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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Living Sculptures

September 10, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Last night in our Impact! youth service we played a fun game called “Living Sculptures” (pictures are here). It was a whole lot of fun watching the groups invent and then reinvent one another within their group.

Sculptures are works of art. A person or a point in history captured in solid three dimensions for all time. The sculpture doesn’t change. At least it doesn’t usually change in a positive, beautifying way. The sculpture may erode or be broken or crumble, but that’s not a good change. The sculpture ceases to be what the artist intended it to be.

However, our lives are living, breathing sculptures. We change, or rather The Artist changes us. And the change is good when we are in the hands of the right Artist: our Creator.

Michelangelo’s famous David sculpture came about because Michelangelo said he saw David in the marble and just released him. So too with God, the Artist of our lives: He sees what we can become and is in the process of releasing our beauty, our potential.

God began sculpting your life even before you were born…

Oh yes, You shaped me first inside, then out;
You formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank You, High God—You’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
You know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, You watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before You,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.

…and He is continuing to form you into something beautiful…

As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand.

…until you become the masterpiece that He saw in you all along…

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.

God is the perfect Artist. Let Him work on you today to make you into His masterpiece: a one-of-a-kind creation that brings glory to the Artist.

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Too Busy

August 18, 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.

Life’s coming at me way too fast today!

Like a runaway commuter train.

I’ve got way too much to get done today!

Like a shorthanded deli owner at the peak of the lunch rush.

My To-Do list is longer than my To-Day’s hours.

What goes first?

What can wait until tomorrow?

What can I delegate to someone else?

Wait… listen to this odd counsel about busyness:

“Tomorrow I plan to work, work, from early until late. I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” —Martin Luther

The first hours praying?!?

Not responding to emails.

Not getting a head start on the piles of stuff.

Not folding laundry before the kids get up.

Not going to the office before the phones start ringing.

Yes, get up earlier to pray more!

God knows your schedule.

He knows your To-Do list.

He knows your To-Day’s hours.

He knows what’s important … really important.

God says, “Love Me. Love others. Serve the world.”

“You must love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. And you must love your neighbor as yourself. Nothing else on your To-Do list is more important than these.”—Jesus

Too busy today?

Get up earlier tomorrow and talk to God about it.

“I direct the steps of those who seek Me. I delight in every detail of their lives.” —God

Get up and get praying.

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Slowing Down Fast Food

August 13, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

It’s named “fast” food because it is supposedly prepared quicker than you could fix it yourself at home. It’s also called “fast” because so many of us order it from our cars in the drive-thru lane, and then inhale our food as we speed down the road to our next appointment.

But have you noticed how fast people eat their fast food even when they sit down in the restaurant?

Have you noticed how fast we eat the food we prepare at home? Usually, it takes less time to eat it than it took to prepare it!

Have you noticed how fast we “eat” life?

The other day I took a break from my study time to eat a healthy breakfast bar. I munched on it while I continued to type notes on my computer. A couple minutes later I looked next to me and saw the empty wrapper but honestly couldn’t remember what flavor I just ate! What’s the point of flavor if I’m not even going to enjoy it?

The Psalmist said, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Taste: That implies that I slow down to actually notice the taste.

How many blessings from the Creator do I treat as fast food every day?

  • I “see” yet don’t perceive the incredible pallet of colors in the flowers and trees and sunset.
  • I “hear” yet don’t appreciate the robin’s early morning song.
  • I “smell” yet don’t savor the newly-blossomed flowers on the bush outside my front door.
  • I “taste” yet don’t marvel at the golden beauty of the nectar-turned-to-honey for my tea.
  • I “touch” yet I’m unmoved by the silky black fur of my cat.

It’s time to slow down … savor … relish … bask … enjoy … marvel… appreciate … and then truly praise God for His incredible goodness.

