Thursdays With Oswald—The Etceteras

December 13, 2012 — 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.

The Etceteras 

     Do you regard yourself as a highly respectable, dignified Christian? Are you religiously self-important, placing yourself where you fancy you ought to be placed, in stately surroundings? If so, you are not following Jesus Christ’s example. 

     If you cannot do ordinary things and live as nobody anywhere, you are not a saint. Jesus left Heaven and lived nowhere of any importance all His earthly life. There is a religiosity that is inspired by the devil, that gathers its skirts around it and says, “No, I cannot be in ordinary places, or in ordinary avocations; I am a servant of God.” Then you will be found nowhere but in the very commonest of common places.

     You say you are called to be a missionary, a minister, a Christian worker: you are called to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, other things are etceteras. 

From God’s Workmanship 

I can think of only one reasonable response to this: I need to go look in the mirror and ask the Holy Spirit to show me where I’ve been more focused on the etceteras than I have on being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

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Showers Of Blessings

December 7, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

My Word will not return emptyAs the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Pastor, please carefully read these words from Oswald Chambers, written nearly a century ago, but still so relevant for us today—

“God’s Word is a seed. The ‘seed-thought’ idea is one that preachers and evangelists need to remember. We imagine we have to plough the field, sow the seed, reap the grain, bind it into sheaves, put it through the threshing machine, make the bread—all in one discourse. … 

“The truth is we don’t believe God can do His work without us. We are so anxious about the word, so anxious about the people who have accepted the word; we need not be, if we have preached what is a word of God it is not our business to apply it, the Holy Spirit will apply it. Our duty is to sow the word, see that it is the word of God we preach, and not ‘huckster’ it with other things, and God says it will prosper in the thing whereto He sends it. …

“He says, ‘My word…will not return to Me empty.’ Every temptation to exalt the human, human experience, human interests and blessings, will fall short; the only thing that prospers in God’s hands is His own word.”

From God’s Workmanship, emphasis added

I need to be reminded of that again. Perhaps, my fellow pastor, you needed it to. This Sunday just preach the word God has given you, and then let the Holy Spirit take it from there. God WILL bring the harvest in His time.

UPDATE: In the final chapter of my book Shepherd Leadership (a chapter entitled “Applause”) I wrote this:

      Did you catch that? Twice Paul reminds us that it is God who makes things grow [1 Corinthians 3:4-8]. God, not man. So is the only successful ministry the one that harvests? How did they harvest without someone watering the seed? What exactly were they watering if no one had planted any seeds? And even with everyone doing the work, it is still God who makes things grow. 

      According to Paul, what does God reward? It’s not numeric growth, but shepherds “will be rewarded for their own hard work … the work the Lord gave us.”

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Thursdays With Oswald—Don’t Try To Be Humble

November 29, 2012 — 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.

Don’t Try To Be Humble

     Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 18:4)

     If humility were put up as an ideal it would serve only to increase pride. Humility is not an ideal, it is the unconscious result of the life being rightly related to God and centered in Him. … 

     If we are born again and obeying the Holy Spirit, we shall unconsciously manifest humility all along the line. We shall easily be the servant of all men, not because it is our ideal, but because we cannot help it. Our eye is not consciously on our service, but on our Savior. 

From Biblical Psychology

Humility is so very fragile. If you look at your humility, you cannot help feeling pride at how humble you are. And—poof!—your humility disappears.

Oswald Chambers says in essence, “Don’t try to be humble. Don’t look at your humility. Just keep your eyes on Jesus, and serve only Him.” By doing so, you cannot help but live humbly.

“If we are born again and obeying the Holy Spirit, we shall unconsciously manifest humility all along the line. We shall easily be the servant of all men, not because it is our ideal, but because we cannot help it.”

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Sola Deo Gloria

November 5, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

God wants to be glorified in your church service! That’s probably a “Duh!” statement, right? After all, who would disagree with that one?

But did you know God also wants to be glorified when you’re eating your dinner? And when you’re out with your friends? And when you’re on your job? And in your marriage? And in your private thought life?

Sola Deo gloria means that everything we do is only for the glory of God.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Sola Deo gloria means that there are no sacred/secular compartments in your life. You don’t have some activities that are for God and other activities that are not for God. All of life is for Him and for His glory.

“The shop, the barn, the scullery, and the smithy become temples when men and women do all to the glory of God! Then divine service is not a thing of a few hours and a few places, but all life becomes holiness unto the Lord, and every place and thing, as consecrated as the tabernacle and its golden candlestick.” —Charles Spurgeon

It borders on arrogance for me to say, “God, this is what I’m going to do and I want You to bless it.”

