Intentional Blessing

February 9, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

As many of my regular readers know, I often wake up with a distinct song in my mind. Many times these songs—which I believe are God-given—prepare me for my day. (I know it may seem like an unusual way for the Holy Spirit to speak to someone, but, hey, it works for me!)

Today’s song is an old hymn. One part of it goes like this…

Out in the highways and byways of life,
many are weary and sad;  
Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife,
making the sorrowing glad.
Make me a blessing, make me a blessing,
Out of my life may Jesus shine;
Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray,
Make me a blessing to someone today.

I want to be a blessing to others, but I don’t want to be an “accidental” blessing.

I think it’s a good habit to pray through my day before the day even gets started. I can then begin to think about my coworkers, my breakfast appointments, my board meetings, my classmates, my friends, even my family. I can begin to pray specifically for those interactions that God will give me the specific words to say in that moment that will bring the greatest blessing.

Of course, there will often be those unplanned interactions where you can bless someone. But let’s make sure we’ve done our part to be ready for those planned interactions.

I pray that you are letting Jesus shine out of your life and that you are being an intentional blessing to someone today!

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Thursdays With Oswald—The Test Of A Preacher

February 3, 2011 — 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.

The Test Of A Preacher

       The test of an instructor in the Christian Church is that he is able to build me up in my intimacy with Jesus Christ, not that he gives me new ideas, but I come away feeling I know a bit more about Jesus Christ. Today the preacher is tested, not by the building up of saints but on the ground of his personality.

From Facing Reality

It’s natural to want to be popular. To that end, we often choose charisma over character, style over substance, entertainment over intimacy. Even those who are called to preach the Gospel can fall prey to this.

My prayer: Heavenly Father, I want to know You more; I want to become more intimate with You. As I do, may I always preach out of the overflow of that relationship. Never preaching just to please people, but merely sharing with others how much I love You. Search my heart, Holy Spirit, for any shred of envy that I’m not as popular as the-other-guy. The only applause I live for is that from the nail-scarred hands of my Savior Jesus Christ.

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Be Thou Exalted

January 28, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Love this prayer from A.W. Tozer (in his book The Pursuit After God):

O God, be Thou exalted over my possessions. Nothing of earth’s treasures shall seem dear to me if only Thou art glorified in my life.

Be Thou exalted over my friendships. I am determined that Thou shall be above all, though I must stand deserted and alone in the midst of the earth.

Be Thou exalted above my comforts. Though it may mean the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying of heavy crosses I shall keep my vow made this day before Thee.

Be Thou exalted over my reputation. Make me ambitious to please Thee even if as a result I must sink into obscurity and my name be forgotten as a dream.

Rise, O Lord, into Thy proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above my family, above my health and even my life itself.

Let me decrease that Thou mayest increase, let me sink that Thou mayest rise above.

I love it, and yet it is a true challenge to pray it.

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Thursdays With Oswald—Disentangled

January 20, 2011 — 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.

Disentangled

       A disciple of Jesus must know from what he is to be disentangled. The disentanglement is from things which would be right for us but for the fact that we have taken upon us the vows of God. There is a difference between disentanglement for our own soul’s sake and disentanglement for God’s sake. We are apt to think only about being disentangled from the things which would ensnare us—we give up this and that, not for Jesus Christ’s sake, but for our own development. A worker has to disentangle himself from many things that would advantage and develop him but which would turn him aside from being broken bread and poured out wine in his Lord’s hands. We are not here to develop our own spiritual life, but to be broken for Jesus Christ’s sake.

From Approved Unto God

My prayer: Break me … disentangle me … pour me out for Your glory, O God.

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Signing A Blank Check

January 17, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

In our current series on prayer, we’re using the prayer that Jesus taught as our pattern. Yesterday we looked at this part of the pattern:

Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

This is all about trust. It’s about acknowledging to God that He is in control and He knows what’s best. It’s not about me coming into His presence and telling Him how things should work. I love the quote from C.S. Lewis:

There are two kinds of people: those who say to God “Thy will be done” and those to whom God says, “All right then, have it your way.”

