Welcome to "Tuesday Morning" —A bit late today. A full schedule here. Sorry.

 

If you like church music, you will enjoy reading this week's epistle. It's about hymn writers--and one hymn writer in particular. You might not recognize her name at first, but you will remember what hymn she wrote that made her famous. Today's "TM" is attached below. Continue reading whenever you are ready to sing again.

 

Have a great week! 

 

Tom Barnard

A Senior Encourage

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A Shut-in’s Prayer

Tom Barnard

 

ymn writers are special people. They not only must know musical rhythm, meter, and tempo, but they also must know something about theology. Being a poet is not enough. They must understand the teachings of Scripture, church history, and the theology of the times in which they live.

 

Christianity has cultivated many hymn writers, and some were prolific in their writings. One church-music source claims that Charles Wesley wrote more than 6500 hymns! Another source said that Fanny Crosby wrote over 8000 hymns! It was said that she could write seven or more hymns in one day! And she was blind. Among the most prolific Christian hymn writers were these two, plus Isaac Watts, Martin Luther, John Newton, and modern gospel-song writers Ira Sankey, Bill (and Gloria) Gaither, and Mosie Lister.

 

A Nineteenth-century hymn writer credited with a relatively small number of hymns in her lifetime was Charlotte Elliott (1789-1871). Her hymns number about 150, but the impact that she made through just one of her songs places her near the top of writers of truly great hymns. Her best-known hymn? Just as I Am.

 

In 1834 Miss Elliott—about 45 years of age at the time—was living at the home of her brother, Rev. H.V. Elliott, in Brighton, England.  She was an invalid and suffered almost constant pain. Her brother was organizing a fund-raiser in the town to generate money to build a school designed to offer—at nominal cost—higher education for the daughters of clergymen. Charlotte’s family, together with neighbors, were caught up with the project and went out during the evening prior to the event to make final plans. Because of her physical limitations, Charlotte was not able to participate and remained at home while the family took to the streets.

 

Depressed over her feelings of uselessness, Charlotte began to reflect on the events that had led to her conversion to Christianity many years before. Taking a pen and paper from a table in her room, she set down in writing, for her own comfort, the formula of her faith—the story of pardon, peace, and heaven.

 

Just as I am—without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee—

O Lamb of God, I come. I come.

 

The fifth verse is equally memorable:

 

Just as I am—Thy love unknown

Has broken every barrier down,

Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone—

O Lamb of God, I come. I come.

 

But have you ever sung the sixth verse that is omitted (for brevity perhaps) from most modern hymnals?

 

Jus as I am—of that free love

The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,

Here for a season, Thou above,

O Lamb of God, I come. I come.

 

Charlotte shared the hymn-poem with the family when they returned from their outing, and from that modest beginning this hymn came to be printed and translated into hundreds of languages. Billy Graham became a Christian in 1934 in an evangelistic campaign led by evangelist Mordecai Ham in Charlotte, North Carolina. Ham chose Just as I Am as the song of invitation at the close of each service. When Dr. Graham began his own evangelistic ministry, he chose Just as I Am as the song with which he closed each revival service. He also used the title of the song as the title of his 1997 book – Just as I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham. It all began when a depressed, invalid woman decided to write about her faith.