God Chose You

January 9, 2013 — 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.

Sometimes life is hard and we can lose sight of a very important fact. Through the trials, and the testings, and the difficult situations, and the valleys, and the times we’re tempted to throw in the towel, you must remember this one fact…

God chose to give you birth (see James 1:18).

You are not an accident.

You are not an after-thought.

You are not an unintended consequence.

God chose to give you birth.

He planned for you to be here.

Therefore He pours out His lavish gifts, including the greatest gift of all—eternal life.

Think about it: What greater proof is there that God chose you than He sent His Son to earth to make it possible for you to live with Him forever! 

Let those words sink in—GOD WANTS YOU WITH HIM FOREVER!

God chose to give you birth, and to give you a second birth—eternal life.

For God so loved you, that He gave His One and Only Son as a sacrifice for your sins. If you believe that, you will spend eternity with Him! 

God chose you!

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Jesus: A Theography (book review)

January 7, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

Jesus A TheographyVery rarely do I say what I’m going to say about Jesus: A Theography by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola: This is a must-read!

Jesus does such an amazing job of showing Christ in all His fullness throughout the entire Bible, that I cannot recommend it highly enough. It’s a weighty read covering a weighty subject. At over 300 pages of text, 20+ pages of quotes from imminent theologians, and nearly 100 pages of end notes, this book gives you so much to contemplate. As much as I enjoy speed reading my books, this was a book that I had to read and digest slowly, as there was so much to process in each paragraph.

Far too many people think Jesus “showed up” in the New Testament. But Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola do a masterful job of weaving together the Old and New Testament texts (or, as the authors call them, the First and Second Testaments), to show Christ in all His fullness. If you are among those who have only seen Jesus in the New/Second Testament, you are about to have your paradigm totally rocked!

Let me restate my opening paragraph again—If you want to know more about Jesus Christ, Jesus: A Theography is a must-read!

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

Check out some quotes from this book here.

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Thursdays With Oswald—The Vices And Virtues Of Vowing

January 3, 2013 — 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 Vices And Virtues Of Vowing 

     The vices of vowing outweigh the virtues, because vowing is built on a misconception of human nature as it really is. If a man had the power to will pure will it would be different, but he has not. There are certain things a man cannot do, not because he is bad, but because he is not constituted to do them. We make vows which are impossible of fulfillment because no man can remain master of himself always; there comes a time when the human will must yield allegiance to a force greater than itself, it must yield to God or to the devil. 

     Modern ethical teaching bases everything on the power of the will, but we need to recognize also the perils of the will. The man who has achieved a moral victory by the sheer force of his will is less likely to want to become a Christian than the man who has come to the moral frontier of his own need. It is the obstinate man who makes vows, and by the very fulfillment of his vow he may increase his inability to see things from Jesus Christ’s standpoint. …

     It is not our vows before God that tell, but the coming to God exactly as we are, in all our weakness, and being held and kept by Him. Make no vows at this New Year time, but look to God and bank on the Reality of Jesus Christ. 

From God’s Workmanship

When considering your New Year’s resolutions (or vows, as Chambers calls them), remember these sobering words: “It is the obstinate man who makes vows, and by the very fulfillment of his vow he may increase his inability to see things from Jesus Christ’s standpoint.”

Don’t let your resolutions blind you to seeing how Jesus Christ wants to work through your weaknesses.

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Your Autobiography

December 31, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

This quote from Oswald Chambers is right on target—

“Faith must have an autobiography.” 

You cannot live the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph or Moses.

You cannot live the stories of Peter, John or Paul.

You cannot live the stories of your grandparents or parents.

You can only live your story.

Your faith in Jesus must have an autobiography.

When Jesus tells us to let your light shine, and to go into all the world and preach, and to be My witnesses, He’s calling us to live our own story. He’s calling us to write an autobiography of faith.

How brightly will you live your faith autobiography in this new year?

