Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus -- Helen Lemmel

Helen Lemmel had a moment in 1918 when she must have thought ‘this is it.’ Someone has called such a moment an “epiphany”. Webster’s defines it one way as “an appearance or manifestation, especially of a deity.” That Helen Lemmel thought she’d sensed such a moment was really a testament to its enduring power, first for a missionary named Lilias Trotter years before, and then later through a song “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” that Lemmel wrote and which still is widely known nearly a century later.

“Focused…”  was the name of the written message Helen Lemmel read that stopped her in her tracks. As an English missionary to Algeria, Lilias Trotter’s whole life was a discourse about focus, the words of which spoke so powerfully to Lemmel that she made them the refrain of the song she composed. Trotter heard the Lord’s calling during a pivotal moment in her life in 1879, when she could have chosen a life of giftedness in art versus a humble ministry to the London inner city and later abroad  in north Africa. Later in life, she would capsulate her life experience in the “Focused” story that touched Lemmel so deeply. In effect, Trotter told Lemmel the mode of focus—looking at Jesus intently—and Lemmel described the reasons and results of the connection to that mode in her song.

Lemmel’s verses tell us she was tired, needed wise guidance, and found the solution in Lilias Trotter’s lifelong discovery, her epiphany. Lemmel must have been like many of us in our complicated, busy world, often lured toward what’s ultimately corrupt. What do you listen to most? Into what things do you pour your energy? How can one be certain of what to choose? Lemmel has us vocalize Trotter’s recipe for success, developed perhaps among some desert scene in Algeria. Examining some of Trotter’s artistry (see the link below) may help me walk in her shoes, at least briefly, to see in her handiwork what she saw of the Creator’s gifts to us in nature. They are stunning, these testimonies of His creation on canvas. In “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”, it’s as if Lemmel is turning one of Trotter’s paintings into a musical poem, to show us Him. It’s reenergizing, and encouraging in its simplicity. It’s circular…He made all I see, Trotter painted it, Lemmel composed it, I sing it back to Him. Got it?     

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 this link: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/t/u/r/turnyour.htm

Also see this link to story of Lilias Trotter, the author of the chorus phrase in the song: http://www.dhp.org/passion/inspiration.html

More Precious Than Silver -- Lynn DeShazo

She had figured out something by the time she was in her 20s, as the result of failure and guilt. Does that seem like an odd way to gather wisdom? Well, maybe not. But what if someone told you to go to a fast food restaurant (like the one the picture advertises) to find it? Or, go somewhere that will test your resolve and discipline and lead you to disappointment. Now, that’s probably not what Lynn DeShazo had expected when she stumbled upon this method one day after graduating from college, but it led her to compose “More Precious Than Silver”.

She was in a McDonalds at Auburn University in the late 1970s when it happened. Fasting and working at this common eatery one day was the crucible that spurred Lynn’s experience. If she really wanted to make her spiritual discipline of fasting that particular day successful, maybe she should have called in sick or found some other reason to avoid work that day, right? And, if she found the french fries she was supposed to be making too tempting, couldn’t she have asked her boss for different duties that day? But, she did none of those things, and soon after gulping down two fries and the accompanying guilt, she must have discovered something else that impacted her like it had never before. Despite having listened to her hunger pangs earlier, now she was listening to Him as he caused her to think of the food He provides. Maybe the taste of the fries lingered as she compared them to flavor of His word. If so, is that when great music can really happen?  My physical hunger seeks out satisfaction in something deeper and more enduring that He provides. If I deny my corporeal hunger, will that impassion what I find in Him? That’s what Lynn sensed as she reflected on His message to her in her bible (Colossians 2:3 and Proverbs 8:11). It was a method that Jesus certainly endorsed one day in the wilderness (Matthew 4:4).  

Did Lynn really stumble when she snagged some quick sustenance?  She doesn’t relate whether her boss ever discovered what happened that day. It didn’t matter, since she knew. That’s integrity, when someone can guard themselves, even against something that might seem pretty minor. Would I be trustworthy with no one around to convict me? Would I turn myself in, if I give in to the lure of physicality? Lynn must have pondered the same issues that day in the McDonalds and afterwards. What she found is not exclusively hers. A quick bite is just that. Since it’s so little, that’s why the body needs many more, usually. And, food can spoil, too. But, He doesn’t spoil. He doesn’t break after too much use, unlike other things I purchase to satisfy my entertainment cravings. Dust doesn’t collect on Him. So, how much would you pay for Him? That’s what’s different about this purchase, too. He’s already made it for me! Make sure you collect that prize He’s got waiting for you.     

The source for the 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; and also “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006.

Here’s a link that takes you to more words to the song than are typically shown in a hymnal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HWf8YpH-3Q

Majesty -- Jack Hayford

He was 43 years old, and doing what most tourists do when in England. Looking for the royals, especially in 1977 when they were celebrating in style, no doubt. It’s not really wrong to gawk at them, and utter ‘Wow, they really do look like they do on TV!” How often have you managed to actually see someone famous, or powerful, and photogenic? Did you cower, or feel your pulse race a little? Perhaps those were the thoughts that went through Jack Hayford’s mind that day in England when the song “Majesty” began to gestate in his consciousness. Think back to such an instant when you saw someone whose reputation preceded him or her – a star. Did that prepare you to meet the ‘star’ of the next life? 

