Why We Do What We Do

March 9, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

Charles Spurgeon said, “The resurrection of Christ is the cornerstone of the glorious temple of truth, the keystone of the arch of revelation.” 

What we believe about the resurrection gives meaning and purpose to everything else. The resurrection is the defining Truth. In 2 Timothy 2:19 we read two important truths about this foundation: (1) God knows those who truly know Him, and (2) Those who really know Him must unabashedly stand for the Truth. 

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.) 

Words are powerful, they are creative. At the very beginning of Time, God said, “Light” and light existed (Genesis 1:1-3). God’s Word is still creating today (Hebrews 4:12). There are words we need to let go, and there is the Word for which we must stand without wavering or backing down. 

In 1 Timothy 1:3-7, Paul essentially says we have two choices: Do we want to promote controversy or do we want to promote God’s work? We have to learn to distinguish what is biblical and what is not. 

  • Biblical things—God’s Word clearly tells us “Yes” (2 Timothy 3:14-17) 
  • Unbiblical things—God’s Word clearly tells us “No” (like: do not murder, do not commit adultery, etc.)  

These two are fairly straightforward. As Dr. Donald Stamps wrote, “The Church has the responsibility to safeguard the true and original apostolic doctrines found in Scripture and commit it to others without compromise or corruption.” 

What is harder to sort out is:

  • Extra-biblical things—something in addition to or outside of God’s Word 
  • Non-biblical things—something not specifically addressed in God’s Word 

Passages like 1 Timothy 4:1-7 and 2 Timothy 2:14-19 help us sort out biblical and non-biblical things. 

Are extra-biblical things wrong? Not necessarily. Paul quoted poets, and even uses an extra-biblical example of Jannes and Jambres [who] opposed Moses (3:8). 

Are non-biblical things wrong? Not necessarily. But both extra-biblical and non-biblical things can become wrong when we give these things biblical status (Mark 7:9). 

“Church” and “Christian” can completely lose their biblical meaning if we allow unbiblical, extra-biblical, or non-biblical ideas to define them. We must stand firm on God’s Word to give biblical meaning to everything we say and do. 

Jesus said, “I will build MY Church.” He’s going to build it His way, not our way. We don’t want to fight the Architect, but neither do we want to fight the erring saint or the scoffing skeptic (2 Timothy 2:22-26). 

Let me give you four applications for this: 

  1. Do get into God’s Word everyday. 
  2. Don’t define the words but let God define His own words. 
  3. Do gently challenge those saints who are getting caught up in non-biblical or extra-biblical things. 
  4. Don’t quarrel with those who are living an unbiblical lifestyle (Colossians 4:5; Jude 1:22). 

You can find all of the other messages in this series called “I will build My Church” by clicking here. 

You may also be interested in these posts and videos: 

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The Don’ts And Dos Of Leadership

March 4, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

In 2 Timothy 2:22, the apostle Paul puts together two unlikely words: flee and pursue. 

You may think those words are opposites, but actually they are partners in a leader’s effectiveness. Godly leaders have Don’ts and Dos that help them operate at their peak effectiveness. It seems to me that the Don’ts need to be attended to first, which will enable leaders to do the Dos better. 

Or as Paul might say it: Flee the Don’ts to pursue the Dos. 

In vv. 22-26, here is what we learn—

Flee these Don’ts:

  • Don’t pursue merely temporal desires 
  • Don’t engage in foolish arguments about meaningless things 
  • Don’t be quarrelsome 
  • Don’t resent others, even those who are opposing you 

Pursue these Dos: 

  • Do strive for righteousness, faith, love, and peace to be more evident in all of your relationships 
  • Do be kind to everyone 
  • Do learn to teach well, especially those who have been taken captive to do the devil’s will 

The Dos require a full-time engagement of my time and energy, allowing me to continually grow in my faith in God and in my leadership acumen. The Don’ts will cause my growth to plateau and then to stagnate. 

A mark of a godly leader is one who knows his Don’ts and Dos. 

So I challenge you: don’t do the Don’ts so that you can do the Dos better, which will then allow your leadership influence to continue to grow. 

