Craig T. Owens

May 2026
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

The Village That Wasn’t There… Yet

November 27, 2008 — Craig T. Owens

In my devotional time I am studying the life and leadership of Joshua. This morning I was beginning to read the sleep-inducing list of boundaries and towns that were assigned to each of the Israelite tribes (Joshua 15). I read the description of the territory for the tribe of Judah, and I must admit that I sorta glossed over the names of all of the towns. I got to the last verse and was ready to move on, and then it hit me.

As a pastor I’m always thinking ahead to my next series of messages, and currently I’ve been thinking about our Christmas series. So all of a sudden it jumped out at me — something I didn’t read in that list of towns. I went back and re-read the list a little more slowly this time. Nope, still not there. I looked a third time at all 38 cities: still missing. There are a couple of very notable figures that dominate the Old and New Testaments, and they have something in common — King David and Jesus both come from the tribe of Judah. And both of them were born in Bethlehem.

But in the list of towns in Judah’s territory, there is absolutely no mention of Bethlehem.

This town either didn’t exist, or it was so “insignificant” that Joshua didn’t even think to mention it. It would be almost another 500 years before David would be born in Bethlehem, and then another 900 years or so after that before Jesus would be born in this tiny village.

God had in mind for the greatest earthly king in Israel’s history and the King of all kings to come from such humble origins… from a village that didn’t even make the list. On this Thanksgiving Day, I’m grateful to belong to a God who has time after time made a “Bethlehem” for me at just the right moment!

My friend, if you are facing a difficult situation today, know that God already has the answer. He already has a Bethlehem prepared for you!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bethlehem, David, Jesus Christ, Joshua, provision. 1 Comment »

How Do You Do “Without Ceasing”?

November 24, 2008 — Craig T. Owens

Acts 12:5 says “prayer was made without ceasing” while Peter was in prison. Okay, an intense circumstance calls for intense, prolonged prayer.

In Romans 1:9 Paul says, “without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers” (KJV). Sure, Paul wanted ministry to be effective in the capital of the Roman world so I can understand his constant prayers for the Roman Christians.

Paul tells Timothy, “without ceasing I remember you night and day in my prayers” (AMP). Right, the mentor is going to be passing the baton to his protege so I can understand his passionate prayer.

And then the Apostle Paul drops this one on all of us: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Seriously?!? How do I do this? I cannot be on my knees all day. I can’t even walk around praying all day. Or can I?

Prayer lists are a good start, but what about the rest of the day? I’ve been trying to build in reminders to pray in my day:

The necklace I wear is a gift from a friend. I breathe a quick prayer for him whenever I feel it slide.
When I see the ring on my finger from The Silver Ring Thing I pray for the purity of my children and the purity of their future spouses.
The carved pen on my desk is from missionary friends in Malawi… I ask God’s blessing on them whenever I write with it.
When I eat the lunch my wife packed for me, I pray that God will help her be an excellent teacher in her classroom.
One of my mugs is from the Chi Alpha pastors at Western Michigan University… as I sip my morning tea, I pray for them.

These are just a few of the ways I’m trying to train myself to pray without ceasing. Feel free to comment on what helps you to remember to pray without ceasing?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: prayer, The Silver Ring Thing. 3 Comments »

Saturdays At Panera

November 22, 2008 — Craig T. Owens

“A mentor has been defined as someone whose hindsight can become your foresight.” —Richard Edler

For almost three years I have had the privilege of being mentored by Hank Zampa. Once a month we meet at Panera and Hank pours into my life. Sometimes he simply lets me unpack my frustrations, sometimes he asks me challenging questions that cause me to rethink my current strategy, sometimes he gives me a word of encouragement or a book to read. His hindsight has been my foresight time and time again, and I am a better man because of that. And all of this came about because I simply recognized the need for a wise man to speak into my life, and I asked Hank if he would be willing to invest in me. I am so grateful he said “yes.”

