Pilgrim's Progress

He Is Risen

CHOOSE

LIFE

Cross Words #3: I'm So Grateful

I'm so grateful Jesus didn't get off the cross ... didn't listen to the taunts, didn't rise to the bait to prove himself, didn't let his soul agony overcome him.

I can imagine the taunts, the jeers, the mocking, the torment of his own soul buzzing round his head like flies ...

I'm so grateful that he persevered through the tide of immense opposition and won an awesome victory ...

Click here for an animation (126K; Flash 6) ...

Cross Words #2: The Brink of Hades

What must it have been like for Jesus as the darkness gathered around him on the cross? The first breach of his unbroken fellowship with the Father as he bore the world's sin?

I imagine him peering over the brink into a yawning abyss into which he knows he must descend ...

"... and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isa 53)

(Click here for an extra-large version of the image)

Cross Words #1: Strange Meeting

In this most dark and mysterious hour, the strangest of meetings ... suffering and glory ... cross and crown ...

Worship Graphics #5

Watching "The Passion of the Christ" again, I was struck by the brutality of the crown of thorns being forced down on Jesus' head ... it seemed like pointless violence somehow ...

(click here to view anim (23K) or right click and select "Save Target As..."

The NET Bible

Have just come across The NET Bible ... the first translation to be made freely available electronically before it appeared in print. It has very extensive footnotes covering translational and textual choices and so on, and it appears to have attracted wide acclaim.

It's a "second beta" - readers of all types from the schoolboy to the scholar are invited to give feedback as the translation develops and improves.

1. Read it online here, or ...
2. Download the entire book free (in Windows Help format) here (12MB) ...

In the Depths, You are There ...

How deep will we allow the cross to go in our lives this Easter? Since Christ descended into hell to bear the sin of the world, can we let him go a little deeper in us this Easter?

Looking outwards, can we encourage others to stop and peer over the edge to look for the cross at work in all their depths?

I can't get away from the cross at the moment. It's not just the approach of Easter, or that I'm a church leader preparing to lead others in Easter worship ... it's just THERE ...

I blogged recently about healing in my own life ... it's as if the cross can not only forgive and cleanse, and not only redeem, but also RESTORE and buy back what has been lost.

This is news far too good to keep inside church doors this Easter ...

The Marks of My Life #1

Do you ever stumble across a word, phrase, image that hits you hard, and you know right away it is to be one of the marks of your life? I've been struck by a number of these recently. Here's the first ...

There is something about this simple verse in Galatians that is to be central to all I am, and all I do in Jesus' name. (Click PLAY when you're ready ... you need Flash 6 player to view it).

Lent Prayer: Let Your land Lie Fallow

A "sort of prayer, sort of poem" for the times of "in-betweenness" (like Lent?) when we've left behind or forsaken things that were familiar to us, and don't seem to have settled in the new place just yet ... or maybe it's about restlessness and a pilgrim spirit ... maybe it will say something different to you.

It did remind me of Jonah 2:8 "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs".

Let your Land Lie Fallow: A Prayer for Fruitfulness

Let your land lie fallow: it's not your time
To send up seas of swaying gold
Cut loose the old and brace for death’s dark vale.

Let your land lie fallow: in the dark
And vacant in-between, a shard of light:
A new day beckons just beyond.

Let your land lie fallow: take your rest
Lie deep and still, time does not sleep
It will come round again.

Let your land lie fallow, do not fret
When other pastures pour forth corn -
The kind old sun will rouse you yet.

Let your land lie fallow, but eagerly seek:
The seeds lie deep, are thirsty for the rain
The skies sag heavy, it's not long now.

Worship Graphics #4

I don't know what torment Jesus went through on the cross ... What kind of agony of soul burst forth in his cry "Eloi, Eloi, Lama sabacthani?" ... did each sin pierce him like a red hot needle?

He was wounded for our transgressions ...

Please click here for another animation, perhaps for meditation. (It requires Flash 6, and is 200K in size ... please allow around 1 minute for download on a 56.6. modem.)

Worship Graphics #3

Recent healing in my own life has reminded me not only of the power of the cross to forgive sins, but also to really sever me from the past, and begin to purchase back what has been lost. I pray that we will discover its power in our own lives once again this Easter.

Some worship graphics to celebrate that. Its ceaseless movement tries to express the ongoing dynamism and ever-present power of the cross to cleanse, heal and renew. The cross of Christ is not a static, one-off historical transaction, but a place to which we must regularly return and bring others with us.

Click here. Requires Flash 6 (164K). Please note there is no "Loading" screen on this one in case you want to use it in worship. If it might be of any use in worship, drop me a note and I'd be happy to help get you set up (you'll need a stand alone file for use on your laptop).