This is part 87 in my series on godly leadership. You can check out all of my posts in this series by clicking here.

P.S. You may also want to read my post I Checked Nothing Off My To Do List Today.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

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Delight In Your Duty

February 23, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

If anyone is known for attentively doing their duty, it is the members of our military. Duty is drilled into them over and over and over. Civilians could learn a lesson from this. We tend to be reward-motivated, that is to say, if we feel some sort of reward for our effort, we may stick to our commitment. But duty-bound soldiers stick to their commitment regardless of how they feel or what the circumstances are. 

We need to be especially on guard against Christian duties that seem to be thankless, or else we may forget about doing them or do them only reluctantly. 

Some of you might be saying, “‘Christian’ and ‘duty’ doesn’t sound right in the same sentence. Isn’t everything we do for Jesus supposed to be delightful?” Paul said to Timothy, “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3). 

(Check out all of the Scriptures I use in this post by clicking here.)

And listen to these words from Jesus—

     Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, “Come along now and sit down to eat”? Won’t he rather say, “Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink”? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.” (Luke 17:7-10) 

Why does the military drill the idea of duty into every soldier? Because doing your duty is indispensable to success in battle! 

In the New Testament, we meet three Roman soldiers who did their duty. Only one that we know of became a follower of Jesus, yet all three were pivotal for two key leaders in the early Church. These Roman soldiers were important because doing their duty helped Peter and Paul get where God had called them. 

Peter—Jesus called on Peter to be one of the foundational leaders of the Church (Matthew 16:18). But Peter never stepped fully into this role until a Roman centurion named Cornelius did his duty. 

In Acts 10:1-7 we meet Cornelius who followed the command of an angel without question, just as a dutiful soldier would. This dutiful act helped Peter understand what God was calling him to do (10:15-16, 22-28), and then helped him explain what the rest of the Church was supposed to do (11:18; 15:7-11). 

Paul—Lysias was the commander of the Roman garrison in Jerusalem. He saved Paul from literally being torn limb-from-limb by an angry mob, and then he safely transported Paul to Caesarea to avoid the assassins who were laying in wait to ambush Paul (Acts 21-22). 

Then when Paul was being sent to stand trail before Emperor Nero, a centurion named Julius also went to extraordinary lengths to see that Paul made it safely to Rome (Acts 27). 

All three of these Roman soldiers were merely doing their duty—obey orders from their commanding officers—but their dutiful service allowed Peter and Paul to get to the places where God needed them to be. 

Earlier I asked if the Christian life was supposed to be delightful. It may not be delightful here, but doing our duty may be tough at times. Paul said he rejoiced in the difficulties (2 Corinthians 12:10). 

Truly, doing our duty here is noticed by our Commander and King. Allow me to paraphrase Matthew 25:21 for the reward that Jesus gives those saintly soldiers who do their duty—

Our Commander will reply, “Well done, good and dutiful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” 

Do your duty—for your sake, for the benefit of others, and for the glory of our King. 

If you’ve missed any of the other messages in this series called The Lord’s Army, you can find them all here. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

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Practice For Precision

February 2, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

An old Sunday School song had me joyfully singing, “I’m in the Lord’s army!” I loved playing “Army” with my friends and I also loved this song and the idea behind it, but it seems like many seasoned saints today get a little uncomfortable with the idea of a militant Church. But military-like precision was drilled into everything the Church was taught from the days of Moses all through the end of the New Testament. 

Let’s just consider the precision of the movement of the tribes of Israel. For 40 years in the wilderness they were an army on the move, and they moved with precision that was drilled into them. 

  • Numbers 2 lays out the precise encampment arrangements. 
  • Numbers 10:14-36 tells us precisely how they marched out with the vanguard, supporting troops, and rearguard. 

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

Charles T. Crabtree wrote, “As spiritual people we are to understand spiritual warfare. We are to be alert to the devil’s devices. We are not to be obsessed with demonic strategy; we are simply, through God, to understand it and be superior to it.” 

We are in a spiritual battle that requires spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:11-13), and we must practice for precision in which armor and which weapons to use (2 Corinthians 10:4; 2 Timothy 2:3-4). 

