April | 2011 | Craig T. Owens

April 2011
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If Jesus Came To Your House

April 6, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

If Jesus came to your house to spend a day or two—
If He came unexpectedly, I wonder what you’d do.
Oh, I know you’d give your nicest room to such an honored Guest,
And all the food you’d serve to Him would be the very best,
And you would keep assuring Him you’re glad to have Him there—
That serving Him in your own home is joy beyond compare.

But when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door
With arms outstretched in welcome to your heavenly Lord?
Or would you have to change your clothes before you let Him in?
Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they’d been?
Would you turn off the radio and hope He hadn’t heard?
And wish you hadn’t uttered that last, loud, hasty word?

Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymn books out?
Could you let Jesus walk right in, or would you rush about?
And I wonder—if the Savior spent a day or two with you,
Would you go right on doing the things you always do?
Would you go right on saying the things you always say?
Would life for you continue as it does from day to day?

Would your family conversation keep up its usual pace?
And would you find it hard each meal to say a table grace?
Would you sing the songs you always sing, and read the books you read,
And let Him know the things on which your mind and spirit feed?
Would you take Jesus with you everywhere you’d planned to go?
Or would you, maybe, change your plans for just a day or so?

Would you be glad to have Him meet your very closest friends?
Or would you hope they’d stay away until His visit ends?
Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on?
Or would you sigh with great relief when He at last was gone?
It might be interesting to know the things that you would do
If Jesus Christ in person came to spend some time with you. —Lois Blanchard Eades

(I added the emphasis to the things that made me pause to think…)

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Jesus Christ, lifestyle, poem, poetry. 2 Comments »

Sharp Enough?

April 6, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Long before Stephen Covey wrote about Habit 7: Sharpening The Saw, Solomon saw the value of taking time to sharpen the saw.

Using a dull ax requires great strength, so sharpen the blade. That’s the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed. (Ecclesiastes 10:10)

What are you doing TODAY to gain wisdom?

J. Wilbur Chapman asked F.B. Meyer, “What is the matter with me? So many times I fail, so many times I am powerless.”

Dr. Meyer responded, “Have you ever tried breathing out three times without breathing in once?”

What are you doing TODAY to breathe in?

Look at the mower in the summer’s day, with so much to cut down ere the sun sets. He pauses in his labor—is he a sluggard? He looks for his stone, and begins to draw it up and down his scythe, with rink-atink, rink-atink, rink-atink. Is that idle music—is he wasting precious moments? How much he might have mowed while he has been ringing out those notes on his scythe! But he is sharpening his tool. And he will do far more when once again he gives his strength to those long sweeps which lay the grass prostrate in rows before him. —Charles Spurgeon

What are you doing TODAY to sharpen yourself?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible study, Charles Spurgeon, Ecclesiastes, F.B. Meyer, J. Wilbur Chapman, preparation, quotes, rest, Solomon, Stephen Covey, wisdom. Leave a Comment »

Sun Stand Still (book review)

April 5, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick is an amazing book!

The title and content of this book is based on an audacious, faith-filled prayer that Joshua offered in the Bible, where God actually allowed the sun to stand still so the Israelites could complete their battle before it got dark. What an amazing prayer: “God, please let the sun stand still”!

Steven leads us through the steps of getting a clear vision of what God wants to accomplish, and then activating that vision through audacious faith. He talks about the hindrances most of us will face in praying a Sun Stand Still prayer, about hanging on to faith during the waiting process, and even how to think about the times the sun goes down.

Through reading this book, I was so convicted that far too many of my prayers are puny, safe prayers; certainly not like the audacious Sun Stand Still prayer that Joshua prayed. But I was also encouraged and energized to begin to change the way I pray.

This book is easy to read and process, but it’s going to be a challenge for me to change my paradigms about praying sun-stand-still prayers.

For anyone who wants to see God do supernatural things in response to audaciously faith-filled prayers, I highly recommend this book as a valuable guide.

I am a Multnomah book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: book review, faith, Joshua, miracles, prayer, Steven Furtick. Leave a Comment »

1>2 & 2>1

April 5, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

I know this sounds like confusing—maybe even illogical—math, and it probably sounds a bit like a contradiction, too. But hang with me.

Two verses from the sometimes-confusing book of Ecclesiastes say just this: 1 is greater than two, and two is greater than one.