When we come into God’s presence in prayer, we say, “Before I ask You for what I need, I want You to know that I trust You. No matter what.” In essence, we sign a blank check and trust God to fill in the amount.

And, by the way, the verb for “Your kingdom come” in this model prayer is an imperfect verb. That means that we have to keep on signing those blank checks, as we keep on submitting to His will and His kingdom.

Are you willing to sign a blank check to God?

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Thursdays With Oswald—Unbendingly Holy

January 13, 2011 — 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.

Unbendingly Holy

       Holiness means every part of my life under scrutiny of God, knowing that the grace of God is sufficient for every detail. The temptation comes along the line of compromise, “Don’t be so unbendingly holy; so fiercely pure and uprightly chaste.” Never tolerate by sympathy with yourself or with others any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God.

 From Approved Unto God

My prayer: Scrutinize me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my compromising thoughts. Point out ANYTHING in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. I want to be unbendingly holy in Your sight, O Holy God.

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So, It’s That Easy, Huh?

January 10, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I’ve been in full-blown praying/planning/dreaming mode for the last couple of weeks. I’m really looking forward to what God has in store for our church in 2011!

Somehow I thought all of this vision “stuff” was going to be a lot of work. But I just discovered a 13-page book that is going to revolutionize my church in just a matter of minutes! I just ordered my copy, and you should too.

(Don’t you wish it really was this easy?)

(Um, for those of you who haven’t figured it out yet: this is a joke. At least the “easy” part is; the “hard-work-and-lots-of-praying” part is for real.)

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Perfect Praying

January 8, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

We just wrapped up a great week of prayer, and tomorrow we dive into part two of our 2011 inaugural series of the new year: The Perfect Prayer.

I can’t think of a better way to set the pace for the year than to pray!

Hope to see you tomorrow for some great worship and a helpful study on The Perfect Prayer (location, service times, and other details are here).

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Can You Have Too Much Blessing?

January 7, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I seldom turn on religious TV shows, because when I do I typically hear the same two messages: (1) God wants you to be rich; (2) God wants you to be healthy. I believe God is good all the time, but that doesn’t mean those who follow Him always get wealth and health.

Consider this:

After Rehoboam’s position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all of Israel with him abandoned the law of the Lord.

Notice: When Rehoboam was healthy and wealthy, he abandoned God. When things looked bleak—when the future for Rehoboam was very much in doubt—Rehoboam was “walking in the ways of David and Solomon” (2 Chronicles 11:17). When the Egyptians attacked, Rehoboam and his court officials “humbled themselves before God” (12:6).

Health and wealth derailed Rehoboam, but difficulties kept him close to God.

Maybe a better prayer than “Bless me” would be “Build Your character in me.” Or as it says in Proverbs:

Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown You and say “Who is the Lord?” Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

The prayer that Jesus taught us to pray is perfect: Give us today our daily bread—no more, no less. That keeps me focused on my Heavenly Father.

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Pray First, Then Preach

January 6, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, not only is this a week of prayer for our church, but I have also declared 2011 to be The Year Of Answered Prayer. As a result, I’m reading and studying more about prayer, and praying more too.

This post is mostly for my fellow pastors.

Pastors, I came across two quotes this morning to which we should pay careful attention. The first is from Augustine’s On Christian Teaching, and the second is from E.M. Bounds’ Power Through Prayer.

“He should be in no doubt that any ability he has and however much he has derives more from his devotion to prayer than his dedication to oratory; and so, by praying for himself and for those he is about to address, he must become a man of prayer before becoming a man of words. As the hour of his address approaches, before he opens his thrusting lips he should lift his thirsting soul to God so that he may utter what he has drunk in and pour out what has filled him.” —Augustine

“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

Before you prepare it, pray it.

Before you preach it, pray it.

After you preach it, pray it some more.

Pastors, let’s be men and women of prayer before we’re men and women of words.

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