Esther Smith, Beugen, Netherlands

I'm being honest, the prospect of being abandoned on a desert island doesn't sound entirely horrible right now. In the throes of studying at missionary training college, being a wife and a first-time mum to a baby who thinks sleep is for the weak, the idea of being far away by the sea seems almost luxurious! Choosing which verses I would carry with me, however, has proven to be much more challenging than anticipated. Perhaps I'm bending the rules a little by choosing two short passages rather than individual verses...but I would be lost without them both so they must come with me! 

Which verses would you take to the island?

In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight. Ephesians 1:4-8

Ephesians 1 (especially these verses) is important to me because it tells me who I am in Christ and where I find my identity. In a society that seems obsessed with image, identity and ‘finding yourself’, it's so important to ground myself in what God says who I am and where my worth is found. As a new mum, it’s easy to think that I’ve lost part of my identity. So much of my time is spent looking after this little person, there are days when I don't ‘achieve’ anything else - it can lead to frustration and feeling I'm not doing anything ‘worthwhile’ because I don't do the things I used to do anymore. So much of my own identity seems to have been swallowed up in motherhood. This passage helps me refocus on who I really am but, more than that, it highlights my sin: seeking worth in what I perceive as achievement and productivity (or in anything other than Christ and his finished work on the cross). God has redeemed me by his blood, I am his child. He has brought me into this season of motherhood. Living out the gospel at home in the menial tasks of mothering is what God has prepared for me to do right now. Any dissatisfaction and ingratitude I feel comes from a part of my heart that wants approval from others and to do things that are meaningful by the world’s standards. I need to come back to verses like these repeatedly and ask myself: "Where is your identity?"

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:25-34

This is another passage I return to again and again. In the interest of full disclosure, I listened online to John Piper preach this passage, how I apply it to my life mainly comes from that sermon.  As someone given to semi-frequent bouts of anxiety, I love that our Saviour has so much to say about it. As I read through this section I repeat eight truths to myself:

1.    Life is about more than our physical needs like food and clothing.

2.    God's creatures rely on him to provide without anxious hoarding! God can be counted on, he is God today and he will be tomorrow.

3.    Anxiety achieves nothing, it just makes you miserable!

4.    God adorns the lilies, which live a few years, will he not also delight in providing for me?

5.    The world is anxious about these things, believers are different, we should find our contentment in other things.

6.    God knows what I need.

7.    Seek first the Kingdom, everything else is secondary.

8.    God has appointed to each day pleasure and trouble, don’t bring tomorrow's troubles into today, God will still be God tomorrow.

Who would you like to find on the island for company?

One of my missionary heroes is WEC missionary Helen Roseveare, she went to glory in 2016. She served in the Congo as a missionary doctor during the rebellion in the sixties. She was taken prisoner by rebel forces, endured beatings and was raped. After a short time at home in the UK, she returned to Congo to establish a new medical school and hospital. Even after she had effectively retired as a missionary, she continued to minister through speaking and writing books, documenting the faithfulness of God to her.

I heard Helen speak at a meeting once but I would love the opportunity to really sit down and talk to her about missionary life: the challenges and blessings of cross cultural ministry, any tips she might have for a missionary-in-training, but mostly I would love to hear how she was able to keep praising God even after enduring such hardship.

Which song would you like to take to the island?

If I could only take one song with me, it would be How Great Thou Art. Surrounded by the natural beauty I imagine this desert island would have, I could sing with gusto:

O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art

And when I think of God, His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And lead me home, what joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow with humble adoration
And then proclaim, my God, how great Thou art

Tim Vasby-Burnie, Shrewsbury

I hope my desert island is large, because I have always wanted to go solo hiking and camping. Hopefully some inner voice-of-Ray-Mears would help me take a fragment of my wrecked boat, sharpen it into a machete and then use that to construct a Swiss-Family-Robinson-style tree-house. Naturally it wouldn’t be long before I wanted to get home to my wife and daughter. The absence of a church family means that my favourite Bible verses about the wonder of church, or the power of preaching, would sadly not be needed.

Which verses would you take to the desert island?

