11 Quotes From “Visioneering”

March 5, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

VisioneeringIf you’ve got a big dream to pursue, Visioneering by Andy Stanley could be a big help. You can read my full book review by clicking here. Below are 11 quotes from this book which especially caught my eye.

“As Christians, we do not have a right to take our talents, abilities, experiences, opportunities, and education and run off in any direction we please. We lost that right at Calvary. …At the same time, we have no right to live visionless lives either. If God—think about it—if God has a vision for what you are to do with your allotment of years, you had better get in on it. What a tragedy to miss it. Missing out on God’s plan for our lives must be the greatest tragedy this side of eternity.” 

“What could be and should be can’t be until God is ready for it to be.”

“Three important things are taking place while we wait: (1)The vision matures in us; (2) We mature in preparation for the vision; (3) God is at work behind the scenes preparing the way.”

“Prayer is critical to vision development. Here’s why: We see what we are looking for; we often miss what we don’t expect to see. …Prayer keeps us looking. Prayer keeps the burden fresh. It keeps our eyes and hearts in an expectant mode. Prayer doesn’t force God’s hand. But it keeps us on the lookout for His intervention. Prayer sensitizes us to subtle changes in the landscape of our circumstances.”

“God is using your circumstances to prepare you to accomplish His vision for your life. Your present circumstances are part of the vision. You are not wasting your time. You are not spinning your wheels. You are not wandering in the wilderness. If you are ‘seeking first’ His kingdom where you are, then where you are is where He has positioned you. And He has positioned you there with a purpose in mind.” 

“An agonizingly important principle: what always precedes how. You will know what God has put in your heart to do before you know how He intends to bring it about. …How is never a problem for God. It is usually a big problem for us. But how is God’s specialty.”

“I think it is safe to assume that most Christians are not attempting anything that requires God’s intervention. They are not looking for God to do anything special. They are not aware that they need Him to do anything special. They are trusting that He will step in once they breathe their last breath. But other than that, they live as if they have everything under control. If you want to know how you score on this issue, listen to your prayers and prayer requests. What do you pray for? What are the things you find yourself praying for night after night? Those are your passions. Those are the things that matter most to you. Pretty scary, huh? A little embarrassing? Somewhat self-centered? What was your response the last time someone asked you for a prayer request? Did you have to think for a moment? Was your response kind of … well … less than inspiring? Or did your eyes light up as you thought about that thing, that person, that ministry you were trusting God for? Other than Heaven, and possibly your health, what are you consciously depending on God to do?” 

“This world is filled with people who stopped one question short of finding an avenue that would allow them to pursue their vision. Don’t let the discouragement of a few slammed doors cause you to walk away from the vision God has birthed in your heart. Investigate. Look around. Think outside the lines. Few destinations have only one point of access. The same is true of your vision. If your initial approach is blocked, look for alternatives. Don’t give up too quickly. You may be one question away from discovering the key that will unlock the door that stands between you and God’s vision for your life. God will use this period of investigation to confirm, sharpen, and, sometimes, redirect your vision.”

“When a man or woman is willing to give up something valuable for a God-ordained vision, God looks upon it as worship.” 

“Our natural response to criticism is to defend ourselves. This is especially true when our vision is under attack. We are tempted to begin a dialogue with our critics or with those who are parroting their criticism. Consequently, we waste energy and thought trying to answer questions for people who are often not really interested in answers. Without realizing it, our focus begins to shift. Instead of being vision centered, we slowly become critic centered.”

“You have a destiny to fulfill. God has placed before you opportunities and responsibilities that are brimming with divine significance. He has given you gifts, talents, and relationships that are waiting to be exploited on behalf of His kingdom.”

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Visioneering (book review)

March 4, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

VisioneeringWhat a great word! Visioneering: A blueprint for developing and maintaing personal vision by Andy Stanley is how God want to use you to help engineer the vision He has birthed in you.

