Refuge From The Shoving

July 7, 2025 — 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 don’t know when the last was that you may have tried to get a dozen little kids lined up, but it’s quite an experience! Everyone is vying for their spot. Someone gets mad and yells out, “He cut!” And then the reply is yelled back, “No, I didn’t. She was saving my spot!” This usually results in lots of pushing and shoving as each person tries to reclaim their rightful place in line. 

This is the backdrop for Psalm 7. The introduction tells us that Cush is causing David grief. Maybe because Cush is from the tribe of Benjamin like King Saul, and he doesn’t want David cutting in line so he is shoving him back to his proper place. 

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

There’s a musical term David uses, which isn’t used in any other psalm: shiggaion. This means a rhythm that isn’t normal—it’s a freewheeling, irregular, impassioned beat. This also helps set the atmosphere for what’s happening in David’s life. The root word for shiggaion implies a shakeup (or a shoving and pushing) that could lead to someone losing their way. 

David tries to do the right thing. He asks for God’s help (v. 1) so that he doesn’t get ripped to shreds (v. 2). He even takes time to ask himself if he has done anything that led to Cush’s shoving (vv. 3-5). But notice these are all David’s attempts to make things right. 

Remember that this is a Royal Psalm, but we haven’t heard anything about God as King yet. But now we come to the end of v. 5, which is also the end of David’s own striving. It’s marked by the word Selah. 

My little friends push and shove to try to get their place. But all of that stops when I say, “Johnny is my line leader, and this is the way the rest of you are going to line up behind him.” David’s Selah pause was a call to switch from doing things on his own to yielding to the King to sort things out. He was saying, “The King of kings is the Leader and He knows my place in line.” 

It’s only after the Selah that we see the royal terms for the Undisputed Leader:

  • He is the One who will decree justice (v. 6) 
  • He will rule…from on high (v. 7) 
  • He is the Supreme Judge (vv. 8, 11) so David yields his introspection to Him (vv. 3-4, 8-9) 
  • He is God Most High (vv. 10, 17) 

Our King has no rival. No one can shove Him. No one can contradict Him. No one can hide anything from Him (vv. 11-16). 

We must bow only to the King of kings (Philippians 2:10-11). 

We mistakenly bow our knee to man when…

  • …we aren’t willing to own our mistakes 
  • …we try to administer our own “shove” of justice 
  • …we make our own refuge 

So we bow to the King when…

  • …we acknowledge, confess, and repent of our sins (vv. 3-5; Psalm 19:12, 69:5)
  • …we follow the example of Jesus when we’re shoved around (1 Peter 2:21-23)
  • …find our refuge solely in God (v. 1; c.f. 2:12; Ephesians 6:12; James 4:7)

Our best response in troublesome times—when you feel like you are being shoved around—is to fall to your knees in reverence to the King of kings (v. 17)! The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him; He covers him all the day long, and makes His dwelling between his shoulders (Deuteronomy 33:12 AMPC). 

If you’ve missed any of the other messages in our series looking at the royal psalms, you can catch up by clicking here. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment »

Links & Quotes

July 5, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Controlling leaders shut down creativity among their teammates, which leads to higher turnover. If your team isn’t sharing their good ideas with you or if they are leaving you, that may be an indicator that you are too controlling. Check out the full conversation on The Craig and Greg Show

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

“As a fact, men only become greedily and gloriously material about something spiritualistic. … Take away the supernatural, and what remains is the unnatural.” —G.K. Chesterton 

Astronomical technology like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are providing breathtaking images. They are also creating problems for the scientific theories of the origins of our universe. University of California Santa Barbara physicist Caitlin Casey, said, “It makes sense—the Big Bang happens and things take time to gravitationally collapse and form, and for stars to turn on. There’s a timescale associated with that…. And the big surprise is that with JWST, we see roughly 10 times more galaxies than expected at these incredible distances.” There is a more straightforward answer found in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

“Knowing where God wants people to be and taking the initiative to use God’s gifts and God’s methods to get them there, in reliance on God’s power through Christ, with God’s appointed people following.” —John Piper, giving his definition of godly leadership 

The Bible records the names of five Persian kings. One of them called “Darius the Persian” in Nehemiah 12:22 requires some historical cross-referencing to identify. The Bible Archeology Report presents another one of their fascinating archeological biographies on this Persian king. 

“The greatness of a leader is in his humility before God, not in his eloquence before men.” —Anonymous

The most viewed and downloaded resource on my blog is my chart of the kings of the united kingdom of Israel and the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. I was thrilled to discover this week that Jacob Edson at Biblegateway has taken my chart even deeper!

