February | 2015 | Craig T. Owens

February 2015
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The Blood Of The Cross (book review)

February 24, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

I have been a Christian for a long time, and over the course of my life I have heard countless sermons about the crucifixion and about the work that Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross. But I don’t think that I’ve ever pondered this subject as deeply or as closely as Horatius Bonar does in his book The Blood Of The Cross.

Rev. Bonar starts with the mindset of the Jews who demanded that Pilate crucify Christ, to show how the same attitude exists in all of us who are separated from Jesus. He then tells us why God the Father has a controversy with a guilty world, and what He thinks of the blood His Son shed on the Cross. Then the remainder of the book goes deep into trying to somehow measure the inestimable value that is associated with Christ’s shed blood.

In a phrase this book is eye-opening, heart-searching, and paradigm-challenging for the one who has never acknowledged Christ as his own Savior, all the way through to the one who has called Jesus Savior for years and years and years.

Especially during this Lent season as we prepare our hearts and thoughts to celebrate Christ’s Passion, this is a great book to ponder.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: blood, book review, Calvary, Cross, crucifixion, Heavenly Father, Horatius Bonar, Jesus Christ, Lent, paradigm, Passion Week, Pontius Pilate, Savior. 9 Comments »

…And Then A Miracle Occurs

February 23, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Last week I shared how important it is for us to remember what we were before meeting Christ, and what we now are after meeting Him (you can click here to read that post). But we need to spend some time looking at how we went from “were” to “are.”

First, we need to recall how bad we really were without Christ. We were…

…dead (Ephesians 2:1)—this is a rotting corpse.
…separated (2:12)—we faced a gaping, unbridgeable, uncrossable chasm.

…alienated (4:18)— we were completely shut-out from fellowship with God.
…given over (4:19)—this implies an open betrayal which resulted in us running the opposite direction from God.

“The man on the street would simply shrugged his shoulders at this charge and say, ‘Sure, no one’s perfect.’ Even we Christians talk about failures and defeats, but the Bible uses other terms. It speaks of wickedness and rebellion (Leviticus 16:21). The Bible speaks of King David as despising God (2 Samuel 12:9-10). It charges another man of God with defying the word of the Lord… (1 Kings 13:21). It is evident by these descriptive synonyms for sin—rebellion, despising, defying—that God takes a far more serious view of sin than the man on the street or even most Christians.” —Jerry Bridges, in Transforming Grace (bold font added)

…and then a miracle occurs! You who once WERE far away [dead, separated, alienated, disgustingly sinful] HAVE BEEN brought near through the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13). Jesus Himself becomes our salvation … He IS the miracle! Notice the wording here—

He Himself IS our peace (v. 14a)
HE has made the two one (v. 14b)
abolishing IN His flesh (v. 15a)
create IN Himself (v. 15b)
IN this one Body…by which HE put to death their hostility (v. 16)
THROUGH Him we both have access to the Father (v. 18)

Jesus Himself IS (1) our peace, (2) our reconciliation, and (3) our atonement.

Not only must we always remember what we WERE and what we ARE, but remember the MIRACLE whereby this transformation could happen: The blood of Jesus spilled for us on the Cross!

We’ll be continuing our walk through the Book of Ephesians next Sunday, and I’d love to have you join us.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: atonement, Bible, Bible study, Calvary Assembly of God, Cross, crucifixion, Ephesians, grace, Jerry Bridges, Jesus Christ, miracles, peace, reconciliation, sermon, sin. 3 Comments »

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 »

Links & Quotes

February 20, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“O that you and I might have this blessed combination in ourselves; to win the high opinion of others, so far as it can be gained by integrity, by uprightness, and by decision of character, and yet at the same time to walk humbly with our God!” —Charles Spurgeon

The Overview Bible Project has another book study released on Hebrews. Read this and then please subscribe to have the latest studies sent right to your email. I love these!

