Something stood out to me quite clearly the other day as I highlighted several verses from Isaiah and was reminded of their complementary verses scattered throughout the New Testament. Always remember—
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Both physically and psychologically, our natural response to an attack, a surprise, or pain is to fight or flight.
Although this is a natural response, it’s not the best response for shepherd leaders. Think about it: when a sheep is biting you or misbehaving, although you would like to smack them on the fuzzy nose or run away from them, those are not healthy responses.
Jesus said that those who ran away in the face of attacks—either from sheep within or wolves without—aren’t worthy of the title “shepherd” (John 10:12-13). And Paul told Timothy that shepherd leaders “must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone” (2 Timothy 2:24).
As I said, fight-or-flight is natural, but Jesus is calling His under-shepherds to a supernatural response. This will require God’s help, which He frequently provides for us in the timely counsel of wise friends who have experienced the same pain you are experiencing.
Check out this short video where I talked to a group of pastors about this topic.
I would like to invite you to join a cohort of pastors that will be dealing with the same painful sheep bites you have experienced. We’ll meet together online every other week for 10 sessions to discuss the biblical principles that will help us all respond in the supernatural ways that strengthen our leadership, heal our flocks, and bring glory to the Chief Shepherd.
This cohort is limited to just 10 pastors so that we can develop some solid friendships that will last well beyond the cohort, so please sign up today.
Check out more information on my book When Sheep Bitehere.
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The apostle Peter said he wrote two letters to the church “as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking” (2 Peter 3:1). And Paul reminded his young friend Timothy to “keep reminding [your congregation] of these things” (2 Timothy 2:14).
In the spirit of those great apostles, I have made it a practice to take time at the end of each year to look back on all that we have learned in the previous year, and then to look forward to where God may be leading Calvary Assembly of God in this upcoming year.
Clicking on each series title will take you to a list of all of the sermons in that series.
Intimate Conversation—The dictionary defines the word “intimate” with these phrases: associated in close personal relations, characterized by warm friendship, and closely personal. These words perfectly describe the relationship God wants to have with His children through prayer. Pete Briscoe said, “Prayer is an intimate conversation with the One who passionately loves you and lives in you.” The One who loves you so passionately desires to walk with you and share intimate knowledge with you. Prayer is not something formal, cold, or mechanical, but it is vibrant, warm, engaging, and life-changing.
A Christian’s Mental Health—I don’t think there is any arguing that Jesus was the healthiest individual who ever walked planet Earth. Some may want to push back with, “Of course He was because He didn’t have any problems to deal with!” But the writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus experienced everything you and I will ever experience (Hebrews 2:17), so His deity didn’t exclude Him from the stressors that His humanity would have to face. And yet, He handled all of these things successfully. Luke the physician observed the growth of Jesus and tells us that it all began with Jesus having a robust mental health. From that foundation, everything else—physical, spiritual, relational—all could develop properly. We must learn from this example and pay careful attention to our own mental health.
Bold Claims—“That’s a pretty bold claim. Are you prepared to back that up?” I’ll bet you have heard something like that said to you, and maybe you have even said that yourself to someone else who made a big, audacious statement. After Jesus is arrested by the religious leaders—an arrest that will ultimately lead to Jesus being crucified on the Cross—there are some incredibly bold claims spoken by key people in this part of the Story. For the most part, these are claims that we don’t read earlier in any of the Gospels, but as this story is heading toward its most crucial moment, we have these audacious statements pronounced. But here’s the most important part: These bold claims weren’t just made, but they were backed up with proof as well.
We Are: Pentecostal—Pentecost for over 1500 years was a celebration in Jerusalem that brought in Jews from all over the world. But on the Day of Pentecost that came just ten days after Jesus ascended back into heaven, the meaning of Pentecost was forever changed! Followers of Jesus—now empowered by an infilling of the Holy Spirit—began to take the good news of Jesus all over the world. These Spirit-filled Christians preached the Gospel and won converts to Christ even among hostile crowds, performed miracles and wonders, stood up to pagan priests and persecuting governmental leaders, and established a whole new way of living as Christ-followers. We, too, can be Pentecostal followers of Jesus Christ today.
