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August 29, 2010"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither
angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any
powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ
Jesus our Lord."
" John Newton among all the hymnists has a most colorful background. He was of his own testimony a lecherous and foul-mouthed sailor who later became a slaver, buying and transporting and selling slaves in other parts of the world. But during a storm at sea, when his life seemed all but gone, he cried out to Jesus, who saved him from his sin and wasted life. He gave up his slaving and other debaucheries and became not just a Christian but ultimately an Anglican cleric (pastor). Yet he seemed never able to stop being overwhelmed by the grace, the undeserved love, of God, which was a lifelong theme of his. Out of that deep gratitude to Jesus for changing all of his degradation for salvation and a calling the church, he wrote the poem "Amazing Grace." Once a hymn, it became perhaps the best-known hymn in the world, sung by all Christians of all denominations. It has been bagpiped in Scotland and harped in symphony halls. It has been popularly recorded and sung at state funerals. It is apparent that most Christians agree with John Newton on the subject of the joyous, if undeserved, love of God." Many of us get caught up in religion and church duties, while others find that life itself can be overwhelming most of the time. I think it is so important that we, like John Newton, never forget that we have been overwhelmed by God's grace which trumps all other of life's pain and trials. |
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The
Shepherd's Staff is written by Pastor Bob Middleton
and is a weekly feature in the Sunday Bulletin. We have a past
year's archive available 
Calvin
Miller, one of the great Christian writers of the last 50 years
wrote a short biographical statement about John Newton, the author
of the hymn, "Amazing Grace"
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