Home From The E.R.

January 15, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

It’s 1:35am and we just got back home from the emergency room. Brandon was sledding at a friend’s birthday party this evening and gashed open his cheek when he collided with a tree branch. Not a very fun way to end an evening with friends!

But he was such a trooper through the whole ordeal!

I am so thankful for…

  • …the Michigan State trooper that helped me find my way.
  • …the spontaneous prayer for Brandon by his sledding friends.
  • …the staff at the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.
  • …an employer who provides me with medical insurance.
  • …the outstanding work of Drs. Rechner & Martin.
  • …the watchful care of our Heavenly Father.

I’m heading to bed full of gratitude.

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Soulprint (book review)

January 14, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I’ve read (and re-read) all of Mark Batterson’s books, and with each one, I find such clear-cut biblical truths that I can immediately apply. Soulprint was a little different… I was hooked from the opening paragraph:

There has never been and never will be anyone else like you. That isn’t a testament to you. It’s a testament to the God who created you. You are unlike anyone who has ever lived. But that uniqueness isn’t a virtue. It’s a responsibility. Uniqueness is God’s gift to you, and uniqueness is your gift to God. You owe it to yourself to be yourself. But more important, you owe it to the One who designed and destined you. … You were created to worship God in a way that no one else can. How? By living a life no one else can—your life. [italics in original]

This book was so challenging, and so encouraging at the same time. Mark leads the reader through the different aspects that make up our unique soulprint, which is as unique and individualized as our fingerprint. Using the life of the biblical character David as a backdrop, Mark shows us how to discover our soulprint by…

  • Reviewing our memories through God’s eyes
  • Keeping “lifesymbols” around us which keeps our past memories current
  • Paying close attention to our conscience
  • Allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal the parts of us we cannot see ourselves

To further help in discovering our unique soulprint, the questions at the end of the book will stimulate invaluable introspection and helpful discussion with others in a small group setting.

The back cover of Soulprint says, “God would like to introduce you to yourself.” And that’s exactly what this excellent book will help God do. I highly recommend Soulprint!

I am a Multnomah book reviewer.

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Thursdays With Oswald—Unbendingly Holy

January 13, 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.

Unbendingly Holy

       Holiness means every part of my life under scrutiny of God, knowing that the grace of God is sufficient for every detail. The temptation comes along the line of compromise, “Don’t be so unbendingly holy; so fiercely pure and uprightly chaste.” Never tolerate by sympathy with yourself or with others any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God.

 From Approved Unto God

My prayer: Scrutinize me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my compromising thoughts. Point out ANYTHING in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. I want to be unbendingly holy in Your sight, O Holy God.

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Illogical But True

January 12, 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. 

To the natural, analytical, rational mind the following formulas are illogical:

90% > 100%

6 > 7

1 > 1

They may look illogical, but with God, they are indisputably true.

Tithing on your income (giving 10% to God) makes the rest of your money go further (Malachi 3:8-11); so 90% > 100%.

Taking a Sabbath break from your work makes the rest of your workdays more effective (Exodus 20:8-11); so 6 > 7. For example, Chick-fil-A closes all of their stores on Sunday for the employees to take a Sabbath, and founder Truett Cathy frequently mentions how God continues to bless this decision.

Entering into marriage with another Christ-follower allows your life to be more productive together than either of you could be on your own (Genesis 2:24); so 1 > 1.

Stop looking at what you have (or don’t have), and start looking at what God has. His ways may seem to defy conventional wisdom, but He’s an unprecedented God. His promises are true. All you have to do is trust His ways and obey.

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Get Up And Do

January 11, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I was reading an article posted on WebMD about how much damage we can do to our hearts by spending more time in front of the TV or computer than we do exercising. You’re probably thinking, “Well, duh!, isn’t that obvious?!” It should be, and yet we still have a tendency to just sit there. (By the way, you can read the article here.)

One quote from this article especially stood out to me:

“It’s not even about the exercise. It’s about not sitting,” says Suzanne Steinbaum, DO, a preventive cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. “I think that sort of points us in a little different direction. In order for you not to cause harm to yourself, you really need to focus on getting up and moving.”