When he went ashore Jesus saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Mark 6:34

When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Luke 7:13

Once the reality of loneliness and hardship sank in, I would need verses like these to remind me of the compassion of my Saviour. Jesus’ mercy towards me is not a duty he has to perform. I love the truth that his heart is stirred towards me, with gut-wrenching compassion and mercy. What is more, he does not get fed up or bored of showing me kindness. Each morning, as the light of the sun drives away darkness, I would probably sing to myself:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercy never comes to an end. They are new every morning, new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness O Lord. Great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 as turned into a song by Edith McNeil

This is a song that has been in my mind as far back as I can remember: in the middle of that great lament, I take great comfort that God’s mercy is fresh and his faithfulness is constant.

The priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. Leviticus 14:14

My next verse is a strange one, but I’m hoping that it would remind me of the whole context. A verse from Leviticus would remind me of, and make me thankful for, the people who have taught me that the Old Testament is all about Jesus. If someone pointed a gun at me and said, “Preach a sermon now or else you die!” (an unusual threat...) then my sermon-up-my-sleeve would be Leviticus 13 and 14 – all about skin diseases. It is a section of God’s Word that always amazes me with the full-orbed vision of what Jesus my High Priest has done for me. I am unclean because my being is corrupt and I keep grasping after fleshly glory (Leviticus 13). I didn’t go to Jesus, he came to me – outside the camp, in my place of exile and death. He has washed me clean, baptised me in his blood, carried away my sin, made me a new creation, brought me home to his temple, and offered a “full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice” for me. Then, if that wasn’t enough, Leviticus 14:14 tells me that I have been anointed by blood and oil (Jesus’ death and the Holy Spirit) to make me part of his royal priesthood. Just rehearsing this passage in my mind puts a smile on my face. It makes my heart rise with joy at the overwhelming and comprehensive salvation I have in Jesus!

On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. Isaiah 25:6-9

Finally, I need a Bible verse about the future. My congregation know that a theology of food is important to me… So on my desert island, with rather limited kitchen facilities, I want to remember the feast that lies ahead. I would take with me as much of Isaiah 25:1-9 as I can carry. Perhaps I can smuggle in all of verses 6-9. What a future! What comfort as I remember the what of the future (New Creation feasting) and the who of the future: my Lord, wiping away my tears with his nail-scarred hands. Every time I share in the Lord’s Supper I am reminded it is a taster course for the wedding feast of the Lamb.

Who would you like to find on the island for company?

Who would I want to share island life with? Perhaps Athanasius (who understands what life in exile is like) to keep me centred on Jesus. I imagine he could recite all the Psalms; that would be helpful. Or Justin Martyr, who knows his Old Testament so well that I can have all the Bible verses I need! I think I might decide on Luther, though. As well as beating the gospel into me continually, I hope he could make sausages and brew beer to make life more enjoyable.

Which song would you take to the island?

Luther could teach me some of his powerful hymns – I have a sneaky suspicion that there are lots of amazing Lutheran hymns that we need to learn. The song I’d bring along may well be Here is love, vast as the ocean but only if that includes the two mighty verses by Richard Bewes. I’ve chosen it at various special services in the past (including my wedding, I think), and it would remind me of the wisdom and support Richard gave my wife and I in recent years. The music soars as we sing words that make my heart soar:

Here is love vast as the ocean,

loving kindness as the flood,

when the Prince of life, our ransom,

shed for us His precious blood.

Who His love will not remember;

who can cease to sing his praise?

He can never be forgotten

throughout heaven’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion

fountains opened deep and wide;

through the floodgates of God’s mercy

flowed a vast and gracious tide.

Grace and love, like mighty rivers

poured incessant from above;

and heaven’s peace and perfect justice

kissed a guilty world in love.

Through the years of human darkness,

shone the lamp the prophets trimmed,

making known redemption’s story,

of the love of God undimmed.

Christ for every tongue and nation!

All must come beneath his sway;

his the everlasting kingdom

that shall never pass away.

When the stars shall fall from heaven,

and the sun turn black as night,

when the skies recede and vanish,

and the elements ignite.

Then the Son of Man in glory,

coming as the Morning Star,

shall return to claim his loved ones,

gathered in from near and far.

Even on my desert island, Jesus is for me. No matter how far away I am, Christ will gather me. Yes, I think I could sing that song frequently. Hopefully some more stranded Christians could join us, and then we could start singing Psalms vigorously in four-part harmony. I’ve discovered this recently, and it is such an encouragement. O Lord, may this become a reality in my church family!

