No Crutches

May 28, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

In preparing for the continuation of our Ignite series, I’ve been reviewing some of my notes about the Holy Spirit. This quote from R. Hollis Gause has really been working on me:

“[Jesus] was not a crutch for [the disciples’] immaturity. … Jesus did not encourage a mindless dependency on His physical presence; instead, He expected them to be interpretive of His instructions about their mission.”

Jesus said He wasn’t leaving us orphans, but He would send us the Holy Spirit to be a constant Counselor. When I submit to the Holy Spirit’s counsel, it’s not a mindless giving in, but a mind-full acknowledgment of His role. The Holy Spirit didn’t come to be my crutch, but to be my Liberator.

The Holy Spirit prepares me to be a conduit for God’s blessings.

I cannot touch in love…

I cannot speak with power…

I cannot truly represent Christ…

if I’m operating in my own strength.

The Holy Spirit comes alongside me to

Develop agape love in my heart…

stimulate my mind with the right words…

help me behave more like Jesus…

and live mind-full of His empowerment.

To do things on my own is to live with a crutch—to live a limited life.

To live in the flow of the Holy Spirit is to live a life that is fully engaged.

That’s how I want to live every day.

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Light Us Up

May 19, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

This Sunday, May 23, is a pivotal day for the Church. It’s Pentecost Sunday: the day the promised empowerment from God came upon the first believers and turned them into power-packed dynamos!

Wow, what a day!

But that empowerment is still for all Christians today. Unfortunately far too many people shut the Holy Spirit out of their lives. So I’m chomping at the bit to launch our new series this Sunday: Ignite: The Empowerment Of The Holy Spirit.

There is so much to say, so I’m trying to reign myself in a bit. Hope you can join us at Calvary Assembly of God over the next few Sundays as we talk about how to get lit up by the Spirit of God.

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Primal (book review)

December 16, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

It’s been quite a while since I have been this excited about a book. Mark Batterson has given us a winner with the release of this third book entitled Primal. I highly recommend that you add this to your 2010 reading list, as this would be a great way to start your new year.

One of the knocks I hear non-churched people level at Christians is, “You have too many rules to follow. It seems like being a Christian is too restrictive.” Unfortunately, far too many people who call themselves Christian live like this. Their definition of Christianity boils down to We can’t do that or We don’t do that or These are the rules.

In Primal, Batterson takes us back to the life Jesus intended for His followers to live. Jesus is asked what it takes to be a follower of God, and He answers with this primal phrase, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is primal Christianity.

Mark then leads us through a reawakening of what it really means to love God fully in these four areas:

  1. Passionate, God-directed, and others-focused love
  2. Wide-eyed, awe-struck, transcendent wonder
  3. A searching, engaged, holy curiosity
  4. Energetic, all-encompassing, servant-hearted work

It’s so simple. It’s so primal. And it’s so liberating to be reminded of the raw essence of living a Spirit-empowered life which is so God-glorifying and Christ-magnifying.

This book gets all five stars from me.

I am a Multnomah book review blogger.

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Loving Servanthood

November 6, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Over the past couple of days I’ve been thinking a lot about something: What does it mean to serve? Or more specifically, what does God say about how we should serve?

The typical image that comes to mind when someone says “servant” is a person of lower status—someone who is at the lower end of the organizational chart, someone who is expected to do more with less, someone who doesn’t have many opportunities for advancement (or even a day off), or maybe someone who is expected to be tuned into everyone else’s needs but seldom has his own needs met.

Is being a servant the same thing as being a doormat?

Consider Jesus:

He now showed them the full extent of His love…. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God; so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.

Jesus was the most important person in the room: Jesus KNEW that the Father had put all things under His power. He was also the most love-filled person in the room. What did He do with all of His love and power? He served others.

When He finished, John writes that He returned to His place, and asked His disciples a question, “Do you understand what I just did?” Then in the only instance of Scripture where Jesus Himself said this, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done.”

Servants are people who use the power they have to lovingly serve others.

Servants don’t serve because someone else forces them to serve. Servants serve because the love of God empowers them to serve.

Do you love your spouse enough to serve him/her? Do you love your family enough to serve them? Do you love your coworkers enough to serve them? The greater the love we have for others, the greater the empowerment to serve. Love empowers us for service.

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