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On a recent episode of The Craig And Greg Show, Greg and I talked about the importance of leadership habits. In this particular clip, Greg asks me about my most important leadership habits.
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Last week I challenged you to free up some time in your schedule so that you could begin to apply these six spiritual disciplines we are going to discuss.
Let’s keep in mind why we are learning and working on these disciplines. The key phrase is “so that”: I’m going to get stronger so that I have something to give to others, so that they will have something to give to others (and to me), and on and on it goes. Each of us needs all of us, and all of us need each of us!
I love to read. In fact, I’m usually reading several books at the same time. Without a close second, my favorite book is my Bible. I say “my Bible” because I’ve made it mine—it’s underlined, circled, notated, and marked. It’s the Book I’m in every day, and it’s the Book that helps me glean the best knowledge from all the other books I read.
G.K. Chesterton, the famous British writer, was once invited to a meeting of the leading intellectuals in England. They were discussing what one book they would want to have with them if they were shipwrecked on an island. Everybody expected Chesterton to say, “My Bible.” But when it came to his turn to speak, Chesterton said, “If I were shipwrecked on a desert island, I’d like to have Thomas’s Guide to Practical Shipbuilding.”
Chesterton wasn’t saying the Bible wouldn’t have been of benefit to him on that island, but he was saying that those who study the Bible have the most practical insights! The Bible doesn’t just have lofty ideas, but it gives us heavenly wisdom that is highly practical to our everyday lives.
The first spiritual discipline we are considering in our series Saints Together is: Studying our Bible. Notice I didn’t say just to read the Bible, but to really study the Book of books.
The apostle Paul wrote, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). How do we know our faith is growing? It must be tested. Look at what James had to say about growing our faith—“the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:3).
Testing really comes down to this: Does what I believe work in my everyday life? Can I truly put what the Bible teaches me into action? James went a little deeper with this in James 2:17-19.
Allow me to share four indispensable components of our Bible study time. You will notice that for all of these components, I am giving you verses from the 119th chapter of the Psalms. This single chapter mentions God’s Word in every single one of its 176 verses. As an added bonus, this chapter is divided into twenty-two 8-verse sections. Scientists tell us that if you do anything for twenty-one days in a row, you will have gone a long way toward making it a permanent habit. So reading one section of Psalm 119 every day is a great place to start on this spiritual discipline of studying your Bible.
Here are the four components:
(1) Read the Word. You cannot study something you haven’t read. I would suggest you pray before reading (Psalm 119:18, 33). I’d also suggest you leverage the power of your brain using a well-worn path by setting aside the same time, same place, and same method of study every day.
(4) Live out the Word. Apply it by allowing it to make a change in your life. Notice the action words in Psalm 119:1-4: walk … keep … walk … fully obey…. Or as God said to Joshua—
“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8)
This is how Jesus lived His life and it’s also how He said the Holy Spirit would help us live our lives in a God-glorifying way (John 12:49-50, 14:26).
Every day we should be living out the living Word of God!
The Holy Spirit who inspired the words of the Bible is the same Holy Spirit in you. He can illuminate the biblical promises for your prayer time, and He can help you apply the biblical principles to your everyday circumstances. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“Carl M. ‘Daddy” Hanson (1865-1954), a spiritual father to many early Pentecostals on the northern Great Plains, earned his Pentecostal stripes on both sides of Azusa Street. He experienced the Pentecostal distinctive of speaking in tongues in the 19th century, and he became an early leader in the Assemblies of God in the first half of the 20th century.” Check out this mini-biography of this Pentecostal pioneer.
Absolutely astounding! The silk of spider webs has unique properties that medical science is beginning to use in humans. What an amazing Creator we serve!
In my sermon about parenting, I quoted from Proverbs 22:6. Commenting on this verse, Dick Brogden, in Proverbs: Amplified and Applied, wrote, “The principle regarding our children is that the things they are taught early on will give them every opportunity for stability later in life. This reality does not guarantee that they will make right choices (including whether or not to follow Jesus); it does guarantee that they have the resource of wisdom to draw on should they choose. … Whatever their choice, we can rest in the peace that we laid up for them every resource for good. Our peace (regarding our children) comes from what we have done with our heart and resources, not what they have done with theirs.”
Matthew Walker, director of the Center for Human Sleep Science, says, “Sleep is the universal health care provider: whatever the physical or mental ailment, sleep has a prescription it can dispense.” It’s not just medical science, but the Bible also talks about the value of sleep, as Scott Hubbard explains in this post. I’ve also shared some posts about sleep here, here, and here.
