Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Think back to some of the hard times you’ve been through. Do those times conjure up fond memories and a longing to return to yesteryear? Of course not! Most people do their best to forget these moments as quickly as possible, but a mature leader recognizes the value of the suffering they’ve endured. Join us for today’s episode as we discuss how your most painful moments have the potential to be your biggest opportunities for growth.
[0:00] Introduction
[0:16] During this episode you might be saying, “I don’t want to go there!”
[2:03] Growth comes from switching from, “How do I get out of this?” to “What can I get out of this?”
[3:08] Why do we avoid that painful lessons that could help us grow?
[4:53] Greg shares about a learning experience from his football career.
[6:13] My rough season led to a book called When Sheep Bite.
[8:15] We have to practice learning in difficult seasons.
[10:00] Pain can show us what needs to be changed to realize growth opportunities.
[13:02] Greg asks me what is one thing that held me back from learning from adversity.
[14:55] Greg shares what held him back earlier in his leadership journey.
[16:52] I have learned an important first response in difficult times.
[18:53] Sometimes we need an outside mentor to help us see where we’re struggling.
[22:00] “Your hardest times often lead to some of your greatest moments.”
My books are for my fellow pastors. Shepherd Leadership will help us keep the biblical metrics in mind when we are thinking about our leadership roles. When Sheep Bite is an invaluable resource to help pastors continue to serve their flock, even after being painfully attacked. And Amen Indeed is a book of prayers for pastoral effectiveness.
If you are a pastor—or if you love your pastor—please pick up copies of these books today!
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
On the Leading From Alignment podcast, I was discussing my book When Sheep Bite which is about leadership pain. John Opalewski asked me to share some things leaders should consider when they get bit.
On a different podcast, I discussed in more detail the idea in Luke 2:52 about Jesus growing in favor with men. Check out The Pinnacle of a Leader’s Health.
You can get more information on When Sheep Bitehere. And also check out my book of prayer for pastors called Amen Indeed.
Jesus showed us how to remain faithful as a shepherd even in the face of painful attacks. If you are a pastor—or if you love your pastor—please check out my books Shepherd Leadership and When Sheep Bite.
Every year I see the same unsubstantiated claims that the Christian celebration of Christmas is a hodgepodge of pagan and cultic myths cobble together and hijacked by Christians. Here are three myths refuted by archeological evidence.
Dr. Allen Tennison points out how Luke emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit all throughout his Gospel, and then continues that theme as he moves into the Book of Acts.
“One of the first gospel blessings is that of complete justification. A sinner, though guilty in himself, no sooner believes in Jesus than all his sins are pardoned. The righteousness of Christ becomes his righteousness, and he is accepted in the Beloved.” —Charles Spurgeon
“For the apostle Paul, as, indeed, for all the apostles and early Christians, the Church is the Body of Christ, the continuing incarnation of the reigning and conquering King of Glory. The Church, according to the apostles, is the centerpiece of Christ’s historical agenda (Matthew 16:18). Whatever Christ intends to do on earth prior to His imminent return, the focal point of that work will be in and through His Church. … We do not have the mind of Christ if we are not thinking the same way about His Body, the Church. We need the Church, and if we do not think this is so, then we do not have the mind of Christ. We need the Church. But we need it according to the purpose with the guidance and blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ.” —T.M. Moore
What an amazing story of faithfulness! The faithfulness of God is seen in the loving actions of an unnamed Sunday School teacher and in a lifelong missionary.
Cold-case detective J. Warner Wallace contrasts blind belief and unreasonable belief with what he calls forensic faith. His conclusion: “A forensic faith gives you confidence in uncertainty, strength in adversity, and the ability to engage intellectually with both believers and skeptics. It transforms faith from mere hope into informed trust, and that makes all the difference in how you live out your beliefs in a world that’s constantly questioning them.”
“Depression is one of satan’s most dynamic weapons to divert you from God’s purpose for your life. If he can scatter a little dejection here and there in your thoughts—and even in your prayers—he can convince you to remove your breastplate of righteousness because it is too cumbersome and will go against your material and temporal interest. Do not give in that easily!” —William Gurnall, The Christian In Complete Armor
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
I like to take some time at the end of each calendar year to both look back and look forward. Throughout biblical history, whenever God was ready to take His people into a new chapter, He always took time for them to review the ground they had already covered. So as we get ready to go into 2026, here is a look back at the things God taught us in 2025 through these sermon series I shared with the wonderful folks at Calvary Assembly of God.
Our Prayer Book. God has given us an amazing Book! The Bible addresses the human condition—all our desires, frustrations, hopes, and the only path on which we can find eternal and unfading joy. The Bible not only tells us how to live, but it also tells us how to pray. And it’s as we pray that the principles in the Scripture come alive with fresh applications for our daily life. We don’t have to fumble around, attempting to find the right words to pray and then wondering if those prayers were heard on high. We can learn to pray in agreement with God’s perfect will. God has spoken to us through His Word, and He invites us to use His words to form our prayers back to Him. I love beginning each new year with a reminder of the power of prayer.
