Land Of Smoke

March 1, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Guest Blogger: Dick Brogden

Greetings From the Land of Smoke,

A Christian handed a Bible to a Northern Sudanese Muslim Arab who declined to receive it saying, “I have a smoking problem. If I take the Bible, I will just rip out the pages, make cigarettes, and smoke them.”

Thanks be to God, the distributor did not stand on niceties and responded, “No problem, go ahead and rip the pages out to make your cigarettes. But before you roll them, make sure to read the page you ripped out.”

The Muslim man agreed, took the Bible and began to contemplatively smoke his way through the Gospels. Daily he would rip out a page, peruse it, then roll it into a cigarette and puff away. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all were read and then immolated. By the time the smoker had inhaled his way into John, the Holy Spirit had begun to draw as well. John 3:16 was the clincher—it was after smoking that chapter and verse that this Muslim man gave his heart to Jesus.

I guess it goes to prove that where there’s smoke, there is fire!

Dick Brogden and his family have served as missionaries in Sudan for 15 years.

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Thursdays With Oswald—The Word Of God

January 27, 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.

The Word Of God

       The Bible nowhere says we have to believe it is the Word of God before we can be Christians. The Bible is not the Word of God to me unless I come at it through what Jesus Christ says, it is of no use to me unless I know Him. The key to my understanding of the Bible is not my intelligence, but my personal relationship to Jesus Christ. … You may believe the Bible is the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation and not be a Christian at all.

From Facing Reality

Do I just know the Word of God, or do I know the God of the Word? If I read and study the Bible just to gain knowledge, I will become a very religious person. But if I read the Bible to know Christ more, I will enter into a deeper relationship with Him.

…knowledge puffs up while love builds up… (1 Corinthians 8:1)

I want to read my Bible as a love letter, and fall more and more in love with the God who wrote it to me.

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Do You Read The Bible Or Does The Bible Read You?

January 19, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I’ve been studying the lives of the kings of Judah. The last God-fearing king before the fall of Jerusalem was a man named Josiah. He became king as an 8-year-old and really began looking for God as a teenager. Apparently, during all of this time, the book of the Law (the first five books of our current Bible) was hidden away and forgotten. As Josiah started seeking God, he gave orders that the temple in Jerusalem be repaired. During the clean-up work, the workers rediscovered the book of the Law and brought it to the palace. They began to read the Law to Josiah…

When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes.

Tearing of the robes is a sign of deep mourning. The words of Scripture cut Josiah like a dagger to the heart because he knew he and his people weren’t living according to God’s standards. He started telling everyone the Scriptural standards that they needed to honor, and had the words of the Law read aloud for everyone to hear. Then in the presence of everyone, Josiah reaffirmed his commitment to be a man who lived by the words of God’s Word.

This got me thinking:

  • Do I have an emotional response when I read the Bible? Or is it just a mental exercise? Or worse yet, just a meaningless daily habit?
  • Am I truly sorry when I read in the Bible where I’ve fallen short of what God desires? Or do I make excuses?
  • Do I ask the Holy Spirit to help me live out what I’ve read in the Word? Or do I convince myself that those parts don’t pertain to me?
  • Do I share with others what’s been revealed to me? Or do I keep it to myself?
  • Am I willing to be accountable to others about the changes I need to make? Or am I trying to be a lone ranger saint?

Do I just read the Bible? Or do I allow the Bible to read me?

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Take It Up A Notch

November 12, 2010 — 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.

King Josiah is widely regarded as one of the greatest reformers of Judah. He led a revival in Israel that led to the people cleaning out their idols and worshipping God in ways that hadn’t been seen since the time of King David.

This whole revival started with a Book. Not just any book, but the Book of the Law (the Bible).

When the king heard what was written in the book, God’s Revelation, he ripped his robes in dismay. And then he called for Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah the king’s personal aide. He ordered them all: “Go and pray to God for me and for this people—for all Judah! Find out what we must do in response to what is written in this Book that has just been found! God’s anger must be burning furiously against us—our ancestors haven’t obeyed a thing written in this book, followed none of the instructions directed to us.”

Josiah’s leadership was already stellar. The Bible describes Josiah this way: “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” But 18 years into his reign as king, the Scriptures were rediscovered and his leadership went up a notch.

Reading the Scripture and living by the Scripture makes a good life a better life!

At the end of Josiah’s life, something is recorded about him that isn’t mentioned about any other king:

The prophet Jeremiah composed funeral songs for Josiah, and to this day choirs still sing these sad songs about his death. These songs of sorrow have become a tradition and are recorded in The Book of Laments.

Do you want to take your life up a notch? Get into God’s Word and let it get into you and change the way you think and live.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

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Thursdays With Oswald—The Same Gospel Re-Stated

October 14, 2010 — 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.

The Same Gospel Re-Stated

      What is needed today is not a new gospel, but live men and women who can re-state the Gospel of the Son of God in terms that will reach the very heart of our problems. Today men are flinging the truth overboard as well as the terms. Why should we not become “workmen who need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” to our own people? The majority of orthodox ministers are hopelessly useless, and the unorthodox seem to be the only ones who are used. We need men and women saturated with the truth of God who can re-state the old truth in terms that appeal to our day.

From Approved Unto God

So saturated with God’s Word that I think it, speak it, live it. Just as the Apostle Paul stated to the Corinthian church:

Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.

Can I repeat Oswald Chambers’ last line again, just so it can sink in: We need men and women saturated with the truth of God who can re-state the old truth in terms that appeal to our day.

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A-to-Z Love

July 23, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

You probably have heard that Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible (176 verses). The anonymous author clearly loved God’s Word—everything about it from aleph to taw (that’s Hebrew for “from A to Z”).