Ascending—Every year, Jews from around the world made four pilgrimages up to Jerusalem for various feasts and sacrifices. These journeys reminded them of God’s goodness as they went to the Temple to worship, and they helped refocus on God’s ways as they returned to their regular routines. Jerusalem is over 2500 feet above sea level, so the pilgrimage there was a physical workout as well as a spiritual workout. These workouts were beneficial for God’s people, preparing them to minister in their cities in the following months. The Book of Psalms contains 15 songs that these pilgrims would sing to and with each other as they traveled up to Jerusalem. These Psalms of Ascent are still instructive for Christians today.
Saints Together—Throughout the New Testament the word “saints” is always in the plural form. This is a clear indication that none of us can develop into the full-fledged Christians we were meant to be on our own. We all need each other. More specifically, we all need the most mature version of each other. A key component of an individual saint’s development is the time spent alone being forged by the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Maturing saints then come together with each other to continue to strengthen and sharpen everyone in the church. Strong individual saints make a strong church, and a strong church makes strong individual saints! Let’s learn about six important spiritual disciplines that each individual saint must put into practice so that they can use their newly developed strengths to help other saints in their own development.
The Great Attitude Of Gratitude—There’s something about gratitude that distinguishes people. Think about it: would you rather hang around with grumblers or grateful people? The gratitude of Paul and Silas certainly made them stand out from the crowd when they were in Philippi. Wrongly accused, beaten, and thrown in prison, but instead of bellyaching, they were praising God. Later on, when Paul wrote his letter to the Christians in Philippi, the theme of gratefulness permeates his letter. The distinguishing mark is actually in the title: The GReat ATTITUDE spells out GRATITUDE!
Long Live The King Of Kings—Throughout human history, whenever a king died, the people would say something like, “The king is dead. Long live the king!” They would say this because the next king ascended to the throne immediately after his predecessor died. Except when a nation had been defeated, the cry, “The king is dead” was unanswered by, “Long live the king!” Israel must have felt like this. After being defeated by Nebuchadnezzar and spending 70 years in exile, it appeared to many that the line of kings was broken. Even after retuning to their homeland, Israel continued to live under the thumb of other powerful nations. And yet, some still clung to the glimmer of the promise God had made about an eternal King sitting on Jerusalem’s throne. The First Advent of Jesus revealed to us in the Gospels reassures us that the promise of an eternal King is true. Jesus came to earth to reveal His majesty to us. The First Advent is so important because it bolsters our faith for the imminent Second Advent when Jesus will return as the King of kings! Christmas is a great time to be reminded that even now we can confidently declare, “Long live the eternal King of kings!”
2024 promises to be an exciting year! If you don’t have a home church in the northern Kent County area, I would love to have you join us!
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I’m not a fan of rollercoasters, but I know a lot of people who really like them. Some even travel all over the world to experience unique rollercoasters. The anticipation as the cars climb slowly up the big hill, knowing that there’s no stopping this thing now! Then the rush of emotions, a deep breath and a laugh at the end (usually laughing at our friends’ responses while on the ride), and then we just walk away. The moment of anticipation leading up to the big drop was usually longer and more intense than the ride itself.
Not only do people travel all over to find rollercoasters, some people seem to have their emotions perpetually on rollercoasters.
One of the telltale signs of someone with an immature mental health is the way every situation gets blown out of proportion before anything even happens. Then as an event unfolds, their exaggerations continue: the molehills are mountains, every valley is the valley of the shadow of death, the night is a nightmare, the “crisis” is lasting forever, no one has ever gone through what they’re going through, and the list goes on.
To break out of this habit requires us developing emotional capacity. John Maxwell describes it like this: “Emotional capacity is the ability to handle adversity, failure, criticism, change, and pressure in a positive way.” Just as athletes have to develop lung capacity or muscle capacity, developing emotional capacity takes time, patience, and diligence.
Increased emotional capacity is not escaping from our problems or even learning coping skill. Escapism never allows us to confront the things that are keeping our emotional capacity immature. On the other hand, maturing emotional capacity is learning to pause to get perspective so that we can avoid turning every mountain into a molehill, and every challenge into a do-or-die battle.
Let me illustrate this by looking at two emotions which seem to be the most rollercoaster-ish.
(1) The first rollercoaster emotion is anger
Out-of-proportion anger can either burn everyone around us when we explode, or it can eat away inside us if we hold it in. Neither of these are healthy emotional responses. Jesus got angry at the religious crowd that was keeping people away from God’s kingdom, but He didn’t ride the rollercoaster that led to a sinful expression of His anger.
