Jesus Is The Supernova

December 9, 2013 — 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 astronomical terms, a supernova is an explosion almost beyond compare. For a brief moment the explosion is the brightest point in the universe, sending enriching energy reverberating in every direction.

There was a supernova in the opening words of the Old Testament—in the beginning God created (Genesis 1:1). There was an explosion of God’s love that was the brightest spot in the universe He just created. But shortly after a supernova explodes, it appears to go dark for a period of time.

In history this could be seen as the time in-between the in the beginning of the Old Testament and the time before Jesus is born. Isaiah describes this as a people walking around in darkness and gloomy distress. Then all of sudden Isaiah says a great light explodes on the scene—

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress…. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. … For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:1-2, 6)

The reverberation of God’s supernova in the opening words of the Old Testament show up again in the opening words of the New Testament—A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1). The light of Jesus exploded on the scene!

And the Christ became flesh and tabernacled among us; and we actually saw His glory, such glory as an only begotten Son receives from His Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

Because of the energy released in the supernova of Creation and the reverberation of Christ’s First Advent, we are the beneficiaries. Astronomers tell us that the explosion of a supernova makes it possible for other stars to be born. That’s you and me!

Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright stars in a world full of crooked and perverse people. (Philippians 2:15)

May this Advent season remind you of the supernova explosion of love of Jesus Christ, and our ability to shine brightly because of His life in us. Shine brightly!

Check out the other ways Jesus shined brightly at His Advent in our series The Star Of CHRISTmas.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

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Keep Going

October 1, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

Keep GoingI don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (Philippians 3:12-14)

“Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out if they’ve got a second.” —William James

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low but the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit…
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit!


Life is queer with its twists and turns,


As every one of us sometimes learns,


And many failures turn about


When we might have won had we stuck it out.


Don’t give up though the pace seems slow…


You may succeed with another blow.




Often the struggler has given up


When he might have captured the victor’s cup;


And he learned too late when the night came down,


How close he was to the golden crown.




Success is failure turned inside out…


And you can never tell how close you are


It may be near when it seems so far.


So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit


It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit. —Edgar A. Guest














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Act Or Attitude?

May 6, 2013 — 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.



Yesterday morning I showed my congregation this verse: As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another… (1 Peter 4:10 KJV). I then asked them, “What do you think of when you see the word minister in this verse?” The first answer given was “pastor.” Others said things like “encourager” and “helper.”


Then I shared that the Greek word for minister is the word from which we get deacon. I then asked them what deacon made them think of. They answered “administrator” and “leader.”


But the closest definition to what we have today for that Greek word is waiter or waitress. The NIV tries to capture this thought when it translates the same verse: Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others….


Serving is not something that comes naturally to most people, as typically we prefer to be served.    


In biblical times, a disciple was always very devoted to his rabbi. The disciple would serve almost in the role of a servant to his rabbi.


Almost.


Even the rabbis didn’t requite their disciples to remove their sandals, because it was considered so menial and demeaning to the disciple. So foot washing was reserved for the lowliest of servants.


Then along comes Jesus who knows that God has placed all authority under Him (John 13:3), who uses His authority to take on the lowest of lowliest positions: a foot-washer. As He finishes washing, He says, “Now that you’ve seen Me do this, you need to do the same thing: Be the humblest of servants.”


In our culture, most people don’t need to have their feet washed when they come into your home or a restaurant, like they did in first century Israel. It is not the act that is important, but the attitude. Jesus stooped to wash His disciples’ feet. He made Himself lower than anyone else in the room. Jesus showed us that there was nothing beneath Him.


I’ve heard this before: “How do you know you have a servant’s attitude? When you don’t mind that someone treats you like a servant.”


But I think a better question might be: “Do I think anything (or anyone) is beneath me?” If I do, my attitude is not Christ-like (Philippians 2:5-7), nor is it Christ-blessable (John 13:17).


Jesus calls us to be servants—to be waiters and waitresses to others. This will show the love of Jesus like nothing else can.


Check out all of the other messages in our series Live Together by clicking here.


►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎






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Embracing Conflict

April 22, 2013 — 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.



A quick survey: Please raise your hand if any of these pertain to you:


    

  • Have you ever had a disagreement with someone?
    • 

  • Have you had a disagreement with someone you love?
    • 

  • Have you had a disagreement with someone you love, who also called themself a Christian?
    • 



If you raised your hand, you joined 100% of my congregation who answered “yes” to all three.


When we are in close proximity to anyone, there will be conflict. In fact, close proximity usually leads to more conflict because closeness increases friction. For a Christian the issue is not if we will have conflict with others in the Church, but how will we navigate and resolve these conflicts.


