Don’t Just Sit There

March 26, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I’m convinced that in my pursuit of a deeper relationship with Christ, neutral is the most vulnerable position I can take.

I can pursue God with all I’ve got. Every day I can learn a little more what it means to love God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, and with all my strength.

Or I can make a decision that I’ve gone as far as I can in my relationship with Jesus. I can say, “I’m not willing to be stretched any further. I’m comfortable with where I am.” But when I get into this neutral position, I’m more likely to slide away from God than I am to move closer to Him. It’s hard to even stay where I was. Check this out:

BLESSED—HAPPY, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable—is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly—following their advice, their plans and purposes—nor stands submissive and inactive in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down to relax and rest where the scornful and the mockers gather.

It’s when I become inactive that I am vulnerable to ungodly counsel.

It’s when I sit down to relax that I can easily slip into the cynical banter of the scornful.

If I want to avoid the downward slide away from God, I can’t just sit still. I’ve got to be actively, passionately, wholeheartedly moving toward Him. Solomon wrote:

Make your ear attentive to skillful and godly Wisdom and incline and direct your heart and mind to understanding—applying all your powers to the quest for it.

Don’t just sit there! Keep on moving closer and closer to Jesus every day.

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What’s So Amazing About Grace (book review)

March 23, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Philip Yancey calls grace “the last best word,” and I quite agree. What’s So Amazing About Grace is a challenging read because it is so painful. The truth of our almost daily practice of ungrace is confronting and convicting.

Throughout this book I wanted to say, “I’m glad I don’t behave that way.” And then I’d get a quick glance of myself in the mirror and realize how easily I slip into the same ungraceful behavior I despise. I so desperately want to be a grace-filled man.

Here are just a few of the passages that I’m meditating on, and trying to apply to my life:

  • “I yearn for the church to become a nourishing culture of grace.”
  • “Sociologists have a theory of the looking-glass self: you become what the most important person in your life (wife, father, boss, etc.) thinks you are. How would my life change if I truly believed the Bible’s astounding words about God’s love for me, if I looked in the mirror and saw what God sees?”
  • “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.” (Dorothy Day)
  • “In a brilliant stroke Jesus replaces the two assumed categories, righteous and guilty, with two different categories: sinners who admit and sinners who deny.”
  • “Grace substitutes a full, childlike and delighted acceptance of our Need, a joy in total dependence. We become ‘jolly beggars.’” (C.S. Lewis)
  • “Having spent time around ‘sinners’ and also around purported ‘saints,’ I have a hunch why Jesus spent so much time with the former group: I think He preferred their company. Because the sinners were honest about themselves and had not pretense, Jesus could deal with them. In contrast, the saints put on airs, judged Him, and sought to catch Him in a moral trap. In the end it was the saints, not the sinners, who arrested Jesus.”

If you are challenged about living grace-filled in an increasingly grace-less society, you will find ample help in reading this book.

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Bad Theology

March 17, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I’m working on the next lesson in our Spiritual Self-Defense series. It’s a tough topic to address: the deity of Jesus, who was fully God and fully Man.

I know it’s very hard for a finite human mind to grasp an infinite concept like this. However in my studies I have found some really bad theology posted on the web. I realize as soon as I say, “It’s like this…” that I’ve already diminished the majesty of God coming to earth in human form, because Christ’s virgin birth, sinless life, sacrificial death and resurrection is nothing like anything we can comprehend. But still, I need to find a way to capture it and explain it to our students.

C.S. Lewis wrote about the need for good philosophy to address bad philosophy. I’m adapting his quote in this instance to say,

“Good [theology] must exist, if for no other reason, because bad [theology] needs to be answered.”

Prayerfully my good theology can answer the bad theology that I’ve been seeing.

Theology is a compound word: Theos (God) + Logos (wisdom, revelation, thought). I’ve been praying that God will give me greater revelation about Him. And I’m grateful that the Holy Spirit has given me some like analogies to use. But I’m still blown away by how unlike anything we’ve ever known was the coming of Jesus to earth. It is truly the grandest of all miracles.

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What Do You Want On Your Tombstone

March 12, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I’m preparing for our upcoming series called Be An Andrew.

Andrew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, but we know so little about him. Only a few of his spoken words are recorded for us, and he is only mentioned by name 13 times in the New Testament. But one thing is so clear in those few mentions: All he did was invite people to meet Jesus…

  • His brother Peter, who went on to become one of the leaders of the first Christian church.
  • A young boy, whose small lunch fed thousands.
  • Non-Jewish Greeks who wanted to meet the Messiah.