T.M. Moore has vital counsel for pastors, “Jesus must increase in us, and we must decrease. But that doesn’t just happen by carrying out whatever our ‘spiritual work’ requires of us week-in and week-out. Our ‘natural gifts’ cannot replace spiritual ones, and ‘mental powers’ are no match for the mind of Christ. It is a shepherd’s ‘duty’ to attend to the care and nurture of his soul, for unless we are diligent in this, we will not be able to lead the Lord’s sheep into a greater experience of our great salvation or a fuller realization of His Kingdom.”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

The Patriot Financier

July 4, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Monument of George Washington with Haym Salomon (L) and Robert Morris (R)

My friend Douglas Carmel shared an amazing story in his monthly newsletter. I am reposting it here with his permission.

July 4th is the “birthday” of America, but we may have never celebrated that date without the contribution of a long-forgotten Jewish man in American history. His name was Haym Salomon.

Haym Salomon’s life was brief (1740–1785), but his impact on America was substantial. A Polish-born Jewish businessman, Salomon advanced from a penniless refugee to become one of the most important financiers of the American Revolution.

Risking his personal fortune, he helped fund General Washington’s army by securing loans. Records show Haym Salomon’s fundraising and personal lending helped provide over $650,000 (over $17 million in today’s dollars) in financing to help George Washington in his war effort.

In August 1781, the Continental Army had trapped British Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis in the Virginian coastal town of Yorktown. George Washington decided to march to Yorktown and deliver the final blow. But Washington’s war chest was completely empty, as was that of Congress. Without food, uniforms, and supplies, Washington’s troops were close to mutiny.

When he was told there were no more funds and no more credit available, George Washington gave a simple but eloquent order: “Send for Haym Salomon.” Salomon lent even more personal funds and raised even more money for the cause. Washington conducted the Yorktown campaign, which proved to be the final battle. The British were finally defeated. America was now a free country. The war was won!

Even after the war was won, Salomon used his own money to help finance America’s newly formed but impoverished government. Sadly, his generosity was not repaid. It seemed that Congress did not recognize their debt to Salomon, refusing to repay the money they borrowed. Salomon died in poverty in 1785, at the age of just 44. His family was left penniless, unable to reclaim their debt from the government. In 1975, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp hailing Salomon as a Financial Hero of the American Revolution. 

In 1941, the City of Chicago erected the statue of George Washington, flanked by Haym Salomon and Robert Morris. It stands today at the intersection of Wabash and Wacker Drive. Under the image of Salomon it says, “Haym Salomon—Gentlemen, Scholar, Patriot. A banker whose only interest was the interest of his country.”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , . 2 Comments »

Disagreement To Unity

July 3, 2025 — 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. 

The higher the stakes, the stronger your teammates’ opinions on how the organization should move forward. Leaders who take the time to walk their teams through this process will develop a stronger, more unified team. 

Check out the full conversation on The Craig and Greg Show in our episode Unity Not Conformity. 

Find out more about how Greg and I can coach you to leadership excellence. And get more information on my leadership-development books here: 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , . Leave a Comment »

‘The Depth Of My Love For You’

July 2, 2025 — 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. 

The apostle Paul’s letters to the church in Corinth show two things: a lot of correction and a lot of love. In fact, it’s in the middle of some correction and redirection about the misuse of spiritual gifts that Paul gives us the quintessential definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13. 

Paul also wrote, “For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you” (2 Corinthians 2:4). 

The truth does need to be spoken to wayward sheep, but it has to be birthed in love and spoken in love or else it will alienate more than help. People don’t care to listen to my counsel or correction until they know how much I truly care for them. 

There needs to be a connection before attempting the correction. 

I have an entire chapter in my book When Sheep Bite on this topic. Here’s an excerpt—

     It is possible that our grace-filled response to our biting sheep may make the difference to their eternal home. The apostle Paul told Timothy that those sheep who were out of line were trapped by the devil, and unless Timothy did something those sheep may never break free—

     And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26) 

     For some reason many shepherd leaders have made “confrontation” a dirty word, or have sullied its usefulness by confronting in an ungodly way. One thing that will help us handle confrontation the right way is to remember why we confront: The goal of confrontation is restoration, not destruction! 

