Ed Stetzer has a must-read article on worship. Here’s an excerpt:

In many churches where a worship war is brewing or is in outright conflict, one group perceives themselves to be pushing forward toward the next generation (relevance) while another is trying to pull back to a once-honored method (reverence). One group thinks contemporary music or a more casual style will suit the modern generation and appeal more to the lost. Meanwhile the other group thinks all of that is just worldly compromise and, furthermore, arrogant to casually dismiss the styles that have served the church well, in some cases, for hundreds of years.

When either of these scenarios occurs it is usually because we have elevated our preferences to the level of principles. We are “taking a stand” for something important: our own comfort, convenience, and concerns. And all the while we’re trying to give God his due or the lost people in the pew it turns out we’re really just making worship about us.

He calls for both sides to do a heart check. You can read the whole thing here.

After spending two and a half years in the Gospel of John, I feel something of a bittersweet emotion nearing the end of the book. I hope for our people that as we have traveled along verse-by-verse and chapter-by-chapter, that it has increased our love for John’s Gospel, but more importantly, that it has increased our love for Jesus Christ, who is the focus of the book.

I believe there is great value in studying the Word of God carefully, line upon line and precept upon precept. But there’s also a danger of “staring at the trees and missing the forest.”

In John 20:30-31, John helps us get the “big picture” of his Gospel, finally explaining why he wrote the book. We saw four points as we studied it together last Sunday:

1. John’s Gospel is a record of signs. There is no way he could have recorded them all (Jn. 21:24-25), so John hand-picked seven of them and arranged the first half of his gospel around them: turning water into wine (Jn. 2:1-12); healing the nobleman’s son from a great distance (Jn. 4:46-54); healing the man who had been paralyzed for 38 years along the Pool of Bethesda (Jn. 5:1-17); feeding over 5,000 people (Jn. 6:1-14); walking on water (Jn. 6:16-21); healing a man blind from birth (Jn. 9:1-34); and raising Lazarus from the dead (Jn. 11). Every one of these was astounding. And the pinnacle of them all was Christ’s own resurrection in John 20. What were these signs for?
2. The purpose of a sign is to point you to something. In this case, to Jesus Christ. A sign is a marker, a proof, an authenticating work. Jesus made seven bold “I AM” statements in the Gospel of John: I am the Bread of Life (Jn. 6:35); the Light of the World (Jn. 8:12); the Door (Jn. 10:7-9); the Good Shepherd (Jn. 10:11, 14); the Resurrection and the Life (Jn. 11:25); the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn. 14:6); the True Vine (Jn. 15:1, 5). Every one of these was a bold and exclusive claim that Jesus was equal with Yahweh, the Great “I AM” of the Old Testament (Exodus 3:14). What proof did Jesus give? In addition to His own testimony (Jn. 5:31-32), Jesus called forward four other witnesses: John the Baptist (Jn. 5:33-35), Jesus’ miraculous works or “signs” (Jn. 5:36), the verbal testimony of God the Father (Jn. 5:37-38), and finally, the Old Testament Scriptures themselves (Jn. 5:39-40). What more proof could Jesus have given? The evidence is overwhelming that He is truly the Messiah, the Son of God. The only reasonable thing to do is believe.
3. The result of these signs should be faith. This is not a mere intellectual assent, but a complete trust, a total surrender. It is pictured in a variety of ways throughout the Gospel (drinking of the water He gives, eating His flesh and drinking His blood, entering through the door, etc.). Everyone must make a choice. Either you choose to believe in Jesus, or you choose to reject Him (Jn. 3:36). There is no middle ground. Not choosing to believe is actually choosing not to believe.
4. The result of true faith will be eternal life. By trusting in Jesus, we can have eternal life (Jn. 3:15-16; 20:31). What a promise! This is John’s desire for every reader of His gospel. He has written primarily that unbelievers will put their trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and receive the free gift of eternal life.

