No Sweeter Name – Kari Jobe

Music minister. Either of those words would be OK with Kari Jobe, but together they give her a mission. She might seem a bit like a youngster, so how could she advise or minister to anyone, you might wonder. After all, she was just 23 years old when she wrote “No Sweeter Name” in 2004. The truth is, she had been ‘minister’-ing through music for many years already, and by the time she’d graduated from college and became a professional, she’d known for over a decade what her calling was. This Jobe was in touch with her job, even before she attended school. Most children might think chocolate (see picture) is the sweetest creation, but Kari might have said something else.

Kari Jobe’s early life made an indelible mark on her.  She began singing in the church in Texas where her family took her when she saw just three years old. Perhaps her mother and father had spotted something special in their daughter, for Kari says she recalls worship music in their house that seemed to spawn her desire for praise. And, apparently the music was not mere words in the Jobe house. Its lyrics seemed to match what people they knew needed most, not surprising for a young girl whose father was a minister. You could imagine him spending lots of time with hurting people, exposing his family to their troubles, and to their cures too. Kari was taking a leading role in music ministry by high school-age, and her college study also steered her toward something she knew she’d wanted since the age of 10.  The words to “No Sweeter Name” are a reflection in 2004 of her already two-decade old experience.   She wanted to help broken people discover the therapy that she’d seen Jesus Christ use to mend others. It’s the psychology and pastoral studies degree she’d acquired in college being put into action.

Kari admits she likes being in touch with her emotions in music. There’s no mystery what emotion she’s driving at with “No Sweeter Name” – it’s love. But, that’s probably not enough to tell it all. Her aim seems to be imprinting Him on worshippers, to communicate that He’s everything. According to Jobe, He’s Life, Light, Hope, Truth, and not just one way, but the Way. Devotion, dependence on Him. It’s the life she seems to have lived since childhood, the experience He’s imprinted on her. She’s just trying to pass it on.

See these sites for information about the composer:

http://www.crosswalk.com/culture/music/new-artist-spotlight-kari-jobe-11605124.html?ps=0

http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/artistdetail.php?artist_id=1210

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kari_Jobe

http://karijobe.com/

Love Divine -- Charles Wesley

Here’s a tough question: What could one say about a single composition that would be unique among the more than 6,000 hymns written by Charles Wesley? What was Wesley saying or feeling when he wrote “Love Divine” in 1747? Answer: Love, perfection-style, to put it briefly. That much is obvious from the hymn’s title and the words this great hymnist penned, including the words ‘pure’ or ‘perfect’ (four times) that Wesley uses to characterize His affection for me. What else was happening in Wesley’s heart and mind as he wrote? Wesley was in his 40th year when he composed “Love Divine”, making one wonder what episodes in the life of the composer might have affected him by this time.

Commentators have speculated that Wesley’s hymn words are in fact a reworking of a secular song “Fairest Isle” that is sung by the goddess Venus in the play King Arthur by John Dryden. Also, some of Wesley’s words may have been based on Joseph Addison’s “Hymn of Gratitude to the Deity”. OK, that doesn’t diminish Wesley’s effort. He just shows that he was aware of his surroundings, and appreciated other artists of his day and their efforts. We may gather that Wesley probably attended plays, therefore, and listened to other composers’ music, borrowing what his contemporaries had said on the ‘Love’ subject, and astutely adapting for his audience what would have been familiar words they might have heard elsewhere already. Clever, huh? Much more could be said about the hymn’s genesis, but you may read all about it at one of the links below (a Wikipedia entry on this hymn).

A personal evolution in Wesley’s life, two years after “Love Divine’s” publication in Hymns for Those that Seek and Have Redemption (1747), also might suggest the song’s subject was especially personal for him. Wesley was married in April 1749 (to Sarah [Sally] Gwynne), a reportedly happy union that endured throughout Wesley’s remaining life; so, assuming his relationship with Sally developed and culminated in marriage over a period of several months or perhaps a few years, was his own experience with love tuning his heart and mind for this great work?

