Heart to Heart with Cheri

Happy March, readers! For those of you who sent condolences and suggestions after our recent identity theft and fraud nightmare, thanks for caring.  Things are getting worked out and our bank has been terrific, but it was certainly time consuming.  The situation reminded me that although someone may take our credit card number or online identity (we hope not!) no one can ever steal our true identity in Christ:  "It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for," Ephesians 1:11, The Message.

With the release of the movie, “Amazing Grace,” (see my movie review this issue), I want to share with you one of my favorite illustrations in all of history of the truth that one’s prayers outlive her life: the story of John Newton. John was born in London in 1725 to Elizabeth and her ship captain husband. Maybe because his mother had tuberculosis and knew her life would be shortened, she was very intentional about his spiritual nurture. Daily she read to him from the Bible and took him on Sundays to Isaac Watt’s church. As she prayed earnestly with and for John, she was led to pray that he would become a minister someday. When she told her husband about her prayers, he insisted his son would never become anything but a ship captain as he was.

For a while, it seemed John’s father was right. When he was seven, his mother died. His father went back to sea; John was sent to boarding school. When he was eleven, he was trained on his father’s ship, and began his career as a ship captain. His life spiraled downward into moral depravity in the twenty-two years that followed. He became one of the cruelest slave traders in England and escaped death many times, including when he was imprisoned by an African woman for fifteen months, where he was starved, beaten, and made her slave.

On the sea voyage back to England after he was rescued by a ship captain, they encountered a severe storm, which threatened to destroy the ship. Newton cried out for God’s mercy and found himself remembering prayers and truths his mother had taught him. He reached out to God’s outstretched arms and was saved by his grace. He observed the anniversary of that day of conversion, May 10, 1748, for the rest of his life and wrote what has become one of the most beloved hymns of all times, “Amazing Grace.”

After his return to England, he made three more voyages and then began to study Greek, Hebrew, and theology in preparation for the ministry. He had many rejections, but in 1764 John Newton finally became an Anglican priest.

One of the men Newton influenced was William Wilberforce, a wealthy Member of Parliament. Newton had known Wilberforce since he was a fourteen-year-old schoolboy. His Aunt Hannah (whom he lived with after the death of his parents) admired Newton and went often to hear his sermons with young William.

After his own journey of faith began in his adulthood, Wilberforce spent the next five decades of his life working for the abolition of slavery in the England and its colonies and sought counsel from his old pastor friend John Newton.

Through his hymn, “Amazing Grace” (and the several hundred other hymns) millions of people have been drawn closer to God. His mother Elizabeth’s prayers not only blessed her own son’s life and prevailed in spite of all Satan’s efforts to destroy him and thwart God's purpose, but also influenced that generation, the nation of England, and impacted generations of people after her own life and her son's life had ended.

Let me encourage you that just as Elizabeth Newton’s prayers outlived her life, so will those prayers you pray have an impact for generations to come. The answer may not come next week or year, but our prayers don’t go away when our physical bodies die. God doesn’t get busy doing other things and forget those petitions! Our prayers are always before him. Even when we see him face to face, our prayers will go on being answered in the lives of people we prayed for. No matter how difficult the opposition or situation, keep praying. P-U-S-H: Pray until something happens. And even when it doesn’t, be encouraged, and don’t lose heart or become weary in doing good (and we know prayer is good), for you—and those you pray for—will receive a great blessing.
 

Quotes to Ponder

God does not leave us comfortless, but we have to be in dire need of comfort to know the truth of his promise. It is in time of calamity…in days and nights of sorrow and trouble that the presence, the sufficiency, and the sympathy of God grow very sure and very wonderful. Then we find out that the grace of God is sufficient for all our needs, for every problem, and for every difficulty, for every broken heart, and for every human sorrow.

                                                      --Peter Marshall
 

                 Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

                 That saved a wretch like me,

                 I once was lost but now am found,

                Was blind but now I see.

                           --John Newton

           

If we would …rejoice in [Christ] as triumphantly as the first Christians did; we must learn, like them to repose our entire trust in him and to adopt the language of the apostle, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Jesus Christ…Who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

                                                      --William Wilberforce

 

Movie Review

Amazing Grace 

A new movie now in theatres across the country, “Amazing Grace,” is the great story of William Wilberforce (born 1759), the 18th century reformer who led the effort to bring an end to the slave trade. With superb acting, a terrific script, and outstanding costuming, the movie shows how the power of perseverance, determination , and spirituality that Wilberforce exhibited can make a world of difference and shape the course of history.

Against tremendous odds, Wilberforce helped to change the moral climate of England. In his early years at Cambridge and in Parliament, he was a late-night partying, unbelieving fellow, but once converted to Christ, he fought valiantly for the goal God set before him: the abolition of the African slave trade and the end of the evil of slavery altogether. This was not a battle which could be accomplished in a session of Parliament, but took the rest of his adult life. Defeated again and again, this eccentric political leader (who kept a rabbit as an indoor pet and suffered ill health most of his life) refused to give up.

At the end of the movie, the British Parliament voted to abolished the slave trade—a great scene of victory and celebration in which we see John Newton and the Quaker reformers applauding in the gallery above. Tears course down Wilberforce’s face as the members of Parliament give him a standing ovation. At that point, our theatre audience also erupted in applause. In actuality, Wilberforce couldn’t rest on his laurels. It took twenty-six more years, until 1833, for a bill to pass in Parliament which abolished the institution of slavery itself. When he died, he had the fulfillment of knowing that his life’s purpose and call had been achieved.

Not only was “Amazing Grace” entertaining and the sound track and story inspiring, but the historical details, interplay of world events of the time, and realistic depiction of 18th century London makes it a movie well worth seeing.

You’ve got to get out and buy a ticket for this movie while it’s in theatres. Take your children and friends. When we invest in worthwhile, inspiring movies, we are casting our votes in Hollywood for this kind of film to continue to be produced and distributed.
 

Recommended Resources

Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce
by John Piper
(Crossway, 2006)

If you want to read the "rest of the story" and look deeper into the life of William Wilberforce after seeing the movie, “Amazing Grace,” Piper’s book is a great place to start. His concise study of the life of this great statesman of England, and the beliefs and motivations that spurred him on during the decades of defeat to final victory, makes a great read and an encouragement to believers.

 

A Busy Woman’s Guide to Prayer: Forget the Guilt & Find the Gift
by Cheri Fuller

This book has helped women overcome busyness and discouragement to get a fresh vision of the power, longevity, and great gift and invitation of prayer. With true stories from history which demonstrate the power of prayer like John Newton, George Mueller, Corrie ten Boom, and more plus compelling stories from modern life—this book will start you on a fresh-brewed prayer life

For more information on purchasing any of these titles, you can contact PC Publications  or visit your local bookstore.