C.S. Lewis | Craig T. Owens

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Links & Quotes

April 11, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Prayer for your enemies (Matthew 5:44) is one of the deepest forms of love, because it means that you have to really want that something good happen to them. You might do nice things for your enemy without any genuine desire that things go well with them. But prayer for them is in the presence of God Who knows your heart, and prayer is interceding with God on their behalf.” —John Piper

“The only thing one can usually change in one’s situation is oneself. And yet one can’t change that either—only ask Our Lord to do so….” —C.S. Lewis

“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” —C.S. Lewis

“The world is not looking for more doctrinal proof of the reality of God! It is not looking for greater proof of the resurrection or better arguments about creation. The world is looking for Christians who can stand up to every crisis, fear, trouble and difficulty and remain calm and at rest in the midst of it all. The world needs to see God’s children trusting wholly in their Lord.” —David Wilkerson

“I would then that the quickening Spirit would come down upon me, and upon you, upon every one of us in abundance, to create men valiant for truth and mighty for the Lord.” —Charles Spurgeon

I know I have said this before, but I love the infographics and study tools from the folks at The Overview Bible Project. Here is a sample of their overview of Deuteronomy.

Another great Bible study resource is the work of former cold case detective J. Warner Wallace. Here is a cool article and infographic on the authorship of the Gospel of Mark.

Jim Cymbala says, “The Scriptures are not so much the goal as they are an arrow that points us to the life-changing Christ.” Read more in his post The Limits Of Teaching.

Rosaria Butterfield wrote, “Unbelievers don’t ‘struggle’ with same-sex attraction. I didn’t….” Read more in her post The Dead End Of Sexual Sin.

GREAT NEWS: Kansas passes the nation’s first ban on abortion by dismemberment.

Links & Quotes

April 2, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“How can I maximize my enjoyment of God for all eternity while I am an exile on this earth? And the answer is always the same: by doing the labors of love.” —John Piper

“For if we take the imagery of Scripture seriously, if we believe that God will one day give us the Morning Star and cause us to put on the splendor of the sun, then we may surmise that both the ancient myths and the modern poetry, so false as history, may be very near the truth as prophecy. At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendors we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.” ―C.S. Lewis

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: C.S. Lewis, eternity, Heaven, John Piper, love, New Testament, prophesy, quotes, Scripture. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

March 30, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“We may ignore but can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito.” —C.S. Lewis

“It has been the Cross which has revealed to good men that their goodness has not been good enough.” ―Johann Hieronymus Schroeder

“God did not die for man because of some value He perceived in him. The value of each human soul considered simply in itself, out of relation to God, is zero. As St. Paul writes, to have died for valuable men would have been not divine but merely heroic; but God died for sinners. He loved us not because we were lovable, but because He is Love.” ―C.S. Lewis

“Your tribulations will yet yield you music.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Imagine the scene at the Cross. Soldiers huddled in a circle, dice-throwing—casting lots for the possessions of Christ. Common soldiers witnessing the world’s most uncommon event. To them He is just another criminal; the Cross is forgotten. It makes me think of us. The religious. Those who claim heritage at the Cross. All of us. The strict…the loose…the simple…Spirit-filled…evangelical. All of us! We’re not so unlike these soldiers. We too, play games at the foot of the Cross. We compete for members. We scramble for status. Competition. Selfishness. Personal gain. It’s all there. We major in the trivial, we split into little huddles. Another name. Another doctrine. So close to the Cross but so far from the Christ. ‘May they all be one,’ Jesus prayed. One. Not one in groups of two thousand. One church. One faith. One Lord. No hierarchies. No traditions. Just Christ.” —Max Lucado

“If man had his way, the plan of redemption would be an endless and bloody conflict. In reality, salvation was bought not by Jesus’ fist, but by his nail-pierced hands; not by muscle but by love; not by vengeance but by forgiveness; not by force but by sacrifice. Jesus Christ our Lord surrendered in order that He might win; He destroyed His enemies by dying for them and conquered death by allowing death to conquer Him.” —A.W. Tozer

[VIDEO] What are atheists stealing from God? …

Links & Quotes

March 26, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Who can tell, dear friends, how much peace you may give by only telling the story of our Savior.” ―Charles Spurgeon

“There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him.” ―C.S. Lewis

The Government Accounting Office (GAO) reports that you and I have funded the abortions committed by Planned Parenthood to the tune of $1.5 billion! Our tax dollars are going to murder our fellow citizens … this is unacceptable!