Andy Stanley is an author that I thoroughly enjoy reading. His wisdom is profoundly practical, which means he uncovers things I never would have seen, but does it in a way that I can immediately apply. Visioneering uses the story of Nehemiah in the Bible as the template to guide us through the steps necessary to see a God-breathed vision become a reality.

Andy uncovers in the life of Nehemiah the things that are universal to anyone who has a burning desire to see things around them taken to a higher level. Things like: second-guessing whether God actually spoke that particular vision, the first steps to take, how to handle criticism, pulling together a team to work together on fulfilling the vision, handling setbacks, keeping all of the team members aligned behind the vision, and what the ultimate purpose of a God-given vision really is.

Each chapter concludes with some thought-provoking questions, and a place to record your answers to those questions. These guides help put “feet” to the concepts shared in each chapter.

After reading Visioneering you will be more energized and equipped to do the great things God is calling you to do.

I am a Multnomah book reviewer.

Check out some quotes from this book here.

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11 Quotes From “The Secrets Of Intercessory Prayer”

February 26, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

The Secrets of Intercessory PrayerJack Hayford’s latest book is reenergizing the way I pray for my family members. If you want to know why prayer for your family is so powerful, if you’re feeling a bit discouraged in the seemingly unanswered prayers for your family, or if you just want to “take it up a notch” as you pray, The Secrets Of Intercessory Prayer is for you (you can read my full book review by clicking here). These are a few quotes that especially caught my eye from this book.

“Prayer in all regards takes a new frame of reference when we understand the war between God’s Kingdom and satan’s dark hordes. This battle, insofar as it involves earth, is one in which God has called us to engage, enlisting us as ‘knee-soldiers’ whose prayer-call for the ‘incoming’ of God’s Kingdom will welcome a barrage of God’s power to break through the darkness and bring deliverance to people we know.”

“Let this truth grip you with hope: If the promise of God concerning His coming Messiah, His own Son, was interrupted by the failure of humanity (in this case, the later generations of David’s offspring) and God bridged and reconnected that ‘cut-off,’ then He wants us to understand this as a power-principle for prayer. Just as God navigated that failure and brought the tender plant out of the stump that had been cut off, so He is inviting you to pray and believe that He will do the same in your relationships.”

“Let the Holy Spirit shine a searchlight in your own heart and cleanse anything that restricts the power and liberty of your intercessory role in the family. I know that I am neutralized for effective prayer to the degree that negativity characterizes my attitude toward anyone for whom I pray.”

“We refuse to sustain that spirit of death and separation through any kind of ‘labeling.’ … Without such integrity of heart before God we may unwittingly be preventing our families and friends from receiving the flow of God’s life and love.”

“Praying for those we love is not a substitute for their need to hear God’s Word of truth—the Gospel. But many of those we find resisting already know it, and for them the ‘pushiness’ of a relative deepens resistance. On the other hand—as you abide in continual prayer—the truth that they may most need at the present is a sense of your acceptance of them, even as they understand that acceptance is not approval of sinful behavior. While it is painful to see a loved one persist in sin, especially if it is self-destructive, God’s Spirit has spoken or is speaking to them about their need to turn to Him. Our prayer for them is pivotal in this regard. But it is also our job to leave God’s part for Him to achieve, as only He can.”

“The greatest tool of evangelism when it comes to loved ones is to be genuinely loving and friendly to them without the taint of manipulation. … Winning people to Christ is not conquering them or verifying yourself. It is about showing so much of Jesus that they cannot resist Him.”

“The deeper we move into the last days, the greater the need for our young people to have the shelter and the shield, the presence and the power, the wisdom and the discernment of the Holy Spirit! …The literal word for perilous used in the Greek text of 2 Timothy 3:1 describes the last days as ‘evil, ferocious, lion-like and demon-filled.’”

“Here is a key point for us to embrace as we persevere in prayer for our loved ones: Jesus wants to minister through us.”

