Thursdays With Oswald—Learning From My Experiences

July 28, 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.

Learning From My Experiences

     It is all very well to have experiences, but there must be a standard  for measuring them, and a standard more worthy than my own on the line on which  I know I am worthy. The standard for Christian experience is not the experience of another Christian, but God Himself.

     On the ground of the Redemption I am saved and God puts His Holy Spirit in me, then He expects me to react on the basis of that relationship. …The only way to understand the Scriptures is not to accept them blindly, but to read them in the light of a personal relationship to Jesus Christ.

From Baffled To Fight Better

Some people have said that experience is the best teacher.

That’s incorrect.

My experience is just that… MY experience. I have to have a standard other than myself to judge that experience. As a Christian I have this: God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit to help me apply that Word to my experience. If I will use this as my standard for all of my experiences, only then will I learn something eternally useful from my experiences.

As C.S. Lewis so right stated, “All that is not eternal is eternally useless.”

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How To unDo unChristian

July 18, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Yesterday at Calvary Assembly of God, we continued our series called In It Not Of It, in which we are considering how to biblically engage our culture. In alarmingly high numbers, more and more people have thoughts that are positively unChristian toward those who call themselves Christian.

How do we undo this cultural bias? I think we have to be people of overwhelming grace.

Being grace-filled people is the only way I can see for us to unDo the unChristian mindset. To see how Jesus did this, see His interaction with a particular woman in John 8:2-11.

The Apostle Paul also gave us a good example of grace-filled living. In his letter to the Romans, Paul says he is indebted to all mankind, which makes him eager to preach the Gospel (Romans 1:14-15). I love Oswald Chambers’ commentary on these verses:

“Paul was overwhelmed with the sense of his indebtedness to Jesus Christ, and he spent his life to express it. The greatest inspiration in Paul’s life was his view of Jesus Christ as his spiritual creditor. Do I feel that same sense of indebtedness to Christ regarding EVERY unsaved soul? As a saint, my life’s spiritual honor and duty is to fulfill my debt to Christ in relation to these lost souls. Every tiny bit of my life that has value I owe to the redemption of Jesus Christ. Am I doing anything to enable Him to bring His redemption into evident reality in the lives of others? I will only be able to do this as the Spirit of God works into me this sense of indebtedness. …

“Quit praying about yourself and spend your life for the sake of others as the bondservant of Jesus. This is the true meaning of being broken bread and poured-out wine IN REAL LIFE.”

I am committed to living a life of overwhelming grace poured out for EVERY unsaved soul. And I am SO BLESSED to be able to pastor a church that feels and acts the same way! We’re not going to be passive reactionaries to the unChristian cultural bias … we’re going to live IN REAL LIFE as proactive, grace-filled people, so that we can unDo unChristian!

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Examination

June 13, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I’m reading Eric Metaxas’ fascinating biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Here’s something amazing to me: Bonhoeffer had a degree in theology (having studied under some of the most esteemed theologians of the day), taught Sunday School classes, lectured on biblical doctrine, served as an interim pastor for a full year, and even earned his doctoral degree. Yet after all this, people noticed a change in Bonhoeffer.

Listen how he described the change himself:

I plunged into work in a very unchristian way. … Then something happened, something that has changed and transformed my life to the present day. For the first time I discovered the Bible…. I had often preached. I had seen a great deal of the Church, and talked and preached about it—but I had not yet become a Christian. … I know that at that time I turned the doctrine of Jesus Christ into something of personal advantage for myself…. I pray to God that that will never happen again.

If such a man as Dietrich Bonhoeffer discovered that he knew about Jesus without knowing Jesus personally, shouldn’t we, too, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

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Help! I’m A Single Parent!

June 1, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I believe God brings us to certain places and experiences in our lives to develop more of His nature in us. One of the aspects of God’s nature is His empathy. That word literally means to be in suffering with someone. Throughout all of history, God continually tells humanity, “I feel what you feel. When you suffer, I suffer too.” The Bible also tells us that Jesus experienced everything we will ever experience, and knows just how we feel.

So this week I’m experiencing what it’s like to be a single parent. Betsy is visiting her family in California, so I’m home with our kids. Granted this is not even close to what true single parents have to cope with. They do it for years, and I’m struggling with just a week. But my week-long experience is developing greater empathy in me.

