Saint Augustine And My Prezi

August 19, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Several people have asked for some of the materials I shared this morning in our final installment of the P119 Spiritual Workout series.

Two quotes from Augustine—

“You stir us up to take delight in Your praise.”

“O Lord, my God, tell me what You are to me. Say to my soul, I am your salvation. Say it so that I can hear it. My heart is listening, Lord; open the ears of my heart and say to my soul, You are my salvation. Let me run toward this Voice and seize hold of You.”

And the link to the Prezi we used this morning can be found by clicking here.

I absolutely loved diving into Psalm 119 with my church! It’s a fascinating chapter, that I hope everyone will continue to use as their spiritual workout.

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From A Frustrating Life To An Exciting Life

August 13, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

In our P119 Spiritual Workout series, we’ve looked at the similarities between an exercise program for our physical bodies, and spiritual growth for our souls. There are so many parallels for us to look at, but one of them that rings true for everyone is the up-and-down, on-and-off cycles that so many of us experience.

You know how it goes…

  • Your diet is going great and you are dropping some pounds (yea!), and then you go on vacation and all of your gains are lost (boo!).
  • You are doing really well at sticking with your new exercise routine (yea!), and then a head cold and some rainy weather knock you off your plan and it’s really hard to start back up again (boo!).
  • You are reading your Bible, and praying, and feeling so close to God (yea!), and then relationship issues, trouble at work, and a leaky hot water tank send you reeling (boo!).

We all hope our spiritual growth (or diet or exercise routine) would take us to new heights, but this up-and-down again cycle makes it feel like we aren’t getting anywhere:

In Psalm 119:49-56 the psalmist experienced this exact same up-and-down cycle:

  • He’s tight with God (v. 49)
  • Then he experiences suffering (v. 50a)
  • Only to recall God’s promises (v. 50b)
  • And then he’s getting mocked for this faith (v. 51)
  • But he’s quick to remember God and find comfort in Him (v. 52)
  • Only to get his eyes off of God and onto the godless, which causes him trouble (v. 53)
  • But he remembers God’s ways again and is comforted by singing songs about God (vv. 54-55)

Sound familiar? Up-and-down. Close-to-God-and-far-away. On-and-off. Yea!-and-Boo!

HOW DO WE BREAK OUT OF THIS?!?

The key is found in the final verse—This has been my practice: I obey Your precepts (v. 56, NIV). Look how some other translations render this verse:

  • This I had, because I kept Thy precepts (KJV).
  • This is how I spend my life: obeying Your commandments (NLT).
  • This I have had [as the gift of Your grace and as my reward]: that I have kept Your precepts… (AMP).

When we put this all together we get the solution that helps us break free from the up-and-down again cycle—

It’s ONLY by focusing on God’s GRACE everyday!

When we focus on God and His gift of grace to us, we minimize the ups-and-downs. How? Because the focus is not on what I’m doing or what others aren’t doing, but on God, His faithfulness, and His grace to us.

When God’s grace becomes our focus, we can break free from the up-and-down cycle—

If you have missed any of the messages in our P119 series, you can access them all by clicking here.

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Big Time!

August 12, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

The Bible tell us…

The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth (Psalm 145:18).

I tweeted this early Sunday morning:

And guess what? I was right: He did show up! Big time!

I ♥ My Church (and their hunger for God)!!

If you are hungry to meet with God, please consider joining us next Sunday morning.

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Taunting

August 6, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Coaches and parents especially don’t encourage those under their care to taunt their opponents. But the Bible does!

Seriously!

As a part of our P119 Spiritual Workout series, we looked at the section called Waw yesterday—

May Your unfailing love come to me, O Lord, Your salvation according to Your promise; then I will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in Your Word. (Psalm 119:41-42)

“I will answer the one who taunts me.” How exactly do you answer the taunter? The word for answer here in Hebrew comes from the idea of “singing tunefully.”

You know how it feels when you have that perfect zinger—that great one-liner as a comeback to someone who’s tweaked you?

