Thursdays With Oswald—Engineered Circumstances

January 5, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

Engineered Circumstances

     The time a Christian gives to prayer and communion with God is not meant for his natural life, but meant to nourish the life of the Son of God in him. God engineers the circumstances of His saints in order that that Spirit may use them as the praying-house of the Son of God. … Prayer not so much alters things as alters the man who prays, and he alters things. … The essential meaning of prayer is that it nourishes the life of the Son of God in me and enables Him to manifest Himself in my mortal flesh.

From Biblical Ethics

In every situation, I must believe that God has directed my steps. But even though I know that, it still doesn’t mean that I will grow as a result of it. God does engineer my circumstances—and sometimes makes those circumstances seem “impossible”—so that I will pray. It’s only prayer that will make the impossible possible.

“If your prayers aren’t impossible to you, they are insulting to God. Why? Because they don’t require divine intervention.” —Mark Batterson

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The Danger Of Prayerlessness

January 4, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

I grew up with this powerful reminder: The Church moves forward on its knees. The Church is, of course, made up of individual Christians. So in order for the Church to do anything productively for the Kingdom of God, there must be Christians devoted to private and corporate prayer.

Oswald Chambers gave this warning:

“The prayer of the feeblest saint on earth who lives in the Spirit and keeps right with God is a terror to satan. …No wonder satan tries to keep our minds fussy in active work till we cannot think in prayer.”

This Sunday I am beginning a new series of messages called The Danger Of Prayerlessness. I like to start each new year with a reminder of the power and priority of prayer, because truly the Church does move forward on its knees as Christians move forward on their knees!

“Prayerlessness is expatriation, or worse, from God’s kingdom.” —E.M. Bounds

Expatriation can be defined as simply moving away from one’s homeland. But, even worse, it can also be defined as one who has renounced their citizenship. It is my fervent prayer that this happens to no one who calls themselves a Christian.

I hope you can join me this Sunday for this important reminder about prayer. If you have missed any of the messages in this series, check them out here:

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What Is He Thinking?? (book review)

January 3, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

So many times I overhear guys trying to figure out what the women in their lives are thinking. So it just seems natural that women would have the same questions about guys. So to help the ladies out, Rebecca St. James has interviewed several guys, and complied the results in her latest book What Is He Thinking??

Here’s how Rebecca describes part of her motivation in writing this book—

“Not too long ago I was out in the sunshine going for a long rollerblade. And I was lost in my thoughts. Thinking about a boy. Dissecting every detail of my relationship with said boy. About halfway through my ride I felt the Holy Spirit gently nudge me, “Rebecca, look up.” I realized that I had been staring at the ground as I bladed, worrying, analyzing my dating life, not looking up and around, and—most of all—not looking for God to speak to my situation. I realized that I wasn’t awake to a few necessary things.

“Awake to the fact that I could trust God to take care of me, that I didn’t have to be anxious.

“…I think it’s very easy for us girls to get so caught up in relationships that we become blind to the other things that are going on around us. The spiritual dimension of a relationship is very important. Here’s what I discovered about how guys feel about their walk with God and how it relates to the girls they pursue.”

So Rebecca chose both single and married guys, older and younger guys, friends and family. She both interviewed them with specific questions, and allowed them an “open forum” to share what’s on their minds about relationships, dating, marriage, and sex. These guys shared their turn-ons and turn-offs, their dreams, and their ideals. As a guy, I resonated with what these guys shared, and was pleasantly surprised by how many guys were so tuned-in to the biblical standards of relationships.

I would highly recommend this book for any parents with teenage daughters. Perhaps you could even do what my daughter and I are doing: Reading AND discussing the content of this book together. Relationships can be so confusing, so What Is He Thinking?? can take some of the mystery out of it.

I am a FaithWords book reviewer.

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Search & Seizure

January 2, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

The beginning of a new year is a time when many people resolve to change things in their lives. They vow to stop smoking, change their diet, exercise, take a class, or do other things that will make them “a better person.”

But my question is: Why wait until January 1 to start something new?

In one of his most intimate psalms, David prayed,

Search me thoroughly, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24 AMP)

Charles Spurgeon added this thought:

“Every man who is wise in the kingdom of heaven, will cry, Search me, O God, and try me; and he will frequently set apart special seasons for self-examination, to discover whether things are right between God and his soul. The God whom we worship is a great heart-searcher; and of old His servants knew Him as the Lord which searches the heart and tries the reins of the children of men. Let me stir you up in His name to make diligent search and solemn trial of your state, lest you come short of the promised rest. That which every wise man does, that which God Himself does with us all, I exhort you to do with yourself….”

This search and seizure of unhealthy thoughts or unhealthy habits should be done alone with God. There in the quietness of God’s presence we can resolve to live differently. Oswald Chambers wrote:

“Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world.”

Today is as good as any day will ever be to allow God to search you, and to seize those thoughts which are keeping you back from the fullness of life He wants for you. Allow His Spirit to help you today.

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Book Reviews From 2011

January 1, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Here is the complete list of books I read in 2011. Click on each title to be taken to my review…

7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens

A Collection Of Wednesdays

A Treasury Of A.W. Tozer

Abandon The Ordinary

Average Joe

Be A People Person

Be The People

Biblical Ethics

Biblical Psychology

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

Bringing Sons Unto Glory

Chazown

City On Our Knees

Costly Grace

Doing Virtuous Business

Elite Prayer Warriors

Enemies Of The Heart

Experiencing The Spirit

Fasting

For Men Only

From The Library Of A.W. Tozer

Galileo

Generation iY

George Washington Carver

Get Off Your Knees And Pray

Go For Gold

God Is The Gospel

Has God Spoken?

