HIMknowledgey Ministry - Revive Us Again

Introduction to Revive Us Again

Revive Us Again is a Chronological Anthology of American Gospel Hymnody, containing 366 of the most familiar gospel hymns and most well known sacred songs, arranged in the order they became available in American hymnbooks. Each entry comes from comparing hundreds of hymnbooks to select the hymns most common to all. Behind each of these grand old hymns of the faith are specifically talented people, the Lord has placed in the right place at the right time!

Revive Us Again, The Chronological Anthology of American Gospel Hymnody is not just a chronological hymnbook! It is also a hymn-story book with the hymn the same size as in the hymnbook (or larger) with pictures of the writers (where available) and the story about or behind the hymn.

Revive Us Again, The Chronological Anthology of American Gospel Hymnody, will be a valuable addition to every true, Bible-believing, Englishspeaking American's daily worship and could be a real help in worship and revival services, Christian School and College classes, and Chapel services. These 366 numbers are the ones that have passed the test of time!

To tell this story, I used the book, "A Short Chronology of American History" (1492-1950) and selected the important dates and events in American history and interspersed them near the appropriate hymn. Included is a brief chronological listing of persons and events in the world, important to American history. Again, these are specifically talented people whom God had in the right place at the right time.

The video from Revive Us Again, The Chronological Anthology of American Gospel Hymnody, is going to be an even more spectacular production! After this introduction, visualize a hymnbook, opening on the screen and the camera focusing in on the first hymn, "The Doxology," and as the words and notes fill your eyes, the music fills your ears. As the narrator begins to speak, the photographs of the writer and composer open out of the area where their names are printed on the hymn. One after another, these great God-honoring hymns and worshipful, sacred songs and the stories of their writings tell the origin and development of America and American Gospel Music.

This is a history of how God has used gospel music in America. God created music so that man can bring honor and glory to Himself. This is the true story of American Gospel Music! Every Sunday School, Christian School and college and church library should have a copy, as well as your own library! This is not just another hymnbook. This is not a book out to honor and glorify the writers or compilers. Rather, it is a chronological listing of how God has used music, people and poems for His honor and glory and at the same time is The Chronological Anthology of American Gospel Hymnody.

Each of the stories behind the hymns has been derived from every available source, including the internet websites and wherever possible, the main theme of Revive Us Again: The Chronological Anthology of American Gospel Hymnody is focused on transformed lives! Fanny Crosby, with all her religious training and memorization of the Scriptures as a teenager, did not come to know The Lord Jesus Christ as her own personal Savior until November 20, 1850. You will find the hymn (#178) she was singing when, as she said, "The celestial light came on."

I was born and raised a Baptist, and I thought I was probably a little more informed than most people until I found that, contrary to popular belief, Baptists are not Protestants. Baptist heritage is one of the best-kept secrets in American history. Baptists are traced straight back to the church that Jesus Christ started. Baptists were never a part of the Catholic Church so we never "protested" and broke away.

The Chronological Anthology of American Gospel Hymnody, not only tells the story of the development of American church music, it also shows how religion developed in America. To inform us once again, God had the right people in the right places at the right times. We start with the history of Baptists. For several years I have owned a copy of the little book, The Trail Of Blood, which says on the inside front cover, "it was sent forth for the purpose of making known the little-known history of those faithful witnesses of the Lord Jesus, who, as members of the church Jesus built, 'overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death.' Rev. 12:11."

Dr. J.M. Carroll (1858-1931) brought the messages, found in the book, The Trail of Blood at the Ashland Avenue Baptist Church, Lexington, Kentucky. Dr. J.W. Porter heard the messages and asked for permission to publish them in a book, The Trail of Blood. Dr. Carroll put these messages in print after he had made a special research in church history to determine which is the oldest church which is the most like the churches of the New Testament. Specifically, he wondered which was the church that the Lord Jesus founded. Dr. Carroll was then over seventy years old and he did not live to see it published!