My friend Dan Chastain spent more than 20 years serving in the US Army, and he notices several parallels between what the Bible says about military leaders and what he learned in his long military service. He shared four key characteristics of warriors: 

  1. Dedication to honorable service 
  2. Obedience and loyalty to whom and what they serve 
  3. Integrity at all costs
  4. Selfless service 

Dan also shared the US Army’s model of Be, Know, and Do. Which is also vital for Christian warriors today. 

When Joshua—the general of the Israelite army—took over, he was given this directive by God: Meditate on God’s Word so that you can live by it (Joshua 1:6-8), and the New Testament would agree (2 Timothy 3:16-17). So we, too, will learn from the military leaders that Scripture has given us how to practice our precision in the Lord’s Army. 

Let’s make sure we can finish well. As Paul said to Timothy, “Fight the good fight of the faith. … I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7). 

You can start today by applying Be, Know, and Do with the Training Manual for the Lord’s Army every single day: 

  • Be in the training Manual every day 
  • Know the Manual 
  • Do what the Manual says 

Follow along with all of the messages in our series on The Lord’s Army. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

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God’s Faithful Love

December 9, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Therefore, behold, I will allure her [Israel] and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly and to her heart. There I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor [troubling] to be for her a door of hope and expectation. And she shall sing there and respond as in the days of her youth and as at the time when she came up out of the land of Egypt. (Hosea 2:14-15 AMPC)

This “therefore” seems out of place. God has just finished listing the sins of the people (vv. 1-13), so I would expect Him to say something like, “Therefore, behold, I will punish you.” God would be just in this judgment. 

But even when we are faithless, God remains faithful! “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). 

So He says He will speak tenderly and turn your trouble into blessing. How amazing and undeserved is the love that our God lavishes on us! 

Related posts:

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Contend For People

November 10, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

Jude calls Christians to contend for the faith without contention and without compromise. As we wrap up this series, there is one final question that we should ask: What are we contending for? 

I believe the bottom line for Jude is that we are contending with saints for people. In other words, we have to be united in our efforts as we seek to expand the Kingdom of God. 

The first hurdle we need to overcome is eliminating the dividers. Paul told the Ephesian elders about these people (Acts 20:29-30). And Jude describes them in verses 12, 16-19 as…

  • blemishes 
  • self-serving and boasting about themselves 
  • unfruitful 
  • grumblers and faultfinders 
  • ungodly desires 
  • following natural instincts = governed by their appetites 
  • who divide you 

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

Jude then makes a stark distinction—saints are to be different! Saints are to be united in their love for Jesus and their love for each other. In fact, this is what Jesus said would distinguish His followers (John 13:35) and Paul elaborates on this in Philippians 2:1-4. 

In verses 20-25, Jude calls saints to live in contrast to “these men” who divide. He challenges saints to—

  • keep being built up in our faith (see also Ephesians 2:20; Colossians 2:7) 
  • praying in the Holy Spirit 
  • keeping ourselves in God’s love 
  • waiting in assurance for Christ’s imminent return 

And as we are building, praying, keeping, and waiting, we must also be rescuing people from their path toward Hell. Our battle is never against flesh and blood. Our battle is against those powers that divide and those powers that bind and blind (Ephesians 6:12; 2 Timothy 2:26). 

We must not get sidetracked or distracted, we must not contend in a contentious way, but we must remain united with Jesus and united with fellow saints as we seek to expand the Kingdom of God. 

If you’ve missed any of the previous messages from this series on the Book of Jude, you can find them all here. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

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Avoiding Foolish Controversies

November 3, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

Jude calls Christians to contend for the faith without contention and without compromise. Instead, we are to loving serve Jesus by engaging with others mercifully, peacefully, and lovingly. This means we have to contend without quarreling. 

But that’s easier said than done because people love to pick fights, and we hate to lose an argument. 

Look at the ministry of Jesus. His adversaries couldn’t get around the perfect logic that He used based on Scripture, so they came up with all sorts of controversies in the hope of tripping Him up and silencing Him. They posed seemingly unanswerable dilemmas like: In heaven, which one of the seven brothers will be married to the woman they all married on earth? Should we pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay the temple tax? What’s the greatest commandment of all? They tried to get Him to take the bait about religious traditions, laws concerning the Sabbath, and the punishment for a woman caught in adultery. 

