'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

Over the weekend I had the privilege of seeing the movie Amazing Grace. Deeply moved by the film, I have continued to talk about it over the last couple days. I am amazed at the number of people who have not yet heard of it, therefore, I am here to fill you in on why it is an all important film and why you need to go see it.

Amazing Grace chronicles the campaign by William Wilberforce to abolish the British slave trade in the late 18th century. While he was a young member of Parliament, he experienced God in a life-changing way which caused him to want to leave the political arena and devote his life to Him. After consulting John Newton, his friend and author of the hymn 'Amazing Grace' (which was written while Newton, a slaveship master, repented his involvement in the slave trade), Wilberforce realized that he could do the work of God through his career in Parliament, thus embarking on a lifelong campaign to end the injustice of slavery. His faith and dedication to abolishing slavery and bringing equal rights to men is truly inspiring. Through his hard work, we have a model of what it looks like to battle injustice in the name of Jesus Christ.

During a particular scene in the film, a Minister begins to preach to the congregation on the idea of abolition. Throughout the sanctuary, people stand and leave immediately. Along with numerous other scenes, this brought tears to my eyes. To me, it represented the attitude that the vast majority of our culture still has in regards to modern day slavery. It is a social injustice that has not ended. There are young girls in Southeast Asia being sold to brothels that in turn force them to have sex with hundreds of men per day, there are child soldiers in East Africa that have been abducted to kill for rebel armies, there are entire multi-generational families trapped in lives of endless manual labor all over the world. An estimated 27 million slaves exist in the year 2007. We can no longer walk away. We need more people like William Wilberforce that will stand up for human rights; that will seek justice and encourage the oppressed.

Through the Amazing Grace film, the Amazing Change campaign has sprung. Visit the website to see what you can do to help fight injustice today.