Charles Spurgeon | Craig T. Owens

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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 17, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

All married couples should check out this post from Mark Merrill: How To Have Healthy Conversations With Your Spouse.

Dr. Tim Elmore says, “Millions of parents need to hover less and train more. Millions of students need to learn to self-regulate.” Read more in his post One Way To Motivate Students To Go To Class.

“Now, my brethren, if you and I desire to walk among the sons of men without pride, but yet with a bearing that is worthy of our calling and adoption as princes of the blood royal of heaven, we must be trained by the Holy Spirit.” ―Charles Spurgeon

[VIDEO] J. Warner Wallace explains how we can verify the validity of the Gospels―

The Cross Of Jesus (book review)

March 17, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Warren Wiersbe writes early on in The Cross Of Jesus, “Unless we go back to the Cross, we can’t go forward in our Christian life.” How true this is, and what a wonderful job Rev. Wiersbe does in taking us back to the Cross!

This book is divided into four sections: What Jesus saw in the Cross, why Jesus died on the Cross, what Jesus said from the Cross, and how believers should live by the Cross. In essence we go back to the beginning to learn how we should now live because of the work Christ completed on the Cross.

Wiersbe quotes Charles Spurgeon as saying, “On whatever subjects I may be called to preach, I feel it to be a duty which I dare not neglect to be continually going back to the doctrine of the Cross—the fundamental truth of justification by faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

Whether you are wondering what significance Christ’s death at Calvary has for anything, or if you have been a believer in Christ’s atoning death for decades, or you are anywhere in between, going back for a fresh look at the old rugged Cross―and the Savior Who was sacrificed there―is always beneficial. And The Cross Of Jesus is an excellent book to guide you through your journey.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: book review, Calvary, Charles Spurgeon, Cross, crucifixion, Easter, Good Friday, Jesus Christ, sacrifice, salvation, Warren Wiersbe. 1 Comment »

Links & Quotes

March 16, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, had some messed up values! Check out this video where she is interviewed by Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes. If you cannot watch the whole thing, fast forward to the 19:50 mark where she answers a question about sin. She says one of the greatest sins is to bring unfit children into the world(!). Disgusting.

“I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.” ―Harriet Tubman

“We do our Lord an injustice when we suppose He wrought all His mighty acts in days of old, and showed Himself strong for those in the early time, but does not perform wonders or lay bare His arm for the saints that are now upon the earth. … Surely, beloved, the goodness of God of old has been repeated unto us.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Not one life spent in the cause of world evangelization is spent in vain. Not one prayer or one dollar or one sermon or one letter of encouragement mailed or one little light shining in some dark place—nothing in the cause of the advancing kingdom is in vain. The triumph is sure.” —John Piper

“Perfect humility dispenses with modesty. If God is satisfied with the work, the work may be satisfied with itself.” —C.S. Lewis

“Christ lived the life we could not live, and took the punishment we could not take, to offer the hope we cannot resist. Why? Jesus was angry enough to purge the temple, distraught enough to weep in public, winsome enough to attract kids, poor enough to sleep on dirt, responsible enough to care for His mother, tempted enough to know the smell of satan. Why? Why would heaven’s finest Son endure earth’s toughest pain? So you would know that He is able. . .able to to run to the cry of those who are being tempted, tested and tried.” —Max Lucado

Comedian Tim Hawkins shares what songs may be sung at an “atheist church”―

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: atheism, atheist, C.S. Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, children, church, comedy, God's Kingdom, God's strength, Harriet Tubman, humility, Jesus Christ, John Piper, Margaret Sanger, Max Lucado, Planned Parenthood, quotes, saints, satan, sin, slavery, temptation, Tim Hawkins, video. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

March 14, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Today is pi day (3.1415), and Seth Godin has a great look at this day in his post Magical and Irrational.

Sadly, religious persecution is alive and well … IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?!? This Navy chaplain has been removed from his unit for―gasp!―preaching from the Bible!