Wouldn’t you love to have that written on your tombstone? If my entire life was captured in just one sentence, I’d love for it to be:

He just brought people to Jesus.

What do you want on your tombstone?

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The Point Of The Gospel

March 10, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

While I was preparing for our Spiritual Self-Defense class, Rick Warren tweeted this timely reminder: “If you spend more time defending the truth than actually sharing it, you will have missed the point of the Gospel.”

What is the point of the Gospel? Isn’t it simply that mankind is lost without God, and that only a relationship with Jesus can bring true life? If that’s the point, we can never argue someone into this divine relationship.

Here are some other thoughts I’m trying to keep in mind for this exciting class:

  • Jesus never shouted down those who disagreed with Him. Isaiah’s prophesy about Jesus said, “He will not shout or cry out, or raise His voice in the streets.” And that’s exactly how Jesus conducted Himself.
  • Jesus said, “God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending His Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.” Jesus didn’t come to win an argument, but to win lost people to a relationship with His Father.
  • There are very few exclamation points in Christ’s dialogue in the Gospels, but there are a lot of question marks. He was interested in engaging people in conversation.
  • G. K. Chesterton said, “The principle objection to a quarrel is that it interrupts an argument.” We need to discuss, not argue.

I’m really looking forward to leading this class, but I’m also excited about what I’m learning in the process.

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“Amazing Grace…

March 9, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

…how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I’m found; was blind but now I see.”

I’ve heard it reported that John Newton’s song may be the most well-known song in the world, and yet it seems we still live in a world so dominated by ungrace.

Another verse of this beloved song says, “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.” How could grace bring both fear and relief? I think it is because grace is freely given. We don’t deserve grace, and yet Jesus paid a terrible price for us to recieve it.

We’re more used to earning what we recieve. Sometimes looking at our own lives of ungrace we may feel like we’ve earned punishment, which is why the thought of grace brings fear. Yet the more we learn about God’s grace, the more those fears are relieved.

I need to learn more about grace. I want to soak in all that it means—the full impact—to be a recipient of God’s grace.

I love this definition of grace from Philip Yancey:
“There is nothing we can do to make God love us more.
There is nothing we can do to make God love us less.”

God’s grace truly is amazing!

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Flight Is Your Best Fight

February 19, 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. 

He was ripped and he was handsome. She was lonely and she was hungry. He followed God and she gave lip-service to the numerous gods of Egypt. He was Joseph and she was Potiphar’s wife. He was in charge of all of Potiphar’s household and she was attracted to that power.

A pretty heady place for Joseph to be. Think about it, guys, how would you feel? You’re good looking, successful, and the object of some babe’s desire. What are you going to do with all of that?

Do you know what Joseph did? He ignored her to the point of almost being rude:

And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

Or even be with her is a rude phrase. It means she was doing everything she could think of to bring him to her, and he was thwarting her at every turn:

  • She walked into a room; he walked out.
  • She planned her path to run into him; he went out of his way to change his route.
  • She smiled; he kept a straight-faced.
  • She flirted; he ignored.
  • She was persistent; he was consistent.

There are many temptations the Bible tells us to fight. But there are two that we’re advised to flee: idolatry and sexual immorality.

Joseph chose fleeing over fighting.

Solomon said, “When you know what that sort of woman is up to, don’t even walk down her street.”

Talk to Wisdom as to a sister. Treat Insight as your companion. They’ll be with you to fend off the Temptress—that smooth-talking, honey-tongued Seductress.

Jesus said, “Don’t even entertain any thoughts about that kind of woman.”

From this type of temptation, your best fight is flight.

Guys, be like Joseph: stay away, take a different path, don’t smile at the flirty jokes, don’t hang out at her desk, don’t treat her politely. RUN AWAY.

Flight is your best fight against sexual temptation.

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One Of The Most Unusual Stories

February 17, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

There is one of the most unusual stories inserted in Genesis 38. I say “inserted” because it almost seems out of place. In chapter 37, Joseph’s brothers have just sold him into slavery and convinced their Dad that a wild animal killed him. In chapter 39, we pick up Joseph’s story again as he arrives in Egypt.

Genesis 38 has a story that doesn’t fit in Joseph’s story. It’s sort of a giant parenthesis. Not only that, it’s a story of mistake after error after mess up after bad judgment after more mistakes.

Judah, an older brother of Joseph, came up with the idea of selling him instead of killing him. Perhaps being around his co-conspirators was too difficult for him, so Judah left town.

  • Mistake #1: not dealing with his guilt and sin, but running away from it.