Jack and Anna Hayford happened to be on vacation in Britain during the 25^th anniversary celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. That, and seeing Winston Churchill’s birthplace, placed a seed-thought within them as they drove from place to place. ‘How awesome is the King Eternal?’, they pondered. They were moved to realize that the King they were serving wants us as believers to share his ministry, His purpose, and His life with Him. I’m His ambassador (2 Cor. 5:20; Eph. 6:20), granting me some measure of His power as I travel through my world. When they arrived back home in Van Nuys, California, Jack completed the thoughts that had germinated in England. He wanted believers to appreciate the strength we gather when in worship, to draw upon Him. That experience translates to me a confidence that propels me forward, meeting the world with buoyancy, a poise that otherwise I would not have. It’s not just a theory with Hayford, but an experience, undoubtedly flowing from his Pentecostal background, that he wants to convey.  Worship is God’s tool to remake me and energize me for His use, to communicate His divine authority. Do I always sense this?  What if I did?     

Who have you seen close up that makes your eyes widen in recognition and, yes, a little awe? Senators Richard Lugar, Chuck Robb, and Ted Kennedy, and there’s Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, and football stars from the 1950s\1960s, Jim Brown (Cleveland Browns), and 1980s, Charles Mann (Washington Redskins). Those would be the names I would mention as American ‘royalty’ that I have actually seen close-up.  But, I’m still here to tell about it. Seeing God that way…that would mean death, at least in Moses’ time.  But, no more. I’ve never asked American ‘royalty’ for any favors, I guess because I’m too dumbstruck to think of what I could want from them when I see them. An autograph, maybe? What would they say if I asked for a little of their limelight, or some of their wealth? With the heavenly King, He’s anxious for me to really look upon Him, and to seek His Kingdom, and aim for the blessings that come through partnering with Him. Stargazing has its draw, but it’s always a one-way street. Try STAR-gazing, Hayford writes, if you want something really valuable in return.  

The book  “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006, Tyndale House Publishers, is the source for the story.

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_W._Hayford

http://www.jackhayford.org/page3-15/AboutPastorJackHayford

Let There Be Glory and Honor and Praises – James and Elizabeth Greenelsh

It sounds like something a missionary might say, don’t you think? The words of the song “Let There Be Glory and Honor and Praises” might sound like a rather typical worship song, especially if all you hear is the first verse - -a common occurrence, since its words match the song title. But, check out the second verse. Did the composers, James and Elizabeth Greenelsh, want to communicate something more with those words? Does it give us who sing their words some window into their lives, providing a way for us to identify with them?

Could it be that this James Greenelsh is the same person as the guy associated with Empart USA, a Christian missionary organization, particularly to India (see the picture), for which he delivered a sermon on 30 October 2011 at the First Baptist Church in San Luis Obispo, CA? He has also been involved for the past 30 years in writing and film-making – a ‘media missionary’, as he describes himself in that sermon. It wouldn’t be surprising, given the words that the James Greenelsh the composer wrote back in 1978 with Elizabeth Greenelsh. At that time, they were intent on being forward-leaning with their Christian message, with conviction that comes through in the song’s second verse. That’s what missionaries do. They take what God has given them to do, and shine the light of their own apparent achievements back on the Giver. ‘Just use me in whatever way you choose’, they declare to Him. And, then they urge us to do the same. Why? As they tell us, so much of the world is dark, and for people groping about in the gloom, the light gives hope. What were James and Elizabeth seeing in 1978 that made them cry out in this second verse? One wouldn’t have to look very far to find darkness. But, the light can be just as pervasive, the Greenelshes suggest.

James and Elizabeth do in their song what each of us who want to be light reflectors must do. They see Him first. Take a good, long look. Give Him what He deserves from deep inside of yourself, because He’s worthy of your best. He’s the source of everything good. He’s not done creating, and He can transform even the stuff that appears to be rotten. You can spend your life telling others, once this light consumes you. Just ask James and Elizabeth when you see them…here, or up there.

Both verses of the song are at this site: http://www.higherpraise.com/lyrics/love/love853232.htm

 

Sermon by James Greenelsh on 30 Oct 2011, at the First Baptist Church in San Luis Obispo, CA: http://www.fbcslo.org/jesus-wept-how-compassion-drives-missions 

O Come All Ye Faithful -- John Francis Wade

 John Francis Wade was undoubtedly focused on the ‘reason for the season’ one year in the mid-18^th Century when he is thought to have written the Christmas hymn “O Come All Ye Faithful”.  Or, was he? Was he thinking of an earthly king, rather than the Christ-child? Providentially, perhaps, the words carry meaning for those of us today who choose to ignore the politics of the mid-18^th Century Britain, and instead focus on someone eternal.