Some ideas for us to try:

  • When you talk with your spouse or children today, look deep into their eyes. What color are they? I mean, really look. Don’t settle for saying “blue” or “green” or “brown.” Look at them like an artist would. “Crystal blue: like the color of my favorite lake early in the morning.”
  • When you sit down to eat, take a bite, put your fork down, chew slowly, try to identify each flavor. Take a drink before taking your next bite, so that each bite of food is like the first bite.
  • If you’re eating with others, don’t rush away from the table after the meal is eaten. Talk, ask questions, listen, learn something new.
  • Walk outside. Close your eyes and listen attentively. How many sounds can you hear? The birds singing, the bee buzzing, the leaves rustling, children laughing, sprinklers sprinkling, mowers mowing. Appreciate the sounds.

S-l-o-w  d-o-w-n. Taste—savor and appreciate—all of the Creator’s blessings around you. If you don’t, you’ll eat without tasting. Don’t let your life become a fast food life.

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Uniquely You

August 5, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Thanks to Mr. Cochrane, my 10th grade English teacher, I have become somewhat of a literalist when it comes to the use of words. For instance, it bothers me when writers confuse your and you’re, or its and it’s, or their, there, and they’re.

Another vocabulary use that bothers me is when someone uses a qualifier with the word unique. It’s incorrect to say, “You’re very unique” or “It’s an unusually unique situation.” Unique, by its very definition, means there is nothing else like it.

Unique is defined as “existing as the only one or as the sole example; having no like or equal; unparalleled; incomparable.”

Do you know another great definition of unique: YOU.

Really, you are unique. You are the only one like you; you are the sole example of you; there is no one like you; you are unparalleled and incomparable. That’s you!

In one of his most intimate prayers, David says to God, “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” The Hebrew word for wonderfully means someone who is one-of-a-kind… unique.

You are uniquely you.

You were created in God’s image—uniquely.

You were created unlike anyone else who has ever lived—uniquely.

You are endowed by your Creator with a set of talents, strengths, and abilities (a gift package) that has never been seen before in the history of mankind, nor will it ever be seen again—uniquely.

You will cross paths with particular people at particular times in your life and their lives that can never be duplicated or recreated—uniquely.

In order to seize unique opportunities, you have to be uniquely you. In order to be uniquely you, you have to become more like Jesus. He embodied every godly attribute perfectly; He lived every moment perfectly; He handled every situation perfectly. “The more I become like Jesus the more uniquely I become myself” (Dr. George O. Wood).

How might you live your life differently today knowing that no one can do what you do the way you do it? The more you become like Jesus, the more uniquely you you will be. Try it!

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Real Raw Emotions

June 12, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

This week I’ve been writing about my favorite book—the Bible—and why I find it so fascinating. Yesterday I talked about how the Bible helps me mentally. But we are not just mental creatures, we are emotional, too, and I have found my Bible to be an excellent way to express some of my deepest, rawest emotions.

(If you would like to read the other parts of this series, they are here, here, here, and here.)

Humans are created in God’s image, and God expresses emotion. In fact, God expresses emotion more deeply and purely than we humans can His sorrow is more bitter, His love is more intense, His jealousy is more pure.

Emotion is expressed throughout the Bible, but I’m particularly attracted to the emotional responses in the Psalms. These are prayers and songs which express the deepest emotions of angry, loving, hurting people. A few examples—

You know what I long for, Lord; You hear my every sigh. (Psalm 38:9 NLT)

Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me; all day long they press their attack. My slanderers pursue me all day long; many are attacking me in their pride. (Psalm 56:1-2 NIV)

God, smash my enemies’ teeth to bits, leave them toothless tigers. Let their lives be buckets of water spilled, all that’s left, a damp stain in the sand. Let them be trampled grass worn smooth by the traffic. Let them dissolve into snail slime, be a miscarried fetus that never sees sunlight. Before what they cook up is half-done, God, throw it out with the garbage! (Psalm 58:6-9 The Message)

O my God, my life is cast down upon me and I find the burden more than I can bear…. (Psalm 42:6 AMP)

My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but You do not answer, by night, and am not silent…. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth…. Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. …But you, O Lord, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me. (Psalm 22:1-2, 14-16, 19 NIV)

Jesus came to earth as fully God and fully man, able to experience the deepest, rawest emotions of anyone. “He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief” (Isaiah 53:3). Jesus knows what you feel because He felt it, too: “For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation” (Hebrews 4:15). As a result, “He lives forever to intercede with God on [our] behalf (Hebrews 7:25).

