leadership | Craig T. Owens

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Be A Witness

July 7, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Jesus said we have some really, really, REALLY good news to share! It’s news about how much God loves us and wants us to know Him personally.

Jesus wanted us to spread the word far and wide about this really, really, REALLY good news, but He didn’t want us to try to do it in our own power. In fact, the last words He spoke to His disciples before ascending into Heaven were—

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

Did you catch those words: power TO BE witnesses. The Holy Spirit provides us with the resident, miracle-working, moral, influential, and enabling power not to do witnessing, but to be witnesses.

“The Pentecostal believer is to be something, not just experience something. He or she must become a living witness of Christ on earth.” —Charles Crabtree

There are really two ways that we are witnesses for Him. Our witness is:

(1) Strategic

The New Testament believers strategically met house-to-house and in the Temple (Acts 2:46).
The church strategically picked leaders to help them be effective in their witness (Acts 6:2-3).
The Holy Spirit strategically picked missionaries to be witnesses in far-off lands (Acts 13:2-3).
Those missionaries were strategic in following up on their witnessing work (Acts 15:36).

(2) Spontaneous

The newly Spirit-baptized believers were able to spontaneously worship God (Acts 2:4) and testify of His power to others (Acts 2:14).
Peter could spontaneously respond to the crowd’s question after Peter had finished his sermon (Acts 2:37-39).
Peter and John had a spontaneous reply when the Sanhedrin called them in to testify (Acts 4:8).
This spontaneous witnessing power was available to them through the Holy Spirit just as Jesus had promised (Matthew 10:17-20).

If we try to just do witnessing, our strategy will be lacking and we’ll quite possibly be caught off-guard in a spontaneous setting. But when we allow the Holy Spirit’s power to transform us TO BE witnesses, our strategies are more effective and our spontaneous moments are too! The Holy Spirit helps us share the really, really, REALLY good news!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Acts 2, Book of Acts, Charles Crabtree, church history, empowerment, God's power, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, leadership, New Testament, Pentecostal, spontaneous, strategy, witness, witnessing, worship. 1 Comment »

Links & Quotes

June 30, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some good reading from today…

Thrilled for the pro-life victory in today’s Supreme Court ruling!

[VIDEO] This is a really straightforward explanation behind the horror of the Plan B pill that Hobby Lobby stood firm against providing.

“We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.” —Henry Ward Beecher

“Whatever we may undertake with a sincere desire to promote His glory, we may comfortably pursue. Nothing is trivial that is done for Him.” —John Newton

“I would never follow a leader who doesn’t follow a leader.” —John Maxwell

“A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.” —George Bernard Shaw

[VIDEO] Why didn’t anyone tell me that Star Wars’ Mark Hamill did the voice of Joker in the animated Batman series?!?

“Quiet heroes dot the landscape of our society. They don’t make the headlines, but they do sew the hemlines and check the outlines and stand on the sidelines. You won’t find their names on the Nobel Prize short list, but you’ll find their names on the carpool, and Bible teacher lists. They are parents! Heroes! Their kids call them mom. Dad. And these moms and dads, more valuable than all the executives and lawmakers, quietly hold the world together. Be numbered among them. Read books to your kids. Play ball while you can and they want you to. Make it your aim to watch every game they play, read every story they write, hear every recital in which they perform. Children spell love with four letters: T-I-M-E. Not just quality time, but hang time, downtime, anytime, all the time! Cherish the children who share your name. Succeed at home first!” —Max Lucado

Dr. Tim Elmore has a great post called How Failure Can Be Your Kid’s Best Friend. And exciting news … he has a new book coming out! I cannot wait to read Twelve Huge Mistakes Parents Can Avoid.

