lifelong learner | Craig T. Owens

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Thursdays With Oswald—The Preacher And The Word

December 16, 2010 — 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 Preacher And The Word

Keep yourself full to the brim in reading; but remember that the first great Resource is the Holy Spirit Who lays at your disposal the Word of God. The thing to prepare is not the sermon, but the preacher. …

It is easy to tell men they must be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit; but we have to live amongst men and show them what a life filled with the Holy Spirit ought to be.

From Approved Unto God

My takeaways: (a) My other reading is fine, but it should never take the place of the reading of the Bible; and (b) People would rather see a sermon in me than hear a sermon from me any day.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible study, Holy Spirit, lifelong learner, Oswald Chambers, pastors, preaching, preparation, sermon. Leave a Comment »

Lots Of Learning Opportunities

November 4, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I love learning new things, listening to innovative ideas, and talking with other learners too. This weekend I’ll get to do a whole lot of this.

I’m heading to The Genius Of And Conference at Granger Community Church this morning. I love thinking about both-and when others are stuck on either-or. As an added bonus, I’m traveling and rooming with some innovative young leaders who are campus missionaries at Western Michigan University. I know we’ll have some great discussions around the topics we cover at the conference.

(By the way… for those of you who follow me on Twitter, I’ll be tweeting and blogging during the conference. The hashtag for the conference is #and10.)

Then our youth group is going to the Assembly of God Michigan District’s annual Youth Convention on Friday and Saturday. I love how fired up our youth get when they are worshipping, learning, and praying with their peers. Can’t wait to debrief with them when they return and let some of their passion rub off on me.

On Sunday we have a special guest speaker at Calvary A/G. Brad Leach is a dynamic young church planter. He planted a church in the metro-Detroit area, and just as it was really hitting its stride, he felt God calling him to leave Detroit and plant a new church in Philadelphia. I love that sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s prompting, so I can’t wait to hear what word God has laid on Brad’s heart for our community. If you can, please come and join us this Sunday, November 7, at 10:30am.

I hope you are intentionally looking for opportunities to expand your horizons. As George Washington Carver noted, “How much of God are we missing because we don’t stop to listen to the many voices God uses to speak to us?”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Calvary Assembly of God, lifelong learner, youth. 1 Comment »

Am I Learning?

October 29, 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.

In the Old Testament, there’s a phrase that repeats at the end of the historical record of almost every king of Israel and Judah:

As for all the other events of his reign, and all he did, are they not written down in the annals of the kings of Israel [or] Judah?

This phrase is repeated again and again (almost 40 times!). To me, the question mark at the end of this key phrase is really more like this: These stories are all here for your benefit—are you reading them? are you learning from them?

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” —George Santayana

But maybe we think, “Those things don’t pertain to me.” Or even, “C’mon, that’s as plain as the nose on your face! I don’t need to study that because everyone knows you shouldn’t act that way!” How about this…

These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm [if you think you know it all], be careful that you don’t fall! (1 Corinthians 10:11-12, my paraphrase)

In light of that, here are some questions that would serve us well:

Am I reading these examples?
Am I learning from them?
Am I reviewing my own personal history?
Am I learning from that?
Am I writing down my experiences (both failures and successes) so that others can learn from me?

And maybe the most important introspective question of all: When was the last time I learned something new from something old?

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Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Corinthians, George Santayana, history, Israel, Judah, learning, lifelong learner, quote, reflection, thinking. 2 Comments »

Borrowed Brains

August 12, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

“We should not only use all the brains we have, but all that we can borrow.” —Woodrow Wilson

It’s so important to learn from others—to borrow their brains. I try to take something from other people’s brains every day.

Every morning I begin my day by studying the timeless truths found in the Bible.
Then I pray to ask God to give me the mind of Christ for my day.
Throughout my day I learn from the brains of other business and ministry leaders. People who have been-there-done-that and are willing to share are an invaluable source of wisdom.
I also consume a regular diet of biographies and autobiographies of past and present leaders. I try to put myself in their shoes to see why they made the decisions they made.
And I have some close friends that can give me their honest insight and critique.

One of the saddest things is to hear someone say, “I’m a self-made man” or “I’m a self-made woman.” Really?! That’s rather limited, isn’t it?