Try this exercise, one that really brought home how my imperfect attempts (and resulting confirmed bachelorhood, at least as of April 2011) at love contrast with God’s. I pondered how many names I could remember of the opposite gender that I have tried to ‘love’ (tried to, or at least thought about dating, OK?) in the last 30+ years. It was more than I thought it would be when I first began. And, with some alarm, some of the names I discovered I could not even recall – not even a first name, ouch! Wesley probably had no problem remembering Sally’s name, right? But, like me, he may have had other failed ‘love’ attempts whose names he couldn’t recollect…or probably wisely chose not to mention to Sally! What of God’s love, the kind that knows every hair on everyone’s head, not to mention names? And, also the kind that knows the heartache of rejection. God knows all, and has felt from one extreme to another on the love spectrum, too. Think He might be the one to talk to if I feel a little pouty over my ‘love’ deficit here?

Information on the song was obtained from the books “Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990; and “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006.

More biographic information on composer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley

http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bwesley.html

Link to all four verses that the composer originally wrote: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/l/d/ldalexcl.htm

A history and background of the song: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Divine,_All_Loves_Excelling

The Love of God – Frederick Lehman

Only rarely does one find a song that has a 900-year history. Maybe that’s what got Frederick Lehman’s attention when he wrote – or, better it’s said that he finished - the hymn “The Love of God” in 1917. Listen to the story, and you might imagine that it was pretty lucky that it survived. But, look at the theme running through it, and instead you get a sense that Providence was at work. Could it be that God willed that this hymn about His nature be reborn, centuries after one line of it was written? Love among humans is difficult to explain, scientifically (see the picture), so how does one characterize His love? It’s rarefied air, in which someone extra special – God himself – requires a vehicle capable of the journey.

Frederick Lehman was the third in a line of preservers of “The Love of God”. A Jewish hymn writer in the 11th Century, Meir Ben Isaac Nehorai, is said to have written the original words of the third verse (as part of a larger poem known as “Hadamut”) in 1096 in the city of Worms, in what is now Germany. Meir’s intent was to compose a pre-festival praise that would be followed by a recitation of the 10 Commandments. So Meir was also looking backward, into Jewish history, to rejuvenate something of God for believers to appreciate. Later, a second and most unexpected preserver was an insane asylum resident, whose scrawled words on a wall echoed the verse from “Hadamut” that Meir had written. That’s right, in blunt terms, a nut was part of the hymn’s preservation story. Even he was reached by God, if only in a moment of clarity. Indeed, the deep truth of the poem’s words – that God’s love can overwhelm anything or anyone – apparently is what motivated Lehman as he sat years later to compose two other verses and the chorus.

God is timeless. That’s Him saying ‘no problem’, when a song seems to come almost out of thin air, or in the case of “The Love of God” after centuries of dormancy. Consider the hymn’s message – Love. Not just any variety, but Divine. Never quite dead, is this love, matching its owner. Lehman and Meir try to use lots of adjectives and phrases to describe the extent of His affection, but one phrase stands out for the writer. ‘…greater …than pen can ever tell…’. What more needs to be said? In fact, God set the standard for how to express it – in action, through the Son. He’s love, and that’s just who He is, who’s He’s always been, and who He will always be.

Information on the song was obtained from the books “Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990; and “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006.

Also see the following website for information on Lehman and the song’s background: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/o/loveofgo.htm

The Love of God – Laurene Highfield

Though her name is known, Laurene Highfield is next to anonymous, at least terrestrially as a songwriter. She must have been among the countless who tried to describe “The Love of God” in song. And, if she was a ‘one-hit wonder’ (she wasn’t), who quit after this one effort, she would not be labeled a failure. To musically communicate such a fundamental part of God - God is LOVE, we’re told – could be a lifelong endeavor. It’s so vast.

Here’s what we know of her: She was a play­wright, who liv­ed in Ada­ms Coun­ty, Il­li­nois, in 1900 and 1910, though we know that she also wrote the lyrics to hymns (at least 15, including “The Love of God”). Some of the scripts attributed to her in­clude The Usurp­er Over­thrown; Im­man­u­el; Hope for the Ag­es; Hail to the Vic­tor; and The Jol­ly Tars. Though even her date of death is not well-known (1927, by at least one source), we know “The Love of God” was a 1916 composition, written when she was 46 years old. We can surmise something of her from these titles and the words in the song, something not hidden. Love from God, though impossible to encapsulate except in Jesus, was enough for us to say Laurene Highfield was deeply affected by it. It was ‘in (her) heart’, a ‘glow(ing) flame’ that she had made ‘(her) own’, her words say. What's more, one song might be said to have been a small effort, but not 15 songs. And her other works, written over a period of several years, indicate her faith was not incidental, but enduring. Perhaps Highfield’s only disadvantage was that she wasn’t as prolific as some of her peers, like her well-known contemporary, Fanny Crosby.