The apostle Paul wrote a thank you letter to the church at Philippi, in which he speaks in some of the most glowingly loving terms of any of his letters. Clearly, this was a group of people close to his heart. So when he heard about a conflict between two ladies in this congregation, he took time to address it publicly in his letter—


I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. (Philippians 4:2)


We don’t know why these ladies were arguing but notice that Paul doesn’t take sides. He simply says, “I please with Euodia AND I plead with Syntyche.” The word for plead means someone who comes alongside to help. In using this terminology, Paul gives us an important principle:


We can come alongside those in conflict without taking sides with either one of those in conflict.


In the next verse, Paul implores the rest of the church to join him in this alongsided-ness—


And I exhort you too, my genuine yokefellow, help these two women to keep on cooperating…. (v. 3 in the Amplified Bible)


In other words, Paul wants the rest of the church to embrace these at-odds sisters, also without taking sides. He addresses the members of the church as yokefellow. It’s not a word we use too often today (although it is still in the dictionary), but it paints a crystal clear picture of our role. Here’s what we CAN’T do as yokefellow:


    

  • Look away
    • 

  • Mind our own business
    • 

  • Hope the situation will work itself out
    • 

  • Try to navigate around the problem
    • 



Instead, we embrace the conflict by embracing those in the conflict. We help them to cooperate and to work in harmony in the Lord (v. 2 in the Amplified Bible). It’s our responsibility to help maintain the bonds of peace so that the Body of Christ can grow in a way that is healthy and God-honoring.


Do you know someone in conflict right now? Are you in the conflict yourself? Ask God to show you how you can come alongside—not take sides—with those in this conflict so that you can help bring about peace.


If you have missed any messages in this series called Life Together, you can find them all by clicking here.


►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials, like a map and an app I just shared to help with your personal Bible study time. ◀︎◀︎






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Catch ‘Em Doing Right

March 19, 2013 — 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. 



Ken Blanchard is right: we spend way too much time trying to catch someone doing something wrong (or worry that they’re going to do something wrong), and not enough time trying to catch them doing something right.


…if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things…. (Philippians 4:8)


…love rejoices in the truth…. (1 Corinthians 13:6)


I should be praying for and looking for praiseworthy things. Why? Because people generally live up to someone’s expectations (they live down to their expectations too)—especially someone who has demonstrated they care about them.


Listen to the apostle John’s right-catching statement:


It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. (3 John 3-4)


“The truth” is sometimes taught in a Christian home or in a church, or maybe it’s caught there. The child or the churchgoer has heard the truth, but then do we honestly believe the truth—along with the Holy Spirit reminding them of that truth—somehow becomes ineffectual?


We often act like that.


We seem to be more willing to believe the negative reports than the positive reports. Perhaps, like John, I need to be more ready to catch others doing right. Perhaps I need to be more ready to rejoice in the success stories. Perhaps I need to pray for greater discernment to see the positive changes the truth is making in those I love.


If we make this a matter of prayer, I believe the Holy Spirit will help us catch others doing right.


►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎






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Responding To The Voice

March 4, 2013 — Craig T. Owens 




FlatlandIn 1880, Edwin A. Abbott wrote Flatland, a book that would later become a favorite of Albert Einstein. Abbott was a college-trained mathematician and a theologian; in fact he was actually better known for his theological writings than for Flatland. Later on Einstein would say that “things should be made as simple as possible, not simpler.” In other words, don’t dumb-down the concept, but state it on a level where more people can grasp it. That’s why, I believe, Einstein loved Flatland.


Flatland is told through the eyes of Square, a two-dimensional shape that lives in Flatland. Square has length and width, but no height. So the inhabitants of Flatland can move back-and-forth, and side-to-side, but not up-and-down. To get an idea of this, put your eye right on the level of a tabletop, and look at an item on the table. Imagine you can only see what is touching the tabletop (but nothing that rises any higher or lower than that), and you will get an idea of Square’s two-dimensional world.


One day Sphere visits Flatland. Sphere is three-dimensional, so he can move up-and-down. This means that Square can only see the part of Sphere that happens to be in his line of sight at that immediate moment. So he sees just a “slice” or “layer” of Sphere as Sphere moves through Flatland. Sometimes Sphere is nothing more than a disembodied voice when he is hovering above Flatland.


This gives us a little bit of an idea of how we perceive God. He exists in dimensions that we cannot fully comprehend, so we only see “slices” of Him as He passes though our line of sight. Sometimes He is just a disembodied Voice—or as the Bible calls Him, the Word of God.


But the Word of God compressed Himself into our dimension (John 1:14). All of the fullness—all of the other-dimension-ness—of His omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience came to our “level” in the Person of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:6-7). The Word was the complete and total fullness of God (John 1:1-3; Colossians 2:9). But unlike Square who couldn’t fully know Sphere, God is fully knowable in The Word—in Jesus Christ!