When Sheep Bite Sheep. No one likes to be mistreated—especially when the one that hurts us is one we would have thought of as an ally or even a friend. These slights become even more painful when they take place inside the Christian community. When sheep bite sheep, our natural response is to lash out to try to even the scales of justice. But the Bible consistently and clearly calls Christians to pursue a supernatural response. This is a highly practical series of messages on how you can respond in a Christ-honoring way when you are bitten by another sheep in God’s pasture.
Grief Into Joy. At the end of your rope … down for the count … nothing but gray skies all around … unable to see any light at the end of the long, dark tunnel. Ever been there? The reality is, we all have been there. But the good news is that we don’t have to stay there! God is always at work to turn our apparent no-win, dark, hopeless situations into something bright and glorious! He is working in ways that no human mind could have dreamed up, and working on our behalf in a way no human power could ever hope to rival. God specializes in turning grief into joy! We are approaching the time of year where we remember the death of Jesus. Without a doubt that was the darkest, most grief-stricken day in all of history. Yet that time of mourning was completely forgotten in the overwhelming joy that exploded from an empty tomb on Resurrection Sunday!
We Are: Pentecostal. Pentecost for over 1500 years was a celebration in Jerusalem that brought in Jews from all over the world. But on the Day of Pentecost which came just ten days after Jesus ascended back into heaven, the meaning of Pentecost was forever changed! Followers of Jesus—now empowered by an infilling of the Holy Spirit—began to take the good news of Jesus all over the world. These Spirit-filled Christians preached the Gospel and won converts to Christ even among hostile crowds, performed miracles and wonders, stood up to pagan priests and persecuting governmental leaders, and established a whole new way of living as Christ-followers. We, too, can be Pentecostal followers of Jesus Christ today. We can experience an anointing and an empowering in our lives that turns ordinary Christianity into extraordinary Christianity!
All Hail King Jesus. The Bible closes with a vivid picture of Jesus as the undisputed King of kings, and we look forward to that time when all creation bows before Him. Even more so, we cannot wait to be with our King for ever and ever! The psalmists of Israel also foresaw the coming of this King, especially in the example they had in their King David. Many of the poetic words they penned esteemed Jesus as the King for Whom they longed. David himself not only saw the future coming of the Eternal King, but he also looked back in time to see Jesus reigning as King before time began. It is these royal psalms that we will be studying as we celebrate the first arrival on Earth of our King and as we anticipate the second coming of our Royal Majesty. The more clear our vision is of this King, the more we will worship Him, follow Him, and invite others to know Him as their own Lord and Master.
B.A.S.I.C. Christianity. When someone invites Jesus into their heart, they are immediately justified in God’s sight and have the assurance of Heaven as their eternal home. But then the question comes, “Now what?” Our justification is immediate but our sanctification is an ongoing, lifelong process. Sanctification is what brings fruitfulness to a Christian’s life and what allows that fruitful life to be a testimony to others. The Bible gives us the B.A.S.I.C.s of this Christian life, and that’s what we will be exploring over the next few weeks.
Earnestly Contend. Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, wrote a letter to the church. He said he was hoping to write about salvation, but looking at the conditions in the culture around him, he felt urged by the Holy Spirit to challenge Christians to “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” What does this word “contend” mean for us today? Are Christians supposed to be combative about sharing their faith? Are they supposed to argue with anyone and everyone who disagrees with them on any point? Jude gives us Holy Spirit-inspired wisdom to understand how to deal with those who have departed from the purity of biblical truth.
What To Do In A Crisis. Look back through the pages of history and you will see a common theme. Whether it’s world history or your own personal history, you have so much for which you can give thanks. In tough times, we tend to become forgetful because we are so focused on the intensity of the moment. But if we will simply look back in time, we will see just how faithful God has been to us. We bring our focus back to Him in our trying times when we remember and rehearse “the wonderful things He has done” (Psalm 107). The season of Thanksgiving is a good time for us to be reminded of the powerful resource we have when we are giving thanks for our blessings. Thankful people are confident people because they choose hope in God’s faithful provision over grumbling about their current circumstances.
Jesus Is…. Over 700 years before He was born in Bethlehem, God spoke through the prophet Isaiah to describe the Messiah that was coming. Peter said that until the advent of Jesus, the prophets continued to scour the evidence of who this Messiah was going to be. When Jesus finally came to earth as a Man, young and old alike were thrilled to proclaim that the One they had been longing for had made His long-expected appearing! As Jesus lived on earth, died on Calvary, and was resurrected back to life, He continued to fulfill all that had been prophesied about Him. Isaiah said of Jesus: “He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” This Advent season we will take some time to unpack what each of these majestic titles mean. We will explore how Jesus demonstrates that He is truly worthy of each of these titles, and we will see how that knowledge should thrill our hearts as we celebrate His first Advent and eagerly long for His Second Advent.
