Author Archives: dennyowens

My Prayers Today …

My prayers this morning were full of many emotions. As I finished reading my Bible, I was looking at a wall across from my recliner that has many pictures of my family upon it. Each day I look at that wall and pray for my wife, my kids and my grandkids. This morning I was overwhelmed with a heavy burden to pray extra for my grandkids. I prayed that they would have hearts that are passionate for the things of God. That they would follow Jesus wholeheartedly and passionately. That they would be courageous in living for Jesus and that they would follow his will for their life no matter where it takes them or what his will leads them to do.

I prayed that they would be blessed with a joyful sense of God’s love, of his presence, of his grace and of his power each day that they draw a breath. I pray that they will not be fooled by the lure of happiness but instead be filled with joy. Happiness is fickle and is too dependent on the circumstances. I want their lives to be marked by joy. The joy that comes from knowing Jesus and following his Word and will. I want their joy to be so compelling that it is contagious and that they will infect many with this joy.

I prayed that they would have hearts of compassion so full of the love of Jesus that they will reach out to anyone around them. I desire for them to see people as Jesus sees people. For Jesus came that they might have life. I pray that their love for Jesus will splash out all over everyone who gets near them.

I prayed that they would be courageous because of God. That they would not fear the things of this world but be bold in love, in life and in serving others. I prayed that they would love God’s Word, that they would love reading and sharing the words of God. That they would not just know the Bible but live out what is contained in that precious book.

I prayed that they would laugh a lot. I love hearing them laugh. One of the things I miss most when there are gaps in seeing them is hearing their laughter. Whether it is a quiet, almost muffled laugh of a teenager who is trying to be controlled. Or the unbridled laugh of a toddler who doesn’t care how loud or long they laugh. Or the mischievous laugh of the elementary aged ones who are sharing a joke. I love seeing their eyes when they laugh as they dance and shine. I pray that their life has much laughter in it.

I prayed that they would be familiar with tears. That they would know tears of joy. Joyful tears like I often have when I see, hear or think of them. That they would know the tears that come from caring for others and carrying their burdens. I know that they will have tears that come from personal pain, but I pray that those would be minimal. I want them to be familiar with tears because it is evidence of a compassionate heart. Jesus shed tears.

I prayed that they would always know they are loved. Loved by a great God. Loved by their parents. Loved by their grandparents. Loved by good friends. I pray that if God directs, that someday they will know the love of a spouse who will follow Jesus with them.

I prayed for their safety, but it was the end of the prayer. I am more concerned that they are secure in their love of Jesus than I am in their physical safety. Don’t misunderstand, I prefer them to be safe. But I know that too often people who are overly concerned with safety cannot fully embrace the will of God. For the will of God is not always safe, but it is secure. The will of God is about living and sharing, and concern over safety is often about hiding and hoarding. I want them to live free in the love of Jesus, not worried about what they may lose.

I prayed with many tears this morning. Tears of joy over the blessing of my 8 grandkids and the anticipation of #9 who will make her appearance in this world in about 8 weeks. Even though I have never seen her or held her, I prayed all of these things for her. I also shed the tears of carrying a burden this morning. But this is a burden I gladly carry and will continue to carry as long as I draw a breath.

This was part of my prayers this morning. What did your prayers cover today? Do you need someone to pray for you today? Let someone know. You can let me know, I promise to pray for you if ask.

Dennis

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Monday Morning Musings …

I am really rejoicing this morning as I reflect on Sunday. God is so faithful and yesterday was a great reminder of his faithfulness, of his presence and of the great work he is doing here. God really is up to something good in this place. My thoughts this morning …

-I love baby dedications. Yesterday I had the honor of dedicating a precious baby to the Lord. It was made even more special because the parents are enthusiastic followers of Christ. Also, they had prayed for 4 years to have a baby. The whole church was rejoicing with this precious family.

-The spirit in the building was great all day. It is so much easier to preach when there is such a great spirit of expectation.

-We had several new people in the service yesterday. Some were there for the baby dedication, but there were 3 families here that live in the area and evidently do not have a home church. Seeing new people also adds to the energy in a service.

-We had a carry-in meal after the worship service. I love these events because of the opportunity to talk with people in a fun and relaxed setting. It is amazing how people open up more in these settings.

-Our small group was fun last night. We had the best attendance we have had in a long time. We hadn’t been together for a couple of weeks and I think that added to the fun. We had some great discussion during our study, sharing prayer requests and praises and then of course the after group talks are always encouraging.