The question is: What are you going to do with The Word? The Word of God (the Bible) allows us to fully know The Word of God (Jesus). But we need to be willing to let the Holy Spirit strip away our puny, smaller-dimensioned, finite thinking of God.


Alvin TofflerAlvin Toffler wrote, “The illiterate of the future are not those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”


I would modify this to say, “Those illiterate of The Word (Jesus) are not those who cannot read The Word (the Bible), but those who won’t let the Holy Spirit help them learn, unlearn, and relearn who God is.” 


There is so much more to learn about The Word (Jesus), so let the Holy Spirit guide you in your reading of The Word (the Bible). I pray as Paul did that you will begin to experience more of the multi-dimensional-ness of God as revealed in The Word—


I pray that out of God’s glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)


If you have missed any of the messages in this series called Who Is Jesus?, you can find them all here.






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Love Is… (part 2)

February 18, 2013 — Craig T. Owens 




Love is… worksheet 2We are taking a practical look at the incredible definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13. We’re doing this in the context of learning how to love the “unloveable”—or maybe I should say, loving those who are the most resistant to real love. If we can show them love, how much more will the love of Jesus be seen!


All of these verbs are present tense verbs. That means they aren’t exhausted in the past, and they aren’t waiting for future conditions to improve—they are in operation NOW.


Far too many people know Christians more by what we’re against than by what we’re for. So where the biblical text say “love does not” or “love isn’t,” I’ve changed it into the positive “love is.”


You can read about the first five attributes love love by clicking here.


The next five attributes are:


Love is graceful


    

  • The root word means something that should be covered up, or something we’re ashamed of. Because our words and actions are graceful, they are things we wouldn’t have to defend, or explain, or apologize for later. They are words and actions that wouldn’t embarrass us.
    • 

  • “Agape will do nothing that misbecomes it.” —Matthew Henry
    • 



Love knows our relationship > my rights


    

  • True love “does not demand its own way” (New Living Translation) nor does it “insist on its own rights” (Amplified Bible). Instead it always seeks ways that the relationship can be repaired or enhanced, even if that means giving up something I consider to be “my right.”
    • 

  • NOTE: I’m not saying that you become a doormat. This is not a license for someone to abuse you, but it is a call for us to balance our responses. Romans 12:18 says as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
    • 

  • Here are some great balancing verses. Balance Proverbs 26:4-5 (here is a video where I expand on this idea), and then balance Philippians 2:3-4.
    • 



Love is even-tempered 


    

  • The Amplified Bible says it well: love is not touchy or fretful or resentful.
    • 

  • This Greek word means not getting stirred up or exasperated. So we need to lighten up!
    • 

  • There are some places where we’ve become too sensitive, too touchy, too short-fused. The fire of hurt has replaced the fire of love. So Matthew Henry advises us: “Where the fire of love is kept in, the flames of wrath will not easily kindle, nor long keep burning.”
    • 



Love is forgiving


    

  • The New International Version says love keeps no record of wrongs.
    • 

  • This Greek phrase speaks of an accountant tallying up the hurts (where there is an overdrawn account), seeing there is a debt to be paid back, and then appointing himself as the bill collector. True love cancels those IOUs.
    • 

  • We don’t forgive others because they deserve forgiveness, but we forgive others because we received forgiveness from God that we did not deserve!
    • 

  • For if you forgive people their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], your heavenly Father will also forgive you. (Matthew 6:14 AMP)
    • 



Love is God-honoring


    

  • Agape loves what God loves and hates what God hates.
    • 

  • Agape loves when people find God’s truth, and hates anything that blocks that pursuit.
    • 

  • Agape loves the sinner and hates the sin.
    • 

  • “The sins of others are the grief of an agape spirit [not] its sport or delight; they will touch it to the quick….” —Matthew Henry
    • 



Here’s where the real test comes in: How will you apply these attributes of love to someone in your life? More specifically: to someone you think is “unloveable”?


I know you have someone in your life that you think is unloveable. With that person’s face clearly in mind, how will you fill in the blanks:


    

  1. I can be graceful in…
    2. 

  2. I can give up my right to…
    3. 

  3. I need to lighten up in this area…
    4. 

  4. I must forgive them for…
    5. 

  5. I need to pray for a breakthrough in…
    6. 



If you would like a downloadable PDF of this worksheet, click here –> Love is… worksheet 2




If you missed any of the messages in our Loving the Unlovable series, you can check them all our here.






