The World Needs Men

January 8, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

In our week of prayer we’ve been focusing our prayers on a different area each day. Last night we prayed for men. Men who love Jesus need to be the pacesetters in our families, our churches, our communities, our businesses.

What kind of men? We used this poem from Ted Engstrom to help us focus our prayers —

The world needs men
who cannot be bought;
whose word is their bond;
who put character above wealth;
who possess opinions and a will;
who are larger than their vocations;
who do not hesitate to take chances;
who will not lose their individuality in a crowd;
who will be as honest in small things as in great things;
who will make no compromise with wrong;
whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires;
who will not say they do it “because everybody else does it”;
who are true to their friends through good report and evil report, in adversity as well as in prosperity;
who do not believe that shrewdness, cunning, and hardheadedness are the best qualities for winning success;
who are not ashamed or afraid to stand for the truth when it is unpopular;
who can say “no” with emphasis, although all the rest of the world says “yes.”

Can you be that man? The world needs you to be that man.

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Naked Before God

January 7, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Imagine: You and your wife are the only people on the face of the earth. No bills, no employer, no economic downturn, no kids, no school, no traffic. Just you and God. That was Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Bible gives this commentary, “Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.”

Nothing to hide from God. Nothing to hide from each other. A perfect relationship with God. A perfect relationship with each other.

Then the temptation, and the bite of the forbidden fruit. Sin enters. Now, something changes when God comes to talk with His favorite couple: “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from God among the trees.”

“Why are you hiding from Me?” God asks.

“Uh,” Adam stammers, “because we’re naked.”

Sin made mankind uncomfortable in God’s presence. Sin made them want to hide from God. They knew He was there, but they tried to pretend He wasn’t. This is why I think many of us don’t come into God’s presence in prayer: we’re uncomfortable because of our sin.

We should not run away from God, instead, we should run to Him. “If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:9).

What happens when we’re forgiven? We’re re-clothed. God Himself clothes us. He made clothes for Adam and Eve, and He clothes us, too, in the righteous robes of Jesus. “And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes” (Galatians 3:27).

And when we’re clothed in Christ, we no longer have to hide from God, nor feel uncomfortable in His presence. Instead, we can “come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (see Ephesians 3:12 and Hebrews 4:16).

Perhaps the reason we don’t spend enough time in prayer is that we feel self-conscious, sinful, uncomfortable… naked.

You don’t have to be naked. You can be clothed in Christ. You can enter into God’s presence without shame and find the mercy and grace and help that you need.

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The Least-Attended Church Service…

January 6, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

…and quite possibly my least-popular blog post.

Just to give you a chance to bail out right now: (1) This blog post is about prayer, and (2) I’m going to offend you.

In every church I’ve ever attended or been associated with, the least-attended gathering is the prayer meeting. Guaranteed. When the pastor says, “We’re going to gather just to prayer,” people stay away. Want to hear something else painful? Jim Cymbala nailed it in Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire:

“You can tell how popular a church is by who comes on Sunday morning. You can tell how popular the pastor or evangelist is by who comes on Sunday night. You can tell how popular Jesus is by who comes to the prayer meeting.”

Jesus knew this, too. When He had a prayer meeting with His followers, they couldn’t even stay awake!

Here are four reasons why I think this is true:

1.  Prayer has no entertainment value. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we go to church to be entertained, but there is a certain element of that in a typical church service: we listen to good music, laugh at a humorous video, engage with an effective sermon. We’re largely passive, just absorbing what’s going on.

2.  Prayer is hard work. We’re doing spiritual battle, and everything in our flesh is going to fight against this. Prayer requires physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual energy. It’s draining work.

3.  We want immediate visible results. In our microwave, cellular phone, on-the-go world, we want everything faster and faster. Something is happening when we pray, but we may not see the results of our prayers immediately.

4.  Prayer is naked communication. We’re talking to the All-Knowing Creator of the Universe. There is a certain level of discomfort when we come into God’s presence. Adam and Eve hid when they knew their sins would be seen by God, and we have a tendency to avoid God’s presence for the same reason.

