Resurrection Day

Happy Easter

Good Friday

Customer Satisfaction

A few weeks ago we looked at how Christian Aid partners are helping to train people to provide basic cheap solar power kits to communities in Kenya. Here's one satisfied customer.

In just over three weeks I'm running in the London Marathon and hoping to raise £2000 for Christian Aid. You can sponsor me at www.virginmoneygiving.com/keithtarring

Palm Sunday March

It was good to be able to join with different churches and other Christians from across Edgware and take part in the Palm Sunday March of Witness. We have been doing this for a few years now. It is great to see the diversity and mix of people that make up the church. Well done to everyone who turned up and braved the below zero temperatures.

Aid - what is it good for?

Marathon update - 4 weeks to go

I can't believe that it's less than a month to the marathon and I'm still having to contend with snow. This past week was a cutback week, and so the longest run was only 12 miles, but it was 12 miles done in what can only be described as blizzard conditions (unless you come from somewhere like the Midlands, Cumbria, Scotland, Norway or Canada - in which case: let's just say there was a bit of snow and quite a strong wind so the occasional snow flake found it's way past my glasses and into my eye; and the pavements were a bit slippery).

No idea who or where this is - but it's not me :)

This past week has gone well, and a couple of the runs were actually run faster than planned with no ill effects. I did get the marathon shoes out and did a couple of runs in those - I've put them away again now because of the snow. My plan is to do a couple of longer runs in them at some point to ensure that they are comfortable and broken in but to try and keep them in as good a condition as possible for the big day. In terms of fit etc they are exactly the same as the shoes I normally run in so just a bit more cushioning from not having already pounded out 500 miles like my current shoes.

In summary, this past week was 5 runs, a total of just over 34 miles with a long run of 12 miles.

This coming week will see my final long run of about 20 miles. Depending on how I feel I might push this up to 21 and will try and do the last 5 miles at marathon pace. This will be done the day after 10 miles at marathon pace. The other three runs are a mixture of speed and taking it easy. Total predicted mileage this week is 47 miles - which will be more than I've run in a week before, and by the time we get to the end of March my monthly total will be 180 miles which beats my best previous monthly total by 14 miles. After this weekend there will be one 12 miler and then everything else is in single figures until 21 April.

Training is going well, but sponsorship has stalled a bit with about £500 to go until the £2000 target. If you would like to sponsor me you can do so at www.virginmoneygiving.com/keithtarring

Got a heart condition?

Over the last week we've been thinking about the parable of the sower from Mark 4. One of the things with parables is that if you put yourself in different places in the story you'll see something different. We've already thought a bit about how the story might apply to us when we read it from the perspective of the sower - but what about from the perspective of the soil?

There are four kinds of soil mentioned here each relating to a different response to hearing the word of God. Sometimes the word barely makes it past the ears before it is snatched away - sometimes through conscious rejection, sometimes because of distractions and interruptions. 

Sometimes the word starts to grow, changes begin to occur, but because there is no root, when these life changes start to bring trouble the person reverts back to the old way of life. 

Other times this new life starts to grow but it is swamped by the worries of life and the commitment to the pursuit of 'stuff'. Priorities and choices mean this new life is slowly strangled.

And then there are times when the word grows and produces and abundant harvest.

One way of thinking about this is that each type of soil represents a different person in the congregation (for example) and explains why there are different responses to the same sermon. But another way of thinking about it is to make it personal. Within me there is the potential to be any one of these four soil types. So when I open my Bible today, when I go to church on Sunday - what is the condition of my heart?

Is my attitude such that I will reject, out of hand, what I read or hear? Do I respond but never take things further, never put down roots, and therefore when things get tough my faith disappears? Or maybe the priorities in my life are all out of balance, so that when I look at how I use my time or my finances I'm not investing in the right things - to use the words of Jesus, I'm not storing up treasure in heaven. Or as I look back over the last month, six months...can I see what God has been doing in my life?

What is the condition of my heart today? Do I need to break up the soil, pick out the rocks, pull out the weeds...?

