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'Michael is living proof that love always has the power to bring
you home.' Charlie Mackesy 'A cracking read. Really gets to the
bottom of the madness of a man fighting his demons.' Ray Winstone
'His life may have had its ups and downs, but it is wonderful
example of God's transforming power.' Nicky Gumbel, Vicar of HTB
& pioneer of ALPHA 'Take it from me, Michael got up to some
mischief. And to find some peace at the end of it all! You really
need to hear this story.' Former London Crime Boss Growing up,
Michael wanted nothing more than to follow in his dad's footsteps
and join the family business. Aged 18, he did just that and entered
into the glamourous, dangerous world of organised crime. Michael's
father, a career criminal and contemporary of the infamous Krays,
was a wayward role model. Soon Michael's criminal activities were
funding a reckless lifestyle of drugs, sex, and violence. But the
high couldn't last. In 1993 both men were arrested for their
involvement in a GBP13-million smuggling operation. Michael was
sentenced to twelve years, serving time in the same prison as his
dad. Inside HMP Exeter, Michael found something he had never
expected: answers. A chance encounter in the prison chapel led to
an experience that would shake the foundations of his life. This is
a true story of trauma and transformation, one man's search for
redemption, and the struggle to become the father he never had.
Jonathan Aitken and Edward Smyth both experienced a dramatic fall
from grace. Each of them found themselves removed from their homes
and loved ones, locked up in prison and having to deal with the
fallout of their actions. However, in the middle of their lowest
point they discovered something life-changing. God hadn't forgotten
about them. Doing Time offers encouragement and advice on how to
survive and even make the most of life inside prison. Offering the
sort of practical and spiritual wisdom that only comes from
personal experience, it shows that it is never too late for God to
help us find a new way forward in our lives.
He was Nixon's hatchet man. A jailed felon. And now, one of the
most significant Christian leaders of our time. Here is his life
story.
Charles Colson has become one of the most revered leaders of our
time. His ministry outreach, Prison Fellowship, has swelled to
40,000 volunteers working in 100 countries. His Angel Tree
Christmas program provides presents to more than half a million
children of prison inmates every year. His daily radio broadcast,
"BreakPoint, " airs daily on more than 1,000 radio outlets across
the country. And his twenty books have sold more than five million
copies in the U.S.
But God had to work some mighty miracles to bring this unusual
servant to this prominent place of service. After all, Colson was
known as President Nixon's "hatchet man." His involvement in the
Watergate conspiracy led him to prison-and then to a life-changing
encounter with God.
Now, noted author Jonathan Aitken has written the first biography
that compellingly presents a first-rate understanding of the
political, historical, and spiritual journeys of Charles W.
Colson... a life redeemed.
He was Nixon's hatchet man. A jailed felon. And now, one of the
most significant Christian leaders of our time. Here is his life
story.
Charles Colson has become one of the most revered leaders of our
time. His ministry outreach, Prison Fellowship, has swelled to
40,000 volunteers working in 100 countries. His Angel Tree
Christmas program provides presents to more than half a million
children of prison inmates every year. His daily radio broadcast,
"BreakPoint, " airs daily on more than 1,000 radio outlets across
the country. And his twenty books have sold more than five million
copies in the U.S.
But God had to work some mighty miracles to bring this unusual
servant to this prominent place of service. After all, Colson was
known as President Nixon's "hatchet man." His involvement in the
Watergate conspiracy led him to prison-and then to a life-changing
encounter with God.
Now, noted author Jonathan Aitken has written the first biography
that compellingly presents a first-rate understanding of the
political, historical, and spiritual journeys of Charles W.
Colson... a life redeemed.
Jonathan Aitken skilfully analyses the country's achievements in
all its complexity to explain Kazakhstan and Nazarbayev's emergence
on the international stage. Kazakhstan is colossal in size,
complicated in its history, colourful in its culture and is a
nation state that most outsiders know little of. Much of the
existing narrative revolves around the country's first president,
Nursultan Nazarbayev. But his life can only be understood in the
context of the land in which he was born, raised and became a
leader. For centuries the tribes of Kazakhstan had been plundered
and conquered by foreign invaders. The most ruthless of these were
the 20th century leaders of the Soviet Union, but after its
collapse it was Nazarbayev who emerged as the new President of the
nation state. Jonathan Aitken's masterly book is a riveting account
of how Kazakhstan has capitalised on its natural resources
(including oil) to become one of the great economic success stories
of the modern era. Nazarbayev himself is widely admired as a
political leader and strategist, having overcome extraordinary
crises including hyperinflation, food shortages and the emigration
of two million people. However, his record on human rights is less
than perfect and the independence of the judiciary and the press
are questionable. Corruption is also widespread in Kazakh society.
The obstacles faced in becoming a successful economy are described
and examined honestly in this truly fascinating story.
When Jonathan Aitken was in prison, he experienced a religious
conversion. When he emerged into the light of day, he headed for
Oxford where he read for and obtained a degree in theology.
The Psalms have assumed a quite exceptional importance in his life.
The Psalms are at the very heart of the Christian life and its
liturgy - in them is found the whole range of human emotion, of
triumph and despair.
In this new book, Aitken expounds his own view of the Psalms, the
fruit of much prayer, study and reflection. He has busy, stressed
modern men and women and the forefront of his mind as he writes.
Aitken was a successful businessman and financier before he ever
entered government as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. He is fully
aware of the enormous pressures on people in countless walks of
life - as speed of communication increases and more and more people
are obliged to live with targets hanging over them like the sword
of Damocles.
Aitken writes 'out of the depths': he has experienced as profoundly
as any of us the heights of adulation and the depths of disgrace
and shame and he understands the meaning of repentance. This is an
account of the Psalms tried and tested in raw human emotion.
This book is designed to be kept in the top drawer of a
businessman's desk, the satchel of a student, or the briefcase of a
top flight lady executive.
In this sequel to his first volume of autobiography ("Pride and
Perjury"), Aitken starts his story as he is taken down from the
courtroom and incarcerated at Her Majesty's Pleasure. He writes
frankly of subsequent events. Visited by the ever-optimistic Lord
Longford, Aitken emerged from the jaws of despair a chastened man.
How this Old Etonian former Cabinet Minister on Mrs. Thatcher's
inner circle managed to establish new relationships and lasting
friendships with fellow prisoners is fascinating - so too is this
account of how religious belief transformed his life and began to
influence the life of others. Emerging from Bellmarsh Prison, with
nothing but a black plastic sack of clothes, Aitken recounts how he
was accepted at Wycliffe Hall Oxford to read theology and how this
reconditioned his mind as well as his soul. Aitken has lost none of
his charm, fluency and determination. But now these are used for
greater purposes. He has found a new life and meaning to it. The
authenticity of this new life is something which drives him on, and
which readers of this entertaining new book will be able to judge
for themselves.
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