the 16th of October 1655

Are you a a people pleaser? Paul says that he came to the Thessalonians declaring the message that God had given him that he sought to please God and not man. Hugh Latimer was like this bishop of Worcester in the time of Henry the 8th he would often remind himself when speaking in court not to fear the king of England but to fear the king of kings. A few years later during the reign of Mary Tudor, Hugh Latimer was arrested along with many other Evangelicals for his beliefs. Many protestants in England had simple switched sides when Mary came to the throne but not Latimer or Ridley, they were willing to die for the sake of pleasing God rather than pleasing their monarch. Today is the 16th of October 2010, on this same day in 1655 they were burnt on the stake. Latimer was heard to cry 'Master Ridley be of good cheer and play the man for we light a candle that I trust by God's grace , In England I trust, will  never be put out.'

It is good to remember the effect the gospel had on men and women in times past and pray that we will be bold to face the much smaller opposition we face when sharing the gospel with others. We are called to be faithful too, it is my prayer that God would remind us in the UK of those in England, Scotland and Wales who laid down their life for the success of the gospel in times gone by and that God would raise up a new generation to herald the gospel in our day.

Shalom

Stephen