Important Information.

STOP PRESS: The third book in my series - "Defending the Faith" - is now available, as a paperback, at
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1791394388
Please note that ALL royalties, on all three books, now go directly to Release International in support of the persecuted church. E-book now also available at
https://tinyurl.com/y2ffqlur

My second book - Foundations of the Faith - is available as a Kindle e-book at https://tinyurl.com/y243fhgf
Paperback available at:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/151731206X

The first volume - Great Words of the Faith - is available at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009EG6TJW
Paperback available at:
https://tinyurl.com/y42ptl3k

If you haven't got a Kindle, there is a FREE app at
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ALL royalties now go to support the persecuted church.

I may be contacted, personally, at author@minister.com




For those who are bi-lingual, I now have a second blog, in the French language, that publishes twice-monthly. Go to: https://crazyrevfr.blogspot.com/

30 Nov 2020

Amazing Grace

In about 1736, a young boy named John Newton went to sea with his father, on a Merchant ship. A few years later, his father retired and, some time after that John was "press-ganged" into the British Royal Navy. Facing intolerable conditions, he tried to desert, but failed. He was punished, severely, in front of the full ship's complement. Eventually, he was able to transfer to a ship that was going to Africa to collect slaves who would be taken to the British colonies in North America. 

Newton hardened himself to the trafficking of human beings and, eventually, became captain of his own slave ship. He denied God and goodness in every way. Even after he was enslaved himself and escaped, he lacked empathy and went back to being a slaver. However, on May 10th, 1748, his life was changed forever. Off the north-west coast of Ireland, his ship encountered a terrifying, violent storm. As it appeared that the vessel would sink, Newton cried out, "Lord, have mercy upon us!" The storm began to die down, and the ship limped into Lough Swilly. 

Newton recognised, and began to reflect upon, God's mercy. It was the beginning of a spiritual journey that led him to faith in the Lord Jesus, the Christ, and His atoning sacrifice for the sins of mankind, at Calvary. He experienced the amazing grace of the amazing God. In time, he left the slave trade, and entered Christian ministry in the Church of England. Although he became a well-known preacher of the Gospel he is, of course, best known for his much-loved poem (later set to music): "Amazing Grace; how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me" - an amazing testimony of his own experience. 

Not all of us go through physical storms at sea. However, each of us does go through the storms of life, when we feel totally overwhelmed by various experiences. Like John Newton, we may cry out to Almighty God, seeking His mercy. 

In the book of the prophet Isaiah, we read these words: "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or His ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you so that He does not hear." (Isa 59:1-2). 

At Calvary, the Lord Jesus bridged that gap of separation by His sinless sacrifice. As God the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin we respond to that love, and are born again. God the Holy Spirit now dwells within us, and gives us the power to forsake our sin - doing for us what we are incapable of doing for ourselves. That is, truly, amazing grace. May it be your experience, today!



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