Hopewell Cumberland Presbyterian Church news

It is a joy to share the blessings of this past week with everyone. Our attendance was good, including three visitors.

In Sunday school, Kevin Hazlewood was the teacher. The lesson was “Faith Requires Love.”

In our worship service, we were treated to a concert of great gospel songs. Larry and Tammy Morgan sang “Sweet Beulah Land,” He proceeded to sing many Southern Gospel classics. The entire congregation was edified. Bro. Durwood concluded the service with scripture and the following brief devotional message:

In a span of seven years, a man who grew up in Dyess, Ark. purchased 10 cars and wrecked them all. His nose and jaw was broken in one accident. He destroyed two jeeps, demolished a camper, and sank two boats. He jumped from a car going at an extremely high rate of speed seconds before the car careened over a six hundred foot cliff.

He consumed excessive amounts of whiskey and beer. He swallowed down handfuls of amphetamines. Once while high on drugs, he drove a tractor into an icy cold pond. He knocked down doors and smashed holes in walls. He set off fire alarms in the middle of the night. He divorced his wife leaving four children. He did all this before the age of 36. He survived time and time again and yet life seems so hopeless for him. His name was Johnny Cash.

Many wrote him off as a lost cause. However, God never gave up on him and at mid-life, Johnny committed his life to Christ, to a new marriage, and to helping others. That commitment changed everything for him. The second half of his life was altogether different. He became a Bible believing church member, and a faithful husband. He was truly born again. He was referred to as an “Institution of Country Music” while receiving 10 Grammy Awards.

Referring to the former years, someone asked him if he had any regrets. Johnny replied that he used to, but since God had forgiven him, he decided he should also forgive himself.

Imagine him in heaven introducing himself, “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash,” then breaking into John Newton’s, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.”

The good news is that the same Amazing Grace of God is available to everyone.

Print