David Wilkerson wrote, “All the mourning, brokenhearted men of God in the Bible had one thing in common….” Check out this short post to see what this powerful thing was.

“God uses appropriate doses of guilt to awaken us to sin. His guilt brings enough regret to change us. satan’s guilt, on the other hand, brings enough regret to enslave us. Don’t let him lock his shackles on you.” —Max Lucado

J. Warner Wallace is a Christian and a trained police detective. He does a great job helping evaluate the evidence for the claims of God. Check out this post: The Dangers Of “Scientism.”

Links & Quotes

February 19, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“We can gather that their state [ISIS] rejects peace as a matter of principle; that it hungers for genocide; that its religious views make it constitutionally incapable of certain types of change, even if that change might ensure its survival; and that it considers itself a harbinger of—and headline player in—the imminent end of the world.” Read more of this fascinating piece in The Atlantic: What ISIS Really Wants.

Frank Viola wrote, “Mark it down: As you go on with the Lord, your faith will be sorely tested. You will be tempted to ‘shrink back’ into unbelief. But you—dear child of God do not belong to those who shrink back.” Read more from his post The Crisis Of Faith.

Rob Bell is fast becoming irrelevant himself, by choosing which parts of the Bible he wants to follow, when he states “the Church will continue to be even more irrelevant when it quotes letters from 2,000 years ago as their best defense” for traditional marriage.

[VIDEO] Epigenomes in the human body are like a symphony. How amazing is our Creator! Check out this artistic depiction of how this works—

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible, biblical truth, Christian, Creation, Creator, crisis, current events, faith, Frank Viola, genocide, heresy, ISIS, Islam, marriage, medical science, music, Muslim, persecution, perseverance, quotes, Rob Bell, Scripture, symphony, video. Leave a Comment »

Thursdays With Oswald―Don’t Become A Pharisee

February 19, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

This is a periodic series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

Don’t Become A Pharisee

If I cannot see God in others, it is because He is not in me. If I get on my moral high horse and say it is they who are wrong, I become that last of all spiritual iniquities, a suspicious person, a spiritual devil dressed up as a Christian.

Beware of mistaking suspicion for discernment, it is the biggest misunderstanding that ever twisted Christian humility into Pharisaism. When I see in others things that are not of God, it is because the Spirit of God has revealed to me my own meanness[*] and badness; when I am put right with God on the basis of His Redemption and see those things in others, it is in order that God may restore them through my intercession.

[*] meanness as used here: something or someone ordinary, common, low, or ignoble, rather than cruel or spiteful.

From Not Knowing Where

Pharisees are so quick to point out what’s wrong with other people. Pharisees are so quick to look at others’ shortcomings as a means of propping up their own “religious perfection.”

As Oswald Chambers points out, the only reason God would ever show me something out of place in someone else, is so that I may intercede in prayer for them. If that revelation causes me to talk about them, instead of talking to God about them, then I have become a Pharisee.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: discernment, hypocritical, integrity, intercession, morals, Oswald Chambers, Pharisees, prayer, redemption. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

February 18, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

For my pastor friends: “A growing church is a work of God. We, His servants, matter only to the extent that we are faithful in our callings.” —T.M. Moore

“Maintaining doctrinal purity is good but it is not the whole picture for a New Testament church. The apostles wanted to do much more than simply ‘hold the fort,’ as the old gospel song says. They asked God to empower them to move out and impact an entire culture.” Read more from Jim Cymbala’s post His Hand Of Love.

“Read whatever chapter of Scripture you will, and be ever so delighted with it—yet it will leave you as poor, as empty and unchanged as it found you unless it has turned you wholly and solely to the Spirit of God, and brought you into full union with and dependence upon Him.” —William Law

Pastor Chilly Chilton has an important reminder: Being Mean Is MEAN.

If you are fasting during Lent, or if you simply fast on a regular basis, this post is helpful: Kingdom Fast: Caffeine.

Very helpful: Want To Get Your Dream Job? Do These 4 Things.

