“When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more.” (When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder)
I don’t know if it was coincidence or my subconscious working, but I picked that song to put in our church bulletin for us to sing this morning. It’s not a song we sing often at our church. In fact I can’t remember when we did last sing it. Perhaps years ago. Do you think I might have picked that song because my angel trumpet flowers are finally blooming this year? That trumpet of the Lord line in the song.
Whether that was the reason or not, the song was good and for those in my church who love the old hymns, this one certainly fit the bill. I’m a member of an old fashioned traditional church that sings out of the hymn book. We have a wall, but the only time we’ve sung off the wall, as some call it when you sing with the words on a screen in the front of the church, has been during Bible Schools. I’ve been to many services at other churches where they sing the newer praise songs and I’ve been to churches where they sing both old hymns and the newer worship songs. All good ways to worship. Singing is a great way to rejoice in the Lord.
I like the old hymns. “Amazing Grace.” “Rock of Ages.” “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” “There’s Power in the Blood.” “Near the Cross.” “Victory in Jesus.” So many great songs with great words in the verses. I guess that’s the writer coming out in me. Liking the words that often seem to tell a story of faith. Just seeing the hymn titles can take make me remember so many times standing in church with fellow believers and singing those time tested lyrics.
I often lead the singing at our church. Not because I can sing that well. But because I can carry a tune (most of the time) and I don’t mind getting up in front of people and talking. I would never consider singing a solo, but my fellow church members sing along with me and we struggle through, letting the wonderful words of those old songs touch our hearts and be more important than how we sound. So we gave that old hymn “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder” our best effort this morning. If I had thought of my angel trumpet flowers when I was putting the bulletin together, I could have included a picture.
I love it when my angel trumpets bloom. The top picture is of some of this year’s blooms, but this old picture from a few years ago shows the trumpet shape of the blooms better. And to make the picture even dearer, there’s my sweet Oscar peeking through the deck railing in behind the flowers. Miss that sweet dog.
My daughter gave me a start off her angel trumpet plant years ago. How you start them is you cut a piece of the stalk at the end of the year before the frost kills them and then stick that stalk down in a jar of water and let it grow roots. One year most of mine didn’t do right and just ruined in the water. So now I cut many pieces of stalk and put several in more than one jar to ensure I’ll have some stalks that grow roots and will be ready to plant in the spring. That way I can continue to enjoy this great flower every year. The plants grow really tall as you can see and while the blooms don’t last long, they are beautiful.
Contest Update – Technical Difficulties
I promised to pick the winners in my newsletter contest today. I intended to do so, but for some reason the mail service where I have all the e-mails stored is sticking its tongue out at me and refusing to open. It says I’ll have to try again later. So I will try again later. What I do with contests like my newsletter one where I have many entries is I store the messages of those who have entered in a special mail folder. Then I use randomnumber.org to pick a number out of the range of however many entries I received. Usually between 200 and 300. I could probably get more entries if I did a rafflecopter form, but I like getting the messages and stories you all share with me. It’s a great way for me to get to know you, my readers and friends. Once I have the random number or numbers picked, I count down in the list of messages to find the lucky winners. So I do need to be able to access that folder before I can have a winner. My Wednesday post will now be the one to announce winners. Thanks for understanding about computer stumbling blocks.
And thanks for reading.
Do you have a favorite old hymn? How does the church where you attend do the worship music?
Comments 33
The Old Rugged Cross…I love singing from the old hymnals…like I grew up with…you very seldom hear those songs now…the choir sings mostly new songs now…I rarely know them…it leaves me feeling sad.
Author
Most of the churches that embrace the new songs and no longer sing the old hymns say that it brings in new believers and generates enthusiasm. But I’m like you, Mary. I enjoy the old hymns. They have such beautiful words and somehow reach something inside us because we grew up hearing them and singing them in our churches. I remember my mom singing hymns in the kitchen while she cooked. Perhaps the young people growing up to the new praise songs will feel the same about their songs someday. Meanwhile a mixture of both new and old would seem to be the best for some churches that have a mixture of young and not so young members.
I love all the ones you mentioned, and add In the Garden, too. Our church sings “off the wall”, (I’ve never heard that before!) but the do mix in some hymns, too. We have hymnals but I’ve never seen anyone use them.
