apologetic | Craig T. Owens

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Links & Quotes

October 14, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Leaders, you need to determine the coachability factor before you start trying to coach a teammate. Check out our full conversation on The Craig and Greg Show. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

Sextortion is when someone demands money or other favors in exchange for not sharing an explicit photo or video of the targeted victim. The sextortion of minor children runs into the thousands every month. Axis reported, “Most targets of sextortion are teen boys, who seem to be more likely than girls to send an explicit selfie to someone they aren’t having a romantic relationship with. Anonymous scammers will reach out to their target over social media, engaging in a flirtation and eventually asking for nudes.” Axis also shared these helpful resources, “Families can prepare by telling their teens about resources like TakeItDown, a free service which will remove nudes from the internet within two days, and the 24/7 Crisis Text Line, which connects teens with professional counselors via text at any time.”

“First, government is not God; instead, government is God’s servant for the good of those served. And second, the people are not God, and therefore must not be allowed the last word on what defines the terms of ‘good’ public policy. Only God can define what is good for people, for He alone is good (Mark 10:18; Psalm 119:68).” —T.M. Moore

“Since the Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision more than 50 years ago, almost 40% of all abortions in America have been in the Black community, resulting in erasing the lives and destinies of an estimated 23 million Black babies.” The National Black Fellowship is aggressively working to change this.

Can New Testament Christians claim Old Testament promises? Yes! John Piper shares 8 “filters” to help us with this application.

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

J. Warner Wallace uses forensic evidence to demonstrate why we should believe the New Testament was written much closer to the time of the actual event than most skeptics believe. Check out this video.

Links & Quotes

August 26, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

If God seems distant, get your eyes off other things and put them back on Him. Check out the full sermon here. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

T.M. Moore is in a series of posts about the Kingdom of God being revealed on earth. He wrote, “Jesus’ vision of the proximity of the Kingdom, therefore, was a threefold vision: The Kingdom is yet to come in all its fullness (there and then); nevertheless, at the same time, the Kingdom is unfolding in our midst (here and now); and thus every follower of Jesus Christ must make it their primary concern to seek and attain to more and more of the Kingdom of God every day of their lives. Then and there, here and now, more and more: This is how we must think about the Kingdom of God and our involvement in it.”

For many years, the theory of evolution has been unraveling. As more and more discoveries are being made, Darwin’s theory is becoming less tenable. John Stonestreet and Shane Morris wrote a recent blog post on this. Their article opens with this: “In 1973, evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky wrote that “nothing in biology makes sense except in light of evolution.” Almost 50 years later, an increasing number of scientists are asking whether evolution makes any sense in light of what we now know from biology.”

The most effective leaders consistently see the world through their teammates’ eyes. Check out this full conversation on The Craig And Greg Show.

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.“ —C.S. Lewis

“No prophet or priest, king or great leader has ever told us to dare to address God as our Father, except Jesus! He is the only One who has taught us to call God, our Maker and Creator, Father. In the Old Testament, that relationship is mentioned only a few times (for example, Exodus 4:22-23; 2 Samuel 7:14). But in the gospels, it is mentioned 165 times. Jesus wanted to instill in us how important God’s fatherhood is. It is not a mere creed. It is a relationship that is central to our new life in Christ and essential in our worship to Him.” —Sobhi Malek

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 2 Samuel, apologetic, C.S. Lewis, Creator, evolution, Exodus, God's Kingdom, God's plan, Heavenly Father, John Stonestreet, leadership, quotes, Sobhi Malek, T.M. Moore, video. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

August 19, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Salvation doesn’t arrive on Air Force One. This simple but profound reminder from Chuck Colson should send Christians to prayer instead of seeking a merely political solution. Check out my full message about trusting God vs. trusting the government here. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

Matthew Walker, director of the Center for Human Sleep Science, says, “Sleep is the universal health care provider: whatever the physical or mental ailment, sleep has a prescription it can dispense.” It’s not just medical science, but the Bible also talks about the value of sleep, as Scott Hubbard explains in this post. I’ve also shared some posts about sleep here, here, and here.

Don’t you love the beautiful melody of songbirds? Being a percussionist, I’m attracted to the woodpeckers. Scientists have found that woodpeckers are the only non-songbird that share an identical genetic marker in their brains with songbirds. That means that the drumming of woodpeckers is actually a song! Check out some additional fascinating insights about our drumming friends in this post.

I love this story from the early 1900s! Small prayer meetings began to converge to become a Pentecostal revival in the Pacific Northwest.