“The cosmos exists to help you know God, the Maker. And the main message is that He is very great and that we are very small. We need to feel this greatness. We need to be able to say, ‘You are great, O Lord God; for there is none like You’ (2 Samuel 7:22).” —John Piper

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: abortion, Batman, books, children, Creation, Creator, Dad, Dr. Tim Elmore, failure, family, Generation Y, George Bernard Shaw, God's glory, government, Henry Ward Beecher, heroes, Hobby Lobby, John Maxwell, John Newton, John Piper, Joker, leadership, Max Lucado, mistake, Mom, parenting, pro-life, quotes, SCOTUS, Star Wars, video, worship. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

June 17, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

“A spirit of thankfulness is so at odds with a spirit of coarse jesting that when one rises, the other falls [Ephesians 5:4]. And a spirit that yearns to edify is so at odds with foul talk that when one rises, the other falls [Ephesians 4:29].” —John Piper

“Love for others is the overflow of God-given security for the good of others. It signifies that we have the resources to care about others because God cares for us.” —John Piper

British prime minister David Cameron said recently that “our religion is now the most persecuted religion around the world.” Read this post about The War On Christians.

The Assemblies of God has now shown membership growth for 24 consecutive years, and its attendance grew more in 2013 than the US population did! Check out these God-glorifying stats.

“Let anger be guarded against. If it cannot, however, be averted, let it be kept within bounds. For indignation is a terrible incentive to sin. It disorders the mind to such an extent as to leave no room for reason. The first thing, therefore, to aim at, if possible, is to make tranquility of character our natural disposition by constant practice, by desire for better things, by fixed determination.” —Ambrose of Milan

“There is no true comfort for anyone on this earth except that of the Holy Spirit. This is why you need Him abiding in you. He alone can lay you down at night, as in a warm bed, and fill your heart with perfect peace. He alone can truly comfort you in times of pain and sorrow. He is the one who will assure you, ‘This comfort is not just temporary—it is eternal!’” —David Wilkerson

Guess what? Being popular in high school may hurt you in the long run.

Surprise (or not)! The biggest tax delinquents are US government employees.

A Leader’s Nudge And Covering

June 11, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Leadership carries a heavy responsibility. I often paraphrase what the Apostle James wrote, “Not many of you should presume to be leaders because you know leaders will be judged more strictly” (see James 3:1).

Consider what was said to Jeroboam, the king of Israel: “And God will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit” (1 Kings 14:16, emphasis added).

A leader’s action has consequences not only for himself, but for all the people under his care. Sure, some Israelites were going to sin regardless of how Jeroboam lived, but his sinful lifestyle gave a nudge to those who took their cues from him. In other words, Jeroboam’s sin made it that much easier for others to sin.

I’m sure there were some Israelites who didn’t follow Jeroboam into sin, yet they were now exposed to God’s “jealous anger” (1 Kings 14:22) because Jeroboam’s sin removed the covering of God’s blessing on those northern tribes.

These principles still hold true today for me as a dad, a husband, a pastor, a citizen of Cedar Springs. And they hold true for you in your role as a spouse, a parent, an employer or employee, a Christian. Your sin may be the nudge to others that causes them to sin; your sin will remove God’s covering and expose people to His judgment.

Leaders best serve by staying wholly committed to God.

It’s only as I am wholly—and holy—His that I can nudge people toward righteousness and preserve the covering of God’s blessing.

May our lives never arouse God’s righteous anger, but may we be a blessing by wholly serving Him all the days of our lives.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Cedar Springs, commitment, consequences, Jeroboam, leadership, lifestyle, responsibility, servant-leadership, servanthood, sin. Leave a Comment »

Humility (book review)

April 15, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

David J. Bobb has a title/subtitle combination that almost sounds paradoxical—Humility: An Unlikely Biography Of America’s Greatest Virtue. After all, when many think of America they are more likely to use the terms “confidant” or even “brash,” but not usually “humble.” But in this seeming paradox is a great truth.

The Greek philosophers often described a virtue as the golden mean between two extremes. Indeed, David Bobb uses such philosophers as Socrates and Aristotle, alongside Augustine and even more modern thinkers like Benjamin Franklin, to explore how America could be virtuous because of its humility.

