Aiden Wilson Tozer loved God. He spent his life helping others to love and pursue God. Although he never finished high school nor attended college, Tozer became an avid reader and a prolific writer. His articles and books draw readers to better understand God and to know Him more intimately.
His family moved to Akron, Ohio when he was 17. One day, walking home from work, he heard a street preacher. He couldn’t get the preacher’s suggested prayer—“Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner,”—out of his thoughts. Tozer went home and prayed for the Lord’s mercy.
He devoted himself to Bible reading and telling others about Jesus. The Christian and Missionary Alliance gave him a church to pastor. Tozer pursued God through prayer and through reading and meditating on Christian authors of the past. He then preached the truths he’d learned in his prayer closet and his study.
One night during a train ride, he felt burdened for people to know God. On the train, he wrote “The Pursuit of God.” Early in the book, he states, “To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love.” His other most popular title is “The Knowledge of the Holy.” In 1953, he assumed editorship of his denomination’s publication, “The Alliance Witness” which he held until his death in 1963.
Here are four other Tozer quotes—
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
“In every generation the number of the righteous is small. Be sure you are among them.”
“The will is the automatic pilot that keeps the soul on course.”
“He (God) does not keep office hours nor set aside periods when He will see no one.”
“Trust God in the dark until the light returns.”
“True faith rests upon the character of God and asks no further proof than the moral perfections of the One who cannot lie.”
Christian singer, Lauren Barlow, of the group BarlowGirl, wrote a book about Tozer. Inside “Inspired by Tozer,” 59 singers and authors tell how his writings drew them closer to God.
His tombstone in Akron, Ohio, says, “A.W. Tozer – A man of God.”
His gospel themes and children’s songs live on today. Thoro’s lyrics capture both the sense of deep-felt need and the internal peace of Jesus’ provision in songs like “Hide Thou Me” and “All that Thrills My Soul is Jesus.” Read his bio.
Thomas A. Dorsey (1899-1993)
When Thomas turned from a career in non-Christian music, God turned Thomas into the “Father of Gospel Music.” His two most enduring compositions, “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” and “Peace in the Valley,” were forged under difficult circumstances. Read his bio.
Andrae Crouch (1942-2015)
As a child, Andrae learned to play the piano without a single lesson. He grew up to write and sing songs that won Dove and Grammy awards. Read the stories behind his songs, “The Blood Will Never Lose its Power,” “My Tribute,” and “Through it All” in his bio.
About William E. Richardson
I’m married to a wonderful woman named Deb. We’re the parents of a son and daughter who bring great joy to our lives. I currently pastor the Assembly of God church in Afton, Iowa.
John W. Peterson was born on November 1, 1921. The prolific songwriter who would have turned 100 today is best known for writing “It Took A Miracle.” He titled his autobiography, “The Miracle Goes On.”
John experienced a number of miracles in his lifetime, including (with his older brothers) walking away from a auto accident that totaled the car when he was a child. Durng WWII, he survived flying missions over the Himalayan Mountains. The greatest miracle? As his song says, “when He saved my soul, cleansed and made me whole, it took a miracle of love and grace!”
Other popular songs John wrote include, “Surely Goodness and Mercy” “Springs of Living Water,” “Jesus is Coming Again.” “Isn’t the Love of Jesus Something Wonderful?” and “Heaven Came Down.”
Read John’s fuller bio, including the stories behind some of his songs, here.
Bill Bright was born October 19, 1921 and died July 19, 2003. For most of the years in-between, Bill served as a lessor-known powerhouse among American evangelicals.
It began with his surrender to God in 1945 in Hollywood, California, after hearing the conversion story of Saul of Tarsus.
In 1951, he branded his plan for evangelizing secular colleges as Campus Crusade for Christ.
He simplified the gospel message by writing the booklet, The Four Spiritual Laws.
He was the organizer of Explo ’72 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas.
In the second half of the 1970s, he launched the Here’s Life America campaign with the slogan, “I found it!”
Bill commissioned the 1979 film, Jesus, which is reportedly the most watched movie in the world.
Learn about Bill’s early life, the concise statements of The Four Spiritual Laws, and a more in-depth review of his influential leadership here.
