The Blog of Pastor Mike Wilkins
In The Long Run
"The long run" referred to in the title of this blog is, in the first place, the many years Mike Wilkins served as West London's solo pastor, and then its Senior Pastor, since he and his wife Deb moved to London (and this church) in 1984.
In these past few years (beginning November 2011,) Mike's various health challenges, particularly a serious and ongoing case of cancer, has added another layer to the "long run" metaphor, and lots to blog about. Mike is currently on an extended Sick Leave, but generally worships with the church family on Sunday mornings.
With the publication of a book he wrote in 2016 entitled "Glory in the Face" (now available electronically and in paperback from Amazon.ca, and other online venders), Mike has just launched a new website, which will serve as a sort of scrapbook for readers of the book, with relevant background photos, for example, of That Last Final Solo Canoe Trip in May, 2011, as well as additional information about the book, and--coming soon--a new set of blog posts, mostly about the peace of God and the joy of the Lord and the face of Christ and the strength to face anything. You'll find the new website now at www.gloryintheface.com.
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They say that no two snowflakes are alike. I don’t know that they are right about that, but then I don’t know that they are wrong. (I also don’t know who “they” are.) But I think that, in some ways, snowflake-like, I am one of a kind. For example, I think that I might be the only person in the whole world who regularly goes running with his iPod playing Handel’s “Messiah.” If I’m not unique in this, I might still be unique in that I run with “The Messiah” on SHUFFLE.
If anyone cares to know why I do this (I mean, who cares enough to ask), I am happy to explain. These days, one of the books I am reading is John Owen’s “The Glory of Christ” or as he entitled it, “Meditations and Discourses on THE GLORY OF CHRIST, in His Person, Office, and Grace: With the differences between faith and sight; applied unto the use of them that believe.” John Owen was an English pastor and theologian who lived from 1616 to 1683. His was a very interesting life, which included a tour of duty as the personal chaplain of Oliver Cromwell. In this book of his, the last he ever wrote, he writes,“I cannot understand how any man can walk with God as he ought, or have that love for Jesus Christ which true faith will produce, or place his refreshments and joy in spiritual things, in things above, who does not on all just occasions so meditate on the glory of Christ in heaven as to long for an admittance into the immediate sight of it.”
My idea is that what Mr. Owen says about “how any man can walk” can influence how any particular man chooses to run. I do know that while this particular man is running, he (that is, I) WILL all the time be meditating on something. So I am taking a tip from Mr. Owen, although he certainly knew nothing about iPod’s and probably very little about running. And I do find that listening (while I run) to any of the fifty-three individual pieces of this most famous oratorio, (in any order), happily keeps my mind focussed on the glories of Christ. For me, just as Mr. Owen suggests, besides quite possibly making me as unique as a snowflake, the results are “refreshments and joy in spiritual things, in things above” and a certain longing for “an admittance into the immediate sight of it.” It's a good way to start a day.
