The church office will be closed Tuesday, January 1, 2019 for New Year’s Day.

This is what the Lord says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. ~Isaiah 43:16, 18-19

Happy New Year!

Nursery Renovation Update:

The new nursery is finished! This has been a great project and we have been greatly blessed with wonderful people who have worked hard to rebuild the space, to design and choose the new decor and toys, and to contribute the donations that helped make this possible. Thank you for helping us to refresh this space and bless the children of COBC! Here are a few pictures of the process and the final result:

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Nursery Project

We have renovated and refurbished our Nursery and Toddler rooms to make them safer and more enjoyable for our children and volunteers.
If you would like to be involved by donating to our project we still need monetary donations to help cover the cost of the new indoor play sets and furniture, or you can purchase new items on our “Country Oaks Baptist” Baby Registry on Amazon. If you choose to purchase items from the registry, we ask that you purchase only the items we have specifically chosen, since we have specific plans for each item selected.

Thank you so much for blessing our “littles” and providing an all-new fun activity center to be enjoyed by all!

All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
and great shall be the peace of your children.
Isaiah 54:13

Introducing the Discipleship Place

Discipleship is the lifeblood of the church. A Christian is a disciple of Jesus Christ who is teaching others to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Discipleship can happen anywhere and everywhere people are growing in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus; in order to be conformed into the image of the Lord Jesus. But we recognize that sometimes it helps to have a special place to meet that is private, clean, comfortable, and equipped with helpful resources. So, we are pleased to announce that Country Oaks now has just a place.

Where is the Discipleship Place?

We have converted the old church library into a beautiful meeting room for discipleship. It is located across the hall from the church office. Just look for the door with 3 frosted windows. (The theology books from the old library have been moved next door into the Theological Library. This room may be used to study theology and biblical commentaries, but the books may not be taken home.)

Who may use the Discipleship Place?

Any church member can request a reservation to use the room for the purpose of discipleship. Though it looks a lot like a living room or a bookstore, it is not a place to hang out for casual conversation. This is a room designed for discipleship or counseling. Sometimes the Lord arranges for us to have an unscheduled opportunity for discipleship. If you need a private place to counsel someone during church hours, just check with the church office and see if the room is available. We would also like to keep the room available on AWANA nights or Sunday mornings for emergency counseling situations.

What kinds of resources are available in the Discipleship Place?

We have stocked the room with some of our favorite books used for specific discipleship topics such as marriage, parenting, trusting God, enduring suffering, etc. Often times when you meet for discipleship, a specific topic comes to the surface and it is helpful to have a good book at your fingertips to give to your disciplee. We recommend you “assign” a couple chapters out of the book and schedule another meeting in a week or two to discuss the reading. There are also discipleship videos which can be viewed in the room. We have installed a DVD player and TV so that the videos do not have to be taken home. We have also provided a Keurig machine so you can offer your disciplee a cup of coffee or tea. A “chalk board” and notepads are also available for teaching and note-taking.

Can the books and videos be checked out like a library?

The Discipleship Place is not a library (though one wall is reserved as a library for Heritage Oak School). A “House Copy” of each discipleship book may be read in the room, but only purchased books may leave the room. Each book costs $10, which is below retail price. We are not running a bookstore, so we ask that you not stock up on discounted books for personal reading or gifts. The books are provided so that you can give your disciplee an immediate resource. Videos are not for purchase and must remain in the discipleship room.

Coffee and Donuts

Between Services

During the summer months there will be

coffee and donuts provided between services.

9:00am attenders, stay after and enjoy the fellowship.

10:30am attenders, come a little early and get to know the 9:00am crowd.

Pastor Brent’s Link: The Fear of God

The Story is ALL About Jesus – What is a metanarrative and why should it matter to me? Our individual story is part of God’s overarching story – that is what gives our story meaning!

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To view a list of sermons available for download, please click here Sermons.

Guard Your Heart Against Idolatry:

There Is No Shelter for Your Soul in The Shack

Dear Friends in Christ,

It is the calling of every pastor/elder to guard the flock of Jesus Christ from false teachers. At COBC, we generally attempt to fulfill this mandate not by pointing out every false teacher, but by teaching sound doctrine and by teaching the flock how to think biblically. In fact, the current discipleship class endeavors to teach how to “do” theology in a way that best guarantees a correct interpretation of Scripture, which in turn will lead to a biblical worldview. There is so much false teaching available to us in the information age that it would be impossible to tell you what to read or watch and what not to read or watch. We think it is more biblical, and more strategic, to teach you how to think biblically instead of attempting to be the thought police.