Dr. Porter then placed the book, The Trail of Blood, before the public and it sold out. My 1986 copy was part of the 58th printing. This 56-page book was expanded to 244 pages by Dr. A.A. Davis under the title, The Baptist Story-Sermons on the Trail of Blood. Pastor Davis delivered the sermons at the First Baptist Church, Quanah, Texas in June of 1951. M.J. Lee was the pastor and they recorded the messages on a Dictaphone and transcribed them for publication.

In the introduction of the 56-page book, The Trail of Blood, Clarence Walker wrote that he, too had become interested in knowing which is the church that is most like the churches of the New Testament.

In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, "I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Then, after giving the church the great commission of making disciples (getting folks saved) baptizing them and teaching the truth (the doctrines Jesus committed to the Jerusalem church), Jesus gave this promise in Matthew 28:20, "I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world." In any town in any age there are many different churches, all claiming to be the true church!

How can we tell if a church is the true church? Dr. Carroll did as you can do now, he took the eleven "marks" or doctrines of the New Testament churches, as taught in God's Word and applied them to churches of all ages. See how your church compares to the Marks of the New Testament Church!

#01-Its Head and Founder-CHRIST. He is the lawgiver; the Church is only the executive. (Matt. 16:18; Col. 1:18).

#02-Its only rule of faith and practice-THE BIBLE. (II Tim. 3:15-17.) KJV1611.

#03-Its name- "CHURCH", "CHURCHES." (Matt. 16:18; Rev. 22:16.).

#04-Its polity-CONGREGATIONAL-All members equal.(Matt. 20:24-28; Matt. 23:5-12.)

#05-Its members-ONLY SAVED PEOPLE. (Eph.2:21; I Pet. 2:5.)

#06-Its ordinances-BELIEVER'S BAPTISM, followed by THE LORD'S SUPPER. (Matt. 28:19-20.)

#07-Its officers-PASTORS and DEACONS. (I Tim. 3:1-16.)

#08-Its work-GETTING FOLKS SAVED, BAPTIZING (with a baptism that meets all the requirements of God's Word), TEACHING ("to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you"). Matt. 28:16-20.)

#09-Its financial plan- "Even so (TITHES and OFFERINGS) hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel." (I Cor. 9:14.)

#10-Its weapons of warfare-SPIRITUAL not carnal. (II Cor. 10:4; Eph. 6:10-20.)

#11-Its independence-SEPARATION of Church and State. (Matt.22:21.)

REVIVE US AGAIN: Chronological Anthology of American Gospel Hymnody, shows the part that Baptists played in the development of America. In The Baptist Story, pages 148-152, it states that in the first U.S. Census in 1790, one out of every 57 persons, was a Baptist. In 1840, it was one out of every 35 persons. In 1891, it was one out of every 21 persons. In 1912, it was one out of every 17 persons, was a Baptist. In 1920, it was one out of every 13 and in 1935, one out of every12 persons, was a Baptist. We have to go back to the beginning of America to see how this came about.

As America looks toward the 400th anniversary of its beginning, some questions come to mind! The first being, "Who's going to determine which events are important enough to have their own 400th anniversary celebration and which will be excluded?" The next is, "What source will be used to tell the true story of the event?" REVIVE US AGAIN, this Chronological Anthology of American Hymnody tells the real story of where the first English Pilgrims came from and what they went through, prior to that first sighting of land at what is now known as Cape Cod, at 0800 on November 9, 1620.

The only other people who know this true story, are the Pilgrims themselves and those who have been privileged to read Bradford's History of the Plymouth Settlement. This forty-two year historical account depicts the hand of God establishing a mighty work in America, amidst every conceivable, as well as, inconceivable hardship. I thought I was knowledgeable about the founding of America and I even thought I was more aware than most people about what has really gone on in American history.

Then, I discovered the book, What Hath God Wrought? A Biblical Interpretation of American History, written by Dr. William P. Grady and published in 1996. In his chapter three, "A Nation of Providence", Grady quotes Bradford so many times that I decided to find my copy of Bradford's History of the Plymouth Settlement 1608-1650. I have a reprint of the 1909 copy, rendered into modern English by Harold Paget and published by Mantle Ministries. The Founder of Mantle Ministries, Rev. Richard Wheeler, tells in the preface about finding a copy of Bradford's original version entitled, Of Plimouth Plantation and realized that as a source material, this is of the utmost importance at this crucial eleventh-hour of this grand, yet faltering United States. He states that within the 20th-Century, there was an overt attempt to strip the historical record of all mention of God and His providential dealing in the matters of nations and people.

