American composer, choir leader and Sunday school teacher James Milton Black wrote the popular hymn 'When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder' in 1893. He was inspired by the Book of life in the Bible and the absence of a child in his Sunday school class due to pneumonia. He became haunted by the idea of someone not being in attendance in heaven and the hymn was born.
Many famous artists have recorded 'When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder', including Jonny Cash.
'When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder' lyrics
When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more, And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair; When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore, And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.
Chorus When the roll is called up yonder, When the roll is called up yonder, When the roll is called up yonder, When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.
On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise, And the glory of his resurrection share; When his chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies, And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.
Chorus
Let us labor for the Master from the dawn till setting sun; Let us talk of all his wondrous love and care. Then when all of life is over and our work on earth is done, And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.
Chorus