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Love Is… (part 1)

February 11, 2013 — Craig T. Owens 




Love is… worksheet 1The greatest definition of love in the history of mankind is given to us in 1 Corinthians 13. This is the “gold standard” to which all of us should strive to pattern our lives.


But notice that right at the beginning, Paul says, “Love IS” (verse 4). Not love feels good or even love does; but love is. Love is not love because it makes us feel good. Love is not love because we did something nice. Love is love because it measures up to this standard in 1 Corinthians.


Here are the first five attributes of love.


Love is patient


    

  • Patient love doesn’t lose heart, but stays hopeful.
    • 

  • It endures patiently and bravely in enduring misfortune and disappointment.
    • 

  • “It can endure evil, injury, and provocation, without being filled with resentment, indignation, or revenge.” —Matthew Henry
    • 



Love is kind


    

  • It is pleasant and courteous.
    • 

  • It both seizes opportunities and makes opportunities to show kindness.
    • 

  • …as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:18)
    • 



Love is catching others doing something good


    

  • The biblical phrase is love is not envious, but I want to turn the positive into a negative. Far too often we Christians are known more for what we against, not what we’re for. So the positive way of saying this: we rejoice when others succeed. Or, we catch them doing something good.
    • 



Love is complementing others


    

  • Again, we turn the negative love does not boast into a positive, and say love complements others.
    • 

  • Agape raises the value of the object of its love.
    • 



Love is others-focused


    

  • Again, turning the negative love is not proud into a positive.
    • 

  • Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3)
    • 



Here’s where the real test comes in: How will you apply these attributes of love to someone in your life? More specifically: to someone you think is “unloveable”?


I know you have someone in your life that you think is unloveable. With that person’s face clearly in mind, how will you fill in the blanks:


    

  1. I can show patience by…
    2. 

  2. I can be kind to them by…
    3. 

  3. I can rejoice in their success in this area…
    4. 

  4. I can applaud them in their…
    5. 

  5. I can see them becoming…
    6. 



If you would like a downloadable PDF of this worksheet, click here –> Love is… worksheet 1


If you missed any of the messages in our Loving the Unlovable series, you can check them all our here.






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Start With Thanksgiving Day

November 21, 2012 — Craig T. Owens 




Thanksgiving Day is a good place to start. It’s a good day to begin to flex your gratitude muscles.


But don’t stop there! 


Allow those thankful feelings from Thanksgiving Day to expand into multiple thanksgiving dayS.


But don’t stop there! 


Let multiple thanksgiving dayS expand into a habit of daily thanksgiving.


But don’t stop there! 


Let the habit of daily thanksgiving become a lifestyle of givingthanksgiving—a lifestyle that is always God-focused, Christ-centered, and Spirit-led in constant thanks for everything!


Givingthanksgiving looks like this…


Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:20)


 Do not be anxious about anything, but ineverything, by prayer and petition, withthanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)


 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. (1 Timothy 4:4)


Let’s not limit ourselves to only one day of giving thanks, but a lifestyle of givingthanksgiving every single day!






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Giving Thanks For Gifted People

November 19, 2012 — 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.



Have you ever noticed how quickly we label people? We tend to give them a label based on their education, their socio-economic status, their race, their age, their job, even their choice of vocabulary.


We may not verbally express these labels, but we think them. And we will always treat people as we label them! In fact, it’s impossible to treat someone differently than you think about them.


What sort of label does God use? Well, He says that He knit you together in your mother’s womb; that He saw all of the days of your life before you were even a twinkle in your father’s eye; He knows the number of hairs on your head; He knows the thoughts in your head; He knows what you’re going to say before you say it. And then there’s this beautiful thought—


For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)


The label God puts on you:


My one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable, invaluable masterpiece!


When you are givingthanksgiving for people (that means you are always thankful for people), you will begin to see them as God’s masterpieces too!


Everyone you meet is God’s gift. He gave them to humanity to do the good works which He prepared in advance for them to do. You are surrounded by gifted people!


If you don’t see people this way—or if you tend to label them with less-than-flattering tags—perhaps you should begin to pray for them. Try a prayer like this:


I thank my God for you; in fact, I always thank God for you. And every time I thank God for you, I pray for you, night and day. In all my prayers for you, I always pray with joy, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. And this is also my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. So I urge you to join me in offering requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving for everyone. (This prayer is taken from Romans 1:8; 1 Corinthians 1:4; Colossians 1:3; 2 Timothy 1:3; Philippians 1:3-11; 1 Timothy 2:1)


Don’t just express your thanks for people on Thanksgiving Day, but be givingthanksgiving all the time. Remember: everyone you meet is a gifted person because everyone you meet is God’s one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable, invaluable masterpiece.


Check out the other message in this two-part series series here.


►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎








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