Craig T. Owens

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The Way Of The Warrior (book review)

February 26, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

When I was a kid, I couldn’t wait for “Martial Arts Theater” on Saturday afternoons! My friends and I would gather at my house with our snacks and watch a movie with outstanding martial arts action, and then run outside to try to practice what we had just watched. In these movies, I was always intrigued by the reluctant hero—the guy who had enough skill to snap your neck with his little finger, but who didn’t want to fight. When the bad guys finally crossed the line, our hero would instantly spring into action to restore peace. These are the memories that came flooding back into my mind as I read Erwin McManus’ latest book The Way Of The Warrior.

The warrior is a peaceful man living in a hostile world. He is prepared to fight, but will only fight when it is the only option to restore peace in his community. The warrior is nobody’s fool, but neither does he flaunt his knowledge before fools. The warrior doesn’t seek honor for himself, but fights to secure a better future for those he loves.

In short, the warrior is vividly portrayed on the pages of Scripture as the kind of man God delights to bless. McManus interweaves all of these concepts masterfully in his book. As I read, I found my mind flipping between images of my childhood martial arts movies, and heroes in the Bible, and the opportunities I have right now to be a warrior for peace.

Like the ancient samurai, McManus instructs us in the eight codes of the God-honoring warrior. This type of warrior fights only for peace, seeks to become invisible, finds honor in serving others, gains mastery over his own thoughts, owns defeat, harnesses and channels his strengths, becomes one with all that’s around him, and stands unmoving in his pain.

As is the case with all of McManus’ books that I have read, I find myself invigorated mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. After reading The Way Of The Warrior, I have a clearer picture of the type of warrior God has called His men to be.

Guys, this is an excellent book for you to read on your own, but I would highly recommend that you read with other warriors. The concepts in this book will spark some much-needed conversation about how godly men should live in today’s culture.

I am a Waterbrook book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: book review, Erwin McManus, manhood, peace, personal development, spiritual warfare, strength, warrior. 4 Comments »

What’s Your Knee-Jerk Response To Trouble?

February 25, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

The patellar reflex is a helpful diagnostic tool for a doctor to check the health of your central nervous system. It’s commonly called the knee-jerk response. But beyond the medical world, it’s also come to mean “an immediate unthinking emotional reaction to certain stimuli.” This has implications for the health of our prayer life too.

When Jesus talked about praying He never said, “If you pray,” but always “When you pray.” He assumed it would be a vital part of a Christian’s life. He also used a verb tense which would add an “ing” to the verb, so He was really saying, “When you are maintaining an ongoing dialogue with your Father.”

So when something unexpected happens to us, Jesus wants us to say, “Why, my Father already knows about this!” This is the knee-jerk reaction Jesus wants to see.

We see this on full display when Peter and John are told by the Jewish religious authorities not to talk about Jesus publicly anymore. When these men reported this threat to the rest of the church, notice their knee-jerk response: “When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God.”

There are two interesting things I notice in their prayer. The first thing is how they used the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) as the template of their prayer.

Our Father in Heaven—Sovereign Lord.
Hallowed be Your name—You made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven—Your power and will decided beforehand what would happen.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors—“Consider their threats” was like saying, “Forgive us for inappropriate thoughts and forgive them for speaking ignorantly against Your name.”
Give us today our daily bread—Enable Your servants to speak Your word with great boldness today.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever—Stretch out Your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders. May Your name be glorified!

The second thing I see in their prayer is that they stood on a biblical promise. They quoted the words of David from Psalm 2—words that had been penned nearly 1000 years earlier—and applied them to their present situation.

What’s your knee jerk response to troubles? It’s an easy question to ask, and an easy answer to change.

When something comes at you from out of the blue, learn to say, “Why, my Father already knows about this!” Then find a biblical promise you can claim and turn that promise into a prayer modeled on Christ’s prayer. Pray that again and again until God provides the answer.

Let’s make prayer our first response and not our last resort!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible study, Book of Acts, Calvary Assembly of God, Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ, Lord's Prayer, medical science, prayer, sermon, video, YouTube. 1 Comment »

Poetry Saturday—God, Thou Art Love

February 23, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

If I forget,

Yet God remembers! If these hands of mine

Cease from their clinging, yet the hands divine

Hold me so firmly that I cannot fall;

And if sometimes I am too tired to call

For Him to help me, then He reads the prayer

Unspoken in my heart, and lifts my care.

I dare not fear, since certainly I know

That I am in God’s keeping, shielded so

From all that else would harm, and in His power;

I tread no path in life to Him unknown;

Lift no burden, bear no pain, alone.