In their excellent investigatory work, Live Action has uncovered how Planned Parenthood allows sex traffickers, pornographers, and pimps to continue to earn a profit of the enslavement of women.

Kudos to Pastor John Lindell for boldly declaring the biblical stance Christians should take against immoral laws. Predictably, people are labeling him as a hater and out-of-touch, but he is absolutely right on the mark.

Seth Godin says, “If it’s worth listening to, it’s worth questioning until you understand it.” Read more of his post Active Listening.

Science shows that encouragement truly does help people get through tough circumstances better.

Links & Quotes

March 25, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Think lightly of hell, and you will think lightly of the Cross. Think little of the sufferings of lost souls, and you will soon think little of the Savior Who delivers you from them. God grant we may not live to see such a Christ-dishonoring theology dominant in our times.” —Charles Spurgeon

I share a lot of quotes from Charles Haddon Spurgeon, but perhaps you may not be as familiar with him. Here is a real short biography on a man called The Prince Of Preachers.

“From the moment a creature becomes aware of God as God and of itself as self, the terrible alternative of choosing God or self for the center is opened to it. This sin is committed daily by young children and ignorant peasants as well as by sophisticated persons, by solitaries no less than by those who live in society: it is the fall in every individual life, and in each day of each individual life, the basic sin behind all particular sins: at this very moment you and I are either committing it, or about to commit it, or repenting it.” —C.S. Lewis

If you are feeling tired, perhaps this will help: 9 Factors That Can Enhance Or Hinder Your Sleep.

David Wilkerson says, “God has given us a powerful weapon to use against any attack on our faith. ” Read more in his post The Great Cloud Of Witnesses.

Science becomes scientism when it is more speculation and theory than it is facts. Here is a case in point: this article about climate change talks about trying to get people to not just look at data, but tries to sell its model/simulation.

I love this! Stop trying to perform for God. It’s holding you back.

[VIDEO] Kids tell us what love is―

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: biography, C.S. Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, climate change, Cross, David Wilkerson, encouragement, health, Hell, idolatry, Jesus Christ, kids, pseudo-science, quotes, Savior, scientism, sin, sleep, spiritual warfare, video. Leave a Comment »

Easter Stories (book review)

March 24, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Miriam LeBlanc has compiled a lovely collection of stories in Easter Stories: Classic Tales for the Holy Season. The stories themselves are not always classics (in the sense of being well known), but the authors are certainly a Who’s Who list.

Some of the better known authors include André Trocmé, Anton Chekhov, C.S. Lewis, The Brothers Grimm, and Oscar Wilde. The stories were collected in this book because they talk about sacrifice, new birth, new beginnings, and new life: all the themes echoed in the biblical story of Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection.

These are great stories to introduce others to the story of Easter without turning to the passages in the Bible. These stories can introduce the themes of salvation, reconciliation, and new life, which will then allow Christians to lead their family and friends to the foundational stories in Scripture.

This is not only an excellent way to introduce the Easter themes to others, but also to introduce them to some of the more meaningful authors.

I am a Plough Publishing House book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Anton Checkhov, Bible, book review, C.S. Lewis, Calvary, Christianity, classic, Easter, Good Friday, Oscar Wilde, reconciliation, redemption. 1 Comment »

Links & Quotes

March 21, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Who are the happiest people in the world? These precious people!

