Descriptions of Jay Rinkel's Songs
Any reference to the first person (I, me, etc) are referring to Jay Rinkel
since he wrote this page.
Missionary Jack
This song is one of the all-time favorites of many -- especially kids.
This song tells the story of a missionary who goes to Africa. When he gets
there the people decide that they don't like him and they want to get rid
of him. God miraculously intervenes and the tribe becomes converted to
Jesus!
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Wonderland
This song comes from Revelation 21:1 to 22:6. The song and scripture are
about the place the Bible speaks of as New Jerusalem. The song musically
restates what is in the scripture. It describes what the place looks like
and what's inside the city. Also, the song says that you must go through
Jesus Christ to see this place. This song is also a favorite of many including
the author.
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Christians In The Underground
This joint effort between myself and my good friend Nathan Jackson describes
a situation where Christians must worship God in the privacy of their homes
due to persecution. The song describes the feelings, the concerns, and
their need to trust God for their safety. This song was first inspired
by a youth event where the adults set up an environment where Christian's
had to meet in a dark store to discuss and worship God. Most of the youth
probably were not greatly impressed by the setup. However, I was impressed
and finally wrote a song about such a thing.
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Sheet music is available for this song.
Christ My Friend
This song remains to be the all-time favorite and most requested of adults.
This song simply is the sharing and telling to others how great Jesus Christ
is as a friend to us. He sticks with us. He walks with us. He wants to
talk with us. He wants us to talk to him. He is there in time of need.
But most importantly he is there always!
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Sheet music is available for this song.
Paper Toys
This song was originally a poem written to my friend Nathan Jackson. It
was for his birthday when he was 11 years old. He still remains as one
of my best friends. The song was later turned into a song when I learned
how to play the guitar. The song talks about how a boy builds "toys"
from pieces of paper. Just like this boys builds toys and he becomes the
ultimate authority over what the toys do, God is our authority and he has
control over what we do.
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Sheet music is available for this song.
God's Amazing Creation
The inspiration for this song came from a hike in the woods with some friends
of mine, the Jacksons. After becoming astonished at the things God put
together for us I wrote this song. This song is accompanied by a lap dulcimer.
It is the first song I wrote using the dulcimer. It is a nice piece.
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Sheet music is available for this song.
Jaws
This song has absolutely no application to life whatsoever. It is simply
silly. It was written when I was young and became a "popular" song
among the kids in my class. It has only been preserved because of its simplicity
and historical value. The song came to being when a movie came out called
Jaws.
I never saw it. Never intend to see it. Yet, this song talks about a shark
that "Dangered Salt Lake City."
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Sheet music is available for this song.
Life
This song was written when I was in junior high school. The song has no
meaning. It has been preserved because of its simplicity and historical
value.
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Sheet music is available for this song.
The Miracle Man
This song is a simple introduction to the life (the gospel) of Jesus Christ.
It covers his birth, ministry, death, burial, and resurrection. It summons
people to trust the one who conquered death so we may also become alive.
The song stresses the miracles and wonderful things Christ did. Also see
Jesus,
a related song both in message content and musical content.
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Sheet music is available for this song.
Wake Up World
This song talks about the rugged, sinful, and ungodly state our world is
in today. Speaks strongly on certain issues. The message is that God doesn't
like it and the only way to turn our world around is to turn back to God.
Read Lyrics
Sheet music is available for this song.
The Gospel Train
This song is another song that the kids like. It is an upbeat tune on the
dulcimer. The simple message : Come to Christ to go to heaven. One must
trust Christ as his/her personal saviour.
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Sheet music is available for this song.
Can't Be Afraid To Fail
This song was inspired by a bad experience in college. I was failing a
class. I did not understand the material and I was tempted to drop-out
of the class. I discussed the situation with my dad. He told me that I
should not be afraid to fail. He told me I should stick it out and do the
best I could. Well, I failed the class but this song came out of it as
a result. The song is about a race and a runner who doesn't do well in
the beginning but works hard to win in the end. I sang this song in a concert
that I did in January of 1996. I sang it as a dedication to my dad. After
this one performance this song's popularity became larger than I thought
it would. One lady asked me to sing it for a special awards ceremony for
AWANA. At the AWANA ceremony the kids heard the song and one kid has asked
me repeatedly for me to sing this song. The song has gained more attention
than I thought it would.
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The American Dream
This song was inspired by a friend, John Cranston. One day we were discussing
that people in America think they are Christians simply because they live
in America. People think they are okay and they strive for monetary goals.
They do great things on Earth only to miss out on the most important thing
in life -- Jesus Christ.
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Sheet music is available for this song.