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Counting Down 2012: #5 Pet (Pastoral) Peeve

December 28, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

I am counting down the top 5 posts that I wrote in 2012, as determined by the number of views during this year. The 5th most read post is: Pet (Pastoral) Peeve.

One of my biggest pet peeves: hearing pastors say, “Ministry would be great if it weren’t for the people.”

Pastor: People ARE your ministry!

After Christ’s resurrection, He wanted to help restore Peter. Jesus asked Peter a simple question, “Do you love Me?” When Peter acknowledged that he did, Jesus gave Peter a way to show it: “Feed My sheep.” I believe this exchange is what Peter had in mind when he penned the words,

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. (1 Peter 5:2,3)

Is it hard to be a shepherd? Yes.

Are some sheep difficult to shepherd? Yes.

Is it worth it to shepherd them? Yes, yes, YES!!

I love Oswald Chambers’ insight on this —

Jesus has some extraordinarily peculiar sheep: some that are unkempt and dirty, some that are awkward or pushy, and some that have gone astray! But it is impossible to exhaust God’s love, and it is impossible to exhaust my love if it flows from the Spirit of God within me. The love of God pays no attention to my prejudices caused by my natural individuality. If I love my Lord, I have no business being guided by natural emotions—I have to feed His sheep.

Jesus, increase my capacity to love Your sheep. All of Your sheep—the ones that bite; the ones that are nice; the ones that are untidy; the ones that are clean; the ones that are thankful; the ones that are ungrateful; the ones that “get it”; the ones that don’t. All of YOUR sheep. Thank You, Lord, for the supreme honor and heavy responsibility of serving as Your under-shepherd.

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Scared Half To Death

December 24, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Mega fearHave you ever had a really good scare that turned your life around? For some people, they need to be scared half to death in order for them to make changes in their lives.

I think this is what happened to the shepherds outside Bethlehem the night Jesus was born (Luke 2:8-20). The Bible says that when the glory of the Lord shone around them they were terrified (the King James Version is very picturesque when it says they were sore afraid). The Greek word for fear is phobeo, but the phrase Luke uses here for “terrified” is megas phobeo phobos. Get the picture? They were scared half to death!!

But now, what to do what that fear? The angel gave them the first step—Go find Jesus. He didn’t tell them to get themselves cleaned up, or start going to church, or even to stop acting a certain way. Simply go find Jesus.

The shepherds obeyed and went to meet Jesus, and then something amazing happens.

  • Their fear is turned to praise—the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God.
  • Their silence is turned to testimony—they spread the word concerning what had been told them.

Jesus was born as a Man to experience all our fears and sorrows and pains. But He took these upon Himself as He became the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice. Now there are no fears that can keep us from God’s presence. Jesus conquered all that kept us from God! 

There was nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance, nothing to attract us to Him.He was despised and rejected—a Man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins! But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. (Isaiah 53:2-5; Ephesians 1:3-4)

This Christmas I pray you will…

Find Jesus for yourself!

Let your praises to Him ring out!

Tell others what Jesus has done for you!

If you have missed any of the messages in our Fear Not! series, you can find them all by clicking here.

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Thursdays With Oswald—God’s Honor Is At Stake

December 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.

God’s Honor Is At Stake

      As long as a Christian complies with the standards of this world, the world recognizes him; but when he works from the real standard, which is God, the world cannot understand him, and consequently it either ignores or ridicules him….

      God’s honor is at stake in my eyes, in my hands and feet; His honor is at stake wherever I take my body. My body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, therefore I have to see that it is the obedient slave of the disposition Jesus Christ has put in to stand for Him.

From Biblical Psychology

God’s honor is at stake in how I live, so I must constantly allow the Holy Spirit to help me answer the questions, “How am I living?” and “How am I representing God?”

Here’s a passage of Scripture I try to keep in mind to help me answer those questions:

   But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:15-17)

In light of that passage from Peter and the wise words from Oswald Chambers, these are some good questions to ask ourselves:

Remember, “God’s honor is at stake in my eyes, in my hands and feet; His honor is at stake wherever I take my body.”