And you know how you don’t just say that zinger, but you add a musical note to it as well, just to add a little emphasis?

Well, this is what Christians can do to the devil when he taunts them! The book of Revelation tells us that satan is the accuser (the taunter) of the Christians, and that we overcome him by the blood of Jesus and the word of our testimony. But the psalmist says it’s not just plain old words, but the lilting sing-song, tuneful reply to his taunt.

We reply to our enemy’s taunts with a Scriptural-based tweak of our own. We can remind him of our total forgiveness in Christ. We can tell him how God loves us, and sent His Son to die for our sins, and how the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a deposit guaranteeing that we are now in Christ. We can use the Bible to tunefully taunt the taunter with the truth of God’s Word.

Don’t just silently take it when the enemy accuses you. Don’t get mad. But shut him up by answering him with a song right from God’s Word!

If you have missed any of the messages in our P119 series, you can access them all by clicking here.

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Reading The Bible Isn’t Enough

July 30, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

I had to give my congregation a heads-up that I was going to say something that sounded a little like heresy, so they wouldn’t throw me out of the church. So I’m giving you a similar heads-up now: Read this all the way through before you label me a heretic.

Our P119 spiritual workout relies heavily on the Word of God. If we are going to grow as Christians, here’s what I believe:

There is no substitute for the Bible, but the Bible is not enough.

The Pharisees of Jesus’ day knew the Scriptures better than anyone, but they misapplied those Scriptures, using them as billy clubs wielded by the sin police. When we read the Scripture, we must respond to what we read. Prayer is an indispensable part of our spiritual workout because prayer is how we properly respond to God’s Word.

Check this out—

In the He section of Psalm 119 (verses 33-40), you will read words that sound more like a prayer than any of the sections before it. You will hear the psalmist crying out to God as he is confronted by his lack of proper application of God’s Word. As he reads the Scriptures, he asks God to:

  • Teach him what the Scriptures are saying
  • Help him discern the truths found in God’s Word
  • Lead him in the right path
  • Turn his heart away from his natural selfish bent
  • Allow him to see the futility of pursuing earthly possessions
  • Give him boldness in standing up for God’s glory
  • Remove the fear of man that would paralyze his pursuit of God

The last verse of this section is the cycle of read the word → respond in prayer in miniature. How I long for Your precepts! Preserve my life in Your righteousness. Do you see the reading of the Word (Your precepts), and the prayerful response (preserve my life)?

The Bible can be an incredible prayer book for us! Get into the Word, and let the Holy Spirit get the Word into you. You will then be able to respond back to God in His own words! And then I think you will be astounded at how your spiritual life grows!

If you have missed any of the messages in our P119 series, you can access them all by clicking here.

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Three Amazing Years

July 24, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

This week marks my three-year anniversary of pastoring one of the most amazing churches I have had the privilege of being a part of!

I grew up in some powerful churches, served in others, and have experienced many other churches. And I wouldn’t trade any of them for Calvary Assembly of God. I’m grateful for what I learned and what I experienced at the churches that I have attended in my lifetime. Those prepared me. But Calvary is showing me what a real church looks like.

To my Calvary family:

I so appreciate the love and acceptance everyone in our congregation has for all. Whether it’s a first-time visitor or a lifelong member, all are loved (and hugged) the same.

I love your willingness to reach out to our community. You are always looking for tangible ways to show the love of Jesus to those in and around Cedar Springs.

But most of all I love the hunger for more of God’s presence. Each and every time we gather together, God does amazing things in people’s lives, and yet no one is content to “bottle it up.” Instead you are always seeking an increasingly intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, and you allow the Holy Spirit to move freely in our midst.

More and more I say…

I ♥ My Church!

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Getting Back Up When Life Has Knocked You Down

July 23, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

The Bible never presents life as some sort of pie-in-the-sky, walk-in-the-park, everyday-is-always-rosy picture. If it did, we would reject the Bible because our experiences would immediately tell us otherwise. Instead, the Bible realistically portrays the challenges, and the pain, and the heartache, and the disappointments of life. But as it does so it also shows us that God’s way is the only way out of our sorrow and into His joy!