“What is the best thing in the world? To please its Creator. What is His will? To fulfill what He commanded, that is, to live rightly and dutifully to seek the Eternal; for duty and justice are the will of Him Who is dutiful and right. How do we seek this goal? By application. Then we must apply ourselves in duty and justice. What helps to maintain this practice? Understanding, which, while it winnows the remainder and finds nothing solid to rest in amongst those things which the world possesses, turns in wisdom to the one thing which is eternal.” —Columbanus

“Jesus taught us to pray that the Kingdom would come on earth in the same way that it exists in heaven. … Jesus made praying for the Kingdom the highest priority in our prayers after praising and honoring God. The Kingdom is more important than our daily needs. The Kingdom is more to be desired than that our sins should be forgiven or that we should be rescued through temptation [Matthew 6:9-13].” —T. M. Moore

Stephen O. Presley wrote, “If our modern world resembles the ancient one, perhaps we could glean some wisdom from the ways the early church navigated these murky waters. As Polycarp testifies, the Scriptures were essential to the early Christian apologetic. Passages such as Romans 13:1 and Matthew 22:21, alongside the examples of Old Testament figures such as Joseph and Daniel, guided the church’s vision for engaging the unbelieving world.” His post especially caught my eye after I shared a very similar message to my flock this past Sunday.

Sean McDowell sits down with an Old Testament professor to discuss 10 of the most bizarre OT passages (as selected by Sean’s X followers).

Links & Quotes

August 12, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

We can look back to learn or we can look back to relive. Looking back to learn is healthy, but looking back in regret to try to relive our past is unhealthy and unproductive. Learning vs. reliving makes all the difference. See my full message on this mental health thought here. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“I’ve learned one thing: You only really get to know a person after a fight. Only then can you judge their true character.” —Anne Frank

Lenny Esposito is an outstanding Christian apologist. Check out this podcast where Lenny discusses the historical facts about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“Life with God is not immunity from difficulties, but peace in difficulties.” —C.S. Lewis

“I believe it will only be known on the Last Day how much has been accomplished in missionary work by the prayers of earnest believers at home.” —James Fraser

John Piper expounds on why God would make mankind in His image, and why He would create such a vast and beautiful universe in which to place mankind.

Speaking of our amazing Creator. I’ve always been fascinated by honeybees! Professor Andrew Barron, in describing the results of an amazing study on bees’ decision-making process, said, “A honeybee has a brain smaller than a sesame seed. And yet she can make decisions faster and more accurately than we can. A robot programmed to do a bee’s job would need the back up of a supercomputer.”

This is a good reminder from Axis for parents with students returning to school. The heading of this section of Axis’ weekly Cultural Teanslator is “Back to Backpacking.”

“What it is: As a new school year begins, teens might have mixed feelings of excitement, anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed.

How to approach this season: As Hannah King writes in Christianity Today, all seasons of transition bring with them an element of loss. Starting a new school year might mean making new friends, meeting new teachers, or starting a new curriculum. It can also mean the loss of free time, increased stress levels, and more difficulty creating intentional moments as a family. For parents, the beginning of a new school year might also feel like a reminder that time with their teens living at home is dwindling down, a feeling which can bring its own set of griefs, pressures, and regret. King recommends allowing space for teens and adults to name the things they’re disappointed about or not looking forward to, noting that repressed sadness can keep us from ‘entering freely into [the] joy’ of a new thing.

“Start the conversation: What will you miss the most about this summer?”

“Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.” —Alex Haley

Links & Quotes

July 22, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

There are two invaluable resources for Christians to process difficult situations the right way: the prayers in the Psalms and journaling. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“…[T]here is an enabling grace from God to endure in the strength he supplies and to do what ought to be done. Call it leadership for the long haul. And since great leadership serves the people, great leadership is servanthood, so we could also call it servanthood for the long haul. Meanwhile, merely enduring falls short. There’s something better. Great servants don’t endure merely. They endure by ‘being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy’ (Colossians 1:11).” —Sam Crabtree

I love the priestly blessing found in Numbers 6:24-26. This post dives deep into this blessing, and as an added bonus also tells of an archeological discovery that marks these verses as “the earliest biblical verses” for which we have archeological evidence.

…and here is even more archeological evidence of the Bible’s historicity. Once again, it can be stated that no archeological discovery has ever contradicted a biblical claim.

