August 13, 1908
Death of Ira Sankey, 68.
He was Dwight Moody’s song evangelist from 1870. During their revival crusades, Sankey penned many hymn tunes, of which the most enduring today are HIDING IN THEE (“O Safe to the Rock that is Higher than I“) and SANKEY (“Faith is the Victory“).
Having read the above from an enewsletter I receive, I was reminded of the following by John MacArthur, published the Christian Research Journal, Volume 23, #2. This is a great article on the relative merits of classical hymnody, revival songs, and contemporary music.
The Misadventures of Captain Headknowledge 
Oh you stuffy, old time religion, baptist you… Music is great in any form don’t you think? (;
I do however, think that if the Church is going to have music it should incorporate the greatness that is U2 into the modern hymnbook, or purple praise book,or overheads, or just stuff on a big screen, or whatever the teenage praise band knows… need I go on?
Well, at least they’re finally getting around to covering U2 on X-tian top-40 radio! It’s just a matter of time.
Gimme that old-time religion–you know, more old-time than revivalism.
So, did you read the MacArthur article? It’s a great read! He wrote that after having researched a few hymns to produce that series of books on hymns with Joni Earikson Tada, and the Wolgemuths. I have one of the books, and they even include a CD of Joni and John and the Wolgemuths (that spelling just doesn’t look right!) singing the hymns along with the Master’s Seminary choir.
Pretty surrreal, man! No really, it’s decent. But I haven’t heard them play it on X-tian top 40 yet!
You know I heard on KLTY the other day, (NO, I normally don’t listen to it), but I heard a cover tune of Sting’s song, “If I ever lose my faith in you”. Here are the lyrics-
You could say I lost my faith in science and progress
You could say I lost my belief in the holy church
You could say I lost my sense of direction
You could say all of this and worse, but
If I ever lose my faith in you
There’d be nothing left for me to do
Some would say I was a lost man in a lost world
You could say I lost my faith in the people on TV
You could say I’d lost my belief in our politicians
They all seemed like game show hosts to me
If I ever lose my faith in you
There’d be nothing left for me to do
I could be lost inside their lies without a trace
But every time I close my eyes I see your face
I never saw no miracle of science
That didn’t go from a blessing to a curse
I never saw no military solution
That didn’t always end up as something worse, but
Let me say this first
If I ever lose my faith in you
There’d be nothing left for me to do
How in the world, could a supposed Christian artist remake this as a “Christian” song? What about this song is Christian?
I read MacArthur, he’s great. That stuff sounds good.
Covering this song as a Christian hit is simple, it’s got all the necessary ingredients:
1) It features a word frequently heard at church, “faith,” “church,” “lost,” “belief,” “miracle,” “blessing,” “curse.”
2) It’s “family friendly,” which means there’s no cussing, no sex, violence or Satanism.
good pt.