Transforming Grace (book review)

November 21, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

Not too long ago I read that the song “Amazing Grace” was the best-known song in the entire world. People who know Jesus as their Savior certainly can attest to how amazing grace is. But what about after someone becomes a Christian? What happens with grace then? Jerry Bridges dives into this topic with his eye-opening look at Transforming Grace.

In the opening lines of the preface, Bridges states, “The Bible teaches we are not only saved by grace, but we also live by grace every day of our lives.” This is a concept that many Christians miss, and as a result feel like they are living their lives on what Bridges calls “the performance treadmill.” In other words, far too many Christians mistakenly think that God’s grace saved them, but now it will be their own righteous works that will keep them saved.

In 13 chapters, Bridges dismantles the “performance” mindset and helps Christians see the freedom and joy that come from a proper understanding of how grace transforms and empowers our lives every day.

To help transfer Bridges’ lessons into everyday application, I also highly recommend getting a couple of friends together for this journey. Not only read Transforming Grace together, but then take some time to work through the discussion guides for each chapter. These guides will give you some Scriptures to ponder, and some discussion-starting questions to talk about with your friends. This time will help you go from learner-to-liver with the concepts of transforming grace.

I am a NavPress book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , . 4 Comments »

50 Core American Documents (book review)

November 7, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it,”  said George Santayana. And if American citizens do not learn our country’s great history of freedom, we might not only repeat painful lessons but lose those hard-won freedoms as well. A great place to start learning is with 50 Core American Documents, compiled by Christopher Burkett.

Many times when we study history, we read a synthesized version of it from an author writing several years (or even decades) after an important American era has passed. There isn’t anything wrong with this, provided that the historian is accurate in his or her portrayal of the events and the people involved in the events. But in this compilation, the “middleman” has been cut out, as you will read the words spoken or written by the history makers themselves. There is no “spin” or interpretation of what was said, but just the words right from the originator.

These documents will take you back to before there was a United States of America, and then through some of the most pivotal and paradigm-shifting times in our history. Truly this compilation of documents should be required reading for anyone serious about understanding and safeguarding the freedoms we enjoy in this great land.

I highly recommend this book to you!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , . 1 Comment »

Live Dead Journey (book review)

October 31, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

Live Dead is a call to missionaries to leave the comfortable and the familiar behind to take the message of Jesus where it hasn’t been taken before. In Live Dead Journey you will see twelve different mission fields in the Arabic world through the eyes of Live Dead personnel who are living and serving in those cities.

In each of twelve stops, you will have a fantastic tour of a key city in the Arabic world. Then you will hear from each of these missionaries how they are empowered to minister in such challenging fields. Each of them credits abiding time with Jesus, but they will share with you how this is personalized to each of them, in fitting with their own personality and temperament.

Live Dead is not to be undertaken lightly, but it’s an all-in commitment. “If we are to finish the task, there will be a cost. It will take blood and boldness, sweat and suffering, tears and tenacity. Some will be imprisoned, some will die, some will spend a lifetime of labor with little credit and little reward. All will have to live dead.” But the eternal rewards are so worth it!

Although this book is featuring the Arabic world, any Christian who desires to make an impact in his or her community will find ample encouragement in the words of these front-lines missionaries. As an added benefit, you will also know how to pray for and support these Live Dead missionaries.

I am a Live Dead Publishing book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments »

As Kingfishers Catch Fire (book review)

October 24, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

Eugene Peterson may be best known for his work on The Message: a paraphrase of the Bible in more modern English. But before he worked on The Message, he was already putting the Bible into modern English in his weekly sermons. As Kingfishers Catch Fire is a collection of 49 of these sermons.

Peterson says, “When I prepare and preach a sermon, I need constant reminding that I am part of a company that has a rich and varied genealogy. I do not start from scratch. I do not make up something new.” These sermons are divided into seven categories, in which Peterson states he is “preaching in the company of Moses, David, Isaiah, Solomon, Peter, Paul, and John.”

To be honest with you, this collection of sermons was a bit of a disappointment to me. I was anticipating sermons that were much more expositional in nature, but instead I read sermons which were Peterson’s poetic thoughts about a passage of Scripture. I found this curious since Peterson himself says in the introduction to this book that “the Christian life is the lifelong practice of attending to the details of congruence…between preaching and living, congruence between the sermon and what is lived in both preacher and congregation” (emphasis mine). And yet I found in these sermons very few details to actually attend to and live out.

If you prefer poetic discussions of Scripture in which you will have to find your own way of applying biblical principles to your life, you will probably enjoy this collection. But if you are looking for a meatier walk through the Bible, these sermons will probably leave you—as they did me—a bit flat.

I am a WaterBrook book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , . 2 Comments »

13 Introspective Questions From “Longing For A Changed World”

October 20, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

As Ralph Lehman made his case for Christian to (re)establish a prayer focus for revival in his book Longing For A Changed World, he asked several penetrating questions. Here are a few of them for you to consider.