Who are you allowing to speak into your life?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: investment, mentor, protege, quote. 4 Comments »

Heritage & Legacy

November 21, 2008 — Craig T. Owens

My heritage will be their legacy

Heritage (hěr’ĭ-tĭj): something that comes or belongs to one by reason of birth.

I’ve been reading today about the early history of the Assemblies of God, so I’ve been thinking about my own heritage. I am blessed to be the son of A/G Pentecostal parents; and both of my parents come from Pentecostal A/G parents too, as well as two Pentecostal great-grandmothers. That makes me a fourth-generation “holy roller”! But the definition of heritage says that just came to me by reason of my birth; in other words, I had nothing to do with making that happen.

Legacy (lěg’ə-sē): anything handed down from the past.

Whereas I had nothing to do with my heritage, I have everything to do with the legacy I leave behind. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2).

Mom & Dad, thanks for the heritage you have entrusted to me. You have helped make me into the man I am today.

Harrison, Samantha & Brandon, with God helping me I promise to do my very best to leave you a legacy that will make you proud to be fifth-generation Pentecostals. May you be so equipped with my heritage to raise up the sixth generation of Pentecostals in our family!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Assembly of God, heritage, legacy, Pentecost. 12 Comments »

All Means, Um, All

November 20, 2008 — Craig T. Owens

We started a new Sunday evening series called “All.” At least that’s the abbreviated title—the full title is “all the church taking all the gospel to all the world all the time by all the means necessary.”

Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-19). I am more and more amazed and disappointed in how this gets watered down…

“All the church can’t mean me because I’m nothing special.”
“All the gospel only means the part about ‘getting saved,’ right?”
“All the world is only for people who are called to be missionaries.”
“All the time is just for special ‘evangelical outreaches.’”
“All the means is just whatever happens in a typical church service.”

I checked Webster’s Dictionary and all means “wholly, entirely, completely.” I even checked my Greek Bible dictionary and discovered that all means, um, “all.” I think the problem comes from another word in that verse: therefore. If I don’t believe that I belong to Christ, then I’m not operating in all of His authority. If I’m not operating in His authority, I will more than likely find all the excuses I can to avoid being a part of the all Jesus intended.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: evangelism, Gospel, Gospel of Matthew, Great Commission, Jesus Christ, missional, no excuses, sermon. 6 Comments »

Thank-Fullness Challenge

November 18, 2008 — Craig T. Owens

The Challenge: Write down 50 things for which you can give thanks

We began a new series on Sunday called “A Season Of Thanks,” by seeing how we have the ability to program our reticular activating system in our brains to allow in what we choose. If we are truly overflowing with thanks (thank-fullness) then we will see more things for which we can give thanks.

Here’s the challenge. We handed out the Full of thanks worksheet you see here, and I challenged everyone to write down 50 specific things for which they are thankful. I’ll admit to you that I had only filled in 23 blanks before my pen started slowing down, and by 36 I thought I was out of things for which I could give thanks. But then a quick look around and my pen started moving again and I could finish up all 50 blanks. I have so much for which I can give thanks!

How about you? Can you fill in all 50 blanks before Thanksgiving Day? Feel free to comment on what number you slowed down.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: reticular activating system, sermon, thanksgiving. 5 Comments »

Thoughts At A Funeral

November 17, 2008 — Craig T. Owens

Jim Jesko

I attended a funeral today for Jim Jesko. I only met Jim a couple of times, but it was such a joy for me to celebrate his life today.

One of my life verses is found in 2 Timothy 2:2, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” I try to find reliable people in which I can invest because it always pays such great dividends.

Jim’s son, Aaron, was my next door neighbor in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I had the privilege of leading him into a personal relationship with Jesus. Because of that investment, Aaron had the privilege of leading both his Dad and his brother, Scott, into that same relationship. Both Jim and Scott were water baptized on the same day, just four months ago. My investment into Aaron allowed him to invest into his Dad and Scott. Isn’t that the great thing about investments: If you invest wisely in reliable people, you always get back more than you put in!

