Do you think that this author was reading, perhaps something from a vision that some guy named John had some 20 centuries earlier, when he wrote some poetry for a song? Take a look at what Jeff Nelson penned in 1993 (when he was most likely somewhere in his native Texas), evidently as he admired a classic old hymn, and how he merged his thoughts with an ancient apostle’s words and this classic 19th Century hymn to create “Just As I Am-O Holy Lamb”. How do you and I compare to what the Holy Lamb represents in Eternity? That just might be a question to ask oneself after reading the three verses that Jeff crafted, in juxtaposition to a single verse that he borrows for the conclusion of his composition. Is it OK to be ‘just’ yourself when meeting the ‘just’ God?
Jeff Nelson has been involved in music in a Christian context for some time, including in the early 1990s when he was writing some verses to match the tune in the Charlotte Elliot hymn “Just As I Am”. I’ll allow Jeff to share in his own words here:
I love to plan a journey of worship around a specific theme or book from the Bible where songs and text readings are woven together. I was working on a worship experience using the book of Revelation. I first read the whole book of the Revelation and pulled the scriptures together that were full of descriptive worship. I found slides of images that depicted much of what is described in the book. I found songs that brought much of the text to life already written, but I could find little on one of my favorite passages, Revelation 4&5. I also wanted to stay with familiar songs so the worship experience would have everyone involved as participants. My idea was to take those great worship passages that became the verses you now see, and find a familiar tune to match, so they would be easily singable. I was driving on a trip at the time and was working on the feel and the flow of the Revelation worship experience. I just kept humming familiar hymn tunes, trying to match the basic content of these verses. When I started humming Just As I Am, the words very easily fell into place. That was a holy moment for me because I felt like the Lord honored my quest to match some of His most beautiful worship words in scripture to a beautiful, familiar hymn. I sang those verses over and over the rest of the way home. I have led that Revelation worship experience many times. It is a powerful experience and people, including myself, are very moved when we sing those verses. I believe that God created the marriage of the Word with music to be one of the most powerful ways we experience his living presence.
Amen, Jeff! Thanks for sharing from your heart and experience, and letting the rest of us join in. Someday, it won’t be just a mountaintop experience that we occasionally enjoy. It’ll fill us forevermore. Imagine that, and aim – even right now -- to be there with Him and the rest of us!
The story of the song was acquired via e:mail contact with the author on September 19, 2020.
See here for a picture of the author: http://highlandchurch.org/staff/member-detail/1528227/
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