Songwriters sometimes use different happenings and occurrences in their lives as sources for their inspiration in writing gospel songs.  I too have written from experiences, and from situations that have occurred in my life.  I did not have a lightning bolt hit or a big happening when I wrote the song “ We Are Proud To Be Christians.”  I was beginning to notice that Christians are becoming a minority; at least in the main stream press.  Usually when a Christian speaks out about an issue, they are labeled as a hater or as someone that is lacking when it comes to tolerance.  I began to get upset when I thought about the fact that everyone else can speak their mind in the name of equality and be labeled as a leader or a forward thinking individual, but as a Christian; I am supposed to keep myself humble and not speak up when something or someone offends me.  I think it high time that we as Christians begin to speak up and be counted.  The very reason that prayer is not allowed in public schools, abortions are legal and promoted in this country and the Ten Commandments can’t be displayed on the walls of our courthouses and schools, is partially because  Christians are not speaking up.  It’s time we take a stand and fight for what we know to be right.  Its time we stand up and say to this modern culture without apology “We are proud to be Christians”.

I was privileged to interview Dottie Rambo at the National Quartet Convention in 1997.  Dottie  told me as a song writer; to always keep a recorder close to me.  She said that if God inspires you with a thought and if you act on it, He will bless and deliver the words to write.  If we wait and don’t act, He will move on to someone that is willing to get up and write the song no matter the time.  I awoke around 6:30 one morning mumbling a song I didn’t recognize but soon realized had come to rest upon me just as Dottie had said.  I grabbed my hand held recorder that I keep on the night stand and started singing into it “we are proud to be Christians we are proud to bear this name….although I was sleepy and exhausted from a late night coming off the road I got up got a cup of coffee and started thinking… why am I proud to be a Christian?  The more I thought about that question the more I realized I had to write this song.

I thought about all the people who I know that have been Christians for a very long time.  These are folks with faith that has not wavered and they have stood for the Lord and this message for many many years.  I am sure you know at least a dozen of these type folks that come to mind as you read this.   There are so many good Christian people all across the country, I’ve sung to a lot of them.  I love to hear their testimonies how they’ve been saved for 30,40,  50 or more years and how proud they are to be called by His name. The preachers and pastors who preach the message of Jesus Christ week after week, year after year.  Sunday school teachers who sometimes teach classes with only 2 or 3 children but remain faithful because they know they can make a difference in a child’s life.  Gospel singers who are singing to reach souls who know what this call is all about.  These are people Im proud to know are in the same family as I am.

I wrote the first line with them in mind “I will stand and be counted among those who proclaim that they still love Jesus and this good old fashioned way”.  Then I thought about my biblical family, the patriarchs who were before me; who believed in this God we serve and were the very fore-runners of faith.  They didn’t have the amenities we have today to serve God with ex: computers, sound systems, busses, stages, churches and so on.  They had a faith in an invisible God so strong they were willing to die for it.   So then I wrote “we’re from the blood-line of David and the seed of Abraham”.  I am proud to be from that lineage.

The second verse took me longer to write, not because I didn’t know what I wanted to say but the question in my mind was should I say it?  Then I asked the Lord to give me peace if it was His will and I totally felt Him as I began to write….”we’re against abortion it was not in God’s plan and we hold marriage sacred between a woman and a man.”  I for one am tired of Christians being be-littled because we believe in these biblical values!  Maybe I wrote this song out of total frustration because so many groups are standing up and screaming how proud they are of everything Im not for.  Christians everywhere should have an anthem, a voice and a reason to be proud we serve the living true God.  I refuse to bow my head to worldly views and ideologies.  I may be just one little woman, but I have a loud singing voice  and I am going to proclaim the that I am proud to be a part of the crowd who believes the Bible is still God’s holy word; and that heaven is a real place not some fairy tale we’ve heard.  With head held high I will boldly proclaim I am proud to bear the name “Christian”…I believe in salvation and that the blood of Jesus still washes away sin!  I still believe that there is room at the cross for anyone who wants Christ as Savior and needs their lives changed.  Yes I will stand… when the world says to sit down and be quiet that our beliefs are not popular and we are too old fashioned …I will stand.  I will stand and be counted when they tell us we are offensive and our morals and values are a thing of the past.   Let us not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes (Romans 1:16)

Let me end with the words I wrote to the bridge of this song:

Many men have fought and died for what we believe today

Together we will join them and boldly we will say

That this old time Gospel is still alive today

Christ is still the answer He’s the life the truth the way….

WE ARE PROUD TO BE CHRISTIANS!