Perhaps this is why Jesus said if just two of us come together in prayer He would be right there with us. I think Jesus knew that prayer meetings wouldn’t attract the large crowds of a concert or even a Sunday morning church service. So if just two people got together who wanted to do the hard work of praying, He would be right there.

If your church, like ours, is kicking off this new year with a time of prayer, don’t become discouraged by the lack of attendance. Keep on praying—Jesus is right there with you.

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Pray On

January 5, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

We usually give the first day of each week to God, and that’s a good thing. I want us to give the first week of the year to God too. We have to be people of prayer.

Not talking about prayer, but praying.

Not talking about our needs, but casting our cares on God.

Not talking about others’ needs, but interceding for them.

Join us in prayer all throughout this week. If you can come to the church at 6:30pm on any night, please do. But even if you can’t, then just pray on!

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TomTom Directions

January 5, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

My wife is a beautiful, talented woman, but she tends to be, uh, directionally-challenged. That is to say, it’s not hard for her to get on the wrong road, heading the wrong direction. So a wonderful Christmas gift from my folks this year was a TomTom GPS unit.

Yesterday I took a trip and borrowed her TomTom. My first destination was a familiar one, but my second stop was somewhere I hadn’t been before. So I’m driving along when all of a sudden I hear a pleasant female voice tell me, “In two miles, exit to the right.”

Cool!

The Bible tells us that we can have a moral GPS system just like my wife’s TomTom. Check this out:

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a Voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

That Voice is the Holy Spirit. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would guide us in the right ways to go:

But when the Father sends the Advocate as My representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

You have this moral GPS system at your disposal. Are you using it? Prayer is the power supply that activates the Voice. Turn Him on and make better decisions, live a better life, and do greater things for God.

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Prayer Works

December 29, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Prayer works. This phrase is powerful on so many levels—

  • Prayer is effective.
  • Prayer makes changes in me.
  • Prayer makes me work better.
  • Work is made better with prayer.
  • It takes a lot of work to pray.

Most Christians give the first day of each week to God. I’m challenging myself and our congregation to give the first week of the new year to God. January 3-9 will be a week of working in prayer. We’ve called this week Total Access: When we pray, we have total access to all of God’s blessings. He wants to bless us so that…

1. We can be more fruitful.

2. We can bless others out of our overflow.

3. We can glorify God.

Why don’t you join us in giving your first week of the year to God. It’s work to pray, but prayer works.

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A Dollar Or A Cent

December 29, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Last night my two young nephews were staying at our house. After dinner (and ice cream!) my youngest nephew decided he would rather go back home to sleep in his own bed. As I was driving him back toward his house, we had a fascinating conversation.

Fascinating for me because of the sincere simplicity of his young mind. He sees the world so innocently, and yet so sincerely as well. It reminded me of… me.

When I was a kid, my Grandfather offered me my choice of a dollar bill or a single penny. Without any hesitation, I chose the penny. “Why do you want just one penny,” my Grandfather asked, “Don’t you know that a dollar is worth 100 pennies?”

“Yes,” I replied in all my 3-year-old wisdom, “But you can’t put a dollar in a gumball machine.”

I robbed myself of a greater blessing because of my innocent simplicity. I saw only the immediate gain and not the greater blessing. I might have to go through an extra step to exchange the dollar for 100 pennies, but wouldn’t the effort be worth it?

Here’s what C.S. Lewis said:

“If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Are you too easily pleased? Can you believe God for greater blessings? You might have to give up the immediate gain, but won’t it be worth it to trade mud pies in a slum for a holiday at the sea? Don’t settle for a single penny, when there are immeasurable treasures waiting for you!

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There’s A Puppy Curled Up On My Lap

December 21, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Some of you may know that my puppy Grace came to me on National Be Kind To Craig Owens Day. (What, you didn’t know about that holiday?!?) What a joy she’s brought to our family!

I’m trying to get some work done at home right now, and she insists on curling up on my lap. If I get up to get something from another room, she will follow me into that room. She loves going in the car with me or hanging out with me at my office. There’s no doubt that I’m her human.

