and […]
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Stephen was a Greek monk who lived during the 8th Century in the monastery of Mar Sabas in the wilderness of Judea. Eventually he became the abbot of this monastery, where he remained until his death at the age of 90. He wrote a poem a variety of hymns in Greek and Latin throughout his lifetime. During this time where […]
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If you know the story of C.S. Lewis, you know he tried to prove God did not exist. Along the way, he could only prove that God actually did exist. The story of the hymn In Jesus is very similar to C. S. Lewis testimony. James Proctor grew up in Manchester, England. He was raised in a Christian home, where […]
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Stress and strain was part of daily living during the height of World War II. Many did not know what to expect or what was coming next. Many families experience personal “sorrows or tragedies”. Ruth Caye was born August 9, 1902 in Wilmerding, Pennsylvania. She married Rev. Bert Jones. Ruth Jones was a mother of five and a pastor’s wife. […]
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A Mighty Fortress is Our God was written by Martin Luther. It has been proclaimed “The one hymn that most symbolizes the Protestant Reformation.” Martin Luther was a Roman Catholic monk who believed the Church of Rome was corrupt. He posted his famous 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg church on October 31, 1517. In 1521, Luther broke […]
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I’m familiar with the song This Ole House, but knew nothing of it’s origin. Only when researching the story behind another song, did I discover the story behind this song. The song was written by Carl Stuart Hamblen, who was the author of Until Then and It Is No Secret {What God Can Do}. Hamblen and his friend and fellow […]
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It Is No Secret, was written by Craig Stuart Hamblen, who also wrote Until Then. Hamblen was the son of a Methodist minister and is considered one of radio’s first “singing cowboys”. He lived a life of “destructive behavior” before attending a Billy Graham crusade in 1949. He met Rev. Graham when he appeared on Hamblen’s radio show. He was […]
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The song Through It All was written by Andráe Crouch and is his biography and testimony wrapped up into one. Andráe Crouch was born on July 1, 1942 in Los Angeles, California. He experienced devesating loss when he lost his father, mother and brother all within two years of one another. He said, “Probably the hardest time in my life…Just […]
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There’s a sweet, sweet Spirit was written by gospel songwriter Doris Mae Akers. She was born in Brookfield, Missouri on May 21, 1923. She was one of ten children and developed an interest in music at an early age. By the age of six, she had taught herself to play piano by ear. She wrote her first song, “Keep the […]
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Surely Goodness and Mercy is another beautiful hymn that I grew up singing but only recently did I read the amazing story behind this hymn. The hymn was the collaboration of two well known gospel music writers, John W. Peterson and Alfred B. Smith. In 1958, the two men collaborated to write a song based on Psalm 23. Mr. Smith […]
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God Will Take Care of You was written by Civilla D. Martin. She also wrote the well known His Eye Is on the Sparrow. Civilla Martin was born in 1866 Nova Scotia. She was the daughter of James N. and Irene Hardin Holden, a Baptist Minister. She married Rev. W. Stillman Martin, a well known Baptist Evangelist. One Sunday in […]
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Lead Me to Calvary was written by Jennie Evelyn Hussey. Hussey was born on February 8, 1874 and grew up on a family farm in Nenniker, New Hampshire. She was the fourth generation to live on the homestead, following her Quaker ancestors. She was a member of the Society of Friends. She began writing in her teens and in addition […]
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There is Power in the Blood is a great old hymn about the power of Christ blood. The hymn was written in 1889 by Lewis Edgar Jones. Lewis Jones was born on February 8, 1865 in Yates City, Illinois. Jones was attending a camp meeting at Mountain Lake Park, MD when he wrote his most popular hymn. One can imagine […]
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There Shall Be Showers of Blessings was written by Major Daniel Webster Whittle. He was born in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts on November 22, 1840. After moving to Chicago in 1857, he began to attend a Congregational church and joined a Bible class. In 1862, he married Abbie Hanson. He wrote of his conversion during the Civil War in the book […]
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Johnson Oatman, Jr. was an lifelong insurance agent, while also serving as an ordained Methodist minister. No, Not One is a repetitive phrase used throughout the song to remind us that Jesus came to be our friend and to save us and there is no one else like Him. Oatman is also known for his hymns Higher Ground and Count […]
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In one of his sermons, Dwight L. Moody, the famed 19th Century evangelist, provided an anecdote of a pilot during the storm. He spoke of how not even a star was visible on this night, as the ship captain neared harbor. Then he saw only light from a nearby lighthouse of Cleveland Harbor. The lower lights had gone out and […]
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Horatio R. Palmer, was an American musician, who was struck with the idea for this hymn in a most unexpected way. One day while working on a music theory exercise, the idea for this hymn suddenly came to him. Taking out another sheet of paper, he quickly wrote down the lyrics that came to him. Upon completion of the words […]
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