Be Consistent, Blackball "Amazing Grace" And Churches Who Sing It

Common Sense Commentary from my "Chosin Few" veteran, buddy, Louis Holmes, also a Pastor. He sent a response to my last blog post, entitled "Robert E Lee, George Washington, and now Abraham Lincoln". His comment, below, under my own,  is addressing the controversy of 18th-century slave owners and the tearing down of their statues, plaques, and memorials. People like the Father of our nation, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson, who was a primary author of our U.S. Constitution. Another name which has to be included on the list of despised 18th-century slave owners was the English Poet and Gospel Minister, John Newton. Before Pastor Newton became a born-again Christian, he owned shiploads of slaves, whom he bought on the shores of Africa, from other Africans, and sold them on the shores of America. Surely he deserves to be hated, shunned and black-balled by all these zealous, American Liberals who act as if it were they who were slaves. Brother John Newton's claim to fame is something he did in 1779 after he became a Christian ... He wrote Amazing Grace, the most beloved Christian hymn in all of history. Amazing Grace is sung in every Christian Church in the world and has drawn tens of thousands of lost sinners to the love of God. So it is only consistent that those who are hating all those slave owners of  250 years ago must also hate John Newton and demonstrate in the churches of their cities against the singing of his masterpiece, Amazing Grace. And while they are demonstrating against American Christian Churches, they are obligated, by consistency, and fairness to vilify, retaliate, defame, demonize, ostracize, banish, denigrate, blackball and boycott Africa where Africans captured, chained, drug to the sea and sold as slaves to Slave Traders like, then Captain, John Newton. It's just Common Sense, balance, and fair play. RB

Here is Brother Louis Holmes comment on the subject, which inspired my own. RB

Rayburn, I am working on a message for Sunday back in Grapevine about "God's Amazing Grace." As you know John Newton a slave trader wrote Amazing Grace after he became a Christian. My thought, If people are wanting to remove every statue, monument or plaque of anyone who had a slave (Now including Washington and Lincoln) Do you think they will want the song Amazing Grace torn from our hymn books because the author was a slave trader and they will not sing it anymore?  (Maybe if we don't tell them, they won't think about it.) Louis.

Thanks, ole buddy. What is the name and address of the church where you will be speaking in Grapevine? I'll attach it to this post. Rayburn

Brother Holmes's response...

The church is Bethel Baptist Church -- 1224 Hilltop Drive - Grapevine, TX 

I was pastor there for 42 years