Serious Fun

November 25, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

I believe of all people, Christ-followers should be able to do the most serious of work, but those who are in love with Jesus ought to be able to have the most fun too, as they enjoy the fullness of that relationship.

We proved this yesterday.

My loving congregation donated food for us to bless some needy people with Thanksgiving groceries. We then contacted our local elementary school to ask if they could recommend a couple of needy families to us. They did, but “needy” might be a major understatement. It was a joy to be able to deliver all of the Thanksgiving fixin’s to them, but heart-breaking to see the conditions in which they were living. I pray that this simple act of compassion will help open a door for further ministry opportunities.

Then we met with our Impact youth group for some serious fun (pictures are here). We had a carnival-like atmosphere with wild-and-messy games going on everywhere. I loved seeing our students dive into (sometimes literally) these fun events. It wasn’t just the students: Betsy challenged me to a pie-eating contest. And let’s just say, apparently I have a bigger mouth than she does!

It’s great to address the serious conditions that surround us, and we should do so with love and hope. And it’s just as wonderful to have some fun. I believe that people who get stuck on either extreme are missing out on the fullness of a Christ-centered life.

I hope you have a seriously fun Thanksgiving celebration. And not just on Thursday this week, but all year long.

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Thanksgiving Challenge

November 23, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

 

Yesterday I began a two-part series at Calvary Assembly of God sandwiched around Thanksgiving Day. The series is simply called Thanks and is based on the premise that thankfulness is the soil for healthy growth.

Have you ever grown a garden? If you have, you know that even though you plant the best seeds in the best soil, if you simply leave it unattended, weeds will find their way into your well-manicured garden. If you leave your garden unattended for long enough, the weeds will eventually take over.

It’s just as true for our minds. We can cultivate the best soil in our minds and plant only the finest seeds. But if we do nothing more, the weeds will take over and eventually choke out anything good that was growing there.

A spirit of continual thankfulness will keep the soil free from the choking weeds. But pulling out weeds by our thankfulness must be a continual process. So I gave our church the 365/730/1095 challenge.

Start a thanksgiving journal. If you just write down one unique thing every day for which you are thankful, you will have recorded 365 things in a year. More challenging: write down two things every day, or even—are you brave enough to attempt this?—three things every day. If you find two things each day, you will have 730 weed busters by the end of the year, or three items will give you 1095 weed busters.

Are you ready for the challenge?

I’m going to attempt to find three unique things each day for the next year. I hope this is encouraging to you, and I hope you will accept the 365/730/1095 challenge too.

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Simply Profound

November 20, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

This morning I went to “Donuts With Dad” with my youngest son. It’s a time for Dads to bring their kids to school, grab a donut, and then walk around the school with their child. It was so cool seeing how excited my son was for me to be there with him!

We sat in his classroom to eat our donut, then he gave me the grand tour: the library, the computer lab, the lunchroom, the art room, and the gym. So simple, yet so important to him.

Earlier in the morning on my way to drop off my older children at their school, we were reading this passage in Colossians:

It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That’s what I’m working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.

So I’ve been thinking: if the simple things are the joy-filled things, why do we insist on making things so complicated in our Christian faith? We tell God’s children, “To be in a relationship with God you must do thus-and-so, and you must do it this many times each week, and you must do it this way.”

Must, must, must.

Complex rule after convoluted rule after antiquated rule. Why not simply say, “Love God will all that you’ve got. Just love Him in the unique way He made you to love Him”?

There’s great joy in simplicity. There is a profoundness in simplicity.

Here’s to a simpler walk with Christ!

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Give This Christmas Away (book review)

November 19, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Matthew West wrote Give This Christmas Away based on two simple questions: What if December looked different this year? What if we all just give this Christmas away?

If you are becoming as frustrated as I am with the over-commercialization of Christmas, this book is like a breath of crisp, clean winter air. Matthew West gives us “101 simple and thoughtful ways” to truly focus on the reason for the Christmas season. This is a great book for your family to read together. It will help you begin a meaningful discussion of what Christmas truly means.

I anticipate that this book will become a seasonal classic: with families pulling it out each year as they begin to decorate for Christmas. The ideas in here are simple and easy to put into practice. Just reading this book will open your eyes to numerous possibilities. And if you happen to think of idea number 102 and beyond, log onto the Give This Christmas Away website to share your idea.

I highly recommend this book to your family.

I am a Tyndale House book reviewer.

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The Soil Of Thanks

November 19, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

This Sunday we kick off a two-part series around Thanksgiving. I know it’s a day we celebrate once per year, but thankfulness is also the soil that grows excellent things in our lives. Come and join us at 10:30 AM on November 22 and November 29. And in the meantime, start counting your blessings.

