The Power of Music

Ya know how when you hear a certain song, it takes you to a moment in time?
If I listen to classic rock of the 70's, I am immediately taken back to my days at Leesburg High, and the fond memories of those days flood my mind. I was blessed to grow up in a small town, where everyone knew everyone, and have many friends that are still around here in little Leesburg. Some have moved away, but thanks to the technology of our day, we are still able to reconnect through email and places like Facebook. The songs we grew up with are still around today, and it's nice to go back every now and then to a time of youth!
Today it's cold and dreary here - yesterday we ran the air conditioning, and today I had to switch it over to the heat. I needed some motivation to sew and to chase away the winter blues, so I opened up my blog and had my spirit refreshed and inspired by the list of Christian music ranging from songs and groups that my kids turned me onto in the 90's, through some more current songs now played on Christian radio.
Music has a powerful influence on our lives - thank God for the gift he's given to those who compose songs that take us to a place of knowing that He is the most important part of our life, and when we focus on Him, everything else just seems to fade away.
Have a blessed and wonderful weekend! :)

Janelle

Blessed Assurance

Today, we went to First Baptist and heard the new preacher that they brought in after Charles Rosell retired last year. This new guy's name is Cliff, and he was awesome. As soon as service was over, Bill said, "I really like this church, and I really like this pastor". Well that was music to my ears!

The song choices today were also music to my ears - there were several old hymns sung, and this one elderly lady who was sitting behind me had a strong and powerful soprano voice, which sounded much like my mother's.
It was when the song, "Blessed Assurance" began, and I heard this dear woman singing, that the tears just flowed down my face. It sounded just like my mother was standing behind me singing this hymn, which I heard her sing many times throughout my life, as it was one of her favorites.

Here's a little history about this song:

This is Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), who wrote the words to this beautiful hymn.
Words:
bio("Fan­ny Cros­by","c/r/o/crosby_fj")
Fan­ny Cros­by, 1873:
My friend, Mrs. Jo­seph F. Knapp, com­posed a mel­o­dy and played it over to me two or three times on the pi­a­no. She then asked what it said. I re­plied, “Bles­sed as­sur­ance, Je­sus is mine!”
Music: As­sur­ance,
bio("Phoe­be P. Knapp","k/n/knapp_pp");lmn("a/s/s/Assurance")
Phoe­be P. Knapp (MI­DI, score).
This hymn was sung in the Acad­e­my Award win­ning mo­vies Plac­es in the Heart (1984) and Trip to Bount­i­ful (1985).
“During the re­cent war in the Trans­vaal,” said a gen­tle­man at my meet­ing in Ex­e­ter Hall, Lon­don, in 1900, “when the sol­diers go­ing to the front were pass­ing ano­ther bo­dy of sol­diers whom they re­cog­nized, their greet­ings used to be, ‘Four-nine-four, boys; four-nine-four;’ and the sa­lute would in­var­i­a­bly be an­swered with ‘Six fur­ther on, boys; six fur­ther on.’ The sig­nif­i­cance of this was that, in ‘Sac­red Songs and So­los,’ a num­ber of co­pies of the small edi­tion of which had been sent to the front, num­ber 494 was ‘God be with you un­til we meet again;’ and six fur­ther on than 494, or num­ber 500, was ‘Bless­ed As­sur­ance, Je­sus is mine.’”

If you're not familiar with this hymn, you can click on the midi link above, and if you are familiar with it, I'm sure you understand the emotion that this song brings.

Here are the words to this beautiful hymn:

Blessèd assurance, Jesus is mine!

O what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Refrain

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior, all the day long;

This is my story, this is my song,Praising my Savior, all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,

Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;

Angels descending bring from above

Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Refrain

Perfect submission, all is at rest

I in my Savior am happy and blest,

Watching and waiting, looking above,

Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

Refrain

Thank God for the talents he gives to each of us, and may we all use them to glorify Him!

Janelle

Slow Train Comin

I was out doing errands a few minutes ago, listening to a cd called, "Slow Train Comin"; a Christian/Spiritual cd done by Bob Dylan in the early 1980's. I can just see the question marks above people's heads when they see the words Bob Dylan and Christian music in the same sentence. He released two cd's that spoke of the Lord and of how times are in this world. The other cd is called, "SAVED". I would encourage you to see if you can find sound bites of these on the web, or buy the cd's - they were so helpful to me during one of the roughest times of my life, and when my precious daughter sent them to me for my 50th birthday not long ago, it literally brought me to tears - she sent me something that she knew had such importance in my life.
As I was driving and "Slow Train Comin"was playing, and I knew I had to share the lyrics with you. See how those words penned over 20 years ago apply moreso today than they did then.


"SLOW TRAIN COMIN"
Sometimes I feel so low-down and disgusted
Can't help but wonder what's happenin' to my companions
Are they lost or are they found, have they counted the cost it'll take to bring down
All their earthly principles they're gonna have to abandon?
There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.
I had a woman down in Alabama,
She was a backwoods girl, but she sure was realistic.
She said, "Boy, without a doubt, have to quit your mess and straighten out,
You could die down here, be just another accident statistic.
"There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.
All that foreign oil controlling American soil,
Look around you, it's just bound to make you embarrassed.
Sheiks walkin' around like kings, wearing fancy jewels and nose rings
Deciding America's future from Amsterdam and to Paris
And there's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.
Man's ego is inflated, his laws are outdated, they don't apply no more.
You can't rely no more to be standin' around waitin'
In the home of the brave, Jefferson turnin' over in his grave.
Fools glorifying themselves, trying to manipulate Satan
And there's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.
Big-time negotiators, false healers and woman haters.
Masters of the bluff and masters of the proposition
But the enemy I see wears a cloak of decency
All non-believers and men stealers talkin' in the name of religion
And there's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.
People starving and thirsting, grain elevators are bursting
Oh, you know it costs more to store the food than it do to give it.
They say lose your inhibitions, follow your own ambitions
They talk about a life of brotherly love, show me someone who knows how to live it.
There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.
Well, my baby went to Illinois with some bad-talkin' boy she could destroy
A real suicide case, but there was nothin' I could do to stop it
I don't care about economy, I don't care about astronomy
But it sure do bother me to see my loved ones turning into puppets,
There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.