A Day Of Worshop

Pastor Dan Freeman led the 2:30 Church Service at the Brookdale Dining Room this afternoon. I didn't catch which Seward Church  he serves and was unable to find any reference to this name on Google. I trust that I do have his name correct. Elli played the Piano and we sang several Patriotic songs. He gave a nice patriotic sermon. I got back to listening to Rev. James Keck from First  Plymouth in Lincoln this morning. He is just an excellent Minister. His sermon was on the song, "How Great Thou Art". While the first stanza was written as a poem back in 1885 by a Swedish Minister. His poem was printed, published and he thought forgotten until he heard it some years later. Hearing the hymn in Russia, an English missionary was so moved that he wrote 3 additional stanzas based on living in the Carpathian Mountains.   The missionary Dr. Hine wrote the final  verse after returning to Great Britain.  Some time later Dr. J. Edwin Orr heard "How Great Thy Art" being sung by tribes in India and decided to bring it back to America for use in his own meetings.   When he introduced it at a Conference in California, it came to the attention of music publisher Tim Spencer who contacted Mr. Hine and had the song copyrighted.  It was published and recorded.  During the 1954 Billy Graham crusade in Harringay Arena., George Beverly Shea was given a  leaflet containing this hymn. He sang it to himself and shared it with other members of the Graham team.  Though not used in London, it was introduced the following year to audiences in Toronto.  In the New York Crusade of '57, it was sung by Beverly Shea 99 times with the choir joining the majestic refrain: 

                                   "Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee;
                                     How Great Thou Art; How Great Thou Art."