Links & Quotes

October 26, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

My book Shepherd Leadership has five chapters dedicated to the health and wellbeing of pastoral leaders. One important principle: Only healthy shepherds can help their sheep get healthy.

I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

Clinton Manley has a great post on the way the Holy Spirit empowers a Christian’s life. He tells of this work in terms of an adventure: “We were made to go to God, the Home for our souls, made to enjoy God more and more forever, to really live. And the only way to get there is by following the Way crossing the only Bridge that brings us to God (John 14:6; 1 Peter 3:18). And we can only walk that Way when God’s own breath fills our lungs and animates our steps, when His Spirit sets us walking in a new direction as new creations on new adventures.”

“In a February 1, 1871, letter to his best friend, botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker, Charles Darwin suggested a warm little pond was the site where primitive life first arose.” All these year later, evolutionists are still trying to discover this “little pond,” but all of their attempts end in frustration as even fellow naturalistic scientists poke holes in their theories.

Even among the reformers, Conrad Grebel was consider something of a radical. “Grebel was convinced that the city councilmen should have no authority over the church and its practice — more so, they should have no authority over the word of God itself. On the flip side, he didn’t think the church should have authority over the state either, and he opposed compulsory tithing and the like. The seeds of a separation between church and state were germinating. To us, this separation is as familiar as the air we breathe; to them, it was revolutionary.” Read more about both Grebel and other reformers here.

“If we would rise into that region of light and power plainly beckoning us through the Scriptures of truth, we must break the evil habit of ignoring the spiritual. We must shift our interest from the seen to the unseen.” —A.W. Tozer

“Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others.” —Pablo Picasso

Christian apologist J. Warner Wallace has a great strategy for responding to skeptics who claim that the Bible contradicts itself.

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The Logic Of Jesus

October 25, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

And Jesus responded and said to the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away. And He said to them, “Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” And they could offer no reply to this.

The logic of Jesus is supported by the proof of His miracles and His knowledge of Scripture. This makes His arguments airtight so that none of His opponents can even respond to Him, much less refute Him. 

We have the same things available to us:

(1) The Word of God which the Holy Spirit illuminates to our minds, and which He helps us use when critics attack.  

(2) The example of our lives which have been changed by a personal encounter with Jesus. 

(3) The logical connection of Scripture to the situation in which we find ourselves. 

But remember, we are not trying to win arguments, but we are trying to win souls! The Holy Spirit will help us engage all of the things mentioned above only if our heart’s attitude is focused on glorifying God, not glorifying our rhetorical prowess. 

Check out a related post: A Christlike Response to Skeptics. 

I also have several posts addressing how we can use logic in a God-honoring way.

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Don’t Try To Grow Your Ministry

October 23, 2024 — 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. 

Ministry was booming in Samaria, and Philip was at the center of the activity. People were getting saved, healed, and set free from demonic possession. 

And then an angel tells Philip it is time to move on. We don’t see Philip debating or negotiating, but we just see his immediate obedience. As Philip is traveling the route the angel gave him, he sees a chariot approaching. The Holy Spirit then speaks to Philip and says, “Get close to that chariot and stay near it.” It was then that Philip hears the man in the chariot reading aloud from the Book of Isaiah, so he asks him if he understands what he is reading. This high-ranking official from Ethiopia then invites Philip into his chariot to explain the meaning to him. 

Philip had to leave Samaria in time to cross paths with the Ethiopian official who was heading home from Jerusalem—they met in the middle of a desert. An angel got Philip started. The Holy Spirit refined where Philip needed to be. And then Philip took it from there. 

If Philip had been trying to “grow” a successful ministry, he may have downplayed or even ignore the messages he received. But Philip wasn’t concerned about bigger numbers, just quicker obedience. 

Philip’s quick obedience placed him precisely where God needed him to be, precisely when he needed to be there! (See Acts 8:4-40.)

In my book Shepherd Leadership, I have a chapter entitled “Don’t Try to Grow Your Ministry.” A portion of what I wrote comes from Philip’s quick obedience—

     Don’t try to grow your ministry. First, because it’s not yours, it’s His; and second, because your measure of success is probably more slanted toward quantitative measurements than qualitative. Jesus wasn’t concerned about bigger numbers: “What do you think?” He asked, “If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?” (Matthew 18:12). 

