The song we sang this past Sunday in worship was one of the first congregational songs I ever wrote. ”Come Lord Jesus, Come!” was born during a men’s prayer meeting at Family Fare Restaurant. This doesn’t happen often to me, when a phrase or melody drops on my head in a moment of inspiration. Usually songwriting for me involves hacking away on an acoustic guitar, trying this or that chord along with this or that possible word or phrase.
I don’t remember what brought the lyrical and musical idea to mind – I can assure you it wasn’t the inspiration that comes from being in the presence of Guy Borghi, Steve Erk or Tom Eckman (although certainly these men inspire, just not usually in musical ways.) The chorus of the song came first and resonated from Revelation 22:20 – “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” I scrambled home after scrambled eggs and took out an old tape recorder and captured the idea. A few weeks later, after some time spent hacking away with chords and lyrical phrases, the song emerged.
Here is a demo of the song and the lyrics as we sang them on Sunday:
Doug, was that before or after your haircut; since that was the normal order of things in those days?
Thank you, precious Brother, for sharing this memory with us. Our Lord has certainly used you to bless us over and over. Keep on keeping on!
Doug, I was so happy that we sang this song on Sunday. I have always loved it and even though it’s one of your early ones it’s still one of my favorites. You can bring it back on a Sunday morning anytime.
Loved the demo! I think it has a lot more content than the “Everybody Donut” you released a few weeks ago. Seriously, this is a song that inspires my heart to love the Lord and await His return. Thanks for writing it.
Still one of my favorites brother. Maybe a version on the new project? We’ll talk.