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Plant The God Seed

August 22, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Have you ever been disappointed because you had a dream that died? How do we justify this with the biblical definition of faith which says, “faith is being sure of what we hope for”?

It’s just this:

If God takes away a dream, it’s because the dream was too small.
God wants us to be more focused on the Dream Giver than we are on the dream.

So sometimes God asks us to let a dream die.

Think of a watermelon seed. It’s not very big, sort of dull in color, and it’s only a single seed. To plant the seed, means you have to take your hands off it: the seed is now out of your sight and out of your control. But it is there—dead in the ground—that a miracle happens!

A single watermelon seed grows 200,000 times its own weight! A colorless seed produces the vibrant greens and pinks of a mature watermelon. And that single seed produces 100+ seeds.

Has God given you a dream? Has He asked you to give up that dream? Then plant that seed! When you do, the results will be more than you can imagine.

“Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of faith is to see what we believe.” —Augustine

These are some of my notes from part 3 of my See The Invisible series at Calvary Assembly of God. I would love to have you join me when we continue this series on September 4.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Augustine, Calvary Assembly of God, dreams, faith, God's plan, miracles, quote, sermon. Leave a Comment »

Servant

August 15, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Someone said to me, “Great job!” and then not too much later I heard someone else say, “Umm, not so much!” What’s a guy to do?

Here’s what I refocus on: I’m living for the approval of only One.

The only comment that matters to me is God saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Well done = done with excellence.

Well done = finished well, not just well begun.

Good = pleasantly done.

Faithful = trustworthy, reliable.

Servant = not my will, but Yours be done.

And when it comes to praise and criticism from men, I like this:

“Every man needs a blind eye and a deaf ear, so when people applaud, you’ll only hear half of it, and when people salute, you’ll only see part of it. Believe only half the praise and half the criticism.” —C.H. Spurgeon

UPDATE: This idea of servant leadership is a key component of my book Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics That Really Matter.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Charles Spurgeon, faithfulness, Gospel of Matthew, quote, servant, servant-leadership, servanthood. Leave a Comment »

Plugged-In Parenting (book review)

July 27, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Media saturates our lives. But it’s even more of a factor for the lives of our children. For years I’ve trusted the insights and movie/TV reviews from Focus On The Family’s Bob Waliszewski. Now in Plugged-In Parenting we get to go behind the reviews to learn the whys of the reviews.

In today’s world, we look at our presidents, our prime ministers, our princes and our potentates and we describe them as our leaders, but they’re not. They’re merely our rulers. The leaders are the people who change the minds and stimulate the imaginations of the public, whether children or adults. That means the movie makers, the people who make TV shows, the entertainment people in the business. —Douglas Gresham

Bob lays out some practical, biblically-sound principles that will help parents develop a framework for making sound decisions about media consumption. His approach is not a top-down, because-I-said-so approach, but one that involves even the kids in understanding why these decisions need to be made.

One of the more thought-provoking chapters is about developing a family constitution which gives the guidelines for what types of media are acceptable or unacceptable for your family.

I would recommend this book for every household who wants to ensure that only the highest quality media is being viewed in their homes. In addition, I appreciate the Plugged-In reviews both on their website and on the handy iPhone app.

I am a Tyndale book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: book review, entertainment, family, media, movie, parenting, quote, social media, television. Leave a Comment »

Marriage Math

July 25, 2011 — 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.

Martin Luther said:

“There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage.”

Unfortunately our culture has watered-down and diminished the value of marriage. Far too often marriage is seen as something which diminishes life, instead of enhancing it.

Perhaps this is because we have been viewing marriage with the wrong math.

Marriage is NOT ½ + ½ = 1

That makes sense mathematically, but it’s inaccurate. God didn’t create us a half-people. God created us whole and complete. So our spouse is not our better half, he/she is our better whole.

Marriage is NOT 1 + 1 = 2

Again, this makes sense mathematically, but it is not biblical. Why? Because 2 is divisible, and the Bible makes it clear that a man and woman who are married are one flesh.

Marriage IS 1 X 1 = 1

Not only does this work mathematically, but biblically too. God sees marriage as one whole man and one whole woman coming together to make one whole marriage.

Not coincidentally, X (chi) is the first Greek letter of the name Christ. When Christ is at the center of a marriage, and when the husband and wife are more in love with Him than they are with their spouse, then a wholeness exists in the marriage.

1 X 1 = 1 is the type of marriage that glorifies God.

1 X 1 =1 is the type of marriage that is so lovely, friendly, and charming.

If you are single, keep yourself pure so you can bring your “oneness” as a gift to your future spouse. If you are married, keep the X—Jesus Christ—at the center of your marriage.

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

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Creator, Ephesians, Genesis, Gospel of Matthew, husband, Jesus Christ, marriage, Martin Luther, mathematics, quote, video, wife. 5 Comments »

Why Great Men Fall (book review)

July 19, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Dr. Wayde Goodall addresses a subject that I wish didn’t have to be addressed in Why Great Men Fall. Unfortunately, we’ve all seen it; perhaps you’ve even experienced it firsthand with someone close to you. How tragic it is when we see spiritual, business or political leaders lose their influence in the wake of a devastating fall.

Dr. Goodall pulls no punches as he identifies the things that seem to trip men up time and time again. He looks squarely at the root causes – not just the symptoms – and challenges men to do the same. We’re all susceptible to sin and failure. The Bible warns us: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:12).