God asked Jonah a very helpful question: Have you any right to be angry? (Jonah 4:4). When we feel the Holy Spirit asking us this question, our defiant first response is almost always, “Yes! I didn’t do anything wrong! It was all him!” Solomon would counsel us to cross-examine that thought (Proverbs 18:17).
Sometimes God will bring someone else across our path to help us pause to get perspective—to flatten the rollercoaster. For instance, God used Abigail to help David (see the story in 1 Samuel 25). However the Holy Spirit cross-examines us, we need to learn to truly listen. James told us:
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. (James 1:19-20)
(2) The second rollercoaster emotion is fear
Fear usually causes us to fight or flight. Those are the natural responses, but the supernatural response is to pause to evaluate. I love the reminder that F.E.A.R. means false evidence appearing real.
As with anger, our first pause to get perspective on this potential rollercoaster that can plunge us into a deep, dark valley should be to cross-examine the false evidence of fear.
When the group of ladies came to the tomb of Jesus on the Sunday following His crucifixion, they were already battered and bruised in their emotions. Finding an empty tomb brought even more fear in their hearts. But there is a keyword in this account that will help us:
In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men [angels] said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then they remembered His words. (Luke 24:5-8)
The Holy Spirit can help us remember the truth in God’s Word to counteract the fear-inducing false evidence (2 Timothy 1:7; John 14:26), but we must pause to listen to this evidence before this rollercoaster emotion picks up speed.
The bottom line: Don’t try to escape your strong emotions. Pause. Cross-examine the evidence with the help of God’s Word, the Holy Spirit, and a friend to get a healthy perspective. This can help you flatten the rollercoaster before your emotions run away with you.
God’s grace is so amazing. It keeps coming in like waves on a shore. God’s grace is unearned by our efforts, undeserved despite our sins, and unending for all of eternity! Check out this full message here. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“The humble servant of God is grateful for God’s past blessings, unashamed of his daily dependence on God, and confidant of God’s loving reply to every new request.” —Craig T. Owens
“There’s no shame in failing. The only shame is not giving things your best shot.” —Robin Williams
I’ve often said that praying, “God, here are my plans; please bless them” is an arrogant prayer. Instead, humility prays, “God, what would You have me do.” Proverbs 19:21 makes this point clearly. In his commentary on The Book of Proverbs, Dick Brogden noted on this verse, “God always gets His way over man’s ideas. In our hubris we think we know better than God, so we either make plans and then ask for His endorsement or we stand in judgment of what He is doing as if He should have asked us to endorse His plans. Folly judges only by results in Machiavellian crudity, but things going right doesn’t necessarily mean they were right, and things going wrong doesn’t necessarily mean we were wrong. Let us remember we are prophets, priests, and proclaimers, not pragmatists.”
“You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things—to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.” —Sir Edmund Hillary
Speaking of an exemplary work ethic, David Mathis writes, “However firsthand your experience as a soldier, athlete, or farmer, Scripture stands ready to fill in, supplement, recast, or override our personal experiences (or lack thereof) and teach us a Christian work ethic—for our own joy, the good of others, and the glory of Christ.” The biblical text Mathis uses to help us learn this Christian work ethic is 2 Timothy 2:1-7.
Marvin Olasky has a sobering and insightful post entitled “United States of Abortion.” He wrote, “For nearly four centuries, the frequency of abortion in America has depended on how citizens and residents answered five questions.” The five questions—and his five answers—are a mini history lesson on which all Christians should reflect.
“If you are ever inclined to pray for a missionary, do it at once, wherever you are. Perhaps he may be in great peril at that moment.” —Amy Carmichael
From the vastly large solar system to the microscopic level, the beauty and genius of our Creator is seen. A new report published in the journal Nature delves into the complexity of our tiny cilia. Only an all-wise Creator could fashion something so precise!
If you are looking for an easily accessible online library (especially for researching older books), check out the Internet Archive.
Though a professing atheist, Richard Feynman poetically mused that “you might say the ‘hand of God’ wrote that number, and ‘we don’t know how He pushed His pencil.’” What number is that? Physicists call it alpha (α): “That number is 0.00729735256—approximately 1/137. This is the fine-structure constant. It appears everywhere in the equations of quantum physics.” Another remarkable signpost to a magnificent Creator!