This reminds me of Joseph (Mary’s husband) in the Bible. God seemed to speak to him quite often in dreams. Instead of just sitting there contemplating the vision, there’s a phrase that shows up after every vision…

“Joseph got up and did.”

Has God given you a vision for your life? If so, just sitting there may do damage to your heart. So follow Joseph’s example and Get up and do!

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So, It’s That Easy, Huh?

January 10, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I’ve been in full-blown praying/planning/dreaming mode for the last couple of weeks. I’m really looking forward to what God has in store for our church in 2011!

Somehow I thought all of this vision “stuff” was going to be a lot of work. But I just discovered a 13-page book that is going to revolutionize my church in just a matter of minutes! I just ordered my copy, and you should too.

(Don’t you wish it really was this easy?)

(Um, for those of you who haven’t figured it out yet: this is a joke. At least the “easy” part is; the “hard-work-and-lots-of-praying” part is for real.)

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Perfect Praying

January 8, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

We just wrapped up a great week of prayer, and tomorrow we dive into part two of our 2011 inaugural series of the new year: The Perfect Prayer.

I can’t think of a better way to set the pace for the year than to pray!

Hope to see you tomorrow for some great worship and a helpful study on The Perfect Prayer (location, service times, and other details are here).

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Can You Have Too Much Blessing?

January 7, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I seldom turn on religious TV shows, because when I do I typically hear the same two messages: (1) God wants you to be rich; (2) God wants you to be healthy. I believe God is good all the time, but that doesn’t mean those who follow Him always get wealth and health.

Consider this:

After Rehoboam’s position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all of Israel with him abandoned the law of the Lord.

Notice: When Rehoboam was healthy and wealthy, he abandoned God. When things looked bleak—when the future for Rehoboam was very much in doubt—Rehoboam was “walking in the ways of David and Solomon” (2 Chronicles 11:17). When the Egyptians attacked, Rehoboam and his court officials “humbled themselves before God” (12:6).

Health and wealth derailed Rehoboam, but difficulties kept him close to God.

Maybe a better prayer than “Bless me” would be “Build Your character in me.” Or as it says in Proverbs:

Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown You and say “Who is the Lord?” Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

The prayer that Jesus taught us to pray is perfect: Give us today our daily bread—no more, no less. That keeps me focused on my Heavenly Father.

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Pray First, Then Preach

January 6, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, not only is this a week of prayer for our church, but I have also declared 2011 to be The Year Of Answered Prayer. As a result, I’m reading and studying more about prayer, and praying more too.

This post is mostly for my fellow pastors.

Pastors, I came across two quotes this morning to which we should pay careful attention. The first is from Augustine’s On Christian Teaching, and the second is from E.M. Bounds’ Power Through Prayer.

“He should be in no doubt that any ability he has and however much he has derives more from his devotion to prayer than his dedication to oratory; and so, by praying for himself and for those he is about to address, he must become a man of prayer before becoming a man of words. As the hour of his address approaches, before he opens his thrusting lips he should lift his thirsting soul to God so that he may utter what he has drunk in and pour out what has filled him.” —Augustine

“The character of our praying will determine the character of our preaching. Light praying will make light preaching. … The preacher must be preeminently a man of prayer. His heart must graduate in the school of prayer. In the school of prayer only can the heart learn to preach.” —E.M. Bounds

Before you prepare it, pray it.

Before you preach it, pray it.

After you preach it, pray it some more.

Pastors, let’s be men and women of prayer before we’re men and women of words.

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Thursdays With Oswald—A Passion For Christ, Not Souls

January 6, 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.

A Passion For Christ, Not Souls

       The reason some of us have no power in our preaching, no sense of awe, is that we have no passion for God, but only a passion for Humanity….

       It is not a passion for men that saves men; a passion for men breaks human hearts. The passion for Christ inwrought by the Holy Spirit goes deeper down than the deepest agony the world, the flesh and the devil can produce. It goes straight down to where Our Lord went, and the Holy Spirit works out, not in thinking, but in living, this passion for Christ.

From Approved Unto God

Wow, tough word. But it’s true: If I love Christ more than my loved ones, I will love my loved ones even better. A passion for Christ will win others to Christ; a passion for souls will only lead to building my ministry.

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