ClassMusicMICHAELsne: Jimmy Swaggart Biography and songs

Music Is Life, When Words Fail Music Speaks.

LYRICS TO:" IT'S BEGINNING TO RAIN"! (AS SUNG BY JIMMY SWAGGART AND HIS CRUSADE TEAM, FROM THE ALBUM OF THE SAME NAME) It's beginning to rai-ai-ain-hear the the voice of my father- He's saying who so ever will, come and drink of my water- He's promised to pour his spirit out, on your sons and your daughters- If your thisty and dry, look up to the sky, it's beginning to rain!

The turtle doves are singing sweet songs of morning- The leaves on the trees turn their silver cups to the sky- The silent clouds above are beginning to gather- The barren land is thirsty,and so am I! It's beginning to rain- hear the voice of my Father - He's saying who so ever will, come drink of my water- He's promised to pour his spirit out, on your sons and your daughters- If your thisty and dry, look up to the sky, it's beginning to rain! At that first drop of rain that you start to hear,throw open the windows- Call all your children together, and throw wide the door! When the rains of the spirit are starting to fall, fill every vessal- He who drinks his fill, will thirst no more! It's beginning to rain- hear the voice of my Father- He's saying who so ever will come and drink of my water! He's promised! To pour his spirit out, on your sons and your daughters! Listen to me now! If your thirsty and dry look up to the sky! If your thirsty and dry look up to the sky! If your thirsty and dry, look up to the sky! It's beginning to rain! praise God! OUI?

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Jimmy Swaggart Biography and songs

Jimmy Swaggart Biography
• Pentecostal evangelist. Born March 15, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana.
• He was the first child born to sharecroppers Minnie and W.L. Swaggart, who were fervent participants in the local Assemblies of God congregation.
• Throughout his teens, Swaggart and his cousin Jerry Lee Lewis rebelled from their religious environment by frequenting local rhythm and blues clubs, where they quickly gained reputations for their piano playing ability.
• Over the next few years, Swaggart struggled with the demands of his family's fundamentalist Pentecostal faith and his love for music.
• Swaggart abandoned his pursuit of a musical career, deciding instead to dedicate his life to the church. In 1952, he joined his father's newly formed ministry, where he met and married fellow parishioner Frances Anderson. After joining a group of itinerant preachers, the couple spent the next few years traveling throughout the South.
• In 1962, with the help of the now-famous Lewis, Swaggart recorded the gospel album God Took Away My Yesterdays. Impressive record sales coupled with a growing congregation influenced Swaggart to form his own record label. With annual recordings that included the bestselling albums This Is Just What Heaven Means to Me and There Is a River, he continued to draw larger and more diverse audiences.
• In 1968, Swaggart moved to Baton Rogue, where he launched a national radio program called The Camp Meeting Hour. By the late 1970s, The Camp Meeting Hour was broadcast on 650 radio stations while Swaggart continued to lead revivals with audiences estimated in the thousands. Swaggart's success on radio inspired him to try his hand at the much more lucrative medium of television. Featuring fiery rhetoric and extremist ideology, The Jimmy Swaggart Telecast premiered on Jim and Tammy Bakker's fledgling PTL Network in the mid-1970s. The show reached and audience of two million, becoming the highest rated religious program in America.
• At the height of his popularity, Swaggart was a celebrity in the gospel circuit, with a lavish lifestyle to match. With contributions from his loyal parishioners, Swaggart was able to finance a Bible college, printing plant, recording studio, television production center, and church sanctuary, as well as a $2.5 million estate that housed his fleet of expensive cars and private jets.
• Swaggart's empire began to unravel in 1987, when the national spotlight fell on his adulterous affairs with various prostitutes. As sufficient evidence of Swaggart's numerous sexual liaisons surfaced, the Assemblies of God striped him of his ministerial credentials. Despite a tearful confession to his family and congregation, his immediate attempts to escape ridicule and rebuild the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries proved to be in vain.
• Swaggart has since reestablished himself as a minister. With his son Donnie, he maintains a smaller congregation at the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge.
Extract from: http://www.biography.com/articles/Jimmy-Swaggart-9542403