“[Josiah’s revival] was one revival that began with the leaders of government. Are we praying for our leaders?”

“Our government has entered many areas that were once considered to be the Church’s sphere of ministry. How can we lead our churches back into these areas?”

“Have you considered that you are grieving the Spirit when you deprive Him of conversing with God by choosing not to pray?”

“As men of prayer, should we not strive to be like the great prayer warriors of the Bible?”

“Tertullian, a church father who lived in the Roman Empire around 200 A.D., stated that the Roman emperor and his armies benefited greatly from the prayers of the Christians who interceded on their behalf. Can we present the same argument to our political leaders today?”

“What would we be willing to leave or to set aside for the sake of more time in prayer, seeking the Kingdom and righteousness of God?”

“Do we seek the Lord of revival, or merely desire His blessings?”

“If we do not enjoy God’s presence, through His Word and prayer, we are missing the true blessing God intends for us—the blessing of Himself. If we will not seek the presence of God day by day, how can we expect Him to go with us in our daily lives?”

“If God was willing to take the Israelites into the Promised Land without His presence [Exodus 33:3-4], what does this say to the proponents of the ‘health and wealth’ gospel?”

“Even though we have been blessed immeasurably by living here in the United States, do our hearts long for God’s rule to be acknowledged in our land? Do we yearn to abide in His presence? Or are we idle in our contentment with the milk and honey?”

“Sometimes, our areas of giftedness become spheres where we fail to ask God for strength. Have you considered your strengths may be the very areas that satan exploits?”

“Are we praying for revival, are we also praying that we would conduct ourselves in such a way that the world would take notice, even if this meant for us to suffer?”

“Is the God of today’s church big enough to surprise us?”

You can check out some other quotes from Longing For A Changed World by clicking here, and my full book review is available here.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

10 Quotes From “Longing For A Changed World”

October 18, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

Longing For A Changed World will help you (re)establish a prayer focus that could be the beginning of the next great revival! You can check out my full book review here, and then enjoy some of the quotes that especially caught my attention.

“Our age, severed from its Biblical moorings, is neglecting history’s lessons.”

“Another characteristic of today’s Church is a lack of prayer. Instead of communing and listening to God, lifting our needs and concerns to the Lord, we rely on our own abilities and in technology to compensate for any inadequacy we may have. Thus armed, we are confident in taking on the challenges of our day, even those spiritual in nature.”

“True revival impacts all aspects of life, even to the concerns of the last, the least, and the lost. A people who uphold justice and righteousness and seeks to alleviate the plight of the poor and needy, are a people truly gripped with revival. For when we are consumed with God’s holiness and how blessed we are by His grace, we are compelled to take this Gospel to all aspects of our culture.”

“Our propensity is to focus on being doers—to be on the battlefield, sword in hand, fighting for the Kingdom and for righteousness. But as in the battle with the Amalekites, battles are won by God’s people lifting up their arms to the Lord.”

“I have been more focused on what I wanted to say in my prayer than on Whom I am approaching in prayer. This often leads to prayer that amounts to a tallying-up of my wants, without proper regard for the One into Whose presence I have come.”

“Our prayers as a whole, and prayers for revival, should reflect our poverty and powerlessness before a God who is forgiving and gracious.”

“Pray for boldness in the church—boldness to proclaim God’s Word and to firmly stand on it. Pray for boldness to confront sin yet boldness accompanied with humility as the church is aware (painfully aware) of its own sinfulness. And pray for boldness to present Christ as the Way and the Truth.”

“Praying expectantly requires us to pray to God in line with His Word and His promises. Thus a decline in biblical literacy has resulted in our prayer life wavering as well.”

“Our pleas for revival will go unheeded until we stand up for God’s Word, forsake the idols of our age, shake off the trappings of our secular and materialistic age, and embrace God’s truth.”

“As we pray for revival—for changed lives, renewed churches, and a transformed culture—our tendency might be to enlist the charismatic, the eloquent, and those who project confidence and success, traits that so readily appeal to us. But God’s manner of bringing revival has often been through ordinary people who endure affliction, hardship, and suffering, much as he did with Paul and Timothy and the Apostles.”

I’ll be sharing more resourced and thoughts from this book soon, so stay tuned!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment »

Longing For A Changed World (book review)

October 17, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

I grew up with this axiom ringing in my ears: “The Church moves forward on its knees.” Lately, however, it seems that the Church is attempting to move forward in every way she can think of, and only turning to prayer as a last resort. Ralph Lehman has given the Church a clarion call to return to its only reliable posture for success: Constant, unwavering prayer. Longing For A Changed World will challenge you to return to this dependable supply of prayer once again.

This book is written as a series of short challenges for us to (re)consider how indispensable prayer is for both the individual Christian and the collective Church. Ralph recalls both biblical and historical revivals in which prayer played the vital role of bringing people back to their knees in humble prayer to God for His help.