We know not why more titles are not associated with Laurene Highfield, but it matters little. Maybe her life was too complicated, diverting her attention from songwriting compared to others. She used the ‘talent’ she was given to increase His holdings (Matthew 25). She loved Him back, with words I can use to do the same. Are there 15 talents (like Highfield’s songs) that I have to give back to Him? How about even just one? If I understand what Matthew and the others say, even just one is fine with Him. If it’s buried, maybe it’s not too late to unearth it, whaddya think? The servant was condemned because he kept it buried until the master returned, giving it no chance to increase. Go get that shovel !

Some biographic information on the composer is at: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/h/i/g/highfield_l.htm

Laurene Highfield died in 1927, according to the following blog: http://homeschoolblogger.com/hymnstudies/692677/

Come Let Us All Unite to Sing – Anonymous

Some songs’ meanings don’t need to be belabored, agreed? They’re too easily understood, and don’t need a windy (or wordy, in a writer’s case) explanation. Knowing what motivated the composer seems evident, so knowing that person’s story isn’t really crucial. This song, “Come Let Us All Unite to Sing”, is one of those. It appeared in a hymnal called Millennial Praises in 1812, which was edited by Seth Wells. Yet, its author remains a mystery. It was also published in other hymnals in the 19th Century – Millard’s and Badger’s Hymns in 1849; and in Happy Voices in 1865. Evidently, it was a popular hymn, so could that be a clue that its composer was well-known at the time, allowing its ready acceptance and inclusion in several hymnals? Some have speculated that Howard Kingsbury, a 19th Century hymnist, might have composed the words, since he wrote music for the words to the hymn in Happy Voices. The prolific Fanny Crosby also lived in the same century as Kingsbury, so how about her? The 1812 hymnal predates Kingsbury and Crosby, however, so neither of them could have composed the words. Could it have been Charles Wesley, a prolific songwriter of the late 18th Century? There are of course other hymnists of the late 18th\early 19th Century, and so various possibilities.

The song’s lyrical composer remains unknown, and perhaps that’s a good thing, in that the worshipper’s attention need not be distracted from the song’s fundamental message - God is Love. The composer, though unidentified, felt that acutely when he or she wrote this. Moreover, God’s nature unites people, and He wants it to be contagious – not much more basic than that. The hymn’s message verse-by-verse is progressive: Begin by leaving sin behind, then tell others about it, and rejoice in a new life. The song has a fourth verse that may not be well-known, but which appropriately tops off the other three verses with the ultimate aim of every believer:

In Canaan we will sing again: God is love! And this shall be our loudest strain: God is love! Whilst endless ages roll along, we’ll triumph with the heavenly throng. And this shall be our sweetest song: God is love! The following sites are the source of information discovered for this hymn: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/g/o/d/godislov.htm http://www.hymnary.org/hymnal/HSS11849

Give Thanks – Henry Smith

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)


 It wouldn’t be a surprise if the above was a familiar verse to Henry Smith, especially in 1978 when he wrote “Give Thanks”. Had he just been hired to his dream-job? How about a healing, so that he overcame a dreaded disease? No, neither of those was true. Indeed, the opposite was Henry’s reality. Nevertheless, he had several reasons to assume an upbeat emotional posture, despite some of the melancholy circumstances that plagued his life. Perhaps when Henry Smith read the Apostle Paul’s admonition, the key word for him was the tiny three-letter adjective, ‘all’. What equation do you use when evaluating the sum of life?


