Influences

I believe faith is what has made me self-determined and self-assured. I come from a pentecostal background but would simply describe myself as a born again Christian.

The influence for the title ‘Abandon All Fear’ has biblical and historical significance. “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here” is, according to Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’, the inscription at the gates of the entrance to the Inferno (Hell).

If the hellbound must abandon all hope, those who seek God can abandon all fear. That’s something I’ve not shared before but I think I was simply underestimating my audience.

The influence upon my understanding and interpretation of faith comes from great writers like CS Lewis, Jim Wallis and Charles Colson. I have also been influenced greatly by the biographies of Nicky Cruz, Brother Yun and Christian Martyrs.

Oddly enough it was The Policemans Blog written by PC Copperfield (Stuart Davidson), was what primarily influenced me to start blogging. I have never been involved in law enforcement (apart from the other side) but I found Copperfield funny as well as resonating with my own frustrating work experiences.

I started to take an interest in all sorts of blogs, Kathy was one of my earliest and greatest encouragers.

Later, I began to blog on politics. I already had an unhealthy interest in global politics due to Newsweek, being one of the only English magazines I got to read occasionally in Switzerland. One blogger I have continued to read and find his views spot on is Kel at The Osterley Times.

Later still, I became interested in finding out if there were any other Christian bloggers online and I found Steve, Mark, ICV, DYL and The Dane.

Finally, one blogger who I have recently made acquaintance with who has a lot of wisdom is Stef Zucconi, who mostly questions governmental, elitist and cultural motives looking beyond the headlines and official accounts. Stef is also one of the founders of Conspiraloonâ„¢ Central, which is a parody of sorts, an ironic, exaggeration of the term coined by the liberal elite.