“We are capable of compromising our discipleship under Jesus’ Lordship, not by the values we hold but by the spirit in which we respond to those whose values offend Him. …If I am unwilling to pray with a heart of passion for sinners who indulge in the perverse, the shameful and the corrupt and who do it with glee, will my passion be driven by my anger or by my sense of God’s broken heart for such warping of one of His own creation, for such satanic bondage in a being He longs to know the beauty of His original purpose?”

“Instead of yielding to fatalism, hear the call: ‘Keep praying, even when tough stuff happens,’ and do this by invading the difficult with thanksgiving, because the truth larger than the problem is that God’s power can transform any mess when He is invited into it.”

“That is what the will of God is for us: to lift up praise to Him with gratitude for His nature, which does not plan the evil, the injurious or the painful, but who—in these things—is the only One able to address them in love, resolve them in wisdom, provide for them in grace and transform then by His power. Give thanks in song for that!”

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The Secrets Of Intercessory Prayer (book review)

February 25, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

The Secrets of Intercessory PrayerI have always appreciated Jack Hayford’s heart of compassion. No matter the topic he is addressing, I always feel like his words are soaked in God’s love. In The Secrets Of Intercessory Prayer, Pastor Hayford lovingly addresses a topic that weighs heavily on so many people’s hearts: the eternal destination of our family members.

As a pastor myself, one of the most frequently requested prayer need people share with me is the salvation of their loved ones. It can be so gut-wrenching to feel like someone you love is on a path toward destruction, and seemingly all of your efforts to get them off that path are ineffective. The subtitle of this book is Unleashing God’s Power In The Lives Of Those You Love. What a powerful thought!

I, too, have family members for which I pray on a daily basis, and I found this book to be so encouraging and invigorating. Not only did Pastor Hayford help me see what my prayers are accomplishing in the lives of my loved ones, but his challenging words reengaged me to pray with even greater purpose and intensity.

This book is not so much a how to pray book as it is a why to pray book. If your heart is burdened to pray for your children, grandchildren, parents, or other loved ones, I am confident that The Secrets Of Intercessory Prayer will reignite your prayers and refuel your faith.

I am a Chosen Books book reviewer.

Check out some quotes I shared from this book here.

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8 Quotes From “I Never Thought I’d See The Day”

February 19, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

I Never Thought I'd See The DayYou can read my book review of Dr. David Jeremiah’s I Never Thought I’d See The Day by clicking here. These are eight quotes that especially caught my attention in this book. Unless the quotes are otherwise attributed, they are from Dr. Jeremiah.

“I’ve shaken my fist in anger at stalled cars, storm clouds, and incompetent meteorologists. I’ve even, on one terrible day, that included a dead alternator, a blaring tornado-warning siren, and a horribly wrong weather forecast, cursed all three at once. I’ve fumed at furniture, cursed at crossing guards, and held a grudge against Gun Barrel City, Texas. I’ve been mad at just about anything you can imagine.

“Except unicorns. I’ve never been angry at unicorns.

“It’s unlikely you’ve ever been angry at unicorns either. We can become incensed by objects and creations both animate and inanimate. We can even, in a limited sense, be bothered by the fanciful characters in books and dreams. But creatures like unicorns that don’t exist—that we truly believe not to exist—tend not to raise our ire. We certainly don’t blame the one-horned creatures for our problems.

“The one social group that takes exception to this rule is atheists. They claim to believe that God does not exist and yet, according to empirical studies, tend to be the people most angry at Him.” —Joe Carter

“While the atheist arrogantly persists in the delusion that his reason is fully capable of figuring out all that there is, the religious believer lives in the humble acknowledgment of the limits of human knowledge, knowing that there is a reality greater than, and beyond, that which our senses and minds can ever apprehend.” —Dinesh D’Souza

“God brought two perfect, sinless people together in the Garden of Eden, a man and a woman who knew the perfect love of God. They did not get married to find love but to walk together in the unity and purpose God created them to fulfill: the primary task of birthing and raising the next generation. And in the process, love happened.”

