When Are You Coming Home?

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O soul far away in the wilderness straying

Author: Thomas O. Chisholm
Tune: [O soul far away in the wilderness straying]
Published in 2 hymnals

Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 O soul far away in the wilderness straying,
When are you coming home?
The Spirit is pleading, and lov’d ones are praying,
When are you coming home?
In vain on the husks of the world you are feeding,
In vain you seek rest, your feet weary and bleeding,
Your rest is not there, it is Jesus you’re needing,
When are you coming home?

Refrain:
When, when, when are you coming?
When are you coming home?
A feast He will spread, as a son to receive you,
When are you coming home?

2 How long you’ve neglected God’s gift of salvation!
When are you coming home?
How often you’ve slighted His great invitation;
When are you coming home?
O think of your childhood, of life’s fair beginning,
And think of the years you have wasted with sinning,
And think of the cross with its infinite meaning,
When are you coming home? [Refrain]

3 Your Father in heaven is looking and yearning,
When are you coming home?
His welcome and pardon await your returning,
When are you coming home?
The night fast approacheth, the shadows are falling,
And ere long will follow the darkness appalling,
O listen for God is still tenderly calling,
When are you coming home? [Refrain]

Source: Uplifting Songs #149

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Author: Thomas O. Chisholm

Thomas O. Chisholm was born in Franklin, Kentucky in 1866. His boyhood was spent on a farm and in teaching district schools. He spent five years as editor of the local paper at Franklin. He was converted to Christianity at the age of 26 and soon after was business manager and office editor of the "Pentecostal Herald" of Louisville, Ky. In 1903 he entered the ministry of the M. E. Church South. His aim in writing was to incorporate as much as Scripture as possible and to avoid flippant or sentimental themes. Dianne Shapiro, from "The Singers and Their Songs: sketches of living gospel hymn writers" by Charles Hutchinson Gabriel (Chicago: The Rodeheaver Company, 1916)… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	O soul far away in the wilderness straying
Title:	When Are You Coming Home?
Author:	Thomas O. Chisholm
Refrain First Line:	When, when, when
Copyright:	Public Domain