Clive Staples Lewis always loved books. He spent his preteen years pulling books from the shelves in his parent’s Belfast, Ireland home, reading page after page. Stories by Arthur Conan Doyle and Mark Twain and the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow fueled his imagination. Then, Clive’s fondest memories took a jolt before his tenth birthday.
In 1908, his mother died from cancer. The Bible she presented him before dying didn’t matter to young Clive. The God he believed the Bible described wouldn’t have caused his mother’s death. As the years passed, Clive’s anger festered into bitterness. The teenage Clive Staples Lewis proclaimed himself an atheist.
He entered Magdalen College at Oxford. In late 1917, World War I interrupted his studies. He was sent to the front lines in France, arriving on his nineteenth birthday. During a battle, an exploding artillery shell injured him. Clive was transported to a hospital in England. His experience in the gruesome conflict, which took the life of his best friend, seemed to support Clive’s pessimism toward God’s existence. Life’s harsh realities without God were becoming a continual winter without Christmas.
THE FOX HUNT
Magdalen College, Oxford. Photo by Ian Yarham, licensed for reuse under creative commons licence.
After the war, Clive returned to the world of books. He concluded his studies at Oxford and accepted a teaching position there. By then he’d published his first book of poetry. He eventually discovered that some of his favorite authors were Christians. Then, two of the university’s brilliant minds whom he’d befriended acknowledged their Christian faith. One of those men, J. R. R. Tolkien, shared a love of Icelandic mythology with Clive. The atheist’s disbelief in God gradually eroded.
Years later in his spiritual autobiography, Surprised by Joy, he referred to himself as the pursued animal in an English fox hunt. He pictured himself out in the open with the pack of hounds closing in on him. Clive decided the dogs were driving him to safety. He eventually found that place of safety. He concluded in Surprised by Joy, “When we are lost in the woods, the sight of a signpost is a great matter.”
In 1929, not long after an evening walk and conversation with his Christian friends, J. R. R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson, Clive admitted God was God. But Theism is not Christianity. That came two years later while riding to the zoo on a motorcycle with his brother, Warnie. When they reached the zoo, Clive had fully accepted Jesus’ death on the cross for his sins. C. S. Lewis would never be the same. Nor would the millions of people who would read his writings.
NEW PURPOSE
The Eagle and Child. Photo by Stefan Servos (ardapedia.herr-der-ringe-film.de)
Clive began hosting weekly meetings in his home in 1933 with fellow Christian writers, including Tolkien. Calling themselves “the Inklings,” they also met Tuesday mornings at a pub called “The Eagle and Child.” They critiqued each other’s writings and shared their thoughts on a variety of topics.
Clive’s new-found faith began to grow. It informed all his thinking. He started writing books that examined, explained, and otherwise emphasized the Christian faith. For thirty years his typewriter poured out book after book that explored Christianity through apologetics, allegory, science fiction, and children’s fiction. He did all of it in a clear, crisp style to which readers could relate.
At Oxford, he helped create a forum for debating religious issues He served as its first president. Named the Socratic Club, the forum lined up atheist and Christian voices to debate their beliefs. As a result, many Oxford students became Christians.
WAGING WAR
Like Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II, C. S. Lewis used radio to encourage England’s civilians and soldiers. From 1942-1944, he gave a series of informal talks over the BBC, defining Christianity. Those talks later became the book Mere Christianity.
The year 1942 also witnessed the release of Clive’s book The Screwtape Letters. The series of letters from a senior demon training a rookie tempter sold well. The Oxford don became a well-received author and a speaker in demand.
The year after Clive’s last radio address, his book That Hideous Strength was published, completing the space trilogy that began in 1938. Almost a decade later, the book Miracles led to Clive’s faith being featured as a Time magazine cover story. The article summed up his strength of communicating Christian beliefs by saying “he has a talent for putting old-fashioned truths into a modern idiom.”
While the world outside the walls of academia read and praised Clive’s Christian books, many of his peers disapproved his zealousness. The chilly climate cost him a promotion to a professorship.
