Make a Joyful Noise

Music has been around since the dawn of time.

As God created the universe, an angelic choir sang praises and shouted for joy (Job 38:4-7). Early humans invented string and wind  instruments like the lyre and pipe (Gen. 4:21). And the young shepherd David was skilled at playing the lyre (1 Sam. 16:16).

Whenever God’s people made pilgrimage to Jerusalem, they sang (Pss. 120-34). A whole book of the Bible is an ancient song book (Psalms). Another is a love song (Song of Solomon). And yet another is a funeral song (Lamentations).

In the New Testament, we hear Jesus and His disciples singing a hymn right before His betrayal and arrest (Matt. 26:30). Paul urges the church to sing songs, hymns, and spiritual songs (Col. 3:16). And best of all, heaven will be full of joyful music and songs of victory forever (Rev. 5:8-14).

The April edition of our church newsletter is hot off the press and all about music and worship. You can pick up a copy during our worship service this morning, or click here to subscribe to our online edition. We hope you enjoy it, and that it inspires you to make a joyful noise to the Lord (Ps. 95:1)!

 Photo credit: anitakhart

March Ministry Update

Here's a church update I shared last Sunday afternoon during our quarterly business meeting...

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD, or declare all his praise?” (Psalm 106:2-3).

God is doing mighty deeds and showing us many reasons to give Him praise at First Southern Baptist Church.

Our Sunday worship has taken a giant leap forward with the addition of Ryan H, Chris P, and Annie R. assisting Janet and our choir with music ministry. I’ve heard many comments of how uplifting the music has been recently. If you have a musical gift and would like to join the team, please speak with Janet.

During our Bible Study time, I’ve been preaching on the spiritual gifts and love from 1 Corinthians 12-14. If you would like to exercise your gifts and get more involved in ministry, please let me know so we can help plug you in. Sometime after Easter, we’ll launch into chapter 15 on the resurrection and answer some common questions about heaven, hell, and the afterlife. Thank you for your hunger for God’s Word and your desire to know and obey the Lord.

We’ve been blessed to have three young ladies get baptized, and are now getting ready to start another membership class in the next couple weeks with several people who are interested. Please continue to be welcoming to visitors, and be sure to invite friends to church. These are some of the simplest ways to be a witness to those God has brought into your life. For your convenience, we have church invitation cards on the sound booth. Please take a handful and pass them out throughout the week.

By the grace of God, our Sunday attendance and giving are steadily increasing. You will notice in the stewardship report that we are almost running a balanced budget. Please continue to give generously so we can meet the rest of our financial commitments and continue to expand our ministry. We are also making progress in our capital campaign. A brand new preschool playground set has been donated to the church and will be assembled in the next few weeks. We are also researching a our new front sign and audio equipment.

Our church photo directories finally arrived and look fantastic. Thanks for your patience. If your information is incorrect, please contact the church office so we can update our records. If you have just started attending or do not have a photo, we hope to have another photo shoot sometime in the next twelve months for newcomers. Lifetouch will do another photo shoot and print a directory addendum if we have a minimum number of new families to add.

Lastly, a Membership Review Committee was formed a couple years ago by the congregation to review our membership roll and follow up on inactive members. You’ll notice in our Church Clerk report that our membership is over double our regular attendance. Many of these members have been inactive for years, so we are eager to make contact with them, let them know what has been going on at the church, and to encourage them to return. Please be in prayer for this committee.

Coach Wooden

If you like sports and want to see a down-to-earth example of how a dad can influence his son, you may enjoy Coach Wooden by Pat Williams. It’s free on Kindle today only.

At first glance, the book does not look expressly evangelical. It belongs more in the category of wisdom. Like in Proverbs, a father is training up his son, pointing him in the right direction, warning him of danger, and leading by example. The book description says, ‘Through powerful stories and advice, this book shares the wisdom that made Wooden happy and successful, not just in his career but in life.’

Wooden's seven life principles include:

1. Be true to yourself
2. Help others
3. Make friendship a fine art
4. Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible
5. Make each day your masterpiece
6. Build a shelter against a rainy day by the life you live
7. Give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day

We should be cautious of self-help language like ‘believing in yourself’ and ‘achieving your dreams.’ But we can still rejoice when a good story elevates fatherhood and spiritual disciplines like reading, love, serving, and prayer. John Wooden is one of the most respected coaches in the history of basketball, and there is something we can all learn from his life.

