Rebel to Redeemed…Sharing HIS Kind of Love
Priscilla J. Owens was a Baltimore public school teacher for forty-nine years and often wrote hymns for children’s services. She was very involved in the Sunday School at her church. She wrote the words to this hymn for a missionary service in the Sunday School of Union Square Methodist Church. The song was “originally adapted to the chorus “Vive le […]
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Jesus told the parable of the shepherd who left his ninety-nine sheep to go after the one lost sheep. {Luke 15:3-7} Elizabeth Clephane lived in Melrose, Scotland during the 19th Century. She was an invalid and wrote the hymn, based on the parable, to help children remember the truths of Jesus’s words. The text to her poem appeared in the […]
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Horatius Bonar was a Scottish minister and writer who lived throughout the majority of the 19th Century. He is described as a “most gifted and influential” minister. Bonar wrote the lyrics to I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say while he was pastoring the Presbyterian church at Kelso, Scotland, which lies along the Scottish borders. The hymn was intended to […]
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In 1898, Mrs. Lelia Morris was at a camp meeting in Mountain Lake Park, Maryland. When the invitation was called, a woman “of culture and refinement” responded to the invitation. Leila Morris joined the lady, where she placed “an arm around her shoulder” and whispered, “Just now your doubting’s give o’er”. The song leader joined the two women and said […]
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George Beverly Shea’s deep baritone voice, set the mood during the Billy Graham crusades. George Beverly Shea was born on February 1, 1909 in Winchester, Ontario, Canada. He later said he gave his life to Christ at five years of age and rededicated his life at eighteen. His parents taught him to play the violin, piano and organ at a […]
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This is one instance in which the cart came before the horse. The area of Bradford, Iowa was first settled as the California Gold Rush was getting underway in the late 1840s. William Pitts, was a music teacher, traveling from Wisconsin to Iowa to visit his future wife. As the stagecoach horses were being changed, he began to wander around […]
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What Wondrous Love Is This began as an American folk hymn, which was passed down from one generation to another through the course of time. The origins and text of the song are not known and was probably refined over time, as being passed down. Folk songs usually consist of the repetition of key phrases, to assist in learning the […]
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Elizabeth Prentiss, wife of a Presbyterian minister, spent much of her life as an invalid, “scarcely knowing a moment free of pain”. She was described as friend as “a very bright-eyed little woman with a keen sense of humor, who cared more to shine in her own happy household than in a wide circle of society.” Elizabeth wrote this hymn […]
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Philip Bliss attended a service where the hymn O How I Love Jesus was sung repeatedly. After the service, he remarked, “Have I not been singing enough about my poor love for Jesus and shall I not rather sing of His great love for me?” He sat down and quickly composed this hymn, which soon became a favorite of both […]
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George Beverly Shea is known for his strong, booming baritone voice. He ministered alongside Billy Graham and Cliff Barrows, often singing right before Rev. Graham stepped to the podium. One of his best known songs, was I’d Rather Have Jesus. Bev Shea had been singing since he was a young man in the Wesleyan Methodist churches were his father was […]
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Lydia Baxter lived her life in bed as an invalid for the majority of her adult life. However, she is said to have had a “cheerful and patient” manner. She was born on September 2, 1800 to Jonathan and Mary Odell. Lydia and her sister are said to have been responsible for establishing the Baptist church in Petersburg, New York, […]
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Helen Lemmel was a gift singer and musician, a gift her parents recognized while she was still young. She was born on November 14, 1864, in Wardle, England to a Methodist minister and his wife. When she was twelve years old, her family moved to the United States and settled in Wisconsin. Helen Howarth Lemmel, was given a tract, titled […]
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Joseph Henry Gilmore was a seminary professor, Baptist minister, and author of several textbooks in Hebrew and English. However, he is best remembered today for his hymn He Leadeth Me. The year was 1862, and the Civil War was raging all around. Gilmore later wondered if God was leading him to focus on His {The Lord’s} leadership. He was invited […]
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Last month, at the funeral of President George H. W. Bush, the hymn Eternal Father, Strong to Save was sung. This was a song I recognized from the last line of the first verse. The title I was familiar with was For Those in Peril on the Sea. My familiarity with the hymn under this title, came from the hymns connection […]
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Carol of the Bells is another popular Christmas Carol, but actually began as a New Year’s song. The song was composed by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in 1914. He was approached by the Conductor of the Ukrainian Republic Choir Oleksander Koshyts to create a song based on traditional Ukranian folk chants. The original folk song was written in a pre-Christian […]
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Infant Holy, Infant Lowly is a traditional Polish Christmas Carol. Edith Margaret Gellibrand Reed, a British musician and playwright, translated the song into English and published it in December 1920. She found the carol in the 1908 hymnal Spiewniczek Piesni Koscieline. The origin of the song is believed to date back to possibly as far back as the 13th Century. […]
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I Wonder as I Wander was written by American folklorist and singer John Jacob Niles. Niles was attending a fundraising meeting in Murphy, North Carolina when they were ordered out of town by the police. Niles later wrote the following of hearing the song, “A girl had stepped out to the edge of the little platform attached to the automobile. […]
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I Saw Three Ships is a traditional English folk song. The song was written by wandering minstrels as they traveled throughout the country during the middle ages. “In the original version of the carol, the Three Ships were the ones taking the supposed skulls of the wise men to Cologne cathedral in Germany.” Over the course of time the lyrics, […]
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The Coventry Carol is an English Christmas Carol that dates back to the 16th century. The carol was traditionally performed in Coventry as part of the mystery play The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors in England. The play depicts the Christmas story found in the Gospel of Matthew. “The carol is the second of three songs included in the […]
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“Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus” was written by Charles Wesley. He wrote the song to commemorate the Nativity of Jesus and prepare for the Second Coming. He intended the song to be sung during Advent and Christmas. In 1744, Charles Wesley looked at the situation of the orphans in the areas around him. He also thought of the great class […]
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