Invitation Songs
We were a three-time-a-week family. Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, Wednesday nights. It didn’t matter if we didn’t want to go, if we didn’t like something that was happening, or if it was the middle of “The Wizard of Oz” and we’d never seen the ending because it always started at 6:00 on Sunday evening and church began at 7:00.
And somewhere in all three of those services, there was an invitation song. Here are the ones I remember at the moment:
“Just As I Am” (of course)
“I Am Resolved”
“Softly and Tenderly”
“What Shall It Be?”
“O Why Not Tonight?”
“Jesus Is Tenderly Calling”
“Why Keep Jesus Waiting?”
“Out of My Bondage”
“Bring Christ Your Broken Life”
“Lord, I’m Coming Home”
“Sinners Jesus Will Receive”
I know I’m forgetting some others. But these are downloaded into my head. And many of their lyrics are powerful.
Just as I am! Thy love unknown
Has broken every barrier down;
Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
Oh, for the wonderful love he has promised,
Promised for you and for me;
Though we have sinned, he has mercy and pardon
Pardon for you and for me.
Which invitation songs have I omitted? Which ones have spoken meaningfully to you?
Well, “O Why Not Tonight” was the last straw. I was so afraid I’d die and have to go to the bad place! “There’s A Great Day Coming” was sung a lot. That refrain of “…are you ready, are you ready” was hard on a little 11 year old girl who was scared of dying.
I find Just As I Am to be most powerful as a “Lord’s Supper Song”. I know there are people who are tired of it, but the stanza you quoted is my fav, and extremely moving for me. As invitation songs go, My Stubborn Will is #1 on my list.
Not that I’ve got a stubborn will or anything.
I remember my grandmother, Maxine’s, shaky alto voice singing “Oh, sinner, come home” at the end of Softly and Tenderly. Thought she made it sound very inviting to actually go home!
I also remember that in “my day” Wonderful World of Disney started at 5 p.m. and lasted for 2 hours on Sunday night (our service started at 6). I was secretly thrilled the week I had the flu and got to see the entire 2 hours.
COME TO THE FEAST. “All things are ready, come to the feast! Come for the table now is spread; Ye famishing, ye weary, come, And thou shalt be richly fed. Hear the invitation, Come who-so-ever will; Praise God for full salvation, For who-so-ever will.” This has been speaking so powerfully to me lately that I have used it as the theme of my blog.
Even reading the words now brings back the conversation going on in my head. “Go! Step into the aisle! It’s a short walk! What if…?” I never did take the walk down the aisle like all my friends had. I waited and waited and finally on a MONDAY night woke up in a cold sweat, went and got my sister and told her I needed to be baptized. I was baptized on a Tuesday morning. Between hearing “O Why Not Tonight?” and attending a special meeting in Lubbock (“Journey to Eternity”) I was scared to death! The songs you mentioned still evoke some of those thoughts.
Nearer, still nearer, close to Thy heart,
Draw me, my Savior—so precious Thou art!
Fold me, oh, fold me close to Thy breast.
Shelter me safe in that “Haven of Rest”;
Shelter me safe in that “Haven of Rest.”
Nearer, still nearer, nothing I bring,
Naught as an offering to Jesus, my King;
Only my sinful, now contrite heart.
Grant me the cleansing Thy blood doth impart.
Grant me the cleansing Thy blood doth impart.
Nearer, still nearer, Lord, to be Thine!
Sin, with its follies, I gladly resign,
All of its pleasures, pomp and its pride,
Give me but Jesus, my Lord, crucified.
Give me but Jesus, my Lord, crucified.
Nearer, still nearer, while life shall last.
Till safe in glory my anchor is cast;
Through endless ages ever to be
Nearer, my Savior, still nearer to Thee;
Nearer, my Savior, still nearer to Thee!
I guess I was too quick on the Submit button. “Nearer, Still Nearer” was written and scored by Leila Naylor Morris in 1898. She grew up and lived all of her life just twenty miles from where I did. She obviously had a clear understanding of God’s grace… Whenever I am weary I finding myself humming her invitation song…
What’s that one about the “all-seeing eye” watching us? That one’s a bun-burner.
