Add this entry to Your Favorites | [0] Favorites
[3] Comments
Song: The Midnight Cry
Scripture: Matthew 25:1-13
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.....watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
“When I was seven years old a visiting preacher at our church, just before the benediction, called me out of the audience and down to the front. I was timid and hesitated, but my mother encouraged me, so I obeyed the preacher. He said to me, ‘Son, this may not mean anything to you now, but one day when you are older, God will give you songs that will change lives. God told me to tell you that you will write songs.’ I took that as a seven-year-old would. I forgot it.” That story was told to me by Greg Day in the first part of an interview with him in 2001.
Greg was born in 1962, five years after his brother Chuck. Their parents, Bob and Grace Day, taught them to play musical instruments at an early age, Greg the piano and Chuck the guitar. Greg also played drums. Both became accomplished musicians.
By age twenty-three Greg had become an alcoholic. God began to deal with his heart, and one night, after hours of drinking, in Columbus, Georgia, at 1:30 AM, Greg finally gave in to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and went with Chuck to see the preacher who lived down the road. Chuck had been saved from a life of alcoholism and dope, just one month earlier. Greg told me, “We woke the preacher up and he led me in a simple sinners prayer. Jesus delivered me at that moment -- instantly.” God saved him and immediately freed him from his alcohol addition, just as He had delivered Chuck a month earlier. Both -- delivered instantly! Greg told me the following unusual story:
My brother and I were visiting at our parents home in Adel, Georgia. Their church was beginning a revival on Sunday morning, with a visiting evangelist, Billy Swain, as the preacher for the series of meetings. He had fasted for forty days, preparing himself for the revival. During the fast he had asked God to give him a series of messages on the Second Coming of Christ. On that first Sunday morning of the campaign he preached the first of his series of sermons called, “The Midnight Cry.” His text was taken from Matthew, chapter 25.
Chuck took a business card from his wallet and wrote on it, “Midnight Cry.” He said to me, ‘There is something there.’ We continued to listen with interest to the preacher’s sermon.
That afternoon, after lunch with our parents, Chuck and I walked into the living room, and I sat down at the piano. Chuck said, ‘You know, we could probably write a song about that sermon -- about the midnight cry.’ I began to play a few chords on the keyboard. All of a sudden I said, ‘I hear the sound of a mighty rushing wind,’ and Chuck answered, ‘And it’s closer now than it’s ever been.’ Then immediately I came out with, ‘I can almost hear the trumpet as Gabriel sounds the call.’ Chuck came right back with, ‘At the midnight cry we’ll be going home.’ It was line upon line. I would write a line and he would write a line. That is exactly how ‘Midnight Cry’ was written -- in about thirty minutes, total. That night, at the church, Chuck and I sang the song for the first time. We hadn’t been singing together so it was a little rough, but the crowd seemed to be very moved with the presentation of it.
My brother and I joined a group called The Accords. I sang with them and he played guitar. After about six months with the The Accords, the group had saved enough money from engagements to go to Nashville and record an album. All of the songs had been chosen for the recording sessions, except one. Someone said, ‘Let’s just do ‘Midnight Cry,’ we need another song anyway.’ It was almost an afterthought, but, it was put into the project.
Stan Shoeman, who sang in the group, had some experience with ‘pitching’ songs, so he decided to send a copy of our album to Gold City in Alabama. It had three or four of his songs on it, plus, of course, ‘Midnight Cry.’
After listening to the tape, Gold City called us saying, ‘We like ‘Midnight Cry’ and would like to record it.’ We felt badly that they didn’t pick any of Stan’s songs, but Chuck and I were grateful that he had done us the favor of including our song on the tape.
Gold City recorded our song in 1987, with Ivan Parker singing the lead, and sent it out as a ‘single.’ It hit the charts with such force that it quickly went to #1, and stayed in that position on the Singing News charts for a solid six months. ‘Midnight Cry’ was honored as Song of the Year, by Singing News, in 1988. The revival preacher asked God to give him a message that would go around the world, telling people of Christ’s return. God has done that through ‘Midnight Cry.’ It has been used or recorded thousands of times, and is probably sung every day of the week, somewhere in the world. It was even used in the ‘Left Behind’ movie and video.”
After the success of “Midnight Cry,” the Lord let Greg remember the prophecy the preacher made over him as a lad of seven. Our thanks to Greg Day and Chuck Day who gave to the world such a moving, powerful song. May it be used of the Lord for many years to come.
Greg and his wife, Heather, a singer with The Ruppes, have a young son, Zachary, who has already sung on a CD with his famous parents. Chuck is a preacher of the Gospel, who also has a music ministry and a state-of-the-art recording studio.
Reflection:
We often hear of the Second Coming of Christ. May the truth of His “coming in the clouds” never become common place to us. It could happen any day -- at morning, noon, or at midnight. You know, it will happen at midnight --somewhere in the world.
Reader Comments
Now Playing
Written: 08/01/2005 
Author: 
Category:
Monthly Articles
,
Behind the Songs
Comments: 3 Favorited:
Add this entry to Your Favorites
Email this article
RSS
feeds
(What's an RSS feed?)
Recent Articles
Articles Archives