It was then in 1987 that Wheeler believed the time had come for a resurgence of documented-proof of the true Christian origin of our biblically-inspired republic. He was convinced then, as I am now, that there is a need for our nation to reevaluate its very purpose by examining that infant colony in the light of the Scriptures. Thereby, we can rediscover the seed of what God intended for our country for Christian self-government, as exemplified by the colonists' determination and conviction to be ruled by God's Word, and not by the whim of man with his vacillating and often corrupt value systems. Without remembering our true roots, it is inevitable that we would lose sight of our original call of God upon this splendid nation. The Pilgrims' goals were Christ-centered from the start, just as ours should be today! I think it is most important that we understand what motivated those Pilgrims whom we know as the passengers of the Mayflower. Once a year, around Thanksgiving Day, our attention is focused on that celebration to the First Thanksgiving Day when the Pilgrims shared their bountiful harvest with their Indian neighbors.

But, who were these Pilgrims? Where did they come from? Why were they here? God's grace has once again been extended to this generation and to the generations that follow before His appearance, provided that true believers take heed to a call to humble ourselves and seek Him, so that our land may be healed, as promised by His Word in II Chronicles 7:14.

This reintroduction of the testimony of these faithful Pilgrims and the development of America and American-gospel music emerges with great anticipation of a resurgence of interest and understanding of our American-Christian heritage in the wake of a realization of the need for this nearly capsized country to return to its sound, biblical moorings and gospel music!

I was really surprised at what I didn't know about the founding of America. I had visited the replica of the Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor but I didn't realize the interior space was smaller than a tennis court. Do you know how many people were aboard the Mayflower? Do you know how many of the number were actually pilgrims? Do you know the difference between pilgrims, puritans, dissenters, separatists, non-conformists and reformers?

Let's look into Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language. "Pilgrim" is defined as "a far-roaming wanderer." The Mayflower Company was certainly that! The Pilgrims were also called Puritans! Webster defines it this way, "A dissenter from the Church Of England professing to follow the pure Word of God in opposition to all tradition and human constitutions." Dissenters are those who separate or do not unite with the Church of England! Separatists are those who withdraw from an established church, including dissenters, seceders, schismatics and sectaries. Non-conformists are those who refuse or neglect to conform to the rites and mode of worship of an established church. Webster defines a "Reformer" as "one who commenced the reformation of religion from popish corruption!"

Bradford's History of the Plymouth Settlement 1608-1650 is a rare masterpiece of early American literature that traces the history of the Plymouth settlement from its inception on British soil in 1608, to its sojourn in the Netherlands, and then to its establishment on American shores!

If you wonder why you have never heard about this before, the original manuscript was lost from 1650 until 1855 when it was finally tracked down by a Pilgrim enthusiast, who discovered it in the library of Fulham Palace, near London, England. It was published in Boston the next year. In this first-hand account of one of the colony's most credible members, Gov. William Bradford shows that God was, and indeed still is, involved in the affairs of America. Bradford's book shows that the Pilgrims goals were Christ-centered from the start. Bradford explains why they left England, their native land, their homes, jobs, relatives and friends to relocate in the Netherlands where they had to learn a new language, set up new homes and find new jobs all because of religious persecution! This small separatist congregation at Scrooby, pastored by John Robinson, numbered about 125 persons. For several years, this congregation endured scorn from the profane multitude, the ministers were compelled to subscribe or be silent, and the poor people were persecuted with apparators and pursuants and the commissary courts. Then things got worse! They were not allowed to remain in peace. They were hunted and persecuted on every side until their former afflictions were but as fleabitings in comparison. Some were clapped into prison; others had their houses watched night and day, and escaped with difficulty; which they were able to bear by the assistance of God's grace and spirit. Being thus molested and having kept their meetings for the worship of God every Sabbath (Sunday) for a year in one place or another, notwithstanding the diligence and malice of their adversaries, they attempted to leave England. As intolerable as it was for them to stay, they were not allowed to go; the ports were shut against them! They had to seek secret means of conveyance and pay extraordinary rates for their passage. Often they were betrayed, their goods intercepted and although it took many, many months for them all to get there, Bradford states, "I must not omit to mention that for all these public afflictions, their cause became famous, and led many to inquire into it; and their Christian behavior left a deep impression on the minds of many."