The one time I “went forward,” I don’t remember what song it was. I just remember being consumed with guilt over having dumped my boyfriend for somebody else. I don’t remember which invitation song was sung when I got baptized, either.
I do remember how pointless it seemed to sing “Almost Persuaded” about some poor fellow who ignored the invitation song, died (probably in a car accident on the way home from church) and was doomed to hell (“Almost… but LOST!”) My dad grew up thinking the “Sad, sad the bitter wail” part was about a marine mammal named “Sad” who was holding onto a grudge.
I really love songs like “Nearer, Still Nearer” which are just honest confessions of sin and not an attempt to guilt-trip people down the aisle.
And now I want to leave you with this question: Did you repent? FULLY repent??
over in McCrory, Ark, we used to sing one called “What will you do with Jesus?” a lot, if I’m not mistaken. “What will you do with Jesus, my friend, what will your answer be…” That’s all I can seem to remember right now. Also, “There’s a fountain free” was popular.
My current favorite is “Turn My Heart” by Lynn DeShazo. Beautiful lyrics and beautiful melody.
Turn my Heart, O Lord, like rivers of water,
Turn my heart, O Lord, by Your hand;
Till my whole life flows in the river of Your Spirit
And my name brings honor to the Lamb.
(Repeat Chorus)
Lord, I surren-der to Your work in me;
I rest my life within Your loving hands.
Turn my Heart, O Lord, like rivers of water,
Turn my heart, O Lord, by Your hand;
Till my whole life flows in the river of Your Spirit
And my name brings honor to the Lamb.
Peace.
There are many songs that pierce my heart. I can’t think of any favorite during the “invitation” but I do know this one is a deep and earnest prayer of mine, especially if the Spirit calls me out of the aisle.
Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
“Come to Jesus” and “There’s a Fountain Free” were sung often in my small church family growing up.
I’ve developed a connection over the years with the following lines:
There’s a fountain free
Tis for you and me
Let us haste, oh haste to it’s brink
Tis the fount of love
From the source above
And it bids us all freely drink
I never really appreciated those words, I think in part because I’m not crazy about the tune, but the words do have significance to me as over the years I have tried to drink from fountains other than the water Jesus has offered. Thanks for the reminder, Mike
The All Seeing Eye, by R.E. Winsett
All along on the road
to the soul’s true abode,
There’s an Eye watching you.
Every step that you take
this great Eye is awake,
There’s an Eye watching you.
Watching you, watching you,
Everyday mind the course you pursue;
Watching you, watching you,
There’s an all-seeing Eye watching you.
I think I know each one of those that you mentioned by heart–including all 38 verses of “Just as I Am”. And I am resolved that I if I ever sing “I am Resolved” again I will throw myself off of the steeple!
I’ll never forget the morning I responded…the song was “Softly and Tenderly”…and I remember parts of Daddy’s sermon being on God’s deep love for us…so deep He gave His Son.
There were other special invitation songs:
Have you been to Jesus for the clenasing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
There’s a fountain free, ’tis for you and me: Let us haste, O, haste to its brink; ‘Tis the fount of love from the Source above, And He bids us all freely drink!
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, What a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey.
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
Would you be free from the burden of sin? There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood; Would you o’er evil a victory win? There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood!…Wonderworking pow’r in the precious blood of the Lamb!
And then, as I came up out of the waters of baptism, my Grandad…as he always did…began the last verse of O Happy Day! which says:
‘Tis done, the great transaction’s done; I am my Lord’s and He is mine! He drew me and I followed on, Charmed to confess the voice divine!
