Christianity | Craig T. Owens

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Links & Quotes

June 28, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Reason can engage the conversation; winsomeness can set the tone; patient listening can earn the right to be heard; but only divine revelation—the Gospel of Jesus Christ—is powerful to break the hold of the Lie and open someone’s heart to the truth of God.” —T.M. Moore

“I am sure, whenever we see Christ, we ought to remember the deluge of wrath from which He has delivered us, the flames of hell from which He has saved us; and so, humbly bowing ourselves in the dust, let us love, and praise, and bless His name.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Remember: ‘I cannot turn one hair black or white: but I can brush my hair daily and go to the barber at regular intervals.’ In other words we must divert our efforts from our general condition or frame of mind (which we can’t alter by direct action of the will) to what is in our power—our words and acts. Try to remember that the ‘bottomless sea’ can’t hurt us as long as we keep on swimming.” —C.S. Lewis

Hey, fellas: Mark Merrill has a great suggestion of 10 texts to send your wife.

“When Yonggi Cho began holding services in May 1958 in Seoul, South Korea, he couldn’t have known what God would do through his ministry. Only five people attended the first service, held in the home of a friend. However, the small gatherings grew in size, ultimately developing into the largest Christian congregation in the world, Yoido Full Gospel Church, an Assemblies of God church with over 700,000 members.” Read more about Pastor Cho in From Buddhism To Christ.

George O. Wood is the General Superintendent for the Assemblies of God. In light of last week’s Supreme Court decision, he sent out a letter that I really appreciated. Here is how the letter closes: “I close with three words of pastoral advice—First, to Assemblies of God ministers: Politics reflects culture, and culture reflects religion. If you are concerned with the political drift of American culture, preach the gospel! As it sends out roots in the lives of believers, the seeds of the Gospel will change hearts and minds. Second, to Assemblies of God adherents: You are privileged citizens of a blessed nation. Use your citizenship well! Seek the common good. Advocate for the last, the lost, and the least. Speak the truth in love. And vote for candidates and issues that reflect a biblical perspective. The difference in so many conflicts in American politics and culture turns on who turns out to vote. Third, to all Christians: If you are troubled with the Supreme Court’s decision, keep perspective! In this and every other matter, always remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: ‘In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world’ (John 16:33). Let us all pray for a great spiritual awakening in our country!”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Assembly of God, attitude, Buddhism, C.S. Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, Christianity, citizenship, flirting, George O. Wood, Gospel, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Mark Merrill, marriage, politics, praise, prayer, quotes, SCOTUS, spouse, Supreme Court, T.M. Moore, thoughts, truth, vote. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

June 15, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“It is the disagreeable things which make us exhibit whether we are manifesting the life of the Son of God, or living a life which is antagonistic to Him. When disagreeable things happen, do we manifest the essential sweetness of the Son of God or the essential irritation of ourselves apart from Him?” —Oswald Chambers

“Without the Holy Spirit no good thing ever did or ever can come into any of your hearts—no sigh of penitence, no cry of faith, no glance of love, no tear of hallowed sorrow. Your heart can never beat with life divine, except through the Spirit; you are not capable of the smallest degree of spiritual emotion, much less spiritual action, apart from the Holy Spirit. Dead you lie, living only for evil, but absolutely dead for God until the Holy Spirit comes and raises you.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Man was created ‘to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ Whether that is best pictured as being in love, or like being one of an orchestra who are playing a great work with perfect success, or like surf bathing, or like endlessly exploring a wonderful country or endlessly reading a glorious story—who knows? Dante says Heaven ‘grew drunken with its universal laughter.’” —C.S. Lewis

“Our Lord will come! This is one of the great certainties of the unknown future. He may tarry, but He will come at last. Many obstacles may seem to rise up, but He will come. Men may not desire Him, but He will come. The Church may be cold, but He will come. Earth may think she has no need of Him, but He will come! The scoffer may say, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’ but He will come. satan may do his utmost to oppose, but He will come. This is the great future certainty which Christ and His apostles have proclaimed to us. Our Lord will come!” —Horatius Bonar

“[God] does not bless us begrudgingly. There is a kind of eagerness about the beneficence of God. He does not wait for us to come to Him. He seeks us out, because it is His pleasure to do us good. God is not waiting for us, He is pursuing us. That, in fact, is the literal translation of Psalm 23:6, ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life.’ … God is never irritable or edgy. His anger never has a short fuse. Instead He is infinitely energetic with absolutely unbounded and unending enthusiasm for the fulfillment of His delights.” —John Piper

“When it comes to spiritual matters, you and I will never know our potential under God until we step out and take risks on the front line of battle. … Sitting safely in the shelter of Bible discussions among ourselves, or complaining to one another about the horrible state of today’s society, does nothing to unleash the power of God.” Read more of this post from Jim Cymbala.

Putting a probe on a moving comet is just too cool! Check out the latest news from the Philae lander.

Alan Trammell has always been one of my all-time favorite Detroit Tigers. Here’s proof that he is just as classy off the field as he was on it.

