Get Your Mind Out Of That Rut!

June 16, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

“Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.” —Apostle Paul (Romans 12:2, The Message)

It’s important to think about your thinking—to analyze why certain thoughts are swirling through your mind. But after you identify unhealthy thoughts, you need some creative thinking to be able to move your life in a new direction. This requires a whole new set of thinking skills that are called critical thinking.

Stephen Brooking described it this way, “Critical thinkers are continually exploring new ways of thinking about their lives…. Critical thinking is complex and frequently perplexing, since it requires the suspension of belief and the jettisoning of assumptions previously accepted without question.”

  • What have you accepted without question?
  • What have you become so well-adjusted to that you simply accept it?
  • Are there things you do just because it’s always been done that way?
  • Are there some things that you won’t try because it’s never been done that way?

Two warning signs in your thinking are always and never. With the exception of God, everything changes. So when you start thinking in terms of always and never you are essentially saying, “Nothing changes. And I’ve got everything figured out.” This is mind-in-the-rut thinking!

You’ve probably heard this before but it is valuable enough to be repeated—If you always do what you’ve always done you’ll always get what you always got.

If you need a change in your life, start with a change in your thinking. Ask God to help you think in new ways. In talking to His people about what He had done for them in the past God said it was time to think in creative ways—

But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. (Isaiah 43:18-19 NLT)

Don’t let your thinking stay stuck in a rut. Allow God to help you jettison the old ways of thinking and expand your horizons. God will give you greater creativity if you ask Him.

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Still Learning

May 26, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

I live by the axiom, “If you’re through learning, you’re through.” So I try to learn something new every day.

I just finished a class called New Testament Survey: a quick overview of the 27 books that compromise the New Testament of the Bible. Here’s a couple of interesting factoids I picked up from my studies:

  • The earliest-written book was James. Interesting, because at one point James thought Jesus (his half-brother) was nuts.
  • Only Matthew uses the term kingdom of heaven; all of the other writers use kingdom of God.
  • Mark uses the word immediately more times than anyone else. Perhaps because his source (Peter) was always doing things so quickly… sort of a ready, FIRE!, aim kinda guy.
  • Luke wrote what is called “the global gospel” for everyone, so he included 45 teachings/events that no one else records.
  • John doesn’t record any of Jesus’ parables.
  • John uses the word believe nearly 100 times— way more than any other writer.
  • Luke talks about the Holy Spirit nearly 60 times in the 28 chapters of Acts.
  • Romans is the longest of Paul’s epistles with 7101 words; Philemon is the shortest with just 355 words.
  • With the exception of the pastoral epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus) Paul’s letters are arranged in the Bible from longest to shortest.
  • In 1 & 2 Thessalonians (only 136 verses) Paul refers to God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, or a combination thereof more than 150 times.
  • Paul gives Timothy seven word pictures to describe the kind of pastor he should be: son, soldier, athlete, farmer, workman, instrument, and servant.
  • Hebrews is called “the book of better things” so better is used 13 times. This word is used only six times in the remaining 26 books of the New Testament.
  • James wrote 108 verses but issues 50+ direct commands.
  • In John’s three short epistles he uses the word know 33 times, and the word dear ten times.

Keep on learning! There’s a lot of good stuff out there. What have you learned lately?

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Do-Over

May 14, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

In our backyard kickball games, the competition is sometimes intense. Given the fact that our field is unusually shaped—a big rock for first base, a third base (the middle tree of a group of three trees) is closer to home plate than first base is, the neighbor’s fence jutting out into right field—there are sometimes disagreements. Imagine that!

Of course, the quickest way to resolve some of these disagreements is to call, “Do over!”

But do-overs never work out well. One team might be happy with the results while the other team still feels they got an unfair advantage to get their way.

So, too, with God. He does not allow do-overs. Ever. Nor would I want Him to allow me to have a do-over. There are things I have learned from painful episodes that have made me stronger, wiser, more empathetic, and more merciful than I would have been if I missed out on those experiences. If I could have called “do-over” I wouldn’t be the same person today.

In 2 Kings 6, the king of Israel wanted a do-over. He had an opportunity to kill some Aramean soldiers, but Elisha said, “No, give them dinner instead.” The entire Aramean army returned later and blockaded the capital city of Samaria, making for horrendous living conditions in the city. The king said, “If I only I would’ve rejected Elisha’s advice and killed those soldiers I wouldn’t be in this tough spot now. I want a do-over!”

But here’s what the king—and all of Israel with him—would have missed out on if they got their do-over. If the king got a do-over only a few Aramean soldiers would have been killed. But by not getting his do-over, the entire Aramean army was disarmed, defeated, and disgraced as they ran home scared and naked (see 2 Kings 7:5-7, 14-15).

NOT getting a do-over led to a greater victory! Not getting your do-over will also allow God to do something greater in you and through you. If you got your chance at a do-over for something in your past you wouldn’t be as strong, wise, empathetic, or merciful as you are today.