     Philip went to Samaria to tell people about Jesus. He didn’t go there because it fit his plan, but because Jesus said, “You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Philip’s obedience brought God’s success: hundreds turned to Jesus as their Savior, demon-possessed people were delivered, the sick were healed, and the new Christians were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Yet God called Philip to leave these “ninety-nine” and go to the desert to cross paths with just one confused and wondering sheep (Acts 8). After that, Philip virtually disappears from Luke’s historical record. 

     What’s the value of one government official’s life? God says that his value is incalculable. Apparently, God knew that Philip was the perfect shepherd to lead this Ethiopian to the pasture where he would accept Jesus as his Savior. Philip was obedient, a sheep was saved, and God was pleased. But I wonder how many people today might think Philip’s ministry was unsuccessful because he left a bigger ministry in Samaria to go to a smaller ministry in the desert? Bishop William C. Abney said, “I’m still waiting for a leader to say, ‘God called me to a smaller ministry.’ We usually only say, ‘God called me’ when it’s something bigger. God’s math doesn’t work our way.” 

     The Chief Shepherd made this commitment to His sheep: “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jeremiah 3:15). My prayer is that we would much rather feed a few sheep where God has directed us and given us His heart than for us to try to manufacture success that is measured by how many nickels and noses we can count. 

Philip demonstrates for us that it’s not about bigger numbers, it’s about obedience to God’s voice in the moment, and then hearing our Chief Shepherd’s voice at the end of our life saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” 

The subtitle of my book is “The metrics the really matter.” I invite you to pick up a copy today! 

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

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How Am I (Really) Doing?

October 22, 2024 — 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’d like to ask you a simple but important question, “How are you doing?” Let me also give you a better way of asking and answering this question.  

Check out this episode of The Podcast. 

The biblical passages I reference in this video—Luke 18:9-14; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5; Galatians 6:4-5; Galatians 5:22-23. 

I wrote more about the attitude of the pharisee and the tax collector in my post Prideful Prayer. 

And I blogged about friends who love us enough to tell us the truth in my posts That’s What Friends Are For and Sharper Thinking. 

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

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Links & Quotes

October 12, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Is it okay to pray a prayer written by someone else? Sure! But let’s use those prayers merely as guides to help us form our own personalized prayers to our loving Heavenly Father. I shared a whole series on prayer that you may want to check out.

I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

T.M. Moore wrote, “The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in believers with an agenda. His agenda is not ours, and unless we can put our agendas aside, we will never line up with His to realize more of the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom of God. The Spirit has not come to make us ecstatically happy. He has not come to fulfill our every wish. He comes to bring forth in us distinctly Kingdom values and virtues: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. He comes to distribute among us spiritual gifts, God-given abilities to serve one another in caring and sharing ways. He comes to empower us as witnesses for Jesus, both in how we live and what we say. And He comes to build our churches up into Christlikeness by our unified and focused work.”

I am really enjoying these mini-biographies of key leaders in the Reformation presented by Desiring God. One that I found especially fascinating is about Menno Simons—“If you are familiar with the contemporary Mennonites, you may be surprised to learn that the group’s founder started as a Catholic priest who had never read the Bible.” Yet, near the end of his life, Menno wrote, “Although I resisted in former times Thy precious Word and Thy holy will with all my powers…nevertheless, Thy fatherly grace did not forsake me, a miserable sinner, but in love, received me…and taught me by the Holy Spirit until of my own choice I declared war upon the world, the flesh, and the devil…and willingly submitted to the heavy cross of my Lord Jesus Christ that I might inherit the promised kingdom.”

“What strikes me is that there’s a very fine line between success and failure. Just one ingredient can make the difference.” —Andrew Lloyd Webber 

This past Sunday I spoke to my congregation about how Christians should behave biblically during an election season. Someone forwarded to me a related graphic from the Pentecostal Evangel magazine (a publication of the Assemblies of God) from 1984. I love these reminders for Christians!