If you live in northern Kent County and don’t have a home church, I would be thrilled for you to visit me at Calvary Assembly of God this year.
When people start throwing mud at you, your natural response is to throw the mud back at them or to run away so the mud can’t reach you. Instead of the natural fight-or-flight response, Jesus shows us a supernatural response. I talk about all sorts of attacks—gossip, slander, betrayal, and more—in my book When Sheep Bite as well as the supernatural, biblical response to these attacks.
“The minute you start talking about what you’re going to do if you lose, you have lost.” —George Schultz
“A decent picture of good leadership: Air-traffic controllers have authority, but they use their authority to enable others to fly.” This is a thoughtful post, but as frequent visitors to my blog might expect, I prefer the term shepherd leader over servant leader.
This post recounts some of the stories people told of how Charles Spurgeon’s sermons led them from the bad news to the Good News. Spurgeon himself noted, “If you really long to save men’s souls, you must tell them a great deal of disagreeable truth. The preaching of the wrath of God has come to be sneered at nowadays, and even good people are half-ashamed of it; a maudlin sentimentality about love and goodness has hushed, in great measure, plain gospel expostulations and warnings. But, if we expect souls to be saved, we must declare unflinchingly with all affectionate fidelity, the terrors of the Lord.”
“Men have not got tired of Christianity; they have never found enough Christianity to get tired of.” —G.K Chesterton
“Advancing the Kingdom economy is not exactly a cakewalk. It’s hard work, like running a marathon, going to war against spiritual adversaries, cultivating a field, or embarking on a long and arduous journey. We may expect to encounter many obstacles and challenges along the way as we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. … We must neither run from these challenges nor give in to them. Instead, advancing the Kingdom economy requires that we face evil head-on, and determine to overcome it by good works of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17-19).” Check out the rest of T.M. Moore’s post Overcoming Evil.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
One of the most important boundaries that shepherd leaders need to establish—especially when contending with biting sheep—is the protection of their family. Check out this clip from The Craig and Greg Show.
You can watch the full episode in which Greg and I talk about some of the principles in When Sheep Biteby clicking here.
Please pick up a copy of When Sheep Bite for yourself by clicking here.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Anyone who has been verbally or emotionally attacked needs time to recover. Your self-care is absolutely essential to your personal health and the health of the people with whom you live and work. Your pain will eventually become their pain if you remain in a bruised and weakened place.
Chapter 12 in my book When Sheep Bite is entitled ‘Self-care is Not Selfish.’ In that chapter I wrote—
When you are recovering from biting sheep, you will need to be very intentional about self-care. I said earlier that self-care is not selfish. What is selfish is self-centeredness and self-reliance. When you think, “I cannot possibly take a break right now; too many people need me—besides, how will the work get done if I step away,” you are attempting to be self-reliant. This is a natural response, but it doesn’t give us the supernatural, refreshing oxygen that comes from sabbathing with Jesus.
This isn’t to diminish the importance of the true Sabbath Day, and I am not saying that sabbathing can be anything you want it to be. For Jesus, it was time alone with His Father—both set times and spontaneous times. But sometimes you will need a nap (like Elijah) or a meal with a trusted friend (as the disciples had with Jesus in Mark 6:30-32). These sabbathing breaks have a singular agenda: To get you to the place physically and emotionally where you can concentrate on your prayer time. After all, it’s hard to receive refreshing from God when you cannot keep your eyes open or your thoughts from straying.
You can check out the article I wrote for Influence magazine here, and then pick up a copy of When Sheep Bite to help your recovery time. Check out what the public ministry of Jesus teaches us about the healthy practice of sabbathing.
I also recommend these related posts and videos about self-care:
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
When you’ve been hurt, you probably want someone to tell you that it was all the other person’s fault. That’s what you may want, but a true friend will tell you what you need to hear.
My book When Sheep Bite is all about recovering after difficulties—whether they were created by your mistakes or someone else’s mistakes. In the Introduction to my book I wrote:
I want to give you what I wanted when this happened to me: empathy, insight, a helpful perspective, and a manual of help that God has provided in the Bible. I don’t want to try to one-up your story of pain, because I’m confident that no one could truly know how deeply you’ve been hurt. But I do want to give you some assurance that I know what I’m talking about. …
Your pain and your circumstances are unique. Your pain is real, and it is incomparable to anyone else’s pain. But the biblical principles that God revealed to me—those things that helped me heal and the thoughts I want to share with you—are applicable for any shepherd. These tried-and-true principles can help you not just survive this pain but thrive in spite of this pain. I would say to you something that C.S. Lewis wrote, “Think of me as a fellow-patient in the same hospital who, having been admitted a little earlier, could give some advice.”
Think back to some of the hard times you’ve been through. Do those times conjure up fond memories and a longing to return to yesteryear? Of course not! Most people do their best to forget these moments as quickly as possible, but a mature leader recognizes the value of the suffering they’ve endured. Join us for today’s episode as we discuss how your most painful moments have the potential to be your biggest opportunities for growth.
Craig T. Owens 