S06E005, Miracle Trainers, Endurance

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In Endurance this week, Steven and Nathan are looking at miracles. They look at some miracles in the Bible, and Steven talks about his ‘miracle trainers.’

Endurance is your weekly spiritual workout, whether you think of yourself as a beginner, an intermediate, or advanced!

#GoDeeper

Steven kicks off this week’s Endurance by explaining what is so miraculous about his trainers – besides being a bargain. He looks at a couple of prevalent miracles from the Bible, as well as a miracle involving running in the Old Testament.

We are reminded that God still performs miracles today, as Steven brings some more interesting points to the subject of miracles.

You can read the GoDeeper transcript here.

#GoDo

For the final segment, Nathan and Steven discuss miracles:

1. For what reason does God perform miracles?
2. Did you say you’d travelled 1,900 miles in those trainers?

Check out this episode to find out what they talked about.

Steven and Nathan

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Nathan: Hello and welcome to Endurance your weekly spiritual workout. This week's episode is titled Miracle Trainers, and you'll find out why a little later on. But basically, we are looking at miracles. Miracles in the Bible, miracles in the modern day age, miracles that Jesus performed, and basically, what should we think about miracles?

[00:00:46] Are they, are they things that we can actually see today? Or are they only to be seen in the Bible? Of course we know that miracles, God is the God of miracles, God is the God of the impossible. So He can perform miracles [00:01:00] today, you know, if we are willing to let him and if we have the faith. So Steven's going to unpack this idea for us and explain to us what miracles are, and also give us a testimony of a miracle that he's witnessed in his lifetime.

[00:01:13] If you want to keep up to date with all that we produce, you can sign up to our newsletter by going to www.Berrybunch.family. I'm Nathan, hope you enjoy this episode.

[00:01:36] You can't win if you are not willing to lose. #speaktruth

[00:01:51] Jo: You'll never guess what? Dave the Dog has his own show and it's called Dave Unleashed.

[00:01:57] Steven: Are we sure about this?

[00:01:59] Jo: Well, I'm gonna [00:02:00] be there on hand. I'm gonna help him.

[00:02:04] Steven: What, what mayhem are we to expect?

[00:02:07] Jo: Well, to keep him on track, he's got story time, he's got art time, so you know, and I'll be there to help him.

[00:02:14] Steven: What could possibly go wrong?

#GoDeeper Transcript

[00:02:36] So here we are for another, GoDeeper and with me, Steven. And this week we're looking at Miracle Trainers and the reason we've called this Miracle Trainers is cause I wanna talk about my trainers, which are like miracle trainers. So I got them on the 7th of February, 2019 for 35 quid. I think it might have been Sports Direct, not that that matters.

[00:02:55] And in principle you're supposed to change your trainers every six months or [00:03:00] every 400 miles roughly. or that's 600 kilometres and I have traveled roughly 3000 kilometres or 1,900 miles in those trainers and they're showing no sign of ware which is good cuz prices of trainers has gone up since I last bought them considerably.

[00:03:17] So that is a miracle in my own life that I have, I'm living out. Cause every day I go for a run, there they are, those trainers, which should be well past it and they're still working, still going strong. And they were not that expensive at all. And of course there are loads of miracles in the Bible.

[00:03:33] And I wanna pick up on two of the most prevalent miracles, which are in all four gospels. So you've got of course the Resurrection, which are in all four. And the feeling of the 5,000. So after they've been out for a while, I dunno where, but Jesus was talking to this crowd right?

[00:03:47] And He says they don't need to go away. Jesus told them, the disciples that is, you give them something to eat. But we only have five loaves and two fish here, they said to him. Bring them here to me, he said. Then he commanded the crowds to sit down on the [00:04:00] grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven he blessed them.

[00:04:04] He broke the loaves and gave them to disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. Everyone ate and was satisfied. They picked up 12 baskets full of leftover pieces. Now, those who ate were about 5,000 men besides women and children. That's in Matthews 14, and it's in all of the gospels. That's why it's such a prevalent miracle, which is why I wanted to pick up on that.

