Living for Jesus -- Thomas Obediah Chisholm

It might not have been the first time he tried to abandon writing a song’s words, but its unusual path might in fact be why Thomas Obediah Chisholm remembered how he came to write “Living For Jesus” in 1917. The eventual product of Chisholm’s efforts was perhaps more creditable to his collaborator’s belief in him as a poet than were most of his other poems that were self-inspired. Its inception took place soon after he and his family had moved to a new state, as Chisholm continued a career in the insurance business. Was he thinking of another type of insurance policy as he penned the words about living a life before God? Have you ever pondered that God’s ‘Jesus’ insurance might be like fire – Get outta hell – insurance, even though you don’t get a physical piece of paper (like this fire insurance certificate shown here)?

The genesis of “Living for Jesus” may have been one of the more inauspicious episodes for a hymn, with an initial unsatisfactory effort, followed by a fallow period, and then two further subsequent attempts to create lyrics to accompany the tune. Three strikes might have made it an out, but the tune’s composer, Harold Lowden, did not forget its existence and would not be deterred once he contacted Thomas Chisholm to encourage the development of poetry he hoped would match it. The 34-year old Lowden had written a song for a New Jersey church’s Sunday morning children’s worship, but he was disappointed with the pairing of words and music in it. He kept the tune in mind, however, at the urging of several people, though it would not be until two years later that he thought of resurrecting it. He optimistically contacted the 51-year old Chisholm to ask if he could craft some appropriate words to go with the tune, and suggested the theme matching the hymn’s eventual title. He must have felt something special was possible, for when Chisholm promptly declined, evidently doubtful he could work with an existing tune, Lowden insisted once more that he try. Two weeks hence, the words for which Lowden had been waiting more than two years were born. The hymn’s birth may also have resulted because of Chisholm’s planned move to New Jersey, where Lowden lived, spurring the latter to suggest collaboration that he hoped their closer physical proximity in the near future would stimulate and grow further. Whether or not the two ever again collaborated on a song’s components is not clear, although at least one other of Chisholm’s songs (“How Much Greater Is His Love”) did appear in a hymnal Lowden co-published the same year “Living for Jesus” was published. Isn’t it often the case that musical believers who find each other continue to collaborate, in one way or another, to advance His worship and work?

Once he took on Lowden’s tune-lyrics project, what was it Thomas Chisholm decided to say with his words? No doubt, the two men shared thoughts about the theme, so what Chisholm wrote may also have resided within Lowden. What one, or both, of them said resonates still today with us a century later who also believe. Glad service and blessing (v.1), total devotion (v.2), sacrifice (v.3), and drawing others into His light (v.4) are trademarks of Him. Is there any doubt, any lack of assurance, that finding a Christian community with these characteristics leads somewhere good? Thomas Chisholm must have sold many insurance policies in Indiana and later in New Jersey, similarly confident that the buyers were investing wisely. Insurance is a pretty good thing, isn’t it?                

See more information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; and 101 Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1982.

Also see this link, showing all four original verses and the composer’s story about the song: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/l/i/v/living4j.htm

I Have Decided to Follow Jesus – Anonymous

It has been paired with an Indian folk tune.  But, that is all we know…almost. Let’s assume that the words were likewise composed by someone from or in India, and ask ourselves what would have made this person say what he or she did in the four verses of “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus”. We know not the year in which this was composed, but the accompanying tune’s reputed origin in the Asian sub-continent, a land teeming with various sects, gives us some interesting information to consider. Though emerging from a very diverse region, perhaps all the people there would be aware of their common culture, stories, music, and art (perhaps including “A Lady Playing the Tanpura” [apparently an Indian instrument]” drawn in about 1740 by the artist Rajasthan, shown here). Zeroing in on our anonymous composer, how might a Christian think of himself in India? There is also a story attributed to a well-known Indian evangelist that we should consider too.