NARNIA AND CHRISTIANITY
Clive wrote prolifically in the 1950s. He published his spiritual autobiography, Surprised by Joy (1955) and his final work of fiction, Till We Have Faces (1956). The decade began with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950), which would introduce the most read-ers of all ages to C. S. Lewis. Six other books in the Narnia series followed throughout the decade.
Narnian world map . Photo by David Bedell (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 Wikimedia Commons]
The Chronicles of Narnia appeal on the surface to people of all religious persuasions. Beneath the surface of the fantastic childhood adventures, there’s something more. Each book whisks the reader off to a land visible only through the eyes of childlike faith. Belief versus unbelief is a central theme. Then there’s the key figure, Aslan. He’s a reflection of Jesus in numerous ways. (Check list of “Narnia and the Bible” sites below.)
In 1952, the book Mere Christianity began leaving its mark. The book that clearly explains the Christian faith has had an immense impact. Two individuals it led to salvation were political-power-broker-turned-religious-leader, Chuck Colson and Dominos Pizza co-founder, Tom Monaghan.
JOY AND GRIEF
In 1950, the year the reading public first discovered Narnia, Clive began receiving letters from an America woman named Joy Davidman Gresham. Two of his previous books had contributed to the former Jewish American embracing Christianity.
After her husband left her for another woman, Joy and Mr. Gresham divorced. She and her two sons, David and Douglas, moved to England in 1952. Clive developed a strong friendship with Joy, who was also a writer. Their friendship grew into love. They married in 1956.
Not long thereafter, doctors diagnosed Joy with cancer. When Clive, as a child, lost his mother to cancer, he turned against God. In his sixties, losing his wife of only four years to the same disease brought a different response. Using a pseudonym, he wrote a very frank book about his feelings of loss, titled A Grief Observed. The movie Shadowlands (1993)details his relationship with Joy.
The Kilns. Photo by jschroe.
After Joy’s passing, Clive lived for another three years. He died at his home of thirty years which he called “the Kilns.” His death occurred November 22, 1963, the same day a sniper in Dallas, Texas shot and killed President John F. Kennedy.
REMEMBERED IN BRONZE
The writings of the former atheist continue to influence each new generation. His books still speak to those both in and out of the Christian faith. In recent years, three of the Narnia books have been made into movies. Some of his writings have also appeared as stage plays and radio dramas.
Since 1998, The Searcher Centenary Statue has attracted visitors. Located in Belfast, it’s a bronze figure of Clive’s fictional character, Digory Kirke, holding onto a chair with one hand and opening a wardrobe with another.
The Searcher Centenary Statue, Belfast, Ireland. Image: butterfunk.com
These words are inscribed on the back of the wardrobe: “C.S. Lewis did not just hang clothes in a wardrobe, he hung ideas – great ideas of sacrifice, redemption, victory, and freedom for the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve – Set within the commonplace, revelation within something that looks ordinary on the outside – revelation through investigation. We should not stop looking, some of the greatest things can be found in the most ordinary of places, like a wardrobe.”
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LET ME KNOW: How has Clives’ story informed, encouraged, or otherwise helped you? I welcome your comments.
Bibliography————————————————————————————————-
Klein, Patricia S., ed. A Year With C. S. Lewis. San Francisco, CA: Harper Collins Publishers, 2003.
Mills, David, ed. The Pilgrim’s Guide: C. S. Lewis and the Art of Witness. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 1998.
Woodbridge, John D., ed. Great Leaders of the Christian Church. Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1988.
“C. S. Lewis” Christian History. Vol. 4. No. 3, 1985.
Lewis, C. S. Surprised by Joy. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1955.
(A entire album of songs based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) “Narnia: The Roar of Love – 2nd Chapter of Acts” youtube video, 36:11. Posted by EilennaElonen on March 12, 2001-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLCRYF3rvqE.
August is the only month of the year without a holiday. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a reason to celebrate. Here are six Christian leaders born in August who are worth your time.
Adoniram Judson Born AUGUST 9, 1788
Adoniram Judson [PD-1923]
Adoniram and Ann Judson pioneered missions in Burma. Theirs is a story of incredible adventure. Before their lives together began, there was the startling incident that led to his salvation experience. For the full story, read here.
