Greetings from Wordwise Hymns. Your blog caught my eye because I posted an article this morning on the great gospel song "Till the Storm Passes By." I was intrigued by the call for "a different Jesus." Your response is excellent. Well said. We don't need a different Jesus any more than we need what Paul calls "a different gospel." God bless.

I've heard the same comments over the last few days, that Mr. Harper seems flat, humorous, boring, etc. I disagree. My wife and I have watched his basic stump speech a couple of times, tailored to different audiences. Both of us saw him as completely relaxed and confident. In other words, a leader. His current 14 point lead in the polls seems to suggest that others agree.

H-m-m... Well, yes, many of our Thanksgiving hymns date from the 19th century. But the original German version of "We Plough the Fields and Scatter" was written in 1787. "Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow" was written in 1674. And the original of "Now Thank We All Our God" comes from 1636. "We Gather Together to Ask the Lord's Blessing" dates from 1597. It would seem from this that God's people have been expressing their gratitude to Him for a long time. :-)

If you enjoy reading about our hymns and their authors, I invite you to check out my daily blog on the subject, Wordwise Hymns.

And if you’ll excuse a brief “commercial:” With the arrival of fall, we begin to think of the Christmas season up ahead. If you do not have a good book on the subject of our Christmas carols, I encourage you to take a look at mine, Discovering the Songs of Christmas. In it, I discuss the history and meaning of 63 carols and Christmas hymns. The book is available through Amazon, or directly from Jebaire Publishing. (Might make a great gift too!)

An excellent article. Thanks! Yes, words do matter--a whole lot. To suggest that it doesn't matter what you say as long as you're sincere is foolishness. God has spoken to us in words, and we need to praise Him and edify one another in well-chosen words as well. It is true that not all hymns and gospel songs are of equal merit. But for the text not to be true to Scripture is a major flaw.