So whose brains are you borrowing?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: autobiography, Bible study, biography, friends, leadership, learning, lifelong learner, mentor, prayer, quote, Woodrow Wilson. 1 Comment »

I Don’t Have To Be A Know-It-All

June 18, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I’m still reading through Craig Groeschel’s book The Christian Atheist. This morning I read a statement that Craig quotes from Andy Stanley:

“You don’t have to understand everything to believe in something.”

I don’t know about you, but this gives me such freedom! Especially in my role as a pastor where sometimes I feel like I’m supposed to understand it all.

I don’t have to have an answer to every question to point people to God.

I don’t have to be able to unravel every theological mystery to tell people Jesus loves them.

I don’t have to know how He does it to lead people to the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

I don’t have to know why everything happened the way it did to care for hurting or confused people.

The bottom line is I can only know the part—the infinitesimal part—that the Holy Spirit has made alive to me. But that part is more than enough for me to keep on loving my God and my Savior!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, freedom, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, lifelong learner. Leave a Comment »

Learning To Distinguish

April 23, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

In Moses’ instructions to the priests, he said, “You must distinguish between the holy and common, between the unclean and the clean.”

Why? Because these men were to be leaders. He went on to say, “You must teach the Israelites all the decrees.”

If I’m going to be a leader, I must be able to distinguish.

Here’s where the Holy Spirit is challenging me. I am working on distinguishing between…

Good and Best

Acceptable and Excellent

Common and Holy

Ordinary and Extraordinary

Want and Need

Present and Participant

Quantity and Quality

I am certain that this list is just a start, and that it’s going to be a lifetime pursuit.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: growing, Holy Spirit, leadership, learning, Leviticus, lifelong learner, Moses. 2 Comments »

God Tests Us

April 1, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I’m challenged by this quote from Rick Warren: “God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you’re tempted to express the exact opposite quality!”

In school, your teacher had to test you to see if you knew the material. She probably didn’t want to give you the test, but she had to. It would be unkind of her to promote you to the next level of learning if you weren’t prepared for it.

God does the same thing. He tests us on what we’ve learned in order to take us to the next level of fruitfulness. Many times these tests tempt us, as Rick Warren said, to do the opposite of what we’ve learned. But if we don’t pass the test, God cannot promote us.

As the Israelites began their journey out of Egypt, twice in the first few days of their freedom the Bible says God tested them.

God tested their thirst to see if they would trust Him to provide.
God tested their hunger to see if they would still trust Him even after they were full.

God loves you so much that He wants to keep promoting you. He wants to see more and more fruitfulness coming from your life. That means He has to keep preparing you for the next test, and then administering that test. Don’t run away from His testing.

Right now you are in one of three places:

The Holy Spirit is preparing you for a test;
God is giving you a test; or
You just completed a test.

Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, your Divine Tutor. He will remind you of everything you have learned and help you ace that test!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to studying for my next test…

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: fruit of the Spirit, Holy Spirit, lifelong learner, preparation, quote, Rick Warren, test. 28 Comments »

YouVersion

March 29, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

As readers of this blog know, I love to read. But hands-down, no-comparison, head-and-shoulders above any other book, my favorite book is the Bible.

One of the best apps I have added to my iPhone is YouVersion. I love being able to read the Scripture in different translations, but I especially love the daily reading plans. There are lots to choose from. Currently I am reading through the wisdom and insight of the “Psalms & Proverbs” reading plan.

Good news… even without an iPhone or other smart phone, you can still access YouVersion via your computer.

Better news… if you have a smart phone, your computer access and phone access are synced.

Best news… YouVersion is free! Thanks to the incredible folks at Lifechurch.tv who have made this available to anyone anywhere.

Go ahead, dive right into the Bible. Once you start reading it, I’m sure it will become your favorite book too.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible, Bible study, iPhone, lifelong learner, technology, YouVersion. 1 Comment »

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.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Christianity, discipleship, Jesus Christ, lifelong learner, personal growth, proverbs, Psalm, relationship. 2 Comments »

Challenging Concepts

March 18, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Part two of our Spiritual Self-Defense series went well last night. Considering this was a difficult concept to wrap our finite, human brains around, I felt that everyone was tuned in. Trying to wrestle with the concepts of God as omnipresent, the unique Three-in-One arrangement of the Trinity, or Jesus as fully God and fully Man are not easy. But it is so important to keep learning and keep growing in our understanding of who God is.