William served as a member of Parliament. His Christian faith guided his crusades for moral principles. He spent his life and his health campaigning for one main cause. Read about William Wilberforce here.
The lawyer-turned-evangelist set new standards for preaching the gospel. Discover which practices he introduced that are commonly used today. Learn more about his ministry here.
Anna and her sister grew up on Constitution Island in New York. They’re buried in the West Point Cemetery. Anna’s Christian legacy is a famous children’s song she wrote. Read Anna’s story here.
When it came to writing both lyrics and music, Charles was the most prolific hymn writer of his day. I’ve included his dozen most popular songs. Find out too what he and Billy Sunday had in common. Charles’ story is found here.
Her literary output includes articles for religious periodicals and lyrics for cantatas as well as hymns. One of her hymns, which he previously requested, was sung at President McKinley’s funeral. For more about her writings, read here.
There was no trace of light that night from moon nor stars. On that coal black evening, 22-year-old Peter Marshall took a shortcut across the moors, trying to avoid a limestone quarry. Rising above the sound of a slight wind, he heard a voice call his name. Peter paused and asked who it was. Only the wind answered. So Peter continued. He again heard in a compelling tone, “Peter!” This time in stopping, he stumbled to the ground. He felt around before standing to discover that the mysterious voice had prevented him from falling to his death into the quarry.
Peter spent his life trying to understand God’s voice and to make it clear to others. He moved from his native Scotland to the United States in 1927. After graduating from seminary, he pastored churches in Georgia where his preaching filled the pews. While leading Westminister Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, he met and married Catherine Wood.
As Catherine Marshall, she would later write her husband’s biography, A Man Called Peter (which was made into a Hollywood movie in 1955) and books containing his sermons and prayers. They moved to New York, then to Washington D.C. where Peter pastored large congregations, also serving as the U.S. Senate Chaplain from 1945-1947. He became famous for his prayers that opened sessions of the Senate.
Peter died from a heart attack on January 4, 1949.
Favorite Peter Marshall quotes——————————————————–
“It’s what one does after the parade is over that counts.”
“Keep me from unkind words and from unkind silences.”
“May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.”
“God will not permit any troubles to come upon us, unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty.”
“The proof of how real Jesus knew hell to be is that He came to earth to save us from it.”
Resources———————————————————————–
` You can hear audio versions of a few of Peter’s sermons (in his strong Scottish accent) at Sermonaudio.com.
` Find clips and the full-length Hollywood movie of A Man Called Peter on YouTube.
Bibliography————————————————————————————————————–
Larsen, Timothy, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2003.
Marshall, Catherine. A Man Called Peter. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1951.
Elisha Hoffman, author of more than 2,000 hymns, wrote songs for the church in an era when most churches preferred something different from today. Yet God continues to honor the results of Elisha’s faithful service.
EDUCATION AND ENDURANCE
Elisha was born in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. Following a public education in Philadelphia, he attended Union Seminary in New Berlin. In 1868, he received ordination into the Presbyterian Church.
Like the prophet whose name he bears, Elisha was not a quitter. He pastored in Ohio, Illinois and Michigan, remaining 11 years in Cabery, Illinois followed by 33 years in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY
Elisha also worked for the Evangelical Association’s publishing house (Cleveland, Ohio) for 11 years. He edited 50 songbooks and wrote his 2,000-plus hymns. More than half a dozen of his songs remain popular today. Like their author, the songs have an enduring quality that encourages us and inspires us in our service to God.
The following information covers three of his lasting hymns, each written in a different decade of the 1800’s. I’ll describe each song, tell why it matters and examine its longevity.
“ARE YOU WASHED IN THE BLOOD?” 1878
In both evangelistic crusades and local pulpits of that day, sermons focused more directly on Jesus shedding His blood for our sins. The hymn’s opening line asks, “Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?” It goes on to remind us what should be our response to Jesus’ blood covering our sins. The second stanza asks, “Are you walking daily by the Savior’s side?” The third stanza ponders, “When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white?”