The subtitle of this book is Meditations on prayer for revival. At the close of each chapter, Ralph has included questions on which you can reflect. I found these introspective questions to be quite confronting as I compared my prayer life to those revival-starting prayers of the past.

Ralph mentions that women have an almost innate desire and propensity to turn to God in prayer, while men typically try to “fix” things themselves before asking for prayer. So Longing For A Changed World is really targeted at the men in our churches, although anyone who desires to see the Church revived will benefit greatly from reading this book.

Please don’t put off prayer any longer! This book will help rekindle your passion for prayer!

I am a Waxed Tablet Publications book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , . 3 Comments »

If (book review)

October 10, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

Amy Carmichael was a committed follower of Jesus Christ! She served as a missionary in India, where she operated an orphanage, for 55 years. During all that time, she never took a furlough, but remained at her post, faithfully loving Indian children with God’s love. She wrote a number of books, but perhaps the most hard-hitting is a little book simply called If.

This isn’t a book for everyone. In fact, Amy herself wrote, “It is clear, I think, that such a booklet as this is not meant for everyone, but only for those who are called to be undershepherds.” By ‘undershepherds,’ Amy is referring to those who feel God has called them into full-time vocational ministry.

(A little side-note. I feel the Bible is clear that all followers of Christ are to be involved in ministry [see Ephesians 4:11-16], but God has appointed some to positions where their ministry is also their vocation. These ‘undershepherds’ [see 1 Peter 5:2-3] will have to give account to God for the handling of their vocational ministry [Hebrews 13:17]. It is to these folks that Amy writes.)

Amy set the bar high for herself. She expected to be continually growing in her level of commitment to Christ, and she expected that her outward life would continually show greater devotion to her Savior. If comes out of Amy’s personal introspection in the Holy Spirit’s presence on how she was progressing in her faith-walk with God.

If is written as a series of challenges that all follow the same format: “If I don’t measure up to God’s standard in this area … then I know nothing of Calvary love.” I realize this sounds challenging. In fact, this book smacked me right between the eyes! This is why If is only for a small segment of people.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments »

Evidence That Demands A Verdict (book review)

October 3, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

The Apostle Peter wrote a letter to Christians in which he called them “aliens and strangers” because of their belief in a personal Creator and Lord. In this letter, he tells Christians to “always be prepared to give an answer” to those skeptics who want to know about their faith in God. In Evidence That Demands A Verdict, Josh and Sean McDowell have given Christians a key component to help them be prepared to give sound answers.

This book is massive (at just under 900 pages)! But it is an encyclopedia of evidence that will prepare Christians to respond to any argument that an atheist or skeptic may bring up. To be honest with you, the Table of Contents is usually one of the first places I study in books I’m reading, but I usually end up skimming through it pretty quickly. But in Evidence, I was pleasantly surprised at the layout. Not only will you find a listing of the chapters, but a brief description of the contents. At the opposite end of the book, the Subject Index is also quite extensive. I know these are not things usually bragged on in a book review, but for a book this size—and for the numerous times you undoubtedly will be returning to prepare to answer a skeptic—these two reference points are extremely handy!

The first edition of Evidence (written by just Josh) came out nearly 20 years ago. If anything, the evidence for the beliefs that Christians hold has been further validated through research, archeological discoveries, and the like. So it was time for this classic book to be updated. The additional apologetic insights from Sean in this edition is a very nice addition.

Whether you read Evidence when it was first released or not, every Christian that wants to answer Peter’s directive for preparedness needs to get this new edition.

I am Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . 8 Comments »

Ordering Your Private World (book review)

September 26, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

You can look all neat and tidy on the outside, you can talk a good game and even have some short-term success. But if you aren’t growing on the inside, all that good looking outside stuff will eventually come crashing down. This is exactly what Gordon MacDonald addresses in his revised and updated book Ordering Your Private World.

MacDonald shares a quote from Ezra Pound which captures the theme of this book: “If a (person) has not order within him, he cannot spread order about him.” Amen!

Here’s what I love about Gordon MacDonald’s heart. This book is a revised and updated version of his original work. The first edition sold more than a million copies! MacDonald could have sat back and collected his royalty checks, but instead, he has kept growing, kept learning, kept on ordering his own private world, and wasn’t content until he could share his ever-growing insights with a whole new generation.

MacDonald is quite candid about the collapse of his own inner world, and how he had to work to restore and rebuild that. Throughout this book you will read more of his personal stories, as well as accounts from historical people (both famous and relatively unknown), and you will learn from numerous biblical examples as well.

Ordering Your Private World will help you reassess your priorities, learn how to take control of your time, help you find the best supports for your inner world, see through a biblical lens, and learn what it truly means to take a rest.

This book will be beneficial for everyone who wants to ensure their inner world is strong enough to support their outer world, but I would especially recommend this book to those in leadership positions. Leaders tend to be much more hard-charging and results-oriented people, and as such may neglect their own inner world. But whoever you are, this book will be a valuable part of your life.

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments »
« Older posts
Newer posts »