April 26, 2005

Have faith in God –
O unseen friends of ours;
Have faith in God –
In sunshine and in showers;
Have faith in God –
Through all these earthly hours.
Have faith, dear friend, in God.

Because He Lives

Gloria Gaither, 1942-
William Gaither, 1936- 

    We wrote Because He Lives after a period of time when we had had a kind of dry spell and had not written any songs for a while. Also, at the end of the 1960's, our country was going through some great turmoil with the height of the drug culture, and the whole "God is Dead" theory was running wild in our country. Also, it was the peak of the Vietnam war. During that time our little son was born -- at least Gloria was expecting him. I can remember at the time we thought, "Brother, this is really a poor time to bring a child into the world." At times we were even quiet discouraged by the whole thing. And then Benjy did come. We had two little girls whom we love very much, but this was our first son, and so that lyric came to us, "How sweet to hold our new-born baby and feel the pride and joy he gives, but better still the calm assurance that this child can face uncertain days because Christ lives." And it gave us the courage to say, "Because Christ lives we can face tomorrow" and keep our heads high. ~ Bill Gaither

God sent his son, they called him Jesus.
He came to love, heal and forgive.
He bled and died, to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

How sweet to hold a new born baby;
And feel the pride and joy he gives. 
But better still the calm assurance
That child can face uncertain days because he lives.

And then one day I'll cross the river;
I'll fight life's final war with pain;
And then as death gives way to victory,
I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know he lives.

Chorus:
Because he lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because he lives, all fear is gone.
Because I know he holds the future,
My life is worth the living just because he lives.

Have Faith in God by H.M.S. Richards, Used by Permission