Starting Right
Starting Right is a 5 minute Day Starter to help keep you motivated, encouraged, and focused throughout your day. DannyMac is a pastor, teacher, motivational speaker, husband, and father. His years of leading and training people have given him vast experience in helping individuals to accomplish change in their lives and meet their goals. He can help you set the course for your day by offering practical advice from God's Word in a positive and fun way. There is no better way to begin your day than by Starting Right with DannyMac.
Starting Right
Grace Unleashed
Reba McEntire recently recorded what many consider the most influential Christian hymn of all time—"Amazing Grace." This five-minute devotional explores the powerful connections between three remarkable stories of redemption spanning centuries.
When John Newton penned these iconic lyrics in 1779, he transformed his experience as a former slave trader into a timeless testimony of God's redemptive power. Fast forward to 2006, when Chris Tomlin felt inspired to add the now-familiar refrain "My chains are gone, I've been set free." Tomlin's addition wasn't merely creative license—it emerged from deep reflection on Newton's history and the biblical concept of ransom, creating a beautiful expansion that churches worldwide have embraced.
Whether you're beginning your faith journey or coming back after years away, God's amazing grace continues working in your life. Listen to Reba's powerful rendition and be reminded that it's never too late to "turn yourself in" to the One whose love knows no bounds.
Here is the YouTube link to today's song
https://youtu.be/Io1830eXNw0?si=EFgskMOJ1BUZM-Kp
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac. I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back, relax and let me help you start your day right. Good morning everybody. A couple years ago we talked about the song Amazing Grace by John Newton. It is by far the most recorded Christian song of all time. It is the most popular Christian song of all time. It is the most well-known Christian song even amongst non-Christians of all time, so it actually deserves a revisit today, I think, because today's version of this song is by one of the most well-known female singers in the world and she recently released her gospel album featuring Amazing Grace. Before we get there, let me talk just for a moment about Amazing Grace, because right now in many churches when we sing Amazing Grace, we have combined with it the song my Chains Are Gone.
Speaker 1:John Newton wrote Amazing Grace back in 1779, but it wasn't until 2006 that Chris Tomlin wrote and added my Chains Are Gone. It was a beautiful addition to the song and just makes it flow in so much fuller and so much better. In an interview, tomlin talked about this addition to Amazing Grace. He said that he had read about the history of John Newton and reflected on the depth of the lyrics in their context of slavery. Out of this reflection, he had this revelation. These words just started flowing one night my chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior, has ransomed me. He said I was thinking about how you pay a ransom for a slave. And then he continues reciting the lyrics and like a flood, his mercy rains an ending love, amazing grace. I really like that addition to amazing grace. I think Tomlin's words and his melody just fit with it so beautifully and add even more impact to this very powerful song. Well, today I want to talk about a new version of that song that was sung by one of the most well-known country artists of all time, and that lady happens to be Reba McIntyre.
Speaker 1:In a recent interview she was talking about the most important things in her life, which are her relationship with God, her family and the impact that music has had on all of them. The interviewer then asked about her current gospel album and what the song Amazing Grace means to her as she sings it. She said that was a song that she grew up with knowing a lot about. But in fact Reba was baptized when she was 12 years old. But while Reba made that initial commitment to Christ when she was quite young, it was a completely different story for her mother. You see, her mother, jacqueline Smith, was raised in a Pentecostal church and Reba's grandmother made them attend every time the doors opened. Reba said I guess that's why my mama was rebellious she didn't like church, she didn't want anything to do with it until she got older. In fact it wasn't until her mom turned 89 that she surrendered her life to God. Reba said she went to the Baptist church in Spring County, walked down the aisle and the preacher said Jackie, what can I do for you? She said well, preacher, I'm here to turn myself in. And so she was baptized. Reba continues her story. She said I wasn't raised religious but by the time my parents passed, both of them were saved. Everyone in my immediate family is saved and I'll see them up in heaven when I die. I'm so glad to know that For all three people involved in the song today, that's John Newton and Chris Tomlin and Reba McIntyre it makes us understand how true Philippians 1.6 is.
Speaker 1:Be confident of this he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion, until the day of Christ Jesus. Whatever God begins, he will see it come to completion, whether it was a former slave trader who found God and found freedom and strength and love that he was missing in his life. Or whether it was a woman who was hurt by what happened in church when she was a young'un and then grew up knowing that she needed to come back to God, and so she turned herself in at the latter stages of life, finding peace with God and an eternal home with him. Finding peace with God and an eternal home with Him. Or a world-famous entertainer like Reba McEntire, who has recognition and material success in this world, but she still knows that she needed Jesus. What Christ begins in us, he will bring to a completion, and that's the celebration of amazing grace my chains are gone. Here's Reba McEntire's. Enjoy it. His word my chains are gone. I've been set free. My God, my