“It is significant that while Adam was single, satan did not approach him or tempt him to disobey God. He waited until after Adam’s marriage to launch his attack. You would think it easier to attack one person instead of two, but by waiting he was able to attack not just an individual, but also God’s foundational building block for harmony and stability—marriage. By attacking marriage, he was able to create division and disharmony between humans themselves as well as between humans and God.”

“The oneness found in marriage is the same kind of oneness found in the Trinity.”

“We can be lulled into complacency by adopting uncritically the principle of submission to government on the assumption that the Christian history of our nation makes it safe to let our leaders do our thinking for us. But we cannot do this in our post-Christian nation where God’s Word is being marginalized. Nothing could be more dangerous for Christians and churches than to wander thoughtlessly down this path of increasing biblical indifference—a path that could well lead to a place where the Bible is not merely marginalized, but banned outrightly.”

“If the Church is being ignored because we preach the message of ‘Jesus Christ and Him crucified’ (1 Corinthians 2:2), or because the Gospel has become ‘a stumbling stone and rock of offense’ (Romans 9:33) to the world, that’s one thing. But if we are deemed irrelevant because we’re an anemic version of the world’s entertainment options or because we aren’t playing the world’s game nearly as well as the world does, then that’s another thing. That’s a tragedy.”

“William Tyndale wisely sought to avoid the confusion between ‘Church” and ‘church’ by translating ekklesia as ‘congregation’ instead of ‘church.’ …We must maintain a clean understanding of the difference between Church and church—and the priority of the former over the latter. Church buildings can necessitate huge investments of resources for construction and maintenance, and they are only temporary. Keeping the focus on people is the biblical priority and will result in the Church’s remaining relevant.”

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I Never Thought I’d See The Day (book review)

February 18, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

I Never Thought I'd See The DayThe subtitle of Dr. David Jeremiah’s book is the most telling—I Never Thought I’d See The Day: Culture At The Crossroads. It is true that our American culture is at a crossroads, and decisions will have to be made now that could very well effect the direction of the church, and of this nation.

As a side note, I have a bit of an issue with the title of the book. To think we’d never see the day where our culture was sliding away from God’s standard is a bit of hyperbole. Any student of history knows that cultures have always gone through such things many, many times. What is true with American culture now has been true with other cultures, in other eras, on other continents. However, this by no means that Dr. Jeremiah has misdiagnosed where America is now.

Before a cure can be realized, a patient must first know he is sick. Then he must go to a doctor and be willing to follow the prescribed course of treatment. In many ways, Americans know something’s “not quite right” with our society, but have been unable to pinpoint the root cause. Dr. Jeremiah correctly diagnoses an American culture that has become increasingly humanistic, antagonistic toward Jesus, pluralistic, and obstinate toward the teachings of the Bible. In each chapter, Dr. Jeremiah diagnoses one symptom of our disease, and lays out a God-honoring cure.

Here’s the million dollar question: Will we follow the course of treatment?

In the last chapter, Dr. Jeremiah says,

I am pessimistic about man’s ability, independent from his Creator-God, to solve the problems he creates—especially problems of enormous scale such as those our nation and the world face today. I am, however, an optimist about God. And it is toward Him that we must turn our attention….

I Never Though I’d See The Day is a sobering read. Each chapter shows us just how far from God we’ve slid (that’s the pessimistic part), but then Dr. Jeremiah lays out a plan to bring us back to a God-fearing society (that’s the optimistic part). It’s a very interesting read which I especially think church leaders and God-fearing civic leaders must read.

I am a Faith Words book reviewer.

Check out some quotes from this book here.

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15 Quotes From “Draw The Circle”

February 13, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

Draw The CircleI loved the challenging message about prayer in Draw The Circle by Mark Batterson. You can read my full book review by clicking here. Here are 15 quotes that especially stood out to me.

