Craig T. Owens

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It’s A Love-Hate Thing

October 22, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Are there things you love to do, but hate to do at the same time?

Ah, yes, that wonderful love-hate relationship. I spent most of the first part of this week in a love-hate thing, and I discovered yet again that love outweighs hate. To rediscover this, all I had to do was agree to walk through a funeral with a grieving family again.

I hate seeing families grieving. I love being able to share hope with them.

I hate how drained I feel after funerals. I love seeing the flicker of encouragement glow in others.

I hate tearful goodbyes. I love the knowledge of joyful reunions.

I hate preparing funeral messages that remind people of eternity. I love sharing that Jesus is the Promise of an eternity in heaven.

I hate having every eye in the room on me. I love seeing God speak His truth through me.

Yup, it’s true: walking through a funeral with a grieving family is—hands down—something that so drains me physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually more than anything else I do. But I wouldn’t trade this privilege to step into hurting people’s lives for anything. Yes, love triumphs over hate!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Augustine, despair, encouragement, eternity, funeral, grief, hope, Jesus Christ, joy, pastoring, quote. 2 Comments »

My New Club

October 21, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

The newest member of the Junky Car Club

I like my car. It’s a 1992 Pontiac Bonneville. This is the second Bonneville I’ve owned. I bought my first one with 70,000 miles and put 130,000 miles on it. I bought my second Bonneville with 100,000 miles on it, and I’m now up to 175,000 miles.

It’s running like a top. But it’s now officially a member of the Junky Car Club.

This club was started by a pastor who was concerned about how much money Christians were spending to keep up appearances. Like somehow a good-looking, new-fangled, gadget-laden, brand-spanking-new car signaled to everyone that we were successful.

Successful, maybe, but also spending a lot of money to make sure everyone knows how successful we are (or pretend to be). So instead of spending the money on the car payments, why not keep the older car and then be able to give more money to worthwhile charities? Great concept! Here is JCC founder Mike Foster explaining the idea behind this club.

My car may rattle a bit, and the trunk leaks when it rains, and the interior dome light doesn’t come on when I open the door, and the coat hanger in the back seat is broken. But I hate having car payments, and my car is running just fine. I joined the JCC because I love what they stand for, and I want to identify with them.

If your car is older and you’re contemplating a shiny-new car, I would ask you to consider joining the JCC with me. The money you’ll be saving on car payments, that you can give away, can make a huge difference in others’ lives.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: charities, generosity, Junky Car Club, Mike Foster, philanthropy, priority, video, YouTube. 1 Comment »

Greatest Story… Ever

October 20, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Logos Some people say, “Print is dead.” Perhaps. Probably because there was never a word or a story like the greatest Story. There is a Word that not only came alive but is still alive. A Story that is still being told, still being lived out right before our eyes.

Listen to how John, the disciple who was so crazy-in-love with Jesus, said it:

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. //NIV
And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth. //AMP
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish. //MSG

In our Impact! Youth service this week we’ll begin looking at this living Story: the Word that came to life and is being lived out right before our eyes even now. It’s a Story in which we play an important part too.

I love this Story. I love telling this Story again and again. I love being a part of this Story. I’d love it if you could join us on Wednesday evenings for a new look at the greatest Story ever.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Calvary Assembly of God, Gospel of John, greatest story, Impact! youth group, Incarnation, Jesus Christ, living Word. Leave a Comment »

Unusual Blessing

October 19, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

On Saturday night I was in the hospital with a family as their loved one took his final breath. It’s not the first time I’ve been in a room with someone as their life here ends. And I’m certain it won’t be the last time. I feel blessed to be able to do this.

Before you think I sound morbid, hear me out on this.

I feel blessed to have had some valuable training for this. Long before I became a pastor (a “doctor” of the spirit) I was studying to be a medical doctor (a doctor of the body). I’m so grateful that I received enough training to be prepared for these settings.

I feel blessed to be there for the grieving family. When the emotions are so raw and the pain so deep, I’m grateful that God places me in a position to truly be a minister to hurting people.

I feel blessed to be reminded of the shortness and preciousness of life. It reminds me that life is fragile and short. It reminds me to hug more often, express love more frequently, and not take any time with my loved ones for granted.

Being in the hospital room as someone passes from this life is not an easy thing. But I wouldn’t trade the blessing of being a pastor for anything.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: blessing, death, family, funeral, loved ones, pastoring, relationships, training. 1 Comment »

Trading A Can For A Kid

October 15, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Trade off

As we wrapped up our Bigger Than Me series last night, I asked our youth group how we could know that we are putting what we believe into action. It’s easy to deceive ourselves and say, “I’m doing a pretty good job,” but now do we know we’re doing what God wants us to do.

In Bigger Than Me we talked about stepping out of our comfort zone into The UnZone. We looked at the importance of walking in empathy (or, as we said it, walking in someone else’s flip-flops) to know what they are really feeling. Using empathy as the starting point, we then looked at the importance of praying for other people’s needs as though they were our own. And then we talked about how one person doing the right thing—even though nobody else is—made it easier for others to make the choice to do the right thing too.

So here’s the big ask. How do we put this into action? How do we join faith with deeds?

