Is Your Integrity Worth $12 Million

January 19, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

My wife alerted me to this almost unbelievable story this morning. Gil Meche, a pitcher for the Kansas City Royals baseball team, is walking away from the final year of his contract with the team.

He’s walking away from $12 million.

Why? Because Gil Meche is a man of integrity. He signed a contract to pitch for the Royals, but due to his injuries, he doesn’t think he can live up to his end of the bargain. I especially liked this part of the article:

“A lot of people might think I’m crazy for not trying to play and make this amount of money,” he said, “[but] I don’t think I’m going to regret it.”

This would have been the final season under the five-year, $55 million contract he signed with the Royals prior to the 2007 season. Health issues, with his back and then with his shoulder, plagued him the last two seasons.

“I didn’t want to go try it again for another season and be the guy making $12 million and doing absolutely nothing to help this team,” he said.

There is no settlement, no nothing for Meche as he walks away from the guaranteed money.

“I think it really reaffirms and validates why we signed Gil Meche—the integrity and the class and the respect that he’s displaying,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said.

What price can you put on integrity?

Or as Jesus asked, “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?”

Thanks, Gil, for showing the world that integrity is worth even more than $12 million.

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Signing A Blank Check

January 17, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

In our current series on prayer, we’re using the prayer that Jesus taught as our pattern. Yesterday we looked at this part of the pattern:

Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

This is all about trust. It’s about acknowledging to God that He is in control and He knows what’s best. It’s not about me coming into His presence and telling Him how things should work. I love the quote from C.S. Lewis:

There are two kinds of people: those who say to God “Thy will be done” and those to whom God says, “All right then, have it your way.”

When we come into God’s presence in prayer, we say, “Before I ask You for what I need, I want You to know that I trust You. No matter what.” In essence, we sign a blank check and trust God to fill in the amount.

And, by the way, the verb for “Your kingdom come” in this model prayer is an imperfect verb. That means that we have to keep on signing those blank checks, as we keep on submitting to His will and His kingdom.

Are you willing to sign a blank check to God?

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Get Up And Do

January 11, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I was reading an article posted on WebMD about how much damage we can do to our hearts by spending more time in front of the TV or computer than we do exercising. You’re probably thinking, “Well, duh!, isn’t that obvious?!” It should be, and yet we still have a tendency to just sit there. (By the way, you can read the article here.)

One quote from this article especially stood out to me:

“It’s not even about the exercise. It’s about not sitting,” says Suzanne Steinbaum, DO, a preventive cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. “I think that sort of points us in a little different direction. In order for you not to cause harm to yourself, you really need to focus on getting up and moving.”

This reminds me of Joseph (Mary’s husband) in the Bible. God seemed to speak to him quite often in dreams. Instead of just sitting there contemplating the vision, there’s a phrase that shows up after every vision…

“Joseph got up and did.”

Has God given you a vision for your life? If so, just sitting there may do damage to your heart. So follow Joseph’s example and Get up and do!

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Now What Will You Do With Christmas?

December 27, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Now that Christmas is over, are you thinking to yourself, “Finally! I can get back to my normal routine”?

For some people, the past weeks have been a hectic whirlwind of activity, and the days leading up to Christmas seem like a blur. So now what?

I guess it depends on your attitude about the season. Was it just a regular, it-comes-every-year Christmas for you? Or was it an exciting CHRISTmas: the time to reflect on the birth of Christ? For those in the second category, we cannot—we dare not!—go back to a “normal” routine.

For those that encountered Jesus on (or near) the day of His birth in Bethlehem, look how they responded:

The Shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.

Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms and praised God.

Anna broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.

The Magi were overjoyed, and they bowed down and worshiped Him.

My prayer for myself—and for you, too—is that our encounter with Jesus this Christmas was so real, that we will continue to glorify God, and worship Him with overflowing joy, for the rest of the year. Let’s not just get through Christmas, but let’s make sure the reality of CHRISTmas continues to resonate throughout the year.

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Private Good Deeds

November 8, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Betsy and I went to school conferences and discovered that our youngest son has been staying after school—by his own choice—to help his teacher tidy up the classroom. Are you kidding me?! This is the first I had heard of this. Wow, am I one proud Dad!

I’m not sure if he knows this verse or not, but Brandon is living out what Jesus said:

Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.

He’s serving just because he wants to serve. I didn’t know about it, but his Heavenly Father did. Thank you, Brandon, for giving me this wonderful example of servant leadership!

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Idle Words

October 20, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Researchers say the average American male speaks 6073 words per day, and the average American female speaks 8805 words per day. That’s a lot of words! Can you remember everything you said today?

Can you at least remember the gist of your major conversations?

Hmmm…

Here’s what Jesus said:

But I tell you, on the day of judgment men will have to give account for every idle (inoperative, nonworking) word they speak. (Matthew 12:36)

The dictionary defines idle as “something of no real worth, importance, or significance.” And the Greek dictionary says idle in this verse means “free from labor; barren.”

