Downhill

September 27, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I was riding my bike back from volunteering at the Red Flannel 5k Race in Cedar Springs on Saturday, and there’s one stretch I really enjoy: it’s a nice downhill run. Downhill is so much fun! I get to zip along with very minimal effort.

King Solomon wrote a letter to another king and talked about his downhill run:

But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster.

Downhill is a breeze, but there are some problems with it…

  • I build only minimal muscle going downhill
  • My stamina is not stretched at all
  • Aerobic exercise is almost non-existent
  • It’s harder to stop

Downhill is fun, but I need some uphill climbs too:

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials [some uphill climbs], for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment.

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Challenged

December 7, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

During my daily devotional time, I’m reading a book by Smith Wigglesworth called Power To Serve. And I’m really being challenged by it. Sometimes a certain book crosses my life at just the right time, and it really begins to stir something in me. Just thought I’d share a couple of quotes from the book, and how I’m trying to process/apply it to my life:

  • “Prayer is a time during which God wants you to be strengthened, and He wants you to remember that He is with you. …People come with their needs, they ask, and then they leave with their need because they do not faithfully wait to receive what God has promised them.”
    • So true for me! I’m such a hurry-up-and-get-it guy. I’m trying to learn to wait in God’s presence, and not take my need back with me.
  • “Today is a day of inspiration and divine intuition, a day in which God is enrapturing your heart, breaking all shorelines, getting my heart to the place where it is responsive only to His cry, where I live and move honoring and glorifying God in the Spirit.”
    • Wow, I’d love to be in the place where my heart is responsive only to His cry. Too many times I’m too responsive to other voices clamoring for my attention. Be still, my heart, listen for your Master.
  • “You never lose as much as when you lose your peace. …Possess patience to such an extent that you can suffer anything for the church, for your friends, for your neighbors, or for anyone. Remember this: we build character in others as our character is built.”
    • I want to live my life with the same confidence that the Apostle Paul did when he wrote, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” May my life be a blessing to others.
  • “O God, give us such a holy, intense, divine acquaintance with You that we would rather die than grieve You! Oh, for inward character that will make us say, ‘A thousand deaths rather than sinning once.’”
    • I want to be at this place. Amen!

What are you reading/listening to that’s challenging you to live differently?

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The Big Ask

October 14, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Tonight in our Impact! Youth service we are wrapping up a great series called Bigger Than Me. We’ve been challenging our youth to look out from themselves and see the big world around them. This has been an amazing series and I’ve been so excited to see so many students step out in a big way. You can read more here and here.

But tonight is the big ask. Tonight I’m going to challenge our students to make a commitment that’s going to hit them in a really sensitive area—their wallets. We’re going to present the opportunity to confront a real need in a very practical way: by giving money. Not just once, but every month.

Here’s the way the apostle James laid it on the line:

Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

Here’s how you can be involved:

  1. Pray for me that I can present the big ask in a compelling way.
  2. Pray for our students that they’ll be moved to respond.
  3. Check out my blog tomorrow for an update on tonight’s response, and to see how you can help too.

I can hardly wait!

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