Links & Quotes

June 3, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“How is it that the Father can embrace the prodigal? He is fresh from the swine-trough: look at him; look at his rags; how foul they are! We would not touch them with a pair of tongs! Take him to the fire and burn the filth! Take him to the bath and wash him! That lip is not fit to kiss; those filthy lips cannot be permitted to touch that holy cheek of the glorious Father. But it is not so. While he was yet a great way off, his father saw him—rags, and poverty, and sin, and filth, and all—and he did not wait till he was clean, but ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him, just as he was. How could he do that? Why, the parable does not tell us; for it did not run on with the subject to introduce the atonement; but this explains it: when God accepts a sinner, He is in fact only accepting Christ. He looks into the sinner’s eyes, and Se sees His own dear Son’s image there, and He takes him in.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Wide as the reach of satan’s rage

Doth Thy salvation flow;

’Tis not confin’d to sex or age,

The lofty or the low.” —Isaac Watts

“Today’s complacency is tomorrow’s captivity. There is no such thing as comfortable Christianity.” —Samuel Rodriguez

David Wilkerson explains how God wants us to grow in grace.

Father Frank Pavone says, “The pro-life movement has been talking about abortion since before Roe v. Wade, all the time inviting the American public to talk about it with us.” Please read this: Let’s Talk About Abortion.

Fascinating! Scientists are working on a way to treat people suffering from paralysis by using light to get cells to respond.

[VIDEO] John Maxwell explains the difference between bad pride and good pride—

Links & Quotes

June 2, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“People who suffer the loss of a loved one will tell you that your presence is comforting, not your answers. In his first sermon after losing his son to suicide, Pastor Rick Warren advised his congregants that if they were unsure about what to say in a tragedy, say nothing. Just be there. Job’s friends initially did that. It was only after they began to speak that they made matters worse. If you’re hurting right now, I risk making matters worse by giving intellectual answers to emotional pain.” —Frank Turek

“Men may as well build their houses upon the sand and expect to see them stand, when the rains fall, and the winds blow, and the floods come, as to found free institutions upon any other basis than that of morality and virtue, of which the Word of God is the only authoritative rule, and the only adequate sanction. All societies of men must be governed in some way or other. The less they have of stringent state government, the more they must have of individual self-government. The less they rely on public law or physical force, the more they must rely on private moral restraint. Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or a power without them; either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet. It may do for other countries and other governments to talk about the state supporting religion. Here, under our own free institutions, it is religion which must support the state.” —Robert Winthrop, speaker of the US House of Representatives (1847–1849)

Some wonderful quotes from Maya Angelou.

“Anything which you have in this world, which you do not consecrate to Christ’s cause, you do rob the Lord of.” —Charles Spurgeon

“If we don’t kill every hint of immorality, we’ll be captured by our tendency as males to draw sexual gratification and chemical highs through our eyes. But we can’t deal with our maleness until we first reject our right to mix standards. As we ask ‘How holy can I be?’ we must pray and commit to a new relationship with God, fully aligned with His call to obedience.” —Steve Arterburn

[VIDEO] So are Christian scientists biased in their research? Yes! Any scientist is, but that is why there are controls—

Links & Quotes

May 24, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“When you bounce your eyes away from a sexual image, immediately pull from your memory a pure image. Maybe a wedding picture, or a vacation experience with your family, or your buddies. There are thousands of positive images you can pull from your memory within seconds to replace the sexual images you’re tempted with.” —Steve Arterburn

“satan shows the best, but hides the worst, because his best will not [counterbalance] his worst; but Christ’s will abundantly.” —Matthew Henry

William Wilberforce said something about slavery that could just as easily apply to abortion today: “It naturally suggested itself to me, how strange it was that providence, however mysterious in its ways, should so have constituted the world as to make one part of it depend on its existence for the depopulation and devastation of another.” Check out this Live Action post: Lessons From Wilberforce.

“But do you want to get better? It seems like a stupid question. Of course we want our organization, our work and our health to improve. But often, we don’t. Better means change and change means risk and risk means fear.” —Seth Godin

Our worldview makes a huge difference in the way we live. Check out this post from Stand To Reason on how Christianity improved the lives of women.

A recent Pew Research Center survey showed that the number of people in America identifying themselves as Christians has dropped. Check out the results of the survey here, and then listen to what John MacArthur has to say in this video—

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: abortion, biblical history, change, Christian, Christianity, fear, John MacArthur, Live Action, Matthew Henry, pro-life, purity, quotes, satan, Seth Godin, slavery, Steve Arterburn, survey, temptation, video, William Wilberforce, worldview. Leave a Comment »

God-Breathed (book review)

May 19, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

I have always been a fan of Josh McDowell’s work as a premiere Christian apologist. Christians hold closely to the Bible, so if that work can be proven to be faulty, all of the Christian’s arguments will fall flat. Josh McDowell, in his newest book God-Breathed, presents all of the evidence to show the undeniable reliability of the Bible.

