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Love Serves

October 17, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

I have blogged quite a bit about the tendency of our culture to be pragmatic. That is, people determine the rightness or wrongness of something based on how it feels to them. If it feels good, or if they get something positive out of it, then it must be good; but if it feels bad, or if they don’t get anything out of it, then it must be something they need to abandon.

True love is never pragmatic. Although culture tells us it is:

“You’ll know he’s the one by how he makes you feel.”
“We’ve fallen out of love.”
“There’s just no spark there any more.”
“He’s let me down one too many times.”
“You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling, oh that lovin’ feeling….”

“We dress ‘love’ in the fantasy of evening gowns and tuxedos, with silver and candelabras. But most of the time…love comes dressed in overalls—it is practical, down-to-earth, everyday hard work. It is really thinking of the other person and doing what the other person needs and being what the other person needs when he or she needs you to be there.” —Dr. Richard Dobbins

In writing to the church at Ephesus, Paul told them he became their servant—literally this means their waiter. But not so he could get something out of it. Instead it was a love completely focused on them…

the prisoner of Jesus Christ for the sake of you (Ephesians 3:1)
God’s grace was given to me for you (v. 2)
this grace was given to me to preach to [you] (v. 8)
my sufferings for you, which are your glory (v. 13)

Speaking to the Ephesian leaders as he was traveling to Jerusalem, he said…I served the Lord with great humility and with tears (Acts 20:19)

I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears (v. 31)
I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing (v. 33)
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak (v. 35)

Dear Christian, is this the kind of love you demonstrate? Do you share God’s grace with the hurting? Do you walk alongside those who are limping or about to give up? Do you stand through the storms with those on the battlefield?

It’s not what I get out of it.

Love focuses on the other person.

Love is devoted by a solemn promise.

Love doesn’t view “suffering” as something bad, but for the other person’s glory.

Love doesn’t seek recognition or rewards.

Love simply does what is important for the other person.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apostle Paul, Bible study, Book of Acts, Calvary Assembly of God, Ephesians, feeling, Gospel of John, love, pragmatism, quotes, Richard Dobbins, sermon, serve, video, YouTube. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—Great Truths

October 15, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

Great truths are dearly bought. The common truth,

Such as men give and take from day to day.

Comes in the common walk of easy life.

Blown by the careless wind across our way.

Great truths are dearly won; not found by chance,

Nor wafted on the breath of summer dream;

But grasped in the great struggle of the soul.

Hard buffeting with adverse wind and stream.

Sometimes, ‘mid conflict, turmoil, fear and grief,

When the strong hand of God, put forth in might,

Ploughs up the subsoil of the stagnant heart,

It brings some buried truth-seeds to the light.

Not in the general mart, ‘mid corn and wine;

Not in the merchandise of gold and gems;

Not in the world’s gay hall of midnight mirth,

Nor ‘mid the blaze of regal diadems;

Not in the general clash of human creeds,

Nor in the merchandise ‘twixt church and world,

Is truth’s fair treasure found, ‘mongst tares and weeds;

Nor her fair banner in their midst unfurled.

Truth springs like harvest from the well-ploughed fields.

Rewarding patient toil, and faith, and zeal.

To those thus seeking her, she ever yields

Her richest treasures for their lasting weal. —Horatius Bonar

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: God's help, hard work, Horatius Bonar, perseverance, poem, poetry, truth. Leave a Comment »

Mark Mittelberg On What Is Faith

October 13, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

“No doubt about it. You live your life by faith every day, even in the mundane details. What is faith? My broad definition is beliefs and actions that are based on something considered to be trustworthy—even in the absence of absolute proof.

“You believed the food was safe, so you ate it; you trusted the chair would hold you, so you sat in it; you had luck in the past with computers, random canines, and commutes home—so why not try them again? You didn’t have conclusive evidence that any of these things would workout, but the odds seemed to be in your favor, so you went for it. All of us do similar things—routinely.

“But also in the bigger issues related to religion, God, and eternity. All adopt ‘beliefs and actions’ related to these areas ‘based on something considered to be trustworthy—even in the absence of proof.’ So if you are a Christian, you’re trusting in the teachings of Christ; if a Muslim, you’re trusting in the teachings of Mohammad; if a Buddhist, you’re trusting in the teachings of Buddha.

“Even nonreligious people live in the trust that their nonreligious beliefs are accurate and that they won’t someday face a thoroughly religious Maker who actually did issue a list of guidelines and requirements that they failed to pay attention to.” —Mark Mittelberg, in Today’s Moment Of Truth

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apologetic, Buddhist, Christian, evidence, faith, Mark Mittelberg, Muslim, proof, quotes, trust, trustworthy. Leave a Comment »

Thursdays With Oswald—Get Rid Of Jargon!