For twelve years, this congregation matured in Leyden. Bradford says of the group that the true piety, the humble zeal, and fervent love, of this people, whilst they thus lived together, toward God and His ways, and the singleheartedness and sincere affection of one towards another, that they came as near the primitive pattern of the first churches as any other church of these later times has done! Then, when this congregation left Leyden, the magistrates of the city, gave this commendable testimony of them in the public place of justice in reproof to the Walloons, who were the French church there. "These English", said they, "have lived among us these twelve years, and yet we never had any suit or accusation against any of them; but your strifes and quarrels are continual." They left because the now-famous treaty with Spain was ending and they cherished a great hope and inward zeal of laying good foundations, or at least, of making some way towards it, for the propagation and advance of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in the remote parts of the world, even though they should be but stepping-stones to others in the performance of so great a work!

By now, you have some idea about this group of Christians that God sent to start America. They tried leaving Plymouth, England on August 5, 1620 with a second ship, the Speedwell which would stay with them in the new world but that was not part of God's plan. The 102 souls that finally left Plymouth on September 6, 1620 consisted of 41 separatists and 61 others who endured many fierce storms during the 65-day crossing! On November 11, 1620, the Mayflower was inside Cape Cod harbor and this very area where New Plymouth was to be founded was especially prepared by God. First, the tribe of Indians who had inhabited the area, was one of the most fierce in America. Nine years previously, one of the braves by the name of Squanto, was kidnapped by a ship captain, named Hunt and taken to England where he learned perfect English.

Squanto made his way back to America and found that four years before the arrival of the New Plymouth Company, Squanto's fierce tribe was eliminated by a devastating disease that scared all other Indian tribes away. When the Pilgrims arrived, the only Indian there, was Squanto who Bradford said was a special instrument, sent of God for their good, beyond their expectations. Squanto showed them how to plant their corn, where to take fish and other commodities. He stayed with them until he died in the fall of 1622. If this has brought to you a renewed interest in finding out what really transpired in the first three decades of America, you need your own copy of Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation!

It should be obvious that the founders of America came here for religious freedom that they could not have in Europe because of the Catholic Church and her daughter, the Church of England. However, when the colonies were established in America, there was no religious liberty at the beginning. If you were in Plymouth, you were not welcome unless you were a Congregationalist. In Massachusetts Bay Colony, you were not welcome unless you were a Presbyterian. In Virginia, you were not welcome unless you were an Episcopalian. On February 5, 1631, Rev. Roger Williams came to Boston and was invited to pastor the First Church in Boston which he declined because of the churches ongoing communion with the English churches. He did not want to officiate to an unseparated people. His basic argument was that the government should have no authority over the religious convictions of its citizens. His crusade became the historic fight for freedom of conscience. Williams was called to become co-pastor in Salem but the Massachusetts Court was not a little disturbed with the Salem church for ignoring their public disapproval of Williams that they brought so much pressure against them that Williams decided to spare the assembly any further harassment and removed himself out of their jurisdiction to Plymouth. Although Bradford disagreed with Williams on certain points, Bradford writes about the two years of fruitful labor among the pilgrims. At the death of the senior pastor, Williams received an invitation to return to Salem. However, once again the officials renewed their hostilities until they pronounced upon Williams the dread sentence of banishment in October, 1635. And so, in the dead of winter, Roger Williams, accompanied by a small band of loyal parishioners, entered what he would later call, "A miserable, cold, howling wilderness, without bed, bread or lead." Once again, God had prepared the way. When he was in Plymouth, he had been a faithful witness to the Indians and Massasoit took him in his cabin as he would a brother.

