Hugh's News & Commentary

I received the following e-mail on Friday, December 3, 2010, from Michael Russell, pastor of Calvary P. H. Church in Ada, OK:

Dr. Morgan,

I appreciate your efforts with Hugh's News. Your newsletter is informative and encouraging, and I enjoy reading each one.

I thought you might be blessed to know the result of one of your newsletters.

I pastor the Calvary Pentecostal Holiness Church in Ada, Oklahoma (my second pastorate), and have been here for ten months. We are blessed to have many wonderfully talented musicians and singers in the southern gospel tradition, and we have some lively worship. But while my wife sings and plays the piano, I do not because I cannot. At least not well enough to be heard. Many of the singers and musicians have jokingly tried to get me to sing a special, but I have resisted. Until recently.

We had a 5th Sunday Singing at the end of October, and again several singers made good natured comments about me singing. I was enjoying all the good music and got caught up in the service, and told them when we we had 100 people in service on a Sunday morning, I would sing. We have grown in attendance a little each month since I've been here, but we were still averaging in the mid 70s. I thought that would give me plenty of time to get ready, or leave the country. What I failed to remember was that we had our church Thanksgiving Dinner coming up, and I did not realize how everyone would embrace the challenge. All week long people kept calling to tell me about their family members who would be coming to church . . . and telling me to get ready. So I had to find a song.

I have cassette tape from the Muse Memorial Lectures at Southwestern that my wife's aunt gave me years ago. I think the tape is from the 80s. On it is Dr. Leroy Baker leading the congregation in "God's Got An Army." I have always loved the song, and often wanted to type out the words. So when you published the words to the song in your newsletter awhile back, I saved them, intending to give the words to someone to learn. When I realized that I needed a song, that one came to mind. So I printed the words and sang along with Dr. Baker a few times, and prayed for the best.

On the Sunday of our dinner, praise the Lord we had 137 people in service. So my wife led the singers and congregation in the chorus, and with great fear in my heart, I sang the verses. It went well in that everyone enjoyed the song and really loved the words and worship. They were also very gracious and really got behind me.

From a performance standpoint, though, it certainly could have been better. We started off a little faster than Dr. Baker sang on the tape, and we actually kept getting faster. Our normal drummer was not there, and the man who filled in got excited in worship and sped up a little each verse. So by the third verse it was all I could do to say the words, much less sing them. One of our young men commented that I was almost "rapping."  But everyone loved it.

We plan to use the whole song again, but this time with someone different leading.

I just wanted you to know how Dr. Baker's song, and your publishing of it, helped me through a frightening time and gave our church great joy.

Thank you again for you efforts in the body of Christ.

May the Lord bless you and yours,

Michael Russell

[Editor's Note: I love stories like this one that Pastor Michel Russell has shared with us. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. "God's Got an Army" is one of my favorite songs. No one can sing it like Leroy Baker. He wrote the words and the music. Apparently, Pastor Russell is making every effort to catch up.

 Pastor Michel Russell's story has greatly encouraged me to keep on keeping on with publishing Hugh's News. I hope that at lest 50 of his members will subscribe to Hugh's News. It's easy to do. Click on the button that reads Subscribe. It will lead you to another window that will ask only two questions: your name and your e-mail address.]