stress | Craig T. Owens

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Confession: I Struggle With Being An Atheist

January 25, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

You see, I love my day to be highly organized. I like to get to all my meetings on time, and then have them run smoothly and efficiently. I like to setup my To Do list, and then methodically check off each item as I go through my day. I like to be in charge of my day.

I am an atheist.

I’m the one calling the shots. I set my agenda. I determine my day. I decide who to see and what project to accept.

There was a guy that Jesus talked about who did the exact same thing. This guy thought to himself and talked to himself all about his plans. Seriously, in just three verses he says me/I/my a dozen times (Luke 12:17-19)!

But God said, “You fool!” The word for fool means without mind. He didn’t mind his mind. He thought the thoughts he wanted to think, without ever consulting anyone else. Not even God.

Jesus made prayer a priority every day (Mark 1:35). What do you think He prayed? Do you think He said, “Here’s what I’m going to do today, and I want You to bless it, Father”? No way!

When Jesus taught us to pray He said, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done” (Matthew 6:9-13). Not only did Jesus pray this way, He lived this way too. He didn’t do a single thing unless His Father directed Him to do it (John 6:38), and He didn’t say a single word unless His Father directed Him to say it (John 12:49).

The problem is not going into my prayer closet to meet with God in the morning, the problem is thinking I can leave God in the closet as I go about my day! That is atheism!

The Apostle James gave us this sound counsel: Instead of making my plans all on my own, I should say, “If the Lord wills, this is what I will do today” (James 4:13-17). And wise King Solomon said I shouldn’t lean on my own thoughts when planning my days, but lean onto God, and then watch to see how He will direct my life in the right way (Proverbs 3:5-6).

I’ve begun writing I.T.L.W. on the top of my daily calendar. It’s my reminder to say, “If The Lord Wills” this is what I will do today. And if something else comes up, I quickly acknowledge that God is directing my path where He needs me to go.

Your Kingdom come means my kingdom has to go. Your will be done means my agenda takes a distant second.

If you’re feeling stressed about your schedule, that should be your reminder to pray: “God, what do you want to have done here.” Silence the atheistic thoughts that sound like, “I have to get my list done.” Stop and pray right there on the spot.

Here’s the full video of my message on this topic—

We will be continuing our series called Practical Prayer this Sunday. If you don’t have a home church in Cedar Springs, please come be our guest. Or you can tune into our live broadcast via Periscope.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: agenda, apostle James, atheism, atheist, calendar, God's will, Gospel of John, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ, prayer, proverbs, schedule, Solomon, stress, thought life, to do lists, video, Vimeo. 4 Comments »

Week Of Prayer—Friday

January 8, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

Our week of prayer continues on Friday with this prayer focus—

Give thanks that because of God’s care, you can be at peace regardless of the circumstances you face.

I love to pray the Scriptures during my times of prayer. Perhaps today you could pray something like this:

Heavenly Father, I am learning not to be anxious about anything, but to turn every stressful situation over to You in prayer, and to be thankful for what You’re going to do. I am also learning to turn everything that bothers me into a prayer request to You. When I do this, Your peace, which transcends my human understanding, guards my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

I am also learning to be content whatever my circumstances are. I certainly know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have enough. I am learning the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through You, Jesus, because You give me strength. I know that You will meet all my needs according to the riches in Christ Jesus [Philippians 4:6-7, 11-13, 19]. I know that when I pray this in Your name, Jesus, I can say a confident “amen!”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: anxiety, circumstances, God's strength, Jesus Christ, peace, Philippians, prayer, stress, week of prayer. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

September 2, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Stress is believing you can do more than your human frame can take.” —Dr. Archibald Hart

“In short, the blessing of Christ means having a life that is pleasing to the Lord. It’s an inner knowing from the Holy Ghost that as God looks on your life, He says, ‘I’m pleased with you, My son, My daughter. There is nothing between us to hinder our communion and relationship.’” —David Wilkerson

Cold-case detective J. Warner Wallace talks about inculpatory and exculpatory evidence in terms of God’s existence. It is quite fascinating.

Even if it is a scientific journal, don’t trust everything you read. This study shows that over half of psychological studies cannot be reproduced.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apologetic, David Wilkerson, Dr. Archibald Hart, Holy Spirit, J. Warner Wallace, psychology, quotes, relationship, science, scientific method, stress. Leave a Comment »

7 Quotes On Brain Health From “Brain-Savvy Leaders”

August 3, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Charles Stone gave us a very practical book in Brain-Savvy Leaders (you can read my full review by clicking here). Obviously out brain works best when we’re healthy, so check out some quotes from this book on brain health.

“Gratefulness is actually good for brain and body health.”

“At the end of our chromosomes lie protective caps called telomeres that are linked to longevity. Apparently, the longer your telomeres, all else being equal, the longer you live. Long-term stress shortens them, and mindfulness apparently helps lengthen them. For a Christian, mindfulness practices, such as meditation on Scripture and reflective prayer, which we often do in our devotional time, may possibly help us live longer.”

