There Is Power In the Blood -- Lewis E. Jones

Lewis Edgar Jones heard something – a special phrase that caught his attention – in a western Maryland park (see the map here), probably during a ‘meetin’ sermon. Evidently, the preacher at that time in 1899 uttered the phrase “There Is Power In the Blood”, as he tried to prevail upon his hearers to respond to the message. You can hear the uncomplicated force of his talk and imagine the gestures of the speaker as he admonished the gathering to think, and then act. How many times had Lewis heard a similar address, perhaps even from a Bible school classmate, and come to expect its power to stir listeners? Was its effect especially notable at this Garrett County, Maryland park, leaving an imprint on Lewis and spurring his words?

By his own admission, Lewis Jones had a rather undistinguished life, or so he thought. He wrote a note to a friend some 33 years after he wrote his poem about powerful blood, giving a brief synopsis of his life up until that point, including the spot on the map where he composed the words in 1899. Mountain Lake Park in the far western edge of Maryland had just over 250 residents at the turn of the 20^th Century, but it must have felt like a significant site for Lewis when he attended a gathering for Christian worship there. He may have thought the diminutive town reflected his own insignificance, but Lewis nevertheless apprehended the preacher’s expression that lent him the words for his thoughts about divine blood’s potency. Humans are weak, exhibiting so much wrongdoing, weakness, pride, and ultimately guilt –traits that the speaker that day identified for the crowd. All these could be overcome by a sufferer’s admission that ‘there’s power in the blood’. Inserting ‘wonderful’ in the middle of that phrase at the end of each verse in the poem amplified how either the speaker or Lewis - -perhaps both – felt about the blood’s value to the desperate reprobate who might be listening. Lewis says his songwriting was the result of hearing many inspiring lessons from speakers, probably among them the evangelist Billy Sunday, who had been among his classmates at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Sunday’s notoriety and passion for spreading the Christian message no doubt spurred Jones, who eventually contributed over 180 hymns to his era. Both men would go on to notable careers in America’s Protestant Christendom, including service in the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA).    

The 34-year old Lewis Jones was still early in his Christian calling in 1899, but had begun a lifestyle that would endure most of four decades of his adult life. The YMCA work engaged Lewis for 36 years, spanning the latter years of the 1800s and into the late 1920s, so he must have known and mentored many young men across this period. No doubt, some of them probably were there at Mountain Lake Park to hear “There Is Power in the Blood”, first as a pulpit message and perhaps later as Jones’ hymn. The camp meetings were a common feature of the American cultural landscape, helped along with the abilities of people like Billy Sunday, J. Wilbur Chapman (Sunday’s mentor), and even Lewis Jones. It was called one of the multiple movements of Great Awakenings, with a central message around Jesus and His blood’s saving power. Some might say it was the ‘golden age’ of American Christianity. But, don’t think it’s all in the past. We all still need to hear what Lewis, and others like him, said and still say about blood’s power.

See more information on the song discussed above in Then Sings My Soul – 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories, Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003.

To see all four of the original verses, see here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/t/h/e/r/e/therepow.htm 

A brief biography of composer that includes his own very brief recollection of the song’s origin: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/j/o/n/jones_le.htm

See description of the site where the song was composed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Lake_Park,_Maryland

See site here for description of the composer’s evangelist classmate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sunday