Craig T. Owens

As a pastor, sometimes I wonder if all of the time and effort I put into prayer, study, message prep, and message delivery are effective. How do I gauge my effectiveness?

One word: application.

I love seeing people not just listening, but doing. Applying what they’ve heard and what’s been revealed to them by the Holy Spirit is the greatest compliment a congregation could give a pastor.

So I am absolutely thrilled to see the incredible folks from Calvary Assembly of God so quickly applying what we’ve been discussing!

My inaugural series was called “I ♥ My Church.” We looked at the practical ways the Acts 2 Church turned dechurched people—those who knew about God but didn’t have a personal relationship with Him—into those who ♥’d their church. How exciting it is to see such immediate application in our community.

Just a couple of examples:

• The message board in the lobby immediately sported the message “You are the church.”
• Stephanie helped Sophie get into the act with her new t-shirt.
• A group of our Impact! students volunteered their afternoon yesterday packing more food boxes than they could count for the needy.
• Last week we cleaned the house of a woman recovering from hip surgery.
• Tomorrow we’re helping a family move into their new house.

Wow, am I a proud pastor! I can’t wait to see how God is going to continue to use this group of committed people to change the world!