Some very good pro-life news. Scientists have called on their peers to agree not to modify human embryos — even for research. Just because scientists can do something doesn’t mean it should be done.

“Cancer research disagrees with the assumptions of beneficial mutations, millions of years, and junk DNA.” Read more in Cancer Research Inadvertently Refutes Evolution.

“Yes, I know one doesn’t even want to be cured of one’s pride because it gives pleasure. But the pleasure of pride is like the pleasure of scratching. If there is an itch one does want to scratch: but it is much nicer to have neither the itch nor the scratch. As long as we have the itch of self-regard we shall want the pleasure of self-approval; but the happiest moments are those when we forget our precious selves and have neither, but have everything else (God, our fellow-humans, animals, the garden and the sky) instead.” ―C.S. Lewis

Who Needs Sex? An insightful post from Pastor Dave Barringer.

Jim Cymbala asks, “Does anyone really think that America today is lacking preachers, books, Bible translations, and neat doctrinal statements? What we really lack is the passion to call upon the Lord until He opens the heavens and shows Himself powerful.” Read more in Prayer Revival.

“Let me say that for comfort, there is no thought more full of sweetness than that of an eternal God engaged in Christ Jesus to His people; to love, and bless, and save them all. One Who has made them the distinguished objects of His discriminating regard from all eternity, it is the eternal God.” —Charles Spurgeon

Links & Quotes

March 13, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Just as God saved man by taking upon Himself man’s flesh, so everywhere in the world He calls men by speaking to them through men of their own flesh and blood. God incarnates Himself—in His Spirit, incarnates Himself in the chosen men, especially in His church, in which He dwells as in a temple; and then through that church He is pleased to bless the world.” —Charles Spurgeon

J. Warner Wallace does an excellent job using his skills as a police detective to investigate the claims of Scripture. Here is a really good post entitled 4 Reasons The New Testament Gospels Are Reliable.

“Most Christians know we’re not saved by our works, but we are often prone to be satisfied by them,” writes Marshall Segal in his post Work With Your Hands, Not With Your Worship. Check out how we can worship and work in a God-glorifying way.

I grew up in the Detroit area, so the Tigers, Lions, Red Wings and Pistons were―and mostly still are (except for the Lie-downs)―my teams. Here’s a really cool post on how these teams got their names.

This phone call from a Planned Parenthood employee reveals the dishonesty this abortion provider is steeped in.

“Forgiving a financial debt costs your balance sheet. Forgiving an owed apology frees you to be generous again.” —Seth Godin

“Prayer and humility, along with a hatred for sin, produces a ‘mind to work.’ ‘So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work’ (Nehemiah 4:6). True revivals of holiness always produce workers. Books and seminars and lectures don’t—but revival does!” —David Wilkerson

Links & Quotes

March 10, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“The Cross was the place of your spiritual birth; it must ever be the spot for renewing your health, for it is the sanatorium of every sin-sick soul. The blood is the true balm of Gilead; it is the only catholicon [remedy] which heals every spiritual disease.” —Charles Spurgeon

“One way to be humble is to cast all your anxieties on God [1 Peter 5:6-7]. Which means that one hindrance to casting your anxieties on God is pride. Which means that undue worry is a form of pride.” —John Piper

“Where there is no Christian Sabbath, there is no Christian morality, and without these our free institutions cannot long be sustained.” —John MacLean, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court

Albert Einstein probably wasn’t a Christian, but he certainly did believe in God. Here are 10 Einstein Quotes Linked To Biblical Principles.