Look what arrived in the post today

Look what arrived in the post yesterday. 

There is always a nagging doubt no matter how many times you check the confirmation email that you don't really have a place in the London marathon after all. 

But once this magazine arrives, with the registration form, which has your race number printed on it, it suddenly seems that bit more real. Your name and address are definitely on the database. You definitely have a place on the start line. You're not going to have to look for an alternative marathon when it turns out that there has been a mix up with your charity place and it turns out you don't have a place!

So I'm definitely running - but within minutes of finding this on my doorstep I had aches in my back, and both legs. It's amazing what tricks the mind can play.

Oh - and by the way - it's literally just started snowing again. This is supposed to be a spring marathon.

Emergency Aid

As many of you will be aware, each Thursday I am posting a short video from Christian Aid to show different aspects of their work. Over the last few weeks we've been looking at more long term projects that allow people to work their way out of poverty - hopefully for good. But there are times when Christian Aid is called on to provide emergency relief - in this example, as the response to severe drought.



On 21 April I will be running the London Marathon with the aim of raising £2000 for Christian Aid. You can help by sponsoring me at www.virginmoneygiving.com/keithtarring

Get out into the fields

Yesterday we looked at the parable of the sower from Mark 4. I said that a parable is a story with a point. But I don't necessarily mean that a parable is a story with just one point. If a parable was a story with just one point then it would have been easier and quicker just to write a list of points - Mark could have simply used a load of bullet points, one for each parable - and then his gospel would have been even shorter. It would also be the case that once you'd worked out the point you would never have to read the parable again. But the Bible is living and active - and this means that it will speak to us today.

What the parable of the sower says to us depends on the perspective or focus we take on the story.

If we look at the sower the point might be that we are to sow the seed liberally - we don't know the kinds of soil the seed is falling on. The job of the sower is to sow the seed with apparently little concern as to whether that seed will grow or not.

But we might ask, from our own experience of gardening, whether it would not be more sensible for the farmer to do all he can to improve the quality of the soil - to take out the weeds before they go to seed, to dig up the rocks, to break up the path, to add fertiliser, to put up a scarecrow to keep the birds away...

Jesus tells us that the parable is about how people receive and respond to the word.

So whilst some hearts will be hard, or stony or full of weeds - surely there are things that we can do that will prepare people to hear from God. People who have had a bad experience of church or a bad experience of Christians are less likely to respond well to the gospel than the person who has been helped through a crisis by a Christian friend who has shown genuine compassion and care. 

Sometimes our behaviour might actually be stamping down the soil, spreading weeds, or adding rocks on the fields of people's lives - actions that make it less likely that they will respond positively to the gospel in the future. 

What's the point?

It seems a long time ago that I wrote anything here that linked in with our Sunday morning series looking at Mark's gospel.


In Mark 4:1-20 Jesus tells his disciples a parable about a farmer who sows seed in his field. Some of the seed lands on the path, or among the rocks or in the middle of the weeds - and none of this seed produces a crop. But the seed that lands on the good soil produces a great harvest.

A parable is a story with a point - but quite often the point is not obvious - which in a sense is the point of the point! In this chapter Jesus tells his disciples that the reason he uses parables is so that although people hear and see what Jesus is saying and doing they won't understand or respond. Which seems a bit harsh.

But this is one of the things that separates 'the disciples' from 'the crowd'. The crowd are a bunch of spectators who like what hear and see but who don't really want to think about it too much and who certainly don't want these things to have an impact on the way they live their lives.

The disciples on the other hand know that a parable is a story with a point - and that it is a good idea to know what that point is, and to then apply it to your own life, and then to be obedient. It's just that they don't always understand the point. So they ask Jesus to explain it.

When a disciple reads the Bible, or one of the parables, we read it from a perspective of this is the word of God, therefore I believe that it will apply to my life - and through prayer, we ask the Holy Spirit to help us understand and apply the word of God. We also realise that the best course of action is to obey God in everything we do. But this process of reading, understanding, applying and obeying is not quick or easy. It takes time. It takes effort. It can be costly and painful. But that's the difference between the crowd and a disciple. The crowd enjoy the story. The disciple wrestles with it until she or he hears from God.