It’s not just archeology, but astronomy as well that points to a perfect Creator. “Life requires many parameters in order to survive and thrive. The more data that are uncovered, the more evidence there is that Earth and its environs were specifically designed with the exact conditions needed for life.” This ICR article goes on to describe the perfection with which the sun’s radiation is used by Earth’s plants.

…and an extensive study of a species of octopi also demonstrates the genius of our Creator. “For an animal to adapt to its environment, evolution requires that animal’s DNA to mutate, giving the animal some new ability that helps them survive better. Mutations are permanent. According to evolutionary theory, over long periods of time and after several DNA mutations, a new animal arises that’s better adapted to its environment. But that is not how the octopus adapts to its environment. The changes in the created proteins are made by RNA, not DNA. These changes are not permanent and the DNA remains the same….” Check out the rest of this post.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apologetic, archeology, astronomy, biblical history, biology, blessing, Creator, DNA, Earth, evolution, historicity, Institute for Creation Research, King David, leadership, Numbers, quotes, RNA, scientist, Sun, video. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

July 15, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

One of the things that contributes to “quiet quitting” is a lack of passion. But when the leader has conveyed a compelling vision for all that the organization is doing, that vision fuels the passion to work excellently. Vision can change a “have to” attitude into a “get to” attitude. Check out the full conversation Greg and I had about quiet quitting on the Craig And Greg Show. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” —Arthur Ashe

“Strange as it may seem, the first rule of gracious speech is sincere listening: ‘So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath’ (James 1:19). Being an attentive and sincere listener is like cutting a swath through the jungle. It creates a path along which conversations can develop and people can journey together.” —T.M. Moore

J. Warner Wallace discusses how scientists who were Christians used their biblical worldview to drive their scientific pursuits. As a result, Christian scientists have been awarded more Nobel Prizes than any other group of scientific contributors!

“The devil will not stand by quietly and watch his realm decline and erode. He counterattacks with rage; his onslaught is fierce. One of the tricks he uses is to preoccupy Christian workers with issues that are detrimental to a healthy relationship with Christ. The scenario is all too familiar: a Christian worker gets busy in the ministry and work takes priority over relationship with God. He no longer has the time to sit at Jesus’ feet in quiet solitude and listen to God’s Word. Spiritual emptiness comes unnoticed and with it vulnerability to satan’s sifting (Luke 22:31-34); dishonest handling of monies or power or an illicit relationship is justified, and whoa! immorality has lured and sent such a Christian worker tumbling. He commits what he has preached against. Sin is dangerous. Sin is destructive. Its price is very costly—separation from God, irreversible stigma, damage to family relations, loss of ministry, loss of reputation, a black mark on God’s work, and the list goes on.” —Sobhi Malek

Our Creator gave us an amazing gift of the human brain! I love the fascinating new discoveries that scientists are continuing to make. Like this one: “To be spatially capable creatures, humans need their brains to tell them 1) where things are in relation to themselves and 2) where everything is in relation to everything else—the so-called allocentric map of space. To navigate an environment, the brain seems to generate a mental representation of its surroundings. This is often called a cognitive map.” Read more about our cognitive map here.

I hope you have had a chance to see the movie “Sound of Freedom.” Thankfully, this has gotten a lot of people talking about how to eliminate sex trafficking. Fight The New Drug has an excellent post on how you can spot and report human trafficking, and you should also check out Operation Underground Railroad, which was founded by Tim Ballard (whom Jim Caviezel portrays in the movie).

“It will be a comfort to me all my life to know that the scientist and the materialist have not the last word, that Darwin and Spencer, undermining ancestral beliefs, stand themselves on a foundation of sand.” —C.S. Lewis

Links & Quotes

July 8, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

I shared several videos this week while I was on vacation. If you missed any, you can check them out on my YouTube channel.

A good definition of apologetics is found in Acts 17:2-3. We need to share (1) reasons from Scripture, (2) logical explanations, and (3) verifiable evidence. I have written quite a bit on my blog on the topic of apologetics, including several book reviews of apologetics books that you may want to check out.

The Babylon Bee cracks me up! I love this one: “It has been scientifically proven that it’s impossible to know what women want (and we all know you can’t question science). In fact, there is usually a vast discrepancy between what men think women want and what women actually want. You don’t have to despair, because The Babylon Bee is here to provide an invaluable translation to help give men an idea of what a woman really wants.”

