Flame Award

May 21, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

This award is recognition from our fellowship that Calvary Assembly of God is growing up. The award says that we have achieved the highest level of recognition in our fellowship.

While we are extremely honored to have come this far, we recognize that we haven’t “arrived” yet. Not by a long shot! If we could paraphrase what Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, we would say,

Brothers, we do not consider ourselves yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing we do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, we press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14).

So we humbly accepted this recognition, but we are pressing on for all that God has for Calvary Assembly of God!

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Immersed

May 16, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

What happens when we truly let the Holy Spirit have His way in our lives?

Could we experience today the things that are recorded in the Book of Acts?

Is it possible that God wants to do so much more through our lives than we are allowing Him to do now?

That last question, I believe is the most important one. One of the apostle Paul’s prayers went like this:

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:17-21)

This is an expansive prayer … a mind-blowing prayer … a prayer that is asking God to go beyond our ability to contain all that He has for us.

The only way we can get to this place (and I want all of us to get to this place) is if we let go. In other words, if we will let the Holy Spirit totally immerse us in His presence, if we will not try to box Him up, or shut Him out of any area of our lives.

We’ll be learning more about Immersed this Sunday at Calvary Assembly of God. If you’ve missed any of the messages in this series, you can check them out here:

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My Amazingly Loving Church

May 14, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

If you’ve followed my blog for even a short period of time, you have see this phrase often: I ♥ My Church!

Here’s just one more reason why…

If you live in West Michigan and you are looking for a church home, you couldn’t find a more loving church that Calvary Assembly of God! I hope to see you soon.

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Mother’s Day 2012

May 9, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Where would we be without our mothers? I know that seems like an obvious question, but it’s one that is worth pondering again and again.

Mother’s Day is this Sunday, and we want to celebrate our moms the right way.

  • All of the songs our worship team will be leading have been selected by moms in our church
  • We’ll have a special message about the value of mothers
  • And there is a special gift for every mom in attendance on Sunday morning

“I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians in England.” —John Wesley

How true this is! So it’s time to celebrate our moms. Join us this Sunday at 10:30am.

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Cleaning Up The Earth…

May 1, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

…well, at least we were cleaning up Cedar Springs!

Here are a few photos from our Saturday involvement in the Earth Day cleanup around Cedar Springs. The theme this year was Love The Creek You’re In, and we do ♥ our town. And I ♥ my church for being such loving, serving folks!

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Keep On Asking

April 30, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

We finished The Q Series yesterday morning, but I hope the questions keep on coming. I always love answering questions, and doing it in the open forum like we did was both challenging and fun (at least I had a good time!).

But I also encouraged the Calvary Assembly of God family to keep on asking questions. It’s fine if the questions are directed to me, but the most important questions are the ones we ask of ourselves.

The Holy Spirit makes all of our lives a work-in-progress. This is what is called sanctification. That word really means to make a saint out of us (think of it as saint-ification).

That means He will constantly challenge us with questions that we are wise to answer. Things like:

  • Why are you thinking that?
  • What does the Bible say about that?
  • Is doing that for your comfort or for God’s glory?
  • Is that the wise thing to do?
  • How would Jesus handle that situation?

Over time the answers to these questions will change, as we should all be growing up in our relationship with God (1 Corinthians 13:11; Ephesians 4:15).

The Apostle Paul tells us that we should take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5), because our minds will either be set on natural desires or set on spiritual truths (Romans 8:5).

So don’t tune out the Holy Spirit. Don’t stop asking those maturing questions. Don’t stop growing in your relationship with your Heavenly Father.

Keep on asking, and you’ll keep on growing!

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Revelation Or Speculation

April 23, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

In answering questions that have been submitted for The Q Series, I noticed a recurring trend: How much of our “conventional thought” in church circles is not revelation, but speculation.