“You don’t need to seek opportunity. All you have to do is seek God. And if you seek God, opportunity will seek you.”

“Sometimes the purpose of prayer is to get us out of circumstances, but more often than not, the purpose of prayer is to get us through them. I’m certainly not suggesting we shouldn’t pray deliverance prayers, but there are times we need to pray prevailing prayers. …We’re often so anxious to get out of difficult, painful, or challenging situations that we fail to grow through them. We’re so fixated on getting out of them that we don’t get anything out of them. We fail to learn the lessons God is trying to teach us or cultivate the character God is trying to grow in us. We’re so focused on God changing our circumstances that we never allow God to change us! So instead of ten or twenty years of experience, we have one year of experience repeated ten or twenty times. Sometimes we need to pray ‘get me out’ prayers. But sometimes we need to pray ‘get me through’ prayers. And we need the discernment to know when to pray what.”

“After hitting our knees, we need to take a small step of faith. And those small steps of faith often turn into giant leaps. Like Noah, who kept building an ark day after day, we keep hammering away at the dream God has given us. Like the Israelites, who kept circling Jericho for seven days, we keep circling God’s promises. Like Elijah, who kept sending his servant back to look for a rain cloud, we actively and expectantly wait for God’s answer. …We can pray until our knees are numb, but if our praying isn’t accompanied by acting, then we won’t get anywhere. We need to put feet to our faith. After kneeling down, we need to stand up and step out in faith.”

“Maybe our normal is so subnormal that normal seems abnormal. Maybe we need a new normal. Bold prayers and big dreams are normal. Anything less is subnormal.”

“Prayer gives us a God’s-eye view. It heightens our awareness and gives us a sixth sense that enables us to perceive spiritual realities that are beyond our five senses.” 

“Praying is planting. Each prayer is like a seed that gets planted in the ground. It disappears for a season, but it eventually bears fruit that blesses future generations. …Even when we die, our prayers don’t. Each prayer takes on a life, an eternal life, of its own.”

“It’s our childlike faith, not our theological vocabulary, that moves the heart of our Heavenly Father.” 

“Praying hard is not the path of least resistance; it’s usually the path of most resistance because we engage in spiritual warfare. …It’s the prayers you pray when you feel like you want to quit praying that can bring the greatest breakthroughs.”

“Our problem typically isn’t overclaiming the promises of God; it’s underclaiming them.” 

“You’ve got to praise God if the answer is yes and trust Him if the answer if no. If the answer is not yet, you’ve got to keep circling. It’s always too soon to give up! What other option do you have? To pray or not to pray. Those are the only options.”

“Drawing prayer circle isn’t some magic trick to get what you want from God. God is not a genie in a bottle, and your wish is not His command. His command better be your wish. If it’s not, you won’t be drawing prayer circles; you’ll end up walking in circles. …Until His sovereign will becomes your sanctified wish, your prayer life will be unplugged from its power supply.” 

“Sin doesn’t just harden the heart; it also hardens our hearing. In fact, it makes us turn a deaf ear to God because we don’t want to hear the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit. But if you aren’t willing to listen to the convicting voice of the Spirit, you won’t hear His comforting voice, forgiving voice, or merciful voice either. Sin creates relational distance, and distance makes it harder to hear the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. But if you get close to God, you won’t miss a thing he says. And if you incline your ear to God, God will incline His ear to you.”

“There comes a moment when praying becomes a form of spiritual procrastination. It’s time to stop praying and start acting. …One of the great mistakes we make is asking God to do for us what God wants us to do for Him. …Prayer that doesn’t lead to action isn’t true prayer; it’s self-talk. When we talk to God, God will talk back to us. He will provoke us, rouse us, stir us, goad us, and prompt us. When we say ‘amen,’ inaction is no longer an option.” 

“When God answers a prayer, no matter how big or how small, we need to share it. It’s a stewardship issue. If we don’t turn the answer to prayer into praise, it may very well turn into pride.”

