Ireland, 425 AD

He hadn’t come for this. The men held down his hands and feet and started tying them with rope. Going anywhere else in this world would have gained him a lifetime of respect, but not here in heathen Ireland. He wondered if even God himself could reach the people here. It had started well enough, he had moved in the area and started to see some incredible things happen. Slowly he was starting to see a few conversions, but it was met with overwhelming resistance. People hated what he believed in. He had faced some persecution, people spat on him, he had been beaten up a few times. But he did everything for the Lord and considered it fair game.

But then the miracles started happening, and everything changed. The sick became well, the food became prosperous. He had even seen people come back from the dead. And with them, the persecution increased greatly. The heathen Celtics had picked up the pace with the persecution. Piran had found himself kidnapped twice and told to recant. By the grace of God he had been able to withstand, and the torture increased. He had been left bloodied and near dead once or twice. But continued his mission because he knew God had willed it.
But this time seemed different. This could be it for him. The heathen had broke into his Abbey and forced him to the ground. They once again asked him to recant, but he couldn’t. That’s when he was tied up and beaten.

Where is God now?

How could God expect him to do great things in His name with this type of persecution continuing? Even if he lived through this, he couldn’t see himself doing this much longer. At some point, something has to give. This had gone on for much longer than most men would allow.


The men carried him swiftly through the town, villagers lined the roads watching what was happening. Some where cheering, some turned away in tears. They dragged his bloodied body for miles and that's when Piran saw it

Not this, please not this.

A millstone sat at the edge of the cliff. Piran finally struggled to try and get away, even punching one of the attackers with his dually bound hands. They slammed him into the millstone with a resounding heft. He thought he felt his back break and he screamed in pain.

They tied his right hand to the top of the Millstone

God Loves You, it’s not too Late!

They tied his left hand to the top of the Millstone

You too can inherit eternal life!

They tied his feet to the bottom of the stone. Some of the men looked a little ill watching what was transpiring, knowing that they were sentencing a man to death

Please! Please! I Beg You!

The men lifted the stone and began the toss, as they hoisted to the count of three, Piran knew his fate. This was it. But he was fighting for his life. As the men let go of the stone, Piran felt the weight of the stone go and he knew he was falling.

Lord, I place my life in your…
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Neville stood on the edge of the Cligga Head Cliffs in Perranporth. The marbled red rock walls looked majestic as the ten foot waves beat up against it. When Neville looked at scenes like these, he imagined there had to be a higher power out there somewhere, but since it seemed entirely unknowable, Neville couldn’t be certain. His faith was in himself because he had a certainty there. What Neville set out to do, he could accomplish. The power of his own humanity was what kept him going. It would be fantastic to be able to believe in something greater than himself, but he couldn’t find that.



He glanced down again and pondered his own vitality. Perranporth was a gorgeous area of the country, named after St. Piran himself. So Neville couldn’t help but think of his own life. He had achieved greatness once more, in his second week in the XWF, he had won another championship. But now the target was on his back and he knew the world would be gunning for him once more. The joy with living a quiet life was that you didn’t have to put up a challenge to anyone who thought they knew more than you. But a quiet life wasn’t what Neville was born for. He couldn’t live a normal life. Neville knew that people were coming for him, especially Jack Cain. He smiled as he regarded the win last week, and slowly opened his mouth, deep in thought.

Reflection can be a wonderful thing, can’t it? You get to consider and review what has happened in life and make changes to better yourself. I bet most of you would think my mood would be victorious and celebratory this week, didn’t you? But I feel the weight of things. I don’t fear what’s coming, in fact it’s why I’m here in this federation. But I do want to be known as one of the best champions the XWF has ever seen and I know that starts right now. Too many people get their win and simply gloat on it and don’t think about what’s coming. I see the win and have to start thinking of how I’m going to keep it long term.

Neville closes his eyes and feels the wind blowing in his face. He takes a deep breath in coats his lungs with the salty scent of the ocean.

But now I know people are coming for me. The persecution starts now. People are coming to get me because they want what I have. I’m sure many people would call what I did last Saturday a miracle, and they expect me to lose. I even expect that they are trying to set me up, believing that Jack Cain made a better champion. The rematch has been set, I’d bet most people expect Jack to win the title back. But I know I need to make believers out of people. Not believers of some angry god or religion, I need the XWF to believe in Neville Sinclair. I still feel in hostile territory, I still feel like people don’t really want me here. People think I’m an unworthy champion, and hate me for it. People want me to recant. But this is where my greatest strength comes in, I’ve been born a different breed, when stakes get higher I get tougher. I’ve achieved greatness for years because of my hard work and ability to think my way out of problems. So this week calls for a week of reflection, not a week of celebration. I need to find myself two steps in front of Jack Cain at all times, and making sure I get another win at Savage Saturday Night in my first title defense.