In our P119 Spiritual Workout series, we saw the bookends of the section daleth (Psalm 119:25-32) are:

I am laid low in the dust (v. 25) → You have set my heart free (v. 32).

How do we get this freedom when we are knocked down and laid low in the dust?

The Jews saw the Hebrew letter daleth as a door. Specifically, a door through which humble people stepped into a greater realization that He is God, and I’m not … that He has the answers, and I don’t … that He is in control, and I’m not. So part of going from down in the dust to a free heart is humbly acknowledging that you need God’s help!

In verses 26 and 27, the psalmist recalls his past history, and in so doing he is reminded that God has always been there. God has never left him nor forsaken him, so here’s what the psalmist resolves to do:

  • Teach me = I learned something before, so let me learn again.
  • Let me understand = help me to discern, distinguish; tell things apart. This word is used for things that are divinely disclosed; in other words, they’re things you and I cannot figure out on our own.
  • Meditate = talk with my soul about these new things the Holy Spirit has disclosed to me.

In verse 28, the psalmist says that his soul is weary with sorrow (or as the King James Version states it: my soul melteth for heaviness). The only way to overcome this is to ask for God’s help to energize us to go forward.

In the final four verses of this section you can sense the psalmist’s strength returning as he makes these bold statements:

  • keep me from deceitful ways (v. 29a) = keep me from lying to myself (NLT).
  • be gracious to me (v. 29b) = give me the privilege of knowing Your instructions (NLT).
  • I have chosen (v. 30a) = I have determined (NLT).
  • I have set (v. 30b) = I am long-sighted (on God), not short-sighted (on my problems).
  • I hold fast (v. 31) = the KJV says I have stuck to it!
  • I run (v. 32) = I will [not merely walk, but] run the way of Your commandments (AMP).

So when you are sad/disappointed/injured, run TO God. Don’t cling to your own (old) ways of thinking. Let Him take you from I am laid low → You have set my heart free.

If you have missed any of the messages in our P119 series, you can access them all by clicking here.

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Keep On Keeping On

July 16, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

I was challenged by the message “Grandpa George” (also known as Tom Amrozowicz) shared with our church yesterday morning. This coming from a man who is a third-generation Pentecostal, and has walked with Jesus for over 70 years. The Bible text he shared was:

O God, You have taught me from my earliest childhood, and I constantly tell others about the wonderful things You do. Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim Your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me. (Psalm 71:17-18)

I am also a fourth-generational Pentecostal, and I have walked with Jesus for over 40 years (I know, I’m a rookie compared to Tom!). Tom’s words and God’s Word challenged me.

O God, You have taught me from my earliest childhood. I never want to take this for granted!

I constantly tell others about the wonderful things You do. Constantly? I hope my life is always showing how I am grateful for God’s blessings, but I know I needed that reminder to also be telling others how grateful I am.

Now that I am old and gray. Gray? Yes. Old? Well, let’s just say older.

Do not abandon me, O God. I don’t believe God would abandon me, but I need to ask myself, “Am I more attentive to following Him as I was a year ago?” You might ask, “Why ‘more attentive’? Don’t you just need to be as attentive?” When I was a teenager, there were things I ate that I never gave a second thought to, but I would never consider eating those things now because I know they aren’t the healthiest diet choices. In others words, as I’ve gotten older, I’m paying more attention to my physical health. Shouldn’t I pay more attention to my spiritual health too?

Let me proclaim Your power to this new generation. I want to make sure my kids, who are fourth-generation Pentecostals, know about the power of God that can be theirs.

Let me proclaim… Your mighty miracles to all who come after me. I also want to find relevant ways to tell younger generations about all that God has done for me, and all He wants to do for them too.

So if I were to sum up what the Holy Spirit was saying to me yesterday morning, it would be this:

I need to keep on keeping on. Don’t rest on the past, but use the past as a launching pad for even greater things in the future!