Don’t you love the beautiful melody of songbirds? Being a percussionist, I’m attracted to the woodpeckers. Scientists have found that woodpeckers are the only non-songbird that share an identical genetic marker in their brains with songbirds. That means that the drumming of woodpeckers is actually a song!Check out some additional fascinating insights about our drumming friends in this post.
“What is the best thing in the world? To please its Creator. What is His will? To fulfill what He commanded, that is, to live rightly and dutifully to seek the Eternal; for duty and justice are the will of Him Who is dutiful and right. How do we seek this goal? By application. Then we must apply ourselves in duty and justice. What helps to maintain this practice? Understanding, which, while it winnows the remainder and finds nothing solid to rest in amongst those things which the world possesses, turns in wisdom to the one thing which is eternal.” —Columbanus
“Jesus taught us to pray that the Kingdom would come on earth in the same way that it exists in heaven. … Jesus made praying for the Kingdom the highest priority in our prayers after praising and honoring God. The Kingdom is more important than our daily needs. The Kingdom is more to be desired than that our sins should be forgiven or that we should be rescued through temptation [Matthew 6:9-13].” —T. M. Moore
Stephen O. Presley wrote, “If our modern world resembles the ancient one, perhaps we could glean some wisdom from the ways the early church navigated these murky waters. As Polycarp testifies, the Scriptures were essential to the early Christian apologetic. Passages such as Romans 13:1 and Matthew 22:21, alongside the examples of Old Testament figures such as Joseph and Daniel, guided the church’s vision for engaging the unbelieving world.” His post especially caught my eye after I shared a very similar message to my flock this past Sunday.
Sean McDowell sits down with an Old Testament professor to discuss 10 of the most bizarre OT passages (as selected by Sean’s X followers).
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The London Times asked, “What’s wrong with the world today?”
In his characteristic wit and candor, G.K. Chesterton responded with a letter:
“Dear Sir,
I am.
Yours, G.K. Chesterton”
I hear the same humble honesty in Ezra’s prayer:
O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens. … Now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments (Ezra 9:6, 10).
This isn’t a word for “back then” or exclusively for Israelites—this is still a word for all of us today.
Several years ago I was asked to sign a joint letter from local pastors condemning a couple of headline-making heinous activities. In part of my response to these pastors, I wrote,
“I’m not sure if a letter to the editor is an appropriate response or not. But if this is the correct response for us, I am very hesitant to sign my name to a letter that calls out merely one of many sins. The problem we face is a singular one: sin.
“The solution is also a singular one: Jesus.
“A response that merely denounces evil acts is not, in my mind, effective. Such a letter is only highlighting sins, but not the solution.”
This, also, is what I see Ezra doing. It may have been one particular sin that got his attention (in this case, intermarriage with non-believers) but he then confesses their universal condition: the sin of departing from God’s commandments.
It’s so easy to spot sins in society, shake our heads in disgust, and say, “They should know better! What’s wrong with the world today? Someone should do something about that!”
Instead, any and every sinful expression we observe should send us to our knees saying, “But for the grace of God, I would be guilty of the same thing. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I confess my sin and plead for Your mercy and forgiveness.”
Revival will never be a widespread response until it is first an individual response.
When we began as individuals to confess “my sin,” others will soon join with us in confessing “our sin” (see Ezra 9:4). That attitude is the seed of revival.
If you are a pastor and would like to join other pastors in a weekly prayer time for revival, please email T.M. Moore to get plugged into this strategic online gathering.
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The events in the Bible are rooted in history. These are actual events in which real people lived in a moment in recorded history. The songs of ascent were sung both pre-exile and post-exile. The post-exile pilgrims were returning to Jerusalem after the edict of King Cyrus (2 Chronicles 36:22-23).
The first pilgrims to go up to Jerusalem after the exile were the rebuilders of both Jerusalem and the temple, and they faced heavy opposition (Ezra 4:1-5; Nehemiah 4:1-3, 7-8). In light of these events, I think the song of ascent in Psalm 125 is especially pertinent to this situation.
The middle verse of Psalm 125 contains a warning to godly people. God’s followers may be tempted to grab earthly political power to try to make things right—to “fight fire with fire.” The phrase “the scepter of the wicked” symbolizes the royal authority of a foreign conqueror. In other words, we might justify using the scepter of the wicked because we think “the ends justify the means.” But notice the warning if we do: “the righteous might use their hands to do evil.”
You can see this in a couple of other biblical translations. The Amplified Bible says, “lest the righteous (God’s people) stretch forth their hands to iniquity and apostasy,” and the New Living Translation says, “the godly might be tempted to do wrong.”