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Father’s Day can bring up a lot of different emotions for folks. Growing up, you might not have had a very good experience with your father or perhaps you didn’t have a father involved with you at all. Maybe you look back on your own history as a Dad and have some regrets. Perhaps you’re an empty-nester now or maybe you’ve never had kids of your own.
Regardless of your experience with your father or with your own circumstances, I think there are some things that we all naturally expect from our Dads. These are things that we should honor and things we as Dads should strive to demonstrate in our lives.
Luke introduces us to a man in the Book of Acts named Joseph. We don’t know if he is a biological father or not, but he is presented to us as a spiritual father that we would do well to emulate. In fact, we only know his name is Joseph from our first introduction to him. This man was such an inspiration to so many people that he was given the nickname Barnabas—the name that is used everywhere else in the New Testament.
When we think of our list of attributes of an ideal father, I think we all look to our fathers for these five things.
(1) Be there when we are getting started. Barnabas was there when Saul (later named Paul) first became a Christian and when the first Gentiles became Christians (Acts 9:26-28; 11:19-23).
(2) Provide for us financially. Barnabas is the first person mentioned by name that gave a significant and much-needed financial donation to the Church (Acts 4:34-37).
(3) Help us learn to leave our nest and fly on our own. Barnabas gave Paul his first leadership role in the Church (Acts 11:25-26).
(4) Step back as we learn to soar on our own. Barnabas took the lead in the first commissioned missionary journey, but then we see him stepping aside for Paul to take the lead (Acts 13:1-2, 13).
(5) Continue to “be there” for us even after we’ve left the nest. Barnabas also picked John Mark to accompany him and Paul on that first missionary endeavor, but when Barnabas stepped aside for Paul, Mark headed home instead of continuing on their trip. Later on, Barnabas wanted to give Mark another shot, but Paul was strongly against that. As a result, Paul and Barnabas parted company, with Barnabas taking Mark with him. From this point on, Luke doesn’t tell us anything else about Barnabas, but we know that Mark became the first one to write his Gospel account of the life of Jesus and that he became reconciled to both Paul and Peter, becoming an invaluable help to both of them. Although we don’t read what happened, I think it’s a good bet that all of this came about through the encouragement of Barnabas (Acts 13:13, 15:36-40; 2 Timothy 4:11; 1 Peter 5:13).
The name Joseph means “exalted.” Joseph was born into the tribe of Levi, placing him at the heart of the Jewish faith, yet he risked it all to not only acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah but to be so invested in the Christian Church that they called him Barnabas. Luke tells that his name means Son of Encouragement.
The word “encourage” literally comes from in + courage—to put courage into someone, to inspire others with the courage or confidence they need to do something great.
The word “encouragement” in Acts 4:26 in Greek is paraklesis: the same word used for the Holy Spirit.
Fathers can only put in others what is already in themselves.
Acts 11:24 tells us that Barnabas was “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.” Because He was full of the Spirit of God, he could put that courage and security in others around him.
Guys, it’s the same for us today. We have to be filled with the security, the joy, and the courage that springs eternally from the Holy Spirit. Only when we are filled with the Spirit can we put something truly impactful into the lives of our kids—both our biological and spiritual children.
We don’t know how old Barnabas was. We don’t know if he had children of his own or not. All we know is that he was a good man that was full of the Holy Spirit, and that gave him the courage to put into others.
What a great example for all of us to follow!
If you’ve missed any of the other messages in our series We Are: Pentecostal, where we’ve been learning about the blessings that come to those who are baptized in the Holy Spirit, you can find all of those messages here.
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Jesus was the healthiest Person to ever walk planet Earth. When Luke, a physician, tells us about the growth of Jesus, he says first that “Jesus grew in wisdom.” (Luke 2:52). That is our indication that a healthy mind is at the foundation for every other aspect of health.
But mental health doesn’t stay in your mind—it affects every other part of your life. Likewise, all of the other parts of your life can enhance or drain your mental health. We are created as interconnected beings. For instance, it’s hard to think correctly when you’re physically tired, spiritually drained, or involved in an unhealthy relationship. It’s also true that it’s hard to make good decisions about your physical health, stay focused on God, or handle your relationships successfully if you aren’t thinking correctly.
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. (3 John 2)
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. (1 Thessalonians 5:23 NLT)
When my laptop is disconnected from the monitors I use at our church building, the message on the screen tells me to “check your inputs.” That’s not just for inanimate technology, but for us too: To maintain good overall health, we need to check our physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional inputs.