“Our prayers have the potential to write and rewrite history.”

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Draw The Circle (book review)

February 11, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

Draw The CircleA year ago I was challenged to go deeper in my prayer life by Mark Batterson’s book The Circle Maker. Now I’ve just completed a 40-day journey through Mark’s follow up book Draw The Circle and I realize how much more I still have to learn about prayer!

I love beginning each new year with a reminder on the importance and the power of prayer. For two years in a row I’ve been both challenged and encouraged by these two Mark Batterson books. Draw The Circle is intended to be read slowly, with just one prayer thought each day for 40 days. As I read each day’s entry, I was able to add another component to my prayer arsenal.

On the last page, Mark sums up the subject of prayer well when he writes—

“Prayer is the difference between appointments and divine appointments. Prayer is the difference between good ideas and God-ideas. Prayer is the difference between the favor of God and the luck of the draw. Prayer is the difference between closed doors and open doors. Prayer is the difference between possible and impossible. Prayer is the difference between the best we can do and the best God can do.” 

The Circle Maker and Draw The Circle don’t have to be read together for you to get excited about the power of prayer, but if you do read them back-to-back, it’s a powerful one-two punch! And for parents and grandparents, be sure to add Praying Circles Around Your Kids too!

Any time spent learning about prayer is an investment with huge upside potential and these books are well worth your time.

Check out some quotes from Draw The Circle here.

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19 Quotes From “Who Do You Think You Are?”

February 6, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

Who Do You Think You AreWho Do You Think You Are? by Mark Driscoll is an insightful journey through the book of Ephesians. You can read my full book review by clicking here. Below are some of the passages that especially stood out to me.

“This world’s fundamental problem is that we don’t understand who we truly are—children of God made in His image—and instead define ourselves by any number of things other than Jesus. Only by knowing our false identity apart from Christ in relation to our true identity in Him can we rightly deal with and overcome the issues in our lives.”

“What you do doesn’t determine who you are. Rather, who you are in Christ determines what you do.”

“Our worship never starts and stops. It’s not limited to a building in which we attend sacred meetings and sing worship songs. Rather, our entire life is devoted to pouring ourselves into someone or something. Saying it another way, we’re ‘unceasing worshippers.’ We aren’t created to worship, but rather we’re created worshipping.”

“While it’s not a sin to plan and strive for a better tomorrow, it is a sin to set one’s joy and identity on who we will be, what we will do, or what we will have tomorrow in our own efforts rather than on Christ today and who He will make us, what He will have us do, and what He will give to us tomorrow.”

“While it’s true that sin has affected the totality of our persons, including our minds, wills, and emotions, we fail to say all that the Bible does regarding our identity when we place undue focus on our depravity as fallen sinners and ignore our dignity as created image bearers and our new identity as redeemed Christian saints. While a non-Christian is totally depraved, a Christian is in Christ.”

“A saint does sin. But a Christian is one who has saint as their constant identity and sinner as their occasional activity. For the Christian, there is a vital difference between having sin and being sin.”

“Sin may explain some of your activity, but it’s not your identity. Your identity is in Christ, and because of your new identity, by God’s grace through the Holy Spirit’s power, you can change your activity. Because you are a new person positionally in Christ, you can live a new life practically by the power of the Holy Spirit. This truth is deeply helpful and vitally practical.”

“Pride is our enemy and humility is our ally. Pride compares us to other sinners; humility compares us to our sinless Savior. Pride covets the success of others; humility celebrates it. Pride is about me; humility is about Jesus and other people. Pride is about my glory; humility is about God’s glory. Pride causes separation from God; humility causes dependence on God. Pride is pregnant with all sins; humility is pregnant with all joys. Pride leads to arrogance; humility leads to confidence. Pride causes me to do things in my own strength; humility compels me to do things in God’s strength. …None of us, with the exception of Jesus Christ, can ever say we’re truly humble. Instead, all we can say is that we’re proud people pursuing humility by the grace of God.”