The song’s central image connects Jesus’ death for sins to the Old Testament sacrificial lamb. John the Baptist introduced Jesus as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). The apostle Peter said our salva-tion was purchased “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” ( I Peter 1:19). The song matters because it reminds us that Jesus died for our sins and that we must respond to His vicarious death.
In some religious venues, the cross is sanitized and hymns about Jesus’ blood are ignored. Elisha’s song survives today in hymn-singing churches that keep Jesus’ sacrificial death their central doctrine. It’s kept alive outside the church walls via ongoing recordings by Christian singers.
“LEANING ON THE EVERLASTING ARMS” 1887
One day Mr. Hoffman received a letter from a friend in Alabama. In the letter his friend, a music teacher named A. J. Showalter, mentioned two of the his former students, recent widowers. He told Elisha he’d tried consoling them with the words of Deuteron-omy 33:27: “The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Mr. Showalter wanted the scriptural truth turned into a hymn. He had a chorus in mind, but wanted Elisha to pen some verses. It didn’t take him long.
The song grew out of a need for internal peace amid severe circumstances. The hymn dwells on that need. It declares, “what a peace is mine” and “I have blessed peace with my Lord so near.” As with Are You Washed in the Blood? Elisha included a question in the song. He asks, as one trusting God, “What have I to dread. what have I to fear?” He captured the essence of a need in the lives of Christians everywhere in every century and decade: to seek refuge in God’s strength.
The hymn “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” has thrived within Christianity for 132 years. In the past century it’s been recorded by groups as diverse as The Sons of the Pioneers, The Jordinaires, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and David Crowder Band. Individual Christian singers who’ve recorded it include Twila Paris, David Baroni, Guy Penrod and Bart Millard of MercyMe.
It too has longevity within the broader culture. According to IMDB, Hollywood has used Leaning on the Everlasting Arms in various 20th Century films. Most recently, the tune dominated the musical score of the 2010 remake of the movie True Grit. The song is sung at the end of the film.
One day, Pastor Elisha Hoffman visited a parishioner who felt desperate from physical and emotional afflictions. She asked him, “What shall I do? What shall I do?” His answer concluded with the words, “you must tell Jesus.” “Yes,” she said, “I must tell Jesus. I must tell Jesus.” Elisha went home dwelling on those words and wrote a new song.
What I Must Tell Jesus does so well is admits our own inability to solve our problems and acknowledges our need for God’s intervention. As a statement of faith it decides to surrender “trials,” “burdens,” “distress,” “troubles,” “sorrows” and temptations to Jesus. The song matters because it states with assurance that if we ask Jesus will bear our load and help us.
In the last two decades, along with southern gospel versions, Elisha’s hymn of trusting Jesus has been recorded by Kim Boyce, Crystal Lewis and the group Virtue.
Elisha passed away in 1929 at age 90. The way God has kept his songs in the public ear and continued using them to draw people closer to Him is a great testimony to Elisha’s personal surrender to God.
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LET ME KNOW: How has Elisha’s story informed, encouraged, or otherwise helped you? I welcome your comments.
Bibliography————————————————————————————————-
Peterson, William J. and Ardyth Peterson. The Complete Book of Hymns. Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 2006.
Osbeck, Kennth. 101 More Hymn Stories. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 1985.
Moyer, Elgin S., and E. E. Cairns. The Wycliffe Biographical Dictionary of the Church, rev. ed. Chicago, Illinois: Moody Bible Institute, 1982.
Christian worship has always revolved around the most defining emblem of the faith: the cross. For twenty centuries Christians have celebrated how Jesus’ crucifixion turned a mode of capital punishment into a symbol of spiritual salvation. Our songs of faith reflect that reality. This post focuses on three enduring hymns of the church, published between the years 1700 and 1915.
Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross 1707
Today, Isaac Watts is called the “Godfather of English Hymnody.” He re-invented the church hymn. In the process, he wrote over 600 songs for the church. Song books of his day were usually the Psalms set to music. He chose to infuse his songs with more New Testament theology. He also preferred easier lyrics for the average church-goer. As in the case of When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Watts introduced personal pronouns into his titles.
