Links & Quotes

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“Shall we spend our time in those things which are offensive to Him [Jesus Christ]? Shall we not rather do all we can to promote His glory, and act according to His command? O my dear brethren, be found in the ways of God; let us not disturb our dear Redeemer by any irregular proceedings; and let me beseech you to strive to love, fear, honor and obey Him, more than ever you have done yet; let not the devil engross your time, and that dear Savior who came into the world on your accounts, have so little. O be not so ungrateful to Him who has been so kind to you! What could the Lord Jesus Christ have done for you more than He has? Then do not abuse His mercy, but let your time be spent in thinking and talking of the love of Jesus, who was Incarnate for us, who was born of a woman, and made under the law, to redeem us from the wrath to come.” —George Whitefield, from a sermon “The True Way Of Keeping Christmas”

Josh McDowell shares the moral law argument for God’s existence. And J. Warner Wallace explains why it is so essential for us to highlight the virgin conception of Jesus.

For my fellow Grammar Police Officers, you might enjoy this: the 51 most commonly missed words and phrases.

Parents, Josh McDowell has some resources to help you help your kids avoid the ravages of pornography.

Are we connected on Twitter? How about on YouVersion (I am user craig_owens)? If you use either of these great social media resources, let’s connect there too.

Links & Quotes

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“That which astonishes, astonishes once; but whatever is admirable become more and more admired.” —Joseph Joubert

“Adoption is an act of God’s free grace, whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.” —Westminster Confession

“Adversity is the first path to trust.” —Lord Byron

“Adversity makes men, and prosperity makes monsters.” —Victor Hugo

“God’s corrections are our instructions; His lashes our lessons, and His scourges our schoolmasters.” —John H. Aughey

“Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth.” —Oswald Chambers

“Press into God’s promises. When fears surface, respond with this thought: But God said … And when doubts arise, but God said… And when guilt overwhelms you, but God said…  Search the Scriptures like a miner digging for gold and trust the promises you find.” —Max Lucado

John Hendryx points out several similarities between Islamic and secular fundamentalism.

Josh McDowell reminds us that just teaching someone biblical truth is not enough.

If you would like to check out some devotional readings for Advent, click here.

The importance of belief in God for Issac Newton’s scientific discoveries.

[VIDEO] One of the most beautiful arrangements of Amazing Grace I’ve heard—

Now What?

Christmas Day 2014 has come and gone … now what? My Mom forwarded a picture to me that might be a pretty good place to start—or should I say to keep the Christmas spirit alive.

Here’s your post-Christmas Day “To Do” List—

After the holidays To Do list

What would you add to this list?

Links & Quotes

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“I also get a quite new feeling about ‘If you forgive you will be forgiven.’ I don’t believe it is, as it sounds, a bargain. The forgiving and the being forgiven are really the very same thing. But one is safe as long as one keeps on trying.” —C.S. Lewis

“You can read every fairy tale that was ever written, every mystery thriller, every ghost story, and you will never find anything so shocking, so strange, so weird and spellbinding as the story of the incarnation of the Son of God. How dead we are! How callous and unfeeling to Your glory and Your story! How often have I had to repent and say, ‘God, I am sorry that the stories men have made up stir my emotions, my awe and wonder and admiration and joy, more than Your own true story.’” —John Piper

“Experiencing the presence of Jesus in a church is not so much a corporate matter as it is an individual one. It is true that a spiritually lifeless, prayer-less shepherd can spread death over the people. Yet every member is still a temple and remains personally responsible to obey God and be available as an instrument of His presence. Your church can be dead and yet you can be full of Christ’s presence.” —David Wilkerson

Is Jesus Immanuel?

Immanuel & sinI’ve read these two passages of Scripture so many times during the telling of the Advent story, but I never saw this apparent mistake. I’ve highlighted the troubling phrases below—

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with Child and will give birth to a Son, and will call Him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you are you to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21)

Did the angel make a mistake? Was he supposed to tell Joseph “give Him the name Immanuel”? Or maybe Immanuel and Jesus mean the same thing?

The answer to all three of those questions is NO. There wasn’t a mistake; His name should be Jesus; and Immanuel and Jesus don’t mean the same thing.

Immanuel & JesusImmanuel is a cool name, appearing only three times in the Bible. The prefix “im” means with, and the suffix “el” means God. The root word in its broadest sense means people, but when we’re talking about God saving “HIS people from their sins,” the best translation would be His kinsman. Thus Immanuel = with His kinsman God.

Just before giving us the prophesy about Immanuel, Isaiah experienced the horror of being with God. When Isaiah was in God’s presence he said, “Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a sinful man and I have seen God Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5-6). Here’s the simple fact: Our sin separates us from God’s presence. Jesus (in the Hebrew Yeshua = God saves) is the only One Who could remove the penalty of our sin!

Only Jesus could atone for our sin and remove our guilt (see Isaiah 6:7), so that God could stay with us (Immanuel)! 

Jesus (our salvation) makes Immanuel (with His kinsman God) possible. So as the Christmas carol O Come, O Come, Emmanuel implores us: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee!