Check out what God says—

  • I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. (Jeremiah 29:11, The Message paraphrase)
  • And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God. (Romans 8:28, The Living Bible)

Don’t ask God for a do-over; instead, ask the Holy Spirit to show you what He’s doing in your life because you didn’t get the do-over. I promise you that God is doing something far, far greater—instead of defeating a few enemies, He’s defeating whole armies!

Feel free to share what lessons you may have learned by NOT taking a do-over.

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Limbo

April 8, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

According to the dictionary, limbo has some unusual definitions:

  • a region on the border of hell or heaven;
  • an intermediate, transitional, or midway state or place;
  • a place or state of imprisonment or confinement.

Have you ever felt you were in limbo? I have, and it does sometimes feel like a place of imprisonment. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I’ve been wondering why I should ever be in limbo. And I have come to the conclusion that it’s because I’m in such a hurry to arrive someplace.

We get so anxious to get somewhere—anywhere—and while we are between two points we feel the transitional state very acutely, and it often feels like a prison.

But I think God is more interested in our development process than He is in our destination. There is Bible verse quoted often when people are in limbo: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him…” (Romans 8:28). But the verb tense here is not a destination verb but a process verb. It’s better stated, “And we know that in all things God is working for the good of those who love Him.”

Look at the differences—

  • “I really thought I was supposed to get that job” [destination focus] versus “Here’s what God taught me while I was pursuing that job” [process focus].
  • “What am I supposed to do next, God?” [destination focus] versus “What are you teaching me while I wait on You?” [process focus]
  • “Why did it turn out this way?” [destination focus] versus “Here’s how I am growing through this time” [process focus]

Limbo isn’t fun (or as one of my friends said on Facebook this morning, “A life in limbo sucks!”). But it is in the limbo times—the times of process—that we learn the most about all of the good that God is working in us and through us.

If you feel like you’re in limbo today, take your eyes off a destination, and look at the process. Believe me, this is a lesson I am learning right now—big time! What limbo lessons have you learned—or should I say, what limbo lessons are you learning right now? 

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Choice Four-Letter Words

April 2, 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.

Have you ever been “cursed out” by someone? I mean had a stream of four-letter obscenities hurled at you? What happens inside you? Isn’t your natural reaction to strike back? To begin to a counter-attack with a few choice four-letter words of your own?

It’s natural to feel this way; it’s a very human response.

On the other hand, have you ever been “blessed out” by someone? Had someone shower you with niceties and accolades and compliments? What happens inside you this time? Isn’t your natural reaction the complete opposite? Don’t you want to say, “Well, I think you’re pretty special, too”?

It’s natural to feel this way; it’s a very human response.

But Jesus commanded us to do something counter-cultural, something which requires a spiritual response: “Bless those who curse you” (Luke 6:28). Paul amplified this thought: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” (Romans 12:14).

These words curse and bless are challenging for me. Curse means to hope for someone’s downfall; bless means to say good words to or about someone. Cursing can be done internally or verbally; blessing has to be done verbally. Eugene Peterson captures the essence of this in his paraphrase of Romans 12:14: “Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath.”

If my natural response is to match curse for curse, obscenity for obscenity, then to respond in a Christ-like fashion is going to take a change of character. To respond with the right four-letter words, I have to do the opposite of my natural response.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for bless carried the understanding that it all hinged on God—He is the focal point. All of the definitions of this word involve a close relationship with God: (a) bless God; (b) bless men in the name of God; (c) ask for divine favor for persons or things created by God; or (d) salute someone because we know God has saluted us.

In the New Testament, the Greek word for bless makes it clear that this has to be done verbally, out loud. It is impossible to bless under your breath. In the Greek, bless is the compound word eulogeo = eu- (good) + –logos (words): saying good words out loud.

Only God is good, so only a closer relationship with our good God will help us say good words to others. Especially to those who curse us.

The right four-letter words to use—the un-natural words to use—are: Good words.

I’m challenging myself today to bless others, especially those who curse me. I only want to say good to and about others today. I’m attempting to live out Ephesians 4:29—

  • Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up (New International Version)
  • Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others (Amplified Bible)
  • Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift (The Message)
  • When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need—words that will help others become stronger (New Century Version).

So let me ask you: How will you say the right four-letter words to others today?

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Do I Know Too Much?

March 24, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Thomas Huxley wrote, “I object to Christians: they know too much about God.”

When Job was going through his trials, his “friends” showed up with all kind of knowledge about God. They knew that God would never allow the innocent to go through difficulty. They knew Job had sinned somewhere along the way. They knew that God always answers a righteous man‘s prayers exactly as he had prayed it.

They knew too much about God.

They put God in their box, telling Him how to behave the way they knew He should.

They became their own god.

Job didn’t know all that God was doing, but he did know, “He does great things too marvelous to understand” (Job 9:10). The Apostle Paul echoed the same thought: “Oh, how great are God‘s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His ways!” (Romans 11:33).

As I go through my own trials, I‘m learning a little more about the depths of God‘s love for me everyday—“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love” (Romans 5:3-5).

How about you: Do you know too much about God? Or are you still open to learn more?

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