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Your Personal Spiritual Trainer

July 9, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

If you are a Christian, you have a personal trainer for your spiritual workouts. He is the Holy Spirit.

We should never think of the Holy Spirit as showing up just in the New Testament. He is living and active all throughout Scripture. Yesterday we saw Him in the gimel section of our P119 Spiritual Workout (that’s verses 17-24 of Psalm 119).

A personal trainer who has our best interests in mind will always set a healthy pace for us: neither letting us loaf nor working us too hard that it does permanent damage. But that pace is almost always painful because it is stretching us into a new dimension of fitness. This is just as true—if not truer—in the spiritual realm.

Take a look at the Hebrew letter gimel. Do you see a silhouette of runner? The Jews did, and they gave this definition to gimel: a richer man running after a poorer man in order to bless him. Isn’t that a great picture of what God does for us?! The Holy Spirit wants to help us “keep pace” with what God is blessing. That’s why He makes the laws and statutes and decrees of Scripture come alive so that we can keep pace with all that God has for us.

Now remember that blessing has two components. One part is the rich rewards we receive, and the other part is the loving correction. Both rewards and loving correction are blessings because they both keep us on pace with God’s plan for our lives.

The Holy Spirit sets a pace for us to follow as He reveals God’s Word to us. It’s a bit painful to stretch and grow, but God will reward us as we obediently follow the Spirit’s leading. If we choose not to keep pace, we may be alright for a while. But eventually, we’ll start to fall short, or even get on a wrong path. Here the blessing of God is to lovingly rebuke and correct us, in the attempt to get us back on pace with Him.

And when we get back on pace with God’s plan for us, His richest rewards can continue to flow into our lives!

If you’re not allowing the Holy Spirit to be your Personal Spiritual Trainer, I suggest you invite Him to take that role in your life today. No one is more concerned about your spiritual growth and spiritual vitality than He is, and He alone can help you get to the place of optimal spiritual health. 

If you have missed any of the messages in our P119 series, you can access them all by clicking here.

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I Want To Be Fascinated

July 2, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

If we are going to stick with anything for the long haul, we have to be fascinated by it. As soon as it becomes boring, humdrum, or monotonous, the downward spiral leading to us throwing in the towel is almost inevitable.

It looks like this:

Inattention → Fizzled passion → Lack of discipline → Quitting

This is bad enough for a diet, exercise routine, or any other healthy pursuit. But it becomes even more painful when this downward cycle occurs in our spiritual life. In that case, the “quitting” is called by another name: Sin.

In Psalm 119, the Beth section (verses 9-16) opens with two contrasting thoughts:

  • How can a young man keep his way pure? By LIVING according to Your Word.
  • I seek You with all my heart; do not let me STRAY from Your commands.

Stray is a passive word. No real attention or foresight is required to wander or meander around. On the other hand, living is an active word. In the Hebrew, this word carries the idea of keeping careful watch; protecting; carefully tending.

So the question that leads to my success is this: What fascinates me? What dominates my thoughts? What motivates me?

The answer to these questions will determine my stick-to-itiveness.

The remaining verses in this section show the upward spiral away from sin if we will keep careful watch over how closely we stick to God’s Word.

  • → Living = guarding (v. 9)
  • → Seek You with all my heart (v. 10) … Yearning (in the Amplified Bible)
  • → Hidden Your Word (v. 11) … Treasured (in the Complete Jewish Bible)
  • → Personal praise (v. 12)
  • → With my lips… (v. 13) = verbal, public praise
  • → Rejoice (v. 14) … as in more than in any kind of wealth (in the CJB)
  • → Meditate (v. 15) = constant companion
  • → Delight (v. 16)

When we delight in God’s Word, the cycle is started over again—I will not neglect Your Word—but now with a renewed and intensified PASSION!

I want God’s Word to dominate my thoughts, and its principles to captivate me. I want to be fascinated by my relationship with Jesus Christ that comes through the revelation of the Bible to my heart.

There is no other way to live!

If you have missed any of the messages in our P119 series, you can access them all by clicking here.

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