The Mom Who Changed History.
John Newton's (1725-1807) mother died just before he turned seven years old. In the brief time with her son, Elizabeth Newton eagerly taught him God's word. She devotedly prayed that he would enter ordained Christian ministry. Yet in the ensuing wild and carnal years, no one could have guessed that John Newton would ever become a preacher BUT...
her prayer was answered, of course. No real, simple prayer ever slipped yet. It cannot. John came to Jesus. And then he began telling others about Jesus, and he became known as "the sailor preacher" of London, an Anglican clergyman. John Newton was the means of turning men (I will use a big word thoughtfully) by the THOUSANDS to Jesus.
Among the many that John Newton touched, there was Thomas Scott, cultured, scholarly, moral, BUT "didn't need a Savior." Scott came to Jesus. And then Scott, as many of you know by tongue and by pen, (again I will use that big word) swayed THOUSANDS for Jesus.
Among the many that Scott touched, there was one man, the very reverse of Scott, young, dyspeptic, melancholy, "too bad" for God to save. But Scott touched William Cowper, and Cowper found out about a fountain filled with blood. And he was cleansed in the flood of blood. He wrote down his hymn, "There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood." ... the old hymn was sung, and saved people by the thousands.
And Cowper touched a man, among many - Wilberforce, clever, a Christian statesman who championed the abolition of slavery. And Wilberforce, among many, touched one man, a vicar of the Church of England, namely Richmond. He was changed. And Richmond knew the story of the daughter of a milkman... He wrote down her story. He called the little bit of a book, "The Dairyman's Daughter." This little bit of a book went into peasants' huts and kings' palaces and all between, and everywhere-burning like a soft, intense flame. Untold thousands of lives were touched and changed.
The center of the whole thing - a woman, at prayer for her boy, John ... I am very clear about this. The Man on the throne yonder who came from the throne to the cross and back would say, "This woman, she was MY friend. Through her prayer I could loosen out the power that touched untold thousands." (# Italics written by Samuel Dickey Gordon 1859-1936 & edited by SoulSupply.)
Through prayer John Newton's mother's influence has travelled from the kitchen to the castle, the laundry to the lounge room and yesterday to today. Through prayer John Newton's mom has travelled to your house and still travels today. She still loosens prayer.
PS ~ John Newton wrote 'Amazing Grace', this was most recently sung by eight convicts as they approached their execution in Indonesia on April 29 2015. The largest muslim population in a country is in Indonesia, yet the praise of Jesus blanketed this muslim stronghold at the execution. Why - because a mom prayed for her son three hundred years ago.
Today's Soul Snippet:
"As Jesus sets you apart the enemy will try to tear you apart." ~ Michael Cartwright
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