Let’s start with the physical inputs. When we are active during the day our bodies release a stress hormone called cortisol. Stress is not a bad thing—it’s a normal thing. A body that isn’t stressed will atrophy and become susceptible to disease. Balanced, healthy stress is called eustress, and unbalanced, unhealthy stress is called distress.
Cortisol is naturally flushed from the body in two ways: exercise and sleep. Exercise is important to keep our bodies moving effectively, and sleep helps us recover and helps our brains catalogue our memories (see 1 Timothy 4:8; Psalm 3:5). To fuel our exercise and our sleep requires the energy which we get from a healthy diet.
So if you’re not thinking healthy thoughts, check your physical inputs: Am I getting the proper amount of sleep? Am I exercising regularly? Am I eating properly? Do I see a doctor for a checkup?
How about spiritual inputs? Somewhat surprisingly, our spirits are kept healthy very much along the same lines as our physical bodies—proper food, appropriate exercise, and a time of rest. Our spiritual food is God’s Word, our exercise is working out what we’ve studied in the Bible, and our rest is called sabbathing (Jeremiah 15:16; Matthew 7:24-27; James 2:17). Jesus demonstrated all of these in His life and we, too, should follow His example.
If you’re not thinking healthy thoughts, check your spiritual inputs: Am I reading the Bible regularly? Am I putting what I learn into practice? Am I sabbathing properly?
Then there our emotional inputs, or the relationships that build us and relationships that drain us. You are always going to encounter people in need, and ministering to those needs is draining (Luke 8:45-46). We also need to be alert to those antagonistic people who purposely drain us (2 Timothy 4:14-15). We can make decisions to place people in our lives who build us up and be cautious of those who drain us (Proverbs 27:3, 5-6, 9, 17).
Once again, if you’re not thinking healthy thoughts, check your emotional inputs: Do I have healthy people investing in my life? Am I sharpening the iron of others?
Finally, let’s not forget the mental inputs. Computer programmers are well aware of the acronym GIGO: garbage in, garbage out. If you don’t like the results that are coming out, check what is going in. The apostle Paul gives us an outstanding checklist in Philippians 4:8.
If your mental health isn’t as healthy as you would like it to be, perhaps you need to talk to your doctor about your physical health, or a mature spiritual friend about your spiritual health, or a Christian counselor about your emotional health. As you consult with these wise people, continue to pray for God’s help. As your Creator, He knows you better than anyone else could and He can give you the wisdom you need as you check your inputs.
This is part 5 in our series on a Christian’s mental health. If you’ve missed any of the other messages I’ve shared, you can find them all by clicking here.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
I am sure everyone has heard the comical philosophical question, “Which came first: the chicken or the egg?” At Creation, the chicken clearly came first. But in other instances, sometimes the correct answer is not either-or but both-and.
The apostle Paul warned his protege Timothy, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3). In other words, the people are saying, “The truth makes us uncomfortable, so tell us something that makes us feel good. If you do, you will be rewarded by our popular support.”
Nearly 600 years earlier, God had something to say to those popular teachers, “Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!” (Ezekiel 13:3). The New King James Version says they “prophesy out of their own heart” and the New American Standard Bible says they “prophesy from their own inspiration…following their own spirit.” In other words, they are speaking a popular message, not a truthful message.
So which came first: the chicken of people with itching ears or the egg of false prophets with a popular message intended for itching ears? I think this is a true both-and. It’s both people looking for a feel-good message, and false prophets realizing they can be rewarded for sharing a popular feel-good message.
Absolutely no one benefits from a prophecy from my own inspiration. True prophets of God don’t want people following their own spirit but following the Spirit of God.
A mark of anungodlyleader is one who uses God’s name only as his platform for personal gain.
To those false prophets, God says, “Woe are you, for My judgment will fall on you.” To those with itching ears who trade popularity for truth, Paul says to Timothy, “Have nothing to do with them” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
This is part 72 in my series on godly leadership. You can check out all of my posts in this series by clicking here.
In my Bible reading plan that is taking me through the whole Bible in chronological order in a year, I’ve been in the Book of Isaiah for the past few days. 
The Old Testament and the New Testament fit together. They enhance each other and show a complete picture that we would miss if we cling to only one of the Testaments. 
Here’s just three quick examples I saw in one day’s reading:
Craig T. Owens 