“I Am Resolved” is a personal favorite of the one’s you mentioned, but I’ll also toss in “Who at My Door is Standing?” (#614 in the songbook I grew up with)
I once read a Christian humor book (an oxymoron) that included a guide for knowing “when you’re in the middle of a good old fashioned altar call,” for which the first indicator was, “If the hymn being sung begins with the word ‘Just’ or ‘Why’”
I hope this doesn’t become a time to make fun of our past. The truth is that so many of these songs have such a meaningful theology. I think this post can be great, but I also think that it can sink into the usual bashing of our past. I also grew up going everytime the doors were open. I remember relatives from out of town coming on Sunday afternoon. Dad was gracious and showed them where everything was and then told them that we would be back in about an hour or so and off we went to church. Those old songs taught me more about grace than most sermons I heard, and in the house of my youth there was no question as to priority. Nothing came before church, and it ws never presented in a legalistic way. It was just the way things happened. I knew that my dad thought that God came first. I know that many of the songs are pretty dated. I would love for someone to take some of the classic songs of the past and give them a more contemporary sound. I too never got to see Disney on Sunday night and I really missed the shows on Wednesday, but In looking back I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I was taught that something transended all else in terms of importance.
Prepare to Meet Thy God or Careless Soul. Man, that all seeing EYE song used to scared the life out of me. Just reading the words again here has made me draw up in a knot!
I’m with Tedd, those songs scared me to death and do NOT bring back fond memories. For a tradition that prides itself as being logical rather than emotional (at least, my experience of the CoC), I found the “song of invitation” to be emotionally-manipulative, even as a child.
Amen Richard! I wouldn’t trade it for the world! I love the old songs, we still sing them and I’m so thankful! We have a good mix of old and new songs. Personally, I don’t want to see people performing in worship~~it takes my mind off my personal worship. I can’t seem to concentrate. I’m not arguing here if it’s right or wrong. I don’t think we are at church on Sunday to be entertained. Hope I don’t get bashed, just my personal opinion. Our kids need to be reminded of these “old” songs, there is alot of substance~~
P.S. I’m only 37
Lee
O Heart Bowed Down With Sorrow is one I remember, although I remember them all. I remember missing Disney and everything else (that is until the church in Toronto where my dad was an elder decided to end – yes end – Sunday PM services in favor of a lunch plus afternoon devotional format! People had to travel from all over the city to get there and people were voting with their feet. I was free!) I do not remember much of anything learned on a Sunday PM service. I do not remember learning anything that transcended all else. The stuff I remember transcending all else came from family, Christian friends, and the Christian college experience later… Maybe I’m not alone….
I went forward on “O, Why Not Tonight?” I tried with all my might to resist the urge, gripping the seat in front of me with all my strength, but my scrawny frame was no match for such lyrics as:
Tomorrow’s sun may never rise
To bless thy long deluded sight;
This is the time, O then be wise,
Be saved, O tonight.
Man, I still get chills!
Funny story about that Sunday night so long ago. Elvis Huffard was conducting a meeting at our little church, and I would really have liked for him to baptize me (he had baptized my mom many years earlier). But, alas, Bro. Huffard had been at my dad’s farm that Sunday afternoon, had fallen off a horse and hurt his back. He couldn’t get down into the water, so our “regular” preacher did the honors. Bummer.
Oh, one more thing. When you do a search for “O Why Not Tonight?” you get some pretty weird stuff that pops up. Be careful…
From days gone by I remember:
God is calling the prodigal: Come without delay
Hear, O hear Him calling, Calling now for thee
Tho’ You’ve wandered so far from His presence, come today
Hear His loving voice calling still
Calling now for thee
O weary prodigal come
Calling now for thee
O weary prodigal, come
Patient, loving and tenderly still the Father pleads
Hear, O hear Him calling, Calling now for thee
O return while the Sporit in mercy intercedes
Hear His loving voice calling still
Come, there’s bread in the house of thy Father, and to spare
Hear, O hear Him calling, Calling now for thee
Lo! the table is spread and the feast is waiting there
Hear His loving voice calling still
Is anybody writing any new hymns these days? In any Christian tradition?
wistful qb
“The Great Physician now is near, the sympathizing Jesus”
well I was beaten to There’s a Fountain Free. I also remember singing those nautical songs a lot. Like “Throw out the lifeline”. There were others in that your gonna drown if we don’t get you in the water style.
an unamed evangelist ruined “Just As I Am” when at youth rallies he would bully the kids and sometime’s parents into feeling digusting enough to want to “come forward”. I had to read these songs like poetry before falling in love with them again.
