Challenged

December 7, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

During my daily devotional time, I’m reading a book by Smith Wigglesworth called Power To Serve. And I’m really being challenged by it. Sometimes a certain book crosses my life at just the right time, and it really begins to stir something in me. Just thought I’d share a couple of quotes from the book, and how I’m trying to process/apply it to my life:

  • “Prayer is a time during which God wants you to be strengthened, and He wants you to remember that He is with you. …People come with their needs, they ask, and then they leave with their need because they do not faithfully wait to receive what God has promised them.”
    • So true for me! I’m such a hurry-up-and-get-it guy. I’m trying to learn to wait in God’s presence, and not take my need back with me.
  • “Today is a day of inspiration and divine intuition, a day in which God is enrapturing your heart, breaking all shorelines, getting my heart to the place where it is responsive only to His cry, where I live and move honoring and glorifying God in the Spirit.”
    • Wow, I’d love to be in the place where my heart is responsive only to His cry. Too many times I’m too responsive to other voices clamoring for my attention. Be still, my heart, listen for your Master.
  • “You never lose as much as when you lose your peace. …Possess patience to such an extent that you can suffer anything for the church, for your friends, for your neighbors, or for anyone. Remember this: we build character in others as our character is built.”
    • I want to live my life with the same confidence that the Apostle Paul did when he wrote, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” May my life be a blessing to others.
  • “O God, give us such a holy, intense, divine acquaintance with You that we would rather die than grieve You! Oh, for inward character that will make us say, ‘A thousand deaths rather than sinning once.’”
    • I want to be at this place. Amen!

What are you reading/listening to that’s challenging you to live differently?

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Satisfied Service

November 9, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

I started a conversation last week about being a servant (you can catch up here).

Serving should be a two-way street. Contrary to the way that some people look at servanthood, being a servant is not the same thing as being a doormat. Consider two key verses:

  • Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:4)
  • Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21)

We should look equally to others’ needs as well as our own needs. Zig Ziglar says it this way, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”

This can be manipulation if you’re simply looking to someone else’s interests as a form of flattery or as a quid pro quo. But if you are truly serving—if you truly have the other person’s best interests in mind—if you are willing to submit to them out of reverence for Christ, serving can be liberating.

Last week Rick Warren tweeted, “The more self-centered I am, the more unsatisfied I’ll be.” I retweeted with this addition, “So the more I serve, the more satisfied I’ll be.” I believe that.

Try it for yourself—it works!

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The Wounded Healer (book review)

October 28, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Wounded Healer, The

“For the minister is called to recognize the sufferings of his time in his own heart and make that recognition the starting point of his service. Whether he tries to enter into a dislocated world, relate to a convulsive generation, or speak to a dying man, his service will not be perceived as authentic unless it comes from a heart wounded by the suffering about which he speaks” (from the introduction).

Henri Nouwen was a man ahead of his time. Although this book was written in the early 1970s, it sounds so applicable for today. The Wounded Healer challenged me as a Christian leader to step into the pain-filled lives as others in a more authentic way. Nouwen argues that healers must first be personally acquainted with the same type of pain that other wounded people are experiencing.

Isaiah 53 says that Christ “was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.” Because Jesus was wounded in the same way we are wounded, He knows how to help (see Hebrews 2:18).

One closing quote from Nouwen: “If there is any posture that disturbs a suffering man or woman, it is aloofness. … No one can help anyone without becoming involved, without entering with his whole person into the painful situations, without taking the risk of become hurt, wounded or even destroyed in the process. The beginning and the end of Christian leadership is to give your life for others.”

This book reconfirmed my desire to—like Jesus—be a wounded healer for others.

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Be All There

October 27, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Once a friend of mine (whom I happen to think is more tuned-in to people’s needs than almost anyone else I know) went on a first date. He said the evening was pleasant, but felt his date was a bit distant. At the end of the evening when he brought up the subject of possibly going out again she informed him, “No, I don’t think we can go out again. You’re just not emotionally available for me.”

I know this wasn’t true for my friend, but have you ever been there? Ever been with someone, but it was obvious that they weren’t really there with you in the room? Frustrating, isn’t it?

[Insert tongue firmly in cheek as you read this next paragraph.] Now I’m certain that none of the readers of my blog would ever be distracted like this. And I know I’ve never done this myself. Since you and I, dear reader, always are 100% attentive to the people in the room with us, these next two quotes probably won’t pertain to you, but here they are anyhow:

“The human brain is simply not designed to multitask. You can get by doing multiple things at once, but you can’t do them well. Your brain is physically unable to process more than one set of instructions at a time, so while you are juggling all of those actions at once, your brain is scrambling to keep up. Through a variety of experiments measuring brain activity, scientists have discovered that the constant switching back and forth from one activity to another energizes regions of the brain that specialize in visual processing and physical coordination, while simultaneously disrupting the brain regions related to memory and learning. According to the research, ‘we are using our mental energy to concentrate on concentrating at the expense of whatever it is that we’re supposed to be concentrating on.’ Got that?