Jesus never got fluster or frustrated—He never took the bait to quarrel with them, but He simply stood unwaveringly and lovingly on God’s Word. But once again, that’s easier said than done! 

King Solomon pointed out the difficulty of this in Proverbs 26:4-5. Do we answer a fool or not? Yes, but we answer wisely not foolishly. 

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

I believe Jude would agree with Solomon, Jesus, Paul, and Peter, but then he uses three examples that could spark a controversy:  

  • the fate of fallen angels (Jude 6) 
  • Michael and the devil arguing over the body of Moses (v. 9) 
  • Enoch prophesying (v. 14) 

But notice that how Jude uses these examples by not addressing any more than what we already know from Scripture. In this way, Jude keeps this from becoming a foolish, quarrelsome controversy (v. 10). 

Notice the consistent instruction of the Bible on how to handle critics: 

  • Michael the archangel: The Lord rebuke you! (also 2 Peter 2:11) 
  • Jesus: Away from Me! (Matthew 4:10) and Get behind Me! (Mark 8:33) 
  • James: Submit to God and then resist the devil (James 4:7) 
  • Peter: speak gently, respectfully, and with a clear conscience (1 Peter 3:15-16) 
  • Paul: warn people without becoming quarrelsome (2 Timothy 2:14, 16, 23-25) 

In Luke 13:1-5, Jesus addresses two events that could have become quite controversial, but Jesus defused the controversy by simply saying, “No matter what, everyone needs to have their sins forgiven by God.” Paul continued this singleminded focus on Jesus. I love how the Amplified Bible captures his words in 1 Corinthians 2:2. And then Paul encourages his friend Timothy to operate the same way (1 Timothy 1:15-17). 

Don’t let foolish controversies sidetrack you from the faith entrusted to us, but take everything back to Jesus as He is revealed in the Scripture. 

If you’ve missed any of the other messages in our series called Earnestly Contending, you can find them all here. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

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Study To Apply

October 27, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

Jude calls Christians to contend for the faith without contention and without compromising the truth. Last week we learned that one of the first disciplines to help us do this is: Study God’s Word and then study it some more. 

What do we mean by using the word “study”? 

Paul counsels his friend and protege to study God’s Word (see 2 Timothy 2:15 in the KJV). But the word study (Greek: spoude) simply means diligence aimed at a goal. So what’s the goal? To contending for the truth (2 Timothy 2:14-18, 22-26). Jude is addressing a similar issue ( see Jude 4).

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

Just as Paul told Timothy to stick with “the Word of truth,” Jude says we need to be reminded of God’s Word (Jude 5). 

Jude is writing to people who probably have first hand—maybe even eyewitness experience—knowledge. They have either heard it from someone who was right there, or perhaps from a friend who heard it from someone who was there. And yet, certain godless men have already slipped in among you and are teaching lies. 

Jude goes back to Scripture (vv. 5-7): 

  • Israelites delivered from Egypt rebelled against God and died in the wilderness 
  • angels who were in God’s presence were expelled from heaven and await an eternity in hell 
  • the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah experienced deliverance from Abraham but chose to debase themselves 

Jude says, “In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies” (v. 8) by changing “the grace of our God into a license for immorality” (v. 4). 

So we study the Scripture to apply it first to our own lives (James 1:22-25).  

Jude uses four examples of people who knew the Word of God intimately, but in their pride wouldn’t apply it to themselves: Lucifer, Cain, Balaam, and Korah (vv. 9-11).

  1. The devil—pride is what turned Lucifer into satan. 
  2. The way of Cain—God warned him about sin crouching at his door, but he ignored it.
  3. Balaam’s error—he tried to calculate how close to disobeying he could get without actually disobeying because he wanted earthly rewards. 
  4. Korah’s rebellion—the Greek word for “rebellion” is antilogia: literally anti + Logos, or contradicting the Word of God. 

Jesus warned the most learned men of His day against this (John 5:39-40) and we need to humbly receive God’s Word in order apply to our lives. 

