Posted By stevebag on November 3, 2009

The following is my Sermon Transcript from October 18, 2009, on the topic of Heaven, Hell and the After-life.

Listen to the Sermon here

Watch the sermon here

Today we begin a new series on the topic of Heaven, Hell and Life after Death.  As we close out our brief and random look at the book of Isaiah, we must address a prominent emerging idea in Isaiah that is remarkably absent prior to his writings.  Isaiah stands as sort of a bridge between Old and New Testaments (as all of the prophets really do) and in Isaiah we begin to see a new stream in revelation, that of the global extent of the kingdom of God.  But before we get to actual texts from the book of Isaiah and other places instructive to our study we need to spend some time laying some groundwork.

Heaven, hell and life after death may be the most myth-filled area of the modern Christians mind.  I hear more “weird” stuff when I listen to Christians talk about these issues.  Funerals may be the place where these ideas run rampant and unchallenged.  Here are some of the ideas I want to challenge, tweak and adjust as we progress through this arena:
(more…)

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Category: Sermons | 5 Comments »
Tags: Anthropomorphism, Cosmology, Heaven, Hell, Inerrancy, Life after Death, Sola Scriptura

Posted By stevebag on October 28, 2009

I mean the institution, the local gathering, the building etc….

Someone asked me for a reason to go to church, and what should be looked for if answered affirmatively.

This really is a legitimate question because there are so many options. In my links here on The Temple I have ample resources for people in terms of information, sermons, Bible studies, etc. With social networking I can keep in contact with multiples of people at the same time. I just spent sometime counseling on Facebook chat while watching the World Series, very efficient. ChurchTV broadcasts live church services complete with a time for offering. Twitter has Bible studies restricted to 140 character comments, really cuts down on that guy in Bible study who won’t keep quiet. So what do we need the church for???

Before I give my reasons for the importance of the live local church, let me be clear: Every Christian belongs in a church, without exception. There is no good reason to be apart from a local Christian fellowship (church) for any length of time. It is not optional. Here are the reasons, they are rooted in our understanding of the Trinity:

The Church and the Father
As a child of the heavenly Father I am not alone, He has many children. We are spoken of as adopted They are gathered together locally in the body of Christ, the Son. Fatherhood is not random nor does a Father isolate His children rather He gathers them together in family units, called the church.

The importance of community cannot be understated. Belonging and identity are solidified in the church. The Father draws us together into the body. There is an underlying strength that goes with belonging to a tribe, and the church is the best tribe as it is sired by the Heavenly Father. It is the best heritage available and to be a son or daughter of the most High God is the best source of identity available. This impartation of belonging and identity occurs in the church and not outside of it.

It is in the body that I find accountability, my weaknesses are exposed in community and good community helps me to strengthen areas of my character that need sharpening. The longer you stay in healthy community the more benefit you receive from this, as our real issues are hard to suppress in community over time.

The Church and the Son
Church and all that goes with being redeemed has to do with more than my individual experience. Healthy church attacks my inclination towards selfishness that is heightened especially in America with a utilitarian mindset, that is, if it isn’t practical or personally beneficial, it isn’t necessary. Church helps me destroy my selfishness. The church was founded by Christ, and he models the behavior and attitude that accompanies church attendance. You cannot be like Christ outside of the church as demonstrated by these two phrases, one said by Christ, one said about Christ: “The Son of man came not to be served but to serve” & “who considered others more important than himself”. These characteristics happen in the context of the church.

The Church and the Spirit
The Spirit of God is the great gift giver and the gifts he gives are intended to be used within the context of the body of Christ.  They are not personal or private, but corporate and public, intended for the edification of the body.  The Holy Spirit is the architect  and engineer as well as the contractor who builds the church.  He supplies the church with the tools necessary for success and for the growth of the church to the glory of God.  Much church weakness can be attributed to the missing members who fail to supply the necessary gifts given to round out the body.

The mission of the believer and the mission of the church have large areas of overlap, it is rare that individual Christian mission would fall outside of ecclesiological support or authority.

To place yourself apart from the body of Christ places you outside the will of God.  To place yourself outside the body of Christ places you outside of the purpose of God for you.  To place yourself outside the body of Christ is to ignore God’s creative intention.

I don’t stand behind these truths because I am a pastor,  I am a pastor because of these truths.

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Category: Church, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Tags: Church, Trinity

Posted By stevebag on October 13, 2009

Here is a funny version of the point I was making in my sermon last Sunday. We are blessed beyond our imagination and yet we still default to complaining. You can check out my sermon here.

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Category: Culture - Values | No Comments »
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Posted By stevebag on October 6, 2009

Read my good friend Roy’s article on “Church Fatigue.”

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Posted By stevebag on October 1, 2009

I ran across a marvelous quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer from his book Life Together:

“A pastor should not complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God.  A congregation has not been entrusted to him in order that he should become its accuser before God and men.”

It reminded me of some basic minstry principles.

God is at work in people, it is His work and He works in His own time. My job is to come alongside and assist.  Much like a nurse in surgery, I simply supply a service to God and His people by ministry.  Since growth is a work of grace in the life of a believer I should show grace to those who are not as “far along” in their maturity process. My job is to help people find their next step in growth not to complain that they aren’t mature.  This is hard because we then have to “put up with” or as Paul puts it “forbear with one another.”

People are the object of God’s love, not program and not event. Often the source of pastoral grumbling comes when the people God has placed in my charge get in the way of my goals.  I get frustrated at inconsistency and immaturity, half-hearted effort, shoddy work and have to remind myself that people in church often are on the way, not finished products.  When I don’t have this view I get caught up in a process by which to manufacture the outward signs of success in ministry.  Large crowds, new programs, “excitement”, and other fun things but not always appropriate to ministry to the body.  This kind of ministry often excludes those who are not easy to deal with or who have little to offer the machine.