My soul a calm, sure hiding place has found:

The arms my life surround.

God, Thou art love! I build my faith on that.

I know Thee who has kept my path and made

Light for me in the darkness, tempering sorrow

So that it reached me like a solemn joy;

It were too strange that I should doubt Thy love. —Robert Browning

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: calm, faith, God's help, God's love, light, no fear, poem, poetry, prayer, Robert Browning. Leave a Comment »

The Difficulty In Answered Prayer

February 21, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

“Often it is simply the answers to our prayers that cause many of the difficulties in the Christian life.

“We pray for patience, and our Father sends demanding people our way who test us to the limit, ‘because…suffering produces perseverance’ (Romans 5:3). …

“We pray to be unselfish, and God gives us opportunities to sacrifice by placing other people’s needs first and by laying down our lives for other believers. …

“We pray to the Lord, as His apostles did, saying, ‘Increase our faith!’ (Luke 17:5). Then our money seems to take wings and fly away; our children become critically ill; an employee becomes careless, slow, and wasteful; or some other new trial comes upon us, requiring more faith than we have ever before experienced.

“We pray for a Christlike life that exhibits the humility of a lamb. Then we are asked to perform some lowly task, or we are unjustly accused and given no opportunity to explain….

“We pray for gentleness and quickly face a storm of temptation to be harsh and irritable.

“We pray for quietness, and suddenly every nerve is tested to its limit with tremendous tension so that we may learn that when He sends His peace, no one can disturb it.

“We pray for love for others, and God sends unique suffering by sending people our way who are difficult to love and who say things that get on our nerves and tear at our heart. …

“The way to peace and victory is to accept every circumstance and every trial as being straight from the hand of our loving Father.” —Lettie Cowman, in Streams in the Desert (emphasis added)

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Christlike, faith, gentleness, God's love, Heavenly Father, L.B. Cowman, Lettie Cowman, love others, patience, peace, prayer, quote, trust, unselfish. Leave a Comment »

Thursdays With Oswald—Swine And Testimonies

February 21, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

This is a weekly 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.

Swine And Testimonies

Jesus Christ is inculcating the need to examine carefully what we present in the way of God’s truth to others [Matthew 7:6]. …

Over and over again men water down the Word of God to suit those who are not spiritual, and consequently the Word of God is trampled under the feet of “swine.” Ask yourself, “Am I in any way flinging God’s truth to unspiritual swine?” “Be careful,” Jesus says, “not to give God‘s holy things to ‘dogs.’” …

Our Lord never tells us to confess anything but Himself, ‘Whosoever…shall confess ME before men…’ (Matthew 10:32). Testimonies to the world on the subjective line are always wrong, they are for saints, for those who are spiritual and who understand; but our testimony to the world is our Lord Himself, confess Him, “He saved me, He sanctified me, He put me right with God.” …

If we are only true to a doctrine of Christianity instead of to Jesus Christ, we drive our ideas home with sledge-hammer blows, and the people who listen to us say, “Well, that may be true”; but they resent the way it is presented. When we follow Jesus Christ the domineering attitude and the dictatorial attitude go and concentration Jesus comes in.

From Studies In The Sermon On The Mount

The apostle Paul also talked about wanting to make sure that Jesus was seen above all else. More harm than good is done when we talk about our personal experiences with God, which have now become our personal doctrines about God.

Let God be as unique with others as He is with you. Don’t make other people fall in line with what you believe. Just point them to Jesus. As Chambers says, our testimony should be nothing but “He saved me, He sanctified me, He put me right with God.” Anything else, and we run the risk of casting pearl before swine.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible study, Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ, Oswald Chambers, personal experience, salvation, Scripture, Sermon on the Mount, testimony, unique. Leave a Comment »

9 Quotes From “God’s Promises”

February 20, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

God’s Promises by Jack Countryman is a wonderful resource to help you use the Bible to enhance your prayer life and build your faith. Check out my full review of this fantastic book by clicking here.