October 13, 2016 — 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.

Get Rid Of Jargon!

The New Testament is not written to prove that Jesus Christ is God Incarnate; the New Testament does not prove anything; it simply confirms the faith of those who believe beforehand. Christian evidences don’t amount to anything; you can’t convince a man against his will. …

Creeds are the effects of our belief, not the cause of it. I do not have to believe all that before I can be a Christian; but after I have become a Christian I begin to try and expound to myself Who Jesus Christ is, and to do that I must first of all take into consideration the New Testament explanation. “Blessed art thou, Simon bar Jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven.” …

Jesus Christ did not come primarily to teach; He came to make it possible for us to receive His heredity, to have put into us a new disposition whereby we can live totally new lives. … The Sermon on the Mount is impossible to a man, and yet it is what our Lord taught. Jesus Christ did not come to teach man to be what he cannot be, but to reveal that He can put into him a totally new heredity; and all He requires a man to say is—“I need it.” … Jesus Christ cannot begin to do anything for a man until he knows his need; but immediately he is at his wits’ end through sin or limitation or agony and cannot go any further, Jesus Christ says to him, “Blessed are you; if you ask God for the Holy Spirit, He will give Him to you.” God does not give us the Holy Spirit until we come to the place of seeing that we cannot do without Him (Luke 11:13). …

We have been taken up with creeds and doctrines, and when a man is hit we do not know what to give him; we have no Jesus Christ, we have only theology. For one man who can introduce another to Jesus Christ by the way he lives and by the atmosphere of his life, there are a thousand who can only talk jargon about Him.

From The Shadow Of An Agony

Oswald Chambers is reminding Christians that we only learn more about Jesus by confessing “I need You!” Then the Holy Spirit can begin to reveal real-life truths to us from God’s Word.

Peter reminded us that in order to be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks a Christian the reason for the hope they had, we must first make Jesus the Lord of our life (see 1 Peter 3:15). Creeds and doctrines and theories are of no help to a friend who is in trouble. Let’s not be one of the thousands “who can only talk jargon about Him,” but let’s really know Jesus as Lord, so that we have something real and tangible to pass on to our friends.

Get rid of the jargon! Go deeper in your personal relationship with Jesus Christ!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Peter, Christian, Christianese, creed, doctrine, Gospel of Luke, Holy Spirit, Incarnation, jargon, Jesus Christ, New Testament, Oswald Chambers, redemption, theology. Leave a Comment »

Refuse To Click

October 12, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

You can help end the human trafficking that is ruled by the pornography industry by one simple action …

…refuse to click that link to a pornographic site!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: #refusetoclick, human trafficking, pornography, sex trafficking, video, YouTube. Leave a Comment »

9 Quotes From “Chase The Lion”

October 12, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

I loved Chase The Lion by Mark Batterson! Before even reading the first chapter, I was already captured by the Lion Chaser’s Manifesto, and the book only got better from there. Please check out my review of this amazing book, and then check out the first batch of quotes below.

“At the end of our lives, our greatest regrets will be the God-ordained opportunities we left on the table, the God-given passions we didn’t pursue, and the God-sized dreams we didn’t go after because we let fear dictate our decisions.”

“It’s not just our sin that we need to repent of. It’s our small dreams. The size of your dream may be the most accurate measure of the size of your God. Is He bigger than your biggest problem, your worst failure, your greatest mistake? Is He able to do immeasurably more than all you can ask or imagine? A God-sized dream will always be beyond your ability, beyond your resources. Unless God does it, it cannot be done! But that’s how God gets the glory. If your dream doesn’t scare you, it’s too small. It also falls short of God’s glory by not giving Him an opportunity to show up and show off His power.”

“We don’t die when our hearts stop beating. We die when our hearts stop skipping a beat in pursuit of our dreams. We die when our hearts stop breaking for the things that break the heart of God.”

“Impossible odds set the stage for God’s greatest miracles! And apparently God loves long shots. Isn’t that why He removed 9,700 soldiers from Gideon’s army? Isn’t that why He let the fiery furnace be heated seven times hotter? Isn’t that why He didn’t show up until Lazarus was four days dead? … We tend to avoid situation where the odds are against us, but when we do, we rob God of the opportunity to do something supernatural.”

“Get into God’s Word, and God’s dream will get into you.”

“When we fail to take action, we forfeit the future. Make no mistake: just as inaction is an action, indecision is a decision.”

“One misstep can end a dream journey. That doesn’t mean you operate in a spirit of fear. It does mean you operate in a spirit of focus!”