“The sense of ownership in general is always to be encouraged. The humans are always putting up claims to ownership which sound equally funny in Heaven and in Hell and we must keep them doing so.” —C.S. Lewis, in The Screwtape Letters

“There are ten thousand actions good in themselves, which it might not be right for me to choose as my vocation in life. … Our prayer should be, ‘Show me what Thou wouldst have me to do’—have me to do in particular; not what is generally right, but what is particularly right for me to do.” ―Charles Spurgeon

J. Warner Wallace gives an important reminder to Christian apologists: The Evidence For Christianity Doesn’t “Tell” Us Anything.

[VIDEO] Here is another helpful reminder for Christian apologists on textual variants―

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apologetic, Bible, C.S. Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, Christianity, Down Syndrome, evidence, God's will, J. Warner Wallace, One Minute Apologist, possessions, prayer, pro-life, quotes, sanctity of human life, stewardship. Leave a Comment »

C.S. Lewis On Agape

March 21, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Of course taking in the poor illegitimate child is ‘charity.’ Charity means love. It is called Agape in the New Testament to distinguish it from Eros (sexual love), Storgë (family affection) and Philia (friendship). So there are 4 kinds of ‘love,’ all good in their proper place, but Agape is the best because it is the kind God has for us and is good in all circumstances. There are people I mustn’t feel Eros towards, and people I can’t feel Storgë or Philia for; but I can practice Agape to God, Angels, Man and Beast, to the good and the bad, the old and the young, the far and the near. You see Agape is all giving, not getting. Read what St. Paul says about it in First Corinthians Chap. 13. Then look at a picture of Charity (or Agape) in action in St. Luke, chap 10 v. 30-35. And then, better still, look at Matthew chap 25 v. 31-46: from which you see that Christ counts all that you do for this baby exactly as if you had done it for Him when He was a baby in the manger at Bethlehem: you are in a sense sharing in the things His mother did for Him. Giving money is only one way of showing charity: to give time and toil is far better and (for most of us) harder. And notice, though it is all giving—you needn’t expect any reward—how you do gets rewarded almost at once.” ―C.S. Lewis

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: agape, apostle Paul, Bible, C.S. Lewis, charity, eros, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ, love, New Testament, phila, quotes, Scripture, storge. 1 Comment »

Links & Quotes

March 20, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“You cannot secure the life of the church by any particular system. History shows that churches have prospered, as well as failed, under different systems. The fact is that forms of government have very little to do with the vital principle of the church. The reason why the church of God exists is not her ecclesiastical regulations, her organization, her formularies, her ministers, or her creeds, but the presence of the Lord in the midst of her; and while Christ lives, and Christ reigns, and stands and feeds His church, she is safe; but if He were once gone, it would be with her as it is with you and me when the Spirit of God has departed from us; we are weak as other men, and she would be quite as powerless.” ―Charles Spurgeon

“For this is what it means to be a king [or any leader]: to be first in every desperate attack and last in every desperate retreat, and when there’s hunger in the land (as must be now and then in bad years) to wear finer clothes and laugh louder over a scantier meal than any man in your land.” —King Lune in C.S. Lewis’ A Horse And His Boy

Another Bible study help from the great folks at The Overview Bible Project: a cool look at the book of Jude.

[VIDEO] The amazing story of Lizzie Velasquez―

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible study, C.S. Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, church, church growth, church history, Jesus Christ, Jude, Lizzie Velasquez, Narnia, quotes, servant-leadership, The Overview Bible Project, video. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

March 18, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“‘Amen’ is an exclamation point of hope after a prayer for help.” —John Piper

“You ask ‘for what’ God wants you. Isn’t the primary answer that He wants you. We’re not told that the lost sheep was sought out for anything except itself.” —C.S. Lewis

A good read for Moms―Moms Need Theology Too.

And something for young men―5 Pieces Of Advice For Young Men.

Some United States Senators are more interested in making sure we can kill babies than they are in rescuing human trafficking victims.

Remember when your parents said, “Go outside and get some fresh air”? That advice may save your eyesight.

George Whitefield learned that God’s Word trumps our insights.