-Thanks to the baby dedication and visitors we had a great attendance. I am encouraged.

-I was humbled by watching so many of our people serving in so many different ways yesterday.

-My wife was out of town for a baby shower for one of our daughters. I am glad she was able to be there to worship with them on Sunday morning. However, I think I preach better when she is here. I miss her anytime she is out of town, but I miss her even more on Sundays.

Yesterday was a full, upbeat, encouraging and fun day. I love reflecting on days like yesterday. Every Monday morning doesn’t feel like this so I am going to enjoy this for a little longer today. Here’s hoping that your reflections are positive and encouraging today.

Dennis

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Monday Morning Musings …

Wow, I am exhausted this morning. The problem with ending a vacation on a Friday is that I spend Friday night and all day Saturday really busting it to get comfortably ready for Sunday. This year had the added issue of a community event that I needed to prepare for and participate in on Sunday evening. Enough whining, here we go.

-It was great to be back home and worship with my church family. I told several people who asked how my vacation went, “It was great to get away for a few days and it is even better to be back home.” Love these people.

-There was a community event with our Police Department and a few other local churches last evening. The Churches purchased and filled 250-300 backpacks with school supplies for elementary and middle school students. They were free for the taking. The city pool was open and free for anyone to use and we all supplied snacks and drinks for all to enjoy. It was a great night and it was wonderful to be a part of this event.

-We have had a very good summer of worship and yesterday was another very good day.

-I preached on “Getting Up from Being Down” (overcoming depression) using Elijah and I Kings 19 as the outline. For too long we have not addressed this in many churches. It is real, it is important and it can change lives.

-We had good attendance for the Sunday before school starts. It has been a good summer regarding our attendance.

-I loved how our people worked with such a persistent and positive attitude at the community event last evening. Did I mention that I love these people?

-I am really excited to be here for an entire school year and find ways to get involved.

-I am missing coaching volleyball. This would be a week of really pushing things with a team getting ready for the first competition. I miss the players, I miss the forming of a team, I miss the sport and I am going to feel sorry for myself today. Don’t worry, I won’t stay in this mood, but it is my honest feelings this morning.

Now that vacation is over I will get back to regular postings on the blog.

Here’s hoping you have someone to share with today and that your musings this Monday morning are forward looking. Talk with you soon.

Dennis

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Monday Morning (Vacation) Musings …

My musings are very different this morning since I was on vacation yesterday. We will see if I can get my mind engaged enough this morning to do any musing.

-Yesterday was the first Sunday in 9 months in which I did not preach. My body clock still woke me up at 4:30am as if I were home and going to preach. Fortunately I was able to go back to sleep for a while.

-Being a visitor is always an enlightening experience. It always reminds me of some things we need to do better so that our visitors have a better first experience. I made some notes of things to work on when I get home.

-The church we attended was good. I enjoyed the music, I was not a big fan of the theatre type seating, it felt to confining for me. They did an outstanding job of greeting and training their people to be very friendly as you entered. They have some real parking and traffic challenges that makes me appreciate our location.

-The focus on this Sunday was on marriage and there was a guest preacher. It was very good and I especially liked a couple of the illustrations that were used. They may, or may not, show up in a sermon back home in the future.

-I thought a lot about what was happening back home and prayed for the service and everyone involved.

-This was my first Sunday away from this church, so I was a little nervous wondering if I had all bases covered in my absence.

-It was nice to sit by my wife in worship. That is a rare occurrence for us.

-I did a reasonable job of not muttering during the service. I always have to fight the urge of critiquing when I am visiting another church. Not being critical, just observing and commenting. I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing, but it is a thing for me.

-The biggest moment of realizing I was on vacation is that when the service was finished my wife and I could just walk out and go on about our day. There was no duties to perform and I didn’t need to check to see if doors were locked and lights turned off. I think that is when my vacation really started.

I have a few more days away and I am trying to not mentally shift back into preparation mode until I turn my vehicle toward home. Here’s hoping you find some time to reflect and relax today. Excuse me but I believe a nap is coming on.

Dennis

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Happy Anniversary …

Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary, but since we will be on the road I am posting this a day early. This is our 39th anniversary, my wife is not always happy with me being so open with how many years we have been married. It’s not that she is ashamed of being married to me, at least I don’t think that is the reason. She has said to me that I don’t need to emphasize the number because that makes people start calculating how old we are, so let me just say that we got married when we were 12 (or maybe a couple of years later). Also, honey, since our kids are all in their 30’s and we are about to welcome grandchild #9, I think they have it figured out.