The Wacky World Of Gizmos
This song is silly. The song speaks of an imaginary world where the citizens
are robots, birds fly with jet engines, and fish breathe with electronic
devices. If you were to apply this to our world today -- we live in a world
where technological advances are normal. We can do so much with electronics,
etc. So, welcome to the wacky world of Gizmos. Also see The
Wacky World Of Gizmos Symphony
Read Lyrics
You Gotta Get Tough
This song came as a result of listening to a letter that Dr. Dobson read
over the radio. He was giving a "State of Affairs" as he saw it
in our country. He started talking about how gays wanted to be in the boy
scouts and the boy scouts were fighting their legal rights to be able to
reject gays from their bunch. The song asks all Christians to stand up
for what is right and be a light to the dark world around us.
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Sheet music is available for this song.
A Lullaby For The Newborn
This song was originally written for my brother and his wife because of
their first born son. It is a simple song which talks of the hope that
the new child will one day know Christ and follow the footsteps of his
parents. The song is not gender specific as far as the "Little
One" is concerned.
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Sheet music is available for this song.
Friends
This song has its roots further back than any other that is still sung
by myself this day. This song was written back when I was about 8 years
old. This song at first was the simple chorus and one verse. Since then,
the song has been expanded to many verses. Only 6 verses are official to
the song. The song is the result of me wanting and really longing for friendships.
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The New Kid On The Block
As a young kid I hated to move. My dad was in the Air Force and we moved
frequently because of this. This song is a viewpoint of myself in the situation
of having to move and not wanting to. The song ends on a good note though
my real life experiences weren't always quite so good in the end.
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Highway Of Holiness
One day I was reviewing a tape done by the Childrens Bible Hour. It was
a Keys For Kids tape. A story on the tape came from Isaiah. This song talks
about people needing to walk on the highway of holiness.
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What Child Is This
Back in 1993 I offered to teach our church's 3rd through 6th grade church
a lesson on the birth of Christ (this was near Christmas time). The idea
was to teach the lesson and sing some songs that would go with it. During
my study, I wrote this song. This song talks about the birth of Christ.
The first verse talks about Mary and Joseph. The second verse talks about
the shepherds who go to see the newborn. The last verse talks about the
wisemen who go to see him. The original performance of the song used a
mandolin (this was the first piece I ever wrote specifically for the mandolin).
Now, I normally play this song with a guitar or use synthesized accompaniment.
This is one of my favorites.
Read Lyrics
Sheet music is available for this song.
The Wacky World Of Gizmos Symphony
This is the first synthesized instrumental that I have ever worked on.
I describe this piece as a musical dramatization of the song The
Wacky World Of Gizmos. The piece is a little over 18 minutes long.
This is the first instrumental piece that I did. Sometime I will work on
others based upon stories in the Bible.
The Almighty Spiritual War
This song was intended to be used during a set of lessons on spiritual
warfare for our 3rd through 6th grade kids. The lessons never got developed
but the song did. The song comes from the famous passage in Ephesians chapter
6.
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Jesus
This song is a simple folk melody that describes the life of Christ. It
starts with his early ministry at 12 years of age and goes through to his
resurrection. This song is related to another song The
Miracle Man both in message and musical form. I often think of these
two songs together and I am capable of singing the two songs back-to-back.
The title comes from a young friend of mine. He was 9 years old at the
time. His name is Jeff Abbott. I sang this song for our 3rd through 6th
grade kids one sunday morning. I didn't have a good title for it (the title
I had I didn't like) so I told the kids they could recommend song titles.
The next week, Jeff summoned me and told me he had a title for my new song.
He told me "Jesus." I was personally was searching for this deep,
thought-provoking title. However, the more and more I thought about the
title the more I realized just how appropriate it really was. What more
could one say than the simple words of the one who died and paid it all
for us to know him? Simple, yet complex. An extremely appropriate title.
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The Man In The Wilderness
This song is about John The Baptist. The song came as a result of studying
the gospels. I wanted to read about the life of Christ in a way that was
as close to chronological as possible. One of the first things I ran across
was John the Baptist. So, I wrote a song about him and his message.
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The Nobleman's Story
The gospel of John talks about a man who came so Jesus could go home with
him and heal his son. The man had great faith. Christ had never healed
anyone before. The only miracle Christ had done up until this time was
turn the water into wine at a wedding. This man could have only gone by
what Christ had said and done. Christ probably had already said that he
was the son of God. He probably said that he was (equal with) God. The
man simply had to trust in what Christ had said about himself and act in
faith.
I Am A New Creation
I know a boy named Tim Douthit. He grew up in a Christian home and for
the longest time he himself had not accepted Christ as his own saviour.
He said he had a problem with the resurrection of Jesus. On May 30th 1996,
I went on a 3 week business trip to El Paso Texas. On the plane, I spent
some time with God. I am fairly confident that I prayed for Tim that day.
Later in my trip I remember asking God to save him. During my trip I was
asking God to give me a song to write. I was inspirationless until that
last night I was there. This song came to me. It was written from a new
believer's perspective. I thought it was very odd that I wrote a song like
that. When I got back home the next day, I had email and messages awaiting
me. Some friends told me that Tim had gotten saved and asked Christ into
his heart. This event took place the very day I left to go to El Paso.