So: if my desert island (with tree-house) had these Bible verses, Luther cooking sausages and four-part Psalm singing, I’m not sure I would ever want to leave...

Joe Kirby, Wigan

To be stuck on a desert island with just a handful of Bible verses to dwell on sounds idyllic! Perhaps I'm speaking only for myself but I find life so full of distractions. But when I spend time meditating on God's Word, and I mean really meditating, not just ticking the "I've done my quiet time box," I really do find that I'm an activity addict like Martha and need to hear those words of Jesus, "Only one thing is necessary."

Which verses would you take to the island?

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21

So let's begin with a verse which a verse which blew my mind when I first became a Christian. Every night, before I went to bed as an early believer, I would read 365 Days with Charles Spurgeon. I remember the text for the evening on the 16th April 2011 was 2 Corinthians 5:21. Spurgeon writes, "When the judge of all the earth said, "Where is sin?" Christ presented himself."

This verse moved me greatly and I dwelled on it for many months that Christ not only was the sacrifice for our sin but he became those wretched sins for us on the cross and that's why "it pleased the Lord to bruise him." (Isaiah 53:10)

…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7

There are another couple of verses which, as a street preacher, I often find myself quoting as I'm preaching off the kerbs of Lancashire. Probably the number one most quoted verse from me is 1 John 1:7 - I love that picture of King David in Psalm 51, after he's committed adultery with Bathsheba, crying out "Wash me and I shall be white than snow." I have no doubt that, on the streets, some of the worst kinds of people by the world's standards have walked past me as I've been street preaching. But the atoning blood of Jesus can scrub the filthiest sinner and make them totally clean in God's eyes.

…it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27

…without shedding of blood there is no remission. Hebrews 9:22

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” Psalm 14:1

Some other verses I often quote are Hebrews 9:27, Hebrews 9:22 and Psalm 14:1. So if this desert island has some kind of indigenous people that need to hear the Gospel I would likely take those verses to them and preach from a palm tree perhaps.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”… 2 Corinthians 12:9

A verse which has helped me personally over the years as a young man who struggles with anxiety have been the warm words of the Saviour in Matthew 6:34. If there are any over thinkers like me reading this, you will be able to empathise that we worriers spend a lot of time living in the future with the two words, "WHAT IF?" etched on our minds. But Jesus reminds us that we aren't even promised tomorrow, that there's enough pain in one day, so live each day at a time. When you couple this verse with 2 Corinthians 12:9 we are reminded God provides a measured amount of trouble in 24 hours but also covers it with the exact amount of grace to get you through the day and this promise has always been true in my wife and my own life.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. 1 Peter 5:6

Lastly, to take a verse with me to keep me from sin (there have been many). One which is particular dynamite to me at the moment is 1 Peter 5:6. The older I get, the more I realise I'm not a nice person at all! I can be self-centred, quick-tempered, judgemental, arrogant and unguarded. Something I used say to myself was "Get off the throne, Joe" and I think it's helpful for us all to remember we are but dust and ashes. God is the sovereign ruler of the universe who has permitted our heart to beat for this past hour, so let our next breath be a breath of gratefulness, that we might be humble vessels for God realising it is by grace alone we are even alive today.

Who would you like to find on the island for company?

One great saint from the past I would take on this desert island with me would be George Whitfield; I'd probably pretend to be a unbeliever for an hour or so just to observe how he approaches sharing the Gospel with me, then after ‘becoming a Christian’ I'd pretend I was Biblically illiterate so that he I could listen to him preach the full counsel of God. After I'd blown my cover, I'd ask him how he managed to preach 28 times in a week and if he could offer any other advice to a budding open air preacher!

Which song would you like to take to the island?

If I could only take one hymn and only had permission to sing that alone, I would sing "I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice." In the church where I grew up, there was an elderly man who used to sing in a choir with other men his own age. I got a copy of his CD and I played this hymn on repeat over and over as I was driving in my little red Citroen. I love this hymn because of it's a joyful tune, I love it because it reminds me of evangelism and above all I love it because it reminds me that, daily, I need to preach the Gospel to myself.

I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,

And it told Thy love to me;

But I long to rise in the arms of faith,

And be closer drawn to Thee.

Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,

To the cross where Thou hast died;

Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,

To Thy precious, bleeding side.

Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,

By the pow’r of grace divine;

Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,

And my will be lost in Thine.