[00:04:27] And of course the Resurrection, which is the most important miracles of them all. When Jesus died on the cross and rose again, and in so doing, forgiving us of our sins, the greatest miracle there is. But there's another interesting miracle in 1 Kings 18. And the reason I picked this one out is cause it's about running.

[00:04:46] So after the incident on Mount Carmel which you might recall when Elijah gets all the prophets, the Ball prophets, and all the Israelites on top of the mountain, and he gets like this contest. So he says, your god, if your god is real, let him [00:05:00] set this altar ablaze. And if God is real, then he will set this altar ablaze.

[00:05:04] Of course, God did set this altar ablaze and everyone knew that God was indeed real. At the same time, there's a drought going on, there's lots of going on in 1 King's 18, and right at the end, the King Ahab gets in a chariot and travels somewhere, and then the power of God comes upon Elijah, and he outruns this chariot which is quite an interesting miracle.

[00:05:24] It's not often that that come that sort of miracle comes up. But here we have Elijah outrunning a chariot, which is why I picked up on it, cause it's to do with running. And this is of course Endurance.

[00:05:35] So there's many, many, many miracles in the Bible. Too many to even count.

[00:05:43] But miracles can be a bit of a chewy subject because of course in this day and age, they don't necessarily go the same way that we see it in the Bible. We don't necessarily see the blind being healed in quite the same way, or certainly not here in the UK all that often. But it does happen. miracles still happen today.

[00:05:56] I mean, within the case of my trainers, it's not necessarily [00:06:00] obviously gonna be a miracle. You could easily overlook that and just think, oh, it's a pretty good brand that, but it is a miracle and God still does miracles that perhaps we overlook in today's society. So looking up on the subject of, got question, sorry.

[00:06:14] On the subject of miracles, I went to, Got Questions and they picked up on a couple of interesting points. First of all, the miracles that Jesus performed were to validate his, who he was. He was the son of God, and those miracles that he performed were particularly important to just validate who he was.

[00:06:30] Or substantiate, attest, corroborate, authenticate. I think I'm spending way too much time with Nathan. So miracles in that sense aren't necessarily needed as much today, which is an interesting point. Miracles still do happen. But in terms of Jesus performing miracles to substantiate his position as the Son of God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords coming down to earth to be with the people, we don't necessarily see so many of those miracles for that very reason.

[00:06:56] And the same goes for the Apostles to a certain extent. [00:07:00] And a lot of time people want God to perform miracles to sort of prove that He's there. But in Jesus day when he performed miracles, lots of people still didn't believe. So it isn't necessarily gonna make a whole lot of difference if God performs loads of miracles like what we see in the Bible today.

[00:07:13] People are still gonna deny he's real either which way? The most important thing is to have faith in Christ Jesus and in the Salvation that we receive cuz of the greatest miracle, which is of course the Resurrection.

[00:07:30] And that is Miracle Trainers.

[00:07:35] Andy B: Two minutes a day can change your world and in Just a Thought that's kind of what I do, because I take the ordinary moments of life and think, how can this apply to faith, to life, to moving through this world with people around us? How can a tiny spider, the handle of a microwavable rice pot affect our life. And how can it help us learn something about ourselves and the world around us? [00:08:00]

[00:08:00] So here's what I've thought, Have you ever wondered what red flags, shredded tires, persistence, holes, dishwater tea, rice maker handles, tape measures, giant spiders that are not and stripey fabric all have in common? Well you are not alone.

[00:08:14] And they actually link wonderfully together, as you will find out in the book. I'm just gonna read this out from Reverend Johnny Douglas who wrote The Forward very kindly for me, Just a Thought is a collection of pregnant brain thoughts. But it's so much more than this. Andy reflects a determination, character, and grasp of God and his loving purpose and wise ways

[00:08:33] As we go through life, there's all these things that go on. There's all these exciting things of life, but actually it's the ordinary and it's the normal from which we can learn so, so much. Each little chapter will take you a few moments to. But hopefully we'll get your brain working and ready for the day. Just a thought.[00:09:00]

[00:09:10] Nathan: Well a very good talk, Steven.

[00:09:14] Steven: Thank you very much.