Researchers unveiled the largest brain map ever completed. It was of a fruit fly, whose brain “includes nearly 140,000 neurons and captures more than 54.5 million synapses”! It took four years to complete this map. “All told, the researchers identified 8,453 types of neuron—much more than anyone had expected. Of these, 4,581 were newly discovered.” This level of complexity and order in a fruit fly is astounding to me. Can you imagine what it would take to map the much larger and more complex human brain?! Truly, David was right when he said that we are wonderfully made by our Creator!

“Freely, willingly and joyfully do good to everyone, serve everyone, suffer all kinds of things, love and praise the God who has shown such grace. Thus, it is just as impossible to separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire!” —Martin Luther

“Faith the mother of all good works justifieth us, before we can bring forth any good work: as the husband marryeth his wife before he can have any lawful children by her.” —William Tyndale

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Empowered For Obedience

October 2, 2024 — 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. 

In the 40 days between His resurrection and His ascension, we read that Jesus was with His disciples “giving instructions through the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:2). 

I think this word “instructions” in the NIV is too soft. The other translations say things like:

  • commandments (NKJV) 
  • orders (NASB & NET) 
  • instructed and commanded (AMPC) 

The Greek word Luke uses in Acts 1:2 is entellomai and it is a word that carries weight. Throughout the New Testament this word is used to identify…

  • …the words of God (Matthew 4:6, 15:4; Luke 4:10; Acts 13:47; Hebrews 9:20) 
  • …the words of Moses (Matthew 19:7; Mark 10:3; John 8:5) 
  • …the words of Jesus (Matthew 17:9, 28:20; Mark 11:6; John 14:31; 15:14, 17; Acts 1:2, 13:47) 
  • …the words of recognized leaders (Mark 13:34; Hebrews 11:22) 

(Check out all of the above Scriptures by clicking here.)

In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) this word is used seven times. Five of these times link together the words “command” and “covenant” (Deuteronomy 4:13; Joshua 23:16; Judges 2:20; Psalm 111:9–10; Jeremiah 11:3–4). The other two times express God’s strong promise-keeping power that is awe-inspiring (Psalm 90:11, 91:11). 

In other words, these aren’t just any words, but they carry an awesome authority with them. These are binding commands. They are not merely wise counsel or suggestions for godly living. They are indispensable to the Christian life. 

Luke points out that Jesus gave these commands “through the Holy Spirit” because it is only through the Holy Spirit that you and I can understand them, apply them, and be empowered to obey them. 

Jesus uses the same word entellomai in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:20) as well as in Acts 1:2. Clearly, the Scripture is telling us that we are powerless to understand and powerless to obey without the Holy Spirit’s daily empowerment. Jesus would never give us commands that we were unable to carry out, which is why He gives us instructions through the Spirit, and then the Spirit gives us the power to joyfully obey those commands. 

Don’t ever think that you are on your own in trying to figure out what Jesus said, and how you are going to live it out.

I discuss the role of the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life in much greater detail in my series called We Are: Pentecostal. 

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

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Are You Full Of It?

October 1, 2024 — 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. 

Would you like to be known as somebody who’s “full of it”? I know that phrase usually has a negative connotation, but I would like to make the case that this is actually a really good thing. 

Check out this episode of The Podcast. 

The Scriptures I reference in this episode are found in Acts 6:3, 8, 10; 7:54-60; Galatians 5:22-23. We also see this same Greek word for “fullness” used for other New Testament leaders like Peter, Barnabas, and Paul (Acts 4:8; 11:24; 13:9).

I have blogged and talked and written quite a bit about a godly leader’s reactions being a strong indication of what a leader is truly full of. Three notable leadership posts are: 

A godly leader’s reactions is a major theme in both of my books—Shepherd Leadership and When Sheep Bite.

You may also be interested in a post in my series about the life-transforming power of the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life entitled In > On. 

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

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Not That Other Stuff, But Prayer

September 17, 2024 — 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. 

The Church heard the threats from the Sanhedrin, warning them not to talk about Jesus anymore. Their first response was to go to God: “When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God“ (Acts 4:24). 

