A Mighty Fortress

May 3, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

“I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord’s side.” —Abraham Lincoln

I agree with President Lincoln. Prayer changes things. Prayer changes me. Prayer changes my outlook. Prayer keeps me aligned with God’s principles.

Now more than ever, our nation needs Christians to pray. The Apostle Paul said it loud and clear:

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (1 Timothy 3:1-2)

If our nation is to remain on the Lord’s side we need to be praying for our elected officials. We need to pray that they will have godly wisdom in carrying out their responsibilities. We need to pray that God will keep them safe.

Please join me on the National Day Of Prayer (NDP) this Thursday, May 5. Calvary Assembly of God will be open for prayer from 9am-7pm, and there will be special prayer times at noon and at 6pm.

If you cannot join me at the church, please pray on your own. You can get more information from the NDP Task Force by clicking here.

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Blessing Of Becoming

May 2, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

“When our Lord looked at us, He saw not only what we were—He was faithful in seeing what we could become! He took away the curse of being and gave us the glorious blessing of becoming.” —A.W. Tozer

The word blessing in the Greek is a compound word made up of good + words. Just as Jesus blessed us—said the good word that He prepared us for something more than a life enslaved to sin—shouldn’t we too say good words to others about what they could become?

There is ZERO excuse for anyone who calls themselves a Christian to ever say anything but good words to others. If God only says good words to you and about you, how much more so should Christians be speaking good words to and about others!

Jesus took away the curse of being trapped as we were, and gave us the blessing of becoming who He truly intends for us to be. Let’s do the same thing for other people.

Make a covenant: I will only use my words to bless others; that is, I will only say good words to them and about them. I will speak only those words that tell them about the masterpiece that they are.

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Progressing From . To ? To !

April 20, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

There is a progression that I believe Christians should be aware of as they lead others toward Christ.

First: .

Those who have been de-churched, or who have had a negative experience with another Christian, or who have become disenchanted with the Church, make factual statements about Christians and Church.

“The Church is….”

“Christians always….”

But if are truly the salt of the earth and the light of the world, we can season and shine in a way that will cause them to question their own factual statements.

Next comes: ?

“The Christian Church exists to reveal God and to utter forth His praise, to make God known to men who know Him not, that in the presence of the revelation they may be filled with awe, and wonder, and amazement—to make God known, that God shall be attractive to humanity.” —G. Morgan Campbell

“This is Church?”

“You’re a Christian?”

Which leads to: !

Jesus stated that the greatest of all commandments—indeed the fulfillment of all the commandments—was loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and then loving others as we love ourselves. Once people see Christians as true representations of Christ … people so intent on loving God and loving others, they too will find what their hearts have been longing for.

“This is what I’ve been looking for!”

“Now this is what I call a real Church!”

Can I suggest an easy place to start? With your smile. Look at what Job said:

Men listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel. After I had spoken, they spoke no more; my words fell gently on their ears. They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain. When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them. (Job 29:21-24)

Living in this way can move people from close-minded skeptics, to curious questioners, to enthusiastic followers of Jesus Christ. Let’s do this! 

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I Am Drowned

April 13, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I love this thought from John Bunyan:

God is the chief good—good so as nothing but Himself. He is in Himself most happy; yes, all good and all true happiness are only to be found in God, as that which is essential to His nature; nor is there any good or any happiness in or with any creature or thing but which is communicated to it by God. God is the only desirable good; nothing without Him is worthy of our hearts. Right thoughts of God are able to ravish the heart; how much more happy is the man that has interest in God. God alone is able by himself to put the soul into a more blessed, comfortable, and happy condition that can the whole world; yes, and more than if all created happiness of all the angels of heaven did dwell on one man’s bosom. I cannot tell what to say. I am drowned. The life, the glory, the blessedness, the soul-satisfying goodness that is in God are beyond all expression. (emphasis added)

I love drowning in God’s glorious, blessed, soul-satisfying, beyond-all-expression love!

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Disagreeing Agreeably

April 12, 2011 — 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.

Why do disagreements have to become so, well, disagreeable?

Is it possible to disagree agreeably?

It’s not easy, but I think it’s possible.

When I was younger I couldn’t stand the idea of “losing” an argument: I always had to be right. I think I’ve matured a bit (at least, I hope I have), and I no longer feel the same way. So here are a few lessons I’ve learned:

(1) Remember the person I’m disagreeing with is my brother or sister. God has created both of us, so that makes us siblings.

(2) Always go for win-win. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too (Philippians 2:4).

(3) Choose your battles wisely. You can’t make everything an issue worth dying over. Thomas Jefferson wisely said, “In matters of principle, stand like a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current.”

(4) Redefine the “win.” What does it mean to win? Is it to put someone else in their place? That doesn’t seem very healthy. Perhaps a “win” is when values or principles are agreed to, although the way they are applied may be very different from person to person.

(5) Leave the baggage behind. Don’t bring previous hurts into a new situation. Don’t assume this new person will act like someone else from your past.

We’re all different people, so we’re going to have disagreements. The key: let’s find a way to disagree agreeably.

If you have other thoughts about how to disagree agreeably, I would love it if you would share them in the comments.

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

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Thursdays With Oswald—Bad Theology

April 7, 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.

