Last week we had the pleasure of having Julian May in the studio.  Julian is a member of the ELIM Pentecostal church and a local singer songwriter in the band “The Mays”

http://www.themaysmusic.co.uk/

We asked Julian how his religious beliefs had influenced his music career and played a couple of his songs too. Julian was joined by his good friend “Mr Stoat”, who is an agnostic. An agnostic is someone who doesn’t necessary disbelieve in God but doesn’t  believe in God either, Stoat also let us know the difference between an agnostic and an atheist.  Julian told us about his choice to walk with God and take responsibility for his actions, have a listen to the audio for more info.

(To find out more about the ELIM Pentecostal Church go to:
http://www.elim.org/ or http://www.elim.org.uk/ )

Paul and the guys also spoke about Valentine’s day and the Christian origin of the festival which was very interesting!

Fast Facts about Valentines Day:

·         An estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year

·         Teachers receive the most Valentine's Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, and then, sweethearts. Children between ages 6 to 10 exchange more than 650 million Valentine's cards with teachers, classmates, and family members

·         Of the 73% of people who buy Valentine's Day flowers are men, while only 27 percent are women.

·         Verona, the Italian city where Shakespeare's play lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters every year sent to Juliet on Valentine's Day.

·         The most beautiful and incredible gift of love is the monument Taj Mahal in India. Built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan as a memorial to his wife it stands as the emblem of the eternal love story. Work on the Taj Mahal began in 1634 and continued for almost 22 years and required the labor of 20,000 workers from all over India and Central Asia

It was also National Marriage Week last week so the guys were giving their thoughts on marriage and commitment and Stoat was even giving marriage advice, having been happily married for 39 years.

Fast Facts about Marriage:

·         Marriage Week UK celebrates the diversity and vibrancy of marriage as the basis for family life in the UK. It is timed to include Valentine’s Day (7th –14th Feb 2009) and has been held every year since 1997.

·         Marriage remains incredibly popular – over 90% of young people in the UK aspire to be married at some point in the future, and the large majority will achieve this. Although the popular view is that marriages don’t last, two out of every three first marriages will last until one partner dies, and one in two second or subsequent marriages will also last a lifetime. The Divorce rate (the number of divorces per 1000 married couples) has remained virtually static since the early 1980’s.

·         Current research suggests that the enduring stability of marriage results from the commitment that two people make to each other, embodied in their vows, and supported by family, friends, and society at large. Many couples today however come to marriage to celebrate the stability of their relationships rather than to initiate them, so we see couples marrying later in life, often after living together for a period, and often after buying their home and starting a family.

·         The theme of Marriage Week in 2009 is “Celebrating Commitment”, reflecting both the way that many couples see marriage, and the need for society at large to continue to celebrate the stability that married families bring to society.

Track List for 11/2/2009:

Kaiser Chiefs – Good Days and Bad Days

Lasgo – Surrender

Saturdays - Issues

Christina Aguilera – The Voice Within

The Mays – For Once

Black Eyed Peas – Where is the Love

Evanescence – My Immortal

Daniel Bedingfield – Im Never Gonna Leave Your Side

Coldplay – The Scientist

The Mays – Shallow

Killers – Smile Like You Mean It

Next week we have Reverand Trevor Jamieson from the United Reformed Church coming in, tune in for that and if you have any questions for Reverand let us know!

See you next week