However, there will be times when a particular teacher, book, or movie requires special attention because of the nature of the deception. As we heard from the Lord Jesus this last Sunday, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15) Some false teaching is packaged in such a way that it appeals to our flesh or even our Christian sensibilities in such a way that our usual theological warning mechanisms are bypassed. The New York Times bestseller titled The Shack by William Young is exactly such a book. Many professing Christians were mesmerized by this story back in 2007. Hollywood is now attempting to cash in on the evangelical community’s hunger for “Christian” entertainment by releasing a feature length movie based on the book. Undiscerning “Christian” organizations are promoting the movie as an opportunity to share the Gospel, in the same way that other Christian-based movies have been marketed as evangelistic opportunities. But, be advised that The Shack promotes a false representation of God, a false gospel, and a false view of biblical authority. In short, this book and movie represent the unholy “trinity” of false doctrine.

If this is the case, then one might ask, “Why is The Shack so popular in Christian circles?” First and foremost, I think the short answer to this question is that Christian leaders have been so influenced by post-modern thinking that pulpits have been negligent to teach biblical truth and sound doctrine. So, most Christians are ill-equipped to spot theological error. But, secondly, the book deals with a very difficult question which theologians call “The Problem of Evil”. This question ponders how an all powerful and loving God could allow evil. In this case, the evil is the abduction, torture, and murder of the little daughter of the book’s main character, Mack. The story grabs our attention by hitting our heart in one of the most vulnerable places: a parent’s love for his child. How could God allow a little girl to be hurt this way and her family to endure such unimaginable pain and suffering? Once our emotions have been tapped in this way, our minds become fertile soil for all kinds of deceptive teachings. And, these teachings come in the form of a compelling story, which is a very effective way to sneak in false doctrines. In fact, the author has defended himself against theological criticism by claiming that the book is “just a story” and not intended to be a systematic theology. But, make no mistake about it; Mr. Young is using a powerful narrative to do just that: construct a systematic theology about the nature of God, the plan of salvation, and the authority of Scripture.

A False Representation of God

In the book, and now a movie, Mr. Young portrays the triune God in blasphemous ways. God reveals himself in bodily form to the main character in the very shack where his daughter was murdered. The Bible is clear that God is spirit, and only God the Son has taken on a material body that can be seen. But, in the shack the main character experiences God the Father as a black woman, God the Son as a Middle-Eastern man, and God the Holy Spirit as an Asian woman. Of course, these roles are going to be played by very popular and gifted actors in the movie version which will make them even more compelling characters.

We must understand that these characters were chosen for a specific reason. The author is a liberal theologian who is attempting to expose and confront what he perceives to be sexist and racist tendencies in conservative evangelicalism. Since none of us want to be called a bigot or a racist, we immediately cringe at our initial rejection of these characters. But, in the name of inclusivity, we are tempted to decide that there is no problem with the Trinity being portrayed in this way in a story or a movie. Furthermore, the author gives these characters some very likeable traits, including attributes that we would rightly associate with the godhead.

However, as Christians, it is critically important to understand that this is not an issue of racism or sexism. William Young has violated the first three commandments. He has made a graven image of God and encouraged people to think of God in unbiblical ways, thereby promoting idolatry. This is much different than C.S. Lewis helping us to celebrate Christ through the allegorical lion character, Aslan, in his popular Narnia books. In The Shack, the main character is intended to be a real man, living in the real world, who has an encounter with the true and living God. Only, it’s not the God of the Bible, though it borrows Trinitarian imagery. This is exactly the most effective and most dangerous kind of false teaching. This is sacred theological ground upon which William Young is treading. Discerning Christians ought to “shake the dust off their sandals” and flee any blasphemous representations of our holy God.

A False Gospel

There are many other theological errors in The Shack. Perhaps the most troubling of all is the false gospel it promotes. At COBC, we have been calling this particular false gospel the “therapeutic gospel”. It has become very popular in western culture because of our fascination with self-fulfillment and self-actualization. The therapeutic gospel sees our greatest problem or greatest need as self-actualization. We are all victims of a society failing to meet our needs (emotional, intellectual, and spiritual). God becomes our great therapist in the sky who is here to tell us it’s going to be okay and to affirm all the things we would like to believe about ourselves. At worst, we might just be misinformed or misunderstood, and God is here to help us straighten things out so that we can be happy and fulfilled. But, the true Gospel reveals that we are sinners who deserve judgment. Evil exists in the world because of Satan’s rebellion and man’s fall into sin. God is redeeming sinners through the sacrifice of his Son on the cross. God is good, loving, just and merciful. He is sovereign over the affairs of man, and the Bible assures us that He has a purpose for permitting evil to occur for a season until he banishes evil once and for all. In Christ, we find the forgiveness, happiness, and fulfillment we are longing for as we seek to glorify God instead of chasing after self-actualization.