Author
In the Garden is one of the most mentioned favorites, Kathy. I’ve heard people talking about the singing “off the wall.” And why use a hymnal when the words are right there in front of your eyes?
Love hymns. I also attend a traditional sing-out-of-a hymnal church and I love the harmony ! With the 7/11 songs there is little to no harmony (seven words sang 11 times!) My all time favorite is In the Garden as in I come to the garden alone! Really is a visual song to me!
Author
We have a few singers in our church who can do harmony. My husband one of them since he sings bass in a quartet. I don’t hear the harmony parts, so I just sing the lead. But I’ve been in congregations where there were a lot of singers and it is beautiful when you hear that harmony. Chills up the back time. “In the Garden” is a popular favorite. I like playing it out of the Broadman hymnal because of the way the music is written.
Our pastor selects the songs for each service. She normally selects at least one hymn and about three contemporary songs. In a small congregation where the majority of the folks have been in church since hymns and choruses were the norm, it makes sense to try to keep those hymns alive while using newer songs to try to attract younger people. One of my favorites, which is really better for a large choir with strong voices, is “And Can It Be” by Charles Wesley.
Author
I don’t think I’ve ever heard that song, Edward. Most of the churches that are growing in membership in our county are the ones that have the contemporary music. So I’m not against it. I just like the old hymns better because of the messages embedded in the words. But once each of those songs was a new song for somebody.
Amazing Grace is my favorite hymn. The churches I visit usually have a worship band and sing contemporary songs.
Author
“Amazing Grace” would have to be tweaked a bit to work with a worship band. However, my husband’s group sings a song about Amazing Grace that is great. So many ways the gospel can be shared. Amazing Grace is a beautiful song with words to help you see how amazing that grace is.
Standing on the Promises
How Firm a Foundation
Author
Both of those are great, Peggy. We sing “Standing of the Promises” often in our church, but I tell the congregation you can’t sing that one sitting down.
At my church we sing from hymn books also, mostly the old hymns but add a few new ones. I have two favorites, Until Then and The Lighthouse. Both of those bring tears to my eyes they mean so much to me, I also collect lighthouses so meaningful..
Author
My husband’s Southern Gospel quartet, the Patriot Quartet, sings “The Lighthouse.” Then you might be hard pressed to find a Southern Gospel Quartet that hasn’t sung that song. If you’d like to read more about how that song came to be written by Ronnie Hinson, you can check out this post https://www.annhgabhart.com/2012/09/20/the-lighthouse-7-minute-gif/ I did several years ago after we talked with Ronnie at the National Quartet Convention. I always enjoy finding about how a song came to be, and the story behind how The Lighthouse was written is amazing. Without a doubt, it was a gift from the Lord to Ronnie and to the world.
So enjoyed this newsletter, yes we still use songbooks , love the old hymns. Amazing Grace has always had been a favorite! Our choir has just been practicing an old old song,”The Great Speckled Bird’. Roy Acuff song. Which brought up the discussion of what is the bird representing? Any thoughts??
Author
I’ve heard of that song, Edith, but guess I hadn’t considered where the speckled bird idea came from. But when I looked it up just now, the source I saw suggested it was based on Jeremiah 12:9, “Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.” There is mention of a speckled bird there. In my Bible translation (New King James) it says vulture instead of bird. It’s not the most cheerful passage you might find in the Bible. But it is interesting how someone can come across a particular passage, verse, or even a word in the Bible and write a song that will live on and continue to be sung through the years.
Probably my favorite is Victory in Jesus. I fell in love with that song as a wee child and it’s always held a special place in my heart. I love the messages of others better, but that one will always be my favorite. Our church does a mix of contemporary and hymns and we sing “off the wall”, though we do have hymnals (I’ve just never seen anyone use them). I love having a mixture of songs as I enjoy both the old and the new.
Author
Sounds as if you have a church that appreciates all kinds of worship music, Erin. “Victory in Jesus” is a great song and one that’s fun to sing. We have a lady in our church who is 88 and that’s her favorite song. When I sing that song I always think of her. Well, and the victory in Jesus, too.
My church is a conservative holiness church, so our song service is filled with all the “older” hymns. Since I’ve grown up singing hymns my entire life, I’ve never considered them old. My favorite one is It Is Well by Horatio G. Spafford. The words…oh my goodness, they just bless me every time I sing the song. Usually, I try not to think about the backstory of the song while I’m singing, because I end up crying. I love the old hymns and I’m thankful they have been such an integral part of my life.
