Revival Hymns - Marc's Music Notable

 Revival Hymns by Scott Pauley

Certain songs have become old standards in most revival meetings. The one I hear sung more than any other is the great hymn “Revive Us Again.” Just this week a friend told me that Harold Sightler would never have a revival meeting without singing “Come Thou Fount.” The truth is that any song that brings us into a spirit of prayer and lifts us to Christ is a good song for a revival meeting. There is something truly thrilling about hearing people lift their voices in enthusiastic, evangelistic singing.

Because I am in revival meetings week after week I often hear the same songs. My favorite hymn is Charles Wesley’s “And Can It Be?”.  But my favorite revival hymn is one that searches my heart every time I hear it…

Charles Tindley was the son of a slave woman. His mother died when he was a young child and Charles had a difficult time in his youth. He went to Philadelphia to attend college and said he made it his goal to learn one new thing every day. While there he served for several years as a janitor in a downtown church. God would later make him the pastor of that same church.

God used Tindley as a preacher but he was also a prolific songwriter, becoming one of the father’s of American gospel music. During a challenging time in his pastorate he was sitting in his study writing when a blast of wind came through the open window and scattered his notes on the ground. As he gathered them he thought, “Let nothing between.” In a few moments Charles had penned one of the most convicting revival hymns ever written.

Read through the text slowly and ask yourself if these words are true of your life:

Nothing between my soul and the Savior, Naught of this world’s delusive dream;

I have renounced all sinful pleasure; Jesus is mine, there’s nothing between.

Refrain:

Nothing between my soul and the Savior,

So that His blessed face may be seen;

Nothing preventing the least of His favor;

Keep the way clear! Let nothing between.

Nothing between, like worldly pleasure;

Habits of life, though harmless they seem,

Must not my heart from Him ever sever;

He is my all, there’s nothing between.

Nothing between, like pride or station;

Self or friends shall not intervene;

Though it may cost me much tribulation,

I am resolved, there’s nothing between.

Nothing between, e’en many hard trials,

Though the whole world against me convene;

Watching with prayer and much self-denial—

Triumph at last, there’s nothing between.

Revived people sing differently. Sin closes people up but God opens them up! When we get “in tune” with the Lord it comes out in our singing. I think we should do more singing after the preaching of God’s Word and seasons of prayer because then we are truly singing out of revived hearts. Some of the best singing I have ever heard in revival meetings was done at the end of the meeting. Awakened hearts cannot help but sing.

Strength in Summer - Kayla's Korner

Proverbs 30:25

“Ants are creatures of little strength,
    yet they store up their food in the summer;”

I want you to take a minute and think of a creature that is weak. For me, I think of an ant. Probably because they are so small and I’m a lot bigger than they are. According to pest word for kids, “Ants can lift 20 times its own body weight” This basically means, if a second grader was as strong as an ant, they could lift a car! I don’t know about you, but if I saw a second grader lifting a car, I would be both amazed and probably confused. My point is, Ants are wise, and we think that they are the weakest creatures, when they have more wisdom than most of us. Ants work hard during the warm months so that they can save most of their food for the colder months. We should be reading our Bibles, and praying daily, building our relationship with God. Just coming to church and being present isn’t enough. You have to put in the work! You have to build up your strength in Christ and be prepared.

The Purpose of the Book of Acts - Reece's Peace's

               The Book of Acts is unique in the New Testament. It is not like the gospels because it does not cover the life and ministry of Jesus. It is unlike the Letter of the Apostles because it is a historical account, not simply a theological letter. This begs the question: what is the purpose of the Book of Acts?

               Before we can answer this question, we have to know why the Book of Acts was written. The Book of Acts was not written to be read as we read it today. It was made to be read directly following the Gospel of Luke. Luke and Acts were written as two sections of one combined work: Luke-Acts. The first line of the Book of Acts makes this clear when the writer states, “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen.”