“Each day we can look forward to God’s Spirit going before, clearing the way, leading the path, and giving us the guidance we need. … But God doesn’t stop at mere survival. He doesn’t just satisfy and strengthen. Though there will be difficulties and times of drought in our lives, God guides us to His living waters. He enables us to flourish ‘like a watered garden,’ where His blessings always bloom.” [Isaiah 58:11]

“When life darkens our door with its troubles and trials, satan wants nothing more than for us to feel forsaken and alone—but we are not! God stands by our side; He guides, counsels, and comforts. Rest assured, no matter what you face in the coming year, nothing can separate you from the love of your Father (Romans 8:38-39). Therefore walk boldly into each new day, knowing that you follow the footsteps of the One who never leaves you.” [Deuteronomy 31:8]

“Troubles are never pleasant at the time, but they quickly turn into tools when entrusted to God. Our Lord will take our times of troubles and trials—even the hard feelings we experience in them—then use them to teach us to fully rely on Him and His provision.” [Psalm 138:7]

“Our God is a loving God, but He isn’t Santa Claus or a genie in a bottle. Our God loves to give good gifts, but in His economy the best gifts are not tangible or material. Yes, our God feels compassion when we hurt, but He still allows hardships into our lives that will refine our character and strengthen our faith. Against the backdrop of these truths, we can better understand the often-misread statement that God will give us the desires of our hearts. The real promise of this verse is that, as we pray, read His Word, and grow closer to the Lord, He will change our hearts so that what we desire for ourselves is what He desires for us.” [Psalm 37:4]

“Mercy. We don’t deserve it. We haven’t done—can’t possibly do—anything to earn it. And yet we are promised that this unbelievably lavish gift is ours when we choose to follow Jesus. Why? Why would such a perfect and powerful God gives such a gift to ones so undeserving? He tells us in Titus 3:4: because of ‘the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man.’ And He not only gave us mercy, He also ‘poured out on us abundantly’ His own Spirit, to live and work within us, making us more and more like the Savior who died to save us.” [Titus 3:4-6]

“Our God is not some fickle, capricious, changeable sort of God. He does not search out ways to be angry or displeased with His people. In fact, He so wants to be pleased with us that He gave us the example of His Son to follow.” [Ephesians 5:2]

“When our burdens and sorrows seem too heavy for us to bear, God offers to carry them for us, inviting us to cast them upon Him (Psalm 55:22). And when the sorrow is so great that we feel we cannot put one foot in front of the other, God gives us this promise: ‘I will carry you; I will sustain you’ (Isaiah 46:4).”

“Perhaps nothing is as devastating as being betrayed by someone you love and trust. Know that Jesus—betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter—fully understands. He will enable you to recover. The key, as hard as it is, is to pray for that person and ask God to bless him or her. When you pray to God—and you may have to do this again and again—you release the anger and disappointment that come with being betrayed. It is difficult to despise someone you lift up in prayer. And though retaliating is a natural response, it’s not a godly one. Praying is always the best option. Allow the Lord to receive your hurt and to replace it with His peace.” [Psalm 3:4, 6]

“When we place our faith in Christ, the stormy seas of our lives—churned up by our own sins—are stilled. And while the storms may still rage around us in this sin-plagued world, they do not rage within us. That does not mean our troubles and tribulations are over, but it does mean we can rest in knowing God will see us through them.” [Romans 5:1]

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible study, Deuteronomy, Ephesians, God's blessing, God's promise, God's provision, God's Word, grace, guidance, Holy Spirit, Isaiah, Jack Countryman, Jesus Christ, mercy, prayer, Psalm, quotes, Romans, salvation, Savior, Scripture, spiritual warfare, Titus, trials, trouble. Leave a Comment »

Be The 1-In-10

February 19, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

“…ten men who were lepers…” (Luke 17:12).

Lepers were outcasts in society. Unable to participate in normal daily activities, unable to go to the temple to worship God, even unable to be with their family. These ten lepers encountered Jesus and did two positive things. But 9-of-10 lepers also did two sad things.

(+) They knew to call on Jesus for help—“Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

(+) They took Jesus at His word. Their healing happened as they obeyed Christ’s words—“‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed.”

(-) Only one cleansed leper came back to praise God for his healing.

(-) Only one was pronounced “well” by Jesus. All ten lepers were “cleansed,” which simply meant they were ceremonially clean and could once again participate in daily life and temple worship. But only one was made completely “well.” The Greek word is sozo, which means saved from eternal destruction. The same word is used to describe what Jesus came to do for us: “You shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save [sozo] His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

“What a rare thing is thankfulness.… ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?’ The lesson before us is humbling, heart-searching, and deeply instructive. The best of us are far too like the nine lepers. We are more ready to pray than to praise, and more disposed to ask God for what we have not, than to thank Him for what we have. … If we would be anxious for nothing, we must make our requests known to God not only with prayer and supplication, but with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6).” —J.C. Ryle (emphasis mine)

Probably all of us experience daily blessings from our good God, yet many of us never acknowledge Him as the Source of those blessings. We just accept the blessing and then keep on walking.