Author
Those are beautiful words, Elizabeth, and when it’s sung well, it can thrill one’s soul. We played that song at my mom’s funeral and my sister felt the song was following her around after that since everywhere she went, she heard that song over and over. I heard it often too but that was because my husband’s Southern Gospel group, The Patriot Quartet, was singing the song at their concerts at the time.
The Old Rugged Cross and Amazing Grace are two of my many favorites.
Author
Great favorites, Melissa, and songs that would surely be on most everybody’s top hymn list.
So, so many, but “Rock of Ages”. We sing off the wall. Mixture, but we have 2 services, first is traditional—more hymns and second is modern (blended) more praise & worship usually a hymn also.
Author
And of course, as you point out, Lisa, you can sing the old hymns (or what we think of as old hymns) off the wall too when the words are projected onto the screen. I don’t mind the songs up on the screen, but I have to admit that I find it somewhat distracting to have the pastor’s message points up on the screen. I don’t mind the Scripture references, but I do like to look up the Scripture in a real Bible, heavy on my lap.
Rock of Ages was one of the first three songs I learned to play well enough to give it a try when I had to substitute for the regular pianist.
“To God Be the Glory” .. I can’t remember the last time I heard it! Our church has contemporary music. When the worship leader does have any part of an “old” song, I notice how much louder the congregation is singing. To be positive, the worship leader does have a powerful introduction for each song.
We sang this one at our church on Sunday! It had been awhile for me as well.
Author
Sounds as though your worship leader does more than just sing, Kathy. That’s good. We can learn so many spiritual truths through music and song. I like “To God Be the Glory.” Such a cheerful song.
I love “Double Portion”. At our church the singing class goes up and stands in the open alter area and sing.We have several piano players in our church so we never know which one will be playing that day. The song leader we had for many years stepped aside and is letting a younger man now lead. We usually stick with old gyms with a newer one thrown in there from time to time.We actually sing “When the Roll is Called up Yonder” fairly often because it is one of our deacons favorite songs.
Author
For many years I was all our church had for a piano player, so they were limited by my limited ability on the piano, Lisa. I could play some songs but not all songs. I never learned to play “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder.” So that might be why we didn’t sing it often. It fell off the radar. But now we have a very talented pianist who can play anything in the book. That has introduced our members to some new singing songs even though the songs are actually old. Not sure that makes sense. I don’t think we have “Double Portion” in our hymn books. If so, I’ve never sung it. I’ll have to look that song up.
My favorite hymn is When I Survey The Wondrous Cross.
We use hymnals at our Church.
Author
That’s one of the hymns that I can actually play, Paula. That’s a beautiful old hymn with great words. Love that last verse. “Love so amazing, so divine demands my soul, my life, my all.” If I’m not getting the stories mixed up, I think this Isaac Watts that wrote these words in 1707 penned this hymn after he told his mother he wasn’t happy with the worship songs in their church and determined to write better ones. That wish to do something different is as old as time. My hymnbook references Galatians 6:14 as the hymn’s inspiration. “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (New King James version)
I have too many “favorite old hymns” to list! But why, oh why, do so many churches that sing “combined music” really sing far more contemporary songs than the good old favorite hymns? Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but the hymns are what bring me to a frame of mind to worship and the contemporary songs simply irritate me.
Author
I know many who feel as you do, Patricia. My husband is definitely one of those. I prefer the old hymns too, but I can see how the contemporary worship songs do bring joy and heart worship to many others. I like new words each verse and don’t really like singing the same words over and over. But I’ve been in groups where they were singing the praise songs many times over and witnessed how it uplifts others. I guess it’s to each their own way to worship. I maybe shouldn’t tell this, but I was at a writers’ conference where the leaders did like the contemporary music and so that’s what they used for the worship times with the groups. I was standing next to a fellow writer whom I didn’t know, but who was in my age range. She leaned over and said in my ear that this was twenty-four seven music. I must have given her a puzzled look because she went on to explain that it was seven words you sang twenty-four times. So now I think of that whenever I’m in a church that sings those type of contemporary songs. But I’ve noticed lately that those songs seem to be changing a bit with more different verses. Makes singing “off the wall” better for me. But I’m happy with any kind of music that touches the hearts of those taking part in the singing.