Not signing a petition or organizing a protest, but praying.
Not telling their friends to gain support, but praying.
Not attacking, but praying.
Not discussing, but praying.
Not strategizing, but praying.
Not complaining, but praying.
Not individually, but together.
Not later, but immediately.
Not going through the motions, but passionately.
Not aimlessly, but guided by Scripture.
Not humdrum, but expecting God’s power from on high.
Not for vengeance, but for a testimony.

God answered the Church powerfully! 

Then the people moved out boldly—“And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). 

Oh, for this type of unifying action today! It starts with prayer!

You may also like my blog post and sermon 4 Holy Spirit-Enhanced Habits, and my whole series on prayer called Be A First Responder.  

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

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Agreement With Scripture

September 11, 2024 — 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. 

The first Church in the Book of Acts could have easily become the first two churches right from the beginning. Why? Because of a deep disagreement that pitted two camps against each other.

Unity was ultimately maintained because they all agreed to only listen to the counsel that agreed with Scripture. 

This is a clip from a sermon I shared called Unity Is Not Conformity. 

The Scriptures I reference in this clip are Acts 15:1-35 and 2 Chronicles 18:11-13. 

You may also be interested in my blog post and sermon video called The Inspiration of Scripture. 

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

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Do Not Judge?

September 9, 2024 — 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. 

As we learned last week, we are not the judge, nor the jury, nor the prosecution, nor even the sin police in deciding appropriate retribution. With that in mind, let’s consider Statement #15 in our series—Do not judge. Is that in the Bible? 

Yes, those three words are there, spoken by Jesus, in Matthew 7:1. But then again, we need to say, no, because these words don’t mean we are not to make determination about the rightness or wrongness of something. 

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

Let’s zoom-out a bit get the context of the words Jesus spoke. Who was His audience for these words? This is a part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7). Notice in the opening words, “His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them” (5:1-2). So Jesus isn’t speaking to the world at-large, but He is talking with His disciples. 

Jesus was very specific in His wording. In talking about the world, He uses words like people (5:11) or men (5:16; 6:1, 5). When talking about His disciples, He uses one word quite frequently: brother (3x in 5:22-24). 

Matthew 7:1 is still in this sermon, and the word brother appears 3x in vv. 3-5. So these are instructions primarily for Christians to use with other Christian brothers and sisters. 

The words judge here in the Greek means, “Those who judge severely (unfairly), finding fault with this or that in others.” To me, “this or that” sounds like a deliberate searching for something wrong, but Jesus assures us that this will boomerang on the judgmental person (v. 2; Luke 6:37). 

In modern psychology, we find terms like:  

  • mirroring = a psychological term the means quickly seeing what’s in others because it’s in me 
  • projection = taking the negative things in me and projecting them onto others

Paul addresses both of these thoughts in Romans 2:1-3, where the word for judging here is the same Greek word Jesus uses in Matthew 7.

Paul concludes his remarks by reminding us that God treats us kindly (Romans 2:4). David echos this same thought in Psalm 103:8-10, 13-14. 

When you read the whole passage in Matthew 7:1-5, please notice the words “brother,”  “first,” and “then.”  

Jesus does not mean that I am not to point out to my brothers and sisters any areas of concern. Jesus did this, as well as nearly every epistle writer. What it does mean is that correction needs to be gentle and never condemning. In other words, I want to lovingly help someone before they have to stand before The Judge. 

That’s why I need to first humbly recognize that what I see in others may be apparent to me because I am afflicted with the same thing. That’s why Jesus says first deal with my own plank. Examine myself  before I try to correct a brother or sister (1 Corinthians 11:28; 2 Corinthians 13:5). 

After I have allowed the Holy Spirit to deal with my plank, I will then have the empathy to help my brother or sister (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Trying to get someone else to repent of something that still exists in my life is hypocritical. 

If I see something wrong in someone else:

  1. First ask the Holy Spirit to search me. 
  2. If necessary, confess it, repent from it, ask forgiveness, make things right. 
  3. Then lovingly and humbly share with your brother or sister (Ephesians 4:15). 

If someone else sees something wrong in me, I should follow the exact same steps! 

This is not easy, but it is vital for the Body of Christ to grow in a healthy way. 

If you’ve missed any of the other messages in this installment of our series Is That In The Bible?, you can find them all here. 

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

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