My favorite new song is “untitled hymn” by Chris Rice. Heard it at one of our CC brothers churches, it melted some barriers.
I can’t sing There’s a Fountain Free without smiling and laughing, especially if I am worshipping with my dad. You see, I would sing at the top of my lungs, (when I was young of course). But instead of singing “Will you come to the fountain free? Will you come? tis for you and me; Thirsty soul,” I would sing, Thirsty frog!!!! at the top of my lungs. I guess as a child I didn’t know what a soul was but I sure knew what a frog was and it could be thirsty!!!
I have some good friends who, 20 years ago, were trying to conceive and were experiencing some difficulty… They were never able to sing “Let the Lower Lights be Burning” without cracking up…
Let the lower lights be burning!
Send a gleam across the wave!
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save.
I went forward during my father’s leading of “There’s a Fountain Free.” Then he baptized me. What I wouldn’t give to hear him sing it again.
I remember lectureship in Searcy (mid-1980s) and singing about 25 verses of “Just as I Am”, all the while hoping my “date” wouldn’t go forward!
That was always a sure sign it would be a short date.
Luckily, I’ve matured since then!
In about the second grade, my parents decided that I couldn’t go to the restroom or get a drink of water in the middle of church anymore — I had to wait until church was over. This was usually OK unless it was a hot, West Texas Sunday and the invitation song was “There’s a Fountain Free.” There was a water fountain in the foyer of our church (14th and Main, Big Spring, TX) that dispensed the coldest, wettest water you ever tasted. It was hard not to think about it while singing:
There’s a fountain free
Tis for you and me
Let us haste, oh haste to its brink
Tis the fount of love
From the source above
And it bids us all freely drink
I wasn’t thinking at all about Christ’s redeeming power. Every cell is my body was dying for a drink from that freestanding Halsey-Taylor in the foyer. I remember sticking one foot out in the aisle so I could run back there and take a long, gulping drink as soon as the closing prayer was over. A lot of those old songs are very moving and have a lot of meaning for me, but “There’s a Fountain Free” just makes me thirsty.
Just read the comments quickly. Wow — what significant memories! Especially around the sound “There’s a Fountain Free.” Keep ‘em coming!
Lee wrote: “Personally, I don’t want to see people performing in worship…”
Most CoC folks say this, yet critique the “performance” of the public speaking skills of ministers all the time. I find it quite ironic how “performing” by trained singers is frowned upon, but singing “Just As I Am” until the congregation turns blue and someone comes forward (now, let’s sing the third verse again, this time REALLY soft, etc.) is acceptable.
If you think about it, it’s all a performance. Now whether or not it’s all for God can be debated…
“Untitled Hymm” by Chris Rice is going to be my funeral song some day. (We didn’t do ‘Invitation Songs’ in the Catholic Church & I really don’t have much of an opinion about them now.)
I am just thankful that somebody removed the Bomb in Gilead that I was so nervous about as a kid growing up. It always confused me how a bomb could heal a sin-sick soul!
Kill it, yes………but heal it?
DU
I’ve had fun perusing a copy of Great Songs of the Church this morning instead of all the other things I should have been doing.
I ran across the song Come, Ye Sinners which I became familiar with several years ago through the music of Fernando Ortega. I don’t remember singing it growing up, but I like the words:
Come, ye sinners, poor and needy, week and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you, pull of pity, love and pow’r:
He is able, He is able, He is willing: doubt no more;
He is able, He is able, He is willing: doubt no more.
Let no sense of sin prevent you, nor of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness He requireth is to feel your need of him.
He is able, He is able, He is willing: doubt no more;
He is able, He is able, He is willing: doubt no more.
Does anyone remember singing it? My husband has led it recently but it seemed new to most in our congregation.
