Rebel to Redeemed…Sharing HIS Kind of Love
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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The hymn God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is over 500 years. The song we sing today has a completely different meaning then at the time it originated. The hymn is one of the oldest known Christmas carols. Over the centuries, times and meanings have changed. The song we sing today does not have the same meaning that it did to […]
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Now Thank We All Our God is translated from the German hymn “Nun danket alle Gott”. The German hymn was written by Martin Rinkart in 1636. Rinkart was a Lutheran Minister and accomplished musician. At the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War he came to the city of Eilenburg, Saxony, which was a walled city. The city served as a […]
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Fairest Lord Jesus is a song of mystery. The author and origin of the song are unknown. The song seems to have originated as a folk song in Germany and other areas of Europe. Some historians believe the song may even date back to the 12th Century when it was sung by the German crusaders as the made their long, […]
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One Day was written by John Wilbur Chapman. Chapman was born on June 17, 1859 and came to understand salvation from D. L. Moody. Moody later encouraged him to enter full-time evangelism. Chapman was elected Moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly in 1918 and considered a leader among the American Presbyterians. Charles Howard Marsh was a student of Dr. Chapman. […]
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Despite his lack of formal education, Thomas Obadiah Chisholm became a teacher at the age of sixteen. By the age of twenty-one, he was associate editor for his hometown newspaper Franklin Advocate. He became a Christian in 1893, due to the ministry of Henry Clay Morrison, who founded Asbury College and Seminary in Kentucky. While ordained into the ministry, he […]
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He Hideth My Soul was written by Fanny Crosby, a popular hymn writer. He Hideth My Soul may have been Crosby’s prayer throughout her life. While a renowned songwriter, her life was not easy. As an infant, Fanny Crosby lost her eyesight due to fever and poor ministrations in her care. She lived the rest of her life blind, but […]
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Dr. Jeremiah Rankin was the Pastor of First Congregational Church in Washington, D. C. He was looking for a farewell hymn to close the worship service. Nothing really worked and the closest possibility was Bless Be the Tie that Binds. But, Dr. Rankin wanted something less formal and more engaging. Unable to find the hymn he wanted, he decided to […]
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Be Still, My Soul was a favorite of Eric Liddell, of Chariots of Fire fame. As he lay dying, this was the last song he requested. Katharina von Schlegel wrote the original lyrics in German. She was born in 1697. Little is known about her other than she was connected with a small court at Köthen, north of Halle, in […]
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We’ll Work till Jesus Comes was written by Elizabeth K. Mills. The song was originally published in 1829, under “Anonymous”. Some historians believe the song may be an American folk song. However, other books since then have attributed the song to Mrs. Mills. Elizabeth Mills was born in 1805 in Middlesex, England. She was the daughter of Philip King. She […]
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