I went to the seaside recently, and the sea was quote rough. I filmed a short video which is attached below, I have been posting to TikTok recently if you are over there come and find me! Behind me, the sea was fairly rough. I mean, the sea does get a lot rougher than this, but it was very windy. It wasn’t exactly a warm, sunny day. I was wearing my Tom Baker Doctor Who scarf, and a coat which also kind of evokes Doctor Who a bit, at least to my mind. You can call me the Doctor if you like!
Standing there watching it just made me think of the many biblical and Christian references to storms, and particularly storms at sea.
Obviously, one of the first that springs to mind is Jonah.
TickTok
@adrianwarnockbooks We all experience storms. We can know peace in the middle of them. And we can know Jesus saving us and leading us safe to shore just like Jonah and John Newton. @Christian Heritage London #mylighthouse #johnnewton #suffering #storms #booktok ♬ original sound – Adrian Warnock
Also available as a podcast
When Jonah had got himself into such a mess, because of his disobedience to God, there he was in the storm. The other sailors were frightened they were going to die. The waves must have been far worse than anything I was looking at from the shore.
They said to him, look, it’s because of you, we’re going to have to throw you overboard. And they did. But Jonah was saved through that.
It’s really interesting, because if you fast-forward to the life of John Newton, we see something very similar.
Newton’s life went into a long decline, to the point where he was actually being rescued on a ship that was itself in danger of sinking. In fact, he was considered to be so evil that some people said, you’re like Jonah.
They didn’t actually threaten to throw him overboard, but they genuinely wondered whether God was judging them for having this evil man on board their ship.
And yet, somehow, this renegade prayed.
And when he prayed, God heard him, and God answered him.
He was brought — in the words of a great Christian song — safe to shore. Jesus is our lighthouse, and he brings us safe to shore.
Jesus brings us through storms in life. Storms which are often metaphorical rather than physical.
But there’s something quite evocative about the idea of being on a ship, heaving up and down with the waves. I’ve been on a ferry when the Channel was just a little bit rough, and that’s quite a scary experience — even though you know you’re probably safe.
Now imagine if your boat is actually taking on water. Imagine it’s at real risk of sinking.
That’s a very clear picture of how trials in life can sometimes feel.
I know that for me, I’ve described my poor health, and what happened as a result across so many areas of my life, as being like a tsunami. A giant wave. A storm. A wave of destruction.
Storms show power, but they also show destruction.
So it’s a scary thing to see a storm.
But in the midst of the storm, you can be at peace.
You can know calm.
If you’re safe, being led safe to shore, even though it might still feel frightening, you can know that Jesus is with you.
You can know that not only do you have a lighthouse guiding you, and you also have a lifeboat. Jesus is both. He will keep you safe, and will take you where you need to be.
That’s why Amazing Grace: How Faith Grows in the Human Heart exists.
The book brings together chapters explaining why Newton and his teaching matters today , mixed with his own autobiography, letters, and sermons updated into modern English.
It allows this man, who was once a slave trader, but became a compassionate pastor, who fought for the abolition of slavery, and also wrote the world’s most famous hymn, to explain why that hymn is still so important to us.
Amazing Grace was written by someone who knew storms.
Someone who knew fear, guilt, rescue, and what it meant to be brought safe to shore. And thought like him we will know many troubles through life, Jesus will lead us home.
Read More about Amazing Grace and Adrian’s other books
Amazing Grace: How Faith Grows in the Human Heart
Modern English Explanation of Ancient Truths.
By John Newton and Adrian Warnock
Buy here
Classic writings updated and a new biography.
300 years after the author’s birth
253 years after he released the world’s greatest hymn, Amazing Grace
This hymn has been recorded more often than any other song of any genre. In the same thirty-six hours which changed the world forever, his close friend William Cowper also wrote God Moves in a Mysterious Way, but then had a crushing mental breakdown from which he never fully recovered. Such powerful grace of God, but marked by terrible suffering. The echoes still reverberate today.
Also includes a chapter by Charles Spurgeon who highly valued John Newton
About Adrian Warnock
“Adrian is a first-rate communicator”—Albert Mohler Jr
About John Newton
”I look forward to meeting John Newton” — R. T. Kendall
”One of my heroes”—Tim Keller
“He says it all perfectly”— Martyn Lloyd-Jones
”The memory of his own gracious change of heart and life gave him tenderness in dealing with sinners, and it gave him hope for their restoration” — C. H. Spurgeon
”Why am I interested in this man? Because one of my great desires is to see Christians be as strong and durable as redwood trees, and as tender and fragrant as a field of clover. Oh, how rare are the Christians who speak with a tender heart and have a theological backbone of steel.” — John Piper
”If William Cowper could speak, he’d thank God for not only John Newton, but any friend who prays for and walks beside those with mental illness.” — Joni Eareckson Tada
Preview the content here:
→ I once was blind but now I see
→ Grace Within: The Inner Evidence of Faith
→ How Grace enters the Human Heart
→ Growing in Grace: When Shoots Take Root
→ A modern parable: The Traitors: Spellbound by Lies
More coming soon: subscribe by email or follow on social media
→ The 36 hours that changed the word
and much more…
Adrian Warnock presents a modern English edition of the 18th century classic writings of John Newton (1725-1807), author of Amazing Grace, the world’s greatest hymn and the most recorded song of any genre. This is an early access preview version, and includes free updates.
