Not Just Living but to be Living Sacrifice

John Newton (July 24, 1725–December 21, 1807) berkebangsaan Inggris
writer yang menulis lagu terkenal "Amazing Grace" sesudah bertobat menjadi Kristen ,meninggalkan partisipasinya pada perdagangan budak.
Newton dilahirkan di kota London, anak seorang Pejabat Pelayaran di jawatan Mediterranean , with whom he sailed on a total of six voyages until 1742 ketika ayahnya meninggal dunia.
In 1743 he was pressed into naval service, menjadi a midshipman aboard the HMS
Harwich, deserted, was recaptured reduced to the rank of a common seaman,
exchanged to a ship in the African station, menjadi pegawai pada perdagangan budak, diselamatkan pada tahun 1748 by a friend of his father's, bertobat menerima Yesus Kristus dalam perjalanan pulang di tengah badai besar di tengah samudera. The date was May 10, 1748, an anniversary he observed for the rest of his life. From that point on, dia menghindari keduniawian, berjudi, mabuk.
He continued at sea till 1754, meanwhile studying Latin the Bible. He was
surveyor of tides at Liverpool, England from 1755 to 1760, ketika ia mendengar George
Whitefield John Wesley, dan kemudian belajar bahasa Yunani,Ibrani dan Syria.
In 1763 he was brought to the notice of Lord Dartmouth by Thomas Haweis, through
whose influence dia ditahbiskan sebagai diaken dan imam dalam tahun 1764, given the curacy
of Olney, Buckinghamshire. In 1767 puisi William Cowper settled there,
the result of their friendship was the Olney Hymns (London, 1779 often),
which greatly influenced English hymnology. Other well-known hymns by Newton include "Approach, My Soul, the Mercy Seat," "Come, My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare," "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken."
In 1779 Newton was invited by John Thornton to become Rector of St. Mary Woolnoth, Lombard Street, London, where he officiated until his death in 1807.
He was a strong supporter of evangelicalism in the Church of England, was a
friend of the dissenting clergy as well as of the ministry of his own church.
John Newton meninggal di London dan dimakamkan di Olney.
Hardly less famous than the hymns was his Authentic Narrative of
Some...Particulars in the Life of John Newton (London, 1764, 9th. ed., 1799; an
account of his early life). Dia menulis juga, Sermons Preached in . . . Olney
(1767); Omicron: Twenty-six Letters on Religious Subjects (1774; subsequent
editions, in which the number of the letters menjadi forty-one); Cardiphonia; or,
the Utterance of the Heart in the Course of a real Correspondence (2 vols.,
1781); Letters to a Wife (2 vols., 1793), other works.
A collected edition of his works was issued by his executors (6 vols., London,
1808; new ed., 12 vols., 1821).
Newton was recognized for his hymns of longstanding influence by the Gospel
Music Association in 1982 when he was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of
Fame.