For Just An Hour?

November 6, 2008 — Craig T. Owens

We designate the first Wednesday of every month as a day of prayer, where we focus our prayers on a particular topic. I look forward to the synergy of pray-ers on this day: the men gather at 7:30 in the morning, the ladies a little later in the morning, and then we turn our mid-week evening service into a prayer time for everyone.

Unfortunately, this is always the least-attended mid-week service of the month.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Just an hour before Jesus was going to be arrested and go through one of the most horrific nights any human has ever faced, He asked His disciples to pray with Him. And these men who were literally in the presence of God couldn’t stay awake to pray! Prayer is hard work; it’s a discipline. Jesus knew this, and that’s why He told us, “For where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them.” And also, “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19-20). We had more than two or three present last night, and those who were there prayed fervently, so I know God will answer our prayers! I’m grateful for the privilege to pray, and I’m grateful for our faithful prayer warriors who joined together last night.

A great 19th-century writer on prayer, E.M. Bounds, said, “Prayer is simply asking God to do for us what He has promised us He will do if we ask Him…. If we limit God in the asking, He will be limited in the giving.”

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Coffee & Questions

November 4, 2008 — Craig T. Owens

coffee-with-the-pastorOne of the first things I started doing when I arrived at Bethel Assembly of God was to start going to Starbucks every week. (Just to clarify: I still do not drink coffee, but I do enjoy their green tea frappuccino blended with ice and their iced black tea is also delicious.) I wanted to hang out at Starbucks just to build some relationships. Almost a year after starting this, it is still one of my favorite times of the week!

I have loved getting to know people in a more casual setting — both folks who attend Bethel regularly, those who attend occasionally, and those who have never attended. But the part about the getting-to-know-you time I really love is the questions. Some questions are lighthearted, and some are very deep and challenging. Here’s just a sampling of the questions I weighed in on this morning:

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    • How can I get my wife to respect me?
    • Is Allen Iverson going to be a good fit for the Pistons?
    • Did God just create the universe and leave it alone, or is He still involved in our lives?
    • How did you decide who to vote for?
    • Did all of humanity really just come from two humans?
    • What does it sound like when God ‘speaks’ to you?
    • Is that a good book?
    • How do you spell “questions”? (Seriously, I was asked this today!)

I love questions! Questions keep me sharp… questions give me an insight into the motivation of the questioner… questions keep the dialogue interesting… questions move people closer to Truth. If you are around Burton/Flint on any Tuesday morning, please stop in the Starbucks at Center and Court from 7:30-9:30 am (or later if the questions are still flowing).

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Allen Iverson and My Friends

November 3, 2008 — Craig T. Owens
Ball-hog or championship-maker?

Allen Iverson: Ball-hog or championship-maker?

So the Detroit Pistons traded a couple of fairly decent players for Allen Iverson, a very prolific scorer. As the news broke, friends emailed me and posted comments on Facebook: “Great move!” and “Lousy trade!” It’s nice to be able to banter about something which has no lasting impact on my life. Whether it was a good move for the Pistons or not, it really doesn’t have any bearing on my life. Some people call AI a ball-hog, some say he makes other players elevate their game; some people say “The Answer” only seeks to pad his personal stats, while others are convinced he pushes himself and his team to win championships. Either way, my life is not really that impacted.

But in trading playful barbs with my friends, I was reminded of the value of those friendships. I recently called on some friends at the last minute to give up their Halloween night to help us “Light The Night,” and they answered the call without hesitation. Another friend drove over 90 minutes roundtrip just to look at Betsy’s van to figure out what was wrong… and saved us a lot of money in repair bills in the process. Another friend gave me some really honest (and painful, at the time) feedback, and it helped me grow. I don’t know if AI will help the Pistons, or if he’s only in it for himself. But I do know that I am awfully blessed to have some amazingly faithful and generous friends who truly love me.

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We Are The Light

November 1, 2008 — Craig T. Owens
Light The Night 2008

Light The Night 2008

In In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” Not “You are like light” or even “You will shine like a light,” but “You ARE the light.” Last night we had an opportunity to put this into action in a very real way.

Our church hosted our first Light The Night event. We turned the yard next to our church into a carnival. A huge inflatable slide, an inflatable bounce house, a cookie walk, carnival games, coffee and cookies for the parents, and an opportunity for someone to win a family pass to Zehnders Splash Village were just some of the ways we wanted to light up a usually dark Halloween night. These events were great, but they were just events.

We WERE the light last night.

I couldn’t be prouder of the lit-up folks from Bethel who became light last night. From the moment the first guests showed up, our worker’s smiles were already shining. One loaned out his cell phone for a scared teenager who had ‘lost’ her mother to call home, one got two packages of diapers for a family in need, one ran to get a Band-aid for a young girl with a boo-boo, one offered to give a family without a car a ride to church, and one let a little boy dressed in an oversized frog costume play his game again and again and again until he hit the target. We had at least 90 students and their families attend last night. Each visitor was treated like they were the only visitor, and the last guest was treated with as much love and respect as the first guest. Once I stood back on the other side of the driveway and beamed with pride watching these lit-up people truly become light in the Burton community.

Whether one of our Light The Night guests ever attends our church or not was not the point of last night’s fun. The point was to shine… and that they did brilliantly! My prayer is that the glow from last night will continue to shine a way to Jesus for all of our guests.

I am an extremely proud pastor!

You can see more Light The Night pictures on Flickr.

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