The Blog

Today’s congregational singing scene in many Protestant churches is a far cry from what it had been a couple hundred years ago. Aside from the simplicity with which their song servece were carried on, their hymnals then were also very different in that it did not contain written notes. At best, it contained words, with…

It was a time of great religious revival in America, or widely known as the Second Great Awakening. People were generally enthusiastic and emotional over religion, while Deistic ideas and rationalism brought on by Enlightenment were rejected. William Miller, a New England farmer, former colonel and a staunch Deist decided to prove God by the study…

Tis Almost Time for the Lord to Come is one of those hymns I used to sing a lot in my childhood. It has a catchy tune and a nice driving rhythm to it. I remember my friends and I would always look forward to sing that pause “Oh…” at the beginning of the refrain,…

This week’s lesson quarterly touches the theme of the three angels messages. When was the last time you sang precisely about this topic? One of the great things about the early advent hymns is that the pioneers sang hymns that were distinctly ‘Adventist’ in nature. The actual Bible studies they did were largely embodied and reflected…

There are many kinds of hymns in the hymnal. Some are to be sung slowly and others faster. Some are rugged and powerful; others are gentle and quiet. How the hymns should be sung should be given careful study. To have most effect, the hymns that are chosen should be the most appropriate for a…

This hymn was really interesting to write about in that its words spanned nine years of revision by three (maybe four) different ministers who are all connected to each other. The general happenstance was this though — that after a conversion experience, this hymn was borne. Interestingly, the first one who originated this hymn was…