Andraé Crouch
Andraé Crouch
If Heaven Was Never Promised to Me
by
Andraé Crouch
You may ask me why I serve the Lord,
Is it just for heaven’s gain.
Or to walk those mighty streets of gold,
And to hear the angels sing.
Is it just to drink from the fountain,
That never shall run dry.
Or just to live forever, ever, and ever,
In that sweet, sweet bye and bye.
Chorus:
But if heaven never was promised to me,
Neither God’s promise to live eternally.
It’s been worth just having the Lord in my life.
Living in a world of darkness,
You came along and brought me the light.
If there were never any streets of gold,
Neither a land where we’ll never grow old,
It’s been worth just having the Lord in my life.
You’ve been my closest friend down through the years,
And every time I cry You dry my tears.
It’s been worth just having the Lord in my life.
Living in a world of darkness,
living in a world of darkness,
You came along and brought me the light.
I imagine most of you, who open this article, will have no idea who Andraé Crouch was; and may well not bother to read the above lyrics or make it to this paragraph – that is okay. I am exercising the privilege of editorship, and stopping to mark the passing of the last vestige of the faith, of my youth.
I remember the first time I heard Andraé Crouch; I was in fifth grade, in Winslow Arizona, at a friend’s house, who put on one of his albums. Up to that point, it was not that I had grown up on hymns, which I still love; but it was that hymns and “corritos” were all there was, in terms of Christian music. As I heard Andraé I thought there is something different about this music, and there was. Andraé was a musician, lyrist, singer, he was contemporary, joyful, and he was anointed!
Throughout the 1970’s, Andraé was the go to albums for all parties and prayer meetings, including our Missionettes slumber parties in Hilo, Hawaii, circa 1973-1974, where we would put on his album, Andraé Crouch Live at Carnegie Hall, the only record of his we owned, and play it over and over again, singing, praising God, and joyfully celebrating as every one of those girls was filled with the Holy Spirit.
My sister, Joy, actually wrote him and asked him to perform for our Missionettes. She received a positive response, provided we could meet their required accommodations, which of course, we could not.
As the years passed and my church and family both changed, whenever I found myself feeling sad, broken, lost, hopeless, or wanting to shout out in praise, as I drove across country, I would put Andraé Crouch on and sing out until I had victory or was completely exhausted – and he is still my go to man.
I am shocked to learn that he has passed away on January 8, 2015. I am sure he has gone on to a better place, but I will feel this loss for the rest of my life. My prayers and condolences go out to his family, most especially his sister, Sandra, with whom he performed for years. I am grateful for the legacy of music which he leaves behind.
Through It All
by
Andraé Crouch
I’ve had many tears and sorrows,
I’ve had questions for tomorrow,
there’s been times I didn’t know right from wrong.
But in every situation,
God gave me blessed consolation,
that my trials come to only make me strong.
Through it all,
through it all,
I’ve learned to trust in Jesus,
I’ve learned to trust in God.
Through it all,
through it all,
I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.
I’ve been to lots of places, I’ve seen a lot of faces,
there’s been times I felt so all alone.
But in my lonely hours, yes, those precious lonely hours,
Jesus lets me know that I was His own
I thank God for the mountains,
and I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
For if I’d never had a problem,
I wouldn’t know God could solve them,
I’d never know what faith in God could do