Instead, we are called to look to God for our security. Psalm 125:1-2 sounds like an echo of Psalm 121, in which we are reminded that our God is unshakable, unrivaled, and eternal. Political parties come and go, even evil dictators and tyrannical regimes come and go, but the Sovereign God remains forever. All of History is His story!
Chuck Colson used to frequently remind his audiences, “Salvation does not arrive on Air Force One!”
The motto on our US currency is still accurate: In God we trust! Psalm 125:4 says the same thing: God does good to those who trust Him.
Earlier I mentioned the opposition that Ezra and Nehemiah recorded. Let me also share with you how these God-fearing men instructed the Jewish people to respond. Ezra says that the prophets called them to remember “the name of the God of Israel, who was over them,” and three times Nehemiah records that their response was prayer to God (Ezra 5:1; Nehemiah 4:4, 9; 6:9).
In God we trust, not in political power. On the flip side, Psalm 125:5 warns us that God treats as evildoers those who look to the worldly scepter to try to get ahead.
So when opposition and even persecution come, we should pray to God and ask for Him to remove the scepter of the wicked. Let’s pray for God to put His favor in the hearts of even ungodly leaders. Ezra recognized this when he said—
Praise be to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who has put it into the king’s heart to bring honor to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem in this way and who has extended His good favor to me before the king and his advisers and all the king’s powerful officials. Because the hand of the Lord my God was on me, I took courage and gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.(Ezra 7:27-28)
The New Testament calls on Christians to pray for those in governmental leadership over us (1 Timothy 2:1-2). But perhpas you ask, “What exactly are we to pray for these leaders?” Solomon wrote, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Proverbs 21:1). So perhaps a God-honoring prayer is to ask for our leaders’ hearts to be moved as King Cyrus’ heart was.
“God is King of kings and ultimately always wins, always gets His way. Even when it seems that earthly authorities continually rebel against the Lord and His Anointed, the reality is that even their most heinous acts are turned against them. It must be very frustrating to be the devil and to constantly see how God turns situations to gospel good and God’s unique glory. God is so wise that He turns the hearts of authorities without them knowing it. Smug on their decaying thrones, the power brokers of this world revel in their supposed autonomy and imagined resistance, never realizing how foolish they look to the angel hosts who are privy to God’s unmatched strategic dominance.”
Let’s never try to fight fire with fire, but let’s turn repeatedly to God in prayer whenever opposition arises against God-fearing people anywhere.
We can look back to learn or we can look back to relive. Looking back to learn is healthy, but looking back in regret to try to relive our past is unhealthy and unproductive. Learning vs. reliving makes all the difference. See my full message on this mental health thought here. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“I’ve learned one thing: You only really get to know a person after a fight. Only then can you judge their true character.” —Anne Frank
Lenny Esposito is an outstanding Christian apologist. Check out this podcast where Lenny discusses the historical facts about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“Life with God is not immunity from difficulties, but peace in difficulties.” —C.S. Lewis
“I believe it will only be known on the Last Day how much has been accomplished in missionary work by the prayers of earnest believers at home.” —James Fraser
This is a good reminder from Axis for parents with students returning to school. The heading of this section of Axis’ weekly Cultural Teanslator is “Back to Backpacking.”
“What it is: As a new school year begins, teens might have mixed feelings of excitement, anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed.
How to approach this season: As Hannah King writes in Christianity Today, all seasons of transition bring with them an element of loss. Starting a new school year might mean making new friends, meeting new teachers, or starting a new curriculum. It can also mean the loss of free time, increased stress levels, and more difficulty creating intentional moments as a family. For parents, the beginning of a new school year might also feel like a reminder that time with their teens living at home is dwindling down, a feeling which can bring its own set of griefs, pressures, and regret. King recommends allowing space for teens and adults to name the things they’re disappointed about or not looking forward to, noting that repressed sadness can keep us from ‘entering freely into [the] joy’ of a new thing.
“Start the conversation: What will you miss the most about this summer?”
“Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.” —Alex Haley
My courage and my success are directly tied to my obedience of God’s Word. The life of Joshua is just one example. Check out this full message here. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“Christ is more of an Artist than the artists. He works in the living spirit and the living flesh; He makes men instead of statues.” —Vincent van Gogh
Bryan Windel echoes something I’ve frequently said on this blog, “The Bible is rooted in real history. This is why archaeology is such a valuable tool; it helps us uncover the biblical world and provides us with important background knowledge about the people, places, and events described in the text.” Bryan was a part of a dig at Shiloh (where Joshua and Samuel play key roles) and he shares some of his observations and discoveries.
