Ever been Rick rolled?

You have now!
HT: Vitamin Z

Seger and Springsteen

So, there's a bit of camera-shake at the start of the tape; but really, does it ever get better than this?

Scotty Smith's Prayer: Longing for deeper intimacy with Jesus

I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. Phil. 3:12-15

Dear Lord Jesus,  I don’t know how old Paul was when he was when he wrote these remarkable words—maybe in his sixties or seventies—but it’s obvious, that with an increase in age came an increase in gospel astonishment. He never grew bored exploring the unsearchable riches of Jesus; and he never seemed to tire of wrestling with the kingdom implications of the gospel—for the world in which you placed him, and for the heart that beat within his breast

Jesus, make me that kind of man. Give me this kind of passion, joy and maturity in the gospel. I’m thankful that it’s your grasp of me, and not my grasp of you, that defines this way of life; for sometimes I lift my hands in awe and gratitude for the way you love me. Sometimes I shake my fists at heaven like a pouting, demanding child. Sometimes I wring my hands in anxious unbelief, like a hapless orphan or spoiled toddler. But I live, and I will die, secure in your palms—confident that I am written upon your heart—beloved and betrothed to you.

Lord Jesus, I praise you that, as with Paul, you’ve given me a prize to win, not a wage to earn. Your finished work forever finished any notion of performance-based spirituality. I never earned my way into a relationship with you, and I don’t maintain a relationship with you by my striving, earnestness or works either. But as the gospel is the end of earning, it’s not the end of effort; so intensify my zeal for laying hold of that free and glorious prize in front of me—the fullness of life in the new heaven and new earth…

So what do I want for the rest of my days, Jesus? I cannot say it any better than Paul, Lord: I want to know you better and better and better—more intimately than ever (Phil. 3:10-11). This is the one thing I want, more than anything else, because it effects everything else. Renew and refresh, deepen and expand, stretch and broaden my relationship with you.

And I want to experience more of the power of your resurrection—power to know more of your love (Eph. 3:14-21); power to love others as you love us (Jn. 13:34-35); power to live in your story, to your glory with the joy you alone can give.

And I want to enter more fully into the fellowship of sharing in your sufferings—living with the birth pangs of new-creation life in this broken world—a world which groans for its release from the bondage to decay, a release that is sure to come (Rom. 8:18-25). I am so thankful to know that our labors in you are not in vain, Lord Jesus (1 cor. 15:58).

This is what I long for the gospel to effect in my heart. Help me to have way done with lesser things and be more taken up with the things which matter most to your heart. So very Amen I pray, in your most glorious and loving name.

HT: Heavenward

These things were written for our learning...

This video is not simply a good plug for what will clearly be a very important and useful Bible study tool (I still retain a modicum of hesitation about all "study Bibles"!), it is also very insightful in providing a thumbnail sketch of what it means to read, understand and apply the Bible through the lens of the Gospel.

No doubt it'll be a while before it gets this length...
A list of contributors is available here.

And so say all of us!

Acts 4: a tale of two churches?

I know there is more going on in Acts 4  than the following quotation from Lloyd Ogilivie highlights, but it is perceptively insightful nonetheless, and certainly worth thinking about ...
"In Acts 4, Luke gives us a convicting, convincing comparison of two groups of God's people.  Here are two assemblies, the Sanhedrin and the early Church.  Both believed they were being faithful and obedient to the truth, but what a contrast.

• One was protective and defensive; the other was powerful and dynamic.
• One believed it had been appointed to conserve the past, keep the peace, and preserve the status quo; the other believed it had been called to communicate the love of God, to witness to a miraculous intervention of His power, and to live in the resources of His persistent presence.
• One was maintained for preservation of rules and regulations; the other was motivated by an assurance of being right with God.
• One was based on what God had given long before; the other was based upon what God was doing right then.
• One was symbolized by blandness and boredom; the other by boldness.

"These disturbing questions arise: in which assembly would we be more comfortable? If you had to identify your church, would it be more like the Sanhedrin or like the early Church?" 

LLoyd J Ogilvie: 'Acts of the  Holy Spirit: God's Power for Living (Shaw, 1999),  p 54-55.