O the pure delight of a single hour

That before Thy throne I spend,

When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God,

I commune as friend with friend!

There are depths of love that I yet may know

Ere Thee face to face I see;

There are heights of joy that I yet may reach

Ere I rest in peace with Thee.

Trevor Brock, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland

So here I am in retirement, recalling the repetitive call to others never to dislodge verses from their context! Dare I now do so myself? I get the drift, and trust all readers to do their homework on each verse below and to diligently re-read them in their setting in the Bible!

Which verses would you take to the island?

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

It wasn’t the first verse I ever learned off by heart. Mombasa Gospel Tabernacle, where we belonged in 1957, ensured that we, as children, all followed the Navigator’s Bible memorisation programme. Having learned it, I recognised it when it was being preached by George Lyon. The truth dawned on me that I needed to confess my own sin and enjoy personal forgiveness from God. 1 John 1:9 still forms part of the assurance I need, that God looks kindly on me through Christ. Age serves us well in showing us how bad our sin really is, and it is sweet to be reminded that the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, keeps on cleansing us from all sin.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7

The years between conversion and entering the Irish Baptist College seemed  like an age – leaving Kenya, settling in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, moving to Beith, finishing school, going to Glasgow University, joining an IVF summer mission, failing exams, becoming a teacher, and then sensing God’s call to Bible College – it seemed to last for ever. In reality that was just eight years. I began to train in Belfast as the “troubles” began in the Province; confident that the Lord wanted me there, but totally unsure what lay ahead. Three years later and this was the text preached by Alec Judd at our graduation service. The truths never left my mind through forty-two years of ministry – a fragile clay pot even at my very best moment. It’s a great text to keep pride at bay in a world that prizes fame, success, and illusions of grandeur; a great text to comfort when physically, mentally or spiritually the task seemed too big, and I too inadequate; a good text to filter my view of other Christians when I saw their weaknesses and puzzled over their failures; a lens through which to look at believers with disability or serious failure; and it is extremely good medicine as old age beckons!

Who would you like to find on the island for company?

This is risky ground now! I’ve preached all those years that God keeps us on earth, partly to refine us, but even more, so that He can use us to engage with unbelievers. I’ve scolded myself and others who have hardly got a real close friend who is unsaved! I really need the ones I have to keep me in touch with the mindset they have, the doubts they struggle with and the heartaches they feel. I need the challenge to be real and authentic that comes from heart-to-heart conversations with those who don’t understand our heart for God. So I’m limiting myself to take with me someone whose unbelief has been high profile, let’s say Charles Darwin or Richard Dawkins …conversations should be good!

Which song would you like to take to the island?

I might be pushing seventy years old, but I love so many of the newer songs that have been brought to us as the Church. Among them: My worth is not in what I own. My warped sense of humour reckons that those words would be perfect on a desert island!

My worth is not in what I own

Not in the strength of flesh and bone

But in the costly wounds of love

At the cross

My worth is not in skill or name

In win or lose, in pride or shame

But in the blood of Christ that flowed

At the cross

I rejoice in my Redeemer

Greatest Treasure,

Wellspring of my soul

I will trust in Him, no other.

My soul is satisfied in Him alone.

As summer flowers we fade and die

Fame, youth and beauty hurry by

But life eternal calls to us

At the cross

I will not boast in wealth or might

Or human wisdom’s fleeting light

But I will boast in knowing Christ

At the cross

Two wonders here that I confess

My worth and my unworthiness

My value fixed - my ransom paid

At the cross

Gwydion Lewis, Bala

Which verses would you take to the desert island?

Needless to say, choosing a favourite portion of scripture is very hard. Different verses have been such a help at different times in my spiritual life. But, I am particularly fond of Hebrews 11 and the first 3 verses of Hebrews 12.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3

I have been blessed in studying this portion and in preaching it. I trained as a Physical Education teacher, so the picture of the athlete running a race naturally appeals to me. I enjoy looking at this gallery of men and women of faith – this cloud of witnesses. As well as these Biblical characters referred to in Hebrews 11, I can think of other mature Christians that I also look up to and who encourage me to continue to run the race set before me. Their wealth of experience, their love for their Saviour is like the crowd in a stadium, encouraging me to keep going. I am challenged by the practical application of these verses also – the need to throw off those things that hinder us. We can often neglect the practical side of the Christian life! And, of course, more importantly than all of this is the encouragement to look to Christ himself – the one who ran the race perfectly. We can never gaze enough at him.