               Reading the Books of Acts before the Gospel of Luke makes about as much sense as reading The Two Towers before The Fellowship of the Ring. You cannot understand the purpose of the second book without reading the first. Unfortunately, our modern Bibles created this problem. The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts are separated by the Gospel of John. This artificial division makes it seem as if they were written as two separate works.

               However, if you do read the two books together you can see the purpose of the Book of Acts. The Gospel of Luke ends with Christ's ascension and the Apostles leaving to go pray in the temple. Unlike the other Gospels, it does not have any conclusion or summary sentences. John has the clearest example of this in the final sentences, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” The Gospel of John makes it clear with this statement that this is the end of His story. John has told all that he wishes to tell. Luke doesn’t have a statement like this because while Jesus’s life story might have been finished, for Luke His ministry wasn’t.

That is the purpose of the Book of Acts, to show how Jesus’s ministry lived on in the work of the Apostles. By connecting the books, you see this clear relationship. Jesus’s life is finished, so the Apostles continue with His mission. The Book of Acts shows us that even though Christ is no longer with us physically His spirit still is and we are to carry on with His mission.

Blessed Assurance - Marc's Music Notables

It might seem unlikely that a blind writer of hymns living in a slum and a wealthy woman living in a mansion would have anything in common — but Fanny Crosby, the blind hymn writer, was a humble woman with a number of distinguished friends. Grover Cleveland, who later became President of the United States, met Fanny Crosby as a young man, and they became lifelong friends.

The friend in the mansion was Phoebe Knapp, the daughter of a Methodist evangelist. When she was just sixteen years old, Phoebe married Joseph Fairchild Knapp, a young man who went on to found the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The Knapps worshiped at the John Street Methodist Church in lower Manhattan, which is where Fanny Crosby also worshiped — and so a friendship was born. Phoebe, the wealthy matron, often invited Fanny, the blind hymn writer, to her home.

Phoebe enjoyed music, and had a music room furnished with a collection of musical instruments. During one of Fanny’s visits, Phoebe invited her to the music room, where Phoebe sat down at the keyboard and played a tune that she had written. “What does that say,” she asked? Fanny clapped her hands in delight and said, “That says, ‘Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!'” She then continued with other words of the hymn. Mrs. Knapp wrote the words down and fit them into the tune as we have it today.

Many people thought Fanny Crosby in 1873 finds inspiration for the song through the passage of Hebrews 10:22. ” Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” (KJV). Because she wrote the hymn on a whim. Though without any spiritual background it might be difficult to write down the text of inspiring hymn as blessed assurance in a very short time like she did.

The full text and score of the hymn were published on page 36 of a magazine called Issue of Palmer’s Guide to Holiness and Revival Miscellany in July 1873. Specifically, the magazine is printed by the parent of Mrs. Knapp who is an evangelist. However, there is no source that confirmed that the magazine was the first to print Blessed Assurance Hymn.

But it actually assisted in making the inspiring hymn popular as of today. The tune is called Blessed Assurance or Assurance in relation to Fanny Crosby’s text.

During her lifetime, Fanny Crosby wrote eight thousand hymns, many of which became famous — but “Blessed Assurance” just might be the most famous of all.

Summer - Kayla's Korner

Psalm 113:3

“From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!”

The Lord’s name is to be praised! It is something we should do daily! I feel like when summer hits sometimes we lose sight of praising God. We forget to read our Bibles, we forget to pray, and maybe we decide to take the summer off from Church. Do you think God ever takes a break from His relationship with us? I personally don’t think so, so why should we take a break from Him? This summer I hope everyone praises God in the morning and praises God at night. Something I did to help build my relationship with God was download the Bible app on my phone. It can be hard to carry a Bible around with me everywhere I go. If I ever find myself needing to hear God’s word or have an opportunity to share God’s word with someone, I can use the Bible app. There are so many different and unique ways we can praise God in today’s world. So how are you going to praise Him this summer? 

-Kayla