Let me start by wishing my beautiful bride a very happy anniversary. She will have many, many, many jewels in her crown just for enduring me for these years. We have a great marriage, not perfect, but great. Having a great marriage that lasts takes work, but it is worth it. It is very much worth it. Some of the work is because we have a lot of differences, but some of those differences are also what makes it exciting.

I love my wife more than any words on paper, or a computer screen, can possibly express. I also have a much deeper love for her today than I did 39 years ago. How awesome is that? Things are much different now than they were on that Saturday afternoon in Flint, Michigan. We have 3 awesome kids who married 3 awesome people who are now our kids as well. Our kids have blessed us with 8, soon to be 9, phenomenal grandkids. I love being Jody’s husband. I love being a Dad and I am stunned at how fun it is to be a grandpa.

We have lived in 8 different states. I became a public school teacher and coach after graduating from college and 5 years later I became a full-time pastor. I have continued to coach throughout the years. The churches I served have been small, 40 when we arrived at one, to larger, a couple of them were running 600 when as we departed, and everything in between. The constant has been that my wife has been my partner. She was a part of my student’s lives when I taught, she has always been the team mom when I coach and she is a true partner with me in ministry. I have often suspected that people have always been more grieved to see her go than me whenever we have moved, and I understand.

My wife is my biggest supporter and encourager, but is willing to express if she feels I need to do something differently. We do many things together, but have many different interests. We laugh a lot, often at ourselves (of course that means the rest of the time we are laughing at someone else, but not any of you reading this post). I cannot imagine life without her, and I don’t want to imagine being a pastor without her. I am still surprised after all these years that she said yes to be my wife. I am a charter member of the “Married Out of My League” club.

Happy Anniversary honey. I love you. I am looking forward to many more years together even if you don’t want people to know how many years we are celebrating.

Dennis

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Ways to Lose an Audience …

Everyone who has ever spoken to a group larger than 3 knows what it is lose your audience while you are speaking. Also anyone who has ever been part of an audience knows what it is to become lost by the speaker. There are some things that will always contribute to losing any audience to whom you are speaking.

Speak to people who are not there – Speakers sometimes think more about their message than who will hear the message. If you do not consider who you will be speaking to you may miss your whole audience. If your message is geared for another group, the group in front of you will be lost. If you don’t adjust you will speak to someone who is obviously not in attendance, and those who are present will be lost quickly.

Do not have a Central Point – If you do not have a memorable central theme you will lose your audience. This may take a little longer to lose them than some things you could do, but you will lose your audience if there is nothing that can define what you are saying. Granted, you may have more than one point, or key, but you must have a memorable central theme. Without this, not only will you lose your audience while you are speaking you will continue to lose them after you finish. They will say something like, “I never got exactly what he/she was trying to say”.

Talk down to your audience – It is one thing to let your audience know you are competent, it is quite another to come across as the expert who is lowering themselves to speak to this audience. You may need to explain things that your audience may not understand, but you can do this in a way that does not appear to be condescending. No one likes to be talked down to, and if you do this you will lose your audience. Not only will you lose them for this moment, but they will be unlikely to listen to you in the future as well.

Fail to read your audience – When speaking, you must continually read your audience. Look for clues as to whether you are being understood and whether or not the audience has checked out. Facial expressions can tell you a lot about whether or not you are connecting. Some groups are harder to read than others. As a speaker you must be a student of your audience. For a Pastor the advantage is that you speak to the same basic group week after week, so you can really begin to know your audience. Watch to see if they seem to be listening? Are they leaning in or slumped back? Are there a lot of other things taking their attention? Then you must adjust accordingly.

Being unprepared – I don’t think this one needs much explanation, does it?

Speaking past the comfort of your audience – There is an old axiom that a speaker should “never speak longer than the rear end of your audience can endure”. It may not be politically correct but it is wise advice. I try to find out what length is expected before I speak and then do my best not to go past that time. When you ignore the comfort of your listeners you do so at your own peril.

Use illustrations that are inaccurate or don’t apply to your audience – If you are inaccurate you will lose people quickly. If you attempt to use illustrations that are not applicable to your audience they will check out after a couple of them and assume that everything else you are saying is not relevant.