Who are you investing in today?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: funeral, investment. 3 Comments »

Planned Spontaneity

November 16, 2008 — Craig T. Owens

Is that an oxymoron, or what? How can something be planned and spontaneous?

But we experienced planned spontaneity in our service this morning. Our worship team planned and practiced songs which would flow with each other and which would prepare people’s hearts for the Word today. At the end of the planned set of songs God showed up spontaneously with a powerful, unscripted, right-on-the-mark prophetic word for our congregation.

I did my very best to plan and prepare a message for this morning which would be timely, relevant, and applicable. At the end of my planned message God showed up spontaneously. A guest who had never been with us in a service before sang a song that God had given her two days earlier. The song contained the exact same words and phrases that were in my prepared message.

We planned. God showed up spontaneously.

I truly believe that if we had not done our very best planning, God would not have shown up so spontaneously. What do you think?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: church, Holy Spirit, planning, spontaneous. 13 Comments »

Both-And Compassion In Action

November 15, 2008 — Craig T. Owens

At 10:30 this morning I picked up my cell phone to call Barney. I knew his daughter, Alysia, had gone in for a routine tonsillectomy early this morning and I wanted to check on her. Just as I was scrolling down to his number, my phone began to ring: it was Barney calling me.

“Hey, Barney, I was just getting ready to call you….”

“Pastor,” he interrupted, “we’re in trouble. Before they could do Alysia’s surgery, she stopped breathing and her heart stopped beating. It seems okay now, but my daughter almost died. They’re taking her to ICU right now. I don’t know what to do.”

I hurried over to Hurley Hospital and went right into the ICU. Alysia was doing better, but her blood pressure was still very low, and her heartbeat was racing. After spending some time talking with the nurses and praying with Alysia, I slipped out so her Mom, Maria, could stay with her, and I went back out to the waiting room to see Barney.

“Barney, I think she’s stablized now. It’s going to be okay. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Yes, Pastor, would you pray with these kids.” He motioned to four crying teenagers sitting together in the opposite corner of the waiting room. “Their friend, Christopher, just passed away. I’ve been talking to them, but I would really like you to pray with them.”

Pray with them?!? His daughter is laying in an ICU room, and he’s concerned about some teenagers — whom he has never met before — in the midst of their grief. Wow! I immediately thought of the Apostle Paul’s words, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). Jim Collins writes about The Genius Of And, and Barney beautifully exhibited that. He was both concerned about Alysia and Christopher’s friends too. In my trials, how often do I become completely self-focused? Thanks, Barney, for a great example of Both-And compassion in action.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Both-And, compassion, Jim Collins, Paul. 2 Comments »

A Life Challenged

November 13, 2008 — Craig T. Owens

One of my greatest joys is seeing lives challenged and transformed. That’s why I am absolutely thrilled to be a part of Life Challenge of Southeast Michigan! Today was my monthly opportunity to speak at their chapel service. I love the hungry, responsive students that are eagerly listening to me, and their quick obedience to the challenges from God’s Word. I helped lead a post-graduation internship opportunity, and have developed some wonderful friendships through that. In fact, today I rode to the chapel service with two Life Challenge graduates who have been close friends of mine for over five years. I have made investments into this program, but I also feel so blessed by the investments I continue to receive from my interaction with these phenomenal students and graduates.

As I spoke in chapel this morning, I was again blown away by the hunger and sincerity and “realness” of the students. I am always so fulfilled by my time with them! And my life is challenged also to maintain the same fervor and passion for an intimate relationship with Jesus that these students have.

I have been associated with Life Challenge (formerly called Teen Challenge) for most of my adult life, and I am blessed to call Jeff Bonzelaar, the director of the program, a great friend. If you ever need help with life-controlling issues—or you have a friend or family member in this situation—I cannot recommend Life Challenge highly enough. Check out their website, and call with any questions. I would also like to make an appeal to anyone who is interested in donating to this incredible, life-changing ministry. I can promise you that this is will be an investment that will yield great returns! Life Challenge is a faith-based ministry, running solely on the financial donations from generous people. Please pray about making a donation.