A better way to say it is like this: “God, what will bring You the most glory as I go to work? Or have a conversation with a friend? Or enjoy an evening out with my spouse? Or spend some time watching TV?”

What will bring You the most glory? If you ask this question, the Holy Spirit will answer it. Instead of you asking God to bless what you are going to do, He will show you what He’s already blessing—the ways in which He will be most glorified—and then you can go do that.

Try it this week: Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how you can bring glory to God in all that you do. Sola Deo gloria!

If you have missed any of the messages in this series, you can find them all here.

UPDATE: After posting this, I ran across a video from John Piper about God’s glory and I wanted to share it with you…

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Worthy Of Imitation

October 12, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

I pray that my life is worthy of imitation. And, pastor, I pray yours is too!

Here’s how to make sure it is an imitable life: I can’t just talk a good life. Paul wrote, “Our gospel came to you not simply with words….” Words are important, but they shouldn’t be a replacement for a life that backs up those words. Paul continues his thought:

Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction…. (1 Thessalonians 1:5)

Their sermons were backed up by the help of the Holy Spirit, and the deep conviction that Paul, Silas, and Timothy lived by. This was all outwardly focused toward others. Look how Paul concludes this verse, “…you know how we lived among you for your sake.”

They never attempted to use the gospel or their calling to benefit themselves, but always for the benefit of others and for the glory of God.

The result (v. 6):

You became imitators of us and of the Lord. 

I pray that all of us can say this about our congregations!

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Thursdays With Oswald—I Hope I Am Insane!

October 11, 2012 — 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.

I Hope I Am Insane!

     Insanity simply means that a man is differently related to affairs from the majority of other men and is sometimes dangerous. Paul was charged with madness (Acts 26:24-25), and the same charge was brought against Jesus Christ—“For they said, He is beside Himself.” 

     Have you ever noticed the wisdom of the charge? Both Jesus Christ and Paul were unquestionably mad, according to the standard of the wisdom of this world; they were related to affairs differently from the majority of other men, consequently, for the sake of self-preservation, they must be got rid of. Our Lord was crucified, and Paul was beheaded. When we are imbued with Jesus Christ’s Spirit and are related to life as He was, we shall find that we are considered just as mad according to the standard of this world. 

From Biblical Psychology (emphasis added)

The teachings of Jesus are not only counter-cultural, but they are also are 180-degrees out-of-sync with worldly wisdom. I don’t want to be worldly wise; I want to be called insane by the “wise” men of this world!

Later in this same chapter Oswald Chambers writes:

Read the expositions of the Sermon on the Mount today and you will find some of the cleverest dialectics that have ever been written. The writers try to prove that Jesus is not mad according to the standards of this world; but He is mad, absolutely mad, and there is no apology needed for saying it. Either the modern attitude to things must alter, or it must pronounce Jesus Christ mad. 

Holy Spirit, may I never live my life by the “sane” beliefs and practices of this world’s culture, but may I be imbued with Jesus Christ’s Spirit and related to life as He was.

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More And More

October 10, 2012 — 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.

There’s a popular cliché that many motivators use to challenge people to go beyond where they are. They will cheer them on by saying, “C’mon, let’s raise the bar!” The only problem is, once someone clears the bar’s next height, they usually celebrate and then stop trying to go any higher.

Christians should be especially on guard against this mindset. It’s not a one-time thing. I don’t simply invite Jesus into my life and then set Him on a shelf. If I’m going to live a life that pleases God, I must learn how to do so more and more.

…We instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more (1 Thessalonians 4:1).

The KJV says, “abound more and more.” This means that there is no set level I’m trying to reach, but that the level is always higher—there’s always more, my capacity is always increasing.

More and more is a single word in the Greek language. It means:

  • More willingly
  • More readily
  • Sooner

When the Holy Spirit speaks to me, do I respond and obey more willingly? more readily? sooner? If I do, then I am truly abounding more and more.

The mark of my maturity is a more willing, faster obedience.

This relentless focus on pleasing God more and more then overflows in the way I cheer on and encourage my brothers and sisters. Paul uses the exact same Greek word for more and more when he says a few verses later: “We urge you, brothers, to [express brotherly love] more and more” (vv. 9-10).

My increasing capacity and willingness to love and obey God more and more overflows into my increasing capacity and willingness to love and serve others more and more.

My prayer for you and for me: Holy Spirit, help us to hear Your voice, to abound more and more in our obedience to Your direction, and to express our love more and more to others.

►► 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—Two Dangerous Extremes

September 27, 2012 — 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.