     There is a cliché that says, “Once bitten, twice shy.” As I mentioned earlier, after we’ve been bitten we need to allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts to point out anything in us that may have contributed to such a painful outburst from that sheep. Perhaps after doing all of that you attempted to confront a sheep and it didn’t go so well. As a result, you are now a bit shy to confront another wayward sheep. Dick Brogden wrote:

     “Experience so easily leads us to cynicism. Information too easily leads to pain. Leadership often makes us jaded because we’ve seen so much junk, all the effects of broken people breaking people. … A strong heart determines that it will stay soft, that it will absorb hurt, disappointment, and reality, and yet believe that God can redeem people and circumstances.” 

     Handled correctly, confrontation can lead to restoration, a deeper intimacy, and newfound maturity. Handled incorrectly, and, well, let’s just say it can get very ugly!

     I imagine we have all heard stories of the fallout from confrontation in another pasture, or perhaps we know the painful consequences in our own pastures. But let’s try for a moment to put those past experiences or secondhand stories out of our minds and take a fresh look at how to handle confrontation. 

     Samuel was going to be sent by God to confront King Saul about the sin he had committed. Look at this passage: “Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: ‘I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from Me and has not carried out My instructions.’ Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the Lord all that night” (1 Samuel 15:10-11). 

     Did you catch how Samuel responded? He cried out to the Lord all that night. 

     Perhaps if we, as godly under-shepherds, cried before we confronted the results might be more healthy. Billy Graham noted, “Tears shed for self are tears of weakness, but tears shed for others are a sign of strength.” (from Chapter 5 ‘Cry Before You Confront’) 

If you have some difficult but necessary words to speak to someone, take time to cry before you confront. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the most loving way to handle this situation. Cry before you confront, and may your tears soften your heart to speak truthful words saturated in your love for God and your love for this wayward saint. 

Please pick up a copy of When Sheep Bite to learn more biblical strategies for handling biting sheep and for healing from biting sheep. If I can be of help to you, please get in touch with me.

P.S. You may also be interested in a whole series about growing and showing our love called Loving the Unlovable.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Resourced Like Jesus

July 1, 2025 — 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 needed to be empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to do His Father’s business, how much more do we need this anointing today? 

You can check out the full sermon from which I took this clip: The Father’s Business.

The Scriptures I reference in this clip—Luke 3:22; Matthew 17:5; Luke 4:1, 18-19; Acts 10:38; John 5:36. 

Like Jesus, when we are full of and led by the Holy Spirit everywhere we walk is holy ground; every moment is a sacred moment; every work is worship to God because we are occupied about the Father’s business.

Check out the full series of messages about the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in the series We Are: Pentecostal. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Unexpected Faithfulness

June 30, 2025 — 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. 

Imagine you just preached a sermon that was so Holy Spirit-anointed that crowds of people turned to Jesus. This kind of activity made a big stir in town, and some supposedly religious people became quite jealous of the fruit of your ministry. In their jealousy, they begin slandering you to others in town, causing a huge backlash against your ministry. 

How would you respond? Would you give those jealous slanderers a piece of your mind? Would you give them some of their own medicine? Would you leave town?

The scenario I described isn’t make believe; it actually happened to Paul and Barnabas in the city of Iconium (Acts 14:1-2). In the very next verse, Luke describes Paul and Barnabas’ response: some biblical translations use the word “so” and some use the word “therefore” to indicate the natural connection—

“So Paul and Barnabas stayed on there for a long time, speaking freely and fearlessly and boldly in the Lord” (v. 3). 

They didn’t fight their slanderers nor did they flee from Iconium; they remained faithful to the task to which God had called them! 

Fighting and fleeing are natural responses. 

Faithfulness, however, is a supernatural response. 

God honored the faithfulness of Paul and Barnabas by demonstrating His own supernatural power through them: “[God] continued to bear testimony to the Word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be performed by their hands” (v. 3b). 

The scenario I described isn’t just something from long ago history, but it was a scene from my personal history too. In the Introduction of my book When Sheep Bite I wrote—

   I cannot pinpoint exactly what triggered their outburst or when their attacks started, but it seemed like almost overnight their teeth were bared. I was completely taken aback! I had assumed that seeing the new life and vitality in this pasture would be celebrated. When the exact opposite happened, I must admit that my knee-jerk reactions probably weren’t very Christlike. … 

     This was something I never imagined. I never saw anything like this in my home, nor had I experienced anything like this in my associate pastor’s role. In fact, even in the business world I had never seen people behave this egregiously. 

In the final chapter of my book I shared this thought, “Yes, fight-or-flight is our natural response, but with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we can respond in supernatural faithfulness. We don’t have to sit unmoving and unfeeling, but we can continue to serve even biting sheep until God removes us or them.” 

