Saturday Sundries
May 30, 2009
It happened entirely by accident, but yesterday I watched Amazing Grace, the story of William Wilburforce, the man who led the fight to end slavery in the British Empire. Somehow I missed seeing it when the movie came out in 2007, but yesterday Marlene found it on TV and we watched it together. If you need some encouragement to believe in the power of righteousness to change the world, you should check it out.
In one scene John Newton, the former slave trader who wrote the words to “Amazing Grace,” urged William Wilburforce not to give up the fight. He must not resign from parliament to seek an easier life. Newton, haunted by the ghosts of 20,000 slaves he brought from Africa, knows that Wilburforce wants to give up. But he must fight on.
The movie vividly portrays the scenes of parliamentary debate as year after year the slave traders (and their supporters) foiled the abolitionists. It took decades but in the end, the vote to end slavery was overwhelming. Watch this movie and then stand and cheer.
Attention, Preachers! Haddon Robinson warns of The Heresy of Application.
A friend asked if I knew of a book with testimonies of former Muslims who have come to Christ. Check out The Costly Call: Modern Day Stories of Muslims Who Found Jesus.
For all our friends in the Chicago area, circle Thursday, October 1 on your calendar. That’s the date of our first-ever Keep Believing Friendship Banquet. Details soon.
Speaking of dates, Marlene and I will be leading the Keep Believing Holy Land Tour, October 18-28, 2009. Click on the link to read the online brochure.
Aldous Huxley vs. George Orwell.
If you’re a regular reader of the blog, you know that I’ve been doing a lot of radio lately with American Family Radio, a network of almost 200 stations based here in Tupelo. Starting next week I’ll be hosting a call-in program from 1-2 PM (Central Time) Monday-Friday called “The Christian Life Today.” It’s really an on-air version of “Ask Pastor Ray” where we’ll discuss questions about the Bible and the Christian life. I’m doing it two weeks in June:
June 1-5
June 15-19
And then we’ll see where we go from there. Check the station listing to see if there is a station near you. Or you can listen online by going to the AFR website and then clicking on “AFR-Talk.” To make this program work, I’m going to need some of my friends to call in with questions. So I need your prayers, and I need some callers to help make the program go. Once the program begins, you can call the toll-free number: 866-963-2037.