Insights From Oswald Chambers On Sermon Preparation

August 17, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

When Oswald Chambers taught at the Bible Training College in London, he frequently presented his lectures in a short, bullet-point format to give his students something to ponder.

Here are some of the “bullet points” he shared for sermon preparation:

“The greatest thing is not to hunt for texts, but to live in the big comprehensive truth of the Bible and the texts will hunt you.”

“To talk about ‘getting a message,’ is a mistake. It is preparation of myself that is required more than of my message.”

“To develop your expression in public you must do a vast amount of writing in private. Write out your problems before God. Go directly to Him about everything.”

“The work we do in preparation is meant to get our minds into such order that they are the service of God for His inspiration.”

“Conscious inspiration is mercifully rare or we would make inspiration our god.”

“Spiritual insight is in accordance with the development of heart-purity.”

“Spiritual sloth must be the greatest grief to the Holy Ghost.”

“In order to expound a passage, live in it well beforehand. Keep yourself full with reading. Reading gives you a vocabulary. Don’t read to remember; read to realize.”

“Get moved by your message, and it will move others in a corresponding way.”

I found these very thought-provoking. What did you learn?

Posted in Pastoring. Tags: , , , . Leave a Comment »

Thursdays With Oswald—A Friend Of God And Enemy Of The World

August 16, 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.

A Friend Of God & Enemy Of The World 

     The Bible says that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…,” and yet it says that if we are friends of the world we are enemies of God. “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” (James 4:4). The difference is that God loves the world so much that He goes to all lengths to remove the wrong from it, and we must have the same kind of love. Any other kind of love for the world simply means we take it as it is and are perfectly delighted with it. … It is that sentiment which is the enemy of God. Do we love the world in this sense sufficiently to spend and be spent so that God can manifest His grace through us until the wrong and the evil are removed? 

From Biblical Psychology

  • Do I love the world the way God so loves the world?
  • Am I willing to let Him use me to change the world?
  • Am I willing to spend and be spent for God’s glory?

Jesus said, “You are salt and light.” But my salt does the world no good at all unless I allow the Holy Spirit to shake it out of me. And the light doesn’t benefit anyone if my apathy is not allowing the love of God to shine brightly through my life.

I must be a friend of God and an enemy of the evil in the world which keeps anyone from coming into a relationship with Him.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Thursdays With Oswald—My Part And God’s Part

August 9, 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.

My Part And God’s Part 

     Beware of the tendency of trying to do what God alone can do, and of blaming God for not doing what we alone can do. We try to save ourselves, but God only can do that; and we try to sanctify ourselves, but only God can do that. …

     The love of God is the great mainspring, and by our voluntary choice we can have that love shed abroad in our hearts, then unless hindered by disobedience, it will go on to develop into the perfect love described in 1 Corinthians 13. 

     We have, then, to make the voluntary choice of receiving the Holy Spirit Who will shed abroad in our hearts the love of God [Romans 5:5], and when we have that wonderful love in our hearts, the sovereign preference for Jesus Christ, our love for others will be relative to this central love. 

From Biblical Psychology

I cannot save myself from an eternity apart from God.

I cannot make myself love someone.

I cannot force myself to give up a sinful habit.

But I can decide to let the Holy Spirit flood my heart with God’s love. And when this happens, I can give up anything that’s holding me back from enjoying an eternity in God’s presence.

My part: allow the Holy Spirit to bring God’s love into my heart, and then obey what God’s Word tells me to do.

God’s part: everything else.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Thursdays With Oswald—Let God Be Original

August 2, 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.

Let God Be Original

     We continually want to present our understanding of how God worked in our own experience, consequently we confuse people. Present Jesus Christ, lift Him up, and the Holy Spirit will do in them what He has done in you. …

     Experience as an end in itself is a disease; experience as a result of the life being based on God is health. Spiritual famine and dearth, if it does not start from sin, starts from dwelling entirely on the experience God gave me instead of on God Who gave me the experience. …

     Whenever I put my experience of life, or my intelligence, or anything other than dependence on God, as the ground of understanding the will of God I rob Him of glory. 

From Disciples Indeed

I need to let God be as original with others as He was, and is, with me.