If you are speaking you do not want to lose your audience. They are why you are speaking. If they are not then go speak to an empty room. Learn to read the signs and avoid the pitfalls that lead to losing your audience. Sometimes, in spite of your best efforts, you will lose an audience. Learn from it and do your best to avoid whatever may have caused it. Don’t assume that because people are present that they will stick with what you no matter what. Speaking well and holding an audience’s attention is not a simple nor easy task. Work at it, seek feedback and evaluation regularly.

Here’s hoping the only thing you lose is some weight, or maybe I am the only one who needs that one.

Dennis

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Cover Up or Solve?

I loved this quote from Dan Rockwell who I follow on Twitter @Leadershipfreak, “Bandages are protection, not solutions”. This thought from Dan really got my mind churning about how I do things in the church.

Raising 3 kids and having 8 grandkids, with #9 due to arrive 11 weeks, I am very familiar with the use, value and power of bandages. I also have coached several sports for many years and have dealt with more bandages than I can possibly remember. In all of those cases the use of the bandage was to cover up a wound, to protect the wound from further damage and in some cases to stop some tears from falling.

Notice that the main functions of a bandage are focused on protection. While it is also true that you may apply some medicine to a bandage that will come in contact with the wound or injury, that is not the main purpose of a bandage. This got my thoughts going about how I/we often handle problems in the church. I believe that we often apply bandages to the problems in our churches rather than seek to solve the problem.

I am still working out this analogy for myself, but I am convinced the image of a bandage is an accurate picture of how we usually handle problems in our churches. The question is, why do we only bandage the problem instead of seeking solutions to the problem?

What do our bandages look like in the church? Is it possible that we sometimes apply bandages in the church to cover up the problem rather than to heal it?

I believe we need to work at healing wounds/problems in the church, but I believe we also need to seek solutions that may prevent future wounds/problems from occurring.

Help me out. What do our bandages look like in the church? What are some reasons for only bandaging our problems rather seeking to solve them? Leave a comment on my blog or facebook page.

Dennis

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Monday Morning Musings …

Reflecting on yesterday is an enjoyable exercise today. Yesterday was a good day. Many things went into it being such a good day. Some of the reasons are …

-The spirit in our time of worship was outstanding. This was not because everything went smoothly, there were many glitches, but none of them negatively impacted the atmosphere.

-I was honored to be able to introduce a newborn baby, just 8 days old, to the congregation. It is one of those meaningful moments given the back story of the baby’s birth and how long this couple prayed to have a child. It was fun and very moving. And hey, it is church growth also.

-There were a couple of first time attenders. Both of whom were invited by people in the church. They didn’t just show up, they didn’t come because of an ad, an event or because of our marketing. They came because a friend invited them. I love when that happens.

-We had a very meaningful time of prayer in the service and people are beginning to courageously open up about needs in their life.

-We had a great spontaneous time of several people sharing testimonies of God’s faithfulness in their life. That was awesome!

-People seemed very engaged during the sermon and several responded to the call to be “devoted” followers. To move beyond being curious or interested and be devoted to Christ and to live so that their actions demonstrate this devotion.

-Both of the small groups that met last night had some great times of sharing and discussion. The group that meets at our house was once again inspired to not only do our study time but to hang around until we had solved some major situations that our world is facing. I love this group.

-More supplies came for the back to school backpack project that we are participating for families in our community. I love the generosity of our people.

-A wonderful young lady in our church became engaged to a great young man yesterday. We are rejoicing with them.

-We had some big sound problems yesterday and we won’t be able to do a lot about the issues that created the problems until we are able to replace a lot of our sound system. The good news is that we are not allowing that to be an excuse to do things poorly in worship. I love the attitude of our people.

-My wife and I are going to be able to get away for a few days of vacation soon and we will celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary while we are away. We are looking forward to some days of relaxing and refreshing. How great is it that after 39 years we still love to spend time together.

Here’s hoping that you have some great things to reflect on this Monday. Thanks for glancing at this post, I know you are busy and have many things clamoring for your attention. For you to take a few moments and read my musings means a lot to me.

Dennis

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Moving Out of Stuck …

Have you ever felt stuck? Have you ever felt like you just couldn’t get going, or get the things done that you knew you needed to do? Have you ever felt as if you were getting things done at 5mph while everything around you was moving at 60mph? Me too. I have been in this position more times than I can remember and have been there much of this week. So how do you get out of stuck? Here are some of my methods:

-Get Started – there is an old saying “A job begun, is a job half done”. I am not sure I would go so far as to say that if you get started on whatever you need to do that it is suddenly half done. However, I agree that the hardest part of most projects is just getting started. It is a guarantee that you will stay stuck if you don’t get started.

