🎵 Music Reflection

✨ Amazing Grace

Today I want to share one of the most beloved Christian songs ever written.

🎶 Amazing Grace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2arm5ydeJc

Before reading any further, take a few minutes and listen.

Then come back.

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🎹 A Personal Connection

This particular arrangement of Amazing Grace touches my heart for a couple of reasons.

First, it is simply beautiful music.

But second, it was arranged by Matt Wilberg, who today is known throughout the world for his work with the Tabernacle Choir.

Matt has always been special to me because he served as a missionary in Korea shortly after I did.

Many years ago, I remember hearing stories about him and his extraordinary musical gifts.

People would gather by the thousands to hear him play.

He could sit down at a piano in a public place, and before long crowds would begin to form.

Music has a way of doing that.

It reaches places words sometimes cannot.

Over the years, Matt has blessed millions of people through his talent.

This arrangement of Amazing Grace is one more example of that gift.

A Song Written by a Broken Man

Most people know the song.

Far fewer know the story behind it.

The words to Amazing Grace were written by John Newton in the late 1700s.

Newton was not a perfect man.

In fact, much of his early life was marked by mistakes and poor choices.

For a time he worked in the slave trade, something he later deeply regretted.

After a dramatic spiritual awakening, his life changed.

He eventually became a minister and spent the rest of his life testifying of God's mercy and grace.

That is what makes this hymn so powerful.

It was not written by a man celebrating his goodness.

It was written by a man celebrating God's goodness.

Amazing Grace Is About Change

What makes this song endure through the centuries is its message.

No one is beyond redemption.

No one is beyond hope.

No one is beyond the reach of God's love.

The miracle is not that John Newton was perfect.

The miracle is that Christ could change him.

And if Christ could change him, He can change any of us.

That message still matters today.

We All Need Grace

The older I get, the more I realize how much I depend upon grace.

When I was younger, I sometimes thought spiritual growth was mostly about getting everything right.

Now I see it differently.

Spiritual growth is learning to walk with Christ.

Learning to repent.

Learning to listen.

Learning to trust.

Learning to get up after we fall.

Every one of us needs grace.

Every day.

Traditions and Living Revelation

Over the years I have spent a great deal of time studying history.

Church history.

Restoration history.

The Book of Mormon.

The Nemenhah Records.

Pioneer history.

And I have learned something important.

History matters.

Truth matters.

But history alone cannot save us.

Sometimes traditions help us remember truth.

Sometimes traditions can keep us from seeing new truth.

The Savior constantly invited people to move beyond inherited traditions and learn to hear His voice for themselves.

When Christ came, He fulfilled the old and invited His followers into a living relationship with Him.

Not merely a historical relationship.

A living one.

The Rod of Iron

One of the greatest lessons I have learned is that the rod of iron is not simply about remembering what God said in the past.

It is also about hearing what He is saying today.

The Holy Ghost still speaks.

The Savior still guides.

The Creator is still reaching out to His children.

The question is not whether He is speaking.

The question is whether we are listening.

For me, Zion will not be built by people merely defending traditions.

Zion will be built by people learning to hear and follow the voice of the Lord every day.

The Nemenhah Connection

One thing I appreciate about the Nemenhah Records is the constant invitation to seek the Creator directly.

To pray.

To listen.

To remember.

To walk with Him daily.

Not merely to inherit faith.

But to receive faith.

Not merely to repeat testimony.

But to gain testimony.

Not merely to remember what God did.

But to discover what He is doing now.

A Porch Thought

As I look back over seventy-four years, I find myself less interested in proving who was right and who was wrong.

And more interested in becoming the kind of person who can hear the Lord clearly.

History has its place.

Traditions have their place.

But eventually every road must lead us back to Christ.

Back to repentance.

Back to grace.

Back to the Holy Ghost.

Back to love.

That is why Amazing Grace still matters.

Not because of John Newton.

Not because of history.

Not because of tradition.

But because every one of us needs grace.

And every one of us needs the Savior.

🎵 Take Five Minutes

Listen to the song.

Think about the times the Lord forgave you.

Think about the times He carried you.

Think about the times He gave you another chance.

Think about the people He placed in your life to bless and strengthen you.

Then offer a prayer of gratitude.

You may discover that the greatest miracle in your life is not what the Lord has done around you.

It is what He is still doing within you.

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🔎 Continue Your Journey

If this song or blog touched your heart, there is much more to discover.

At the top of The True Remnant blog, you'll see a 🔎 Search (magnifying glass) icon.

Simply click it and search for topics that interest you, such as:

🌿 Stewardship
🌿 Consecration
🌿 Zion
🌿 The Doctrine of Christ
🌿 Hear His Voice
🌿 No Poor Among Them
🌿 The Medicine Wheel
🌿 Babylon
🌿 Peacemakers
🌿 Families
🌿 Charity
🌿 The Holy Ghost
🌿 The Nemenhah Records

Every song in Songs of Zion is connected to deeper studies, scriptures, stories, and practical principles that can help us draw closer to Jesus Christ and learn how to build Zion in our homes and communities.

👉 https://thetrueremnantblog.blogspot.com

Thank you for joining me on this journey.
May the Lord bless you as you continue seeking His voice.

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