“In Christ, you’re graced. You’re chosen by grace, saved by grace, kept by grace, gifted by grace, empowered by grace, matured by grace, and sanctified by grace. You persevere by grace, and one day will see Jesus, the best Friend you’ve ever had, face-to-face, by grace.”

“God is as equally glorified when we praise Him for His unmediated grace as when we’re thankful for those through whom He chooses to deliver it. …We’re to thank God for being faithful to His people and to thank His people for being faithful to Him.”

“Before we can understand and embrace our identity in Christ, we must first accept our identity apart from Christ. Becoming a Christian is not merely accepting the truth about Jesus as our Savior. It’s also accepting the truth about ourselves as needy sinners.”

“Because afflictions cost us so much, they are too precious to waste. Though God may not cause your affliction, He can use your affliction for His glory, others’ good, and your growth, if you are in Christ.”

“Our God didn’t suffer so that we wouldn’t suffer. He suffered so that when we do suffer, we can become more like Him and point more people to Him.”

“Too many Christians pit knowledge against experience and the head against the heart. The truth is, both are needed to grasp God’s love. The love of God is what happens when the truth in our heads captivates the affections of our hearts, which spurs us on to grasp the love of God in our lives. …As the love of God increasingly captivates our hearts and we grasp onto his love, we’re changed and become increasingly mature in Christ because our affections determine our actions.”

“Sometimes, Christians shy away from involvement in a local church because they see faults with the church. Ironically, the fact that they see a lack may indicate that there’s a need for them and their gifts. Rather than complaining, it’s better to humbly start serving to meet a church’s needs and invite others to also help.”

“Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God helps us live holy lives and enables us to obey Him. In this way, regeneration is the opposite of religion, which tragically teaches that if you obey God, He will then love you. The exact opposite is true. Regeneration reveals that because God loves us, we can obey Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. You have new power in Christ.”

“Your Father is perfect, loving, gracious, merciful, patient, holy, helpful, and generous. The more you get to know Him through Scripture, prayer, song, service, and time with your brothers and sisters in Christ, the more you will come to love and enjoy Him. Your desires will change from sin to holiness, and you’ll increasingly want to be like your Dad. You’ll love what He loves and hate what He hates.”

“As Christians, our goal is not to merely experience behavior modification by changing how we act and react. Our primary goal is getting to know, love, and trust God as our Father.”

“The last thing the church needs is cowards that treat the Bible like an artifact more fit for a museum than a weapon for the battlefield.”

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Who Do You Think You Are? (book review)

February 5, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

Who Do You Think You AreIf you’ve ever heard Mark Driscoll speak, you know that he pulls no punches as he unashamedly uses the Bible to address the situations we all face. Who Do You Think You Are? is no exception.

Your friends, Madison Avenue, your colleagues, even your family members are all trying to influence you. They all weigh-in on who you are, or who they think you should be. But Pastor Mark Driscoll wants to show you who the Bible says you are. So using the book of Ephesians in the Bible, Pastor Mark convincingly and lovingly will show you that you are…

  • In Christ
  • A saint
  • Blessed
  • Appreciated
  • Saved
  • Reconciled
  • Afflicted
  • Heard
  • Gifted
  • New
  • Forgiven
  • Adopted
  • Loved
  • Rewarded
  • Victorious

Pastor Mark writes in a very readable, conversational style as he uses the powerful words of Ephesians, along with some personal stories from his own life, as well as the lives of others he has known, to make sure you know how God sees you. In a world where everyone else wants to squeeze you into a different mold, how freeing it is to discover how God sees you, and to know that God loves you because you’re you!

This was a very encouraging read. I’d recommend this to anyone struggling with peer pressure or with their own self-identity. I also think this would be an excellent book to use in a small group setting, perhaps even among a recovery group.

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

I have shared some quotes from this book here.

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