Rebel to Redeemed…Sharing HIS Kind of Love
English poet Christina Rosetti published a poem under the title “A Christmas Carol” in January 1872 issue of Scribner’s Monthly. Composer Gustav Holst composed a setting to her words in 1906. The new hymn appeared in The English Hymnal under the title “In the Bleak Midwinter”. In 1909, Harold Darke composed an anthem for the piece, which is widely performed […]
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I thought we’d look at a popular Patriotic song, This Land is Your Land. The American folk song was written in 1940 by Woody Guthrie. During this time he hitchhiked from Los Angeles to New York City and continuously heard God Bless America played on the radio and jukeboxes. He is said to have written the song in a “flophouse […]
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Christ is Made the Sure Foundation was a Latin hymn written sometime in the late 6th or 7th Century under the title Urbs beata Jerusalem. The original hymn was sung as an unaccompanied plainsong melody. In 1851, John Mason Neale translated the hymn from Latin into English. Many modern versions of the texts vary greatly from his original translations. The […]
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God Be with You till We meet Again was written by Jeremiah E. Rankin around 1880. It is undated but he gave a copy to Sankey in 1882. Rankin was born on January 2, 1828 in Thornton, New Hampshire. He received his doctorate in 1869 and served as president of Howard University a few years. He wrote and published a […]
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“I Vow to Thee, My Country” is a British patriotic hymn. Sir Cecil Spring Rice wrote the poem “The City of God” or “The Two Fatherlands” in either 1908 or 1912. The poem described how a Christian owes his loyalties to both his homeland and the heavenly kingdom. In 1908, he was posted at the British Embassy in Stockholm. In […]
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Sleep, Dearie, Sleep was played at the end of Queen Elizabeth II funeral at Westminster Abbey. Her bagpiper played this beautiful lament. I’ve been unable to find any additional information about who wrote the song.
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The Lord’s My Shepherd is a hymn based on Psalm 23. It first appeared in the Scots Metrical Psalter in 1650 and is usually attributed to the English Puritan Francis Rous. The tune Crimond is generally credited to Jessie Seymour Irvine, daughter of a parish minister of the Church of Scotland during Queen Victoria’s reign. The hymn was a favorite […]
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This hymn was recently sung at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Rev. John Ellerton wrote the hymn in 1870 to be included in A Liturgy for Missionary Meetings. Two different translations of the text are included in German official hymnals. The theme focusses on the worldwide fellowship of the church. It goes on to offer a continual prayer and […]
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Recently we sung A Broken Heart, My God, My Life in church. A hymn I had not heard before and wanted to learn more about. A Broken Heart, My God, My Life was written by Isaac Watts. Watts was a prolific writer. He wrote sermons, treatises, poems and hymns. Often he wrote hymns to be sung with his sermons. He […]
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He will Hold Me Fast was written by Ada Ruth Habershon best known for the song “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?”. She was born in 1861 in Marylebone, England. She first began writing hymns in 1899 in German. In 1901, she wrote in English. In 1905, Ruben A. Torrey and Charles Alexander asked Habershon to write hymns for their evangelistic […]
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Come, come to Jesus, do not keep him waiting was written by Elisha Hoffman. He sought to create songs for congregational worship. He said “a lyric poem, reverently and devotionally conceived, which is designed to be sung and which expresses the worshipper’s attitude toward God or God’s purposes in human life. It should be simple and metrical in form, genuinely […]
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Shall I Come Just As I Am is a hymn written by Elisha A. Hoffman. Hoffman was born in 1839 and ordained into the ministry in 1868. He served numerous churches and wrote over 2,000 hymns. Some of his best known hymns are “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”, “Are You Washed in the Blood?” and “I Must Tell Jesus”. He […]
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Come Just As You Are is a song released by Crystal Lewis in 1995. No other information seems to be available.
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America is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond. The song is a positive interpretation “of the history of immigration to the United States”. The song was a hit single in the United States in 1981. Diamond sang it at the centennial re-dedication of the Statue of Liberty and it was used with the promotion of the 1996 Olympics. […]
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How Deep the Father’s Love for Us was released by Selah. The song was written by Stuart Townsend and has a 1995 copyright. It reminds us of God’s love for us and Jesus sacrifice on the cross. Happy Father’s Day!
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Wholly Yours is written by David Crowder. It shares the message found in Romans 8:39 “neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord..” The song was published in 2005 by Capitol CMG Publishing.
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The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came was written by Sabine Baring-Gould. He was born in 1834 in England and became a priest. He wrote and translated many hymns. He died in 1924. Edgar Pettman and John Wickman arranged the song which is described as a Basque carol. The hymn has a 1955 copyright with Glenwood Music Corp.
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Over There was written by George M. Cohan in 1917, during the height of World War I. The song became an instant hit. The song reflected Americans’ expectations that the war would be short. It was a patriotic song designed to galvanize American young men to enlist in the army and fight the “Hun”. The song is best remembered for […]
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A Mother’s Prayer {Hannah’s Song} was written by Rachel Aldous. The song was released on the album Transform Me which was released on December 18, 2008. Given that it has “Hannah’s song” in the title it seems the song is taken from Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2. Happy Mother’s Day!
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Jesus Thy Blood and Righteousness was written by Count Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, the founder of the religious community of Herrnhut and the apostle of the United Brethren. He was born at Dresden , Germany on May 26, 1700. He resigned all his public duties of his noble birth and devoted himself to missionary work. His motto became “I have but […]
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