Home And Away

How The Mighty Fall

How To Read The Bible

How To Win Friends And Influence People

I Knew Jesus Before He Was A Christian

In Visible Fellowship

Leadership Gold

Leadership Is Dead

Leadership Prayers

Lee: A Life Of Virtue

Letters From Leaders

MacArthur: America’s General

Max On Life

Me, Myself & Bob

Never Surrender

Night

On The Verge

Peach

Plugged-In Parenting

Radical Together

Remember Why You Play

Say It With Love

Secure Daughters, Confident Sons

Sherman: The Ruthless Victor

Smith Wigglesworth On Faith

Soul Work

Soulprint

Stuff Christians Life

Sun Stand Still

The Blessing Of Adversity

The Church In Exile

The Heart Of A Great Pastor

The Hour That Matters Most

The Next Christians

The Seed

Toxic Committees & Venomous Boards

untamed

Upside

Wandering In The Wilderness

We Shall See God

Whale Done

What The Bible Says About The Holy Spirit

Why God Won’t Go Away

Why Great Men Fall

You Were Born For This

Looking forward to sharing more great reads with you in 2012! Let me know if there are any books you would like me to review.

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Sherman (book review)

December 28, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I find biographies of leaders fascinating. And few Civil War leaders are a more fascinating study than William Tecumseh Sherman, as portrayed in Sherman: The Ruthless Victor by Agostino Von Hassell and Ed Breslin.

Sherman was a man driven by two forces which almost seem contradictory: (1) the desire to make a name for himself, without the help of other; and (2) the almost debilitating fear of trying to attempt anything that wasn’t guaranteed to be successful. Whereas the first might drive him to be something of an entrepreneur, the second would seem to keep him satisfied with the status quo. Ultimately the entrepreneurial force drove him forward.

In fact, it drove him forward so ruthlessly and mercilessly, that his name is still uttered as a curse word in the South, and one of the most fearsome military machines—the Sherman tank—was so aptly named after him.

As I read this biography, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for General Sherman. For a man who had been given so many advantages and opportunities, he seemed not only ungrateful for them, but almost contemptuous of them. In the end, the only thing that gave him satisfaction was totally annihilating everything in his path; including his marriage, his family, and his friends. Sad!

But Sherman is still an important read for any student of leadership. I can’t help but wondering how history might have been different if a mentor might have come alongside Sherman to help him use his God-given talents in a more judicious and beneficial way.

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

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Vacation

December 19, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Since my wife and kids are all out of school for their Christmas break, I’m taking a little blog vacation too. I’ll be back with some new posts in January 2012.

In the meantime, I will still be tweeting from time to time. You can follow me on Twitter by clicking here.

Have a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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Pray More

December 16, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I love this passage from J.C. Ryle that I read on the J.C. Ryle Quotes blog.

Pray for yourselves—that you may know the Lord Jesus, and cleave to Him—that you may be kept from falling—that you may serve your generation—that you may be sober in prosperity, patient in trial, and humble at all times.

Pray for the congregation to which you belong—that the word of the Lord may have free course in it, and be glorified—that the household of faith may become stronger and stronger, and the household of unbelief weaker and weaker.

Pray for your country—that her ministers may preach the Gospel, and be sound in the faith—that her rulers may value the Bible, and govern according to it—and that so her candlestick may not be taken away.

And pray for your minister—that he may be strong to work, and willing to labor for your good, that all his sicknesses may be sanctified, and all his health given to the Lord—that he may be ever taught of the Spirit, and thus be able to teach others—that he may be kept faithful unto death, and so be ready to depart when he is called.

Let us all pray, one for the other—I for you, and you for me—and we shall be blessed in our deed!

We can never pray too much!

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Thursdays With Oswald—Choose Health

December 15, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

Choose Health

     Such passages as Romans 12:2 (‘be transformed by the renewing of your mind’) and Ephesians 4:23 (‘be renewed in the spirit of your mind’) apply directly to the moral life of those who have been supernaturally saved by the grace of God, those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells and is at work. To renew means to transform to new life. These passages make it clear that we can be renewed in our mind when we choose. … Continual renewal of mind is the only healthy state for a Christian.

From Biblical Ethics

Far too often it seems easier to say, “If only God would change me” or “I pray that the Spirit would free me from…,” when in reality you can choose to be renewed.

God gave you a mind, emotions, and a will. Even if you don’t think you can be free, you can choose to be renewed. Even if you don’t feel free, you can choose to be renewed.

Stop letting your mind or your emotions keep you from the freedom that could be yours! Remember: “Continual renewal of mind is the only healthy state for a Christian.”

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Evangelizing The Evangelized?

December 14, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I was talking to a friend the other day about church growth, and we both notice something disturbing: Most of the “new” people coming to church are actually not so new. Much of what has been called church growth is actually church transplants.

We’re not reaching the lost. Ouch!

I think Howard Hendricks nails it with this:

“The Gospel is failing to produce results in some places today because it lacks an audience. Christians in churches are busy evangelizing the evangelized. We constantly face the danger of developing a fortress mentality: making occasional excursions into unfriendly territory and scurrying back to the safety of our church and its people when opposition arises. We tend to derive security from friendly surroundings rather than from Jesus Christ, and so we fail to penetrate our society for Christ.”

I pray my greatest strength is my relationship with Jesus Christ, and that my driving passion is for others to know this beautiful relationship too.

May God help me to have an audience in Cedar Springs!

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