“The hypothalamus acts as a controller to the master hormone gland, the pituitary gland. … Chronic stress can damage our body and even kill neurons in the hippocampus. However, since the hippocampus is one of the few structures that can grow neurons, called neurogenesis, when stress decreases and cortisol levels out, the brain can regrow neurons here.”

“When we feel bored we don’t get as much oxygen and blood flow. When the brain lacks engagement over long periods of time (we are bored), dendrites can atrophy. When that happens, we can lose brain real estate.”

“Neuroscientists have found that stuffing, denying, or a ignoring our emotions reinforces them, affects short-term memory, increases blood pressure, and robs our brain’s prefrontal cortex of the mental energy it needs.”

“Chronic anxiety and stress cause what scientists call allostatic load…. When our body secretes too much cortisol over long periods of time, these problems can affect us: impaired immunity, weight gain, greater emotional reactivity, heart problems, decreased memory, and diminished brain functioning.”

“Exercise increases a key protein necessary for a healthy brain.”

I shared some quotes about how we learn from Brain-Savvy Leaders earlier, and you can read them here.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: anxiety, book review, boredom, brain, Charles Stone, chromosomes, cortisol, exercise, gratitude, healthy, hypothalamus, medical science, neurogenesis, neurons, neuroplasticity, physical health, pituitary, prayer, quotes, stress. 2 Comments »

Links & Quotes

April 24, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“To some Christians today, this world is not a sinking ship or a world reserved for fire. It is an international capitol building overrun with undesirables whom these believers plan to kick out. They will then take their place, renovating and governing it all themselves. Such thinking is symptomatic of a dying love for Jesus and a clinging to this world!” —David Wilkerson

“Some of my best men are women!” —William Booth

Did you know: Babies in the womb have beating hearts at only 21 days gestation, detectable brain waves at roughly 42 days, and can suck their thumbs and yawn?

Frank Turek is exactly right: Sex Is The New Religion.

“For decades social science has found that there is an optimal family structure for a child’s intellectual, emotional and physical flourishing: being raised in a home by her biological, married parents. All other arrangements—cohabiting biological parents, marriage with one step-parent, two adoptive parents or single parents—do not generally provide the same level of benefit.” Read more in this post about children raised by same-sex parents.

Hopefully none of my pastor friends ever do this!

Good reminder from John Maxwell: How Do You Become A Successful Failure?

Important health news: What stress does to your body.

Poetry Saturday―Don’t You?

February 21, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

When the plan which I have, to grow suddenly rich

Grows weary of leg and drops into the ditch,

And scheme follows scheme

Like the web of a dream

To glamour and glimmer and shimmer and seem,…

Only seem;

And then, when the world looks unfadably blue,

If my rival sails by

With his head in the sky,

And sings “How is business?” Why, what do I do?

Well, I claim that I aim to be honest and true,

But I sometimes lie. Don’t you?

When something at home is decidedly wrong,

When somebody sings a false note in the song,

Too low or too high,

And, you hardly know why,

But it wrangles and jangles and runs all awry,…

Aye, awry!

And then, at the moment when things are askew,

Some cousin sails in

With a face all a-grin,

And a “Do I intrude? Oh, I see that I do!”

Well, then, though I aim to be honest and true,

Still I sometimes lie. Don’t you?

When a man whom I need has some foible or fad,

Not very commendable, not very bad;

Perhaps it’s his daughter,

And some one has taught her

To daub up an “oil” or to streak up a “water”!

And her grass is green green and her sky is blue blue,

But her father, with pride,

In a stagey aside

Asks my “candid opinion.” Then what do I do?

Well, I claim that I aim to be honest and true,

But I sometimes lie. Don’t you? —Edmund Vance Cooke

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: art, business, dream, Edmund Vance Cooke, family, impatience, integrity, opinion, poem, poetry, rivalry, stress, truthfulness. Leave a Comment »

Your Greatest Stress Reliever

January 19, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Sadly our country is anxious and worried. Based on the number of anti-depressants that are prescribed each year, we are a people dealing with a lot of issues!

When worry or fear begin to interfere with normal thinking and functioning, doctors call it anxiety disorder―that is, disorder in our lives creates the anxiety, and more anxiety creates even more disorder.

What causes anxiety in the first place? One of the main culprits is chronic stress. Things like marital problems, financial pressures, relationship breakdowns, emotional traumas trigger the fight-or-flight responses in our bodies. This leads to increased blood pressure and heart rate, interrupted sleep patterns, digestion issues … and all of this leads to the chronic stress, which leads to anxiety, which leads to even more disorder!

But here’s the great news―Getting into God’s presence could be your greatest stress reliever!

There’s a story in 2 Kings of a woman who is clearly stressed out. Her husband has died, she’s exhausted all her resources trying to settle up with creditors, she has sold nearly everything in her home, and one creditor is ready to carry her sons off into slavery. Talk about anxiety!