These words from J.C. Ryle are a sober reminder:

“Great falls seldom happen to a saint, without a previous course of secret backsliding. The church and the world are sometimes shocked by the sudden misconduct of some great professor of religion. Believers are discouraged and stumbled by it. The enemies of God rejoice and blaspheme. But if the truth could be known, the explanation of such cases would generally be found to have been private departure from God. People fall in private, long before they fall in public. The tree falls with a great crash, but the secret decay which accounts for it, is often not discovered until it is down on the ground.”

Why Great Men Fall is not a long book, nor does Dr. Goodall present complicated arguments. It’s a straightforward, easy-to-understand diagnosis of the most common things which trip up great men. I cannot encourage you strongly enough to not only read this book, but to read it with a friend who will hold you accountable.

Guys, your family, your church, and your community need you to STAND STRONG!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: accountability, book review, failure, J.C. Ryle, men, quote, sin, Wayde Goodall. 1 Comment »

How To unDo unChristian

July 18, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Yesterday at Calvary Assembly of God, we continued our series called In It Not Of It, in which we are considering how to biblically engage our culture. In alarmingly high numbers, more and more people have thoughts that are positively unChristian toward those who call themselves Christian.

How do we undo this cultural bias? I think we have to be people of overwhelming grace.

Being grace-filled people is the only way I can see for us to unDo the unChristian mindset. To see how Jesus did this, see His interaction with a particular woman in John 8:2-11.

The Apostle Paul also gave us a good example of grace-filled living. In his letter to the Romans, Paul says he is indebted to all mankind, which makes him eager to preach the Gospel (Romans 1:14-15). I love Oswald Chambers’ commentary on these verses:

“Paul was overwhelmed with the sense of his indebtedness to Jesus Christ, and he spent his life to express it. The greatest inspiration in Paul’s life was his view of Jesus Christ as his spiritual creditor. Do I feel that same sense of indebtedness to Christ regarding EVERY unsaved soul? As a saint, my life’s spiritual honor and duty is to fulfill my debt to Christ in relation to these lost souls. Every tiny bit of my life that has value I owe to the redemption of Jesus Christ. Am I doing anything to enable Him to bring His redemption into evident reality in the lives of others? I will only be able to do this as the Spirit of God works into me this sense of indebtedness. …

“Quit praying about yourself and spend your life for the sake of others as the bondservant of Jesus. This is the true meaning of being broken bread and poured-out wine IN REAL LIFE.”

I am committed to living a life of overwhelming grace poured out for EVERY unsaved soul. And I am SO BLESSED to be able to pastor a church that feels and acts the same way! We’re not going to be passive reactionaries to the unChristian cultural bias … we’re going to live IN REAL LIFE as proactive, grace-filled people, so that we can unDo unChristian!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apostle Paul, Calvary Assembly of God, Christian, Gospel of John, grace, Oswald Chambers, quote, Romans, sermon, unchurched, video. 1 Comment »

Thursdays With Oswald—Pray Early, Pray Often

July 14, 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.

Pray Early, Pray Often

The only way to find God is through prayer. In the religious life of the Pharisee, prayer becomes a rite, a ceremony. In all religion based on sound principles prayer is an exercise, a ceremony, it is not blood or passion, not actual from the whole manhood. In such prayers there is magnificently beautiful diction which one needs to be in a calm, quiet state of mind to appreciate. The most beautiful prayers are prayers that are rites, but they are apt to be mere repetition, and not of the nature of Reality….

We do not pray at all until we are at out wits’ end. ‘Their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble’ (Psalm 107:5-6). … When a man is at his wits’ end it is not a cowardly thing to pray, it is the only way he can get in touch with Reality.

From Baffled To Fight Better

Why do I wait until I’m at my wits’ end to pray?

Why don’t I just pray early and pray often?

One more from Oswald Chambers:

“The man who prays ceases to be a fool, while the man who refuses to pray nourishes a blind life within his own brain and he will find no way out that road.”

I don’t want to be a fool, so I guess I need to pray more.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Oswald Chambers, prayer, Psalm, quote. Leave a Comment »

Glorify God Where You Are

June 27, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I love this word from Charles Spurgeon—

“Some persons have the foolish notion that the only way in which they can live for God is by becoming ministers, missionaries, or Bible women. … Every lawful trade may be sanctified by the gospel to noblest ends. … Therefore be not discontented with your calling. Whatever God has made your position, or your work, abide in that, unless you are quite sure that He calls you to something else. Let your first care be to glorify God to the utmost of your power where you are.”

No matter what you are doing, if you’re doing it to glorify God, that is your ministry.

You don’t have to be a pastor/missionary to be a great minister!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Charles Spurgeon, God's calling, ministry, profession, quote. Leave a Comment »

Examination

June 13, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I’m reading Eric Metaxas’ fascinating biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Here’s something amazing to me: Bonhoeffer had a degree in theology (having studied under some of the most esteemed theologians of the day), taught Sunday School classes, lectured on biblical doctrine, served as an interim pastor for a full year, and even earned his doctoral degree. Yet after all this, people noticed a change in Bonhoeffer.

Listen how he described the change himself:

I plunged into work in a very unchristian way. … Then something happened, something that has changed and transformed my life to the present day. For the first time I discovered the Bible…. I had often preached. I had seen a great deal of the Church, and talked and preached about it—but I had not yet become a Christian. … I know that at that time I turned the doctrine of Jesus Christ into something of personal advantage for myself…. I pray to God that that will never happen again.

If such a man as Dietrich Bonhoeffer discovered that he knew about Jesus without knowing Jesus personally, shouldn’t we, too, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5).