The following June, the Lord led Williams to a lovely tract of land near the mouth of the Moshassuck River. Here the dense forest, wild beasts and naked savages provided a protective barrier from his "Christian brothers." Williams built an altar there and called the name of the place Providence. After paying the local Indians for their land, Williams wrote a momentous compact that Henry C. Vedder comments about its far-reaching effects: Thus was founded the first government in the world, whose cornerstone was absolute religious liberty. Vedder describes Williams’s crime against the magistrates as soul liberty which they claim is a new and dangerous opinion. The Welsh-born Williams took his orders in the Church of England but his strong Puritan views led him to Boston from London where he had gained his understanding of soul-liberty from a London Baptist pastor by the name of Samuel Howe.

To be a colony in America, required a charter from England. In 1659, John Clarke, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Newport went to England to secure a Royal Charter which took a dozen years to procure. The government of Rhode Island was set up under Baptist distinctives and the government of the United States was formed and fashioned upon the model of a Baptist church. Thomas Jefferson was not a Baptist but his sister and his favorite aunt were, so he frequently attended a Baptist church near Monticello, Virginia and was much impressed with their democratic way of doing things and he concluded that their plan of government would be the best-possible one for the American colonies!

Now, getting back to the book, What Hath God Wrought, I only purchased it to see if there was anything I had missed in my outline that should be included. Dr. Grady redirected me back to the beginning of America and it is only right that we know the truth about the founding of America. The book is subtitled, "A Biblical Interpretation of American History", and it really is an eye-opener. When I bought my copy, I went to the index and went through it alphabetically and marked those places where I wanted to look at, first before reading it through. I checked 62 items, then I read the paper jacket as I always do. Here are some comments, "Contained within the pages of this volume is an enlightening commentary on God's gracious relationship with the United States of America." The esteemed patriot, Patrick Henry, declares unashamedly, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or to often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ." The words, "what hath God wrought", taken from Numbers 23:23, comprised the inaugural message, transmitted by the newly-invented electric telegraph (1835). Professor Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872), a spiritual born-again believer, wanted the Lord to receive the glory for his earthly accomplishments. However, what God wrought, Satan sought! Unbeknown to most Americans, Christians included, the devil hatched a subtle, foreign conspiracy against the democratic institutions of this land. Much of the evil in our nation today can be attributed to the ongoing-effects of this ideological intrusion. As you learn of these diabolical intrigues, it is hoped that you will rededicate yourself to both God and country in this present crisis hour!

On the back of the paper cover. Dr. Lee Robertson says, "What Hath God Wrought is a tough book. It is plain, honest, and thought-provoking. It contains no compromise, no apologies, and no vagaries".

From the Pilgrim Fathers to the Promise Keepers, this book, What Hath God Wrought, unfolds as the most fascinating American history you will ever encounter. Among other facts, you will discover who really murdered President Abraham Lincoln!

I know, when I started, it was because of the preface by Rev. Richard Wheeler in the book, Bradford's History of the Plymouth Settlement which he reprinted in 1988.

I have mentioned the truth and God gave us His Word which tells us the true history of the world from the beginning in Genesis 1:1, written by Moses, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, through the writing of The Revelation of Jesus Christ by John, again, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, near the end of the First-Century AD, over nineteen hundred years ago. God had these writers in the right places at the right times to be used by the Holy Spirit!

Then, for nearly sixteen hundred more years, the world experienced the Dark Ages where Satan was in almost total control in the name of religion.

Since the Sixteenth-Century, God has had right people in the right places at the right times and many of them were hymn writers. Satan has tried to confuse the truth, just as he has with the hundreds of different versions of the Scriptures. The Chronological Anthology of American Gospel Hymnody shows how God has had many, many men and women in the right place at the right time and we have the evidence here in the gospel messages in song!

Serving HIM thru hymns, Douglas Alvin Snow, Director of HIMknowledgey, a Ministry of Open Bible Baptist Church, Johnson City, New York, Pastor Ben Graham.