Am I A Doer?

December 1, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

This quote from J.C. Ryle has really been working on me…

“Men and women who hear the Gospel regularly, I often fear much for you. I fear lest you become so familiar with the sounds of its doctrines, that insensibly you become dead to its power. I fear lest your religion should sink down into a little vague talk about your own weakness and corruption, and a few sentimental expressions about Christ, while real practical fighting on Christ’s side is altogether neglected. Oh, beware of this state of mind! Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only.”

Holy Spirit, bring Your conviction if my amazement at the Gospel ever slackens. May I always hear the Word gladly, and do the Word quickly.

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The Danger Of Nothing

September 13, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I know they’re out there, but I personally have never met someone who said, “I once followed God, but I have now decided to stop following Him. I’m doing my own thing now, and God has nothing to do with me.”

No, it’s usually a gradual drift away from God, not a deliberate decision. But the sad part of this: most of these people still think they are following Him.

How does this happen? The prophet Zephaniah has an interesting take. He said that people drifted away because they did nothing. Check this out:

  • They do not seek the Lord (Zeph. 1:6b)
  • They do not inquire of Him (1:6c)
  • They are complacent (1:12a)
  • They sit still in their sin (1:12b)
  • They think God isn’t doing anything (1:12c)

The remedy: action!

  • Seek the Lord (2:3a)
  • Do what He commands (2:3b)
  • Seek righteousness (2:3c)
  • Seek humility (2:3d)

Doing nothing is dangerous. You may drift away from God and not even realize it.

Get busy … stay active … stay close to Him!

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Winner Or Whiner?

May 11, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

This morning on John Maxwell’s “Minute With Maxwell” he said —

Winners know they have to do the right thing and then they’ll feel good. Whiners want to feel good before they do the right thing.

I have learned this is true in my life. If I wait until I feel like do something, I’ll make all kinds of excuses to avoid doing it. But if I do what I know I’m supposed to do I’ll feel good that I did it.

Good feelings follow good actions.

Winners do right to feel good.

Whiners wait to feel right before they do anything.

Behavioral psychologist William James wrote —

Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not. Thus the sovereign voluntary path to cheerfulness, if our cheerfulness be lost, is to sit up cheerfully and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there.

So today are you going to be a winner or a whiner?

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City On Our Knees (book review)

March 23, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

If you are familiar with the popular musician/songwriter TobyMac, you may recognize the title of this book from the song with the same name: City On Our Knees. And if you like the message of the song, you will find the book an excellent way to see the message in action.

Read the rest of this entry »

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How Do You Feel About Today?

February 4, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

A friend’s status update on Facebook this morning read —

(Me having a chat with the day): Listen here, Day, I gotta lot of stuff to get done, so don’t get any ideas. And btw it’s going to take more than missing homework and wetted beds to stop me! Muahahahaaa!

This reminded me of a conversation the old preacher Smith Wigglesworth had with an acquaintance —

“How do you feel today, Smith?” the friend asked.

“I never ask Smith how he feels,” Wigglesworth replied. “I tell Smith how he feels.”

Great advice from both my friend and Smith Wigglesworth: Don’t wait until you feel like doing something before you do it. Tell your Day how it’s going to go — and then tell yourself how you’re going to feel about it — and then just do it!

Carpe diem — seize the day and make it a good one!

I’d like to know: How do you seize your day? How do you seize your feelings about your day?

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Get Up And Do

January 11, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I was reading an article posted on WebMD about how much damage we can do to our hearts by spending more time in front of the TV or computer than we do exercising. You’re probably thinking, “Well, duh!, isn’t that obvious?!” It should be, and yet we still have a tendency to just sit there. (By the way, you can read the article here.)

One quote especially stood out to me —

“It’s not even about the exercise. It’s about not sitting,” says Suzanne Steinbaum, DO, a preventive cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. “I think that sort of points us in a little different direction. In order for you not to cause harm to yourself, you really need to focus on getting up and moving.”

This reminds me of Joseph (Mary’s husband) in the Bible. God seemed to speak to him quite often in dreams. Instead of just sitting there contemplating the vision, there’s a phrase that shows up after every vision…

“Joseph got up and did.”

Has God given you a vision for your life? If so, just sitting there may do damage to your heart. So follow Joseph’s example and Get up and do!

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Responding For Those Who Can’t

November 3, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Do you know what empathy is? It’s not the same thing as sympathy. Sympathy is just wallowing with someone who is hurting, but empathy goes beyond that. Empathy is a compound word —

Em + Pathos =

Joined + Feelings =

I feel what you feel, but I can respond like you should even when you think you can’t.