Questions for Thought and Discussion:

• Do you believe Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, Anointed One)?
• Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God (making Him equal with God, according to Jn. 5:18)?
• Are you living as though these statements are true? James tells us that faith without works is dead and useless, and will not save anyone (James 2:17-24)
• According to John 20:31, what is the result of genuine faith in Jesus Christ?
• How should this comfort us as Christians?
• Are you inviting and calling others to believe in Jesus?
• How does the world view Jesus today?
• How does this contrast with John’s testimony?
• Give a one sentence summary in your own words of John’s Gospel
• What is one key lesson you have learned in our study of this Gospel?

Sunday’s sermon has been uploaded to our podcast site and is available for free download. I apologize for the audio cutting in and out during the message. We will try to resolve this problem before next week.

Here’s a beautiful picture of faith, from a sermon by John Piper…

Your daddy is standing in a swimming pool out a little bit from the edge. You are, let’s say, three years old and standing on the edge of the pool. Daddy holds out his arms to you and says, “Jump, I’ll catch you. I promise.” Now, how do you make your daddy look good at that moment? Answer: trust him and jump. Have faith in him and jump. That makes him look strong and wise and loving. But if you won’t jump, if you shake your head and run away from the edge, you make your daddy look bad. It looks like you are saying, “he can’t catch me” or “he won’t catch me” or “it’s not a good idea to do what he tells me to do.” And all three of those make your dad look bad.

But you don’t want to make God look bad. So you trust him. Then you make him look good–which he really is. And that is what we mean when we say, “Faith glorifies God” or “Faith gives God glory.” It makes him look as good as he really is. So trusting God is really important.

And the harder it seems for him to fulfill his promise, the better he looks when you trust him. Suppose that you are at the deep end of a pool by the diving board. You are four years old and can’t swim, and your daddy is at the other end of the pool. Suddenly a big, mean dog crawls under the fence and shows his teeth and growls at you and starts coming toward you to bite you. You crawl up on the diving board and walk toward the end to get away from him. The dog puts his front paws up on the diving board. Just then, your daddy sees what’s happening and calls out, “Johnny, jump in the water. I’ll get you.”

Now, you have never jumped from one meter high and you can’t swim and your daddy is not underneath you and this water is way over your head. How do you make your daddy look good in that moment? You jump. And almost as soon as you hit the water, you feel his hands under your arms and he treads water holding you safely while someone chases the dog away. Then he takes you to the side of the pool.

We give glory to God when we trust him to do what he has promised to do–especially when all human possibilities are exhausted. Faith glorifies God. That is why God planned for faith to be the way we are justified.

HT: Justin Taylor

This year’s Pastors Conference for the California Southern Baptist Convention will be Monday and Tuesday, November 9-10. From early information I’m hearing, I think this year’s conference will be the best yet. Here’s the itinerary:

First Session – Monday, November 9, 2009
The People of God: Defined and Engaged

6:45 pm MusicFBC Norco Music Team

7:00 pm Opening Prayer, WelcomeJeff Mooney

7:05 pm The People of God:

A Theologically Defined Worshipping Community
Mark Dever
Senior Pastor Capitol Hill Baptist Church
and Founder of 9 Marks Ministries
7:45 pm Break

7:50 pm The People of God and the Mission of God:
Engaged against Oppression
Larry Martin,
Senior Vice President of Education & Dean of the IJM Institute

8:35 pm MusicFBC Norco Music Team

8:45 pm The People of God and the Mission of God:
The Supremacy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Nations
Jeff Lewis
Assistant Professor of Intercultural Studies

9:30 pm Closing Jeff Mooney

Second Session – Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The People of God: Defined and Engaged

8:45 am MusicFBC Norco Music Team

9:00 am The Persecuted People of God
Tom Wright
President, Voice of the Martyrs

9:45 am Break

10:00 am Election of Officers

10:15 am Round Table discussion

11:00 am Special Music CBU Small Group

11:15 am Closing Session

The 2009 Conference will be located at Magnolia Avenue Baptist Church in Riverside. For more information, you can visit the conference website and blog, and also become a Facebook fan.