“More simply: when we multitask we’re dumber. How much dumber? A recent study for Hewlett Packard exploring the impact of multitasking on performance revealed that the average worker’s functioning IQ drops ten points when multitasking…. (The analogy the researchers used is that a ten-point drop in IQ is equivalent to missing one night of sleep.)” —Marcus Buckingham, Find Your Strongest Life

“Concentration, which leads to meditation and contemplation, is therefore the necessary precondition for true hospitality. When our souls are restless, when we are driven by thousands of different and often conflicting stimuli, when we are always ‘over there’ between people, ideas and the worries of this world, how can we possibly create the room and space where someone else can enter freely without feeling himself an unlawful intruder?” —Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer

This week I’m making it my goal to be all there for whomever is here with me. I’m going to try my best to eliminate multitasking and truly concentrate on the one spending time with me. Are you ready to try this with me? Let me know how it goes.

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Deadly Viper Character Assassins

September 22, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

The dictionary defines an assassin as “one who murders by surprise attack.” No assassin worth his/her salt sends you an announcement to say, “I’ll be stopping by your office tomorrow morning to kill you. If that’s not a convenient time for you, please let me know.” Of course not! Assassins never tell you that they’re coming.

Theodore Roosevelt said, “Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.”

So a “character assassin” is something that sneaks up and takes out the essential factor that could have made us successful and effective in life. This is why Deadly Viper Character Assassins is such a vital resource.

Here are the two pulls in my life:

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour [assassinate]. (1 Peter 5:8)

You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)

If I keep our character intact, I’ve developed a foundation that will sustain me for the long haul. In my experience, here’s what I’ve done to keep developing my character:

  1. Be more concerned about my character than my popularity.
  2. Regularly look myself in the mirror of God’s Word to see chinks in my armor.
  3. Make myself accountable to godly friends.

Don’t wait until the assassin has already taken a shot at your character, but begin to protect yourself now. Continue to grow in the character Jesus Christ exhibited for us.

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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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Big, Big World

September 15, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Bigger Than Me“The smallest package in the world is a person who is all wrapped up in himself.” —Billy Graham

We have a tendency to get so wrapped up in ourselves. If we are feeling down, no one is happy. If we don’t like our job, everyone has a lousy job. If we have a toothache, the whole world is hurting. But as John Maxwell says, “The whole world—with one minor exception—is made up of other people.”

On Wednesday in our Impact youth service, we’re beginning a new series called Bigger Than Me. It’s a reminder, a wake-up call, an eye-opener to remind our students that the world is big. Bigger than them. And in need of someone who is not all wrapped up in himself.

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Smarter Work

September 11, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

I met this morning with my teaching team. These are some great leaders-in-training who are helping me both think through what we need to talk about with our students in our youth group, and they help teach some of these points as well. This morning we refined the next series that we want to deliver. I had a pretty good idea going in, but my teaching team made it so much better!

I love leadership teams. The New Testament frequently uses the phrase one another to show that “all of us” is a lot better than “one of us.”

  • My team helps me think of things I may have missed on my own
  • My team challenges me to clarify my words
  • My team gives me perspectives that I wouldn’t have caught
  • My team makes my good ideas better
  • My team gives me a chance to invest in and train up the next generation of leaders

Do you have a good team around you? Do you have people challenging you to think in new ways? Do you have people who can sharpen you? Do you have people around you that pour into your life, and allow you to invest in them too?

Two great team quotes from some coaches who knew what they were talking about:

“The freedom to do your own thing ends when you have obligations and responsibilities. If you want to fail yourself, you can, but you cannot do your own thing if you want to have responsibilities to your team members.” —Lou Holtz

“The main ingredient in stardom is the rest of the team.” —John Wooden

I promise you “all of us” makes you look a whole lot smarter than just “one of us”! If you’re not already, start developing a team—you’ll be glad you did.

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Fall Down Attitude

August 25, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Fall

This Sunday at Calvary Assembly of God we start a brand new series called Fall: We all fall, but falling doesn’t have to be fatal. If we have the right attitude about it, the times that we fall can be some of the most instructional times of our lives.

A man with a great fall down attitude was Thomas Alva Edison. Check out these snippets from this inventor’s life:

“If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed.” —Edison’s answer to a newspaper reporter’s question about how he felt about his 10,000 failed attempts to perfect the incandescent light bulb

“Son, there’s great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burnt up. Thank God we can start all over again.” —Edison, at age 67, speaking to his son Charles while they were watching his laboratory being destroyed by fire

“I’ve had a lot of success with failure.”

Falling down doesn’t have to be fatal. With the right attitude, falling down can be one of the most instructional times of our lives. Come join me on Sunday morning at 10:30am to hear more about the attitude that makes success out of failure.

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Pursuing

August 21, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

“They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves” (Jeremiah 2:5).

Simple principle: I become what I pursue.

Pursuing things that will not last into eternity is worthless, and the pursuit of them will make my life worthless too. Allow me to elaborate with a few modified quotes:

“For where your [pursuit] is, there your heart will be also” (Jesus).

“All [pursuits] that are not eternal are eternally useless” (C.S. Lewis).

“But more than anything else, put God’s [pursuits] first and do what He wants” (Jesus).

“The impulse to [pursue] God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are [pursuing] Him we are already in His hand” (A.W. Tozer).

“But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each of us has [pursued]. The fire will show if a person’s [pursuit] had any value” (Paul).

“The true worth of a man is to be measured by the objects he [pursues]” (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus).

“I love those who love Me, and those who [pursue] Me always catch Me” (God).

“‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will [pursue] his principles unto death” (Thomas Paine).

As each week wraps up, I’m trying to remember to ask myself, “Did I pursue the right things this week? Were my pursuits eternal and God-honoring?” Good questions. Perhaps you could take some time to assess your pursuits too.

Remember, you will become what you pursue, so pursue wisely.

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