-Set a deadline – set a series of deadlines if it is a larger project. It is so much easier to stay stuck if there is no urgency to complete the project. For me, I often have to put my deadlines on my calendar or some other visible document. The deadline carries more meaning when it is can be seen.
-Have someone else ask about the project – get someone else to ask you about the project. Knowing that someone is going to be asking will often get you moving beyond stuck.

-Do something different – get away from the project for a while. I don’t mean avoid it, I mean do something completely different for a little while. It could be other work, or it could be something fun or meaningless. This can help shift your mind, and emotions, out of the stuck mode. Then when you return to the project you may have some fresh thinking, or at the very least you are renewed to start moving out of stuck.

-Do something physical – this one assumes that you are stuck mentally or emotionally. Take a walk, ride a bike, exercise (not my first choice), mow the lawn (my last choice) or something else that gets your blood flowing and your mind focused on something other than your project.

-Tell someone you are stuck – I realize that this might be obvious, but I also know that many times others are unaware that you are stuck. Telling someone can bring some support, some accountability and maybe a fresh thought that helps you move beyond being stuck.

-Make sure that whatever you are stuck on needs to be done by you – sometimes we are stuck because we are not doing the right stuff. Either it is not your area and you have accepted it anyway, or you are covering for someone else who didn’t get it done or you have overstepped and are trying to control someone else. So stop and make sure you should be doing whatever it is that has you stuck. Caution, don’t just use this as an excuse to not do something that you just don’t want to do.

There are very few conditions in which being stuck is fun, so let’s work to get out of stuck. Don’t be too proud to admit you are stuck. The biggest thing is to do whatever works for you to get unstuck. I have discovered that it is not always the same things that get me unstuck. What works one time may not be what helps me move through it the next time. So don’t get stuck on how to get unstuck. Be willing to try different things to move beyond stuck.

Here’s hoping you are not stuck, but if you are stuck then here’s hoping you can start moving out of it today.

Dennis

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Monday Morning Musings …

I am struggling with my musings this morning. Fatigue seems to have taken control of my mind. There were several nights in the past week where I had trouble sleeping through the night. Part of the reason is many prayer burdens. I often awoke during the night with people and situations on my mind and heart. That is a positive in most ways, the only negative is that after several nights like this my mind begins to get a little foggy. This morning is one of those foggy mornings.

The above paragraph is somewhat of a disclaimer for whatever I may post this morning. Read further at your own risk.

-We had a great praise this weekend with the birth of a beautiful baby to a wonderful couple in our church.

-Our small group went above and beyond when we met last night. We had some very good discussion on what we were studying and then we veered away to solve most of the world’s problems. I have no idea how we ended up talking about some of the topics we discussed but it was entertaining. Love this group of people.

-We had some new people return for a second time. That is always encouraging when someone comes back after a first visit. We must be doing some things right.

-I realized that the message for yesterday needs to be expanded to one more week. When preparing it I thought it was going to be a “stand alone” message, but during our worship and in some discussions after the service I believe I need to go one more time.

-It was hard work to get the congregation engaged yesterday. That happens, the good news is that it has been awhile since it felt that way. I love how engaged my church usually is during the sermon.

-Our attendance was reasonable for the last Sunday in July.

-Yesterday was the 6 month mark for me with this church. Wow, a lot has transpired in 6 months. Most of it has been positive. There are always a lot of adjustments in any move. No matter how prepared you feel you are for a move it is still a difficult time, especially when leaving a church where you were for 8+ years. The congregation has done a nice job of welcoming us and allowing us to adjust.

-I am planning a new message series that will begin in September. I am not real patient when working on a series of messages. I am always tempted to jump into it early. This time I am determined to not jump too early and to just keep studying, working and praying for this one. We will see if I can hold off.

-Part of yesterday’s message was the progression from being curious, to being interested to being devoted to following Christ. We must recognize where we are and keep moving forward. We need to move beyond just defining where we currently are to living in such a way that our life is a description of following Christ. (Sorry that is a rather vague picture isn’t it? Hey, I warned you when this post started that I am foggy this morning.)

I am excited for the future and I must make sure as I evaluate individual days that I don’t forget the big picture. Yesterday was positive toward the big picture even if the day by itself was not outstanding.

Here’s hoping you are clear, rather than foggy, as you reflect and evaluate on this Monday morning.

Dennis

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