Which song would you take to the island?

Choosing a favourite hymn is another difficult task, especially as someone who was brought up to worship in the Welsh language – all my favourite hymns are Welsh! My favourite, perhaps is Y Bugail Mwyn by David Charles, (Thomas Charles of Bala’s younger brother, and author of Rhagluniaeth Fawr y Nef, Great Providence of Heaven)

Y Bugail mwyn, o'r nef a ddaeth i lawr,

I geisio'i braidd trwy'r erchyll anial mawr;

Ei fywyd roes yn aberth yn eu lle,

A'u crwydrad hwy ddialwyd arno 'Fe.

O'm crwydrad o baradwys daeth i'm hôl,

Yn dirion iawn fe'm dygodd yn ei gôl;

'Does neb a ŵyr ond ef,y Bugail mawr,

Pa faint fy nghrwydro o hynny hyd yn awr.

Â'i hyfryd lais fe'm harwain yn y blaen;

Cydymaith ydyw yn y dŵr a'r tân;

Rhag pob rhyw ddrwg, yn nyffryn angeu du,

Pwy arall fydd yn nodded i myfi?

Pan âf i dref, i'r hyfryd gorlan fry,

Ni chrwydraf mwy oddi wrth fy Mugail cu;

Wrth gofio'r daith, a'i holl ffyddlondeb Ef,

Mi seinia'i glôd i entrych nef y nef.

Roughly translated (although not as poetic), it reads:

The gentle Shepherd, from heav'n has come to earth,

To seek his flock through barren, ugly pains;

He gave his life, an offering in their place,

Their foolish wand'ring was avenged on him.

How great my wandering, yet he brought me back,

So tenderly he drew me to his side;

Still no one knows but he, the Shepherd dear,

How oft I've wandered on life's journey.

With his sweet voice he leads me safely on;

A friend is he in water and in fire;

From every evil, in death's darkest vale,

Who else will be a refuge to myself?

When safely home, in the eternal fold,

I'll cling to him, my ever faithful friend;

I'll marvel at his faithfulness and care,

I'll live to sing his praise forevermore.

I love this hymn because it is a wonderful balance of focusing on Christ, our Shepherd, but also on the experiences of a Christian. It captures the spiritual life in an honest and warm way. There is a spiritual progression in the hymn, and finishes on the great hope we have of being home with our great God. It provides firm theology and warms the heart, as a good hymn should do.

If I had to choose an English hymn it would be Immortal Honours by William Gadsby:

Immortal honours rest on Jesus’ head;
My God, my portion, and my living bread;
In Him I live, upon Him cast my care;
He saves from death, destruction, and despair.

He is my refuge in each deep distress;
The Lord my strength and glorious righteousness;
Through floods and flames He leads me safely on,
And daily makes His sovereign goodness known.

My every need He richly will supply;
Nor will His mercy ever let me die;
In Him there dwells a treasure all divine,
And matchless grace has made that treasure mine.

O that my soul could love and praise Him more,
His beauties trace, His majesty adore;
Live near His heart, upon His bosom lean;

Obey his voice and all his will esteem.

I love singing any hymn that helps us to truly worship Christ. This hymn gives us so many reasons to worship and to love him. I often find myself echoing those words, ‘O that my soul could love and praise Him more’. I love the fact that the hymn finishes with the nitty gritty of how we express our love for God – obedience! Like those verses from Hebrews 12 – the practical application is so important.

Who would you like to find on the island for company?

For his wisdom, I would like to find the Apostle Paul there. I would have plenty of questions to ask him – the time would fly!

For his practical skills I would like to find Joseph (father of Jesus) there. We don’t get to know much about him in Scripture, but what we do know leads me to think highly of him. I love his humility and gentleness. I like to dabble in woodwork, I would like to serve an apprenticeship under Joseph to find out what type of joints and construction Joseph used. His practical skills would be very handy on a desert island.

I would like to find there Eric Liddell. He won a gold medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics in the 400m race (having refused to take part in his usual event, 100m, because the race was run on a Sunday). I used to teach running and was interested in analysing running techniques. I would enjoy such conversations with Eric Liddell since his running technique was quite unique. But also I admire him for his brave stand on keeping Sunday as the Lord’s Day – something that I feel is very much under threat these days for Christians.