“I’m paraphrasing Charles Spurgeon, who said, ‘Blessed be the storm that drives us to Christ.’ Whenever we take the time to search His Word and to pray during a crisis, although it is difficult going through those times, if we will take it to the Lord and lay it at His feet, He truly will be a high tower of defense and a shelter for us, and we will see Christ in a way we never saw Him before.” In an interview with The Christian View magazine, Squire Parsons explained how his Christian faith has sustained him during difficult times. “Each fiery trial that we pass through strips us of things that are unnecessary around our faith,” he said. “That which remains is our faith. Much dross sometimes becomes mingled with our faith. I’ve observed that, when we have to walk through these times of trials, we need to realize that it may seem to be out of control to us, but we’re still in God’s hands. When that is settled in our lives, it is a steadying force and a comfort in knowing that we are in His hands and that, though we may not understand what is happening, if we trust and believe that He will lead us through, He becomes that much more gracious to us at that time.”

Parsons said that the moment a person become a Christian, he or she begins a journey. “It’s a journey of faith, to try to grow in grace,” he said. “The Lord has manifested Himself so many times through the years to me, through the study of His Word, and through songwriting, and also being with His people in the churches. It has been a wonderful experience. There have been hardships. There have been times of feeling defeated, but His grace has been sufficient. It has been wonderful. I’ve received much more than I’ve been able to give.”

Parsons said that he would like to be remembered as a person who tried to do his best.

After many years in the music industry, and a lifetime in music, as he said he cannot remember a time when he did not want to sing, Parsons has been honored many times for his singing and for his songwriting ability. Through the years, he has been honored by readers of The Singing News magazine as Favorite Baritone, Favorite Gospel Songwriter, and Favorite Gospel Male Singer. He has been nominated for the Dove Award, given by the Gospel Music Association, as favorite male vocalist and songwriter. He has also been given the prestigious Marvin Norcross Award from The Singing News, and has been guest soloist at First Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia pastored by Dr. Charles Stanley and in a Billy Graham Crusade in Little Rock, Arkansas for the Rev. Dr. Billy Graham.

A prolific songwriter who has penned more than 1,000 songs, he is known for such songs as “Sweet Beulah Land”, “Master of the Sea”, “Oh, What a Moment”, “The Broken Rose”, “He Came to M”, “I Call it Home”, “I Sing Because”, and “Hello, Mama.”

“Sweet Beulah Land”, which was named in 1981 as Song of the Year by readers of The Singing News, is his favorite, he said. “It has been our most popular song,” he added. “It’s what people mostly identify with me. I wrote it in 1973 and recorded it in 1979 on my first solo recording.”

Another favorite is “He Came to Me.” “It shares my heart,” he said. “I enjoy singing that each night.

“ “Hello, Mama” is a story about a fellow calling his mother, telling her that he had been saved.”

Another favorite, “I’m Not Giving Up”, was recorded by the Gold City Quartet.

““Look for Me at Jesus’ Feet” has also been a very special song,” he added. “It was one of the first songs that I wrote for my wife, Linda, in 1970.”

He began writing songs as a college student in 1968, after a friend, Conrad Cook, asked him if he had ever considered it. Cook, he said, was one of the many people who have influenced his life. Cook had returned to college around 1968 to finish his degree. “At the same time,” said Parsons, “I had been praying that the Lord would send someone I could share with and who would be a friend to me. The first day of my junior year, someone introduced us, and said, ‘Conrad Cook, you need to meet this guy, Squire Parsons. He loves Gospel music, too.’ From that point on, we spent much time together. We enjoyed talking about Gospel music and singing together.

“I still enjoy writing, re-doing some of the older songs, rewriting them and making them more up to date. Also, a project that has really been a blessing to me is paraphrasing the Psalms and setting that to music. My desire is to try to present those in a recorded form and also in published form.”

The time in writing a song varies, he said. “Some songs have been less than an hour. Some, I’m still working on, after 30 years.”

His songs have been recorded by many other Gospel music recording artists.

Parsons said that he sings and writes Gospel music because it allows him an opportunity to share his faith, which, he said, is most important. “Of course, there is certainly much more money in every other kind of music, and other kinds are more widely accepted,” he said. “But people have a love to share their faith and their experiences in serving the Lord. For me, there is nothing that comes close to that, no other theme, no other style. Like the old hymn says, “No one thrills my soul like Jesus.””

He began singing at an early age. His father’s brothers would often visit on Saturdays and sing together with his father. “That was so special to me,” he said. “Our family sang together,” he added. “I was always wanting to sing. We spent so much time in church, either practicing singing or going to services. Church was the center of our life. And, then, having been raised on a farm, I didn’t have many activities with other people, so I spent a lot of time playing the piano, singing in a tape recorder, going through old songbooks.”

He counts many of the old hymns among his favorites, including “How Firm a Foundation”; “Holy, Holy, Holy”; and “He Hideth My Soul.”