Elisha asks this widow two questions:

How can I help you? Jesus said that our Heavenly Father knows our needs before we even ask Him, but in the very next verse Jesus says, “This then is how you should pray…” (Matthew 6:8-9).
What do you have? God will use even what we think is insignificant to show His superabundance in our lives!

God did meet this woman’s needs. He gave her enough to pay off her creditor. But that wasn’t all―God also gave this family enough to keep on living stress-free!

God Who, by the action of His power that is at work within us, is able to carry out His purpose and do superabundantly, far over and above all that we dare ask or think―infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes or dreams. (Ephesians 3:20, AMP)

Don’t try to carry all your stress yourself, cast ALL your anxiety on Him because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).

I’ll say it again―Getting into God’s presence could be your greatest stress reliever!

We are continuing our series on prayer next Sunday, and I hope you can join me!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: anxiety, Bible, Calvary Assembly of God, Elisha, emotional health, fight-or-flight, God's presence, Jesus Christ, prayer, stress. 1 Comment »

Links & Quotes

November 5, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

“With such prayer it is an absolute certainty that I must succeed with God in prayer. If my prayer were my own prayer, I might not be so sure of it, but if the prayer which I utter be God’s own prayer written on my soul, God is always one with Himself, and what He writes on the heart is only written there because it is written in His purposes.” —Charles Spurgeon, commenting on Jude 20

“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charities expenditure excludes them.” —C.S. Lewis

Dr. James Dobson has 8 reminders for stressed parents.

“We must stand on every promise and pray in faith, effectually, fervently, without doubt, and then wait and rest, trusting the Lord to do what is right, in His time and His way. Few Christians today wait with patience for God to work in His time. The more it is delayed, the angrier some get. Some finally give up, thinking God doesn’t answer.” —David Wilkerson

A university scientist is fired for publishing a peer-reviewed paper in a respected scientific journal that dares (gasp!) to mention that the biblical Flood might account for a specific finding he had made. The scientific community is becoming more and more touchy about anything that disproves their tenuous beliefs in an Earth that is anything less than billions of years old.

Continue to pray for Asia Bibi, who is appealing her death sentence in Pakistan. Her crime? She is a Christian. Also please consider supporting the American Center for Law & Justice who is helping Asia, and many others like her.

[INFOGRAPHIC] Have I mentioned that I am a huge fan of The Overview Bible Project? I love this infographic and insight into the biblical authors.

Links & Quotes

October 29, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some good reading from today…

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” —Albert Einstein

The danger of redefining marriage: How The Decline In Marriage Is Fueling Inequality.

An important post from Tim Elmore for parents and teachers: How Stress Disables Empathy In Students.

My cousin, Dick Brogden, has an amazing year-long devotional book called Live Dead Joy. Get the Kindle edition now for only $2.

“How may I tell when satan hinders me? I think you may tell thus: first by the object. satan’s object in hindering us is to prevent our glorifying God. If anything has happened to you which has prevented your growing holy, useful, humble, and sanctified, then you may trace that to satan.” —Charles Spurgeon

“It is good to come to the understanding that while God wants us to be holy and Spirit-filled, He does not expect us to look like Abraham or to play the harp like David or to have the same spiritual insight given to Paul. All of those former heroes of the faith are dead. You are alive in your generation.” —A.W. Tozer

“Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.” —C.S. Lewis

Links & Quotes

October 15, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some good reading from today…

“I have learned…that the Lord can fill the soul with Himself, when He takes away what seemed indispensable to our happiness on earth.” —Andrew Bonar

“In a day of endless distraction and diversion, there is no greater remedy for our clouded heads and hectic lives than the sober mind of Christ.” Read more in this post: Finding A Level Head In A Hectic World.

“Prayer really is simple. Resist the urge to complicate it. Don’t take pride in well-crafted prayers. Don’t apologize for incoherent prayers. No games. No cover-ups. Just be honest—honest to God. Climb into His lap. Tell Him everything that’s on your heart. Or tell Him nothing at all. Just lift your heart to heaven and declare, ‘Father … Daddy.’ Stress. Fear. Guilt. Grief. Demands on all sides. And all we can summon is a plaintive, ‘Oh, Father.’ If so, that’s enough. Your heavenly Father will wrap you in His arms!” —Max Lucado

Some super-cool pictures of the work that won the 2014 Nobel Prize for chemistry.

[INFOGRAPHIC] The size, spread and cost of Ebola.

I have been saying this was coming: Pastors in Houston have their sermons subpoenaed to make sure they are “correct.”

“The time for speaking seldom arrives, the time for being never departs.” —George MacDonald

“The Word of God ignores size and quantity and lays all its stress upon quality. Christ, more than any other man, was followed by the crowds, yet after giving them such help as they were able to receive, He quietly turned from them and deposited His enduring truths in the breasts of His chosen 12.” —A.W. Tozer