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Respected Mentor

November 18, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

 

Last week I was listening to an interview with former Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy on the Catalyst podcast. In this interview, he had some amazing things to say about his relationship with Michael Vick.

Then this evening I opened up the latest issue of Sports Spectrum, and in the opening article, I read some more about the relationship between Coach Dungy and Vick.

In his Catalyst interview Coach Dungy said, “I felt like I let Michael down. Our schedules never coordinated for us to spend a day fishing. If I would have been able to spend a day with him, perhaps it would have come up in conversation about some of the poor decisions he was making. If I had the time to spend with him, maybe I could have given him some counsel that would have helped him make a different decision.” Wow!

Then Sports Spectrum reports that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell allowed Michael Vick to be reinstated into the league only on the condition that Tony Dungy would be Vick’s mentor. “Michael needs that right now,” Goodell said, “And I’ve asked Tony Dungy to play a more formal role on my behalf, but also on Michael’s behalf, to serve as a mentor to Michael and help him and guide him through some very difficult decisions he’s going to have to make going forward.”

So I’m thinking…

  • Would I put my reputation on the line for someone like Michael Vick? Would you?
  • Would someone even think to ask me to be his mentor?

I hope that you and I are both willing to mentor others, and that others will give us the chance to do so.

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I Am What I Think I Am

November 17, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Years ago I read a book that transformed the way I read and studied. This one book probably caused me to become a more discriminating reader than any other factor. Although it’s less than 50 pages long, As A Man Thinketh by James Allen revolutionized my thinking. Over the last couple of days, I’ve been listening to the audiobook as I have been driving around.

Here’s a quote from James Allen:

“A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts. … A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts.”

This is what the Bible says about the seeds of great thoughts:

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”

What are you thinking about today? What’s going in? You are making yourself by what you are thinking, so choose those thought-stimulators wisely.

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Derailed (book review)

November 16, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Derailed

As I read Dr. Tim Irwin’s latest book, Derailed, I thought about a quote from John Maxwell: “A wise man learns from his mistakes. A wiser man learns from others’ mistakes. The wisest man learns from others’ successes.”

The subtitle of this book is “Five lessons learned from catastrophic failures of leadership.” In this, we learn from others’ mistakes. But then Dr. Irwin goes on to show us successes that we can learn from as well. Combining the insight from successful—or should I say “non-derailed” leaders—with his own discernment, Dr. Irwin shows us how to stay on the rails.

When I first noticed that the examples in the book were all high-profile CEOs, I thought, “What could I learn from them? After all, I’m not the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.” But Dr. Irwin does an excellent job of bringing the four qualities of character—authenticity, self-management, humility, and courage—down to a pedestrian level where even we non-CEO-types can benefit from his wisdom.

Although the principles in Derailed can benefit anyone in leadership, or aspiring to a leadership position, this book still might not be for everyone. The six case studies in the book are all derailed CEOs, and unless you have a penchant for the business world, you might not find them very enjoyable reading. However, for those of you who enjoy business history, there is much to gain from a careful reading of Derailed.

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

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Be Real

November 13, 2009 — Craig T. Owens
Superheroes

Masks just for fun

A quick show of hands: how many of you like a phony? Uh-huh, I didn’t think I’d see any hands raised on that one. We may like to see our favorite actor/actress play a convincing role on stage or on screen, but when it comes to real people we interact with on a daily basis, we want the real deal.

Sadly, the people who have the most “realness” to offer often go about it in a phony way. I’ve observed way too many people who claim to be followers of Christ put their masks on:

  • They put on their laughing mask when their coworkers are telling crude jokes. Then switch to their disgusted mask when they tell their church friends how vulgar their coworkers are.
  • They put on their silent mask when someone talks about how they don’t really believe in God. Then they switch to their wise counselor mask when they tell someone else what they should have said.
  • They put on their fake smile mask when someone asks what they think of the boss’s announcement about possible layoffs. Then they put on their pray-for-me mask when they ask someone in church to intercede for them about their future.

Instead…

Since God has so generously let us in on what He is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.

Be real. Always. In all circumstances. Masks are for parties. Realness is for people’s souls.

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Learning Tough Lessons

November 11, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

In my role as a book reviewer, I am presently reading Derailed. This book has really jolted me wide awake!

Dr. Tim Irwin is walking through the profiles of six high-profile business leaders who got derailed on their path to success. These CEOs seemed to have everything: talent, opportunity, great ideas, a proven track record of success. In short, everything they would need to be successful.

Yet they got derailed.

Here’s the wake-up call for me: The same thing can happen to me. The Apostle Paul wrote his own “derailed” story about the Israelite leaders:

These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.

I don’t want to get derailed, so I’m focusing on God-confidence today.

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