Or more precisely, how America could be virtuous because of humble Americans. Dr. Bobb explores the biographies of notable Americans like George Washington, James Madison, Abigail Adams, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass to give us an intriguing description of what true humility looks like. Although in their time many thought of these people as proud or even glory-seekers, Dr. Bobb shows us how it was their profound, often hard-won humility that made them examples worth emulating.

And we do need these examples. In the epilogue, Dr. Bobb quotes Oliver Wendell Holmes, “Humility is the first of the virtues for other people.” How true! The question is: Will Americans re-learn the virtuous power and strength of humility, or will humility continue to erode, mistaken by many as a weakness?

For both history enthusiasts, leaders, leaders-in-training, and those who love a good biography, Humility is a very enjoyable and educational book.

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Abigail Adams, Abraham Lincoln, American history, Aristotle, Augustine, Benjamin Franklin, biography, book review, David Bobb, Frederick Douglass, George Washington, humility, James Madison, leadership, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Socrates, virtue. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

April 10, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some great reading from today.

“All of the advertising we can do will never equal the interest and participation in the things of God resulting from the gracious answers to the prayers of faith generated by the Holy Spirit.” —A.W. Tozer

“The state of the times extremely requires a fullness of the divine Spirit in ministers, and we ought to give ourselves no rest till we have obtained it. And in order to [do] this, I should think ministers, above all persons, ought to be much in secret prayer and fasting, and also much in praying and fasting one with another. It seems to me it would be becoming the circumstances of the present day, if ministers in a neighborhood would often meet together and spend days in fasting and fervent prayer among themselves, earnestly seeking for those extraordinary supplies of divine grace from heaven, that we need at this day.” —Jonathan Edwards

Why is the media not in an uproar over this?! Pakistani Girls Forced to Renounce Christianity And Marry Muslims

“There is a bond: He takes it and crosses it all out and hands it back to you, and says, ‘There is a full discharge, I have blotted it all out.’ So does the Lord deal with penitents. He has a book in which all your debts are written; but with the blood of Christ He crosses out the handwriting of ordinances which is there written against you. The bond is destroyed, and He will not demand payment for it again. The devil will sometimes insinuate to the contrary, as he did to Martin Luther. ‘Bring me the catalogue of my sins,’ said Luther; and he brought a scroll black and long. ‘Is that all?’ said Luther. ‘No,’ said the devil; and he brought yet another. ‘And now,’ said the heroic saint of God, ‘write at the foot of the scroll: “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth from all sin.”’ That is a full discharge.” —Charles Spurgeon

Funny, but instructional, from Ken Davis: Five Super Powers Of Effective Leaders!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: A.W. Tozer, Charles Spurgeon, Christianity, church, devil, exploited children, fasting, forgiveness, Islam, Jesus Christ, Jonathan Edwards, Ken Davis, leadership, Martin Luther, pastors, persecution, prayer, quotes, sin. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

April 9, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some great reading from today.

“What satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” —C.S. Lewis

“Leadership requires vision, and whence will vision come except from hours spent in the presence of God in humble and fervent prayer?” —A.W. Tozer

[INFOGRAPHIC] Christ’s activities during the Passion Week.

I am proud of my heritage in the Assemblies of God, which is celebrating its centennial this year. Read the history of the fellowship’s creation here and here.

[VIDEO] Logan finds out he’s going to be a big brother.

Astronomers may have found some dark matter at the center of our galaxy. That’s cool, but if we can accept this science by faith, why can’t we accept the biblical version by faith?

Research says forgiving yourself makes you healthier physically.

“When should a Christian, then, be like Jesus Christ? Is there a time when he may strip off his regimentals—when the warrior may unbuckle his armor, and become like other men? Oh! no; at all times, and in every place let the Christian be what he professes to be.” —Charles Spurgeon

Links & Quotes

February 24, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

Wise words from John Maxwell: A Leader′s Need For Humility

“Many people preach and teach. Many take part in the music. Certain ones try to administer God’s work. But if the power of God’s Spirit does not have freedom to energize all they do, these workers might just as well stay home. Natural gifts are not enough in God’s work. The mighty Spirit of God must have freedom to animate and quicken with His overtones of creativity and blessing.” —A.W. Tozer

Very thoughtful post from Frank Viola: Rethinking The Second Coming Of Christ. Frank references the book he co-authored with Leonard Sweet entitled Jesus: A Theography; I highly recommend this book!