Check them out for yourself:

1>2 … One handful of peaceful repose is better than two fistfuls of worried work.

2>1 … Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.

When it comes to working hard to get stuff: 1>2. It’s far better to have less and enjoy it more.

When it comes to meaningful relationships: 2>1. It’s far better to have the time to invest in more intimate relationships.

Never, ever, EVER let the pursuit of stuff get in the way of your important relationships.

To have more satisfying relationships, always keep this in mind: 1>2 [stuff] so that 2>1 [relationships].

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Ecclesiastes, intimacy, materialism, quality, relationships. Leave a Comment »

We ♥ Cedar Springs

April 4, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Winning 2011 Earth Day Artwork, Hunter George, 8th Grade, CTA

I believe that our church should be a pacesetting organization for our community. When we are actively involved in our community, it gives us more opportunities to season and illuminate Cedar Springs (hey, we’re talking about this on Sunday too!).

So we are planning to have a whole lot of our folks out to help with some spring cleaning for Earth Day 2011.

When we show how much We ♥ Cedar Springs, more people will get to experience firsthand what others already know about Calvary Assembly of God: We ♥ Our Church!

If you are close by, please consider joining us.

If you live in another community, what are you doing to season and illuminate your city?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Calvary Assembly of God, Cedar Springs, Earth Day, light, salt. Leave a Comment »

Watch Your Mouth

April 4, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I was reading Proverbs 10 the other day, and a recurring theme seemed to show up in this chapter. Since you’re reading this blog, I know you are highly intelligent, so I’m sure you can spot the theme as well as I can…

If you have good sense, you will listen and obey; if all you do is talk, you will destroy yourself.

If you have good sense, it will show when you speak….

If you have good sense, you will learn all you can, but foolish talk will soon destroy you.

You will say the wrong thing if you talk too much—so be sensible and watch what you say.

Honest people speak sensibly, but deceitful liars will be silenced.

If you obey the Lord, you will always know the right thing to say….

I’d say the theme was pretty obvious, wouldn’t you?

But one question still remains: What are YOU going to do with this?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: conversation, language, lies, proverbs, self-control, truth, vocabulary. 2 Comments »

Fasting (book review)

April 2, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

It’s one of the age-old practices for nearly every religion, but there is still so much mystery surrounding fasting. But Scot McKnight’s book simply entitled Fasting is a simple, straightforward explanation of how to apply this ancient discipline.

I appreciated Scot’s blending of passages from the Bible, the writings of the church fathers, and examples and excerpts from modern writers to present a well-rounded look at fasting. Scot lays the groundwork in the opening pages by giving this working definition: “The Bible presents a responsive view of fasting. Fasting is a response to a grievous sacred moment.”

Throughout Fasting, Scot reiterates that we don’t fast to try to get God’s attention, but we fast because we are heartbroken over our condition or the condition of others, and we’re so desperate to see God move. In the process of fasting, our body, soul, and spirit become fully engaged and lead us into a place where we are the ones who are changed. We begin to see those “grievous sacred moments” through God’s eyes, and we begin to feel the same pain He feels.

“Those who yearn for God the most often realize the superficiality of their intimacy with God, fast in response to that superficiality, and then (on the other side) find themselves entranced in the presence of the angels and God.”

If you yearn for greater intimacy with God, I would encourage you to check out Fasting.

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: book review, discipline, fasting, sacrifice. Leave a Comment »

Failure To Recognize

April 1, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

The Apostle John opens his gospel account with these sobering words:

[Jesus] was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. (John 1:10)

Commenting on this verse, A.W. Tozer wrote:

My fellow man, do you not know that your great sin is this: the all-pervading and eternal Presence is here, and you cannot feel Him? Are you not aware that there is a great and true Light which brightly shines—and you cannot see it? Have you not heard within your being a tender Voice whispering of the eternal value of your soul—and yet you have said, “I have heard nothing”? This is, in essence, the charge that John levels at human kind: Jesus Christ, the Word of God, was in the world, and the world failed to recognize Him.

I never want to be guilty of failing to recognize Jesus! Sometimes in the busyness of life—even the busyness of the ministry of the church—I can become guilty of being focused on the activity, instead of focusing on Christ, Who is supposed to be the focus of my activity.

So we’re taking a “time out” today. As a church we are fasting and praying for 24-hours to cleanse our hearts to recognize Jesus, and to recognize what He wants to accomplish as we commemorate Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday later this month.