Saturday, December 06, 2008


"I would not be the sport and prey of wild, vain, foolish, and worse imaginations; but this evil is present with me; my heart is like a highway, like a city without walls or gates. Nothing so false, so frivolous, so absurd, so impossible, or so horrid, but it can obtain access, and that at any time, or in any place: neither the study, the pulpit, nor even the Lord's table, exempts me from their intrusion. I sometimes compare my words to the treble of an instrument, which my thoughts accompany with a kind of bass, or rather anti-bass, in which every rule of harmony is broken, every possible combination of discord and confusion is introduced, utterly inconsistent with, and contradictory to, the intended melody. Ah! what music would my praying and preaching often make in the ears of the Lord of Hosts, if He listened to them as they are mine only! By men, the upper part only (if I may so speak) is heard; and small cause there is for self-gratulation, if they should happen to commend, when conscience tells me they would be struck with astonishment and abhorrence could they hear the whole." John Newton.
John Newton, wonderfully saved from a life of great evil, involved in the slave trade, which no doubt left him with such gratitude to God for such miraculous mercy: doubtless left him with soul scars that a person who lived without such violence and evil, can scarcely imagine. In this book called "Voice of the Heart", I sense his deep humility and I can relate to all he says; especially the last line, as my sins were as scarlet as well.
P.S. If you haven't seen the fairly recent movie "Amazing Grace", you missed a good one.
Picture from the internet.

4 comments:

Femin Susan said...

you are so poetic hearted.I love the way you express your thoughts.
keep on writing ...........

Mel said...

Hi Fred! I have seen that movie, Amazing Grace, and count it as one of my favorites. August Rush is still my first favorite, though, and my mom just saw it for the first time on Thursday, and she cried her eyes out at the end. Amazing Grace is sitting on the counter waiting for us to watch it together, and I can't wait to see it again.

I just posted a post on my blog that I've been working on for more than a week, if you can believe it. I do so hope you'll check it out, because I hope it will shed some light on why I'm not able to blog nearly as much as I'd like to. I was thinking of you (and others) the whole time I was writing it and going through the tedious process of uploading the pix, so I hope very much that you'll enjoy it.

Blessings!

Mel

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hi Fred :)

Very educative and informative post. It will go a long way in reforming lost souls.

Many,many thanks for sharing.

Have a good day :)

FCB said...

Hi Susan,
I'm glad you liked this post by John Newton, and he, not me, does have a very poetic way of discoursing. I like it as well.
I'll keep hunting for things that I hope will encourage.
God bless,
Fred



Hi Mel,
Good to hear from you and I agree that August Rush is a great movie, one of my favorites as well.
Can't wait to read you post.
Many blessings,
Fred


Hi Joseph,
Thanks for you kind comments, always good to hear from you, always.
Fred