Growth in Christ is a life long project not a quick fix. Longevity in ministry is not the norm any more.  Studies vary but show that the average length of time in a church is somewhere around 54 – 58 months (Moving on Moving Forward: A Guide for Pastors in Transition by Michael Anthony and Mick Boersma).  About the same length of time that people finance their car.  You may be shocked by this, but it takes longer than that to arrive at maturity in Christ.  Since we have a short view we have conceded to short term strategies that match that length of service to judge pastoral and church success.

These ideas are critical to the minds of not only pastors, but congregants.  People often switch churches based on marketing and whim.  Problems in church with people and pastors are not necessarily good reasons to move on to another church.  Church is not Starbucks vs. Its a Grind.  Church is community, the Scriptures often using the family metaphor as descriptive of the church.  This is a connective metaphor;  it is hard to leave family.  Even more connective is the body metaphor: I can’t do without my little toe; I am very reluctant to part with it.  When my body is sick, unaffected members don’t jump ship, they suffer together. When we stay at a church over the long haul we begin to learn something we cannot learn on the church circuit.  God doesn’t quit on me; and He is remarkably still at work in you.  Our job is not to complain about one another to one another and to God, rather it is to recognize the path of grace in each and every one.  God is at work in us.  Let me help you on the way.  Help me along the way.

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Category: Christian Living, Church | 2 Comments »
Tags: bonhoeffer, Church, Life Together

Posted By stevebag on September 30, 2009

Courtesy of my sister who was maybe a freshman or sophomore at Montebello High School in 1966:

I’m in the process of re-doing one of my old high school scrapbooks. I read this article from the Derrick Diary (Montebello High School’s newspaper) on the back of a photo I had saved from September 30, 1966.

A little bit of history for y’all!

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Category: Politics | No Comments »
Tags: Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, Ronald Reagan

Posted By stevebag on September 22, 2009

Wow, here is a great list of down-loadable articles and resources on the topic of God’s will and guidance including articles by John Piper, Garry Friesen, John MacArthur, J.I. Packer, Sinclair Ferguson, RC Sproul and others.

Source: Monergism.com

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Category: Internet Bible Resources, Theological | No Comments »
Tags: Garry Friesen, God's will, guidance, J.I. Packer, John MacArthur, John Piper, RC Sproul, Sinclair Ferguson

Posted By stevebag on September 17, 2009

Careful with every errant word…

Or you can listen to the whole interchange here (audio only)

Here’s the transcript:

Q: Were your girls as hacked off as mine were that Kanye gave Taylor Swift the Joe Wilson treatment?

Obama: I thought that was really inappropriate. You know it was like she’s getting an award — why are you butting in? I, I hear you — I agree with you.

Q: So does that count as the first question?

Obama: The young lady seems like a perfectly nice person. She’s getting her award. What’s he doing up there? He’s a jackass. (Laughter) No, now — this — all this stuff — I’m assuming all this stuff. Where’s the pool? Come on guys. Cut the president some slack. I got a lot of other stuff on my plate. Yeah. Cause I remember last time it was the fly thing. Now that was the highlight of (trails off)

Q: No that worked out well for you. You were a ninja.

Obama: Except PETA… (laughter)

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Posted By stevebag on September 16, 2009

David Robinson is all class, from the wonderful words he says to his wife to the way he affirmed his sons.  The speech is a typical acceptance style speech, thanking everyone for all the effort contributed, but his ending is tremendous.  Now many sports figures have given thanks to God, but David Robinson says it here better than anyone I have ever heard.  30 seconds well framed and spoken, giving God thanks and blessing a crowd that has it all and has heard it all.  Excellent.  Video is 7:45 and the tribute to God starts at about 6:41.  Worth watching.

If you happened to see the Hall of Fame show on ESPN then you will also recall that the day was really focused on Michael Jordan.  His acceptance speech is the exact opposite of Robinson’s;  he couldn”t get off of himself.  The “greatest” player of all time spends his time trying to justify why he deserves that title.  I thought it was sad.  In contrast to how Robinson presented himself it was pathetic.

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Category: Culture - Values, Sports | No Comments »
Tags: David Robinson, Hall of Fame, Luke 17, Michael Jordan, NBA, Thanksgiving

Posted By stevebag on July 21, 2009

There is a God! the expert has conceded the point. Whew, now I can rest easy.  A really smart guy agrees with me.  Antony Flew, notorious atheist philosopher has changed his mind.  In this remarkable book, he tells of his movement from atheism to deism.  He doesn’t personalize God, rather he simply refers to God as the Superior Mind.  He does give an “endorsement” (more on that below) to Christianity via an appendix in the book written by NT Wright.

In an amazingly straightforward presentation, Flew recognizes now the obvious.  Something doesn’t come from nothing, and pure matter cannot explain consciousness, emotion, purpose and a whole slew of other things that are necessary components of life. The only reasonable conclusion is God.

There is also an appendix by Roy Abraham Varghese that replies to the “New” atheists like Dennett, Dawkins, Harris et al.

I enjoyed the book and recommend it, but as the leaking sarcasm hints I find the posture a little shameful.  Requisite with the acknowledgement of God is worship.  As with most intelligent people, Flew refuses to take that requisite step.  He fails to see the truth of Isaiah who calls God’s creation to worship Him:

God doesn’t need an endorsement, He demands worship.

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Category: Atheism, Philosophy, Theological | No Comments »
Tags: Antony Flew, Atheism, Daniel Dennet, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris