pastors | Craig T. Owens

January 2026
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

A Sharper Sermon

January 27, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

It’s a lot of work preparing a sermon (and even that is a major understatement!). So if we pastors are going to put all of this effort in, isn’t it right to believe for a great return on that investment?

I’ve got good news and bad news for you—and they’re both the same. Pastor, after all of your hard work preparing your message, there is only one thing you can do: pray.

Sounds simple, right? But if it’s so simple, why are so many church attendees unmoved by the sermons they hear each Sunday (check out this Barna report)?

Here is some good counsel of how we should pray—

“Of what efficacy would be the exterior word of pastors, or even the Scriptures themselves, if we had not within the word of the Holy Spirit giving to the others all their vitality? The outward word, even of the Gospel, without the fecundating, vivifying, interior word would be but an empty sound. ‘It is the letter alone that kills (2 Corinthians 3:6), and the Spirit alone can give us life.’” —Francois Fenelon

“Does anyone of us desire to help the Church of Christ? Then let him pray for a great outpouring of the Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can give edge to sermons, and point to advice, and power to rebukes, and can cast down the high walls of sinful hearts. It is not better preaching, and finer writing that is needed in this day—but more of the presence of the Holy Spirit.” —J.C. Ryle

If I can add my two cents’ worth to these eminent theologians:

Pray before you write your sermon
Pray while you’re writing your sermon
Pray before you deliver your sermon
Pray after you deliver your sermon

And then watch what the Holy Spirit does with your sermon!

Posted in Pastoring. Tags: Francois Fenelon, Holy Spirit, J.C. Ryle, pastoring, pastors, prayer, quotes, sermon. Leave a Comment »

Preach It To Yourself

January 24, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Before I am a pastor sharing with my congregation, I am a saved sinner standing before God.

Before I open the penetrating brilliance of God’s Word to my church, I must stand in the spotlight of His Word.

In other words, I should never stand before my church with my finger pointed at them. Instead, the finger of God should be squarely pointed at me. Only then can I share with my congregation what God is doing in my life.

I’ve always tried to pastor this way, but recently I read this passage in John Bunyan’s autobiography which made this truth even more real to me—

“Sometimes I have been about to preach upon some smart and searching portion of the Word, I have found the tempter suggest, What! will you preach this! This condemns yourself; of this your own soul is guilty; so don’t preach any of it; or if you do, mince your words, as to make way for your own escape; lest instead of awakening others, you lay that guilt upon your own soul, that you will never get from under. … It is far better that you judge yourself, even by preaching plainly unto others, than that you, to save yourself, imprison the truth in righteousness.”

So, pastor, preach the Word to yourself first. Then go share with your congregation about what God is dealing with you.

Posted in Pastoring. Tags: introspection, John Bunyan, pastoring, pastors, preaching, quote, video. 2 Comments »

Men, Not Boys

December 6, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

This is an in-your-face, no-punches-pulled, right-on-target message. Watch it, think about it, and share your thoughts in the comment below…

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: church, church growth, men, mentoring, pastoring, pastors, pornography. Leave a Comment »

Proper Preaching

November 12, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Jonathan Edwards was a brilliant man. His words here are spoken directly to preachers. I endeavor to handle my God-given responsibilities like this:

“Pure Christian humility has no such thing as roughness, or contempt, or fierceness, or bitterness in its nature; it makes a person like a little child, harmless and innocent, that none need to be afraid of, or like a lamb, destitute of all bitterness, wrath, anger, and clamor; agreeable to Ephesians 4:31. With such a spirit as this ought especially zealous ministers of the gospel to be clothed, and those that God is pleased to employ as instruments in His hands of promoting His work. They ought indeed to be thorough in preaching the word of God, without mincing the matter at all; in handling the sword of the Spirit, as the ministers of the Lord of hosts, they ought not to be mild and gentle; they are not to be gentle and moderate in searching and awakening the conscience, but should be sons of thunder. The Word of God, which is in itself sharper than any two-edged sword, ought not to be sheathed by its ministers, but so used that its sharp edges may have their full effect, even to the dividing asunder soul and spirit, joints and marrow. Yet they should do it without judging particular persons, leaving it to conscience and the Spirit of God to make the particular application. But all their conversation should savor of nothing but lowliness and good-will, love and pity to all mankind; so that such a spirit should be like a sweet odor diffused around them wherever they go. They should be like lions to guilty consciences, but like lambs to men’s persons. This would have no tendency to prevent the awakening of men’s consciences, but on the contrary would have a very great tendency to awaken them. It would make way for the sharp sword to enter; it would remove the obstacles, and make a naked breast for the arrow. —Yea, the amiable Christ-like conversation of such ministers in itself, would terrify the consciences of men, as well as their terrible preaching; both would co-operate to subdue the hard, and bring down the proud heart.”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Ephesians, humility, Jonathan Edwards, pastors, preaching, pride, quote, sermon. 1 Comment »

Was Your Church Successful?

October 24, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

These thoughts are especially for my fellow pastors (although I think they pertain to anyone who attended a church service recently).

So… how successful was your church gathering this weekend?

Was it successful because lots of people were there? Or because the pastor preached a good sermon? Or maybe the offering was better than usual? Or because you could feel something special as the worship team sang and played their instruments?

How about these measurements:

“The great business of the church is not our number by addition, but by grace, by growing up in Christ.” (John Owen)

“The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of. Our attention would have been on God.” (C.S. Lewis)

“Revival is the church getting back to ‘normal.’” (A.W. Tozer)

I hope these quotes have you thinking about church “success” as much as they are working on me!

UPDATE: This post was one of the seed thoughts that went into fashioning my book Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics That Really Matter.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: A.W. Tozer, C.S. Lewis, church, church growth, John Owen, pastors, quotes, shepherd leadership, success, video, YouTube. Leave a Comment »

Praying For Your Pastor

October 4, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

For the past few years, October has been designated as Pastor Appreciation Month. Honestly, I feel appreciated by the great folks at Calvary Assembly of God every single week! I can only pray that other pastors feel the same love I feel.

Here’s a simple way you can show your pastor appreciation both in October, and all year long: Pray for him or her. Multiple times the Apostle Paul wrote pray for us (Colossians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:25; 2 Thessalonians 3:1). Prayer is SO NEEDED for your pastor!

Here’s what the eminent pastor Charles Spurgeon wrote:

The members of the body of Christ should have a care for one another, but especially should the minister receive the prayers of his flock. I have sometimes heard his duties called arduous, but that word is not expressive enough. The works in which he is occupied lie quite out of the region of human power. The minister is sent to be God’s messenger for the quickening of the dead. What can he do in it? He can do nothing whatever unless the Spirit of God be with him through the prayer of his brethren.

He is sent to bring spiritual food to the multitude, that is to say, he is to take the loaves and fishes, and with them, few as they are, he is to feed the thousands. An impossible commission! He cannot perform it. 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.

Show how much you appreciate your pastor by upholding him/her in prayer every day.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, apostle Paul, Charles Spurgeon, Colossians, pastors, prayer, quote. Leave a Comment »

A Pastor’s Work

September 28, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I have blogged before about how heavy I feel the responsibility of being a pastor. When I think of the awesome responsibility God has given me as His under-shepherd to His precious people, I am humbled.

Humility is a good thing.

Since the pastor is “out in front” at every gathering, speaking to the people, leading the church in a particular direction, people tend to view their pastor as their leader. And without humility, the people’s esteem can “puff up” a pastor. Unfortunately, I’ve been around pastors who have gotten a little too, shall I say, “puffy.”

So this dose of godly wisdom from J.C. Ryle is just the preventative medicine I need:

“We should beware of resting our claim to the people’s attention on our outward [pastoral] call only. It will never do to tell our people, ‘We are your ordained ministers, and therefore you must believe and follow whatever we tell you.’ On the contrary, we must tell them to prove our teaching by Scripture, and not to receive it unless it is scriptural. That man has no right to expect the attention of his people, who does not preach the Gospel and live the Gospel. The rule of Paul is clear on this point. He told the Thessalonians to esteem their ministers very highly ‘for their work’s sake’ (1 Thessalonians 5:13). When there is no ‘work’ done, it is vain to expect the people’s esteem.

Pastors, do the work of humbly working as God’s servant to His people. Use your position to serve, not to presume upon others.

Church attendees, make us pastors “prove our teaching by Scripture.” We don’t get to say, “Because I’m the pastor and I say so!”

UPDATE: This post went into my thinking for my book Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics That Really Matter.

Posted in Pastoring. Tags: 1 Thessalonians, humility, J.C. Ryle, leadership, pastoring, pastors, responsibility, servant-leadership. Leave a Comment »

Preaching At God’s Command

September 22, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

This post is specifically for my pastor friends. As you are finishing up your sermon prep for this week, here are some good words from Charles Spurgeon for us to keep in mind:

“We preach, at God’s command, the way of salvation by mercy, not by merit; by faith, not by works; by grace, not by the efforts of men. May God help us so to set forth that principle, that many may accept it. I do not care one snap of my finger about preaching so that the style shall please the ear, but I long to reach your hearts. I want you to receive the only sure method of salvation, and I pray the Holy Spirit to baptize my words in His own mighty fire, and make them to burn their way into your hearts, and subdue you to the obedience of faith.”

Pastor, I’m praying that the Holy Spirit will baptize your words. God said, “Open wide your mouth and I will fill it,” and I am believing that for you this week!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Charles Spurgeon, Ezekiel, Holy Spirit, pastors, preaching. Leave a Comment »

Christian Disconnect

September 19, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

The Barna Group just released a study that looks at some of the disconnects between what Christians believe and how they live. You can read the full report by clicking here, but here are the main disconnects:

81% of Christians say Jesus is important to them; but only 18% are committed to developing their relationship with Jesus.
64% of Christians have confessed their sins to God; but only 12% realize how devastating their personal sin is.
Lots of Christians participate in “normal” religious activities every week; but “less than one out of ten have talked about their faith with a non-Christian, fasted for religious purposes, and had an extended time of spiritual reflection during the past week.”
Most Christians feel “comfortable” in their church; but their comfort level is only surface-deep, with no accountability nor confession.

As a pastor, I place the responsibility for these disconnects squarely on the pastors. On me.

Unless pastors are teaching this stuff—and living this stuff—the disconnects will always remain.

Gregory the Great (ca. 540-604) wrote, “There are some who investigate spiritual precepts with cunning care, but what they penetrate with understanding they trample on in their lives: all at once they are teaching the things which not by practice but by study they have learnt; and what in words they preach, by their manners they impugn. Whence it comes to pass that when the shepherd walks through steep places, the flock follows to the precipice.”

I’m challenged by this, and I’m going to spend some time in prayer this week regarding these disconnects. I want to take a good look at what I’m teaching and living, and allow the Holy Spirit to correct what needs to be corrected.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Barna Group, Christian, church, discipleship, Gregory The Great, maturity, pastors, quote. Leave a Comment »

United

September 9, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

These are the pastors of the Cedar Springs Ministerial Association praying together before our UNITED service. We truly are united. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful group of colleagues who will put aside any denominational differences, to simply focus on winning people for Christ!