Let’s be the 1-in-10!

Let’s be quick to recognize God’s blessings. Let’s always remember that He does more than give us strength for today, but He saves [sozo] us entirely from eternal destruction. Let’s be the ones who always return—day after day after day—to give glory to God!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible study, God's blessing, God's glory, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Matthew, gratitude, healing, J.C. Ryle, Jesus Christ, leper, obedience, Philippians, quote, salvation, thankfulness, thanksgiving. Leave a Comment »

God’s Promises Every Day (book review)

February 19, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

Psychologists tell us that babies are only born with two innate fears, yet many people’s lives are constricted because of numerous fears that they have allowed to creep in. A great way to begin defeating those fears is by learning what God has to say about them, and a great place to begin that journey is with Jack Countryman’s book God’s Promises Every Day.

It’s not very effective to simply tell ourselves, “Don’t be afraid of that.” Instead, we need something with more authority—like God Himself. The Bible is jam-packed with promises that God has given us; promises that will counteract our limiting fears.

Jack Countryman has put together a marvelous resource to bolster your fight against crippling fears every single day. Each day’s reading begins with a short portion of Scripture, followed by just a couple of short paragraphs unpacking the truth in that Scripture, and then concluding with a one-sentence-long prayer based on that biblical truth.

Short, but very powerful and effective! The Bible itself says that faith is built by hearing and applying God’s Word, and that’s exactly what God’s Promises Every Day makes so accessible to us.

It’s interesting to note that Jesus refuted every one of satan’s attack by quoting a portion of Scripture. Reading this book every day will similarly arm you to attack the temptations and fears that the enemy wants to throw at you as well.

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: application, Bible study, book review, fear, God's promise, God's Word, Jack Countryman, prayer, Scripture, spiritual warfare, truth. 2 Comments »

Winning The Unseen Spiritual Battles

February 18, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

C.S. Lewis said, “If satan’s arsenal of weapons were restricted to a single one, it would be discouragement.” How true! In relation to our prayer time, satan tries to discourage with lies like—

- “God has bigger things on His mind than your puny request!”
- “God helps those who help themselves; what have you done for yourself?”
- “You created this situation and now you think God is going to bail you out?!?”
- “Haven’t you prayed about this long enough already?”
- “Your prayers don’t really make a difference.”

All of these lies are designed to discourage you, but always remember this—they are all lies! David said to God, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book. My enemies will retreat when I call to You for help. This I know: God is on my side!” (Psalm 56:8-9)

A great example of a man who prayed long and hard—and fought off the things that might discourage him to give up—was Daniel.

Daniel had previously been given insight from God to interpret dreams, visions, and other messages from heaven, but on one particular instance, he was stuck. God gave Daniel a vision, but not the meaning of that vision.

Daniel began to do two things in the physical realm that results in two unseen spiritual victories taking place.

First, Daniel prayed. Daniel not only prayed boldly, but he also prayed long. Although Daniel prayed for 21 days, when an angel arrived with God’s answer, the angel said, “From the moment you decided to humble yourself to receive understanding, your request was heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer.”

Second, Daniel fasted. The word fast literally means “to cover the mouth.” In Daniel’s case, we know that for 21 days he abstained from meat and wine. But he also abstained from “choice food” (NIV). What are those? I think these might be our “comfort foods.” Foods we go to to help relieve stress. Foods that become substitute sources of help, instead of humbling ourselves to go to God and ask for wisdom.

As Daniel was praying and fasting, it appeared that nothing was happening. But there were actually two victories won out of human sight.

First, a spiritual battle was won. The angel sent to Daniel was locked in combat with a demon for 21 days before he broke free to come to Daniel. We are still involved in that kind of spiritual warfare today (see Ephesians 6:12-18).

Second, Daniel was being refined and strengthened. When the angel arrived, he called Daniel “highly esteemed.” Don’t miss this—this greeting is the same Hebrew word used for what Daniel fasted (“choice food”). In other words, the temporary thing Daniel fasted turned into something of invaluable strength.

What if Daniel had stopped praying after 2 days? 10 days? 20 days?

Daniel—and you and I—may not see with our natural eyes the victories that are being won, but make no mistake about it: Our fasting and praying IS doing something amazing.

Your prayers are being heard. Spiritual battles are being won. You are being refined. God IS going to accomplish something great. God IS being glorified. Don’t stop praying and fasting until God comes through!