Are you struggling with losing an hour of sleep after daylight savings time kicked in? Perhaps you can relate to this from Truth Facts―

[VIDEO] John Maxwell addresses one of my pet peeves: laziness―

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Albert Einstein, anxiety, Bible, Charles Spurgeon, Christianity, Creator, Cross, healing, humility, John Maxwell, John Piper, lazy, liberty, morality, pride, quotes, Sabbath, salvation, SCOTUS, sleep, Supreme Court, time, truth, video. Leave a Comment »

Charles Spurgeon On Grieving The Holy Spirit

March 9, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Grieve the Holy Spirit, and you will lose all Christian joy; the light shall be taken from you, and you shall stumble in darkness; those very means of grace which once were such a delight, shall have no music in your ear. Your soul shall be no longer as a watered garden, but as a howling wilderness. Grieve the Spirit of God, and you will lose all power; if you pray, it will be a very weak prayer—you will not prevail with God. When you read the Scriptures, you shall not be able to lift the latch and force your way into the inner mysteries of truth. When you go up to the house of God, there shall be none of that devout exhilaration, that running without weariness, that walking without fainting. You shall feel yourself like Samson when his hair was lost, weak, captive, and blinded. Let the Holy Spirit depart, and assurance is gone, doubts follow, questionings and suspicions are aroused. Grieve the Spirit of God, and usefulness will cease: the ministry shall yield no fruit….” —Charles Spurgeon

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: assurance, Bible, Charles Spurgeon, faith, grief, Holy Spirit, powerless, quotes, Scripture. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

March 7, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Puffery in doctrine leads to its dishonor.” —Charles Spurgeon

“In love’s service, only the wounded soldiers can serve.” —Dr. James Stewart

“Don’t bother about the idea that God ‘has known for millions of years exactly what you are about to pray.’ That isn’t what it’s like. God is hearing you now, just as simply as a mother hears a child. The difference His timelessness makes is that this now (which slips away from you even as you say the word now) is for Him infinite. If you must think of His timelessness at all, don’t think of Him having looked forward to this moment for millions of years: think that to Him you are always praying this prayer. But there’s really no need to bring it in. You have gone into the Temple (‘one day in Thy court is better than a thousand’) and found Him, as always, there. That is all you need to bother about.” ―C.S. Lewis

“The itch of self-regard craves the scratch of self-approval. That is, if we are getting our pleasure from feeling self-sufficient, we will not be satisfied without others seeing and applauding our self-sufficiency.” —John Piper

Some godly women on the front lines of the war against the sex industry.

Links & Quotes

March 6, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“When the body is about to be led into a sinful action by some fear or craving, we are to take the sword of the Spirit and kill that fear and that craving. In my experience, that means mainly severing the root of sin’s promise by the power of a superior promise. … Having promises at hand that suit the temptation of the hour is one key to successful warfare against sin…. Be constantly adding to your arsenal of promises. But never lose sight of the chosen few that God has blessed in your life. Do both. Be ever-ready with the old. And every morning look for a new one to take with you through the day.” —John Piper

“At the heart of the Hebrew concept of marriage is the notion of covenant—a legally binding agreement with spiritual and emotional ramification (Proverbs 2:17). God serves as a witness to the marriage covenant, blessing its faithfulness but hating its betrayal (Malachi 2:14-16). The Lord’s intimate involvement renders this legal commitment a spiritual union, ‘so they are no longer two, but one’ (Matthew 19:6). The purpose of marriage as articulated in the Bible is to find true companionship (Genesis 2:18; Proverbs 18: 22), produce godly offspring (Malachi 2:15; 1 Corinthians 7:14) and fulfill God’s calling upon an individual’s life (Genesis 1:28). … Marriage binds husband and wife together into an entity greater than either partner as an individual, and it does so in order to assure continuity of the family lineage.” —Archeological Study Bible

“To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.” —Theodore Roosevelt

Eric Metaxas, in his commentary A Murderous Mother, tells how the environmentalists have gotten off track, and how Christians are really the only one who can help us.

“In our esteem, the joys of earth are little better than husks for swine compared with Jesus the Heavenly Manna. I would rather have one mouthful of Christ’s love, and a sip of His fellowship, than a whole world full of carnal delights. What is the chaff to the wheat? What is the sparkling paste to the true diamond? What is a dream to the glorious reality?” —Charles Spurgeon

I really like this post—Is There A Spiritual Side To Sex?

Abortion, Inc. documents the $500 million Planned Parenthood gets in your tax dollars to keep killing innocent children.