So, I clicked on ESPN.com this morning to check the sports headlines when suddenly **BAM** I was hit with a photo of a male and two female athletes, apparently in the buff with legs and arms cleverly positioned. The photo caption:

“It’s OK to look: A lifetime of athletic ambition makes some bodies better than others. See for yourselves.”

Apparently, this is a preview for the “Body Issue” of ESPN Magazine (presumably their alternative to the annual “Swimsuit Issue” in Sports Illustrated).

So is it really OK to look and admire these sleek, ripped, and oiled bodies? It’s no accident that two athletes in the cover photo were female, despite the fact that most sporting events on TV feature male athletes. My flesh wanted to look, but my spirit (conscience) was screaming out, “Whoa, hold on there just a minute. This isn’t cool. It’s a lie. Don’t even think about clicking on that link!”

I am reminded of the sermon I preached on sexual purity at last Saturday’s Exposing the Heart men’s conference. The world is sending a message loud and clear: “Come. Look. Enjoy. Drink your fill. Don’t let anyone else stop you from being happy.” Today’s headline at ESPN only confirms this. But God sends a very different message of purity – for His glory and for our joy.

In Matthew 5:27-30, Jesus gives three dimensions to sexual purity:

1. The External (Matt. 5:27). Quoting from the Ten Commandments, Jesus reminds us of God’s command “You shall not commit adultery.” Sex is not bad in itself. After all, God invented it. Satan can only twist and distort it. But God created clear sexual boundaries for our protection and joy. As Hebrews 13:4 says, “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Adultery is not merely an “affair” to be shrugged off and laughed at like David Letterman. It is a serious breaching of the marriage covenant, an offense that will be reckoned by the Holy Judge Himself.
2. The Internal (Matt. 5:28). As awful as adultery is, Jesus says there is a sin perhaps even more dangerous, because it is far more subtle. It is a sin we face every day: lust. Christian counselor Stuart Scott defines lust as “nothing more than evil desire looking for fulfillment. It is only looking for self-satisfaction … Lust is welcoming and continuing in the evil desires of the flesh, rather than resisting them and fleeing from them by turning to God and what is right.” ESPN says, “It’s OK to look at these photos.” Jesus says, “Looking is adultery of the heart.” As difficult as it may be, we must fight every day not to look with lust. We must develop pure relationships (1 Tim. 5:2) and avoid every form of evil (1 Thess. 5:22). God’s will for us is sanctification (1 Thess. 4:3).
3. The Eternal (Matt. 5:29-30). Jesus puts lust in perspective for us with a call to radical action. Searing your conscience and giving in to sin is a dangerous sign that you may not be saved. Sin may be pleasant for a while, but it only leads to death and eternal torment in hell. It doesn’t deliver what it promises. Far better to give up your pet sin and change your lifestyle (alter your commute, cancel that subscription, cut off that relationship, miss that TV show, or whatever it takes) rather than stumble into sin and jeopardize your soul. Stop making excuses. Know your sin, and fight it to the death. Cast yourself on God’s grace, and take extreme measures.

As Solomon said, “I have discovered more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her” (Eccl. 7:26). In this life under the sun, opportunities for lust abound, but Solomon reminds us they are all mere traps, set to kill.

Thankfully, we have a pure and sinless Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Never once did Jesus have a lustful thought. He was tempted to lust (Heb. 4:15), but He never, ever gave in. Because Christ was sinless, He was qualified to become the spotless Lamb of God and take away the sin of the world. God punished Him for our lust, and gave us Christ’s righteousness in its place. (2 Cor. 5:21) What an exchange!

So before you decide it’s “OK to look” at the ESPN Body Issue or any other occasion for lust, remember the trap. Remember the marriage covenant. Remember that eternity is at stake. Remember what Christ did for you.

As our love for God grows, may we begin to see sin for what it really is, and stop finding it so attractive. May we instead see that God’s glory and His moral boundaries alone can offer true joy.