My experiences with God—the Word He revealed to me, the emotions I felt, the decisions I made, the conversations I had, the prayer I prayed—is just that: MY experience. If I try to force someone else to experience God exactly as I experienced Him, then I am really asking them to be someone other than who God created them to be.

When I look throughout the Bible, I see so many ways God encountered people. They were all unique experiences because they were all unique people. 

Father, meet with me uniquely. And help me to remember to let You meet with others uniquely as well!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , . Leave a Comment »

Thursdays With Oswald—Spiritual Perception

July 26, 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.

Spiritual Perception 

     The characteristic of a man without the Spirit of God is that he has no power of perception, he cannot perceive God at work in the ordinary occurrences. The marvelous, uncrushable characteristic of a saint is that he does discern God. You may put a saint in tribulation, amid an onslaught of principalities and powers, in peril, pestilence or under the sword, you may put a saint anywhere you like, and he is “more than a conqueror” [Romans 8:31-39] every time. Why? Because his heart being filled with the love of God, he has the power to perceive and understand that behind all these things is God making them “work together for good.” 

From Biblical Psychology

God says, “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). So I cannot understand what God is doing if I only use my own powers of perception.

To truly discern what God is doing, I must rely on the Holy Spirit within me.

That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.” But it was to us that God revealed these things by His Spirit. For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. (1 Corinthians 2:9-10)

Oh, how I need the Holy Spirit’s help!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Conformed To His Image (book review)

July 25, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Oswald Chambers challenges my thinking about the Christian walk like few other authors can. His insights are always so profound, and yet at the same time awaken me to the realization that I am the one who makes the Christian walk something complex. In Conformed To His Image, I was yet again challenged to simply follow Jesus.

Chambers brilliantly turns secular psychology upside down. He takes what psychology wants to ascribe to our minds and emotions, and brings it back to a Scriptural basis that puts these things where they are supposed to be: in the soul.

The thought of being “conformed” rubs against the human desire to be free and in charge of our own destiny. Somehow being “conformed” feels like being controlled and giving up our unique personality. So Chambers contrasts the natural human tendencies for freedom and calling our own shots with what the Bible says about surrendering to God.

Chambers presents Jesus not as some superhuman, extraordinary Man. But He shows the life of Jesus to be what we should all be able to live out daily. Jesus was perfectly conformed and submitted to the will of His Father. And, he says, if we will submit as well, the Holy Spirit will conform us into the image of Jesus.

Beware: this book is not light reading. This is a heavy-duty, confrontational book that will challenge you to submit to the Holy Spirit as perhaps you never have before in your Christian walk. However, if you are ready to take the plunge into a much deeper, more intimate relationship with your Heavenly Father, Conformed To His Image is the resource for you. 

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , . 4 Comments »

Thursdays With Oswald—God Builds My Character

July 19, 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.

God Builds My Character 

     Character is the whole trend of a man’s life, not isolated acts here and there, and God deals with us on the line of character building. 

     Remember, then, that we have the power to fix the form of our choice. “Delight yourself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart” [Psalm 37:4]. Desire embraces both determination and design. Some people when they read this verse, behave before God as people do over a wishing-bone at a Christmas dinner. They say, “Now I have read this verse, I wonder what I shall wish for?” That is not desire. Desire is what we determine in outline in our minds and plan and settle in our hearts; that is the desire which God will fulfill as we delight ourselves in Him. 

From Biblical Psychology

God is not a cosmic slot machine, where I drop in the coins of Bible reading, prayer time, church attendance, and a few good deeds here and there, and then I can select which reward I would like God to dispense for me. But I’ve met way too many people who feel that it should work that way!

The Holy Spirit changes me from the inside out. He builds my character piece by piece, conforming me to the image of Jesus Christ. There are certainly blessings along the way, but I shouldn’t go into this character-building process with the goal of getting rewarded for my efforts.

When I determine to fix my thoughts on God’s Word, to tune into the Spirit’s direction, then I will experience the reward of God’s approval. And there is no greater reward than knowing my Master says, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

My prayer: Father, I want to delight only in You. I am determined to allow Your Spirit to build the character of Jesus in my heart and mind. I am committed. I am ready.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Lord, I Need Your Anointing!

