Some called it "Evangelistic
Service," some "Evening Service," and for most churches,
it began, not at the later-popular 6:00 o'clock, but at
7:30PM. The earlier hour in those days was for the young
peoples' groups called Christian Endeavor, or Christ's
Ambassadors, or Crusaders or an acronym like BYPU. These
were training groups, where we youngsters played the
otherwise adult roles of leading, singing, praying, and
sometimes preaching. That's where we learned the
choruses like "What Though Wars May Come," "Only to Be,"
"Spirit Of The Living God," and "Christ For Me."
"Softly and Tenderly" was written by
Will Thompson, a successful Chicago businessman and
popular song writer. He was a close friend of evangelist
Dwight Moody, who used this hymn frequently in his
meetings. When Moody was on his deathbed, he told
Thompson, "Will, I would rather have written 'Softly and
Tenderly Jesus is Calling' than anything I have been
able to do in my whole life."
These are the songs of Billy Sunday, of Paul Rader, of
Aimee Semple McPherson and Charles E. Fuller, of Ira
Sankey and P. P. Bliss. They are the songs of the
evangelical church, of the Methodists and the Baptists,
songs of the Pentecostals and of Billy Graham (now
there's one you know!). They were the songs that were
sung in junior church, in youth meetings and a Wednesday
morning prayer meeting.
There are different kinds of music,
of course. For some, we tap our foot and for some we
hum or sing along. There are songs that are meant for show
of a particular instrument or musician. And then, there
is the kind of music on this piano album. These
familiar hymns aren't presented here to entertain, but
to provide a soft background to prayer, meditation or
reading of the Word. "Softly and Tenderly, Jesus is
Calling"...."I Need Thee Every Hour"... "Close to
Thee"... and one near the end of the album that many of
our friends remember, but can't place. That song is
"Blessed Quietness."
This album is presented in three
medleys of about ten minutes each. It is our hope and
prayer that it is a blessing to all who hear it.
Hello Visitor
Thanks for finding us!
Tabernacle Hymns is dedicated to
those great hymns of the faith that brought us (and our
parents and their parents) through good times and bad,
through prosperity and hunger, through times of peace
and times of war. We remember youth rallies where a
couple of thousand teenagers sang "Christ for Me." We
remember our grandmothers singing "In the Sweet By and
By." We remember visiting the big church downtown where
a monstrous pipe organ surrounded us with the "Wonderful
Grace of Jesus." It's that big organ sound we are
presenting in the organ albums. Some times loud and some
times soft, but always played with feeling.
The
newest album is played on the piano to provide a soft
background to prayer, meditation or reading of the Word.
We hope
these songs are a blessing to you. Please add us to your
favorites. Come back and visit us often. We appreciate
your comments and suggestions.
Darryl Eisele
and the
folks at tabernaclehymns.com
