1. Welcome to 'Golden Hymns Of The Faith'
2. Some BLOG tips
1. Welcome to 'Golden Hymns Of The Faith'
Dear Friends of the Faith,
MARANATHA!
With this BLOG I hope to share some thoughts and experiences I have had with some of the great hymns of the (Christian) FAITH over my approximately 37 years of music ministry in South Africa. Please note that I have covered the songs in discussion under the broad umbrella of 'hymns' simply for convenience sake in a rather loose sense, and not necessarily according to the strict academic definition of 'hymn', thus, potentially including all genres of gospel, spiritual and even inspirational songs for review in this BLOG.
I have to admit that, having just learnt of the death of George Beverly Shea, 'America's beloved Gospel singer', on 16 April 2013 at the age of 104, I feel, in comparison to giants like him, still a complete novice and spiritual babe in the woods of praise, worship and music ministry in general, but may my contribution in the shape of numerous 'impromptu' thoughts and various reminiscences nevertheless be an enormous blessing to your heart, just as the great music of the FAITH had been such a wonderful blessing to mine.
Not all songs necessarily always have to feature the name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, every time, but I have heard the disconcerting rumour that there is a modern trend among some Christian artists to omit the name of 'Jesus' from the words of songs on purpose in order to draw more fans and sell more CD's and DVD's, or, in terms of the so-called 'seeker-sensitive syndrome', not to 'offend' non-Christian visitors to the Church. Well, I reject that approach with the contempt it deserves. Apparently some Christian artists even go so far as to assert that Christian music was never meant to be used as a tool for evangelising (So much for Just As I Am ...!). Again, I reject that philosophy with the contempt it deserves.
I am not ashamed to say and teach that we were placed on this earth primarily to glorify God and lift up the name of Jesus, and not to sell a lot of records in order to amass millions of fans with the single purpose of getting stinking rich. But, thank God anyway for those wealthy and/or established artists who had grown successful without necessarily compromising their faith or the name of Jesus in their gospel songs.
Nevertheless, for full appreciation and aesthetic impact of the songs mentioned on this BLOG, readers are encouraged to click on the YouTube logo inserted in each post for an AUDIO-VISUAL sample for each song-title mentioned, in order to get thoroughly acquainted with the melody of such songs, as discussed. Others songs in the alphabetical list not reviewed on this BLOG will take the reader directly to the YouTube referenced title.
I have to admit that, having just learnt of the death of George Beverly Shea, 'America's beloved Gospel singer', on 16 April 2013 at the age of 104, I feel, in comparison to giants like him, still a complete novice and spiritual babe in the woods of praise, worship and music ministry in general, but may my contribution in the shape of numerous 'impromptu' thoughts and various reminiscences nevertheless be an enormous blessing to your heart, just as the great music of the FAITH had been such a wonderful blessing to mine.
Not all songs necessarily always have to feature the name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, every time, but I have heard the disconcerting rumour that there is a modern trend among some Christian artists to omit the name of 'Jesus' from the words of songs on purpose in order to draw more fans and sell more CD's and DVD's, or, in terms of the so-called 'seeker-sensitive syndrome', not to 'offend' non-Christian visitors to the Church. Well, I reject that approach with the contempt it deserves. Apparently some Christian artists even go so far as to assert that Christian music was never meant to be used as a tool for evangelising (So much for Just As I Am ...!). Again, I reject that philosophy with the contempt it deserves.
I am not ashamed to say and teach that we were placed on this earth primarily to glorify God and lift up the name of Jesus, and not to sell a lot of records in order to amass millions of fans with the single purpose of getting stinking rich. But, thank God anyway for those wealthy and/or established artists who had grown successful without necessarily compromising their faith or the name of Jesus in their gospel songs.
- EMI Copyright Infringement Objections. Should any of the YouTube-referenced titles become unavailable due to EMI copyright-infringement objections please E-mail the BLOG-administrator at pjstassen@gmail.com so that we can search for alternative YouTube samples. [This inconvenience is not an uncommon phenomenon and unfortunately falls outside of the control of this BLOG-administrator]. Alternatively the reader can search the title of the song for an alternative artist or recording in YouTube directly.
- Songs Reviewed. Please bear in mind that there are many more hymns/songs listed in the ALPHABETICAL LIST OF HYMNS/SONGS RECOMMENDED BY THIS BLOG than only those hymns/songs reviewed in the BLOG. Please check out the ALPHABETICAL LIST for an updated list of the hymns/songs recommended by this BLOG.
- Search Facility. Use the 'Search' facility in the top left-hand corner of the Home Page to search for song-titles randomly, or the alphabetical list below to search for titles alphabetically.
- Church Planting In France. Readers who are interested in supporting MISSIONS (Church Planting In France) may click on www.ceciliastassen.wordpress.com
- My Blog List. Readers who are interested in the (music-oriented) BLOGS I recommend or need more information may click on 'My Blog List' in the right-hand margin of the BLOG-page.
- Most Popular Blogposts. Readers who are interested to see the most popular BLOG-posts on my BLOG may click on 'Popular Posts' in the right-hand margin of the BLOG-page.
- Create E-mail Alert. Readers interested in creating an e-mail alert on new posts may enter their e-mail address in the space provided at the top of the BLOG-page and click on 'Submit' (toward the right of the page).
- Access To Earlier/Older Posts. Readers interested in reading older posts may click on 'Older Posts' at the bottom of the BLOG-page or, alternatively, click on 'Blog Archive' in the right-hand margin of the BLOG-page. BLOG-posts are archived per calendar month.
- YouTube References. For an AUDIO-VISUAL sample of any song reviewed in this BLOG, please click on the YouTube logo at the top (right) of each BLOG-page.
- Lyrics To Songs. For lyrics to songs not found on this BLOG please click on the following BLOGS/WEBSITES:
Pretoria, South Africa
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