Marathon update - 5 weeks to go

Last week was the second of three high mileage weeks with a long run of 20 miles. A combination of:

• still being cautious regarding my hamstring,
• the cold weather, and 
• just couldn't be bothered

meant that I missed Monday's quick run, taking it as rest day. Week 19 on the chart should have been as high as weeks 17 and 21...

To compensate I ran a little further and a little faster on Tuesday. By Wednesday everything was back on track. The hamstring is ok - but I can still feel it in the background - but I am aware from past experience that this close to the big day any niggles are as likely to be psychological as physical.

This week's longer runs were a combination of 10 miles at predicted marathon pace on Friday and then 20.5 miles at an easy pace on Saturday. This long run went well in the end - although didn't feel too good at the half way point - but then you're trying to get the previous day's run out of the system. In the end the quickest three miles were the last three - all done at around marathon pace. My final 20 mile run will be in a couple of weeks and I will try to cover the final 5 miles at marathon pace.

In total last week consisted of 4 runs, with a total mileage of just under 42 miles. That's a total of 99 for the month and 398 for the year so far.

This coming week is another slightly easier week with 'only' 34 miles scheduled and a long run of 12 miles.

Another thing I was pleased to discover this week is that I have mis-calculated my faster / quick pace for interval or tempo sessions - I have been running too fast - which might be why my hamstring was complaining. I had based my times on my quickest 10 km race pace - I should have been using my predicted marathon pace. So, for example, I was running my 1 mile intervals in sub 6:45 but I should actually have been going at 7:23. Also my tempo pace was too quick at 7:00 (which I never managed to achieve anyway - I think the quickest pace I managed was 7:09 and that was probably downhill with a tailwind). Instead I should be looking at something much closer to a whole minute slower.

This week's running needs to get underway in less than an hour with a 6 mile run with the middle 4 miles run in 30-31 minutes. At least the sun is trying to shine. And I think it is about time I started using the shoes that I'm actually going to use on the day. My current shoes have done 458 miles since December and are therefore about half-way to retirement.

I'm running the marathon for Christian Aid and you can sponsor me at www.virginmoneygiving.com/keithtarring

This little light...

One of the ways that Christian Aid provide support for some of the poorest communities in the world is through funding and training of small local organisations. These local groups have the advantage of knowing the people and knowing the situation. In this short video today we see the difference that helping individuals stand on their own feet and set up a small business makes. We'll also hear about one initiative from a group called Tough Stuff who provide affordable solar panel kits.

I lived in Kenya for a year and in Kenya it gets dark at about 6pm every night and gets light at about 6am every morning. So if you're going to study for school, or read, or do anything in the  home during the 12 hours of darkness you need a light - and many families have no access to any kind of national grid. So this means purchasing fuel for lamps - money that can't then be used for medicines or school or food. But affordable small solar panels that can be linked to a light and a battery charger can make a real difference, as you'll see here.

Marathon update - 6 weeks to go

This week hasn't gone quite to the plan. A problem with my right hamstring meant that I have had to miss one run, shorten a couple of others and run everything slower than scheduled. But at least it was a cutback week so hopefully it won't make too much difference over all. Better to miss a few days rather than do any more serious damage. I should have a better idea how things are after the next couple of days when I try a couple of runs at marathon pace or faster.

So in the end last week's total was only 26.7 miles. The mileage for this coming week is over 46 miles. The long run this week is the second of the three 20 mile runs. 

Text me

Commenting, or more specifically, complaining about the weather is a full time occupation for most people in the UK. One day it can be cold and wet, the next it can be cold and dry, the next it can be colder. But for most people the variable weather is an inconvenience although for those in professions such as farming or gardening or tourism it can be a lot more serious than that.