If I don’t diligently study the Scripture, I cannot apply it to my life and I am doomed to repeat the same fatal errors. I must study God’s Word diligently so that it can change me. Only then may I teach others (1 Timothy 1:3-7). 

If you’ve missed any of the other messages in this series from the Book of Jude, you can find them all here. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

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Training For The Fight

October 13, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

Last week I challenged all of us to ask the Holy Spirit to check our attitude to ensure we indeed have the attitude of a secure servant. This is especially true when we remember that we are in the midst of a spiritual battle and that Jude writes this letter to us to encourage us to “contend for the faith.” 

When Jesus told His parable about the sower, here’s what He said about the seed that fell on the hard path (Mark 4:15 AMPC). Jesus said the forces of evil want to try to bring down the Kingdom of God (Matthew 11:12).

(All the Scriptures I use in this post may be viewed here.)  

Are we willing to engage in this intense battle? Will we strive with the forces of darkness for the sake of seeing lost people saved? God told Isaiah that it was so easy to give in—to throw our hands up (Isaiah 64:5-7). Paul extolled a Christian brother named Epaphras for his willingness to wrestle in prayer for the saints (Colossians 4:12). 

Indeed wrestling for the saints is what Jude had in mind. 

I like the phrase “contend for the faith” in the Message paraphrase: “Fight with everything you have in you.” 

The Greek word Jude uses here is the only time it’s used in the New Testament. It means:

  1. To enter a contest—1 Corinthians 9:24-26 
  2. Contend with adversaries—Colossians 4:12; Ephesians 6:12 
  3. Struggle through difficulties—Colossians 1:28-29 
  4. Endeavor with strenuous zeal to obtain victory—1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7 

The root word is agonizimai which sounds a lot like our English word “agonize.” This is an all-in mentality. Sitting on the sidelines, casually interacting, dabbling in it every once in a while won’t lead to victory. 

The stakes are too high, our enemy is cunning and desperate, so nothing less than agonizing training that will not quit no-matter-what will do! 

What exactly are we training to do? 

Too many view salvation as just saved from Hell. That’s part of it, but not all of it. We’re also saved to display the glory of God. The first part is accepting Jesus as Savior; the second part is accepting Jesus as Lord. The salvation we share is not either-or, but it is both-and: Jesus is both our Savior and Lord. 

We need to strive to obtain the fullness of Christ’s nature in us. People should be able to see and feel a difference in our lives without us even opening our mouths. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach always; if necessary, use words.” To that end, he offered this prayer—

“Lord, make me a channel of Thy peace, that
where there is hatred, I may bring love;
where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
where there is error, I may bring truth;
where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
where there is despair, I may bring hope;
where there are shadows, I may bring light;
where there is sadness, I may bring joy.”


Will you be all-in?


Will you wrestle in prayer?


Will you let go of earthly things so you can cling to Jesus?


Will you display His light through your life?


Will you be ready to use words, if necessary?


Let’s make sure we are ready to contend for the faith the right way! 


P.S. Speaking of prayer, my new book Amen Indeed is a prayer guide for pastors. Please consider giving a copy of this book to your pastor! 


If you’ve missed any of the other messages in our series Earnestly Contend, you can find them all here. 


►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎








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Links & Quotes

September 6, 2025 — Craig T. Owens 




Whether we see the world through a naturalistic lens or a biblical lens makes all the difference!




I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.


Columba was a powerful Christian leader in history. Even the legends about him are pretty cool! 


Isaac Newton said, “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler are two gigantic figures in the world of science. These men were both devout Christians. Check out these mini-biographies from the ICR.


“What made David’s heart remarkable wasn’t the absence of sin but his unrelenting pursuit of restoration with God.” —YouVersion reading plan Men of God: Ancient Virtues for Modern Warriors 


It’s always fascinating to read about archeological discoveries that overlap with the historical accounts of the Bible.


Whether you are a pastor, a Sunday School teacher, or just a Christian sharing your testimony with your friend, we need to handle God’s Word correctly. John Piper’s lesson on 2 Timothy 2:14-15 is spot-on.








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