India’s Christian community owes it origins to probably one of Christ’s own chosen few (Thomas, most likely), and His followers likely still identify themselves as just a few among their countrymen. Though Christians number in the millions in India, according to a 2011 census they’re in the vast minority, compared to Hindus (approaching one billion) and Muslims (172 million). So, culturally, it would take some courage to accept and remain loyal to Christ. Thomas is said to have first brought the message of Christ there in the first century, and further missionary efforts in the following centuries (including the 4^th Century) spurred more believers’ adoption of the Christian faith. Yet, in this area, one might be forgiven if he or she felt the crush of opposition. Perhaps that peeks through in the verses we hear in “I Have Decided…”, a devotion that hints of the real-life challenges associated with one’s faith in a land dominated by other faiths and their undoubtedly louder chorus. The song’s first three verses could sound like someone’s pledge of fidelity, though in the minority – especially verse 3’s assertion ‘Though none go with me...’. Perhaps this believer also girded himself with an effort to gather other Christ followers, hence verse 4’s challenge-question, ‘Will you decide now to follow Jesus?’  These assumptions fit well into a story related by the Indian evangelist P.P. Job, who wrote in his book “Why God, Why” that the song’s origin was indeed a believer being challenged to defend himself and his faith. Job says an Indian family of four (father, mother, and two children) in the northeast Assam region, perhaps up to 150 years ago (so circa mid-19^th Century), had accepted Christ through the efforts of a Welsh missionary. Under threat of death from an angry tribal chief, the family’s two children, mother, and then finally the father all died as the father recited the song’s verses in defiance of the chief’s threats. Stunned, apparently, by the father’s and his family’s strength of faith, the tribal chief then too accepted Christ, whereupon the entire village he led likewise put their faith in God’s Holy Son. Sounds kinda like what happened in Acts 2:48, doesn’t it? 

Is it really that much different for me than for Indian Christians? Though Christians are reportedly in the vast majority in the U.S., why is it I feel outnumbered? Is it just my imagination, or are there very few cars on the roads on a given Sunday morning, telling me I’m in fact the oddball among most of my neighbors? What if I rolled down my automobile’s windows and allowed music to blare the words to “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” at 100 decibels? Would others come along, like mice to the Pied Piper? Maybe it would work better if I hummed—or lived--this tune, quietly but confidently, on Monday morning.

The story related by Indian evangelist P.P. Job is found in the notes at the bottom of this link entry: http://www.hymnary.org/text/i_have_decided_to_follow_jesus

 

See following link to see all four verses of the song: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/h/a/ihavedef.htm

A  link to Indian folk music that apparently inspired the tune of the song above: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_folk_music

See here for information on Christianity in India: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_India

Census data on Indian religions: http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/census-christians-conversions/

Christianity in U.S.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_United_States

Purer in Heart, O God – Fannie Estelle Church Davison

Fannie was a believer who evidently felt some anguish at her condition. That much may be surmised from what Fannie Estelle Church Davison decided to express in a poem she entitled “Purer in Heart, O God” as a 26-year old in 1877. She was a wife and mother of a little girl, and this young family lived in the midwestern U.S. She had written other poetry that became songs, but this one was among the first ones that she had composed and was published in a hymnal. Its message must have hit home with others at the time, prompting its use. Is it possible for the human animal to be made pure through some complex machinations, like dirty water being made potable by going through some device (with the help of this antique manual control chlorinator for the liquefaction of chlorine for water purification, shown here)? Fannie’s song endures, communicating something pretty important for us believers over 100 years later that still identify with its sentiments – a plea from Fannie to the Holy God for help.  

We know a limited amount of information on Mrs. Fannie Davison, yet it fills in some details and gives us a little window into her circumstances. She’s credited with writing some 95 texts by the end of her all-too-brief life, which ended in 1887, just 10 years after “Purer in Heart…” was published. Her demise at age 36 was perhaps due to a long-term illness (according to another blogger), but was she in fact pondering how brief earthly existence might be even in her mid-20s? What in fact motivated the desire of this young wife and mother of a six-year old to be more pure? She’d lost her biological father at the age of 10 (death’s cause unknown), and experienced the U.S. Civil War’s visit upon probably many people she knew up until her mid-teens, so she knew life could be short. It must have struck her that time might not allow her to work out over a natural lifetime how to become more wholesome, more acceptable to God. Her family may have been in the Chicago area, or perhaps in Wisconsin as she mulled over a closer devotion to her Creator. Had she met others in either of those places that spurred this self-reflection? Perhaps it was her own family’s inspiration—the ones that gave her the middle name ‘Church’-- that motivated the consideration of her spiritual condition. Since Fannie kept writing songs that were published in two additional collections in 1880 and 1882, we may suspect she continued to work on herself, or that maybe she was helping to articulate the feelings of others she knew through her compositions. No specificity is required, for she voiced what is common for any rational, heaven-seeking individual. How do I approach Him, if I’m still dirty?

