Getting Back To God

February 28, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

An important reminder from Ella Wheeler Wilcox—

All the aim of life is just

       Getting back to God.

Spirit casting off its dust,

       Getting back to God.

Every grief we have to bear

Disappointment, cross, despair

Each is but another stair

       Climbing back to God.

Step by step and mile by mile—

       Getting back to God;

Nothing else is worth the while—

       Getting back to God.

Light and shadow fill each day

Joys and sorrows pass away,

Smile at all, and smiling, say,

       Getting back to God.

Do not wear a mournful face

       Getting back to God;

Scatter sunshine on the place

       Going back to God;

Take what pleasure you can find,

But where’er your paths may wind.

Keep the purpose well in mind—

       Getting back to God.

(Song Of The Spirit)

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Holy Alphabet

February 15, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Hat tip to John Saddington (via his Mom) for this one. I love the creativity…

Although things are not perfect
Because of trial or pain
Continue in thanksgiving
Do not begin to blame
Even when the times are hard
Fierce winds are bound to blow
God is forever able
Hold on to what you know
Imagine life without His love
Joy would cease to be
Keep thanking Him for all the things
Love imparts to thee
Move out of ‘Camp Complaining’
No weapon that is known
On earth can yield the power
Praise can do alone
Quit looking at the future
Redeem the time at hand
Start every day with worship
To ‘thank’ is a command
Until we see Him coming
Victorious in the sky
We’ll run the race with gratitude
Xalting God most high
Yes, there’ll be good times and yes some will be bad, but…
Zion waits in glory…where none are ever sad!

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How Do I Love Thee

December 29, 2010 — Craig T. Owens
How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, – I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! – and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death. —Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Can you count the ways you love your beloved?

Can you count the ways you show your beloved your love?

Don’t get stuck in a rut. Find new ways to say your love and to show your love today.

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Will You Make A Difference Today?

October 19, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Moses shared a great prayer with us: Teach us to use wisely all the time we have (Psalm 90:12).

How will use your time wisely today? What does that look like in your world?

Let me today do something that shall take
A little sadness from the world’s vast store,
And may I be so favored as to make
Of joy’s too scanty sum a little more.
Let me not hurt, by any selfish deed
Or thoughtless word, the heart of foe or friend;
Nor would I pass, unseeing, worthy need,
Or sin by silence when I should defend.
However meager be my worldly wealth,
Let me give something that shall aid my kind—
A word of courage, or a thought of health,
Dropped as I pass for troubled hearts to find.
Let me tonight look back across the span
‘Twixt dawn and dark, and to my conscience say—
Because of some good act to beast or man—
“The world is better that I lived today.” (Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Morning Prayer)

Make your world a better place because you passed through it today.

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Your Lego

October 5, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple or Spotify.

Red, yellow, green, or blue?

Six dots, four dots, three, or two?

Long and straight, or thick and round?

Inside, outside, upside-down?

Cutting-edge that’s very new?

Or a classic shape that’s tried-and-true?

The Creator made you, oh, so right!

That’s why your Lego shines so bright.

God loves the way He made you! You were made to fit just right and make the Body of Christ all that it could be. If you hold back from using your talent, we’re all diminished. The Bible has a different way of expressing this:

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? ◀︎◀︎

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Engaging Culture

September 29, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I read something very interesting: Next to Christmas, more money is spent on Halloween than on any other holiday event. Halloween?!? Wow! We’re in the midst of planning our church’s role on Halloween night, so I’ve been thinking quite a bit about engaging our culture.

It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

So here’s how I think followers of Jesus Christ should light a candle to engage culture:

(1) Have the right motivation. In Jesus’ inaugural sermon, He said He was coming to preach the Good News about God’s love. He purposely left out the part of Isaiah’s prophesy that talked about God’s coming judgment. There will be a time for that, but for now, our motivation should be to make known the favor of the Lord.

(2) Get out of your box. If you only hang around with Christians, your ability to effectively engage culture will be diminished. If you never get around others, it’s sort of like salt that sits in the saltshaker too long. Paul told the Athenians that he had been walking around their city looking at their culture.

(3) Listen. As Paul talked to the Athenians, he quoted their poets to them. He knew what they were listening to because he was listening too. What are people watching on TV? What movies are they talking about? What music are they listening to? You can find the key to their heart by knowing something about what interests them.

(4) Collaborate. There are lots of other faith-based organizations, non-government organizations, and churches that are already active in your community. Join forces with them.

(5) Just be there. Go to local restaurants, cheer on the local sports teams, join a rec league team, attend the city council meetings, volunteer at a shelter or food pantry. Just be there! After a while, people will begin to ask you why you are so involved, and you’ll have a great platform to speak to them.

It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.

Are you engaging your culture? It’s time to go shine!