Neville winces thinking of last Saturday night, and the way that Brock Lesnar interfered in the match

You might think I’m grateful to the man interfering in my match, but there’s nothing I hate more. I’m actually going to take a second to address Lesnar. There is nothing I hate more than when people interfere in someone else’s business, and you got in my way. To win a championship, I wanted a clean pin, I wanted to be the one to beat Jack Cain to within an inch of his life. The bruising on his face should have been my doing. For my defense, don’t even think of coming out, this is my time. People have come to see me. I want to win fairly or not at all.

The wincing turns to a smile as Neville thinks of Jack Cain, he turns to the edge of the cliff and walks within inches of falling off. There was a certain kind of rush that came with being that close to death. It brought thrills and an excitement to things.

Sometimes Jack, you walk too close to an edge and you fall off. You know what that’s like don’t you? Jack thought he could play the game against Neville Sinclair and it bit him in the ass. You’re no longer a champion now are you? You’re a no one. The only thing that makes you relevant in this federation is that so many people want to kick your ass. Imagine, being in a place like this and knowing that you’re relevance depends on people who think they can beat you and they want to use you as a stepping stone. Jack, you put yourself forward as the toughest guy in the XWF, but yet you seem to want to show us your weakness. I’m not sure I understand your strategy. You actually cut a promo from a hospital bed, and show us all you bleed. Why? Maybe it’s your affinity for wanting to be “the little man”. Maybe you want us all to feel bad for you and your “tough guy” image is simply an act. Either way, in his match against me last week, Jack Cain bled and hurt, and I aim to make the same thing happen this week.

Count on it.
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The men couldn’t believe what had just happened, where 12 foot waves once crashed against the shore, the ocean stood as still as a glassy lake surface. This was reason to cry out. They had known this man they were trying to kill had been special, once reports had entered that he could raise the dead, they knew they needed to rid themselves of him. But this felt different, a cry of fear went up from the men as everything went oddly quiet


One man was even driven to tears fearing what was going to happen next. Was this god that he talked so fondly about real? How could someone survive this?

Never before had calm weather worried men so much. He had to be dead right? They watched the stone sink. He should be on the bottom of the ocean by now. Dead. No one could live through this.


The first man made his break running towards the village, followed by the rest of them. They needed to leave. What could come next?
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Neville put one foot over the edge of the cliff, the wind caught him and it thrilled him. At any moment now, a gust of wind could take him over and he wouldn’t live through this. One might wonder if this was a smart idea, but this was training. If Neville could face fear and death with a calm hand, it could only help him in the future. He would live through this.

It’s amazing what fear can do to a man. Sometimes calm and quiet is much more terrifying than loud and boisterous. That’s something the XWF needs to learn. Too many of these clowns think the louder and more ridiculous they are, the more feared they’ll be. But they expose their weaknesses. There’s nothing terrifying about someone who looks like a fool. Look at the story of St. Piran, everything calmed down, and that’s what terrified everyone watching. Piran might have feared the persecution and felt like he was wronged, but he was exactly in the right place for what was to come next. When I took the television title last week, it felt like everything calmed down. It made sense for me to beat Jack Cain. I was far the superior one. No one expected me to do anything, but I set out and accomplished everything I needed to. I was exactly in the spot I needed to be in to get what I wanted. And everything calmed down and made sense. While I hold this belt, everything will once again make sense in the XWF, and if it doesn’t, let me explain it to you. I’m the smartest, baddest, most fierce man any of you will ever see here, and this is just the start. You might try to slow me down, you may try to persecute me, but I know who I am. This is my time.
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Piran had woke up after his fall. All he could remember was a few seconds before everything went black. They had tried to kill him.

My God...

As he glanced around him, he was on the sea, his arms and legs bound. And he was tied to a giant stone. But the stone was… floating? Piran smiled, this was his miracle.

Thank you Lord! Thank you Lord!

He didn’t know where he was going, but no one would be looking for him. He could start life fresh, and no longer feared persecution. Nothing about this made sense, he remembered going into the water. The next thing he knew he was out of the water, and could start everything fresh. This was his chance to begin a new life.

This was his baptism.

Educating the XWF since 06/08/17