Sometimes people get paralyzed by their deep hurts, or crushing depression, or infuriating anger. Someone in sympathy feels the pain, the depression, the anger, but their involvement stops at the feeling stage.

Someone in empathy feels the hurt AND responds in an appropriately healthy way.

Check out what Paul wrote —

Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger? (New Living Translation)

When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut. (The Message)

He took those feelings his friends and loved ones were experiencing and he turned it into positive action. This is challenging, but desperately needed.

Sympathy is easy; empathy is hard work.

Sympathy keeps people paralyzed; empathy helps them move forward.

Sympathy enables people to remain unchanged; empathy gives people a healthy way to respond.

If you want to help your hurting, discouraged, or angry friend, don’t sympathize with her hurt, empathize to help her heal. Respond in a healthy way — a way she isn’t able to yet — and you will help her move to a place of wholeness.

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Apathy Is Not An Option

April 22, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

The old joke goes like this –

Q: What’s the difference between ignorance and apathy?

A: I don’t know and I don’t care.

Corny, I know, but it does make a point.

For followers of Jesus Christ, sometimes ignorance of a situation is acceptable. But apathy is never an option. In other words, you may not know what’s happening around you, but once you know, you’re on the hook. You cannot do nothing. Especially when people need help.

Nowhere in Scripture will you ever see something like this –

  • “If you feel like helping the poor, go for it. If you don’t feel like it, that’s okay.”
  • “It’s okay to look away from the hurting.”
  • “If you’re too busy to get involved, God will understand.”
  • “If it makes you uncomfortable to see that, just pretend you didn’t see it.”

Nope. I cannot do that and call myself a follower of Jesus.

Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. (James 4:17, NIV)

The consistently righteous man knows and cares for the rights of the poor…. (Proverbs 29:7, AMP)

The godly care about the rights of the poor; the wicked don’t care at all. (Proverbs 29:7, CEV)

Get informed and then get involved.

I‘d love to hear where have you gotten involved.

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Do It

November 2, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Here’s what God said to His people through the prophet Ezekiel, “I will judge you according to your conduct.”

It’s not what I believe. It’s not what I discuss. It’s not what I intend to do. It’s not what I know is right and wrong. It’s what I do.

I have to give an account for my conduct. I have to answer to God for how I lived out my beliefs. I have to show God what I did with what I believe about Him. I have to put into practice what’s in my heart.

Do I believe God is God? Do I have idols?

Do I believe God is holy? Do I sin?

Do I believe God forgives? Do I repent?

Do I believe God looks after orphans and widows? Do I?

Do I believe God is my Provider? Do I steal?

Do I believe He is Lord? Do I give Him control of everything?

Do I believe I should do something for the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick and imprisoned? Do I do something?

This is what God judges: belief put into action. Not just beliefs, but godly actions motivated by those godly beliefs.

Don’t just believe it… do it.

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The Hole In Our Gospel (book review)

July 13, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Hole In Our Gospel, The coverWhen I first heard the title of Richard Stearns’ book — The Hole In Our Gospel — a thought crept into my mind. When I read on the back cover the phrase “to walk with the poorest of the poor in our world,” I was convinced: I just knew this book was going to be a guilt trip.

I couldn’t have been more wrong!

“The idea behind The Hole In Our Gospel is quite simple. It’s basically the belief that being a Christian, or follower of Jesus Christ, requires much more than just having a personal and transforming relationship with God. It also entails a public and transforming relationship with the world,” write Stearns as he introduces his book.

Using his life as a personal example, and presenting a stark but realistic picture of the suffering humanity in the world today, Stearns challenged me to look outside my own paradigm. I’ve seen the infomercials about sponsoring a child, and I keep abreast of the latest calamities in the world, but Stearns presents these sobering facts in a way that made me want to do something. Stearns quoted his friend Gary Gulbranson, “It’s not what you believe that counts; it’s what you believe enough to do.”

The other thing I wrongly assumed from the cover of this book was that the problems facing us were so huge, that even if I got involved little would change. Instead, Stearns showed me practical ways to help.

Far from being a “downer” or a guilt-trip, I found this book to paint an exciting picture of what was possible if I would just get involved. I could begin to imagine a world in which humanity was better off because I was in it.

Don’t shy away from this book just because it’s written by the president of World Vision: you will not read a single “commercial” or appeal to donate to World Vision or sponsor a child. But you will be changed. You will be challenged. On the closing page Stearns asks a poignant question: “And when you close this book, what will you do now?”

I’m going to get involved.

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