Yesterday I had some tough questions on Heaven, Hell, suicide, our resurrected bodies, the after-life, and so on. In answering these questions, I used many passages from the Bible, but I also quoted from Charles Spurgeon, Charles Dickens, and C.S. Lewis. There’s nothing wrong, per se, with quoting from extra-biblical sources, but we have to be very careful what we do with those.

I once heard renowned evangelist C.M. Ward say something like this:

“The Word of God is completely good; you can devour all of it. But reading anything else is like eating chicken. There is some meat that’s good, and there are some bones, and gristle, and fat that you should spit out. Be very careful of what you take in, unless it is the pure Word of God.”

The Bible reveals so much for our lives, and we put ourselves in a place God can bless us when we are obedient to the revelation of His Word. But we put ourselves on shaky ground when we live by speculation of what we think may be truth.

The Apostle Peter said it this way:

For no prophecy ever originated because some man willed it [to do so — it never came by human impulse], but men spoke from God who were borne along (moved and impelled) by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21 AMP)

So whether you are looking for an answer yourself—or you are asking someone for an answer—make sure you are getting revelation from God’s Word, and not the speculation of man’s opinion.

Check out other questions in our Q Series by clicking here.

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Earth Day 2012

April 16, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

One of the first commands that God gave to Adam and Eve was to work in the Garden of Eden and take care of it (Genesis 2:15). The earth is God’s, but He put mankind here to be stewards of His creation.

That’s why I am pleased that Calvary Assembly of God is going to participate in the Earth Day 2012 cleanup in Cedar Springs. This is a great way for us to show, in a tangible way, that we love our community, and that we want to take care of the environment where we live, work and worship.

If you live in Cedar Springs, please join with us on Saturday, April 28, at 10am. If you live in another community, please consider partnering with a similar cleanup effort in your hometown, or start one of your own.

I believe those who call themselves Christians should be the most environmentally-aware people in the community.

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My High Wire Act

April 11, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

“Ladies and gentleman, high above you, balanced precariously on the tightrope high over your heads—and performing it all without a net—is your pastor!”

Well, that’s sorta what it feels like to me!

Last year, I took a couple of Sundays to field questions from our congregation. My hope was that lots of people would turn in their questions early, to give me a little time to prepare (that’s like performing with a net). But instead, most of the questions came as I was standing at the front of the church with the microphone in my hand. That’s definitely performing without a net!

But it was very well received, so we’re trying this high wire act again. Beginning next Sunday The Q Series allows anyone in attendance to ask their questions about the Bible, God, or anything else that’s on their mind about spiritual matters. People can either ask their question verbally, or they can text their question anonymously to the techs in our sound booth.

Of course, if you’d like to help me perform with a net, please ask a question or two (or three, or four…) in the comments below. If you’d like to see me perform without a net, join us at 10:30am this Sunday morning.

Here are some of the questions we have addressed:

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Torn Veil

April 10, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Our Where’s God? Easter drama reached its climax when the veil in the temple was torn by Christ’s death on the Cross. All three of the synoptic gospels record this—

At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. (Matthew 27:51; also see Mark 15:38 and Luke 23:45)

This was so significant in answering the question “Where’s God?” The veil prevented anyone from going into God’s presence (except the high priest on the Day of Atonement). This made God’s presence something of a mystery: Does God see me? Does He care about me? How do I get to God? Can I even approach Him? Would He receive me or would He reject me?

The best way to remember the definition for atonement is like this: at-onement.

In one moment, when Jesus said, “It is finished,” all that separated us from God was removed! And we can now live forgiven! We can now be at onement with God!

The veil not only literally and physically hung in the temple, but it figuratively and spiritually hangs in our hearts. This is what the Apostle Paul writes—

But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, Who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:14-18)

Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross allowed the Heavenly Father to tear apart the physical veil in the temple. Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to tear apart the spiritual veil in the temple of your heart? Here’s how you can know that the veil has been torn apart—you can notice that you are being transformed more and more into Christ’s likeness.

That’s the significance of the torn veil! That’s the power of Christ’s atonement!

If you missed any of the message in our Where’s God? series, you can find them all here.

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