Don’t ever be afraid to express your rawest emotions in God’s presence—He knows profoundly what you are feeling. When you are struggling with deep emotion, the Bible knows how to speak your heart’s cry to God.

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My Favorite Book

June 8, 2009 — 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.

“The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold on me.” —Martin Luther

I love to read. So I read a whole lot of books every year. It’s not unusual for me to be working my way through four or five books at a time. I read the classics, poetry, history, biographies, autobiographies, devotionals, leadership training, personal development, marriage and parenting skills, and many other genres. I don’t have enough shelf space for all of the books I have!

But when people ask me my all-time favorite book, I don’t even have to hesitate. The book that is in a category all by itself is my Bible.

I say my Bible because I have made it my own. I highlight, I underline, I star, I jot notes in the margin, I circle keywords. Sometimes I even mark all the question marks in a passage!

My study Bible is one I’ve had for over 20 years. Each time I read through my Bible I use a different color or style of highlighter. So as I look at different highlighted passages I can remember back to where I was in my life, what I was going through, the struggles I was having. Sometimes I smile when I remember what the Holy Spirit revealed to me in my Bible at that time, and how I’ve grown. Sometimes I remember the deep emotion as I see where a teardrop caused the highlighter to run, and recall the comfort my Bible brought to me.

Psalm 119 (the longest chapter in the Bible) is a poem of love to God for His Word. In 176 verses the psalmist refers to God’s Word in 172 verses. Here are just a few—

  • I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You (v. 11)
  • I rejoice in following Your statutes as one rejoices in great riches (v. 14)
  • Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law (v. 18)
  • Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors (v. 24)
  • I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free (v. 32)

If you haven’t made Bible reading a part of your daily schedule, Psalm 119 is a good place to start. Scientists tell us that you only have to do something for 21 days in a row for it to become a habit. Psalm 119 is divided into 22 sections. And each section is just eight verses long.

You can find the time to read just eight verses a day, can’t you? If you do, you will have established one of the greatest habits in your life: daily Bible reading. 

I spent a whole week writing more about my favorite Book, so check out these posts too:

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The Promised Flower

June 2, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Samantha's Promised IrisI just hate waiting! Especially when what I’m waiting for is going to be so good. It’s like already knowing what my birthday or Christmas present is going to be, but still having to wait for that special day to arrive.

It seems like it’s taking forever!

Three years ago our neighbors gave my daughter Samantha some iris bulbs. She carefully planted them in our garden and watered them, and tended them, and protected them from all the traffic through the garden. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. The first year: just small green shoots and nothing else. Last year: taller shoots, but not even a bud. This year: the shoots grew taller and we saw buds appear for the first time.

Then—finally!—yesterday the first purple iris opened. It was a long wait, but it finally happened.

Sounds like what God promised His people:

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Samantha’s iris reminds me that God’s promises do not fail, and His timing is perfect. I’m a big proponent of writing down what I sense God has impressed on my heart. Write down His promises, plant those seeds in your heart, water them with prayer, protect them from being trampled, and wait in expectation. Every day, wait in expectation.

God, the One and Only—I’ll wait as long as He says. Everything I hope for comes from Him. (Psalm 62:5, The Message)

Are you waiting for God’s promise? Plant your seeds (write it down). Water them (prayer). And wait in expectation, wait in hope. God will cause your “flower” to bloom at just the right time!

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Soap Opera Drift

May 18, 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.

Disclaimer: My aggregate soap opera viewing time for my entire life is about 52 minutes, but I still think I know what I’m talking about <grin!>.

Soap operas are usually pretty predictable. If you’ve watched them for even a short time it’s not hard to figure out who’s who and what’s what. In fact, the plot lines are typically so predictable that you can stop watching a particular soap opera for months—or even years—and when you tune in again it will only take a day or so to once again know who’s who and what’s what.

One of the main reasons for this is the simplicity of the plot lines. There are three types of characters: good guys, bad guys, and wishy-washy guys that are swayed by the good guys or bad guys.

