Date:    July 6, 2002
From:    "Songs of Praise" <elton@songsofpraise.org> 
Subject: Three Songs and Vacation Pictures

Dear friends around the world,

I have not been communicating much lately.  My job is consuming almost all my time 
as we work towards our big deadline.  But occasionally I have a few spare moments 
and something musical gets completed.  I know you are all busy too.

Several new items have been added to "Songs of Praise" since my last newsletter:

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(1) "Your Love Is Strong" - This song started on a picnic bench at a state park in 
Virginia. My family and I were on vacation, 1000 miles from home. It was very early 
in the morning and I was the only one awake. We had received unhappy news from the 
Israel family. Barbara's father had been in an accident and wasn't expected to live. 
So I sat there, thinking about the accident, the clouds threatening to rain on my 
guitar, my sleeping family, how frail life is... and I wrote this melody, along with 
a few of the words. Several days later we were at Steve's house and he arrived back 
from the funeral. We were tired, but we took a few minutes to work on the music and 
lyrics together, making some significant enhancements. After the vacation was over, 
Larry joined us in the effort by completing the lyrics.  You can hear the midi and 
view the music score at this location:

    http://songsofpraise.org/strong.htm

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(2) Vacation pictures - My family took a driving vacation this year.  We drove from 
our home in Texas, to New York City, and back again.  Its a really long drive.  We 
stopped at all sorts of interesting places along the way, including the World Trade 
Center.  The pictures are online for your enjoyment.  There is downloadable 
wallpaper for your computer of the best pictures.

    http://songsofpraise.org/vac02.htm

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(3) "Praise The Name Of Jesus" - I have been conversing with Rick Founds for several 
months.  He is the author of the popular Christian song, "Lord I Lift Your Name On 
High".  I created the midi file for "Praise The Name Of Jesus" in a bouncy reggae 
style which sounds a little like his recording.  Rick and I are working on a new 
song which will hopefully be completed soon.

    http://songsofpraise.org/praisethenameofjesus.htm

Be sure and visit Rick's web site at:

    http://www.rickfounds.com

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(4) "Oceanfront" - Paul Gentry and Rhesa Siregar created this new song.  It is a 
little hard to classify.  Paul calls his creations "special songs", because they 
don't seem appropriate for congregational singing.  They work better as solos.  
This midi (created by Rhesa) is really outstanding.

    http://songsofpraise.org/oceanfront.htm

Be sure and visit Paul and Rhesa's web sites:

    http://members.aol.com/pkgentry/page2.html
    http://rhesa.gracemks.org

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Peace in Christ,
Elton Smith

http://songsofpraise.org (Songs of Praise)
http://mizmor.com/songsofpraise (Songs of Praise at Mizmor Christian MP3 site)
http://mp3.com/songsofpraisetracks (Songs of Praise tracks at mp3.com)