Hymns: 1990 Memories

Hymns published in 1990 include the following:

We Are Marching in the Light of God became popular in North America in 1990, but this South African Zulu song goes back much further. 1990 in South Africa saw the official start of the process of ending Apartheid. Nelson Mandela was freed in February 1990.

I was more into older hymns back in 1990. Here are some that I was introduced to around that time.

On my way up to Belfast for the Baptist Union AGM, I glanced out of our coach in heavy Dublin traffic, and there, in the coach alongside us was the Irish soccer team with Paul McGrath glancing in at us! 1990 also had all the hype surrounding the election of Mary Robinson as President of Ireland. It represented a shift to more progressive values.

1990 was the first time I heard of Willow Creek Community Church in the USA. Everyone in my circles was quite negative about it, including me. Though the megachurch movement experienced astounding growth, it was felt that such growth relied too much on worldly marketing, using entertainment, promising favours to people, and generally dumbing things down. To alter an old A.C. Dixon quote, my thinking was:

When we rely on business strategy, we get what business strategy can do;
When we rely on love bombing; we get what love bombing can do;
When we rely on entertainment, we get what entertainment can do;
When we rely on marketing, we get what marketing can do;
When we rely on preaching the gospel and prayer, we get what God can do.

Not everyone was against such churches. It was argued that churches should be friendly for seekers and shouldn’t be so out of step with modern culture. But then again, I wasn’t convinced that people wanted churches to be trendy. For example, I like pop music, but when I go to church, I like traditional services. I sometimes compare it to Christmas. If you walk by carol singers, would you prefer them to sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing to the traditional tune, or a modern trendy version of it with a rapper thrown in?

In the 1990s, people argued that with postmodernism rampant, we need to shift away from proclaiming truth and win people by “love”. In other words, people will come to church if the music is cool, if everyone is nice to them and does them favours. But I don’t think that people have much respect for people who seek to grow their church, sect, or cult in this way. Of course, we should be nice, and in any community, people will make friends. But I hate hearing all that in the context of some sort of clever business strategy. We get enough of that in the corporate world of work. But that’s just me. Not everyone is like me.

Everything nowadays seems very “Willow Creeky.” But then again, just because a church has a corporate modern brand or flavour doesn’t mean that the people attending are all superficial Christians. Over the years, I’ve visited many different evangelical churches, and when I meet average members of the congregation, they’re all quite pleasant really, whether it’s a trendy church or an old-fashioned church. In some cases, they mightn’t even have bought into the culture of the church. They might be just grinning and bearing it 😀. And of course, the New Testament doesn’t endorse a 1980s or 1880s church over a 2020s church. Evangelicals are usually a few decades behind mainstream culture. Maybe we’re a bit cautious and suspicious of change. Nonetheless, evangelical churches still have a more modern feel than other churches. Megachurches seem to be riddled with scandals. Maybe leaders with a can-do attitude can go astray and use that can-do attitude in the wrong way. Maybe it would be much better if everyone was as passive and as lazy as me. But then you’d only have micro churches 😀.

A highlight of 1990 was spending a week in June in the Irish Baptist College, which at that time was located in Sandown Road, East Belfast. We were basically studying history and theology specifically related to Irish Baptists. As well as making new friends, it gave me the opportunity to supplement my Evangelical Movement of Wales training.

From 1990, as part of my work, I spent a couple of weeks every year visiting Baptist churches, mainly in the North of Ireland, telling them about our work in Limerick. In 1990, I spoke at the following churches:

• Magherafelt Baptist Church founded in 1926
• Stonepark Baptist Church founded in 1956
• Ballycrochan Baptist Church – founded in 1983 – this visit included some others from Limerick, including some of our recent converts
• Larne Baptist Church founded in 1955
• Antrim Baptist Church founded in 1970
• Great Victoria Street Baptist Church, Belfast founded in 1847
• Ballykeel Baptist Church founded in 1896
• Letterkenny Baptist Church (In the Republic) founded in 1978
• Rathcoole Baptist Church founded in 1951
• Glengormley Baptist Church founded in 1932
• Sion Mills Baptist Church founded in 1976

It was a bit nerve-wracking speaking in large churches, but everyone was very friendly and hospitable. I do have very fond memories of these visits, and I do like to remember these churches and to pray for them. They always had a keen interest in our work in Limerick and in missionary work in general. I’m getting more interested in the history of churches, which is why I like to add the dates.

