Poldark Series 4

One of the most prominent characters of this series is Ossie Whitworth, the evil Reverend! He uses a death bed confession to bring down Pascoe’s bank. This is part of a plan with George Warleggan to destroy Ross Poldark. He is a sexual predator and almost completely destroys his wife Morwenna by raping her. He has an affair with her sister Rowella, which is discovered by Rowella’s husband Arthur. He confronts Ossie in the woods, they fight, and Ossie gets caught in the stirrup of his saddle and is dragged to his death by his horse. A fitting end to a hideous character!

Down through the ages many terrible things have been done in the name of God and Christianity. It is surprising that the church has survived and indeed is flourishing worldwide. I am thankful that Jesus Christ is able to transform people and give them a new life and new hope.

Ross becomes an M.P. to make a difference to the ordinary working folk. Most of the time he does a good job, although he is frustrated by the amount of time it takes for change to happen, greed being the major obstacle to a fairer society. Monk Adderley M.P. is a great distraction to Ross. Monk is attracted to Demelza, Ross’s wife, who has no idea how to handle his advances. In the end Ross and Monk challenge each other to a duel at dawn. Ross is injured and Monk is killed. Having broken the law there is a real danger our hero will be stripped of his role and thrown into prison, but somehow once again he gets away with it.

What distracts you and me from our main purpose in life?

Poor old Elizabeth! George, who really loves her, has always been jealous of Ross’s affection for her. The fact that they had a brief affair and Valentine’s paternity has always been in question pushes her to get pregnant again. She thinks that if she has a similar eight-month pregnancy it will put George’s suspicions to rest once and for all! The potion that she takes hastens the birth but has dire consequences and she dies as a result of the poison.

Oh. If only she had done things differently. Now everyone is upset at her death.

In life we all have “if only” thoughts. Thank God that Jesus died to forgive us and free us from all of our regrets and mistakes.

Why I Believe - Part 2 - a miracle?

One of the five people in the car accident was a young sixteen year old called Sharon. From that point on she became my girl friend. I soon learned that she wasn’t well. Since she was twelve she had suffered from a rare liver disease. She had spent several weeks in hospital and was eventually taken to the Royal Free Hospital in London where she was under the top liver specialist in the world. The Doctors were able to stop the disease from getting worse but were not able to make her well. This meant she would suffer regular pain, be on a fat free diet, not be able to do any sporting activities and very often her skin would look yellow (jaundice).

I remember thinking, ‘is she wearing yellow makeup’? No, it was the effects of the liver disease. Sharon had some bad experiences of Christianity and wasn’t interested in church or God. I was getting more interested in Christianity and wanted to find out more. One night we both went to a service at Golberdon Methodist Church. During his talk the speaker said, “I thank God for the amazing work that doctors do but sometimes the doctors say, “I can’t do any more for you. Jesus can help you when no one else can”.

Sharon thought, well, let’s give Jesus a try. The speaker prayed for her but nothing seemed to happen, but over the next eighteen months the pain got less and less and she started to look better - no jaundice. It was at that point she was asked to go back to London for more tests. I went with her. When we were in the waiting room everyone else looked really ill but Sharon looked so well. When the test results came back to her G.P. he said he could not explain it, but the test showed that she no longer had the disease and that he did not need to see her any more.

That was over thirty years ago. Sharon has never had any problems with her liver since. We thank God often for this amazing blessing.

Why I believe - Part 1

I have always believed in God. I was brought up to go to church at Callington and Frogwell Sunday school. As I grew up I continued to go to church but there were more important things in life like farming and the local Young Farmers club. There we enjoyed farm walks; I learned many livestock tasks like trimming cows’ hoofs, and dehorning calves. I took part in several stock judging events and there was the more fun side discos and various cabaret competitions.

One evening soon after passing my driving test, I couldn’t start my car. I borrowed my Dad’s new Vauxhall Cavalier. While following other young farmers I attempted to overtake, travelling very fast near a bend. There was a car coming in the other direction. I swerved to miss it and lost control of the car. It hit a bank and rolled unto its side; it seemed to roll for ever, coming to rest in a ditch well out of sight from the road. There were five of us in the car. We all got out without a scratch on us. A well-designed car from a safety point of view! Or did God look after us? If so, why us, when so many are killed or injured in much less dramatic accidents?

As there were no mobile phones in those days, no one came to our aid except people who had witnessed the accident, some of whom gave us a lift back to Callington Police Station, which was closed, so we made our way home. I felt like the worst person in the world. I realised that, through my own stupidity, I could have killed my four friends. How could I get over that?

The next morning our local cattle feed salesman called. He said to me that God was looking after me and I needed to be thankful. From that point on I started to follow Jesus much more seriously. I came to know His forgiveness and found He was helping me to follow Him. I can never doubt that Jesus, for some reason, had his had upon my life.

Pastor Martin Bunkum

- to be continued ….