Author Archives: dennyowens

Monday Afternoon Musings …

I am reflecting and musing after the noon hour today. My wife and I are at our District’s Pastor and Spouse retreat and I was lazy this morning so I am just now getting around to typing. This retreat is a much needed couple of days away and I am so grateful to my church for sending us to this retreat. I serve a great group of people.

-Yesterday the music and prayer time in our worship was very powerful. There was a tremendous sense of the God’s presence and power in the service.

-Illness and other things really piled on yesterday as our attendance was very low. This was the lowest worship attendance in my 8 months here. I did not see this one coming.

-The congregation seemed very engaged during the sermon. I am praying much that our church will really take hold of the opportunities they have in prayer. That they will pray with confidence and courage. That they will pray boldly. That they will begin to make prayer their default action no matter what they encounter.

-I received a sweatshirt of my favorite college team from the youth of our church and my wife received a beautiful plant. These were part of a Pastor Appreciation plan they are doing for us. Did I mention I love this group of encouraging people?

-My wife and I left in the early afternoon yesterday to head to our retreat. We actually came a day early to get a little extra time of refreshment. I love spending time with her.

-We kicked off a renewed focus on Children’s Ministry yesterday. We have several people involved who have not been involved recently and I am excited about the changes. Unfortunately we didn’t have many children in attendance yesterday.

-I am loving the many reports I am receiving from my people about their prayer times. Especially how God is opening doors for conversations with the 3 people for whom they are specifically targeting in prayer to see them come to faith in Christ.

-I love how God upholds me when I am struggling. Yesterday was a difficult day for me and I was doubting a lot of stuff about our ministry plan, and other things as the day began. As I prayed yesterday I really asked for strength and help to focus on the great stuff that is happening. God was, and always is, faithful and he really lifted me yesterday.

-We are trying to get everything together, money and plans, to be able to go visit our son, daughter-in-law, and 5 grandkids in Kenya just after Thanksgiving. I don’t know if they need to see us, but I know we need to see and hug them.

Here’s hoping you can reflect on the presence and blessings of God today. If you ever desire to have another person praying for you, just send me a note and I would be honored to lift you in prayer. God is still God no matter what you are facing.

Dennis

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Liar, Liar Not so Much …

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post entitled “Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire”. I wrote about excuses and especially about our/my “go to” excuses. Those excuses we go to as a default whenever we have something we know we should have done that we did not do. Like exercise, the “honey do” list, write some thank you notes, eat better, witness, read our Bible, and other stuff.

I worked on this in a few areas but kept putting off the “get in better shape” area. Hey it was easy to put off because I have had so much practice. I can say that I have started to do something about this area of my life. I still have to use “Liar, Liar” as part of my statement about getting in better shape because I just started this 5 days ago. Also, I missed 1 day in those 5. For me doing something to better my health and get in better physical condition 4 out of 5 days is miles ahead of where I have been for a long while.

I promised that I would give updates on how I am doing in this area, so consider this an update. I have started. That is the most important step. I don’t feel any better yet, only feel better in saying that I have started.

As for spiritual areas, I am doing better in them than in the physical areas. I challenged myself at the beginning of July to read straight through the Bible in the last 6 months of the year. I have read something every day for 3 months and I am well ahead of schedule to finish by the end of the year. My prayer time is increasing slowly, but it is increasing and I am focusing better as I pray.

Another area that I have felt I need to do better in is writing. I believe I am to be writing more and exploring some other areas of writing. I haven’t done much with this in the past couple of weeks. Well, I guess I have done a little as I am currently finishing the writing of a 35 day devotional series for my congregation. I am really struggling with the writing area and need to become disciplined in this matter. One of my struggles is that I just don’t schedule time to write, which makes it easier to revert to one of my “go to” excuses of being too busy.

Thanks for checking back in on me. I will attempt to give you some periodic updates of my progress in these areas.

How are you doing with your excuses? Any progress? I would love to hear from you, so I can pray with you and encourage you as well.

Dennis

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Monday Morning Musings …

Yesterday was a long day with many positive happenings. Sundays often feel like longer days by the nature of the energy and emotion spent, however yesterday just seemed a little longer. Some of the things that made yesterday feel longer were from events leading up to Sunday. Maybe the more accurate statement is that last week was a long week. Now for some musings …

-I am very excited to see everything God is going to do in our church, and beyond, in the next few weeks. We are focusing on prayer and learning how to change our world through prayer.

-I don’t remember the last time I felt a greater burden to preach a message than I felt yesterday. The message was on praying for our lost family, friends, co-workers, classmates, neighbors and beyond.

