Results 1 - 3 of 3
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Grace that Amazes is Cross Centered | Zech 4:7 | DocTrinsograce | 185205 | ||
"Although we all sing the hymn 'Amazing Grace,' it amazes few. Why? Because grace cannot amaze until we feel the judgment we deserveā¦ This grace amazed John Newton [1725-1807]. This is why he wrote the hymn 'Amazing Grace.' Newton became a Christian in his late twenties. Prior to his conversion, he had been a slave trader in West Africa and was a godless, ruthless man. "For example, he kept a black slave as a mistress. When he caught her in a sexual relationship with a black man, he beat the man to death with his shovel only to find out later that he was her husband. "On the long voyages across the Atlantic, he and his mates raped the women being transported to their North American masters. Though many arrived pregnant with his seed, he was hard and indifferent to the fate of these women and their children. "This is why, after his conversion, Newton looked at the cross with amazement. There he saw grace -- Christ suffering the agony of God's wrath in his place, so that God could reward him with eternal life. The grace of God stunned him, and he never got over it. "Our sins may be different from those of John Newton, but God's grace works the same way for us. When a Christian choral group changed the words in Newton's hymn from 'saved a wretch like me' to 'saved a person like me' I knew that grace had sprouted wings and flown away. Grace appears most perfectly in the knowledge of our sin revealed at the cross. Only cross-centered Christians find grace amazing." --William P. Farley (2004) |
||||||
2 | Grace that Amazes is Cross Centered | Zech 4:7 | azurelaw | 185217 | ||
Dear Doc, Thanks for quoting some background stories of John Newton whom I have heard of with very limited part of his story but not those parts as you have mentioned. Now I know better why he called himself "a wretch" in his "Amazing Grace" and he loved Jesus so dearly. I can tell you that my heart grieves with falling tears at this moment when reading his story and I can only think of Jesus' saying Luke 7:41-43 "A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?" Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have judged correctly." Shalom Azure |
||||||
3 | Grace that Amazes is Cross Centered | Zech 4:7 | stjohn | 185225 | ||
Amen Azure, and thank you. And thank you Doc. I once heard a preacher who had cerebral palsy. Who said to someone that had asked him; Brother, don't you want to be heeled? His response amassed and overwhelmed me. I'm paraphrasing But I think it went something like this: With His slurred speech, and twisted body, his response was deliberate and heartfelt. .. "Do you know, that God never says oops?... What's wrong, with walking, and talking, funny?.... Huh?".... "God don't make no junk. WE throw away broken things. Don't we? But God don't! ......... God uses, broken things!" Then they said. "But sir, your condition puts you in the disabled minority?" His voice went up a few notches. But you still had to listen carefully, because of his speech impediment. "I beg, your, ever, loven, pardon! You tell me, 'I', have a handy cap? You tell me, 'I', have a disability?... bullony!... bullony!... BULLONY! If God is for me. Who can be against me?... Huh?... I would rather be like I am, then a healthy man, that don't know the power of God! I would rather be like I am, then a healthy man, that don't know God's love in 'their' life. I thank God for how I am. What's wrong, with walking, and talking, funny?... Huh?... When I open my mouth, people stop, and listen, cause I talk funny. When you open your mouth... They just keep on going! Its a privilege to be the way I am! Not everyone can shake I like I do. why you aught to see the videos that I take! The only ones that can watch it, are people with cerebral palsy!:-) "I was made this way so that GOD could be glorified!" Well, I used to think I was broken to my friends, but one day, God touched me, and He made me whole. Then we may ask ourselves; Why did God allow John Newton to sink to such depths of sin and depravity?.......... So that GOD could be glorified! So that John could KNOW, the power of God, in his life. John Newton Knew that he was broken. John Newton knew, what it was like the feel God's love, and to Know, God's Amazing Grace, in his life. Do you? God bless, stj |
||||||