William Cowper

Welcome to Brevis Talk. The talks you are about to hear will be honest, revealing, and unfiltered. Join us as your host. Pastor Wayne Whiteside lifts the lid of silence and has conversations about mental illness and health in the church. The goal here is simple. It is to help someone along this journey of life who is struggling. It is to tell the truth to the unsuspecting, and it is to lighten the load of a fellow traveler. This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as medical advice or to replace consultation with your physician or mental health professional.

If you are experiencing a medical crisis, call 9 1 1 or go to the nearest Emergency Room. Now, here's your host, pastor Wayne.

Speaker 1 (42s): In today's Brevis talk, we talk about William Calper, the English poet and hymn writer who is best known for the hymns. There is a F and God moves in a mysterious way. He suffered four major battles of what was described as mental breakdowns. He had his first mental breakdown when he was 28 years of age and attempted to take his life. He was then placed into an asylum.

Three years later, he would try opioids and several other methods to attempt self-harm. At age 32, he was committed to another asylum, and it was during this stay at this asylum that he was converted to Jesus Christ. Calper found a Bible on a bench and a garden area of the asylum, and he began to read that Bible. He would later state that upon reading Romans chapter three, verse 25, that he was converted to Christ.

Everyone would be blessed to have such a dear friend and supporters. Calper did. His friend is best known for another hymn, amazing Grace. His friend was John Newton, and he became CalPERS pastor, counselor, and friend. Calper would say at the end of his life, a sincere or more affectionate friend. No man ever had.

Newton would often take Calper on long walks and have him do church visitation with him to keep Kaper from being lonely and becoming even more reclusive. At 55 years of age, Kaper suffered his fourth mental breakdown, and at 61 years of age, he wrote that he always seemed to be scrambling in the dark among the rocks and crevices what to make of this lifelong struggle.

His mother miscarried three times before he was born. His mother died when he was six years of age. He was constantly bullied as he was in boarding school. And you asked, could these experiences have contributed to his despair? Well, we don't know the inner workings in the heart of William Kaper. We don't know the inner workings of the heart of anyone. We do know that his struggles were major and often at long stretches, but we also know that the Lord used William Kaper.

And again, we should all have a friend like John Newton and we should all be a friend like John Newton was. Their friendship lasted for over 30 years, and in this time, Newton demonstrated Christian Love and patience will come for struggled to the very end of his life. What a mystery this is as we try to make sense of this broken life, yet God used this broken life.

We can simply say that our struggles are often not someone else's struggles and their struggles are often not our struggles. But in this life, this fallen world, we all struggle. Whether it is a physical malady or a mental malady, we should face these with courage as Christian people, and for those who are suffering around us, we should be kind, be a friend, be someone that another person can talk to and lean upon CalPERS life is that kind of a demonstration, his need of the grace of God.

Speaker 0 (4m 54s): And. that concludes our broadcast today. Please don't forget to subscribe to the podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Plus, check us out at our Facebook page or brevistalk.com and take a look at our blog and remember, be kind. Always be kind.