Henry Smith must have seen life this way: God’s side of the equation outweighs whatever is on the opposite side. At least, that’s what the words he wrote indicate. God is the ‘all’ of existence, so that I am called to ‘give thanks’ six times in the song’s opening words. When I’m done here on planet Earth, all that will matter is what lies ahead – in God’s presence. That must have been alluring for Henry Smith, who was struggling to find steady work, despite having just earned his college degree. When he says ‘the poor’ are rich in “Give Thanks”, that’s an echo from his difficulty in finding work. His eyesight was also failing because of a degenerative condition that would eventually leave him legally blind, certainly a ‘weakness’ that he expressed in the song as his eyesight faded. Thankfully, theological training informed him that God’s side of the equals sign was what mattered. And other parts of his life further motivated the song that leapt from his heart. He’d found someone to love, his future wife. And, he was grateful to be through school, which his deteriorating vision had made difficult, and to be back home in a church he loved in Williamsburg, Virginia. If God was all Henry Smith had in 1978, He could be praised, and yet He provided even more. It’s no surprise that Smith’s heart overflowed in a song. And, the song resounds still in Henry Smith’s hometown and around the globe today.


On the opposite side of the globe, it’s said that “Give Thanks”, when hummed by strangers from the West, is recognized by Chinese Christians who are otherwise reluctant to reveal their faith. And, Henry Smith is able to play a bass guitar or the keyboard to offer songs at a church in the U.S. today, despite being blind. These two facts say physical circumstances may challenge me, but I’m the image-offspring of an unbounded God. Fasten your mind and spirit to this seminal fact, and give thanks.

The source for Henry Smith’s “Give Thanks” song story is the book “Our God Reigns: The Stories behind Your Favorite Praise and Worship Songs”, by Phil Christensen and Shari MacDonald, Kregel Publications, 2000. Also see “The Complete Book of Hymns-Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. ,2006.

I Worship You, Almighty God – Sondra Corbett Wood

Sondra Corbett Wood was really still just a youngster. All of 20 years old, and she was brimming with passion. It was a drive that some – even she, herself - might say wore off with time. The song “I Worship You, Almighty God” that she wrote reminds one of a love song, a longing for relationship that promises to be unique, special. To find one’s true love is the goal of the naïve, innocent young adult – and probably many older adults, too! And, though its expression might make the jaded person scoff, who among us doesn’t recall wistfully that high school or college yearbook, with the special message scrawled on the inside cover from someone who made the heart burn?

This is the way Sondra describes her feelings in 1983. He, God, was close. And, the words of the song’s chorus flowed naturally that day next to a piano in a school music room in Dallas, Texas. She was praying for the success of a worship service that she and others in Living Praise, a music group, would be guiding the next day. So, it seems that indeed God did inhabit the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3; KJV) that day. She says the chorus’ message, so simple yet deep, is its power. Just to focus on Him, and nothing else, sing right to God -- not about Him, but to Him. Later, after she’d left the Christ of the Nations Institute in Dallas, where the song was created, and graduated from college, Sondra walked away from her faith. For two years, it seems that she was like the cynical adult who grows weary of the old love ballad. But, she eventually reconnected with her faith in Kentucky, and over time rediscovered His grace and forgiveness. She remembered the call of her 20-year-old’s praise message. Remember that heady, young adult’s first love?   

If it feels uneasy or unnatural to act like a giddy kid, Amen! Love toward God feels like nothing else, and so it’s OK to think of it like that first time passion. The challenge, as Sondra Corbett Wood’s life underscores, is to preserve that relationship with God like the first days of love’s fervor. Is that realistic? Talk to even a few marriage partners, and the answer sounds like ‘NO’. I go through valleys, and then climb the mountain again – at least part way up it – but it’s basically a pendulum here on Earth. Sondra’s song reminds me that there will be a time, not too far off, when the praise I sing will share the same space with Him. Love will need no explanation there. I’ll just feel, exult, revel, and drink in Him. Start thinking like a young lover again.               

The source for Sondra Corbett Wood’s “I Worship You, Almighty God” song story is the book “Our God Reigns: The Stories behind Your Favorite Praise and Worship Songs”, by Phil Christensen and Shari MacDonald, Kregel Publications, 2000.

An update on her true age at the time was provided by the composer in one of this blog entry’s comments. Thank you Sondra!

How Deep the Father’s Love – Stuart Townend

Will Stuart Townend, a 40-something from West Yorkshire (now he lives in Brighton) in Britain, someday be compared to Isaac Watts or Charles Wesley? They’re all English Christians, and all songwriters of some renown. And, Stuart Townend has probably sung some of Watts’ or Wesley’s hymns, since he mentions their history in talking about the song “How Deep the Father’s Love”, his own effort at hymn-writing that he created in 1995. Townend says he had a feeling that he was going to write a hymn one day, and what he’s produced is an essay, his personal reflection on the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice. You can read the story behind the song in Townend’s own words (see the link below).