I then realized why God had given me the song. Also, a few weeks after
Tim had gotten saved. Another friend of mine, Jeremy Tipton, had settled
his eternal soul as well. This song is dedicated to these two friends.
The Greatest Clown
This song was written back when I was in college. It has no great meaning
but it is a free verse type of song and I think the melody is kinda nice.
Oh Come To Me Lord Jesus
This song was written back when I was on a trip to El Paso, TX. I
didn't want to be in El Paso. I was upset with a number of things.
I was desperately wanted to make up a song to God about how much I needed
him at that moment. I was driving a rental car back to the air port
to pick up a co-worker who had come in. As I was driving to the air
port this song came to me. I consider it to be a simple praise song
and use it as a sing along during those "reflective" times of worship
Go And Tell The World
This song is a missions emphasis song. I think I wrote it specifically
for one of our "missions emphasis" months at church though I don't think
I was ever able to play it for that. This song uses the dulcimer
and the chorus repeatedly uses the words "You Gotta Go Go Go Go Go".
I considered calling this song "You Gotta Go" but a wise friend recommended
that I not use that title.
The Prodigal Son
Intrigued by Rich Mullins and his life, I decided to pick up a book called
The
Ragamuffin Gospel written by Brennan Manning. Rich Mullins had
bragged a lot about Brennan Manning and his book so I decided to get a
copy for myself. I read the book and many things touched my life
in it. One of things from scripture that Brennan talks about is the
parable of the prodigal son. After reading his take on it all, I
started to weep. I decided to write a song about that story (partly
because I couldn't think of any existing ones for it). This song
uses the dulcimer for it is very ballad like.
The Beauty Of Holiness
This song started when I was in a class at church. The class was
about prayer. (I thought it was oddly strange that we spent more
time talking about prayer than actually doing it) One night, we were
directed to read a particular passage of scripture. The phrase "Beauty
Of Holiness" was used within the passage. A man named Jim Justice
turned to me and said something like, "You know Jay that would make a great
topic for a song". That thought stuck in my mind for quite a long
time. Over a year later, I believe, I was at a men's retreat (not
quite sure why they are called that they are very tiring -- at least the
ones we have) I finally buckled down and finished the music to this song,
I had written the words not too long before. When I finished writing
the music, I was dissatisfied how it sounded. I kind of put the song
down after a while. One day I was playing with a weird guitar tuning
C# F# B E B E and soon realized that the chords for this song fit the tuning
very well. I had never written anything using an alternate tuning
on the guitar before. This was the first. Two other songs with
this same tuning are "Set Me Free" and "Prayer For Me". This song
is a slow moving worship song.
Set Me Free
After I started playing with an alternate tuning for "The Beauty Of Holiness",
I was curious about other melodies and songs that I could write using that
tuning. This song was a very quick one to write. As I recall
in less than an hour or so, this thing came out. I was, and still
am, dealing with the fact that I feel like there are so many things that
I mess up in life. Some of that, I think, comes from my early experiences
and "hurting memories" that I have. This song is asking God to "set
me free" from the past that keeps me from excelling. This song uses
the tuning C# F# B E B E.
Prayer For Me
This song took years for me to write. I always had this idea about
writing a song that talked about people praying for each other and the
great things God did because of it. Finally, as I was playing with
the tuning C# F# B E B E on the guitar, this song also finally came forth.
There are three people that are referred to in the song. The first
one is a about a someone I used to know ever since he was a kid, that man
is named Michael Cranston. He has always been a special blessing
to everyone. He lives by faith, he trusts God, and he reflects Christ
abundantly where ever he goes. He was living in New York City for
a while when this song was written. The second person this song refers
to is my mom. She has a list of people she prays for everyday and
I know that I am on that list. The third person this song refers
to is, currently (in 2000-2001), one of my young friends. His name
is Nathan Douthit. I forgot how it got started but somehow he started
getting prayer requests from me. I didn't want to load him up too
much so I only gave him 2 or 3 things at a time. I know that he prays
for me nearly everyday. He and I have gotten to be pretty good friends
and I appreciate him a lot.
Shibboleth And Icthus
This is uses the dulcimer and takes two concepts and melts them together
into a message that basically says "Are you saved? If not, you need
to be. If so, are you telling others about Christ" That's what
every person needs, to be saved and tell others about Christ. The
first concept used comes from Judges chapter 12 where Giliad and Ephraim
were at war with each other. One group could not say the word "Shibboleth"
correctly and therefore used that word to find out if the person was on
their side or not. If not, the person would not be allowed to cross
a bridge and be killed. Those who don't know Jesus personally will
not be permitted to be be with him in heaven after they die. The
second concept comes from the early church. The early church used
a fish symbol so that other believers would know where to meet. It
was a secret Christian sign among the dwelling of the Jews.
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