Thursdays With Oswald—Practice, Practice, Practice

June 7, 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.

Practice, Practice, Practice 

     If we do not go on practicing day by day and week by week, working out what God has worked in, when a crisis comes God’s grace is there right enough, but our nature is not. Our nature has not been brought into line by practice and consequently does not stand by us, and down we go and then we blame God. We must bring our bodily life into line by practicing day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, then when the crisis comes we shall find not only God’s grace but our own nature will stand by us, and the crisis will pass without any disaster at all, but exactly the opposite will happen, the soul will be built up into a stronger attitude towards God. 

From Biblical Psychology

Allen Iverson (in)famously said, “We’re talking practice. Not a game, not a game, not a game. We’re talking practice.”

Guess what? As Christians, we cannot skip practice.

If we want to be victorious in the big things, we have to practice doing the little, moment-by-moment things right. We cannot just flip a switch and win a victory.

Do you want to be successful? You’ve got to practice!

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

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Thursdays With Oswald—Knowledge And Innocence

May 31, 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.

Knowledge And Innocence 

     Knowledge of evil broadens a man’s mind, makes him tolerant, but paralyzes his action. Knowledge of good broadens a man’s mind, makes him intolerant of all sin, and shows itself in intense action. 

From Biblical Psychology

The Apostle Paul said it this way, “I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil” (Romans 16:19).

I love how Secret Service agents are trained to spot counterfeit money. They don’t study the fake, but they study the real. They learn everything there is to know about genuine, authentic currency so that they are able to spot counterfeit currency easily.

I need to put this into practice in my own life. I don’t need to study evil; I just need to be thoroughly immersed in the truth of Scripture. That will broaden my mind, help me to spot all counterfeit ideas, and prepare me to take intense action.

Be knowledgeable about what is good. Be innocent about what is evil.

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Thursdays With Oswald—My Spiritual Personality

May 24, 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 Personality

     When we receive the Holy Spirit, He so energizes our spirit that we are able to detect things that are wrong, and we are able to rectify them if we ‘mind’ the Holy Spirit. This is the Scotch use of the term ‘mind,’ and it means ‘remember to obey.’ It carries with it the meaning of another Scotch word, ‘lippen,’ that is, ‘trust.’ Mind the Holy Spirit, mind His light, mind His convictions, mind His guidance, and slowly and surely the sensual personality will be turned into a spiritual personality. 

From Biblical Psychology

It’s not too often that I think of personality in a spiritual light. But God created me as a unique person, complete with my own personality. He gave me the personality He did on purpose: to glorify Him.

Left to myself, my personality is highly self-serving. But when I “mind” the Holy Spirit, He helps me live out my God-given personality in a way that is more and more God-serving and God-glorifying.

I love Chambers’ list:

  • Mind the Holy Spirit
  • Mind His light [illumination]
  • Mind His convictions
  • Mind His guidance

I’m working on “minding” better. How about you?

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My Utmost For His Highest (book review)

May 22, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Most people probably think that My Utmost For His Highest is the only book that Oswald Chambers wrote. Although My Utmost is a great devotional book, it should just be a launching pad to read more of his writings.

I am currently in the process of reading through everything Oswald Chamber wrote. And, let me tell you, it’s a lot to take in! This man was so prolific and so anointed, that not only is there much to read, but it has to be read slowly and prayerfully. That’s why I say that My Utmost is such a great starting place.

Each day’s devotional is only a page long. A few of the devotionals appear only in this book, while the remaining come from the thoughts in his many other sermons and writings. So I encourage you to spend a whole year soaking in the thoughts in My Utmost For His Highest, and then allow that to whet your appetite for more of his writings.

This book is definitely on my “must read” list!

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Working It Out

May 22, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Ah, yes, Oswald Chambers always gets me thinking…

“You must ‘work out your own salvation’ which God has worked in you already (Philippians 2:12). Are your speech, your thinking, and your emotions evidence that you are working it ‘out’? If you are still the same miserable, grouchy person, set on having your own way, then it is a lie to say that God has saved and sanctified you.”

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Thursdays With Oswald—In Christ I Can

May 17, 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.

In Christ I Can

     We are made sons and daughters of God through the Atonement and we have a tremendous dignity to maintain; we have no business to bow our necks to any yoke saving the yoke of the Lord Jesus Christ [Matthew 11:28-30]. …

     Every detail of our physical life is to be absolutely under the control of the new disposition which God planted in us by means of identification with Jesus Christ, and we shall no longer be allowed to murmur ‘can’t.’ There is no such word as ‘can’t’ in a Christian’s vocabulary if he is rightly related to God; there is only one word and that is ‘can.’

From Biblical Psychology

Sometimes Christians are known more for what we’re against than what we’re for. I think Oswald Chambers would say that is because we don’t really understand the full power of the Atonement.

We can better understand that word by saying it “at one-ment.” We have been made one with Christ. You hear this in Jesus’ prayer for us in John 17, “I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and definitely recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them even as You have loved Me.”

When we are in this sort of relationship, we don’t even say can’t to sin. Instead, we say I can live a holy life because of Christ in me!

As Paul said, we can say:

I CAN do everything through Christ Who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13)

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What Is “Success” For A Church?

May 11, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

“How’s it going,” a fellow pastor asked me. “How’s your church doing?”

If you’re a pastor, you probably get asked this often. How do you answer this question? Do you tell them what your attendance was on Sunday morning? Or about the newest program you’ve started?