And I spoke in a few churches in the Republic too:

• Waterford Baptist Church (In the Republic) founded in 1650
• Mallow Street Christian Fellowship (Limerick) founded between 1850 and 1880
• Limerick Baptist Church (My own church) founded in 1895

Other memories include:

• Word Alive exhibition in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. RTE archives includes a similar exhibition in Dublin in 1987. A big selling point was the Bible on computer; an £8,000 computer. Great that we have all that on our smartphones nowadays
• Having Herbert Carson at my house for lunch and tea
• Meeting Frank Hogan (John 3:7) for the first time in the People’s Park Limerick
• Starting a Youth Club for the older young people in Limerick Baptist
• Seeing Ian Paisley preaching at an open-air gospel meeting outside Belfast city hall – I saw Gerry Adams through the side door while walking past Ballyphehane Community Centre two years earlier. Funnily enough, any Northern Catholics that I met seemed to have an affection for Paisley. They do say that he was good to them at an individual level, but maybe also, people thought his bark was worse than his bite.
• Trying to learn Greek and Hebrew – never did
• Working on a Limerick Baptist Church exhibit at the Limerick Spring Fair and being interviewed on Clare FM radio – I think I met politician, Des O’Malley there too
• Learning to drive
• A long rail holiday in the UK, where we visited Oxford, Winchester, Windsor, Cambridge, Cornwall, the Isle of Skye, York, Chester and a whole lot of other places, staying mainly at youth hostels
• At Christmas, capitalizing on Cliff Richard’s Christmas hit Saviour’s Day by producing and distributing leaflets on the theme

Following the controversial Like a Prayer by Madonna in 1989, 1990 saw two hits with prayer in the title; Pray by MC Hammer and Praying for Time by George Michael. It’s a little indication of how prayer still looms large in popular culture. Loads of songs have pray or prayer in the title. For example, consider the following:

• Save a Prayer – Duran Duran
• Livin’ on a Prayer – Bon Jovi
• I Say a Little Prayer – Aretha Franklin
• Pray – Take That
• The Prayer – Celine Dion & Andrea Bocelli

These all aren’t necessarily spiritual songs, but the fact that God is only a prayer away makes me hopeful that every person will reach out to him at some point in their lives and repent and trust in him.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning From a Distance.

I struggle to understand the meaning of the lyrics. Perhaps it’s thinking of how things could be in theory – like Queen’s Heaven for Everyone or even Imagine by John Lennon.

From an evangelical perspective, perhaps the way I can interpret it is to consider that whatever struggles occur now, God will ultimately work all things out for the good of those who love him. It’s a little like the Beatles’ Let it Be, where Paul McCartney writes about his own mother’s voice echoing through his mind in times of trouble:

When I find myself in times of trouble,
Mother Mary comes to me,
Speaking words of wisdom,
Let it be

I can see how family and friends have have a positive influence on us, even when they’re long gone (think of U2’s Iris (Hold me Close)). But, however much Paul McCartney’s memory of his mother had a calming effect, knowing that God is in control really does help to quell our fears.

Rom 8:28
²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Finally, here’s some music, events, and films/TV shows that would have formed the background to 1990. I don’t necessarily endorse all the songs or films😀, but thinking of them takes me back to 1990.

10 Songs

• Nothing Compares 2 U​ – Sinead O’Connor
• I Wish It Would Rain Down​ – Phil Collins
• Dub Be Good To Me​ – Beats International
• Enjoy The Silence​ – Depeche Mode
• The Power​ – Snap
• Step On​ – Happy Mondays
• Better The Devil You Know – Kylie Minogue​
• Put them under pressure – Republic of Ireland Football Team
• Nessun Dorma​ – Luciano Pavarotti
• Praying For Time – George Michael​

10 Events

• Mary Robinson Elected President
• Ireland Qualified for the World Cup
• IRA Proxy Bomb Attacks
• Margaret Thatcher Resigns
• Nelson Mandela Freed
• Germany Reunified
• Iraq Invades Kuwait
• Irish Presidential Campaign Scandal
• Lech Wałęsa Elected President of Poland
• John Major Becomes UK Prime Minister

10 Films or TV Shows

• Dances with Wolves
• Home Alone
• Pretty Woman
• Total Recall
• The Hunt for Red October
• Edward Scissorhands
• Mr. Bean
• Keeping Up Appearances
• Jeeves and Wooster
• Twin Peaks

10 Famous People Who Passed Away

• Greta Garbo – Swedish-American film legend, starred in Anna Karenina and
• Ava Gardner – Hollywood icon known for The Barefoot Contessa and On the Beach
• Rex Harrison – English actor, famed for My Fair Lady
• Jim Henson – Creator of The Muppets, revolutionized puppetry and children’s television
• Stevie Ray Vaughan – Virtuoso blues guitarist, tragically died in a helicopter crash
• Sammy Davis Jr. – Member of the Rat Pack, singer of The Candy Man
• Leonard Bernstein – Composer of West Side Story, conductor and educator
• Del Shannon – Rock musician known for Runaway, died by suicide
• Roald Dahl – Beloved children’s author of Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• B. F. Skinner – Pioneering psychologist and behaviorist