-I challenged my church to pray specifically for 3 people who they are acquainted with who are without Jesus as their personal Savior. They can pray for more, but for the next few weeks to focus on intensely on 3.

-We are using a symbol as a reminder. Hold up 3 fingers, your index, middle and ring finger and then touch your thumb and pinky with the thumb on top. The 3 fingers will represent the 3 friends we are praying for, the pinky is us and the thumb is the Lord. As you hold up the 3 fingers and pray for your friends you are remembering that you and the Lord are surrounding them in prayer. I challenged them to pray for their friends every time they saw the number 3 this week and to use it as an encouraging signal to one another whenever they see each other this week.

-We had some major technical issues yesterday. These were mainly the result of having our worship computer stolen last week. Not sure when it happened as we didn’t discover it until Saturday. So there was some major scrambling going on Saturday and all through worship. But God is still God and we had a great time of worship.

-I was so burdened for this message that I fumbled a bit in presenting it. Praying hard that the Holy Spirit filled in where I failed. He usually does, I just made him work a little harder yesterday.

-Had a fun time in the afternoon with a group from our church who went to a local (an hour away) orchard that has all kinds of great stuff to see, do and buy. Their cider cake donuts are Awesome! That’s right, Awesome with a capital A. I brought some home since my wife was not able to go. I am about to eat 2(more).

-I was encouraged by the dedication of a group of servants who will be leading a renewed focus on our children’s ministry on Sunday mornings. They had a meeting last evening to set schedules and get everyone on the same page. I loved hearing their burden and passion for children. God is really up to something good around here.

-Our small group did not meet last night due to the afternoon event and the meeting for children’s workers. I missed being with them.

-We had a lot of regulars missing yesterday and still had a reasonable attendance. Kind of odd to me, but our September attendances were lower than August. I don’t know if I have ever had that in any church I pastored.

-Last week there were many things that created heartache. Hearing news of several situations increased my prayer list and burden. But, God is still God and I am depending on Him.

-Heard some good reports from people doing the daily devotional for this sermon series on prayer.

-Irritated about the theft of the computer we used to run things in worship. It was due to be upgraded, but this is not an expense that we planned for this church year. Just reminding myself that God is still God and he will provide.

Here’s hoping you have a great week and that you remember you are not alone. I am praying that you will be encouraged today as you see God at work.

Dennis

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Monday Morning Musings on Tuesday …

So here we go…

-Sunday was another good day. Once again, the Spirit was powerful and tangible in our time of worship. I am loving that this is becoming something of a regular thing.

-People were very engaged during the sermon.

-There was response at the altar.

-Attendance was down from what we have been averaging in recent weeks, but still significantly above this time last year.

-There were new people in attendance and a person who visited the week before returned.

-There were some distractions but this week our sound system was not one of them.

-I did not feel good about the sermon but the Holy Spirit worked anyway. I believe part of my problem was that I was so invested in this sermon and it hit me so hard that I got in the way of the message a bit. The Lord certainly worked on me in this message.

-Our small group was very small, but again we had some good discussion and had some fun with an exercise that was supposed to reveal what biblical character we were most like. That was fun.

-Fatigue had really taken over for me by the end of the day. This was to be expected after being at a training seminar for 3 days, with 7 pages of personal notes, a notebook with 45 pages of notes and 11 books to read which will help cement the training I received.

Yesterday I just could not seem to get focused and my mind was running away with many thoughts of evaluation and that is my excuse for not writing this post. Every once in a while stuff just seems to all hit you at the same time mentally and emotionally. Yesterday was one of those days.

Here’s hoping your reflections are encouraging and that you realize that no matter what you are facing God is still God and he loves you and is on your side.

Dennis

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Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire …

Do you remember this old elementary school chant? As a kid I didn’t think through the implications of this chant. As an adult I am surmising that it is supposed to be a word picture of how uncomfortable it can be when you lie, and especially when you continue to lie. This came to my mind today as I was making excuses to myself as to why I was not getting in better physical condition. In other words I called myself out, “Liar, liar, pants on fire”. I didn’t like hearing it any better today than I did back in elementary school.

As I heard this childhood chant in my head today I was faced with this reality. I continue to be out of shape, in fact getting more out of shape, because the pain of getting in better physical condition seems greater than the pain of continuing in this out of shape condition. Notice I used the word “seems”. The reality is, the problems with being this out of shape, of which my weight is some of the problem but not all of the problem, are much greater and painful in the long run than the pains of getting in better physical shape.