“In my humble opinion, no one is a natural. Sure, some people are more naturally gifted than others. But unless that giftedness is coupled with a complementary work ethic, it’ll only result in wasted potential.”

“I don’t believe our greatest shortcoming is not feeling bad enough about what we’ve done wrong. I think our greatest shortcoming is not feeling good enough about what God has done right. When we undercelebrate, we fall short of the glory of God!”

In the very near future I will be sharing more quotes from this book. To make sure you see them, put your email address in the box to the right and click “Sign me up.” I’ll make sure you’re the first to know when new content is posted.

Also be sure to follow me on Twitter and Tumblr, where daily I share quotes from Mark Batterson and other inspirational authors.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: book review, discipline, dreams, fulfilment, God's glory, God's Word, Holy Spirit, Mark Batterson, quotes, success, talent. 2 Comments »

Chase The Lion (book review)

October 11, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

There is always something about a Mark Batterson book that motivates me to do even bigger things. But Chase The Lion took that to a whole new level!

Chase The Lion is sort of the sequel to In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day. In the first book, Batterson looked at the life of Benaiah, who was a lion killer. In Chase The Lion, we go deeper into Benaiah’s motivation. What motivates a man to run toward the roar? Is he a unique individual, or can others do what he did?

Pastor Batterson then broadens his circles by looking at the other Mighty Men who, along with Benaiah, were attracted to King David. What brought these courageous warriors together? What kept them together? What were they fighting for?

Then skillfully Mark weaves together his own lion-chasing journey, with other historic characters, as well as those mighty men surrounding King David. Time and time again Mark challenged me to be disenchanted with the status quo, to dream bigger dreams, to try more courageous things, to see that my life is not just lived for me. The life I live is made possible by other lion-chasers who came before me, and the way I live my life will make it possible for still more lion-chasers to follow my example.

Before getting to chapter one I read “The Lion Chaser’s Manifesto” and I was already fired up to read and learn more. The rest of the book was chapter after chapter of new inspiration and encouragement.

What an amazing book! I can’t recommend Chase The Lion enough to anyone who wants to do great things, and leave a legacy of greatness for generations to come.

I am a Multnomah book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Benaiah, book review, courage, encouragement, hero, inspiration, King David, legacy, Mark Batterson, motivation. 5 Comments »

Test God In This

October 10, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

“Test me in this…and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it (Malachi 3:10). Here is what God is saying in this verse: ‘My dear child, I still have floodgates in heaven, and they are still in service. The locks open as easily as before, and the hinges have not grown rusty. In fact, I would rather throw them open to pour out blessings than hold them back. … On My side of the floodgates, Heaven is still the same rich storehouse as always. The fountains and streams still overflow, and the treasure-rooms are still bursting with gifts. The need is not on My side but on yours. I am waiting for you to test Me in this. But you must first meet the condition I have set to bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, and thereby give Me the opportunity to act.’” —L.B. Cowman

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: God's blessing, L.B. Cowman, Malachi, obedience, tithe, trust. 1 Comment »

2 Life-Changing Words

October 10, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

There’s an interesting story recorded in Acts. Seven sons of a priest named Sceva attempt to cast out a demon by saying, “In the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches, come out!” To which the demon replies, “Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you?”

Not only was the demon not exorcised, but the seven men came running out of the house bloodied and naked from the beating they received!

Think about it: If you spoke to the devil and said, “Get away from me!” would he be afraid of you? The simple answer is “No!” Why? Because you have no power in yourself.

It’s not about who you are, it’s about Whose you are.

Jesus talked about our place in Him in John 14:20. Notice the word “in” in this verse:

Jesus is in the Father
The Christian is in Jesus
The Spirit of Christ is in the Christian

Here are the two life-changing words for any Christian to remember…

IN CHRIST

The devil wants to get you second-guessing your identity. He wants you to be uncertain if you are worthy of coming into God’s presence. He wants you doubting if you are truly forgiven and worthy of God’s attention. He wants you unsure if you can stand up against him in a spiritual fight.

This uncertainty and doubt is erased by faith in this: I am IN CHRIST!

Please print out this list from Ephesians of all the “in Christ” statements Paul shares with us. (You may download a PDF version by clicking here → in-christ-i-am)

Keep this list handy, and the next time satan whispers doubts in your ear like, “Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you?” say—

“It’s not who I am, but Whose I am! I am Christ’s. I am in Him and He is in me. I have been forgiven. I am a part of His family. I have a purpose. I am holy and blameless. I am the recipient of all God’s blessings. And you can never defeat me because I AM IN CHRIST!”