Most of us have grown to love the hymn Amazing Grace, in one style or another. The words mean much more when we understand the man who wrote them:John Newton was a slave-trading, perverted sea captain. He grew up in Christian home but rejected it all…that is, until the storm came.
John woke in middle of night to a boat rocking out of control. The captain ordered him up on the deck. Just as he approached the ladder, he paused to get a knife that would help him cut the ropes. Just then, another sailor went up on deck before him and was immediately swept away by the waves.
A few months later he was hunting in Londonderry, Ireland and had a similar close encounter. He wrote, “As I climbed up a steep bank, pulling my shotgun after me in a perpendicular direction, it went off so near my face as to burn off a corner of my hat.”
John recorded that it was theses dangers that taught him to fear God, but also, to later appreciate the love of God. After his salvation, he wrote the verse, “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relived.”
Join us in worshipping God for his amazing gift of salvation!
Matt Friend
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