Fannie’s own verses suggest how she might have answered the question the unclean poses when looking vertically. A: Don’t try to hide from what the Omniscient already sees, but invite Him to observe (‘Watch thou my wayward…’ v.1), and trust that He wants to help; B: Be moldable (‘Teach me…v.2)…this Creator knows what He’s doing, as He keeps creating me; and C: Know that I only lose sight of Him if I let something (‘secret sin’, v.3) get wedged in between us. Is it significant that Fannie began and ended each of her verses with the same petition – help me be pure? There must have been times she despaired that hers was a hopeless quest. At the same time, He doesn’t stop His quest for me, either. Maybe He just wants to hear me keep asking.

See link here for song’s verses:

http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/p/u/r/purerinh.htm

Brief biography of composer here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/d/a/v/davison_fec.htm

Another blogger’s information on the composer is here: https://hymnstudiesblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/quotpurer-in-heart-o-godquot/

When We Meet in Sweet Communion – Tillit Sydney Teddlie

Someone asks ‘What does a blessed life look like?’ Meet Tillit Sydney Teddlie of Texas, whom you might evaluate by how long he lived – 102 years. Or, you might look at all the songs he wrote – about 130 by the end of his life, including “When We Meet in Sweet Communion”, which he wrote as a 37-year old in 1922. (He was only a little over one-third of the way home then, at the age some of us might say was nearing middle-age!) Or, how about all the songbooks he compiled – 14 songbooks; or, what about the 61 years he spent teaching singing schools? What would the 1,000 people whom he reportedly baptized in his life say if we were able to interview them? Let’s see if we can discover what Tillit might say was the key, if he were here to answer. Hey wait, maybe he is here, in a way.

Tillit Teddlie, it’s safe to say, wasn’t busy crunching numbers and resting on his accomplishments. Tillit’s formula was not to focus his attention on his own needs and desires. It’s no surprise what he recommended for finding blessing. In 1922, as he partook of the same meal we eat today, he inclined his ear, and invites us to follow suit, and listen for God’s ‘whisper’ (it’s in all three verses).  He’d been engaged in music ministry for about five years (since 1917), and while we don’t know the particular circumstances of this composition, his poetry and what we know of his life give us clues about how he felt.  First and foremost, he loved being with other believers (that’s in verse 1), and experiencing the bond of Jesus with others. God’s payment was ‘matchless’ (v.2), along with the consequent reunion-meal with mankind that was ‘all surpassing’ (v.3), compared to other events in a person’s life. These axiomatic principles steered his heart and his actions. It certainly wasn’t the first time that he had eaten the communion bread or tasted the grape juice, but he apparently wanted to focus minds on this special part of a Christian’s devotion that day in 1922. What more needs to be said of this Texan?   

Introducing others to the Lord was a fire in Teddlie that was never quenched, probably because the source of that blaze was so enduring. He served in no less than six churches in Texas and one in Memphis, Tennessee, demonstrating that he was willing to keep moving about to stoke the fire, to keep it going as a preacher, hymn-writer, and publisher. So it’s not really that surprising to read that Tillit lived so long. Someone says ‘Was it the Texas sunshine that kept him alive for 102 years’? Or, was it contacting the blesser, and coaxing others to do the same? Maybe God just found him too useful to stop him earlier!  

A link to the composer’s obituary: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8846104

Brief biography is here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/t/e/d/teddlie_ts.htm

A more thorough portrayal of composer’s life is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillit_Sidney_Teddlie