So I’m taking a little time to reflect…

  • Are all my words worthwhile?
  • Are they important?
  • Are they significant?
  • Did all my words do some good to someone?

If I can’t say “Yes,” it’s time to change my vocabulary, or maybe I just need to speak fewer words.

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Cursing Or Shining?

October 18, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

There are two ways of dealing with any undesirable things around you: You can curse the darkness or light a candle. Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus say, “Tell bad people how bad they are.” Instead, He tells His followers to love … bless … serve … SHINE …

I suppose you could choose to curse…

  • There’s too much pollution
  • Respect is no longer seen
  • Politicians are crooked
  • Newspapers only report bad news
  • Too many marriages end in divorce
  • My kid’s teacher is never available
  • People hide behind Facebook and email
  • My church is boring
  • Halloween is dark and scary

Or you can SHINE…

  • Pick up one piece of trash … recycle your metal and plastic …
  • Write a thank-you note to your local police chief …
  • Run for office yourself … volunteer for a politician you believe in … be an informed voter …
  • Do something newsworthy … use social media to only highlight good news …
  • Date your mate … have dinner with another married couple …
  • Volunteer in a classroom … send an encouraging email to a teacher …
  • Take some cookies to your neighbor … send a handwritten note to a friend …
  • Start praising before you go to church … get involved in a ministry …
  • Light The Night …

Light your candle and shine brightly. Then watch and see as others light their candles from yours!

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Engaging Culture

September 29, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I read something very interesting: Next to Christmas, more money is spent on Halloween than on any other holiday event. Halloween?!? Wow! We’re in the midst of planning our church’s role on Halloween night, so I’ve been thinking quite a bit about engaging our culture.

It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

So here’s how I think followers of Jesus Christ should light a candle to engage culture:

(1) Have the right motivation. In Jesus’ inaugural sermon, He said He was coming to preach the Good News about God’s love. He purposely left out the part of Isaiah’s prophesy that talked about God’s coming judgment. There will be a time for that, but for now, our motivation should be to make known the favor of the Lord.

(2) Get out of your box. If you only hang around with Christians, your ability to effectively engage culture will be diminished. If you never get around others, it’s sort of like salt that sits in the saltshaker too long. Paul told the Athenians that he had been walking around their city looking at their culture.

(3) Listen. As Paul talked to the Athenians, he quoted their poets to them. He knew what they were listening to because he was listening too. What are people watching on TV? What movies are they talking about? What music are they listening to? You can find the key to their heart by knowing something about what interests them.

(4) Collaborate. There are lots of other faith-based organizations, non-government organizations, and churches that are already active in your community. Join forces with them.

(5) Just be there. Go to local restaurants, cheer on the local sports teams, join a rec league team, attend the city council meetings, volunteer at a shelter or food pantry. Just be there! After a while, people will begin to ask you why you are so involved, and you’ll have a great platform to speak to them.

It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.

Are you engaging your culture? It’s time to go shine!

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Manufactured Success

September 22, 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.

Does success come from hard work, or does it have another origin? We can certainly manufacture success by doing some public relations, some spin, some creative promotion. And from the outside, it can look very successful. Someone may even do such a good job manufacturing their success that they begin to believe their own press releases.

But humanly manufactured success rarely lasts.

Consider the case of a man named Adonijah. He was the heir-apparent in Israel. As the oldest living son of the famed King David, Adonijah was the odds-on favorite to be the next king. And so Adonijah began to manufacture a successful transfer of power for himself. He invited all the right people and ignored those who he knew wouldn’t go along with his plan. He set up everything just the way a prince ascending the throne should have it. His followers joined him for a party and began to raise their glasses in a toast: Long live King Adonijah!

Except God—and King David—had other plans. Just as God directed, David had his son Solomon anointed king. When the few followers that were toasting Adonijah heard this, they all bailed on him and ran away. Even Adonijah recognized that something else can trump manufactured success. Here’s what he said:

“As you know,  the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my brother; for it has come to him from the LORD.” (1 Kings 2:15)

“Success has come to him from the Lord.” God’s success always trumps humanly manufactured success.

Manufactured success leads to pride (the kingdom was mine). And pride over-exaggerates our self-worth and obscures reality (all Israel looked to me as their king). God’s success comes to the humble who recognize His lordship and their place in His Kingdom. God’s success lasts.

Although Adonijah eventually recognized this, he didn’t learn from it. In the next scene, he is again trying to manufacture a way to ascend to the throne. And this time he not only loses his position but his life as well.

Here’s what Jesus says: For whoever exalts himself will be humbled [manufactured success], and whoever humbles himself will be exalted [God’s success].

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials, like this recent Bible study tip from the Book of Ecclesiastes. ◀︎◀︎

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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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