Here I stand...

I had been eager to get my hands on a copy of “Married to a Martyr”. I’d heard about the three Christians killed in eastern Turkey during April 2007, but it was difficult to find any coherent account in the confused stories and rumours that emerged. This is the biography Susan Geske, one of the widows, who in the midst of her grief, speaks out to make the truth known. Through the short, accessible chapters we learn how Susan made the journey from unbelief, to a faith that will cost her so much, we witness unrequited love that blossoms into marriage and how God-given desires became reality. Very little is revealed about the three men’s murder, though we are left in no doubt that they suffered horrifically, and that they made the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of the gospel. I was reduced to tears a number of times as I read this book, and it ultimately left me feeling deeply challenged – fulfilling Susan’s desire that “…the story of my husband, and his two friends’ outright commitment ...

Well, after reading Abraham Pipers blog post from Saturday I decided that I’d post something – even if there’s no real content to it! I thought I’d fill you all in with the next blog post I have planned and what I’ve been up to recently! I’m planning on making my next post the first of many book reviews – I have a huge pile of books to read and I thought a great way of making sure that I actually read the books I buy is to commit to posting a short review of each book I read, along with the title of the book that I’m going to read next! This week is fairly hectic with three big Christmas events being put on by the church – I’ve been responsible for getting the programmes printed, stapled and folded – all 1200!! I’m feeling more Christmassy this year – I’ve been helping out, in a minor way, with the school choirs and the JYC Nativity. Sunday evening saw the church packed for the Junior Youth Club (JYC) Nativity – and it didn’t fail to entertain! With a house proud shee...

I was reminded recently that I haven’t blogged for a while. I’m sorry for my absence – It’s been a combination of busyness and avoidance! “Avoidance?” you ask. (Well, you might have asked!) Basically, although my last post generated one comment here – on my Facebook page it generated a huge number of comments, thirty at the last count! I wanted to respond to some of these comments, particularly the more aggressive ones – and so I was avoiding posting again until I had given a response to people that had taken the time and effort to post their comments. Unfortunately I’ve been so busy that I haven’t as yet had opportunity to reply – although I still intend to! So in the meantime, I’m back! On Tuesday (02/12/08), I was watching “The One Show” whilst eating my dinner. There was one segment of the show that caught my attention – one of the presenters interviewed David Essex about his Christmas hit “A Winters Tale”. Here’s what David Essex said; DE - “It wasn’t p...