May God always be honored in the way that we all live!

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Inside Out

December 18, 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.

Relationships can only grow from the inside out. Consider this passage from the book of Hebrews—

The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:13-14)

Religion is concerned about the outside—how does it look?

Relationship with Jesus is concerned about the inside—how does it work?

Religion seeks to work outside in.

Relationship works inside out.

Religion is the starting point.

Relationship is the goal.

When I first met my wife Betsy, I was attracted initially by the outward things—her physical beauty, her actions, her words. But if I only stayed at the outward level, everything would be focused on keeping up appearances. I would be worshiping the idol of physical beauty. Then as soon as I saw someone whom I perceived to have more physical beauty, I would abandon Betsy for the next attractive thing.

But Betsy’s outside was only the starting point; it drew me deeper inside into a relationship. As I got to know the real Betsy, I fell more and more in love. The inner beauty far exceeded the outward beauty. But then something amazing happened: the inner beauty enhanced her outward beauty.

The outside (religion) is only finite. The inside (relationship) is infinite.

The old religion started on the outside; Jesus Christ works from the inside. He doesn’t ask me to clean up the outside, but He cleanses my conscience so I can clean up the inside. This inner cleansing will eventually show up outside. The inner relationship beautifies and makes more meaningful the outer religion. The inner life (infinite, eternal) overwhelms the outer life (finite, temporal).

Don’t throw out religion and religious practices, but don’t use those as the only means of coming to Christ. Allow Jesus to work inside on your relationship with Him, and then the outside will become more beautiful and even more meaningful.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. Like this video where I explain what the Bible means when we “examine” our lives. ◀︎◀︎

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Do It Again, Pastor!

December 17, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Monday morning is one of my favorite times. I reflect back on the great things God did in our service the day before, and I look ahead with anticipation to what He is going to do in this next Sunday. If I look at this here-comes-Sunday-again cycle through merely human eyes, it can appear quite overwhelming. But God has called me to do this, and He energizes me by His Holy Spirit.

I love these words from Pastor James MacDonald—

“Only a pastor who preaches biblically for the glory of Jesus and the feeding of souls, week after week, can understand that pressure. It’s like finals week in college—but it happens every week. Explaining a Bible passage is child’s play compared to digging out a word from the Word about the WORD for your people.

“Can you give your best to it again, Pastor? Can you breathe on a passage of Scripture that is now unfamiliar, until it bursts into flame by the faithful ministry of the Holy Spirit in response to your hard work? Can you stoke that fire until it is bursting within you to be proclaimed as the ‘Bread of Life’?

“Yes, you can—and when you have, you will be exhausted but deeply satisfied in what God will do in and through you as a result. And you will count the days until you GET to do it again.”

Pastor, you can do it again! Doing God’s will, preaching His Word, should be your greatest joy and your greatest source of strength. This is why I don’t like to take Monday as my day off: I get so much more nourishment and refreshment from my time in God’s presence on Monday morning than I would get anywhere else.

Meanwhile [Jesus’] disciples urged Him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then His disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought Him food?”

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.”

(John 4:31-34)

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The Heavy Responsibility of Shepherding

December 13, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

My dear pastor, our task is not an easy one. It is one of heavy responsibility: Caring for God’s sheep.

They are God’s sheep. They are not your sheep or my sheep. But you and I have been given the stewardship care of God’s precious lambs.

I hope these words God spoken through the prophet Ezekiel don’t describe you. But may all of us pastors take them as a sober reminder of the weightiness of our role as the under-shepherds of God’s flocks…

Then this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep? You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve. You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty. So My sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal. They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.

“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, you abandoned My flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. And though you were My shepherds, you didn’t search for My sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I now consider these shepherds My enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to My flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue My flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey.” (Ezekiel 34:1-10)

UPDATE: This post was one of the seed thoughts that went into fashioning my book Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics That Really Matter.

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