Rebel to Redeemed…Sharing HIS Kind of Love
James Montgomery wrote the hymn “Stand Up and Bless the Lord.” The hymn was written for the anniverary celebration of the Red Hill Wesleyan Sunday School in Sheffield, England. Montgomery was born in 1771 Scotland. His parenty died on the mission field of the West Indies while he was a young man in boarding school. He inherited a strong religious […]
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Fanny Crosby wrote the hymn “My Savior First of All.” The hymn is also known as “I shall know Him.” Crosby, who was blind, wrote many hymns. She stated “If I had a choice, I would still choose to remain blind…for when I die, the first face I will ever see will be the face of my blessed Saviour.”
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“They’ll Know We Are Christians” is a hymn written by Father Peter Scholtes in the 1960s for an Ecumenical event. By the 1980s, Scholtes left the priesthood. He’d go on to become a business management consultant and author. He died in 2009. The title of the song originates in a phrase that non-believers used to describe Christians believers of early […]
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Mosie Lister wrote “How Long Has It Been” which took him “little more than 10 minutes” to write. According to Lister, usually “I sweat blood over most of the songs I write.” He spoke in an interview about growing up in a Christian home and saying bedtime prayers. As an adult, he’d learned to talk to God in “other ways.” […]
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There is another hymn titled “Jesus is Lord of All” that is different from the Gaither version. This hymn was written by LeRoy McClard. The song was first published in The Broadman Press in 1966. McClard was born in 1926 and died on April 16, 2014. He also wrote the hymn “Jesus is Saviour and Lord of My Life.”
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Bill and Gloria Gaither wrote “Jesus is Lord of All” and first published the song in 1973. The couple met when they taught at Alexandria Monroe High School. They married in 1962 and had three children together. By the end of the 1960s, the couple traveled, along with Bill’s brother, Danny, as the Bill Gaither Trio. In 2002, the couple […]
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Peter Cornelius, a German composer, wrote “The Three Kings” under the oritinal title “Die Könige” for a vocal soloist. The carol describes the visit of the Biblical Magi to the Infant Jesus during the Nativity and is also used as an Epiphany anthem. It is also known by the title “Three Kings From Persian Lands Afar”. Cornelius wrote his first […]
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“Good King Wenceslas” tells the story of a Bohemian king who goes on a journey, braving harsh winter weather, to give alms to a poor peasant on the Feast of Stephen (December 26, the Second Day of Christmas). During the journey, his page is about to give up the struggle against the cold weather, but is enabled to continue by […]
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“Mary’s Boy Child” is a Christmas song written by Jester Hariston in 1956. According to Wikipedia, a friend asked Hairston to write a song for a birthday party. Hairston wrote the song with a calypson rhythm “because the people at the party would be mainly West Indians. The song’s original title was “He Pone and Chocolate Tea”, pone being a […]
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“Jesus, the Light of the World” was arranged by George D. Elderkin. It was first published with a collection of Christmas Carols in 1890 in “Gift of Finest Wheat”. He seems to have arranged this composition from Charles Wesley’s hymn “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.” Elderkin’s arrangement drew upon the first two lines of Wesley’s hymns in stanzas 1, 2, […]
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“Gabriel’s Message” is a Christmas folk carol that tells of Gabriel’s announcement to the Virgin Mary that she would become the mother of the Christ. The song is also known as “The angel Gabriel from heaven came” from the first line and based on the passage from Luke 1:46-55. For this reason the text is known as “The Magnificat.” The […]
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“Ding Dong! Merrily on High” first appeared as a secular dance tune written by a French cleric, Thoinot Arbeau under the pen name Jehan Tabourot (1519-1593). The song was published under the title “Brandle de l’Official.” George Ratcliffe Woodward (184801934) added the words and first published the Christmas carol in 1924. Woodward wrote several carol books and had an interest […]
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The Holly and the Ivy is a traditional British folk Christmas carol. The song was published during the early 19th Century. William Hone mentioned the work in his 1823 Ancient Mysteries Described. Holly is found throughout Europe and commonly referenced at Christmastime, often as Christ’s thorn. Since medieval times the plant has been a symbol for the Christian faith. Holy […]
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“Praise to the Lord! the Almighty, the King of Creation!” was written by Joachim Neander in 1680. He was the first important hymn-writer of the German Reformed Church. He primarily wrote after he went to Düsseldorf, where he’d taken a vow of silence to anything except official work. He died in 1680 at the age of thirty. Catherine Winkworth translated […]
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Growing up we sang and I learned to play on the piano “Praises, I’ll sing praises…to Jesus my Redeemer my friend.” The song was published in 1976 by John T. Benson Publishing Company. The song was written by W. Elmo Mercer, who wrote over 600 Gospel songs and hymns including “each Step I Take.” In the 1960s, Mercer worked for […]
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“The Battle Cry of Freedom” was written in 1862 by George Frederick Root. The song is also known as “Rally ‘Round the Flag.” The song is a patriotic song, popular during the American Civil War, that advocated the causes of unionism and abolitionism. A modified version of the song became the campaign song for the 1864 Lincoln-Johnson presidential election. One […]
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“The Hurrian Hymn” is considered the oldest surviving melody and dates back more than 3,400 years ago. The hymn was discovered on a clay tablet in Ugarite (modern-day Syria) 1950 and inscribed with Cuneiform text. Along with the discovery were 30 other tablet fragments and 9 lyre strings. The text is not Christian but dedicated to the Hurrians’ goddess of […]
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Another hymn by Fanny Crosby is “We Praise Thee, We Bless Thee, Our Savior Divine.” Over the course of her life, Crosby (1820-1915) wrote thousands of hymns and around eight thousand poems. Many of her poems have not been set to music. Much of her prose has been published in books of verses and poems including the 1844 “The Blind […]
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“Savior, More than Life to Me” was first published by Fanny Crosby in 1875. William H. Doane composed the music. He sent Crosby the tune and requested she write a hymn titled “Every day and hour.” It is said that this hymn provided Crosby with great joy and comfort. Ira Sankey wrote “Her hope has been most fully verified, for […]
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Renowned hymnists Fanny Crosby taught at the New York Institution for the Blind for eleven years. While on summer break, she would spend time in North Reading, Mass. She wrote many songs for Dr. George F. Root, the music teacher at the blind instutition. “Never Forget the Dear Ones” was such song. Root would then provide the music to marry […]
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