"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.
Most recently, (until just now), I posted that "the tumour almost certainly IS cancer" and that "the CT-scan will tell if this IS in fact an Early Detection Story." Although we are still waiting for more tests and the results of those tests -- and we see now that the main thing we are called to do in these early days is to wait -- the results we HAVE received confirm that I AM a man with cancer and that this is NOT an early detection story. So this is in no way a small adventure and the stakes are just about as high as they could be.
Deb and I remain big fans of the peace of God that can guard the hearts and minds of God's people and the joy of the Lord that can be our strength. Very recently, I noticed these two ideas in Psalm 84:11 (ESV). "For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favour and honour. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly."
For sure! The Lord Jesus Christ, "the Sun of Righteousness, who rises with healing in his wings" (!) IS our joy. And his peace DOES protect us as well as any shield. May that very peace and that very joy be with us all as we keep on waiting.
Love,
Mike