So I keep lying to myself. I even tell myself that I am not really that out of shape. If I said that on the playground I would get the whole school to chant “Liar, liar, pants on fire”. That is a whopper of a lie. So why do I keep telling it to myself. A more critical question is, why do I keep embracing the lie?

My conclusion is that it is just more comfortable, albeit temporarily, to believe the lie than to do what is necessary to begin changing my condition. Can you relate?

I believe there are many things in our lives in which this scenario is true. How about spiritually? Why don’t we have a better prayer life? Or, why don’t we read our bible more? Or, why don’t we invite our neighbors to church? Or, why don’t we stand up for what we claim to believe at work or school? Or, why don’t we give more? Or, why don’t we serve others? How about in our families and relationships? Why do we allow there to be distance in a relationship with a family member or with a friend? Why …. I could go on for a while, but I imagine that you are already ahead of me at this point.

In what area of your life could we call “Liar, liar, pants on fire” on you?

Now the question is, what will I do about my revelation? Stay tuned, I may give you some updates in the near future. How about you? What will you do if you have heard “Liar, liar, pants on fire” for yourself while reading this post?

Here’s hoping that you join me and begin some changes. I think I would prefer to hear a different chant, this one is getting too painful.

Dennis

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Monday Morning Musings …

I love it when God’s presence is so prominent in a worship service that everyone in attendance is aware of it. Yesterday was one of those times. The day was not without its issues and our sound system was one of those issues again yesterday. But it was a good to very good day, some of the reasons were …

-Early in the service there was a real sense of God’s presence.

-People came to the altar to pray while the congregation was singing. This was an answer to prayer. A prayer for there to be much greater freedom during worship and for the altar to become a prominent place in our worship. I especially love that it was without any human prompting.

-Our attendance was good and the attendance of what is a “regular” Sunday has gone up dramatically in the past few months.

-People are noticing and seeking out people when they are absent. I love the sense of accountability and care that this shows.

-There was a great time of conversation and real fellowship after the service as people took their time leaving the building. I believe people hanging around to converse with one another is a good sign.

-There were some additional people who expressed interest in serving in our children’s ministry.

-I am very excited to see what is going to happen in the next month or two in our church. Yesterday was the beginning of a new series on prayer with a daily devotional to go with the series. There seemed to be some genuine excitement from some people for this study.

-Even with the excitement that I sensed from some people I was disappointed with the number of people who did not take a copy of the devotional study.

-Our small group was very good again last evening. There was some very vulnerable discussions about our personal prayer lives. I am interested to see what is going to happen in our group during this study.

-This morning feels like I have crashed. I pushed so hard through the weekend in preparation for this new series and this morning I am feeling the impact. I am having to remind myself that part of this is a natural effect of recovering from pushing so hard last week.

-This week I need to get going quickly because I will be gone 3 days at a conference.

Here’s hoping you are enjoying your reflections of yesterday. Here’s hoping you have someone to encourage and someone who will encourage you today. Here’s hoping that you sense God’s presence in a powerful and tangible way this week.

Dennis

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Monday Morning Musings …

This morning I awoke with great expectations. Yesterday was a very good day in so many areas even though it was far from perfect. My great expectations are based on what I am seeing and experiencing of a tangible move of God in my life and our church. It is exciting, somewhat frightening, and anything but boring. So my musings from yesterday include …

-Sunday mornings are much easier when I feel very prepared for the sermon before the day starts. This is no sudden revelation, nor is it a surprise on any level. It is just that yesterday was one of those mornings (they don’t happen every week for me) where I began the day feeling ready to roll.

-The above observation being true does not insure that there will be no glitches in the message. I skipped over a part of the sermon and didn’t know it until someone who wanted to fill in their blanks (I offer an outline of each message with fill in the blanks for those who want to do that) asked what should go in those spaces. I couldn’t believe I did that until I looked back at my notes realized that I jumped right over that part.

-I was reminded to pay better attention to facial expressions of the congregation while I am preaching, especially those of my wife. Because when I skipped the above mentioned line I noticed that my wife had a quizzical look on her face. When I saw that look I began to wonder if I had said something wrong. Mind you I was doing this wondering while I continued to preach, it happens more often that I prefer to admit.

-In spite of my skipping a line, the congregation did seem very engaged during the whole service and the sermon.

-We had some sound issues, but we have sound issues most weeks. It is not the fault of anyone, we just really need a different sound system. As in the whole system. Hoping to make some progress on this soon.

-Attendance was good, not great, but good.

-Our small group was great again last night. It is so fun to be a part of this group. It is great to hear and see them digging and attempting to apply God’s word to their everyday lives. I love their openness and vulnerability.