When you look in the mirror and ask yourself, “How’s it going,” is your answer related to nickels and noses (offerings and attendance)? Is it how many people complimented your last sermon?

Listen to these sobering words:

Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers us as Christian workers; nor is it sin. The trap we fall into is extravagantly desiring spiritual success; that is, success measured by, and patterned after, the form set by this religious age in which we now live. 

…We have a commercialized view—we count how many souls have been saved and sanctified, we thank God, and then we think everything is all right. (Oswald Chambers)

We need to be very careful about how we define “success” in a church setting. Let’s use Jesus as our example:

  • How big was His congregation? Twelve men. One betrayed Him, nine ran away when the going got tough, and one denied he even knew Him. Even after being raised from the dead (!) there were only 120 people in the upper room.
  • How much money did His church have? Not even enough to buy a gravesite for the Messiah.
  • What did people think of His sermons? Some of His sermons made people so mad they wanted to stone Him. And after one sermon the Bible says: From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him (John 6:66).

Maybe “success” in the church is more like…

  • …people being reconciled to God. Remembering that “our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them” (Chambers).
  • …seeing disengaged people becoming actively involved in engaging others with the Gospel.
  • …“Never seek[ing] after anything other than the approval of God” (Chambers).
  • …to say with Jesus, “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).

These are just some of my thoughts. What else should be on this list? How would you define “success” in the church?

I have also shared some questions that can help pastors and ministry leaders better gauge the level of effectiveness in their ministry.

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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Thursdays With Oswald—Me, Me, Me

May 10, 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.

Me, Me, Me

     The greatest peril is the peril within, which men never think of as a peril. My right to myself, self-pity, self-conceit, consideration for my progress, my ways of looking at things, those things are the satanic perils which will keep us in perfect sympathy with satan…. 

     In all probability satan is as much upset as the Holy Spirit is when men fall in external sin, but for a different reason. When men go into external sin and upset their lives, satan knows perfectly well that they will want another Ruler, a Savior and Deliverer; as long as satan can keep men in peace and unity and harmony apart from God, he will do so (see Luke 11:21-22). Remember, then, satan’s sin is dethroning God. 

From Biblical Psychology

My natural bent is to internalize. In other words, I want to ponder my circumstances, think about solutions myself, and reach my own conclusion. This, Oswald Chambers says, is dangerous.

When I’m thinking subjectively, everything runs through the filter of me, me, me. But when I verbalize—when I get my thoughts out in the open—the Holy Spirit can use God’s Word to help me think objectively.

I need an objective, external standard to keep me on the right path. If I keep it all inside, my natural subjective bent (that all of us humans have) will lead me down the path of quietly dethroning God and enthroning myself.

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Co-Workers

May 4, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Obvious statement #1: Church ministry is not lone ranger work.

I needed to state that not only as a reminder to myself, but to my other pastor friends too. It seems like we can often lose sight of this fact. We can become so focused on the next sermon, the next appointment, the next Board meeting, the next outreach that we are actually worshiping the ministry instead of worshiping God through our ministry.

Oswald Chambers gave this warning:

“Beware of any work for God that causes or allows you to avoid concentrating on Him. A great number of Christian workers worship their work. The only concern of Christian workers should be their concentration on God. … A worker who lacks this serious controlling emphasis of concentration on God is apt to become overly burdened by his work. … Consequently, he becomes burned out and defeated. There is no freedom and no delight in life at all. His nerves, mind, and heart are so overwhelmed that God’s blessing cannot rest on him.”

When we are more focused on the work than on God, we can easily begin to feel over-worked and under-appreciated. And this usually leads to us either bearing down to work harder or to simply throwing in the towel.

There is a healthy alternative: link arms with The Co-Worker—

“Walk with me and work with Me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:29, The Message)

Link with The Co-Worker, and then you will do ministry out of the overflow of your personal worship. Remember, you are a co-worker, not a solo-worker.

Obvious statement #2: Church ministry is not just for the pastor.

Church member, you too are a co-worker with Christ. And with your pastor.

The apostle Paul reminded the church at Corinth that “we are God’s fellow workers” (1 Corinthians 3:9). In other words, we’re all in this together. You need your pastor, and your pastor needs you.

Allow me to paraphrase a quote from President Dwight Eisenhower:

“Never let yourself be persuaded that one [pastor] is necessary to the salvation of America. When [the Church] consists of one leader and [a bunch of] followers, it will no longer be [the Church].”

The Church is a beautiful thing! It functions best when:

  • Pastor and church member are both linked with Christ
  • The pastor is not a lone ranger
  • The church members are not spectators

Ready? Go BE the Church of Jesus Christ!

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Thursdays With Oswald—Heaven & Hell

May 3, 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.

Heaven & Hell

     Hell is the place of angelic condemnation. It has nothing to do primarily with man. God’s Book never says that Hell was made for man, although it is true that it is the only place for the man who rejects God’s salvation. Hell was the result of a distinct condemnation passed by God on celestial beings, and is as eternal as those celestial anarchists. 

From Biblical Psychology

Jesus makes it quite clear that Heaven is my home— “…take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).

He makes it equally as clear that Hell was not made for mankind— “…the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

Furthermore, Jesus is completely clear that He is the only way to Heaven, and that the rejection of the forgiveness that is possible by accepting His atonement on the Cross leaves only one destination for the unforgiven: Hell.

This is an important reminder. It reawakens me to be persistent in telling others this truth about Heaven and Hell.

Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die; save them as they stagger to their death. Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts, and He sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve. (Proverbs 24:11-12)

And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives. (Jude 22-23)

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