If you’re a traditionalist, and believe an abundance of verses and a variety of words are what make a hymn a hymn, then you’ll probably examine Townend’s song and say ‘yep, that’s a hymn’. But, this hymn, like those of Watts and Wesley, also contains deep truths from God, has phrases to remind us of His messengers’ words, and is a fusion of lyrics and music that draw out the profound emotion of a believer. Townend says the music’s melody came first, and rather easily as he dwelled on Christ’s cross, about his own debt to Him. Though he says the words took longer, the end product makes one suspect that the Spirit was surely at work in this British modern-day hymnist. Townend’s effort makes me identify with what Peter and Paul must have felt, as well as the emotions of others who witnessed Jesus’ torture. I’m Peter, thrice denying Jesus when I sing this. I’m Paul, whose guilty conscience won’t let me forget the smirk I wore while watching Stephen get stoned. I’m in the crowd shrieking ‘Crucify him!’, and I feel the sting of Peter’s message in Acts 2:37. I am also Jesus, feeling abandoned, desolate, at my flogging (see picture above) and at Golgotha. And yet, magically, I can ‘boast’, Paul says when I take on Christ. These run through my mind as I sing Townend’s song.

How deep is God’s love? Answer: How deep my sin is. God’s love is surreal, even bizarre, by human standards, but only because it’s a function of my need for Him. It’s too easy for me to trivialize my sin, to marginalize its gravity. Next to Him, I’m vile and I’m rotting with a disease. My descendants in Jerusalem were so ridden with and blinded by this disease, they killed the Healer. Sin doesn’t get any lower than it was on ‘Good’ Friday. Unless, I know all this and still ignore Him. How deep is God’s love? He’s already answered…how do you and I respond?

The story behind the song is at this site: http://www.stuarttownend.co.uk/songs/storybehindthesongs/howdeepthefatherslove

I Keep Falling in Love with Him – Lanny Wolfe

Lanny Wolfe is one of those songwriters who took the less direct pathway to his career in music. That was probably part of what he was thinking about when he wrote the song “I Keep Falling in Love with Him” that was published in 1975. Wolfe’s biography includes a nine-year period in the 1960’s in which he travelled all over the U.S. while completing three college degrees, a time when he says he really learned to trust in the Lord. He began in Columbus, Ohio, and crisscrossed the nation because a desire to engage in music for the Lord would just not be quenched. His experience helped him gain an appreciation for what God was doing in his life along the way, to let Him be the hands on the wheel. As he and his travelling “Lanny Wolfe Trio” ministered in more areas in the 1970’s, the pattern of his life continued as it had in the previous decade. Wolfe’s opportunities in music were blossoming, but he didn’t lose sight of God’s presence and guidance, even in ways that others might have missed. It was an episode, in not the most normal way, that Wolfe says inspired the song he wrote in 1975, and in his owns words, here it is: 

 

 

It was one of those strange moments in a Stuckey’s Restaurant. We were out on the road and were taking one of those pit stops and there in a metal rack was a wood plaque that said: “Funny how I keep falling in love with you over and over again.” Well, probably hundreds of people had seen that plaque and had no inspiration beyond the general implication of love between a guy and a girl. As soon as I saw it though, a spiritual implication hit me that I keep falling in love with Him over and over again; because it is really true. What really happens, is Jesus brings so many new blessings into our lives; He just keeps surprising us with new horizons; He doesn’t change; He is as great as He ever was, but in our minds He becomes greater, simply because we allow Him to become greater. The more we allow Him to become greater, the more we realize how much we love, and therefore, it is easy to fall in love with Him over and over again. 

 

 

 Makes you think again about how to regard the ups and downs, and twists and turns in life, doesn’t it? It’s probably worth talking to an older believer, someone who’s seen plenty, to see how He works in unexpected, convoluted ways. According to Lanny’s song, and reading between the lines (now that I know the story), that’s how He keeps reminding us that He loves us, if we’ll just see Him in those adventures, and love Him back. It’s a never-ending process, one that will carry us right into eternity. 