John Francis Wade probably could not help noticing what was going on about him and his countrymen in the 1740s. A struggle over religious freedom for Catholics was engaging the hearts and minds of British islanders, spawning something called the Jacobite Rebellion that sought to return a sovereign to the British throne who was sympathetic to their faith. Jacobus is the Latin (Catholic) translation of the name James, the name of the last Catholic king of England. Was Wade encouraging faith to a Catholic-leaning king (Charles Edward Stuart, commonly called Bonnie Prince Charlie) who had been exiled, when he wrote ‘come and behold Him, born the King…’? Some think so, based on the hymn’s Latin genesis (Adeste Fidelis was its original title, in the language of Catholics), and other potentially coded Jacobite references in the hymn. Not to mention that the king to whom Catholics pledged allegiance was born on 20 December, near the traditional Christmas holiday. So, as John Wade wrote the hymn around 1743-44, he might have thought about this earthly king’s December birthday, some 23 years earlier. But, the words also fit Him above, in fact more completely than they ever would any earthbound, created being. Could Wade have been thinking of a time when religious struggle would wane, a time that turned out to be not too far distant, a generation or two after his composition in fact? Can you sense his religious zeal, although struggling within a human conflict, calling out with hope in a greater Being’s intervention?    

John Wade must have recognized authority, and wished for peace among men as much as any man of his time. What is the way to peace? Wade tells us, a way that transcends any earthly events.”O Come All Ye Faithful” travelled to Portugal, becoming known as the “Portuguese Hymn”, and also was translated into English about 100 years after its birth, so it has something special that spoke to those who heard it, took it to other places, and took measures to preserve it. Its central theme: adoration of Him. Knowing that the hymn’s writer may have been thinking of quarrels as he composed doesn’t diminish its message. Perhaps it makes us appreciate its strength, in fact. Two-plus centuries since its origin, which prevails, the struggle of Wade’s time—perhaps the background for the hymn--or the babe some would call helpless?        

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 the composer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Francis_Wade

See the following site for additional verses (total of 7), some only rarely sung: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/o/c/o/ocomeayf.htm

See following sites for speculation that they hymn was written with political overtones: http://www.dur.ac.uk/news/newsitem/?itemno=7328

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wear/7789477.stm

 

See following site for explanation of Jacobitism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobitism

Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned -- Samuel Stennett

Was he thinking of marriage at the age of 60, of matrimony like King Louis IV’s (see the picture)? The words he wrote near the end of his life seem to ring with what a wise poet had penned many centuries earlier as he gazed upon his beautiful mate. Samuel Stennett had fallen in love probably at least twice in his life, as he set about composing the words for “Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned” in 1787. Like the poet whose words spilled out yearnings of devotion in the book with Solomon’s name on it, Stennett too wanted to express his deepest feelings. Some people might blush to say things that speak so openly of another person, but maybe that’s the gift of advanced age – candor – that permits one to share without hesitation.

Samuel Stennett was born of a minister father, and indeed a long family-line of ministers that probably imprinted his faith on him at an early age.  Five generations of Stennetts would be ministers in England, including Samuel and a brother who were among the 4^th generation. Samuel inherited from his grandfather the penchant for hymn writing, and eventually wrote 39 in all, including also “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks”. The hymn “Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned” also was originally known by two other titles, “The Chief Among Ten Thousand” and “The Excellencies of Christ”, and had up to nine verses, although we often have just four of them in published collections today. It’s said that the hymn has historically been a favorite for communion time among the churches that have favored Stennett’s hymns, so we can guess that perhaps that tradition was actually promoted by Stennett himself. It is further suggested that the Song of Solomon (5:10-16) was a relevant text that Stennett read to gather his thoughts, the passionate recitations of a man and his bride. ‘Wait, Stennett!’, someone might have said, ‘that’s far too mushy to describe us and our Lord”.  And, doesn’t it seem a bit of a contradiction to call someone ‘sweet’ and ‘majestic’ in the same breath?

Though it’s not discussed in historical records, Stennett must have experienced love himself while on earth, similar to what the writer expresses in Song of Solomon. Stennett had at least one son, who like the four generations before him, became a minister. So, we can presume that the composer-minister Stennett had also experienced earthly marriage by 1787, when he was pondering his spiritual marriage to Christ. And, having been a minister for nearly 50 years, he must have had significant relationships with members of that church. In fact, it’s said these close connections reached inside the English throne, to King George III and other government officials. Do you suppose Samuel was drawing a comparison between the Divine King and his terrestrial sovereign with the first few words of ‘Majestic Sweetness’? After 60 years, Stennett must have, like others before and after his time, grown weary of earth’s ways. In eight short years, he went to meet his ‘groom’, in 1795. Perhaps he was thinking of his own life up to that point as a betrothal, a prelude to a nuptials ceremony that would culminate above. Kinda makes you reevaluate death, huh?     

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

See the following website for the hymn’s 9 different original verses:

http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/m/a/j/majestic.htm

Biography of Stennett: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/s/t/e/n/stennett_s.htm

And: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Stennett

And: http://www.hymnary.org/person/Stennett_S