July 6, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

How miserable to try to preach a sermon if God’s anointing is not on it! The most gifted speaker’s words sound hollow without God’s help. The most educated theologian’s thoughts are mere babbling without the Holy Spirit’s aid. All your hours of pastoral study are utterly wasted unless the power of Christ is present.

Pastor, let these wise words soak in…

“I know that it is dreadful work to be bound to preach when one is not conscious of the aid of the Spirit of God! It is like pouring water out of bottomless buckets, or feeding hungry souls out of empty baskets. A true sermon such as God will bless no man can preach of himself; he might as well try to sound the archangel’s trumpet.” ―Charles Spurgeon

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

“Apart from divine help, the enterprise of a Christian minister is only worthy of ridicule. Apart from the power of the Eternal Spirit, the things which the preacher has to do are as much beyond him as though he had to weld the sun and moon into one, light up new stars, or turn the Sahara into a garden of flowers. We have a work to do concerning which we often cry, ‘Who is sufficient for these things?’ and if we be put to this work but have not your prayers, and in consequence have not the supply of the Spirit, we are of all men the most miserable.” ―Charles Spurgeon

“The character of our praying will determine the character of our preaching. Light praying will make light preaching. …The preacher must be preeminently a man of prayer. His heart must graduate in the school of prayer. In the school of prayer only can the heart learn to preach.” ―E.M. Bounds

“If you preachers lose your compassion, you can stop preaching, for it won’t be any good. You will only be successful as a preacher if you let your heart become filled with the compassion of Jesus.” ―Smith Wigglesworth

Posted in Pastoring. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Thursdays With Oswald—Guard Your Heart With Your Head

July 5, 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.

Guard Your Heart With Your Head

     The Bible puts the head in the prominent position, not the central position; the head is the “finish off,” the manifestation of what the heart is like; the outward expression of the heart, as a tree is the outward expression of the root. This is the relationship between the head and the heart which the Bible reveals. …

     In dealing with the Bible the danger is to come to it with a preconceived idea, to exploit it, and take out of it only what agrees with that idea. If we try, as has been tried by psychologists, to take out of the Bible something that agrees with modern science, we shall have to omit many things the Bible says about the heart. According to the Bible the heart is the center: the center of physical life, the center of memory, the center of damnation and of salvation, the center of God’s working and the center of the devil’s working, the center from which everything works which molds the human mechanism. 

From Biblical Psychology

Oswald Chambers was a holistic thinker: he knew the role of the Holy Spirit and the role of psychologists; he saw how the mind, spirit, and soul worked interdependently with each other. He never suggested that psychological issues be repaired with spiritual methods, nor that spiritual concerns be addressed by psychology.

But he also saw how easy it was to make heart matters (spiritual) concerns which should be addressed as head matters (psychological). The Bible says, “Above all else guard your heart, for from it flow all of the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

So how do I guard my heart? Part of guarding my heart does start with my head: I need to think about what’s going into my heart. But, as Oswald Chambers says, the head is just the “finish off” of what is happening in the heart. So ultimately, to keep my head in the right place, I need to guard my heart. I need to make my heart exclusively the home of the Holy Spirit, and allow Him free access to all of the concerns in my heart.

This is the only way I can “finish off” the right way.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Thursdays With Oswald—Examination

June 28, 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.

Examination 

     Sin destroys the power of the soul to know its sin, punishment brings awakening, self-examination brings chastisement and saves the soul from sleeping sickness, and brings it into a healthy satisfaction. 

From Biblical Psychology

There’s so much to unpack in this single sentence…

  • We are very good at self-medicating away any pain (even spiritual pain), so that we never address the source of the pain (Ephesians 4:18).
  • I can be “sin sick” and not even know it because I’m not allowing the Holy Spirit to examine me (1 Corinthians 10:12).
  • The pain of punishment and chastisement is for my eternal benefit (Hebrews 12:5-11).

What do I need to do? Invite the examination of the Spirit:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (Psalm 139:23-24)

So let a person examine himself first, and then he may eat of the bread and drink from the cup; for a person who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. This is why many among you are weak and sick, and some have died! If we would examine ourselves, we would not come under judgment. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined, so that we will not be condemned along with the world. (1 Corinthians 11:28-32)

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »
« Older posts
Newer posts »