Rebel to Redeemed…Sharing HIS Kind of Love
Christ, Be My Leader was written by Timothy Dudley-Smith. He was born in 1926 and served in the Church of England. He also edited the Billy Graham Crusade magazine. In the 1960s, he began writing hymns. He has written over 400 hymns. The tune is called Slane and is an old Irish folk tune.
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Built on the Rock was written by Nicolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig. He was born at Udby, in Seeland, in 1783. Upon leaving university, he took to teaching. During this time, he devoted his attention to poetry, literature, and Northern antiquities. In 1810 he became assistant to his father in a parish in Jutland where he became ordained. After his father’s […]
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My Song is Love Unknown is a hymn by Samuel Crossman. Crossman was a Puritan minister who opposed the Act of Uniformity 1662 and was exiled from the Church of England. He wrote the poem “My Song Is Love Unknown” in 1664. It was not published until he rejoined the Church of England and published in The Young Man’s Meditation […]
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The Day Thou Gavest was written by John Ellerton. The hymn was first published in 1870. Ellerton was born in London, England in 1826. He was ordained to the Church of England in 1851 and served six different churches throughout his career. He also helped to compile several hymn books. He died in England in 1893. Ellerton wrote and translated […]
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More About Jesus was written by Eliza Edmunds Hewitt and John R. Sweney provided the music. More about Jesus was one of the first collaborations of Hewitt and Sweney. The song was first published in 1887 in the hymnal Glad Hallelujahs. During a visit to the Onondaga Reservation, Hewitt was adopted into the tribe. She stated “this relationship has led […]
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The dear old story of a Savior’s love is also referred to as “Sweeter as the Days Go by”. The hymn was written by Eliza Edmunds Hewitt. The hymn was published in 1898 in Songs of Love and Praise No. 5. Following a spinal malady which cut Eliza’s teaching career short, she began to study English literature and write poems […]
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Sweeter as the Days Goes By was written by Genser Smith. The song has a 1984 copyright with LeFevre-Sing Publishing. The sweet hymn is often performed in the Gaither Homecoming videos. I’ve been unable to find any additional information on Genser Smith or the song. However, I love the lyrics and the reminder “The more I trust Him, the more […]
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All People That on Earth Do Dwell was written by William Kethe. Kethe was born in Scotland and fled to the continent during Queen Mary’s persecution in the late 1550s. While living in Geneva he traveled to visit other English refugees. It is believed he was one of the translators of the Geneva Bible–which was favored by the Pilgrim fathers. […]
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And can it be that I should gain was written by Charles Wesley in 1738. He was the eighteenth child born to Samuel and Susanna Wesley on Dec. 18, 1707. It is believed he wrote at least 6500 hymns. He wrote of many personal experiences and feelings through his hymns. And Can It Be is said to have been written […]
Read more Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed was written by Isaac Watts. Watts was born on July 17, 1674 in Southampton, England. In 1702, he became a pastor and accepted a call to Abney Park, where he would make a home the remainder of his life. He wrote over two thousand hymns along with sermons, treatises and poems. Some of his […]
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Thomas Ken was born in 1637 Hertfordshire, England. He studied a Winchester College and became ordained in the Church of England in 1662. He is said to be “a man of conscience and independent mind who did not shirk from confrontations with royalty.” The story is told “when King Charles II came to visit Winchester, he took along his mistress, […]
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Children of the heavenly Father was written by Caroline W. Sandell Berg. She was born in 1832 Sweden and known as Lina Sandell, the “Fanny Crosby of Sweden.” “Lina”. She wrote hymns partly to cope with the fact that she witnessed her pastor father’s tragic death by drowning. She is said to have been very close to her father and […]
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Bread of the world in mercy broken is a communion song. The hymn was written by Reginald Heber. Heber was born in 1783 to a wealthy, educated family. He became rector of his father’s church in the village of Hodnet in the west of England. He remained there for sixteen years and was appointed Bishop of Calcutta in 1823. He […]
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As We Gather at Your Table is a communion song. The hymn was written by Carl P. Daw. Daw was born in 1944 to a Baptist Minister. He became an Episcopal Priest and served congregations in Virginia, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. He began writing hymns and served as editor for several hymnals. “He is Curator of Hymnological Collections and Adjunct Professor […]
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Henry Jackson Van Dyke was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on November 10, 1852. He attended Princeton University, Princeton Theological Seminary and the University of Berlin. Van Dyke served as pastor of Brick Presbyterian Church for seventeen years {1883-1900}, in Manhattan, before becoming a professor of English literature at Princeton University. He was greatly respected and sought out both as a […]
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Lord, Speak to Me That I May Speak was written by Frances R. Havergal in 1872. Havergal is one of several women hymn writers who lived in the late Victorian era of England {18th Century}. Her father was an Anglican pastor and devoted himself to the improvement of church music in the Church of England. Frances was inspired by her […]
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In Gabriel’s hand a mighty stone is a song written by Isaac Watts. He is best known as the author of Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound. He was born on July 17, 1674 in Southampton, England. He wrote a large collection of works and served as minister at Abney Park. Watts died November 25, 1748 and is buried at […]
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Breath Thou the Bread of Life was written by Mary A. Lathbury. Lathbury taught art and French in Vermont and New York schools. She also served as a poet in the summer programs at Chautauqua, New York. The expression bread of life refers to Jesus teaching where he referred to himself as the Living bread or bread of life. {John […]
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Day is Dying in the West was written by Mary Artemesia Lathbury. She was born on August 10, 1841 in Ontario County, New York. Day is dying in the West was written at the request of Rev. John H. Vincent in the summer of 1880. It was a “Vesper Song” used in the responsive services. The Vesper’s came from the […]
Read more Breathe on Me, Breath of God was written by Edwin Hatch. Hatch was an English theologian born in Derby, England on September 4, 1835. He eventually became Bishop of Manchester and noted for his strong mental independence and extreme study habits. By the 1880s, he was a well-known lecturer. Hatch published the song privately in 1878 in a pamphlet titled […]
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