“I trained four years to run nine seconds, and people give up when they don’t see results in two months.” —Usain Bolt
“Those who have turned the tide of history have turned it by means of prayer. This should be the motto of every follower of Jesus Christ. Never stop praying, no matter how dark and hopeless it may seem.” —Billy Graham
I love these stories of hope from To Write Love On Her Arms. They have lots of great words of encouragement for you to share with others.
God’s grace is so amazing. It keeps coming in like waves on a shore. God’s grace is unearned by our efforts, undeserved despite our sins, and unending for all of eternity! Check out this full message here. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“The humble servant of God is grateful for God’s past blessings, unashamed of his daily dependence on God, and confidant of God’s loving reply to every new request.” —Craig T. Owens
“There’s no shame in failing. The only shame is not giving things your best shot.” —Robin Williams
I’ve often said that praying, “God, here are my plans; please bless them” is an arrogant prayer. Instead, humility prays, “God, what would You have me do.” Proverbs 19:21 makes this point clearly. In his commentary on The Book of Proverbs, Dick Brogden noted on this verse, “God always gets His way over man’s ideas. In our hubris we think we know better than God, so we either make plans and then ask for His endorsement or we stand in judgment of what He is doing as if He should have asked us to endorse His plans. Folly judges only by results in Machiavellian crudity, but things going right doesn’t necessarily mean they were right, and things going wrong doesn’t necessarily mean we were wrong. Let us remember we are prophets, priests, and proclaimers, not pragmatists.”
“You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things—to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.” —Sir Edmund Hillary
Speaking of an exemplary work ethic, David Mathis writes, “However firsthand your experience as a soldier, athlete, or farmer, Scripture stands ready to fill in, supplement, recast, or override our personal experiences (or lack thereof) and teach us a Christian work ethic—for our own joy, the good of others, and the glory of Christ.” The biblical text Mathis uses to help us learn this Christian work ethic is 2 Timothy 2:1-7.
Marvin Olasky has a sobering and insightful post entitled “United States of Abortion.” He wrote, “For nearly four centuries, the frequency of abortion in America has depended on how citizens and residents answered five questions.” The five questions—and his five answers—are a mini history lesson on which all Christians should reflect.
“If you are ever inclined to pray for a missionary, do it at once, wherever you are. Perhaps he may be in great peril at that moment.” —Amy Carmichael
From the vastly large solar system to the microscopic level, the beauty and genius of our Creator is seen. A new report published in the journal Nature delves into the complexity of our tiny cilia. Only an all-wise Creator could fashion something so precise!
If you are looking for an easily accessible online library (especially for researching older books), check out the Internet Archive.
Though a professing atheist, Richard Feynman poetically mused that “you might say the ‘hand of God’ wrote that number, and ‘we don’t know how He pushed His pencil.’” What number is that? Physicists call it alpha (α): “That number is 0.00729735256—approximately 1/137. This is the fine-structure constant. It appears everywhere in the equations of quantum physics.” Another remarkable signpost to a magnificent Creator!
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Mobs are scary things! Almost anyone can get caught up in the ugly mentality, vile words, and inexcusable actions.
Even professional soldiers. When Jesus was arrested, He was turned over to “the governor’s soldiers” (Matthew 27:27). These are professional soldiers. Punishing people—even carrying out capital punishment—was their job. But they gave in to the mob’s thirst for blood and made a sport out of punishing Jesus, doing what was outside of their job description.
The mob outside Pilate’s courtroom was stirred up by the religious leaders, and they “shouted all the louder” for a murderer to be released to them instead of a Healer (vv. 20, 23).
Even as Jesus hung helpless and dying on the Cross, the religious leaders continued to incite the crowds with their taunting, prompting even other condemned men to join in (vv. 39–44).
How easy it is to get caught up with the loud voices of the hour and to join our voices and actions with theirs! Mobs are hungry things and they continually devour almost anyone around them.
But Jesus didn’t succumb to the mob mentality. He didn’t even say a single word to those who taunted Him so mercilessly. Instead, as Peter recorded for us,
“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.’ When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:21-23)
The unexpected way that Jesus responded got people’s attention. A professional soldier, a centurion, after watching how Jesus conducted Himself as He died, had to admit He was the Son of God.
It’s so tempting to join with the loud voices around us. It’s even more tempting to shout back at those who are insulting us. But let us remember the example of Jesus, and perhaps offer a prayer like this:
“Holy Spirit, help me to not succumb to the loud voices, nor to lash out against people who torment me. But, like Jesus, may I entrust myself “to Him who judges justly.” May my quiet lifestyle be a testimony that gets the attention of others. In the name of Jesus I pray this. Amen!”
Craig T. Owens 