Judah married a Canaanite woman.

  • Mistake #2: inter-marrying with a non-God-fearing culture.

Judah gave his son Er in marriage to Tamar.

  • Mistake #3: allowing his son to inter-marry with the Canaanites too.

Er sinned. The Bible doesn’t say what it was, but it was so offensive that God put him to death.

  • Mistake #4: sin against God.

Onan (Judah’s second son) sinned. He had a familial responsibility to his brother and sister-in-law’s family line, but he snubbed them both.

  • Mistake #5: more sin against God.
  • Mistake #6: disregard for family.

Judah promised Shelah (his third son) to Tamar. But he procrastinated in following through on that because he thought Tamar was a black widow.

  • Mistake #7: deception.

Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute and waited along the road for Judah.

  • Mistake #8: more deception.

Judah slept with his daughter-in-law Tamar (yuck!), thinking she was a prostitute.

  • Mistake #9: fornication.
  • Mistake #10: incest.

Tamar became pregnant, and Judah wanted to have her publically punished for her infidelity.

  • Mistake #11: hypocrisy.

That’s a whole lot of sin and error and lapses in judgment and mistakes for just one family. What a mess this family had become! So, why in the world is this story inserted here? Because Tamar had twins: Perez and Zerah. In listing the royal, kingly genealogy of Jesus, Matthew writes…

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar.

Perez is listed in the genealogy of Jesus. God took all of those mistakes and made something great come from it!

It doesn’t matter how many mistakes you’ve made. It doesn’t matter how many times you think you’ve blown it. It doesn’t matter how many lapses in judgment you’ve had. God still has a plan for you. He wants to do something great through you. Will you let Him?

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The Barbarian Way (book review)

February 15, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

With so many to follow or listen to, Erwin McManus is one of the select few pastors I tune into on a regular basis. I was never really sure what it is about Erwin that so resonates with me until I read The Barbarian Way. Now I have a reason for what I’ve always felt: I’m a barbarian too.

Religion bores me.

Religious people are de-motivating.

Denominations spend too much time with the already-churched.

Civilized Christianity is unremarkable.

Keying in on the life of John The Baptizer, Erwin takes an entirely different tact. John was so out of the religious mainstream: a long-haired, weird dresser who lived in the wilderness, eating locusts and honey, and preaching about Jesus. And, by the way, his ministry drew both the seeker and the civilized God-follower.

The seekers were both fascinated and motivated by John’s message. The religious were repulsed at the barbarity of John’s call to repentance. It was the same with Jesus’ ministry: the seekers were energized and liberated by Christ’s words; the religious were incensed.

What about me? Are my message and lifestyle barbaric enough to resonate with those seeking a relationship with Christ? Does it draw them into that relationship? Or do I live so tamed and civilized that only the religious people like my lifestyle?

Here’s how Erwin puts it:

“Civility focuses our energy on all the wrong places. We spend our lives emphasizing our personal development and spiritual well-being. We build churches that become nothing more than hiding places for the faithful while pretending that our actions are for the good of the world. … It may seem counterintuitive, but the more civilized we seem to become, the more detached from the pain of others we end up finding ourselves. The most civilized churches have really no practical concern for people outside their congregations. The brokenness of a lost and unbelieving world is not enough to inspire the painful changes necessary to make the church relevant to the world in which we live.”

I love the barbarian way of living. The Barbarian Way simply put words to what my heart was already crying out.

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

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He Gave His Own Blood

February 9, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I just read an amazing story about a West Michigan doctor working in Haiti. You can read the full article here, but let me highlight one section:

At a small health clinic east of capital city Port-Au-Prince, a teenage boy with a broken pelvis was dying from loss of blood.

West Michigan orthopedic surgeon Gregory Golladay sized up the options, then acted.

“He was the same blood type as me. He had a hemoglobin level of 5. You don’t have that and live long. His heart rate was 150. His blood pressure was 80 and going south. He was going to die.”

“I gave as much as I could into an IV bag and he lived,” recalled Golladay, 39, who is among a rotating group of physicians from Orthopedic Associates of Michigan offering critically needed medical care in Haiti.

“It is indescribable really. To see him survive was a very emotional experience. We said we were brothers and I believe it.”

Sounds just like Jesus, doesn’t it?

We were dying. Crushed by sin. There wasn’t much time left. Then Jesus came to earth to die on a Cross for you and me. He gave us His blood so that we could live:

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. That whoever would believe on Him should not die but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

And now, when we accept what Jesus did for us, we are His brothers and sisters:

God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. (Ephesians 1:5)

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