I’ve got my usual slate of activity for this week, and then I come home to a crying child who is dealing with a rough relationship issue at school. And then I’m trading texts with a coach, trying to work out details for a practice schedule for another child. And then I’m juggling how to get my kids to three different activities, which all start at almost the same time. And then I’m trying to figure out the family meals, and squeezing in a trip to the grocery store. And then I’m having a discussion with my kids about a housekeeping issue. And then … and then … and then …

God’s design was for our kids to have two parents: a Mom and a Dad. When one parent is missing, I believe God gives extra grace to the remaining parent to operate in both roles. But that isn’t God’s ideal. Into this void, Christians are supposed to step in.

  • Support organizations that assist single parents.
  • Better yet: volunteer at one of these organization.
  • Invite a single-parent family over to dinner at your house.
  • Be a mentor.
  • If your kids are going somewhere a single parent’s kids are, offer to help carpool.
  • Guys, be a father-figure to fatherless kids.
  • Ladies, be a mother-figure to motherless kids.
  • Let a single parent drop off his/her kids at your house so that parent can have some alone time.
  • Take a single parent out for coffee and let them vent.
  • Provide a scholarship to a camp for single-parent kids.

The cliché said, “It takes a village to raise a child.” I think it’s even better this way: It takes a loving Church to raise a healthy, well-balance FAMILY.

It’s time for Christians to be that Church!

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How To Read The Bible (book review)

May 29, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

People who call themselves Christians should know how to read the Bible, right? Maybe, but many times I think we assume far too much. Fortunately How To Read Your Bible by A.J. Conyers can help.

  • Some people avoid the Old Testament, saying, “It’s too confusing!”
  • Some people simply flip their Bibles open to any passage and simply start reading.
  • Some people only open their Bibles when they’re at church.

All of these methods may work, but they’re not the best way to learn what God has to say to us in His Word. A.J. Conyers explains to his readers the art of reading the Bible, as well as the practice of reading the Bible. He gives enough background information to get you started in the right direction, and he gives you ample resources to continue digging into God’s Word more.

As you might have noticed, I love to read. But hands-down-without-question my favorite book is the Bible. Every time I open it up, I find something new to apply to my life. If you’re having difficulty getting started on a Bible study, this book may be just the thing to help get things rolling.

(I’m also a big fan of YouVersion: the Bible app for your smart phone. You can download it for your iPhone or Droid by clicking here.)

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If Anyone Ought To Be Happy

May 27, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I remember once going to play golf with two other friends. When we got to the course, the starter added another guy—someone we didn’t know—to our group to round-out our foursome. We began to “play” our round of golf (I use the term play loosely), and joke, and laugh, and enjoy ourselves.

About 4 or 5 holes into our round, our new friend asked what we all did. I responded, “He’s a pastor, I’m a pastor, and that guy over there is a missionary.”

Our new friend looked shocked. “You mean you’re all Christians?!”

“Yes, we are,” I said. “Does that surprise you?”

“Yes,” he replied, and then quickly added, “But I’ve never had so much fun playing golf before!”

It’s funny, and yet sad. Why would Christians be thought of as boring? dull? killjoys? Shouldn’t we be the most happy and joy-filled of all?

Here’s what Charles Spurgeon said—

We ought to be glad and rejoice forever in that which God creates. Ours is a heritage of joy and peace. My dear brothers and sisters, if anybody in the world ought to be happy, we are the people.

How large our obligations! How boundless our privileges! How brilliant our hopes!

What should make us miserable? Sin? That is forgiven. Affliction? That is working our good. Inward corruptions? They are doomed to die. satanic temptations? We wear an armor which they cannot penetrate. We have every reason for delight, and we have moreover this command for it: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). May God bring us into that blessed condition and keep us there!

God intends not only that we should have joy but also that we should spread it among others. He intends that wherever we go we should be light bearers and set other lamps shining.

Can people tell you have the joy of the Lord? Are you bringing light and laughter to dark and somber places? If you are filled up with God, how happy you should be!

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Blessing Of Becoming

May 2, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

“When our Lord looked at us, He saw not only what we were—He was faithful in seeing what we could become! He took away the curse of being and gave us the glorious blessing of becoming.” —A.W. Tozer

The word blessing in the Greek is a compound word made up of good + words. Just as Jesus blessed us—said the good word that He prepared us for something more than a life enslaved to sin—shouldn’t we too say good words to others about what they could become?

There is ZERO excuse for anyone who calls themselves a Christian to ever say anything but good words to others. If God only says good words to you and about you, how much more so should Christians be speaking good words to and about others!

