Thursdays With Oswald—In Christ I Can

May 17, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

In Christ I Can

     We are made sons and daughters of God through the Atonement and we have a tremendous dignity to maintain; we have no business to bow our necks to any yoke saving the yoke of the Lord Jesus Christ [Matthew 11:28-30].

     …Every detail of our physical life is to be absolutely under the control of the new disposition which God planted in us by means of identification with Jesus Christ, and we shall no longer be allowed to murmur “can’t.” There is no such word as “can’t” in a Christian’s vocabulary if he is rightly related to God; there is only one word and that is “I can.” 

From Biblical Psychology

Sometimes Christians are known more for what we’re against than what we’re for. I think Oswald Chambers would say that is because we don’t really understand the full power of the Atonement.

We can better understand that word by saying it “at one-ment.” We have been made one with Christ. You hear this in Jesus’ prayer for us in John 17, “I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and [definitely] recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them [even] as You have loved Me.”

When we are in this sort of relationship, we don’t even say can’t to sin. Instead we say I can live a holy life because of Christ in me!

As Paul said, we can say:

I CAN do everything through Christ Who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13)

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What Is “Success” For A Church?

May 11, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

“How’s it going,” a fellow pastor asked me. “How’s your church doing?”

If you’re a pastor, you probably get asked this often. How do you answer this question? Do you tell them what your attendance was on Sunday morning? Or about the newest program you’ve started?

When you look in the mirror and ask yourself, “How’s it going,” is your answer related to nickels and noses (offerings and attendance)? Is it how many people complimented your last sermon?

Listen to these sobering words —

Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers us as Christian workers; nor is it sin. The trap we fall into is extravagantly desiring spiritual success; that is, success measured by, and patterned after, the form set by this religious age in which we now live. 

…We have a commercialized view— we count how many souls have been saved and sanctified, we thank God, and then we think everything is all right. (Oswald Chambers)

We need to be very careful about how we define “success” in a church setting. Let’s use Jesus as our example:

  • How big was His congregation? Twelve men. One betrayed Him, and the others denied Him. Even after being raised from the dead (!) there were only 120 people in the upper room.
  • How much money did His church have? Not even enough to buy a grave site for the Messiah.
  • What did people think of His sermons? Some of His sermons made people so mad they wanted to stone Him. And after one sermon the Bible says: From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him (John 6:66).

Maybe “success” in the church is:

  • People being reconciled to God. Remembering that “our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them” (Chambers).
  • Seeing disengaged people becoming actively involved in engaging others with the Gospel.
  • “Never seek[ing] after anything other than the approval of God” (Chambers).
  • To say with Jesus, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18,19).

These are just some of my thoughts. Now it’s your turn. I’d love to read your comments: What else should be on this list? How would you define “success” in the church?

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Was Your Church Successful?

October 24, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

These thoughts are especially for my fellow pastors (although I think they pertain to anyone who attended a church this weekend).

So… how successful was your church gathering this weekend?

Was it successful because lots of people were there? Or because the pastor preached a good sermon? Or maybe the offering was better than usual? Or because you could feel something special as the worship team sang and played their instruments?

How about these measures —

“The great business of the church is not our number by addition, but by grace, by growing up in Christ.” (John Owen)

“The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of. Our attention would have been on God.” (C.S. Lewis )

“Revival is the church getting back to ‘normal.’” (A.W. Tozer)

If you’ve got other ideas about what defines church “success,” please share them in the comments.

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Me, Myself & Bob (book review)

April 14, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

As a parent of young children, I really appreciated the biblical values delivered in a fun way through so many VeggieTales videos. Now I’m really appreciating the wisdom of VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer in his book Me, Myself & Bob.

Written in the same witty style that made the VeggieTales videos so engaging, Me, Myself & Bob leads us through the meteoric rise and sudden collapse of Big Idea Productions. We read about the passion that drove the start of this incredible vision, and how — as the Bible says – zeal without a foundation of wisdom is a  dangerous thing.

With such candor, Phil shares about the vision and talents God gave him to do something so groundbreaking, how others caught that vision and jumped on board to help, and then how the company sort of took on a life of its own and how corporate executives took this highly successful business in a direction Phil never imagined.

This book is more like a business strategy book told as Phil Vischer’s autobiography. From the business board room to the family living room, there are valuable lessons to be learned from the rise and fall of VeggieTales. So whether you’re a fan of Bob the Tomato & Larry the Cucumber, an entrepreneur, or a parent, you will find something to love about Me, Myself & Bob.

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How The Mighty Fall (book review)

April 7, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

This is the third in the series of books from Dr. Jim Collins: Built To Last, Good To Great, and now How The Mighty Fall. This is a book that Dr. Collins wished he didn’t have to write, as he uncovers the markers that contributed to the failure of once-great companies.

If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you’re probably wondering why I’m reading/reviewing a business book. The answer is simple: the principles Jim Collins uncovers in his books are rock-solid principles of success and failure, regardless of the organization in which they are practiced or ignored. In all three of his books, I have mined so many great truths to apply to my personal life, as well as the organizations I lead.

Read the rest of this entry »

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No Such Thing As Overnight Success

December 15, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Although to the outsider it sometimes appears that way, success does not happen overnight. So much work and preparation and study is done unnoticed by others.

Likewise, there is no such thing as an overnight failure. So much work and preparation and study was left undone, which is also usually unnoticed by others.