The psalm’s 176 verses are divided into 22 sections, with eight verses in each section (the Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters). All of the verses except three mention God’s Word in some way (law, statutes, commands, etc.). In other words, this author loved God’s Word from start to finish, and everything in-between!

How about if we continue the A-to-Z love?

I love that God’s Word is…

A—An attitude adjustor

B—Bright hope

C—Comforting

D—Direction for life

E—Educational

F—Fulfilling my deepest longings

G—Good and good for me

H—Historically accurate

I—Illuminating

J—Just what I need, when I need it

K—Keeping me from sin’s grip

L—Liberating me from anxiety

M—Making me the God-fearing man I should be

N—Never condemning, always encouraging

O—Opening my understanding

P—Purifying my motives

Q—Quality time

R—Revealing God’s love for me

S—Strength for today

T—Temptation defeater

U—Unfailing truth

V—Visionary

W—Worth more than all my other books

X—Xenografted into my heart (James 1:21)

Y—Yahweh’s love letter to me

Z—Zoe (1 John 1:1)

Go ahead and add your A-to-Z love of God’s Word in the comments…

I also shared a series of 22 messages looking at each of the sections of Psalm 119. You can find the complete list of those messages by clicking here.

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Standing On A Promise

July 8, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Just before Joshua’s farewell address to the Israelites, he makes one final comment to sum up the whole campaign that secured Israel’s borders—

Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

Every one.

You can trust God! You can stand on His promises. They will not fail; they will all be fulfilled.

Dr. Robert Lockyear estimates that there are 7,457 promises of God in the Bible!

Which one are you standing on today? Get into God’s Word, and let His promises get into you. Write them down. Memorize them. Repeat them again and again. Believe that not one of all the Lord’s good promises will fail.

Here are a few you can stand on:

  • He forgets your forgiven sins.
  • He will give you abundant life now, and eternal life later.
  • Nothing can separate you from His love.
  • All things are working together for the good for those who love God.
  • He will never leave or forsake you.
  • He will continue to develop the best in you.
  • He will never place you in a situation where you cannot stand.

(check out all of the biblical references for these promises by clicking here)

“We take away from this most precious promise, and, by refusing to take it in its fullness lose the fullness of its application and power. Then we limit God’s power to keep: we look at our frailty more than His omnipotence. Where is the line to be drawn, beyond which He is not ‘able’? Why should we pare down the promises of God to the level of what we have hitherto experienced of what God is ‘able to do,’ or even what we have thought He might be able to do for us? Why not receive God’s promises, nothing doubting, just as they stand?” —Frances Ridley Havergal

What promise are you standing on today?

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4 Leadership Requirements

June 30, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I love studying leadership—leadership principles, leadership practices, and leadership people. There’s a great leadership case study in the Bible in the life of Joshua that always intrigues me.

Joshua had been through extensive preparation to become Moses’ successor. He was a recognized leader in his tribe, the general of the army, and an aide-de-camp to Moses for a number of years. But his most important leadership qualification: He was called by God.

As the story of his leadership opens in the first chapter of the Book of Joshua, God gives four requirements for Joshua (and you and me) to be effective in our leadership roles.

1.  Be yourself. God didn’t say, “Be like Moses.” In fact, the only time God talks about Moses to Joshua is to reassure him, “I will be with you like I was with Moses.” But never once does God uses a “Moses Grading Scale” for Joshua. God simply says, “You will lead these people.”

2.  Have an objective measuring stick. Feelings may change, but God’s Word never does. So God counsels Joshua to always rely on the Book of the Law.

3.  Guard your thoughts. Leaders have so many people “in their ear” wanting to lobby for their way. So God tells Joshua to not only read the Bible but meditate on it as well. One definition of meditation is to hum God’s Word. In other words, humming God’s Word will help a leader know which lobbying voice is in harmony with God’s Voice, and which lobbying voice is off-key.

4.  Guard your attitude. God repeats this to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Even doing everything they are supposed to be doing, leaders can become afraid to make a change, or discouraged because people aren’t following along. These feelings must be driven out with one firm declaration: “I know the Lord has called to this leadership position, so I know the Lord is with me. He will enable me to complete what He has called me to do.”

God’s direction to Joshua is still great counsel for leaders today.

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Building Blocks

April 5, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Whether you have been a follower of Jesus for years, or you’ve just invited Him into your life, there are important building blocks that can help this relationship grow stronger. Join us as we discuss the basic building blocks of a relationship with God over the next four Sundays…

April 11—Relationships. A satisfying relationship with God shows up in satisfying relationships with others. How do we make all our relationships better?

April 18—Bible Reading. Just what is this big book and how can we use it to help us every day?

April 25—Prayer. Does talking to God sound scary? It doesn’t have to be. In fact, it can be the best conversation ever!

May 2—The Holy Spirit. His role is probably the least understood, but the most vital, for our day-to-day lives.

We’d love to see you on Sundays at 10:30am.

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YouVersion

March 29, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

As readers of this blog know, I love to read. But hands-down, no-comparison, head-and-shoulders above any other book, my favorite book is the Bible.

One of the best apps I have added to my iPhone is YouVersion. I love being able to read the Scripture in different translations, but I especially love the daily reading plans. There are lots to choose from. Currently I am reading through the wisdom and insight of the “Psalms & Proverbs” reading plan.

Good news… even without an iPhone or other smart phone, you can still access YouVersion via your computer.

Better news… if you have a smart phone, your computer access and phone access are synced.

Best news… YouVersion is free! Thanks to the incredible folks at Lifechurch.tv who have made this available to anyone anywhere.

Go ahead, dive right into the Bible. Once you start reading it, I’m sure it will become your favorite book too.

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