So I was thinking today about how Grace just simply wants to be where I am. I sort of think this is what the Bible means when it says, “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, ‘Abba, Father.’”

Do you just want to spend time with God?

Do you simply want to be where He is?

Just to feel close to Him?

To go where He’s going?

And do what He’s doing?

To call Him “Daddy, God”?

Your Heavenly Father is calling you today to come closer to Him. Will you answer that call?

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Is It Selfish To Pray For Success At Work?

October 7, 2009 — 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. 

“Dear Lord, I pray that You will help me be successful on my job today. Help me to make that sale [close that deal, get the promotion, earn the raise]. Bless me today. Amen.” All over the world today people at work are praying something similar to this. Does God notice? Is this a prayer God wants to answer?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I’ve been wondering if asking God to bless my efforts is praying a selfish prayer.

That well-known prayer by Jabez sounds very similar, doesn’t it? “Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my territory!” This prayer must have pleased God because the verse ends with, “And God granted his request” (1 Chronicles 4:9-10).

In the life of Joseph, the phrase about his on-the-job success is repeated again and again. First in Potiphar’s house, and then in prison, and then in the royal court we see the phrase “Joseph prospered” (for those of you keeping track at home, that means Joseph was a success at the office). We don’t see Joseph praying for this success, but we see him walking in it nonetheless.

But here’s the key component: it’s all about your heart attitude. In other words, it’s all about how you intend to become successful and what you plan to do with your success.

Jabez wanted to be successful so he wouldn’t be a burden to anyone else. He asked God to give him success in a way that benefitted others. So, too, with Joseph: at every mention of Joseph’s success there is a corresponding phrase like, “The Lord was with him” or “The Lord gave him success in everything he did.”

When Jabez and Joseph were successful on the job, everyone around them knew it was because they did things God’s way. And everyone around them got to share in the blessings of their successes.

Do you want success on the job? Go ahead and pray for God to “enlarge your territory” or help you to “prosper.” Then do things God’s way, and be sure to give Him the credit for your success. I believe that God wants to give you more and more on-the-job success so that He is glorified, and so that others around you recognize God’s provision.

Keep praying for success. I’m praying that for myself and for you too.

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Tick, Tock! Drip, Drop!

September 16, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Tick, Tock! “There just is never enough time in my day!”

Tick, Tock! “Wow, this day has just flown by and I got nothing done!”

Tick, Tock! “Why do I always have so much To Do List left at the end of my week?”

May I suggest that instead of Tick, Tock! you focus on Drip, Drop!

(The data compiling website Flowing Data has a fascinating look at how men and women of all ages spend their time throughout the day.)

I’ve gotten some great insight on time usage from Paul Meyer. Check it out:

“Most time is wasted, not in hours, but in minutes. A bucket with a small hole in the bottom gets just as empty as a bucket that is deliberately emptied.”

Usually our time doesn’t just Tick! by, it Drips! by. In other words, it’s really easy to spot the huge time-wasters; it’s much more difficult to find the time-leakers. But they can be found and plugged. Listen to more good advice from Dr. Meyer:

“Time is usually wasted in the same way every day.”

You cannot add more Tick, Tocking! time to your day, but you can keep more of your day from Drip, Dropping! away. Here are two things I’ve done which have really helped me:

  1. For one week (7 full days) I kept a log of how I spent every 15-minute increment. This might sound like a Drip, Drop! thing to do, but I was amazed at how many leaks I discovered after a week of doing this.
  2. Then I prayed the same prayer Moses prayed, “Give me wisdom to use my days the right way.”

If you can identify the time leaks, God can give you the wisdom to help you plug them. When you can control the Drip, Drop! you’ll get more out of your Tick, Tock! each day.

UPDATE: The thoughts in this chapter became a whole chapter in my book Shepherd Leadership. The chapter is called ‘Can’t, Won’t, or Don’t,’ and it addresses the three attitudes that hold us back from stewarding our time.

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