The Jesus Discovery?

James Tabor, the controversial archaeologist who produced the "Lost Tomb of Jesus" a few years ago is back in the news again. Tabor has just released his findings from a robotic excavation of a tomb in East Talpiot, Jerusalem.

This tomb is thought to predate the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. It was first studied in 1981 but was then sealed under a condominium. However, a newer excavation using robots has revealed a four-line Greek inscription and a controversial image (a Christian fish symbol? a nephesh tomb marker?).

Tabor suggests these inscriptions teach us about early Christian views of the resurrection, and that Jesus' body was initially buried at the Holy Sepulchre site, but was later relocated to the Talpiot tomb. The full findings are in a newly released book The Jesus Discovery by Tabor and Jacobovici. It has already skyrocketed to #1 in all of its categories at Amazon and has an overall rank of #174.


Obviously, Tabor's thesis contradicts the biblical record (Matt. 28:5-8; Mark 16:2-8; Lk. 24:1-8; Jn. 20:1-10) and attacks the gospel itself (1 Cor. 15:12-19). But it is also shoddy archaeology, plain and simple. Tabor has a knack for the sensational (and the lucrative?) that led one scholar to remark archaeology has been “hijacked in the service of non-scientific interests.” The excavation on this tomb is noteworthy, but any conclusions by Tabor must be taken with more than a grain of salt - more like a heaping spoonful.

For updates to this developing story, check out the Bibleplaces Blog by Todd Bolen, former archaeology professor at the Master's College IBEX campus in Israel.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The final week leading up to Christ's death and resurrection is known as His "Passion Week" because of the intense suffering our Lord experienced. It's almost unthinkable how much our Lord packed into one week -- from His symbolic anointing by Mary, to His triumphal entry, to His cleansing of the temple, to His controversial "woes," to His Olivet Discourse on the second coming, to His Last Supper. Through it all, the Son of Man stayed focused on His mission and "loved us to the uttermost" (John 13:1).

We must not forget that Jesus' death and resurrection were real events that took place in space and time. This is not the stuff of fairy tales. You can hop on a jet today, and in less than 24 hours, see the very place where Jesus died and rose again. The traditional site of Golgotha and the Empty tomb is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. To learn more about this famous church, I encourage you to watch this 3-D video.

All I remember from visiting the tomb years ago was the smell of incense; the dark, cold, maze-like stone interior; the somber Catholic and Orthodox priests; and the crowds of tourists. Hardly edifying.

But this video peels back the layers of the church and explains how it inherited its puzzle-like design. After watching the first couple minutes on the present day church, I encourage you to see the church at the height of the Byzantine Period (6:30 into the video). It must have been quite a spectacle.

Then travel back further in time and witness how Rome tried to erase all memory of Jesus by building a pagan shrine to Jupiter over the empty tomb (9:00 into the video). How ironic. Jupiter has now been relegated to books on Roman mythology and the name of a planet 400 million miles away. Meanwhile, the gospel of Jesus is spreading like wildfire and changing the lives of people around the world. We serve a risen Savior. He lives!

HT: Chris McKinney

An inspiring story of love

Today we studied fifteen Marks of True Love from 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Praise God that He has shown us unconditional love, and now calls us to love one another!

One of the most stunning examples of love I've seen took place at a softball game in the Pacific Northwest. Here's the full story...

Resolved Conference 2012

Did you know that one of the best Bible Conferences in the world happens right in our backyard?

This June, you can join over 3,000 college students and young adults for “Resolved” at the Palm Springs Convention Center to enjoy three days of incredible worship and great preaching. Speakers include John MacArthur, C.J. Mahaney, Al Mohler, Steve Lawson, Rick Holland, and more. Click here for full details: http://www.resolved.org/

The early bird discount is $150 and ends on Feb. 29. I know things are tight, but this is money well spent if there’s any way you can make it. And for those of us in the high or low desert, it’s close enough that you don’t have to pay any airfare or hotel costs. You’ll simply never find a better deal.

Here are a couple of my favorite videos from past years...