This whole idea of supernatural faithfulness to God’s calling versus giving in to the natural reactions of fight-or-flight is why I wrote this book. Once again, let me take you back to an excerpt from the Introduction—

     Would I ever want to relive this experience? No way! But there were lessons I learned during this walk through hell that I could have learned in no other way. It is those lessons that I hope to be able to unpack for you, my shepherding friends, in this book. … I would say to you something that C.S. Lewis wrote, “Think of me as a fellow-patient in the same hospital who, having been admitted a little earlier, could give some advice.” 

When you are under attack, I know it seems like you are alone, but you are not. Don’t give in to fight-or-flight, but ask God to supernaturally empower you to remain faithful. I believe When Sheep Bite can be a huge assistance to you as well. Please pick up a copy and reach out to me if I can be of assistance to you. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

June 28, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Don’t judge your creative efforts by the world’s likes (or even by its silence). If you did your best with the talents that God gave you, the applause from nail-scarred hands is all that really matters.

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

“It will be vain for me to stock my library, or organize societies, or project schemes, if I neglect the culture of myself; for books, and agencies, and systems, are only remotely instruments of my holy calling; my own spirit, soul, and body, are my nearest machinery for sacred service; my spiritual faculties, and my inner life, are my battle axe and weapons of war.” —Charles Spurgeon 

John Piper shares four observations and applications from Philippians 4:8 in answer to a question about how to guard our minds from the impurity in the world. 

“A man who has faith must be prepared not only to be a martyr, but to be a fool.” —G.K. Chesterton 

The paleontological evidence of dinosaur fossils is most easily explained by the Flood described in the Bible. ICR reports, “Virtually every dinosaur fossil ever found is ensconced in sedimentary or (rarely) volcanic sediments, indicating a sudden and catastrophic deposition. … So why would paleontologists entertain bizarre extinction explanations such as slipped discs, sunspots, or magnetic reversals? Because if a scientist dismisses the global Flood out of hand, then anything goes when trying to explain the dinosaur demise.”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Slander Don’ts And Dos

June 27, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

David describes slanderers like this: “They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s; the poison of vipers is on their lips” (Psalm 140:3). 

I’m sure you have experienced the poisonous, stinging bites of a slanderer’s fangs, just as David did. 

Instead of lashing out, David prays:

Keep me safe, Lord, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the violent, who devise ways to trip my feet. … May slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down the violent. I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. (Psalm 140:4, 11-12) 

Notice what David doesn’t do and does do:

🚫 He doesn’t respond to the evil people that have spewed slander at him. 

✅ He does ask God to deal with those gossips and slanderers.

Let’s follow his example. When the attacks come your way, let God respond to those people, and let us follow the example of another prayer of David: “Be merciful and gracious to me, O God, be merciful and gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge and finds shelter and confidence in You; yes, in the shadow of Your wings will I take refuge and be confident until calamities and destructive storms are passed” (Psalm 57:1). 

Gossip and slander are two of the painful bites I discuss in my book When Sheep Bite. And you may also be interested in a series of sermons I shared called When Sheep Bite Sheep. 

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

The Craig And Greg Show: The Balance Of Control

June 26, 2025 — 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.

Imagine your organization as a cruise ship you’re the captain of. It is your responsibility to man the helm, keeping the vessel away from danger and navigating to the correct destination. Along the way you decide that the guests’ towels need to be folded a particular way, so you step away from your post for hours to meticulously fold them to your exact specifications. You do a great job but in your absence the ship is listless, veering off course into dangerous waters. 

Of course it’s very likely you won’t find yourself in this exact situation, but the same logic can be applied to our terrestrial pursuits as well. In today’s episode, Greg and I discuss why it’s important for leaders to remain in control, but also vital that we don’t become controlling.

  • [1:00] How could a leader self-assess to make sure they are properly balanced in the way they control their organization? 
  • [3:38] Being organized is not a problem, but controlling the organization becomes the problem.
  • [4:50] I point out the differences between a productive river and a destructive flood.
  • [6:00] Controlling leaders stifle creativity and innovation.
  • [8:25] Tim Irwin’s book Derailed talks about how micro-managing has led to the collapse of many successful organizations.
  • [12:41] Over-controlling leaders are risk-adverse and untrusting of others on their team.
  • [14:13] The value of a coach is getting answers that others on your team aren’t giving you.
  • [17:12] Greg shares a quote about self-discipline as it relates to the proper balance of healthy control.
  • [18:20] Your teammates want your confidence, not your control.
  • [19:44] Leaders, it’s time for you to look in the mirror.

Check out this episode and subscribe on YouTube so you can watch all of the upcoming episodes. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments »
« Older posts
Newer posts »