Both public success and public failure are the culmination of years of private decisions. Every single day I am either preparing for success or preparing for failure.

The battles are being won or lost before I even take the field. It’s the everyday private practice that determines the game day public performance.

I have to pay careful attention to the “little things” in private everyday, if I hope to successfully handle the “big things” in public someday.

The heights of great men reached and kept,
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upwards in the night. – Henry W. Longfellow

 

What are you doing to prepare today?

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Little By Little

November 17, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I’ve found a great group of guys to play basketball with in Cedar Springs. I love early morning basketball, because I feel like it gets my day started right.

I have been playing with this group for a little over two months. Prior to this, I hadn’t played full-court basketball in quite awhile, so when I started up again, it was amazing how quickly I was out of breath … and how many turnovers I had … and how off my shot was. Just a few months of not playing, and everything deteriorated.

But I hung in there. And yesterday it dawned on me, “Hey, I can run a little longer before I get winded. And my shot is getting a little better too.”

I didn’t see a dramatic overnight improvement. In fact, I only see real improvement if I compare my game in mid-November with my game in mid-September.

This is an important concept to remember in anything we do: little by little keep moving forward. The little steps you take everyday add up.

  • Start with just 5 minutes of exercise, and slowly increase it.
  • Read a book for just a few minutes each day, then a few minutes more.
  • Pray for a couple of minutes before you go to bed tonight, then a couple minutes more.
  • Quit smoking for just an afternoon, then try an hour or two more.

Little by little you are increasing your capacity to do greater things. Don’t try for cold turkey or overnight success or immediate results. Little by little will help you get there.

Ready? What little thing can you do today?

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Manufactured Success

September 22, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Does success come from hard work, or does it have another origin? We can certainly manufacture success by doing some public relations, some spin, some creative promotion. And from the outside it can look very successful. Someone may even do such a good job manufacturing their success that they begin to believe their own press releases.

But manufactured success rarely lasts.

Consider the case of a man named Adonijah. He was the heir-apparent in Israel. As the oldest living son of the famed King David, Adonijah was the odds-on favorite to be the next king. And so Adonijah began to manufacture a successful transfer of power for himself. He invited all the right people, and ignored those who he knew wouldn’t go along with his plan. He set up everything just the way a prince ascending the throne should have it. His followers joined him for a party and begin to raise their glasses in a toast: Long live King Adonijah!

Except God — and King David — had other plans. David had his son Solomon anointed king. When the few followers that were toasting Adonijah heard this, they all bailed on him and ran away. Even Adonijah recognized that something else can trump manufactured success. Here’s what he said —

“As you know,” he said, “the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my brother; for it has come to him from the LORD.”

Success has come to him from the Lord. God’s success always trumps manufactured success.

Manufactured success leads to pride (the kingdom was mine). And pride over-exaggerates our self-worth and obscures reality (all Israel looked to me as their king). God’s success comes to the humble who recognize His lordship and their place in His Kingdom. God’s success lasts.

Although Adonijah eventually recognized this, he didn’t learn from it. In the next scene he is again trying to manufacture a way to ascend to the throne. And this time he not only loses his position, but his life as well.

Here’s what Jesus says: For whoever exalts himself will be humbled [manufactured success], and whoever humbles himself will be exalted [God’s success].

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Happy New (School) Year

September 7, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

This is a new year for many people, especially students heading to college, or families with school-aged children. We’re all coming out of the fun-and-sun times of the summer, and it’s time to get back to a more normal routine.

With this return to routine, many people make New (School) Year’s resolutions. If you’re going to make them, you should do our best to keep them, don’t you think? So here are a few quick bullet points from my message on Sunday (if you’d like more details, email me to request a CD).

  • Check your motivation – be motivated by something which will last into eternity.
  • Set realistic goals – we often overestimate what we can get done in a day, and underestimate what we can get done in a year.
  • Don’t quit when you slip – there’s always slip-ups with new things, so be prepared for it, and don’t throw in the towel when it happens.
  • Start now – the Bible uses the word today twice as often as tomorrow, and uses now 1000 times more than later. Get the point? Don’t wait!

And two more tips that may help —

Guys — studies show you are more likely to follow through on your resolutions if you set specific goals (like: read one chapter a day, or exercise for 30 minutes three times a week).

Ladies — studies also show you are more like to stick with your resolutions if you tell a friend what you have resolved to do differently, and then ask that friend to follow up with you.

Happy new year!

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Pray Now

July 7, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

They had a great ruse. They had heard about the advancing Israelite army, they knew how God had given them victory at every step of the way, and they knew that the Israelites weren’t going to make a peace treaty with anyone living even remotely close to them. So the Bible says the Gibeonites resorted to a ruse.

They put on worn out shoes and clothes and packed moldy bread. That way they would have all of the appearances of a delegation that traveled a long, long distance. And it worked. The Israelites examined their clothing and food and said, “Yep, it sure looks like you made a long journey to get here. We’re convinced.”

The Bible records an important footnote —

The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord.

How many times do I do this…

  • …I use my five senses, but not the wisdom of the Holy Spirit?
  • …I use my logical brain, but not the supernatural resources of God?
  • …I use my experiences, but not the insight of an All-Knowing God?

I have to make it a habit to pray about EVERY decision. It might only be a 5-second prayer, but I must inquire of the Lord.

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