[00:09:15] Nathan: It's a very interesting account there, isn't it? Where Elijah actually outruns a chariot.

[00:09:20] Steven: Yeah, it's quite impressive. I did try and look up speeds of chariots, but I can't understand that.

[00:09:24] Nathan: Well, I suppose a horse probably, well, that chariot probably would've been pulled by one, maybe two horses.

[00:09:30] Steven: Well, it's the king's so it could have been as much as, I don't know, eight. I always picture eight horses with a chariot. Don't you?

[00:09:35] Nathan: It could have been rather large chariot. Yeah. Anyway. Yeah. Anyway. Would've been a lot faster than a normal human could run. Yes, definitely. Yeah. So I was wondering though, for what reason would God perform a miracle?

[00:09:47] I mean, there are lots of miracles in the Bible, but, but why does He perform these miracles? I mean, it's not the sort of thing that God does all the time. Most of the time, He doesn't give us, you know, we don't ask for coffee and it miraculously [00:10:00] appears on our doorstep. No, by the Angel Gabriel. We actually have to go out and get it.

[00:10:05] Or a lot of the time, people, they fall ill, and God doesn't necessarily heal them, but lets them heal naturally. So, so why would God perform a miracle do you think? Sorry, that's a rather,

[00:10:18] Steven: That's a tricky question.

[00:10:19] Nathan: Difficult one.

[00:10:19] Steven: When I'm always thinking, why would God do this or not do that? I'm always thinking of that scripture which says that, why would the pottery ask the Potter why he made him?

[00:10:30] Well, there's a bit of scripture that says something like that, but basically, why would you question God? It's like really heavy piece of scripture, which is very clear that God is God. Who are we to ask him why he does what he does or why he wouldn't do something?

[00:10:45] Nathan: It's a good answer. Yeah, obviously God is in charge; God is sovereign and we may not necessarily understand everything He does, but we can trust that He knows what is best.

[00:10:57] Steven: Absolutely.

[00:10:58] Nathan: And he has an ultimate [00:11:00] plan. What was that scripture? All things work together for the good of those who love God. So clearly, God has a plan and he is, he's moving, he's working in different areas, different locations, in people's lives, and we need to trust that whatever He's doing, he knows what He's doing.

[00:11:12] Steven: Absolutely.

[00:11:13] Nathan: Yeah. And I was also wondering, you say 1900 miles?

[00:11:17] Steven: Yeah. Well, that's across nearly three years. And according to Strava but it is not as impressive as it sounds, right? So if I were to run, what's an average of what, six mile? No, 12 miles a week is like a reasonable amount per week, but generally speaking, I aim for more like 18 miles is better.

[00:11:35] So if you think 18, 12 to 18 miles a week, let's call that an average of what that's 16? 16 miles a week, you multiply that by four, you get 64 miles, you multiply that by, how many weeks in a year?

[00:11:51] Nathan: 52.

[00:11:52] Steven: Yeah, well basically it's not as impressive as it sounds. You think about the average week, the distance.

[00:11:59] Nathan: No, [00:12:00] that makes sense. Well, anyway, it's certainly it's quite a long distance and as you say, that's an awfully long distance for a single pair of trainers to last.

[00:12:08] Steven: Absolutely. And it seen some really tough terrain. It's mostly on the road, but a lot of tough terrain.

[00:12:12] Nathan: But yeah, often a lot of wet or rocky terrain,

[00:12:15] Steven: Yeah

[00:12:15] Nathan: that puts a of strain on rubber. And the souls of the shoes. Yeah. Anyway, so yeah, that's interesting. So in conclusion, I suppose God performs miracles. We saw Jesus perform miracles. They're not impossible. Well, what They're scientifically, often impossible, but God does and can perform miracles in accordance with His will. We just, they are amazing and most of the time we just trust Him, don't we? We just have faith. But now and then we can look at the miracles in the Bible that reminds us of just how powerful and amazing God is, doesn't it?[00:13:00]

[00:13:03] Jo: There are many ways to keep in touch with the BerryBunch. Visit our website and sign up to the Berry Bytes newsletter, so that you can be notified of all our videos, posts, exciting news and seasonal events.

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