Jesus took away the curse of being trapped as we were, and gave us the blessing of becoming who He truly intends for us to be. Let’s do the same thing for other people.

Make a covenant: I will only use my words to bless others; that is, I will only say good words to them and about them. I will speak only those words that tell them about the masterpiece that they are.

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Don’t Fake It

February 24, 2011 — 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.

Have you ever had someone tell you, “Fake it until you make it”? In other words, you may not feel happy, but just start smiling and soon you will feel happy. Sadly, I’ve heard this type of so-called wisdom given by Christians to other Christians. Phrases like…

  • Don’t let anyone know that you feel scared, doubtful, or angry.
  • Never let ‘em see you sweat.
  • Even if you’re down, put on a happy face.

Turns out that this is not only bad advice, but harmful advice too. A study done by Michigan State University found:

     “Pretending to smile when you’re feeling bad makes you feel worse and be less productive. … [You] can’t just fake a smile and expect to feel good about it or negative feelings intensify.”

If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, you should never fake it. Take a quick glance through the Psalms and you’ll see raw, real emotions: anger … depression … anxiety … vengeance … sadness … envy … spite … and many others. 

Here’s the deal: You may wear a {fake} smile on the outside, but God knows the {real} emotions in your heart. You’re not fooling Him. And, as it’s been revealed in this study, you’re not fooling anyone else either.

So go ahead and vent those negative emotions when you’re alone with God. Tell Him how you really feel (He already knows, but it’s good for you to hear you say it). And then let the Holy Spirit show you how to deal with those emotions in a healthy way.

Don’t bottle it up—don’t fake-it-until-you-make-it—be real and let God heal you.

UPDATE: I talk a lot about dealing with our strong, negative emotions in my book When Sheep Bite.

►► 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—Integrated Life

October 21, 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.

Integrated Life

     God will never allow us to divide our lives into sacred and secular, into study and activity. We generally think of a student as one who shuts himself up and studies in a reflective way, but that is never revealed in God’s book. A Christian’s thinking ought to be done in activities, not in reflection, because we only come to right discernment in activities. Some incline to study naturally in the reflective sense, others incline more to steady active work; the Bible combines both in one life. We are apt to look on workers for God as a special class, but that is foreign to the New Testament. Our Lord was a carpenter; Paul was a weaver. If you try and live in compartments, God will tumble up the time.

From Approved Unto God

You and I don’t have sacred and secular lives. If you are a follower of God, your whole life is holy: it’s all set apart for God. Don’t slack off in areas that you think are secular; treat everything as holy.

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Others First

September 8, 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.

I have a friend who has a photo album on Facebook called “Me.” The description says, “Sometimes it is just all about me.” And, sure enough, all of the pictures in that album are just her. I know her well enough to know that this is tongue-in-cheek, because she is not a self-absorbed prima donna.

Sadly, some Christian leaders exhibit the It’s-All-About-Me attitude. This really irks me, especially because we see the exact opposite characteristic in Jesus.

Let me key in on just one example from His public ministry. John the baptizer has just been martyred by King Herod. John was Jesus’ cousin. I’m not sure if you’ve ever had a loved one martyred or even murdered, but I’m sure we’ve all lost a loved one at some point. It might be a little easier to take if we saw it coming, but the sudden deaths always jar us the most. We have to have time to grieve our loss.

Jesus had all of the same emotional responses that you and I have, and He wanted some time away to grieve. He got into a boat with His disciples and headed to a remote place on the other side of the lake. Looking for a little time alone to grieve the death of His cousin, Jesus was met by a huge crowd. He would have been perfectly justified in saying, “Not today.” Or even in saying, “I’m going to let My disciples pray with you today.” Instead, Jesus put the needs of others first.

  • Jesus healed all who were sick
  • He taught them
  • Then He provided food for the nearly 10,000 people who were there
  • After the meal, Jesus sent His disciples (who also needed some grieving time) back across the lake without Him
  • Jesus stayed behind and dismissed the entire crowd. I sort of imagine Him hugging people, shaking hands, and continuing to listen to the questions and concerns of everyone

It was only after this that Jesus went up into the hills to spend some time alone in prayer.

Yes, leaders have to take care of themselves and their people. But good leaders take care of others first.

I unpack this idea in even great detail in my book Shepherd Leadership. If you want to be used as a leader, you must allow the Holy Spirit to cultivate this others-first attitude in you.

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

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