Max Lucado writes in Like A Child, “Quit looking at life like an adult. See it through the eyes of a child.”

[VIDEO] Greg Koukl on Discussing The Age Of The Earth With Other Christians

5 Reasons To Attend Church Regularly

“To be humble, and, like a little child, afraid of taking a step alone, and so conscious of snares and dangers around us, as to cry to [God] continually to hold us up that we may be safe, is the sure, the infallible, the only secret of walking closely with Him.” —John Newton

“One of principle that today’s intellectuals most passionately disseminate is a vulgar relativism, ‘Nihilism with a happy face.’ For them it is certain that there is no truth, only opinion: my opinion, your opinion. They abandoned the defense of the intellect…. Those who surrender the domain of the intellect make straight the road to fascism. Totalitarianism…is the will-to-power unchecked by any regard for truth. To surrender the claims of truth upon humans is to surrender Earth to thugs…. Vulgar relativism is an invisible gas, odorless, deadly, that is now polluting every free society on earth. It is a gas that attacks the central nervous system of moral striving…. ‘There is no such thing as truth,’ they teach even the little ones. ‘Truth is bondage. Believe what seems right to you. There are as many truths as there are individuals. Follow your feelings. Do as you please. Get in touch with yourself….’ Those who speak in this way prepare the jails of the twenty-first century. They do the work of tyrants.” —Michael Novak

Cool story on how The Detroit Tigers Hired Sparky Anderson

Links & Quotes

February 22, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting this weekend.

Victory! FCC Pulls The Plug On Its Unconstitutional Plans

John Maxwell talks about delegation: Overloaded & Underempowered

“Before I became a Christian I do not think I fully realized that one’s life, after conversion, would inevitably consist in doing most of the same things one had been doing before, one hopes, in a new spirit, but still the same things.” —C.S. Lewis

“The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you.” —John E. Southard

“I’m a fool for Christ. Whose fool are you?” —John Wimber

“Holiness is not freedom from temptation, but power to overcome temptation.” —G. Morgan Campbell

Are environmentalists going too far? The War On Humans

[VIDEO] The more I hear Sen. Ted Cruz, the more I like him. “I don′t work for the party bosses.”

Eric Metaxas on a baby′s innate sense of morality: Babies & The Not-So-Blank Slate

“Forget others’ faults by remembering your own.” —John Bunyan

Links & Quotes

February 3, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

Some thoughts on creativity: 8 Creativity Lessons From A Pixar Animator

Tim Elmore on how to connect with others: Who Do You Connect With When You Teach?

“Thy poor prayer would have no force with Omnipotence if force were needed; but His love, like a spring, rises of itself and overflows for the supply of all thy needs.” —Charles Spurgeon

[VIDEO] Comedy from Ken Davis: Why I Don’t Have A Cat

Insight from Mark Driscoll: 5 Things To Look For In A Good Bible Teacher

“Don’t pray for sermons, let sermons come from your prayers. So, as long as I’m meeting with God, I will always have something to say.” —Chilly Chilton

Michael Hyatt’s excellent advice to leaders: 5 Reasons You Should Smile More As A Leader

Encouragement from Max Lucado: A Passion For The Forgotten

John Stonestreet on the dangers of pornography: The Root Of Sexual Exploitation

Only a little time left to download a free song from U2 and help end AIDS: Fight AIDS With (Red)

“The fundamental issue for any of us is to feel loved. If we feel loved by the significant people in our lives, we are more likely to reach out potential for God and good in the world.” —Dr. Gary Chapman

An interesting study on missionaries and societal success: The Truth About Missionaries