Bad Theology

Job’s friends came slowly to the conclusion that their view of God was right, therefore Job must be wrong. They had the ban of finality [the limitation or “curse” of having one’s mind made up] about their views, which is always the result of theology being put before God.

From Baffled To Fight Better

Putting theology before God makes a god out of my mind—and a very weak god at that. Or as G.K. Chesterton put it, “A weak mind is like a microscope, which magnifies trifling things but cannot receive great ones.”

Or maybe God said it best of all: “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

Job got it right. He continued to believe that God was doing something bigger than he could think or imagine. He didn’t close off his mind, or put his theology before God, or make a god out of his own ideas.

I pray that when the pressure is on, I can continue to trust God and not give in to the ban of finality.

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Failure To Recognize

April 1, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

The Apostle John opens his gospel account with these sobering words:

[Jesus] was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. (John 1:10)

Commenting on this verse, A.W. Tozer wrote:

My fellow man, do you not know that your great sin is this: the all-pervading and eternal Presence is here, and you cannot feel Him? Are you not aware that there is a great and true Light which brightly shines—and you cannot see it? Have you not heard within your being a tender Voice whispering of the eternal value of your soul—and yet you have said, “I have heard nothing”? This is, in essence, the charge that John levels at human kind: Jesus Christ, the Word of God, was in the world, and the world failed to recognize Him.

I never want to be guilty of failing to recognize Jesus! Sometimes in the busyness of life—even the busyness of the ministry of the church—I can become guilty of being focused on the activity, instead of focusing on Christ, Who is supposed to be the focus of my activity.

So we’re taking a “time out” today. As a church we are fasting and praying for 24-hours to cleanse our hearts to recognize Jesus, and to recognize what He wants to accomplish as we commemorate Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday later this month.

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Sanctuary Needed

March 28, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Why is it that a bad morning at school follows you and becomes a bad afternoon at home?

Why is that a bad day at work follows you and becomes a bad evening at home?

We all have a tendency to hang on to things. But the problem is we end up taking out our problems on those who didn’t create the problem. In other words, our family takes the heat from us because we know they will still love us, even after we unload on them. So we make our problem their problem.

Yes, we all need someone to listen to us vent when we’ve had a bad day, or we’ve been snubbed by someone, or we’ve gotten an after-school detention, or we’ve been chewed out by the boss. But venting is different from transferring. Venting is when we express our hurts to someone who loves us; transferring is when we take out our hurts on someone who loves us.

Dr. Richard Dobbins gave some wise counsel on how to avoid doing this:

“Develop the mental and spiritual ability to put space between your workplace [or school] and your home life. Treat your home life like a sanctuary. Don’t bring the feelings created by being treated unfairly in the workplace [or school] home with you.”

Maybe this will help you. Here’s what I do: I have created a boundary line (in my case it’s a road) over which bad attitudes created during the day cannot cross. As I approach home I remind myself that my family was not who gave me trouble, so I’m not going to bring my trouble home to them. If I need to, I’ll stop my car and sit for a few minutes before I cross that boundary, just to make sure my attitude is right before I cross that boundary line.

Where’s your boundary? Where can you make some space, so that your home becomes (and remains) a sanctuary?

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Thursdays With Oswald—Obstinacy Or Determination?

March 24, 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.

Obstinacy Or Determination?

     It is easy to be determined, and the curious thing is that the more small-minded a man is the more easily he makes up his mind. If he cannot see the various sides of a question, he decides by the ox-like quality of obstinacy. Obstinacy simply means “I will not allow any discernment in this matter; I refuse to be enlightened.” We wrongly call this strong-mindedness. Strength of mind is the whole man active, not discernment merely from an individual standpoint. The determination in a disciple is a comprehending one, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified,” says Paul.

From Facing Reality

     The difference between an obstinate man and a strong-minded man lies just here: an obstinate man refuses to use his intelligence when a matter is in dispute, while a strong-minded man makes his decision after having deliberately looked at it from all standpoints, and when opposed, he is willing to give reasons for his decision.

From Baffled To Fight Better

“The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is, that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t.” —Henry Ward Beecher

So in hanging onto (and defending) what I believe, am I being obstinate or justly determined? 

Hmmm? What do you think?

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What Gift Are You?

February 21, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

In our Living In The Zone series yesterday, we looked at the gifts God gives to us. These gifts are to help us find the “sweet spot” where God wants us to operate. They are specifically given so that God can use us.

I love this thought from Craig Groeschel: “God’s gifts in you equip you for your gift to the world.”

You are gifted to be a gift to the world.

Check out this video we showed yesterday morning…

Did you catch this exchange near the end?

“Do you think you’re a role model?”

“I hope so! I wanna be an encourager. To encourage people to do something with their lives, instead of doing nothing. Because so many people in the world in this day and time have no gumption, have no purpose, and they don’t want to get off the couch. They wanna sit there and say, ‘Woe is me! My back hurts, my this, my that,’ and wallow in themselves, when they could get out. The more you do for someone else, the more God’s going to bless you. Even if means giving someone a cup of coffee, or a hug, or something like that. That’s what it’s all about.”

What gift(s) has God given you? What gift are you being to the world?

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