-I am sensing a growing attitude of expectation in our church. I love seeing that in the congregation.

-I am really excited to see what is going to happen in me, our church and beyond as we begin this new study on prayer.

-I dropped my phone in the toilet on Saturday and it shut down. I have had it in rice ever since and it still has not come back to life. I am realizing that I use my phone for many things and I am very concerned that there are several people wondering why I haven’t responded to them.

-Last night it hit me that I could be in trouble with my schedule this week since I keep my schedule on the calendar app of my phone.

With all of these things, including the not so good things, I am very expectant that this is going to be a great week. I also believe we are on the edge of some very exciting things taking place in the life of our church. This is a great feeling. Are you excited this morning? Here’s hoping you have some great expectations as you begin this new week.

Dennis

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My Prayer Today …

I laughed as I started praying this morning. I know that laughter and prayer don’t normally go together for most people, but it happened during some of my prayer time this morning. I awoke at 3:45 as in the AM, this has actually started to be a regular time for me. So I start praying, usually I go back to sleep in a few minutes. This morning I didn’t go back to sleep, so I kept praying.

As I continued to pray, still lying in bed (I was hoping to fall back asleep), I just began to laugh. I was laughing at the fact that it was now a little after 4:00 am and I was having a conversation with the Lord almighty. I laughed because I was lying in bed in Illinois praying for kids and grandkids in Kenya, Africa, in Michigan and in Iowa and thought how improbable and amazing that we would be in these places. I laughed because in a few hours I would be preaching, this was funny to me because I know me and I know how I was growing up. I laughed and thought I better go ahead and get up before I wake up my wife. At 4:15 am she probably wouldn’t be happy and might not laugh with me.

As I got up I kept praying and prayed for several people who are going through some difficult circumstances, some people who have some major physical stuff going on, some people who are fellow pastors and will be preaching today as well and some people who are running from God.

As I began to get ready for the day I kept praying. The prayer moved to praying for the worship service, for me to present God’s Word with passion and conviction, for our Sunday School teachers, for the worship team and for all need to attend this morning. I prayed for other pastors and churches in our town, that they would preach the word and that the Holy Spirit would dominate their worship.

I am laughing, well it is more of a chuckle at the moment (what exactly is the difference between a laugh and a chuckle?), as I type this in my office. I am laughing because I am full of joy and know that if God can use me as a pastor he can use anyone for anything. I sense that God is chuckling along with me on this one.

Here’s hoping you have joy in prayers today.

Dennis

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Monday Morning Musings (in the afternoon) …

My musings are certainly different today. For starters it is my birthday. As a result I am actually posting this in the afternoon. It has been a blessed birthday so far. I have had communication from all my kids and my Dad. I have received many nice comments from friends far and wide on facebook. Went to breakfast with my wife, she made me buy a new shirt (I required that it at least be on sale) and I bought a novel at the Goodwill store. Now on to the musings from yesterday.

-We had a great time of worship yesterday. Such a great spirit and the congregation was very engaged from beginning to end.

-There were several who came to the altar at the conclusion of the service. I have been working hard to re-establish the altar as a place of prayer, commitment and repentance. Not that it is a magic place, but I believe it can be a powerful place in a church.

-We had another outstanding time of sharing in our small group last night. We learned a lot about each other and from each other last night. I love the growth I am seeing as we study and share together.

-Illness knocked out a few of our regular attenders and as a result I was a last second sub for one of our Sunday School classes. I prefer a little more time to prepare something, but we all survived.

-Once again I was blessed and humbled as I was prayed over by a retired pastor before the worship service. I don’t ever want to forget that I am only where I am because I am standing on the shoulders of some great pastors who have gone before me.

-Our attendance was very good for Labor Day weekend. In fact we had a very good month of August in attendance.

-There were some glitches on the day, and I was scrambling to do a few things before everyone arrived on Sunday. Things that someone else was supposed to have done earlier in the week. But that comes with the territory at times.

-My wife and I were blessed as the church honored us with a card for our anniversary and for my birthday, both cards has some nice things inside as well.

-It was great to have my wife in worship yesterday. She had a missed a couple of weeks for a baby shower for our daughter and a weekend with some of her college friends. I know I preach better when she is present.
-The message was on wholeness. Part of the wholeness is for us as a church to LAF a lot. To offer Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness.

This is such an unusual Monday since I am taking it off as a holiday, because it is my birthday but because it is Labor Day. I look back on yesterday and am very encouraged and I love that feeling. Here’s hoping you are have a great Monday.

Dennis

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