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The Imbalanced Mother

May 10, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

We had a great time celebrating Moms yesterday. Moms are these amazing creatures that seem to be everywhere and doing everything. This ability to multitask is a blessing, but it can lead to problems if Moms try to perfectly balance their lives through more multitasking.

Perfect balance is an impossibility. Just as soon as you think you have everything balanced, life throws you a curve: a sick child … a flat tire … change of plans … I’m sure you know the drill.

Instead of trying to be the perfectly balanced multitasker, I suggest that you become a purposely imbalanced, God-leaning mother.

Imbalance your day toward God.

Take the time necessary to lean into God, and the rest of your day will be well-ordered.

Dads and kids, the greatest thing you can do to honor your wife/mother, is to make sure she has undisturbed time alone with God. I promise you that after she spends this time, the rest of her day—and therefore your day—will go much more smoothly. Help her to imbalance her life.

Here’s a great poem from Faye Inchfawn written in 1920:

See, I am cumbered, Lord,
With serving, and with small vexatious things.
Upstairs, and down, my feet
Must hasten, sure and fleet.
So weary that I cannot heed Thy word;
So tired, I cannot now mount up with wings.
I wrestle – how I wrestle! – through the hours.
Nay, not with principalities, nor powers—
Dark spiritual foes of God’s and man’s—
But with antagonistic pots and pans:
With footmarks in the hall,
With smears upon the wall,
With doubtful ears, and small unwashen hands,
And with a babe’s innumerable demands.
I toil with feverish haste, while tear-drops glisten,
 
(O, child of Mine, be still. And listen—listen!)
 
At last, I laid aside
Important work, no other hands could do
So well (I thought), no skill contrive so true.
And with my heart’s door open—open wide—
With leisured feet, and idle hands, I sat.
I, foolish, fussy, blind as any bat,
Sat down to listen, and to learn. And lo,
My thousand tasks were done the better so.

 

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Sermon Perceptions

January 29, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I read an interesting article about people’s feelings about sermons. You can read the full article here, but allow me to list some of the main points:

  • Nearly all churchgoers “look forward” to the sermon.
  • Some view sermons as educational, some as entertainment.
  • Catholics wanted the sermon to last 10 minutes. Baptists were fine with a 75-minute sermon.
  • Only 17% say the sermon leads them to change their lifestyle.

Only 17%?!? If that’s the case, why do I (and other pastors) spend so much time preparing a message?

I made a change a while ago. Instead of trying to prepare a sermon, I try to prepare myself.

I’m not a fake-it-until-I-make-it pastor. I don’t tell my congregation how they should live, I tell them how the Holy Spirit is challenging me to live.

I don’t walk to the platform on Sunday morning with my finger pointing out at my congregation, but with my finger pointing squarely at me.

I stumbled upon this anonymous poem a number of years ago. This is my goal in my sermon prep:

I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day;

I’d rather one should walk with me than merely show the way.

The eye’s a better pupil and more willing than the ear;

Fine counsel is confusing, but example’s always clear.

And the best of all preachers are the men who live their creeds.

For to see the good in action is what everybody needs.

I can soon learn how to do it if you’ll let me see it done;

I can watch your hands in actions, but your tongue too fast may run.

And the lectures you deliver may be very wise and true,

But I’d rather get my lesson by observing what you do.

For I may misunderstand you and the high advice you give,

But there’s no misunderstanding how you act and how you live.

Amen!

So, pastor, it’s not really sermon prep you should be doing, but individual heart prep.

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Make My House A Home

October 8, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

The house is quiet

And I don’t like it

It just feels like a house

My stuff is all here

It’s all in its place

It just feels like a house

I need some banter

Perhaps some laughter

To make this house my home

Some hugs would be nice

Maybe a cuddle

To make this house my home

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Knowing Greatness

August 10, 2009 — Craig T. Owens
galaziesO Lord my God
When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made
I see the stars
I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed
 
          Then sings my soul
          My Savior God to Thee
          How great Thou art
          How great Thou art
 
Galaxies and snowflakes.
Volcanoes and water geysers.
Summer and winter.
Day and night.snowflake_
Puppies and mosquitoes.
Red blood cells and white.
Me.
 
          You made them all.
          You know them all.
          You are in them all.
          How great Thou art!
 
I want to praise You more.
To praise You more,
I must know You more.
To know You more,
I must experience You more.
 
          Give my eyes sharper sight.
          My ears more attentive hearing.
          Give my tongue better tasting.
          My nose more acute smelling.
          Give my skin more sensitive feeling.
 
All my senses more keenly aware of all Your creation.
More aware of my Creator in creation.lightning
 
          You are in every sight.
          Sound.
          Taste.
          Smell.
          Touch.
          You are in all.
 
Today I want to experience You more.
To praise You more.
To know Your greatness more.
To realize Your love more.
How great Thou art!
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