Allow John Newton to speak to your heart today. This updated autobiography and his devotional writings form a powerful commentary on the lyrics of his famous hymn, revealing what is so amazing about grace. The book also contains an interpretation of how significant his extraordinary life still is today. Newton becomes for us a vivid example of how God’s grace changes people gradually over time.
Published 300 years after John Newton was born, and 253 years after he released his remarkable hymn, this book blends Newton’s timeless wisdom with the clarity of thought and plain English which has marked Warnock’s Patheos blog for more than twenty years, and shaped his other books Raised with Christ, Hope Reborn, and The Traitor Within.
Amazing Grace includes modern English versions of Newton’s autobiography, Authentic Narrative, his thoughts on entering the ministry, Miscellaneous Thoughts, the first ever abolition publication, Thoughts on the African Slave Trade, selected sermons, and letters from Newton’s vast correspondence. A skillful soul physician, Newton describes how grace changes every aspect of a Christian’s life over a lifetime of faith. The former slave trader turned pastor speaks to the deepest struggles of our spiritual journeys. In these pastoral devotions, Newton traces how divine grace takes root, grows, and matures in the human heart through three phases: conviction, conflict, and mature contemplation of God’s glory.
We meet the rebellious and violent youth, the slave trader who oppressed thousands of innocents, was made a slave himself, and who was found by God’s grace during a storm that nearly sank his ship. We see how this unruly man was pursued, rescued, and transformed by grace. We learn how he became a pastor known for his compassion and kindness, demonstrated by his deeply committed care for the poet William Cowper during his severe mental illness. Newton became a pastor to the whole nation, working for the abolition of the slave trade, mentoring William Wilberforce for decades.
Newton bridged the gap between the warring denominational movements of his time, a friend of both George Whitefieldand John Wesley. He turned his fervor away from pamphlet flame wars or revival preaching, but towards tenderhearted soul care for the distressed and depressed as they struggled to find greater spiritual freedom and transformation. These pages invite readers not only to understand Newton’s insights, but to experience the living reality of grace in their own lives.
ABOUT ADRIAN WARNOCK
“Adrian is a first-rate communicator”—Albert Mohler Jr
ABOUT JOHN NEWTON
“He says it all perfectly”—Martyn Lloyd-Jones
“I look forward to meeting John Newton”—R. T. Kendall
“One of my heroes.”—Tim Keller
“The memory of his own gracious change of heart and life gave him tenderness in dealing with sinners, and it gave him hope for their restoration”—C. H. Spurgeon
“Why am I interested in this man? Because one of my great desires is to see Christians be as strong and durable as redwood trees, and as tender and fragrant as a field of clover. Oh, how rare are the Christians who speak with a tender heart and have a theological backbone of steel”—John Piper
“If William Cowper could speak, he’d thank God for not only John Newton, but any friend who prays for and walks beside those with mental illness.”—Joni Eareckson Tada
If this book makes you want to read more John Newton, and you do not mind the old English, buy the Logos Bible Software Edition of his Works or a paper version.
The Traitor Within: Understanding and Healing Our Deceitful Hearts
By Adrian Warnock with a chapter by John Newton
Pre-order here
“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” (Jeremiah 17:9, NLT).
And yet our culture tells us to “follow your heart”. No wonder it too is now desperately sick and beyond cure. This book will explore the cultural phenomenon The Traitors as a modern parable as it unmasks the human heart.
Adrian blends his medical insights gained from his work as a doctor and psychiatrist with pastoral wisdom gathered from twenty-five years serving as part of a church leadership team. He witnessed a period of church growth from less than twenty members to thousands.
In recent years Adrian has also experienced chronic illness following his diagnosis with blood cancer, and this book reflects his passion to help others face all kinds of suffering with hope and compassion.
Preview the content here:
→ TV’s The Traitors: Spellbound by Lies
→ How Suffering Revealed What Was in My Heart
→ When Your Body Lies to You: False Messages and Appetites
→ Help when Life Hurts: dealing with specific challenges
More coming in 2026: subscribe or follow on social media
→ Healing Your Body: Practical Tools
→ Follow Your Heart? Not When Your Mind Is Lying to You
→ Healing Your Mind: Taking Every Thought Captive
→ How Lies Create Our Desperately Sick Society
→ Healing Our Broken Society: Work, Friends, and Family
→ Our Deceitful Spirits: Without Hope and without God
→ Healing Your Spirit – Meaning and Religion
→ Forgiven in a Moment. Renewed Over a Lifetime. Glorified for Eternity.
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