Isaac Watts was a wordsmith. Along with other songs still sung today (Joy to the World, etc.) When I Survey the Wondrous Cross is full of spiritual passion with vivid images and devotional depth. It’s pace is contemplative. What happens when you really think about Jesus’ crucifixion?
According to verse one, you feel humility.
“When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.”
According to the last line in verse two, you want to surrender: “All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.” Given all that Jesus suffered for humankind, verse four reaches the only true conclusion, “Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.”
Fanny Crosby became a Christian under the influence of an Isaac Watts hymn that mentioned the cross. At the end of a church service she attended when she was 31, they sang the invitation song, Alas and Did My Savior Bleed! Her moment of surrender came during the words of the fifth verse, “Here, Lord, I give myself away.”
The results of Jesus’ crucifixion flow throughout Fanny Crosby’s poems set to music. One song specifically mentions the “cross” in it’s tile: Near the Cross.
The first and third verses are prayers. Verse one says,
Jesus, keep me near the cross, There a precious fountain— Free to all, a healing stream— Flows from Calv’ry’s mountain.
She reflects on the cross as her means of salvation. Verse two begins, “Near the cross, a trembling soul, Love and Mercy found me.” She prays in verse three, “Near the cross! O Lamb of God, Bring its scenes before me; Help me walk from day to day, With its shadows o’er me.” Verse four states her determination to remain near the cross: “Near the cross I’ll watch and wait Hoping, trusting ever, Till I reach the golden strand,
Just beyond the river.”
As with many hymns, The Old Rugged Cross was born out of personal difficulty. Evangelist George Bennard faced his struggles by going to the heart of the New Testament: John 3:16.
He spent a season of prayer and concentration on the cross. The words of his most famous hymn eventually lodged in his mind. After publishing the song describing the power of the cross, the words began finding their place in the hearts and minds of others. The Old Rugged Cross was voted America’s favorite hymn year after year from 1925-1960,
In each of the three verses, George used strong descriptions of the cross followed by his expressions of personal affinity, concluding with reasons that it means so much to a believer.
Descriptions
In verse one, he calls the cross, “The emblem of suff’ring and shame.” In verse two, he says it’s, “so despised by the world.” Verse three cuts to the reason people either accept or reject the cross: it’s “stained with blood so divine.”
Response
The place where our salvation was purchased evokes deep feelings. George represents Christians all over the world when he says (in verse one) “And I love that old cross,” (in verse two) that it “has a wondrous attraction for me,” and (in verse three), “In the old rugged cross… a wondrous beauty I see.” To the non-believer, the rugged, bloody cross is repulsive, but it’s beautiful to those who’ve embraced it’s true purpose (I Corinthians 1:18).
Reason
Each verse concludes with the sacrifice that launched our eternal salvation. The cross is where God in human form, “For a world of lost sinners was slain.” By choice, “the dear Lamb of God left His glory above, to bear it to dark Calvary.” Simply put, “on that old cross Jesus suffered and died, to pardon and sanctify me.”
The chorus shouts our unflinching loyalty to the cross:
“So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, Till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, And exchange it some day for a crown.”
Here’s a re-post about the lives of three outstanding African American song writers.
Thoro Harris (1874-1955)
His gospel themes and children’s songs live on today. Thoro’s lyrics capture both the sense of deep-felt need and the internal peace of Jesus’ provision in songs like “Hide Thou Me” and “All that Thrills My Soul is Jesus.” Read his bio.
Thomas A. Dorsey (1899-1993)
When Thomas turned from a career in non-Christian music, God turned Thomas into the “Father of Gospel Music.” His two most enduring compositions, “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” and “Peace in the Valley,” were forged under difficult circumstances. Read his bio.
Andrae Crouch (1942-2015)
As a child, Andrae learned to play the piano without a single lesson. He grew up to write and sing songs that won Dove and Grammy awards. Read the stories behind his songs, “The Blood Will Never Lose its Power,” “My Tribute,” and “Through it All” in his bio.
![Thomas Dorsey [PD-1923]](https://lights4god.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/thomas-dorsey-pd-1923.jpg?w=640)
Lights 4 God 