Ever been here? How To Pray When You Don’t Feel Like It.

Thoughtful words from Seth Godin: Kicking And Screaming (vs. singing and dancing).

Funny, but true, from Truth Facts―

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: caffeine, Chilly Chilton, church growth, comedy, employment, fasting, government, Holy Spirit, income tax, Jim Cymbala, job, Lent, lifelong learner, Live Dead, New Testament, occupation, pastors, prayer, purity, quotes, relearn, Scripture, Seth Godin, T.M. Moore, William Law, work ethic. Leave a Comment »

E.B. Pusey On Prayer

February 18, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Some great quotes from Edward B. Pusey on prayer―

“Let us not seek out of You what we can only find in You, O Lord.” —E.B. Pusey

“God’s chief gift to those who seek Him is Himself.” —E.B. Pusey

“Sweet is it that our hope should rest in Him who is ever shaken: should abide in Him who never changeth; should bind us to Him who can hold us fast to Himself, Who alone is the full contentment of the soul; should, as it were, enter into Him; since ‘in Him is our being,’ Who is love.” —E.B. Pusey

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: contentment, E.B. Pusey, God's gift, God's presence, hope, prayer. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

February 17, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“‘Let him ask of God’ [James 1:5]; that is the advice of the Scripture. We are all so ready to go to books, to go to men, to go to ceremonies, to anything except to God. Man will worship God with his eyes, and his arms, and his knees, and his mouth—with anything but his heart—and we are all of us anxious, more or less, until we are renewed by grace, to get off the heart-worship of God.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Newly published research combining genetic, language, and demographic data challenges the idea of a single lineage of languages and human populations evolving out of Africa. Instead, the data supports the idea that multiple people groups have independent origins—a condition one would predict if the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel happened as described in the Bible.” Read more in Out Of Babel.

Dr. Tim Elmore always has great insight for parents, teachers, coaches―anyone working with youth. Don’t let the title of this fantastic post fool you, because it’s not just for athletes: Helping Athletes Navigate A Short-Term, Shortcut Mindset.

This is not a quote from Teddy Roosevelt…

…but it does, I believe, capture his mindset. This is a quote from one of my favorite US presidents: “We have a given problem to solve. If we undertake the solution, there is, of course, always danger that we may not solve it aright; but to refuse to undertake the solution simply renders it certain that we cannot possibly solve it aright.” ―Theodore Roosevelt

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: American history, anthropology, Babel, Bible, Charles Spurgeon, coaching, complaints, Dr. Tim Elmore, Generation Y, God's wisdom, grace, help, language, meme, parenting, problem solving, quotes, research, teaching, Teddy Roosevelt, wisdom, world history, worship, youth. Leave a Comment »

The Fearful Privilege Of Being A Pastor

February 17, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

I was studying the life of the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, and I jotted down some thoughts in my journal of what God was speaking to me. But I also felt like this was a message for my fellow pastors as well. So here are my unedited thoughts, just as I penned them in my journal.

The Lord said to me, “Son of man, look carefully, listen closely and give attention to everything I tell you….” (Ezekiel 44:5).

I have to take personal responsibility for this. This is not something I can pass off to anyone else―“instead of carrying out your duty in regard to My holy things, you put others in charge of My sanctuary” (44:8). No, never!

I have been given the privilege and heavy responsibility for souls in this community. I must, therefore, hear what God has to tell me about this city and these people. He knows, and He wants to share with me. He calls me to look carefully, listen carefully, and give careful attention to what He’s saying. He is desirous that everyone in this community will see His radiant glory (43:2), and―wonders of wonders!―He has asked me to deliver His message of life to my community.

Who am I that You would choose me? But you have, and I am grateful. I am also filled with holy dread that I carry out my duties in a way that pleases and glorifies You, my King. I need Your help. I need to hear Your voice. I need Your Spirit to stamp the image of Christ ever more clearly in me.

May I only live to bring You praise!