Our youth group was challenged to take on the responsibilities of sponsoring two students in the Latin America Child Care program. For just $64 per month, we’re making sure that two students get a school uniform, eat a healthy breakfast and lunch, get a quality education, and—best of all—have an opportunity to meet Jesus as their personal Savior.

Just $64 per month. For our youth group that’s like each person giving up one can of Pepsi, Coke, Monster (or their other favorite beverage) each month. One drink per month so that two students can have a better future.

Think about it: are you willing to trade one can for one kid? Our youth group did. They responded to the big ask, they stepped up to the challenge, they are putting their faith into action. I’m so proud of them!

How can you step up to the challenge?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Calvary Assembly of God, faith in action, finance, Impact! youth group, Latin America Child Care, missionary, money. Leave a Comment »

The Big Ask

October 14, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Tonight in our Impact! Youth service we are wrapping up a great series called Bigger Than Me. We’ve been challenging our youth to look out from themselves and see the big world around them. This has been an amazing series and I’ve been so excited to see so many students step out in a big way. You can read more here and here.

But tonight is the big ask. Tonight I’m going to challenge our students to make a commitment that’s going to hit them in a really sensitive area—their wallets. We’re going to present the opportunity to confront a real need in a very practical way: by giving money. Not just once, but every month.

Here’s the way the apostle James laid it on the line:

Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

Here’s how you can be involved:

Pray for me that I can present the big ask in a compelling way.
Pray for our students that they’ll be moved to respond.
Check out my blog tomorrow for an update on tonight’s response, and to see how you can help too.

I can hardly wait!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apostle James, Book of James, Calvary Assembly of God, challenge, comfort zone, faith in action, finance, Impact! youth group, money. 1 Comment »

Familiar Conversations

October 13, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

DSCN0995

I read a long time ago the statement, “Leaders are readers.” I’m a wholehearted supporter of this. Thanks to a marvelously talented carpenter in our church, I have a new home for all of my books. I was so excited to get my library out of boxes and onto the shelves.

Actually, they’re more than just books, they are familiar conversations. Rene Descartes said, “The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries.” I agree.

People often ask me what I’m reading or what they should be reading. As to the second question—what should they read—I answer, “What conversation would you like to have? Is there an area of your life you would love to talk with someone who’s been-there-done-that?” That’s what reading is, having a conversation with some of the great thinkers or most articulate people in past or modern history.

As to the first question—what am I reading—I try to keep readers of the blog up-to-date. Down the right column you will see the list of books I have in progress, and the ones I’ve read this year. Let me highlight just a couple of books.

Wounded Healer. To go deeper in my relationships with others, I have to be able to relate to them at deeper levels. Henri Nouwen has captured the essence of this in Wounded Healer. We cannot minister to others out of our wounds, but out of our scars. In other words, once we’ve healed, but the scar is still there to remind us of the wound, we’re ready to help others heal from the same injury.

Love & Respect. Even though Betsy and I have known each other for nearly 25 years, I know I can still learn more about being a better husband. Emerson Eggerichs is helping me do a better job.

21 Laws of Leadership. This is a classic leadership book from John Maxwell. I can’t even count how many times I’ve read through this book. But I’m going through it again with my church Board, and watching John teach the video series on this book too. Every time I have this conversation with John Maxwell I learn something new.

To be a better leader in any area of your life, don’t shy away from having better conversations with great authors. If you’ve got a book to suggest, send it my way. I’d also be happy to help you find a book as a conversation-starter for you, just ask me.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: books, Emerson Eggerichs, Henri Nouwen, leadership, quote, reading, Rene Descartes, video. 1 Comment »

An Obvious Investment

October 12, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

It’s one of the most obvious investment considerations of all time: Where am I going to get the best return on my investment?

Let’s take a little quiz on your investing savvy. If I gave you some money to invest, and you had to invest it all in just one of these two companies, which would you choose:

Company A which has only had one profitable year in the past decade.
Company B which has been profitable for nine of the past 10 years.

There’s really not much to consider here, is there? Even the most novice of investors is going to pick Company B.

Project A18 In our World Changers group, we have been heartstorming about our role in missions. We’re getting ready to launch Project A1:8. Jesus told His followers to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. In other words, to use the Holy Spirit’s power to make wise investments in people. One of the wisest investments we can make is where the return on investment potential is the highest… sort of like investing in Company B.

How about this profit potential: 90% of people who accept Jesus as their personal Savior do so before the age of 18. Investing in young people is like investing in Company B that was profitable in nine of the previous 10 years. So that’s what we’ve chosen as our Jerusalem.

It was awesome to see our group of World Changers come alive as one idea after another began to bounce around the room about making the investment into kids.

I’m excited to see the return on investment God will give us!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Book of Acts, Holy Spirit, investment, missional, missionary, profit, Project A1:8, return on investment, ROI. 3 Comments »

Heart Healthy

October 9, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Heart Matters

It’s amazing how many parallels there are between the health of our physical heart that pumps life-carrying blood and the health of our spiritual heart that circulates life to our inner man. I’m going to be exploring what makes a healthy heart (both kinds of heart) as we launch a new 6-part series this Sunday called Heart Matters.

Whether you are having heart trouble now, or you want to maintain a healthy heart for the years to come, this will be valuable insight for you. Join us at Calvary Assembly of God at 10:30am on Sunday mornings. It will be a great investment in your heart’s future.