 

 

Check out extra words on the following recording demo of song: http://music.christwill.com/accompaniment-tracks/i-keep-falling-in-love-with-him-119973.html

 

Biographical information on Lanny Wolfe is from this website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanny_Wolfe

 

Lanny Wolfe’s story for the song was obtained via an e:mail conversation with his music production company Paradigm Music Productions on January 27, 2010. Thanks again for the story Lanny Wolfe!

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go – George Matheson

George Matheson’s life was about to change in 1882, and so he wrote a poem that became a song just over a year later. One can guess that something deep inside his heart, something about love, was on his mind. Was he feeling melancholy or troubled? Yes – in his own words, he was suffering ‘severe mental anguish’, although he does not say why. We know that his sister had been married that day, June 6th. Matheson’s only engagement had ended some 22 years earlier, and since that time he had relied on his own flesh and blood, his sister, to provide much of what he could not himself do in his preaching ministry in Scotland. And, we know that by this time, when he was 40 years old, George Matheson was blind. So, as he sat by himself that evening, maybe he was struggling with loneliness. ‘Why me?’ might have been his soul’s cry. He tells us that the words came quickly, as he reached out with fidelity and determination to someone he knew would not leave him. 

 

 

God is true and faithful, and fulfilling. That sense comes through in Matheson’s words, a hope that he was calling upon to lift his spirit that night. Every verse of his song hints that he was struggling with his own downcast emotions, and that he desperately needed his Friend, the Lord, to not just be a temporal companion, but a source of supernatural strength. We all have probably felt despondent occasionally, but how many of us have written words like Matheson’s? He didn’t just wallow in self-pity, but sought His provision, knowing that God’s presence does more than salve a hurt. God brings me to another plane altogether. That’s how He fulfills, transports me, if I let Him. Matheson’s testimony about this song’s swift creation also implies that he was hearing the Spirit speak to him that night. 

 

 

 Maybe that’s what George Matheson discovered in writing the song’s words – that if I lay prostrate, and depend completely on Him, as Matheson’s words suggest he did on June 6th, then God can take me above the fray. God’s Spirit is available, and if I’m alone, then I can hear, really hear like I’ve never been able to before. Perhaps that was easier for Matheson, since he wasn’t bombarded with visual stimuli to distract communication with Him. I cannot help wondering if Matheson ever met Fanny Crosby, a contemporary who also experienced God’s empowering Spirit. She too was blind and undeterred, although completely dependent on others for sight. Matheson is yet another whose existence defies the word ‘disability’. Isn’t it great that God makes a mockery of that word, and reminds us of that when we sing Matheson’s tune? He won’t let me go…he turns my world inside out. My ‘flickering torches’ are lit into a sunshine-like blaze (verse 2), my life is consumed in His ocean-like life (verse 1), my tears are dried in His presence (verse 3), and my death is stood on its head in a never-ending home (verse 4). You see? George Matheson did. 

 

 

Information on the song was obtained from the books “101 Hymn Stories”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1982; “Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990; and “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006.

Faithful Love - Ken Young

He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it." (Genesis 15:7) 

I’d trust that guy about as far as I could throw ‘em! I think I’ve heard myself mutter those words as I walked away from the car dealership, or some other shady business establishment that made me suspicious, haven’t you ? I usually gird myself by reading Consumer Reports, ‘cuz no one wants to get ripped off…no, you want to get your money’s worth, the best deal. And, am I not being a good steward of God’s blessings when I think like this? I’m so glad that God is more trustworthy-infinitely more trustworthy, in fact- than a car salesman! Otherwise, we might all be wise to try jumping off this spinning top planet Earth he created, huh? Even so, did Abraham react like he thought God was reliable, that the Creator was offering him a good deal when he moved from Ur? Did he consult Consumer Reports, or examine God’s business references? Ken Young and his family admit they too felt some uncertainty in 1993, when they planned to move-- from Irving to, of all places, the desert of Midland. Ken wrote the song “Faithful Love” to tell us his feelings about his Lord, even as he wondered what lay ahead.

