What’s Your Take On “Church”?

June 17, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Here’s what I want to see…

From the book of Acts:

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47, New Living Translation)

Here’s how N.T. Wright puts it:

“The life of believers, individually and collectively, is intended to incarnate the biblical reality of human dignity. The church is called to be an alternative society, living in contrasting style in the midst of the world. Its members are, in God’s design, not self-promoting, as the world is; they are not competitive, as the world is; they do not advance at the expense of others, as the world does; they do not take advantage of the weakness of others, as the world does. They love one another and do good to and for one another. Failing that, there is no compelling reason for the world to pay attention. Which is to say that the only means by which Christians can commend a truly godly vision of human rights is to incarnate them in their individual and collective lives, to announce God’s actions and intentions that constitute the Gospel, and to act justly in the name of God.”

And Rubel Shelly’s take:

“It is a mistake of monumental proportions to think that the priestly ministry of the church is a Sunday-focused event. It is the whole life of the whole church that is our living-body sacrifice to the Lord. Sunday praise is to be joined with Tuesday work and Thursday golf, Wednesday family life and Saturday yard work. Everything in the life of a Christian is to be seamless in terms of its appropriateness for displaying the excellence of God’s heart and character.”

What’s your take?

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Father’s Day

June 16, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I love digging up stories in the Old Testament that are so timely for today! And I’ve got a great story to share with our men on Father’s Day.

It’s the story of a man who had the title kinsman-redeemer. Culturally, we don’t practice this anymore. But spiritually, the concepts are so on-target for today. I am really excited to share this with our men this Sunday, and then to watch our guys step up to the challenge of becoming a modern-day kinsman redeemer for the families.

If you’re in the area, I hope you will join us for a great morning.

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Thursdays With Oswald—Unconscious Blasphemy

June 16, 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.

Unconscious Blasphemy

     For you to say, “Oh, I’m no saint,” is acceptable by human standards of pride, but it is unconscious blasphemy against God. You defy God to make you a saint, as if to say, “I am too weak and hopeless and outside the reach of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.” Why aren’t you a saint? It is either that you do not want to be a saint, or that you do not believe that God can make you into one.

From My Utmost For His Highest

To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)

God is ABLE to make you His saint.

Jesus is WILLING to make you His saint.

The Holy Spirit is WORKING to make you His saint.

Will you let Him?

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I Knew Jesus Before He Was A Christian (book review)

June 14, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

You know the cliché: “Never judge a book by its cover.” But with Rubel Shelly’s book, it’s really hard not to give in to this! The complete title is I Knew Jesus Before He Was A Christian… And I Liked Him Better Then. Provocative, huh?

His idea is that the Jesus that is presented in the Bible—which is also the Jesus that is presented to someone who doesn’t have a personal relationship with Him—is different from the Jesus people see in the organized church and in professing Christians. The Jesus in the Bible (or before someone becomes a Christian) is seen in freedom and abundant life. But the Jesus in the church (or after someone becomes a Christian) is a rule-keeping killjoy.

Honestly, I expected this book to be a church-bashing book. I excepted Rubel Shelly to come out blasting away on the rephrase I-love-Jesus-but-I-can’t-stand-His-followers! So I was more than pleasantly surprised right from the first chapter—appropriately titled “Pro-Jesus and Pro-Church”—that this book was not taking that track. Instead, Shelly makes the distinction between “institutionalized religiosity” and a vibrant personalized relationship between God and mankind. Then out of the overflow of this personalized relationship with God, a Christian’s outward lifestyle toward others should be notably more Christ-like.

This book is not targeted at any one segment. There are parts that every pastor would do well to heed. Then there are other parts that anyone who calls themselves Christian should read. And there are even parts that those not involved in a church or a relationship with Christ should take note of.

If, by the title, you were expecting to see the church get beat up, you will be sadly disappointed. However, if you feel like the Church has no room for improvement, you will not only be disappointed, but probably a bit angered too! On the other hand, those who love Christ and love His Bride (the Church), and want to see the Church operating more as she should, you will find much to process in this book.

I am an ACU Press book reviewer.

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Examination

June 13, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I’m reading Eric Metaxas’ fascinating biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Here’s something amazing to me: Bonhoeffer had a degree in theology (having studied under some of the most esteemed theologians of the day), taught Sunday School classes, lectured on biblical doctrine, served as an interim pastor for a full year, and even earned his doctoral degree. Yet after all this, people noticed a change in Bonhoeffer.

Listen how he described the change himself:

I plunged into work in a very unchristian way. … Then something happened, something that has changed and transformed my life to the present day. For the first time I discovered the Bible…. I had often preached. I had seen a great deal of the Church, and talked and preached about it—but I had not yet become a Christian. … I know that at that time I turned the doctrine of Jesus Christ into something of personal advantage for myself…. I pray to God that that will never happen again.

If such a man as Dietrich Bonhoeffer discovered that he knew about Jesus without knowing Jesus personally, shouldn’t we, too, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

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Don’t Become Illiterate

June 10, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Wise King Solomon:

Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge. (Proverbs 18:15)

Futurist Alvin Toffler:

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot unlearn, learn, and relearn.”

Questions:

  1. What did you unlearn this week?
  2. What did you learn this week?
  3. What did you relearn this week?
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Thursdays With Oswald—Are You Obstinate?

