Amazing Grace

I watched the movie Amazing Grace the other night. It was a bit slow, but the story was great. If you haven't heard of it, it is the story of a man named Wilberforce who was a member of Parliament (but not Funkadelic) in Britain in the late 1700's early 1800's. He had a passion to see the slave trade abolished in the British empire. Year after year, he would introduce a bill calling for the abolition of slavery, and every year, he would be laughed out of the building. After years of struggle, he finally realized his dream, slavery was abolished.
The movie made me think about my own life and whether or not I have the same passion to see people freed from their spiritual chains as Wilberforce had to see people freed from their iron ones. I should, but sadly, I don't. I should hate their chains with a righteous anger. I should be consumed with the idea that people every day are being sold into spiritual bondage and equally consumed with the fact that I know who can redeem them, but to be quite honest, it doesn't keep me up at night.
I don't always understand my apathy. I do, however, understand that the more self-centered and self-focused I am, the less I care about other people. That is not the kind of person I want to be, nor is it the kind of person God has made me to be. Nevertheless, this is where I find myself today; needing to be shaken.

Do you have a passion that keeps you up at night?

Chains as tambourines

I named this blog after a line in a song that I wrote that says "I'll use these chains as tambourines". It was inspired by Acts 16:25 when Paul and Silas were in the prison and praising God at midnight. I imagine that they were in such a state of mind that they would have used anything they had to praise God, including their chains. As people that have been set free, we should use our old chains as instruments of praise to God and testimonies of His life-changing power. Our past mistakes and bondages serve as reminders of His goodness. They are messages of hope to those who need to hear.

I will try to begin this blog by adding an entry once a week.
Thanks for reading,
Sam