“The life we speak over others they will pass on. While it is true that hurting people hurt others, it is just as true that healed people heal others, blessed people bless others, loved people love others, and ‘mercied’ people mercy others—if, that is, they have any sense of gratefulness.” —Dick Brogden, in Proverbs: Amplified and Applied

“The Kingdom of God will be present within us to the extent that we maintain a clean and good conscience. The conscience is the valuing center of the soul. It holds the priorities which serve to clarify and direct both the mind and the heart for Kingdom presence. As thoughts or affections stir in the soul, the conscience reads the Law of God, which is written on the heart and settled in the mind (Romans 2:14-15), and engages the will to act in line with the vision of Christ and the counsel of His Word.” —T.M. Moore

“Value those people who tell you the truth, not just those people who tell you what you want to hear.” —Pat Summitt

Nabataean king Aretas IV is only mentioned once in the Bible, but once again archeology has bolstered the historicity of the biblical reports. Check out this archeological biography of Aretas IV here, and read more about the historicity of the Bible here.

Some people claim those with a biblical worldview and lifestyle are “extremists.” I think this chart (I cannot find the author to give credit on this one) explains it well.

“Life without love isn’t worth anything. Justice without love makes you hard. Intelligence without love makes you cruel. Kindness without love makes you a hypocrite. And faith without love makes you a fanatic.” —Mother Teresa

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apologetic, archeology, Babylon Bee, biblical history, Book of Acts, Christianity, comedy, Dick Brogden, historicity, leadership, marriage, Mother Teresa, proverbs, quotes, relationships, Romans, T.M. Moore, video, world history. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

July 1, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Some of our best lessons are learned in difficult places, so let’s not be too quick to rush in and soften the blow for someone who has taken a tumble. Check out the full conversation I had with my podcast partner Greg. And be sure to check out all of my videos on my YouTube channel.

“A champion is one who gets up when he can’t.” —Jack Dempsey

Once again, archeological finds in Israel confirm the historicity of the biblical accounts of the kings of Judah and Israel. John Stonestreet shares some of the most recent finds. Jewish archeologist Nelson Gluek states, “It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference.”

“The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.” —Jonas Salk

Scott Hubbard writes, “Stepping into leadership means stepping into mistakes, regrets, and many small but stinging failures. And surviving in leadership, I am learning, means stepping upward on those mistakes—owning them, learning from them, and having the stability in Christ to keep leading after them.” Read more about how leaders can fail well.

J. Warner Wallace addresses the claim that all religions are true or are essentially the same.

“The Scriptures represent the Holy Spirit, not only as moving, and occasionally influencing, the saints, but as dwelling in them as His temple, His proper abode, and everlasting dwelling-place. And He is represented as being there so united to the faculties of the soul, that He becomes there a principle or spring of a new nature and life.” —Jonathan Edwards

Links & Quotes

June 17, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Quite frequently God’s measurement of success is nothing like our measurements. “More” doesn’t always mean success. Check out this example which I unpack in my book Shepherd Leadership. And be sure to check out all of my videos on my YouTube channel.

Living in the Great Lakes state my whole life, I have always been fascinated by the huge bodies of water which surround us—they are almost like mini-oceans. As a result, there have been nearly 600 shipwrecks on our lakes. Check out the history of these wrecks here.

A mini-biography of Robbie Risner, one of our nation’s most decorated pilots in the Korean and Vietnam wars.

In spite of what some skeptics claim, Christianity is not anti-science. In fact, J. Warner Wallace lays out the evidence that shows that Christ-followers have fueled the major scientific advancements of history.

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” —Judy Garland

Isaac Newton said, “Atheism is so senseless. When I look at the solar system, I see the earth at the right distance from the sun to receive the proper amounts of heat and light. This did not happen by chance. … This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” Check out the amazing symmetries in our solar system that Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton all identified.

“The truth is the kindest thing we can give folks in the end.” —Harriet Beecher Stowe

Links & Quotes

June 3, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Never forget that we live among giants. Greg and I would like to encourage you to honor those who gave their lives so we could enjoy the freedom that we have today 🇺🇸 And be sure to check out all of my videos on my YouTube channel.

I am always fascinated by the latest discoveries that scientists are making. Especially when the complexities show the intimate involvement of a loving, all-wise Creator! The Institute for Creation Research reported a new discovery: “Who isn’t curious, at some level at least, about how human brains process all the complicated inputs and outputs that our daily lives require? Neurobiologists take that curiosity to the top floor. Their recent discovery of a new function for certain neurons has suddenly added a new dimension to these tiny processors along with a new take on how they came to be in the first place.”

“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

J. Warner Wallace shares five reasons why we can trust that the Bible is historically accurate.