I, too, love There’s a Fountain Free but for very different reasons than anyone has said here. About ten years ago and in the midst of much discussion about gender justice in the Church of Christ, I heard this song and I fell in love with it all over again.
There’s a fountain free
tis for you and me
let us haste, o haste to its brink
tis the fount of love
from the source above
and he bids us all freely drink
Will you come to the fountain free?
Will you come?
tis for you and me
Thirsty soul, hear the welcome call
Tis a fountain opened for all
There’s a rock that’s cleft
and no soul is left
that may not its pure waters share
tis for you and me
and its stream I see
Let us hasten joyfully there
Will you come to the fountain free
Will you come?
tis for you and me
Thirsty soul, hear the welcome call
tis a fountain opened for all
These words still speak powerfully to me.
My favorite was singing “Oh Why Not Tonight” on Sunday morning. Doh!!!!!
“On Zion’s Glorious Summit Stood” is such a great song of worship.
I’d like to hear it turned into an invitation song. A poet could preach the message of Revelation and then zero in on those words, “I heard the song and strove to join.” Isn’t that what happens to us?
As a kid, too many episodes of “Popeye” left me wondering why Sweet-Pea needed to know that the tones were falling. So by the time I got that one, it was ruined.
I Surrender All.
Almost Persuaded. Whew!
At Even’ when the Sun was Set
Jesus, Keep me Near the Cross
Who at the Door is Standing?
LOVE them, and have to be deliberate in teaching them to the kids, cause NOBODY sings them.
I really enjoyed Sting’s version of “The All Seeing Eye.”
Your comments included a song with special meaning to me. On Sunday night, August 8, 1948, at the beginning of the second verse of “Out Of My Bondage,” I stepped into the aisle and responded for baptism.
Thanks for stirring my old cells …
Winston Hamby –
(Deana Nall’s dad) …
How about this one?
“O, heart bowed down with sorrow! O eyes that long for sight!
There’s gladness in believing; In Jesus there is light.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
Other stanzas:
“Divinest consolation doth Christ the healer give;
Art thou in condemnation? Believe, repent and live.
His peace is like a river, His love is like a song;
His yoke’s a burden never; ‘Tis easy all day long.”
Great to see you again, Mike. I miss your sermons.
You mentioned that it didn’t matter if Wizard of Oz was on or not…
I remember a few times during my 3x a week lifestyle that put my out in the middle of Wizard of Oz – the hairy weather and tornados part! (And I was sure that the mean old lady in the front pew was the Wicked Witch of the West…
A distant cousin of mine grew up believing that Jesus was a black man because he sang “Just a little chocolate Jesus” a lot at his church. I can’t help but smile when that song is sung.
By the way I wrote a hymn years ago. It has been in a trunk since 1971. Indulge me as I share the words … It was 3 a.m. and I could not sleep. I read Psalm 71 and God gave to me the following to share with you:
O God, incline Thine ear to me,
I seek Thy Holy way;
Thou art my fortress and my rock,
Deliver me I pray.
My mouth will praise Thy Holy name,
Thy truth my lips shall sing;
My tongue shall speak Thy Holy Word
My Master and my King.
O Lord, my trust I place in Thee,
My soul shall never stray;
Thou art my faith, my hope, my love,
My Guide unto that day …
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
Bless His Holy name.
Amen …
I realize that these verses are written with an influence from the King James Translation. Most of my early Bible study was all KJV.
Now I am 70 and have learned to study for the most part from the NIV and other translations. I still prefer the KJV when in poetic mode … May God bless all of you …
Richard and Lee – I’m with you about some of the old songs. My son-in-law (who became a Christian in college) talks about how the old songs connect us with part of our past and I like that. When I sing those “old” songs not only do I think about the moving words, but I also think about how my grandparents and great grandparents sang some of those same songs and I feel the sense of “community in Christ” in a whole new way.
I was probably much more critical of that past in my earlier years, like some of those here have been, but now I am able to see the beauty in those words and images.