Weather patterns are changing in many parts of the world - and the un-predictable nature of the weather brings many problems. For small scale farmers in countries such as Kenya, who depend on the harvest from their crops for food and the money to send their children to school or hospital, the wrong sort of weather can sometimes literally be the difference between life and death.

One way in which Christian Aid is helping is through setting up a text messaging service that sends out localised weather forecasts to farmers - which helps them to make better choices as they farm their crops. This video explains more.




On the 21 April I will be running the London Marathon and raising money to enable Christian Aid to be involved in many more projects like this one. You can support me by visiting www.virginmoneygiving.com/keithtarring

Want chocolate?

It didn't take long to sell 14 of the Real Easter Eggs on Sunday - I should have ordered more. These are the only eggs on the market that contain anything that relates to the story of Easter and explains the relevance of chocolate Easter eggs to the Easter story that we find in the Bible. They are also Fairtrade and a donation is made from all sales to charity. In 2011 £21,000 was donated to the work of Traidcraft as a result of sales.

It has recently been announced that Tesco and Sainsbury have agreed to stock a trial amount of these eggs in a limited number of shops - they have refused over the past three years. Morrisons, Co-op and Waitrose also stock the eggs in some shops. (Click here to read an article by the EA.)

But if you want to get hold of one or two of these eggs you may not find them in your local store. If not, why not go and ask the manager why she or he doesn't stock Easter eggs that actually say something about Easter. But don't then go and buy one of their alternatives - these eggs are still available to purchase on-line.

Here is a map of stores that are stocking the eggs.

Marathon Update - 7 weeks to go

Less than 50 days to go now until the London Marathon.

This chart shows weekly mileage - weeks 1-17 are actual miles run and weeks 18-24 are planned miles. This past week was week 17 which you'll see was one of the three highest mileage weeks in the plan. Each of these weeks is followed by an easier week. Last week was made up of 5 runs totalling 46.6 miles. Thanks to oversleeping on Wednesday and then a serious case of 'can't be bothered' later the same day I was left with having to run a fast 6 miles on Thursday, 20 miles on Friday and 10 slow miles on Saturday. My legs were ready for a rest by the end of the 10 miles - to be honest they were ready for a rest before the start of the 10 miles. This week's 20 miles felt a lot harder than last week's 19.2 miles - but a look at the chart above gives one possible reason as to why that might be.

20 miles is the furthest I will run before race day (in weeks 17, 19 and 21). So only two more 'long' runs to go before the big day.

This week has a couple of quicker runs and a long run of 'only' 12 miles.

Sponsorship is going well too. You'll know that I'm running for Christian Aid and committed to raising £2000. So far I have reached £1331. A big thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far. If you want to sponsor me visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/keithtarring

78 and counting

Today we celebrated the church's 78th anniversary. Very little is the same as it was in 1935 - not even the building or the organ! The church met in a hut and the building we now meet in wasn't built until the following year.

Edgware is a very different place to what it was 78 years ago. This photo shows Edgware railway station - which no longer exists. If you know Edgware you'll see St. Margaret's parish church in the bottom right of the picture - you can work out the rest for yourself.

The following photo comes from the 1940s when an additional hall was opened alongside the church. Photos from today reflect the much more multi-cultural nature of the community and the church. Now the congregation on a typical Sunday is made up of people from 25-30 different countries.

So, lots has changed in 78 years. But one thing has not changed. Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and for ever. God has proved himself faithful over the last 78 years and therefore we can face the next 78 years with confidence - not because we know what is going to happen but because we know that God has promised to be with us whatever happens.

But although God does not change, we live in a rapidly ever changing world and therefore we need to be constantly looking at what we do and why we do it. We need to meet the needs of the community where God has placed us and we need to communicate the love of God in a way that is relevant and meaningful in 2013.

10,000 Reasons

On Sunday we're going to introduce a 'new' song at church - and this one isn't by Chris Tomlin ! We're also going to be singing it at the annual celebration of the NW district of the LBA on 17 March in the evening. So have a listen and come along ready to sing.