WEBVTT

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The story behind the hymns. Or
I will always love that cross in its

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triumphs. My glory will be and
one day, instead of a cross,

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my jesus crown will give me.
The hymn we are highlighting is generally considered

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one of the most popular evangelical hymns
of the 20th century. His popularity reached

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its peak during the evangelizing campaigns of
Billy Sonday and Homer Rowl, Tiaber in

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the early decades of the 20th century. However, this hymn is still sentimentally

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one of the favorites of young and
old alike on Mount Calvary written by George

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Penr, a Methodist evangelist. In
the year nineteen hundred and thirteen, George

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Benar accepted Christ as his personal savior. At an early age. After the

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death of his father, George had
to assume only the maintenance of his mother

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and four brothers when he was only
sixteen years old. This made it impossible

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for him to continue further preparation for
the Christian ministry. Instead, he joined

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the Salvation Army as an active member. Benard and his first wife collaborated for

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several years as officers in this organization. The composer greatly attributed to his experiences

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in that ministry the inspiration that led
him to write on Mount Calvary. Although

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self- taught, Benar was eventually
ordained by the Methodist Episcopal Church, where

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his vow ministry was highly appreciated for
many years. He also became involved in

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running revival cults. During that time
he went through a particularly painful experience that

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led him to reflect seriously on the
meaning of the Cross and what the apostle

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Paul meant. When he spoke of
participating in the sufferings of Christ, Benart

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began to spend long hours of study, prayer and meditation until one day he

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could say I saw the Christ of
the Cross as if I were seeing John

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three sixteen. Let the printed page
take shape and represent the meaning of redemption.

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The more I contemplated those truths,
the more I convinced myself that the

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Cross was much more than just a
religious symbol. It was the true heart

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of the Gospel. During those days
of spiritual struggle, the theme for Mount

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Calvary began to take shape in his
mind, but an inner voice seemed to

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keep telling him to wait. In
addition, the pressure of the obligations in

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the preparation of campaigns prevented Benard from
finishing the anthem at that time. Finally,

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however, he began to focus again
on his project and soon the words

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and melody began to flow freely from
his heart. The inspiration came to me

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a day of nine hundred and thirteen. I composed the melody first, but

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the words of the finished hymn were
put into my heart as answers to my

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own personal need. Shortly after,
the final version was released. At special

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meetings, the hymn was first sung
using Benart' s handwritten copy and made

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by a choir of only five voices
in a small church. It is still

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celebrated in this church on the day
of Mount Calvary and on a large nearby

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rock are carved the names of the
five original singers of the anthem and the

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meaning of that memorable one. Sunday
of nineteen hundred and thirteen, shortly after

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writing the hymn, George Benar sent
a copy of the manuscript to Charles Gabriel,

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one of the leading writers of evangelical
hymns of that period. Gabriel'

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s prophetic words were, I assure
you, that there would be a lot

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of talk about this song, Mr
Benark, and they were soon fulfilled.

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As Mount Calvary became one of the
most widely published hymns, it has been

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recorded more than any other hymn in
prisons and prisons is known as the prisoner

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' s anthem. After writing this
hymn, George Benar followed his evangelizing ministries.

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For forty more years he wrote other
hymns, but none of them ever

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received the answer he received on Mount
Calvary in a thousand nine hundred and fifty

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- eight. At the age of
eighty- five, George Benner exchanged his

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cross for a crown. Only Eternity
will fully reveal the number of lives that

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God has touched through this evangelizing hymn
of simple and easy- to- song expression.