Two Dangerous Extremes 

     Possibly the best illustration we can use is that of a lamp. A lamp unlighted will illustrate individuality; a lighted lamp will illustrate personality. The lighted lamp takes up no more room, but the light permeates far and wide; so the influence of personality goes beyond that of individuality. “You are the light of the world” said our Lord. Individually we do not take up much room, but our influence is far beyond our calculation. … 

     Individuality, then, is a smaller term than personality. Personality means that peculiar, incalculable being that is meant when you speak of “you” as distinct from everybody else. People say, “Oh, I cannot understand myself”; of course you can’t! “Nobody can understand me”; of course they don’t! There is only one Being Who understand us, and that is our Creator. … 

     There are possibilities below the threshold of our lives which no one but God knows…. God makes a man know that He is searching him. … 

     Introspection without God leads to insanity. … The people with no tendency to introspect are those described in the New Testament as “dead in trespasses and sins,” they are quite happy, quite contented, quite moral, all they want is easily within their grasp, everything is all right with them; but they are dead to the world to which Jesus Christ belongs, and it takes His voice and His Spirt to awaken them. …

     The path of peace is for us to hand ourselves over to God and ask Him to search us, not what we think we are, or what other people think we are, or what we persuade ourselves we are or would like to be, but, “Search me out, O God, explore me as I really am in Thy sight.” 

From Biblical Psychology

There are two dangerous extremes: Never looking within ourselves, and looking within ourselves without God’s help.

If you want your personality to shine far and wide, you must pray regularly as David did: “O Lord, You have searched me and You know me. Now search me again, and reveal to me anything that is offensive or displeasing to You, and then help me to change those things” (see Psalm 139:23-24).

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Thursdays With Oswald—Christ Exhibited In Me

September 20, 2012 — 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.

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.

Christ Exhibited In Me 

     The inspiration of God does not patch up my natural virtues; He re-makes the whole of my being until we find that every virtue we possess is His alone. God does not come in and patch up our good works, He puts in the Spirit that was characteristic of Jesus; it is His patience, His love, and His tenderness and gentleness that are exhibited through us. … When God alters a man’s heart and plants His Spirit within, his actions have the inspiration of God behind them; if they have not, they may have the inspiration of satan. 

From Biblical Psychology

This passage reminds me of a story told about Francis of Assisi. While he was hoeing his garden, someone asked him, “What would you do if you knew you would die at the end of the day today?” Francis thoughtfully replied, “I’d finish hoeing this garden.”

Francis’ view should be ours as well: Every thought, every word, every action is directed by the Spirit of Christ in me. What I am doing now, I’m doing because the Holy Spirit inspired me to do it.

It’s encouraging to know that Christ can be exhibited in everything I think, say, and do. But it’s also very sobering to realize that I need to be constantly tuned in to the influence of the Holy Spirit.

I never want to be out-of-step with the Holy Spirit, but I want all my thoughts, words, and actions to be Christ exhibited in me.

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

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It’s Not Anger Management

September 17, 2012 — 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.

Aristotle had an insightful quote that was almost accurate—

“Anybody can become angry—that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way—that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.”

I agree with most of this, but I would argue that it’s not within anybody’s power to express their anger in the right way.

The Bible says that our challenge is to not sin when we are angry (Ephesians 4:26). But most anger is selfishly provoked. That means, I’m angry because I have been offended, or my “rights” have been violated, or someone injured me.

If my anger has been selfishly provoked, how can I be expected to express my anger in any other fashion but selfishly?!

Instead of me trying to manage my anger, I need to listen to the Holy Spirit’s voice. There is one important question the Spirit asks us (which comes from Jonah 4:9)—

Do you do well to be angry?

  • Is it good for me to be angry with this? or should I let this go?
  • Is my anger righteously provoked? or is it selfishly provoked?
  • Does this grieve the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 63:10)?

God’s Spirit within you is never silent. He will either confirm that your anger is righteously provoked (as it was with Jesus in John 2:13-17), or it’s selfishly provoked (as it was with Jonah). That’s why you must ask yourself that question and allow the Holy Spirit to help you answer it: Do I do well to be angry?

If you answer “yes,” and the Holy Spirit confirms this in your heart, then He will help you to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way (as Aristotle said).

And if you answer “no,” the Holy Spirit is the only one who can help put out the flames of your anger in a healthy way.

So don’t try to manage your temper. Listen to the Holy Spirit asking you, “Do you do well to be angry?” And let Him guide you from there.

If you want to check out the other messages in our series called Ticked Off! you may click here.

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

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