We applaud when the good guys win and the bad guys get what’s coming to them. We groan when the good guys get unfairly treated and the bad guys seem to get away with their badness. If we could give advice to the soap opera characters it would be pretty straightforward: “If you’re a good guy, we’ll cheer for you!”

But here’s the problem: it’s becoming harder and harder to tell the difference between the good guys and bad guys. It seems like more of them fall into the wishy-washy category. Over time, the characters have become mostly good but can be swayed to take revenge or cut corners. Or they’re mostly bad but still have a soft place in their heart to help the little orphan child.

There are very few really good guys left.

There’s a drift from good to mostly good. But mostly good is only one step away from mostly bad. And only one more step from mostly bad to just-plain-bad.

I’ve been reading through the soap opera history of the kings of Israel and Judah. Like our modern soap operas there are three types of kings: (a) the good kings did what was right in God’s eyes; (b) the bad kings did what was evil in the God’s eyes; and (c) the wishy-washy kings usually did what was right but had a “however” attached to their reign.

Unfortunately, most of the good kings tended to drift from good to mostly good, and eventually to mostly bad. The drift continued each generation toward mostly bad until God was hard-pressed to find any king who wasn’t bad. How sad: God’s blessing was right there for any good king to claim, but they kept drifting away!

Drifting happens so easily, which is why we have to be so diligent.

     You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by GOD. You’re blessed when you follow His directions, doing your best to find Him. That’s right—you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road He set. You, GOD, prescribed the right way to live; now You expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course You set; then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with Your counsel. I thank You for speaking straight from Your heart; I learn the pattern of Your righteous ways. (Psalm 119:1-7, The Message paraphrase)

Just like those soap opera characters or soap opera kings, we can get some pretty straightforward advice from the Bible: “If you stay on course, walk straight along the road God set for you, He will bless your life.”

Don’t drift.

Don’t settle for mostly good.

Don’t assume you’re doing right in God’s eyes; KNOW that you’re doing right in God’s eyes by following His Word.

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A Healthy Breakfast

May 13, 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.

Health experts say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Your body has been without food (or fasting) during the hours you are asleep, so in the morning you are breaking your fast = break-fast.

Do you want to lose weight? Eat breakfast. Studies show that those who do best on their diets eat breakfast every morning.

Do you want to fire up your metabolism to burn more calories during the day? Eat breakfast. The way you stoke your body’s engine in the morning determines how it will run all day.

Do you want to maintain a stable blood sugar level so you don’t get sleepy mid-morning? Eat breakfast. A good breakfast regulates your insulin and blood sugar levels.

Do you want to learn more? Eat breakfast. Studies show those who eat breakfast regularly have longer attention spans and greater learning capacities.

What you put in your body in the morning determines the course of the rest of your day.

What you put in your mind in the morning determines the course of the rest of your day, too.

Even if you’re not a “morning person” your mind is highly receptive in the hours right after you wake up. So a healthy mental breakfast goes a long way toward how you will deal with the situations that face you throughout your day.

Just a few things to consider—

  • What’s on your wake-up playlist in the morning? Not-so-cheery headline news? Coarse radio hosts with crude humor? Music with lyrics that are not very uplifting? A harsh buzzer? Perhaps you could rethink your morning mental breakfast with something more positive and affirming.
  • How do you speak to yourself when you wake up? “Ugh, I just gotta get through today”? “I need a vacation”? “Grrr, I hate my job”? Try thinking instead of all of the blessings you have: a roof over your head, a bed of your own, clothes to wear, a family to love, and a family that loves you.
  • How do you speak to others when you wake up? “Leave me alone”? “<Grrrr!>”? Maybe you could serve others the good mental breakfast they need with some kind, encouraging words.
  • What fuel do you put in your mind? Talking heads on the morning TV shows? Your horoscope? Perhaps switching to something more substantial would help fuel your mind for the challenges you are going to face today.

The psalmist David had a God-diet each morning, “Let me hear of Your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting You. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to You” (Psalm 143:8, The Living Bible).

Jesus had a healthy mental breakfast, too: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed” (Mark 1:35).

So let me ask you: What’s your morning mental breakfast like? do you need to make a diet change? I think a few tweaks and you will begin to see some remarkable changes for the better! Try it out and let me know.

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

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