June 9, 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.

Are You Obstinate?

     The difference between an obstinate man and a strong-minded man lies just here: an obstinate man refuses to use his intelligence when a matter is in dispute, while a strong-minded man makes his decision after having deliberately looked at it from all standpoints, and when opposed, he is willing to give reasons for his decision.

From Baffled To Fight Better

So are you obstinate or strong-minded?

Consider what Henry Ward Beecher wrote:

“The difference between perseverance [strong-mindedness] and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t.”

So are you obstinate or strong-minded?

The Apostle Paul knew something about being strong-minded:

“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Philippians 3:13-14, NLT)

So are you obstinate or strong-minded?

It’s a good question to both ask and answer. I would hope that I’m strong-minded, never obstinate.

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Leadership Gold (book review)

June 8, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I thoroughly enjoy John Maxwell’s books, as they have opened my eyes to leadership principles more than any other author. And the “duet” of Leadership Gold and Go For Gold easily fit into the category of extremely helpful.

As I pondered it, I think what I appreciate most about Dr. Maxwell’s books is his level of affirmation. He challenges me to get better as a leader by showing me how I can do it. He encourages me to build on what I already know, and keep on growing. He helps me see what I can become and can accomplish as a God-fearing leader.

Leadership Gold is made up of 26 leadership lessons that Dr. Maxwell has learned over decades of leading. Each lesson comes with his personal example — sometimes failures, sometimes successes — along with actionable steps the reader can take. At the end of each lesson there are both application and mentoring exercises. To dig deeper into each lesson, the companion Go For Gold is a short reading for each day of the week that corresponds with the lesson in Leadership Gold. Combined, these books are a powerful one-two punch!

If you are in a leadership position, or if you aspire to be an effective leader, I can highly recommend these two books to you.

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I Didn’t Choose This

June 8, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Hello, my name is Craig Owens and I’m a pastor. I wasn’t a PK (pastor’s kid). This isn’t the profession I chose for myself. I envisioned myself doing other things, but God had different plans for me.

He called, and I said “yes.” He called me to be a pastor and so He equipped me for the pastorate. I can relate to what the Apostle Paul wrote—

By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving Him by spreading this Good News. (Ephesians 3:7)

Paul, too, didn’t choose be a minister telling people about Jesus Christ. But God had different plans for him.

And so, since God has called me to do this, I must do it to the best of my ability. I don’t have the natural ability for it, I simply have God’s grace and mighty power. And to that grace and power I must add my best effort—

Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth. (2 Timothy 2:15, AMP)

I like the counsel of Charles Spurgeon:

“Again, the theme of a minister should be Christ Jesus in opposition to mere doctrine. Some of my good brothers are always preaching doctrine. Well, they are right in so doing, but I would not care myself to have as the characteristic of my preaching doctrine only. I would rather have it said, ‘He dwelled much upon the person of Christ and seemed best pleased when he began to tell about the atonement and sacrifice. He was not ashamed of the doctrines; he was not afraid of threatening. But he seemed as if he preached the threatening with tears in his eyes, and the doctrine solemnly as God’s own Word. But when he preached of Jesus, his tongue was loosened, and his heart was at liberty.’”

I didn’t choose this, but God chose me. And for that I am extremely humbled and grateful.

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Secure Daughters, Confident Sons (book review)

June 7, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Our society is bombarded by so many flat-out-wrong messages about boys and girls, and how to parent them. In Secure Daughters, Confident Sons, Glenn T. Stanton helps set the record straight.

Right out of the gate, Glenn makes an important statement about the need for a book such as this:

“If the rhetoric of political correctness keeps us from exploring the issue of gender differences, we lose something valuable to our humanity. Amazing scientific evidences of essential sex differences in the fields of anthropology, psychology, endocrinology, and neurology in the last few decades strongly disprove nearly all the thinking that drove the misunderstanding about gender in the first place. In fact, the more sophisticated this scientific research gets, the more it deepens our insight into the importance of male and female differences and how profoundly they exist within us.” (emphasis mine)

With a no-holds-barred approach, Glenn dismantles the politically-correct falsehoods like:

  • There are no real differences between boys and girls.
  • Kids can development just fine in a fatherless home.
  • Our children are just as healthy in a one-parent home as in a two-parent home.
  • Kids will be kids regardless of what their parents tell them.

The first few chapters alternate between information specifically for raising boys, and information specifically for raising girls. Then the later chapters zero in on the roles both Dads and Moms play in developing healthy, well-rounded, confident, secure children. Who (no surprise here) develop into healthy, well-rounded, confident, secure adults and future parents.

In one of the concluding chapters Glenn writes—

“Boys who grow up with warm and close connections with their fathers are more likely to develop a healthy masculine sense of self. …Boys who grow up with close, affectionate, and affirming relationships with their mothers have a better sensitivity to and understanding of women. …Girls who grow up close to affirming, warm, loving, and confident moms are more likely to be secure and healthy in their womanhood. Girls who grow up close to their fathers in loving and affirming relationships are more likely to be confident around boys and men as they grow.”

I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is for parents and soon-to-be parents to READ THIS BOOK! Raising children is an awesome responsibility, and we need all the help we can get!

I am a Multnomah book reviewer.

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