May you live in the forgiveness of Jesus and the joy of His Immanuel presence this Christmas season!

If you’ve missed any of the messages in this series, you may check them out by clicking here.

Links & Quotes

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“How shall a holy and just God treat us sinners with so much kindness as to give us the greatest Reality in the universe (His Son) to enjoy with the greatest joy possible? The answer is that God put our sins on His Son, and judged them there, so that He could put them out of His mind, and deal with us mercifully and remain just and holy at the same time.” —John Piper

This Christmas, enjoy the fruit of the first coming, but anticipate the glory of the second. We live between the advents. Let the first one whet your appetite for the final one.” Read more in Max Lucado’s post Between The Advents.

I marvel at the discovering scientists make, but I also marvel at how adamant these scientists are that there isn’t a Creator. In this study on how the earth’s deep crust could support life, one scientist says, “If you identify a source of energy that’s everywhere, it’s no longer a limiting factor for the spread of life.” The Bible does identify The Source of life!

If you love studying the Bible, here is a list of 5 free Bible study tools on the web.

[VIDEO] Lecrae gives us a good word on how to engage race issues—

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Who is GodPastor Tom Kaastra continued our series The Carols Of Christmas by looking at the well-known Christmas hymn O Come, All Ye Faithful. The line he especially highlighted comes from the third stanza—Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.

It is so vital that we keep both of those aspects of Jesus Christ in mind: He is both the Word of the Father and the Word become flesh. As Tom pointed out, this fact helps us answer the two most vital questions that humans have:

  • Who is God?
  • Who am I?

I can learn more about who I am when I know more clearly Who God is. And when I know this, I can more fully—as the song says—come and adore Christ the Lord.

Jesus is fully God:

Jesus revealed to us the Father’s love; after all, God is love (1 John 4:16). Jesus came to show us the love of God.

Jesus is fully Man:

  • He got tired and hungry (John 4:6)
  • He limited Himself to do only what the Father told Him to do (John 5:19-20)
  • He limited Himself to say only what the Father told Him to say (John 12:49)
  • He felt anguish and pain (Luke 22:44)

As C.S. Lewis said, “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” And as sons of God, we have access to the Heavenly Father—

Those who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children. For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, “Abba! My Father! (Romans 8:14-15)

Word of the Father now in flesh appearing is cause for adoration because Jesus has made it possible for us to become sons and daughters of God!

O come let us adore Him!!

If you’ve missed any of the messages in this series, you may check them out by clicking here.

Links & Quotes

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“The Lord has many lovers of His crown but few lovers of His Cross.” —Thomas á Kempis

Charles Spurgeon on the power of unity: No Bigotry In Unity.

David Witt asks: Is It Time To Rethink Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs?

“The degree of blessing enjoyed by any man will correspond exactly with the completeness of God’s victory over him.” —A.W. Tozer

Dr. Benjamin Mast has a lot of initials after his name (which means he’s really smart!). Check out this interview with him: Alzheimer’s, The Brain and The Soul.

Here is an amazing admission from scientists regarding stem cell formation: “No one, not even the dozen or so groups of scientists who intensively study reprogramming, knows how it happens. They understand that differentiated cells go in, and pluripotent cells come out the other end, but what happens in between is one of biology’s impenetrable black boxes.” Read more in this article about stem cells, but I am glad I can trust the Creator to reveal to us what may be in “the black box”!

I love ReverendFun cartoons! Here is one of my favorites—

Eternal Life

Links & Quotes

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Some good stuff…

“One thing is certain, a Christian’s standing before God does not depend upon his standing before men. A high reputation does not make a man dearer to God, nor does the tongue of the slanderer influence God’s attitude toward His people in any way.” —A.W. Tozer

Wow: “I used to look for people who were ready for ministry. Now I look for people who are ready to die—to die to their own plans and ideas.” Read more in this Live Dead post: The Struggle Of Sacrifice.

Seth Godin talks about creativity in his post The Thing About A Clean Sheet Of Paper.

[VIDEO] John Piper talks about 3 ways to make Christmas special—

[VIDEO] The Lowell (Michigan) Police Department has a great way to spread Christmas cheer—

Links & Quotes

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Some good stuff from today…

Dr. Tim Elmore absolutely nails it in this post that every parent, teacher, and coach should read: Pressure In The Wrong Places.

Chris Pratt is not just funny, but he’s passionate about life, too. Check out this beautiful speech he gave.

Max Lucado shares a great lesson on obedience we can learn from Joseph’s life at this Advent season.

“Ten thousand enemies cannot stop a Christian, cannot even slow him down, if he meets them in an attitude of complete trust in God. They will become to him like the atmosphere that resists the airplane, but which because the plane’s designer knew how to take advantage of that resistance, actually lifts the plane aloft and holds it there for a journey of 2,000 miles. What would have been an enemy to the plane becomes a helpful servant to aid it on its way.” —A.W. Tozer

[VIDEO] John Maxwell shares how to think about adversity—