Here's the next instalment of some of our favourite hymns and songs that relate to the service we had a few weeks ago. This week's song is 'I know whom I have believed'. The person who chose this song for us says:
This hymn was written by Major Whittle (1840 -1901). Daniel Webster Whittle was born in Massachusetts. He was brought up as a Christian. He joined the Army during the American civil war and rose to become a Major. He lost an arm in battle and also spent time in a POW camp. When he was asked to pray for a dying boy in the POW camp he knelt down, rededicated himself and then prayed for the boy. Hence started his Christian journey.
With the encouragement by his friend D L Moody he wrote about 200 hymns of which this is probably one the best known.
This hymn shows his unshakeable faith. Every verse reflects a different aspect of theology. This hymn is a direct quotation of 2 Timothy 1:12 and I feel that this hymn sums up my faith and hope beautifully.
Well, this week's training did survive the snow and ice, but only thanks to the purchase of a pair of Yaktrax. Certainly cheaper than joining a gym, and more interesting than running on a treadmill.
Yaktrax fit to the bottom of the shoes and provide great grip on the snow and ice. So all my sessions happened this week although I didn't quite manage the speeds that were planned for the two faster sessions. So to compromise I ran the slower sessions slightly faster and the faster sessions slightly slower. Total mileage this week was just over 32 miles. As I mentioned last week this was a 'cut back' week so my long run was only 10 miles.
Needless to say I'm glad to see the back of the snow and the ice. Everything can get back to normal this week.
This week is going to be quite a challenge with two hard fast sessions on Monday and Wednesday and then a long run of 16 miles later in the week. Once again there are five sessions this week with a total mileage of 38 miles.
Next week I'll tell you about the different sessions that make up my training schedule.
In the meantime here's a little bit more about Yaktrax.
Here's Chris Tomlin talking on Fox News about his latest album, Burning Lights, going to number one, and some other things close to his heart.
Hopefully over the next few weeks I'll get the chance to share some of the great songs from this album - which has been the soundtrack to at least 30 miles of running since it came out.
This post follows on from Wednesday - if you missed that click here to start with.
Simon and Andrew brought their problem to Jesus immediately - and immediately Jesus did something about it. So why doesn't it seem to work that way in my life?
It is a serious mistake to think that Jesus and the disciples had a comfortable and trouble free life because they simply prayed for miracles and God gave them what they wanted. Earlier in chapter 1 we find Jesus being sent by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by Satan. Then John the Baptist finds himself in prison where later he is beheaded. As we continue to read through the New Testament we find that Jesus and most of the disciples suffered and were ultimately killed because of their faith. The fact that God performed miracles was no guarantee of an easy life. The miracles were a signpost to something else.
Prayer is not about bringing a list of requests to God - so that God conforms to my wishes. Prayer is about putting myself in a place where I allow God to transform me so that I want what God wants. Sometimes that may mean a miracle - of the healing variety. They do happen.
But at other times it means that I have to walk the valley of the shadow of death - and trust that God walks with me; trust that God knows what is going on; trust that God loves me - and that for whatever reason (a reason that is totally beyond me at this particular point in time) this is God's best for me. And within the context of the storm, rather than panic, I allow God to give me the peace that is beyond all understanding. A peace that comes from knowing, as we thought with Tuesday's Tune, that because of God's love and forgiveness, it is well.
Listen to this message here