In the book, Mack finds some kind of salvation by forgiving his daughter’s murderer without ever meeting him. Though, we would affirm that letting go of hate and bitterness will help Christians to have peace, this is not equivalent to salvation. William Young’s view of God and salvation may be attractive to people, but at the end of the day, followers of The Shack are building their own lives on a foundation of sand instead of the Word of God.

A False View of Biblical Authority

Of course, none of these problems with the book would have happened if the author had let THE BOOK shape his theological convictions. But the author reveals his disdain for biblical authority in this passage from The Shack:

“In seminary [Mack] had been taught that God had completely stopped any overt communication with moderns, preferring to have them only listen to and follow sacred Scripture, properly interpreted, of course. God’s voice had been reduced to paper, and even that paper had to be moderated and deciphered by the proper authorities and intellects… Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a book. Especially an expensive one bound in leather with gilt edges, or was that guilt edges?”

 This is a popular post-modern, mystical view of revelation. Instead of hearing the voice of God through the pages of Scripture, the post-modernist rejects absolute truth or replaces it with his own truth. For someone who is trying to still act and sound like a Christian, he can hide the fact that he has rejected the sufficiency of Scripture by claiming that God has spoken to him directly apart from the Bible. This teaching sounds very spiritual and has become popular in evangelicalism. But, more discerning Christians recognize that this is a dangerous way for people to use God’s authority to back-up their own personal ideas, agendas, or desires.

In the Garden of Eden, Satan tempted man and woman by challenging the authority of God in three ways. 1) He tempted them to consider God as a peer whose revelations were merely opinions to be evaluated and judged. 2) He tempted them to consider “salvation” as being liberated from God’s commands—that eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil would lead to enlightenment and freedom, not death. 3) He tempted them to consider that God’s Word wasn’t authoritative or sufficient—that they could be their own gods by having their eyes opened apart from God’s revelation and define good and evil on their own terms, like God. In short, the Devil deceived man with a false representation of God, a false gospel, and a false view of God’s Word.

As your pastor and brother in Christ, I urge you to stay away from The Shack. Ravenous wolves and prowling lions live there, seeking someone to devour.

To God be the Glory,

Pastor Brent

For better teaching on “The Problem of Evil” try these helpful resources:

https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/evil.cfm Short article that is a good start for understanding the issue and possible solutions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwifX03d9QU   Sermon by John MacArthur (Very thorough explanation. Very understandable and entertaining, but helpful and convicting. In fact, I would say that this issue is so foundational to all of life and theology, that everyone should watch this video.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9b0PJDDof4    Short explanation by Ravi Zacharias (Helpful for witnessing to someone who is struggling personally with evil and suffering.)

Update

For those who have signed up: The Retirement Dinner for Dr. K Andrew Walker is this Friday, June 12 from 6:00 – 9:00pm at the Oak Tree Country Club in Bear Valley Springs. Doors will open at 5:30pm, dinner will be served at 6:30pm. There is open seating, so please arrive early if you want to have your party seated together. Dinner includes water, coffee and tea.

The event is full. Please call if you want to be put on the waiting list.

Retiring after 24 years!

Sign up TODAY in the Worship Center on Sundays or in the Church Office Monday-Friday

Please join us as we honor Andy Walker on Friday, June 12, 2015

at the Oak Tree Country Club in BVS from 6-9pm.

Dinner and Live Music.

$15 per person (non-refundable) – Please make checks payable to COBC.

Payment must be received in order for your spot to be reserved.

Space is limited to 200. Deadline to sign up is June 7, 2015.

Please let us know if you need a gate pass to get in Bear Valley.

You will need to choose one of three dinner options:

Flat Iron Steak with peppercorn sauce, OR Chicken Piccata (capers and white wine lemon-butter sauce) OR a vegan option

Dinner includes salad, side and vegetables.

(if you sign up and pay and find you can’t attend, please call us (822-1379) and let us know so we can open up your spot.  Thanks.)