 Ken doesn’t seem to fret about the uncertainty, about our faith being invisible (Hebrews 11:1)…you see, he says Faithful Love has a face (see His picture above). Ken describes “Faithful Love’s” beginning: “It was August of 1993. We had lived in Irving, TX for only three years, but we were making final plans to move to Mid­land. Hallal’s ministry (the Youngs’ musical enterprise for worship renewal in churches) had really taken root and God was opening new doors of influence each day. What we were not prepared for, however, was the spiritual warfare that would accompany the blessings. It became so brutal we considered leaving full-time ministry. After much prayer and testing, it be­came clear God had called our family to a ministry in wor­ship and we could not run away, even if it meant going through the fire. He also called us to the desert. When friends heard we were moving back to West Texas, they thought we had lost our minds. To be honest, there were days when we thought they might be right. But what God did through Hallal from the desert over the next decade exceeded our greatest dreams. He is so faithful! “Faithful Love” was written during that move from the Metro­plex (our Ur) to the desert.”

 God told us that even a mustard seed-like faith has power (Matthew 17:20), so maybe that’s what Ken Young and his clan had going for them. Their experience suggests human faith grows as we draw upon the Holy One’s faith – allowing Him to change us, as the song’s words declare. If you check it out, “Faithful Love” has been like that – starting out small, and blossoming into more, from being the song of a stricken family in Kay Evans’ book, “A Song for Your Honor”, to going to distant lands like France and Costa Rica. Hallal’s growth, however, is probably less about Ken and his family, and instead more about God and the intimacy we can have with Him when we sing the words of the song Ken composed. When I take the words of “Faithful Love” to heart, I fathom God’s faith toward me with more confidence. You can sense that buoyant attitude from the Youngs, who’ve been taking steps out from Ur…to Tennessee in 2003, as well as to places around the globe. So, am I still hanging around in Ur? Are you? How might our mustard seeds sprout, if we just let Him blow them where he wants?

The above information gathered from the Hallal website: http://hallalmusic.com/, and a Hallal newsletter that was posted at the same website in October 2007.

More Love to Thee -- Elizabeth Prentiss

Written by Elizabeth Prentiss, one verse of the hymn “More Love to Thee” does not appear in the hymnal Songs of Faith + Praise. It’s a pity, because they tell us something about her--about her faith. This song has been translated into many languages, including Chinese and Arabic, speaking to its widely accepted and genuine sentiments among believers. Elizabeth Prentiss only reluctantly shared her thoughts on this poem she wrote. In fact, she failed to show it to even her husband for 13 years after writing it…maybe she felt it wasn’t very good, or that it reminded her too much of a sad episode in her life. It is said she wrote this song while struggling to overcome a great loss, the death of two of her children. At the time, though inconsolable – as any of us would understandably be – she still leaned on her God. While reading + meditating on the story of Jacob, Mrs. Prentiss prayed that the Lord would meet her need in a special way, in the way that Jacob experienced the Lord. What experience was she thinking of? Did Elizabeth want to wrestle with God, the way Jacob did and walk away limping? (Gen. 32:24-32) Or, perhaps she was hoping for an eventual reunion with her children, the way Jacob was reunited with his son Joseph after giving him up for dead for so many years (Gen. 46:28-30). We really can’t say for sure, but if it was a family reunion that Elizabeth trusted God would grant her, that would be a praiseworthy event! It casts a different light on her song verse doesn’t it? She sounds like a confident, trusting disciple when she writes ‘Let sorrow and grief do its work’, because she knows God will send her messengers with a promise she can believe, a rock-solid guarantee that she’ll meet again in eternity those she has loved in Christ. That same reunion promise is for us, too. And not just for people we’ve known here on earth, but to meet God Himself. That’s really an awesome thing, and certainly worthy of each one of us pursuing God more zealously, with more devotion and commitment. And so, I can sing the song Elizabeth Prentiss wrote with expectation and gratitude. And if I’m feeling the sting of losing a Christian friend or relative, this old hymn, this 19th Century psalm, a love song directed toward our heavenly Father, speaks to me. It tells me that someone else was hurting once, and yet she found that a greater devotion to her Lord helped her through the struggle. Elizabeth Prentiss’extra verse: Let sorrow do its work, send grief and pain; Sweet are thy messengers, sweet their refrain, When they can sing with me, more love O Christ to Thee,

More love to Thee, More love to Thee.

Some information gathered from Wikipedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Prentiss Also from the Cyber Hymnal: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/o/morelove.htm