Josh writes, “If used properly, words can effectively connect us relationally. Words are important, and the God-breathed words of Scripture are the most important of all. But we must listen to how words are being used in order to understand their true meaning. … How can we be sure that we have a Bible that accurately represents what God inspired people to write on His behalf? Since we have none of the original manuscripts, how can we know that the copies in our possession are reliable and accurate? … That is what this book is about: knowing with certainty that we can experience the power of God’s Word as revealed in the Bible, because it’s reliable.”

Josh systematically shares the evidence that leads to the conclusion that the Bible is indeed God’s inspired Word. You will learn about the care scribes took in copying the Scripture through generations; the literary evidences that can be used to verify the biblical message; the historical and archeological findings that corroborate the messages in Scripture; and so much more.

This is a fascinating book to study!

Put this on your bookshelf, and refer back to it often, and you will gain a greater appreciation for the amazing collection of books that we refer to as the Holy Bible.

I am a Shiloh Run Press book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apologetic, archeology, Bible, book review, Christianity, church history, God's Word, Josh McDowell, Scripture, study. 10 Comments »

Rise (book review)

May 12, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

I first knew of Trip Lee as a talented musician, but I have to admit that when I first heard he had written a book I had no idea what to expect. I am happy to say that Rise blew me away!

Trip himself states that his main target audience is teenagers and those in their early- to mid-twenties. Certainly the material in Rise is age-appropriate for them, but I found it to be challenging and confronting and reaffirming for me too. Trip’s message—as the title of the book suggests—is a call for Christians to not simply “go with the cultural flow,” but rise up to let Jesus be seen in a culture desperately searching for truth.

Trip talks about attitudes, involvement in church, sharing our Christian faith with others, having a great work ethic, and so many other topics that are relevant to young people. Perhaps I felt it relevant to me as well because of my work with students. In that case, I have two recommendations for this book: (1) Give it as a gift to those in Trip’s target audience (teens and 20-somethings), and (2) Get a copy for yourself and read/study/discuss the ideas in this book with the teens and 20-year-olds to whom you gave a copy. I really believe this will pay excellent dividends!

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: attitude, Bible study, book review, Christianity, church, culture, mentoring, teenager, testimony, Trip Lee, work ethic, youth. 4 Comments »

Links & Quotes

April 30, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“It can be difficult at times to remember that people who are outspoken in their opposition to God and the Gospel, who have nothing kind to say about anything Christian, and who seem so angry whenever anything related to religion comes up—these people actually have a good deal in common with those of us who believe.” Read more from T.M. Moore in his post Common Ground.

Even if the argument is true that “anyone can be a good parent,” that does not mean that marriage should be redefined. Check out this great post.

Pornography is devastating our country! If you live anywhere near Cedar Springs, please join us for a special presentation by Fight The New Drug on May 8. Get all the details here. Think porn is a harmless activity? Better read this.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: addiction, Cedar Springs, Christianity, Fight The New Drug, homosexuality, marriage, parenting, persecution, pornography, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, T.M. Moore. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

April 27, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Now that the Spring weather is here, get outside for some fresh air … listen to the birds, smell the flowers, look at the beauty around you! “A study of rodents, published in Science in 2013, indicated that the brain’s place cells are much less active when animals make their way through computer-generated landscapes than when they navigate the real world.” —Nicholas Carr

“We have men of science, too few men of God. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner.” —Omar Bradley

“No man who enters upon the office to which I have succeeded can fail to recognize how every president of the United States has placed special reliance upon his faith in God. Every president has taken comfort and courage when told…that the Lord ‘will be with thee. He will not fail thee nor forsake thee. Fear not—neither be thou dismayed.’ … Each of our presidents in his own way has placed a special trust in God. Those who were strongest intellectually were also strongest spiritually.” —John F. Kennedy

Frank Turek has a fascinating post on why the Supreme Court of the United States shouldn’t allow homosexual “marriages” because of our 14th Amendment.

Innovation Adoption Lifecycle “If you want a population to adopt your innovation, you have to create a problem that is solved by adoption. And that problem is almost always related to, ’what about the others?’” Check out this insight from Seth Godin on product adoption.

[VIDEO] Greg Koukl addresses on Christians can demonstrate Christ-like tolerance and Christ-like tolerance—

[VIDEO] Dr. Bobby Conway and Nel Brace discuss a great tool for helping Christians defend their faith—

Links & Quotes

April 20, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Bios has, to be sure, a certain shadowy or symbolic resemblance to Zoe: but only the sort of resemblance there is between a photo and a place, or a statue and a man. A man who changed from having Bios to having Zoe would have gone through as big a change as a statue which changed from being a carved stone to being a real man.” ―C.S. Lewis

“True faith embraces Christ in whatever ways the Scriptures hold Him out to poor sinners.” —Jonathan Edwards

Going through difficult times might be beneficial for Christians, says Trevin Wax in his post How Social Ostracism Could Increase Our Love.

“Yet while a race remembers and relives its sufferings and wrongs, it is often unwittingly transformed, often into the very image of its oppressor. Moreover, bitterness anchors the mind in the past and takes the heart with it. There is no future and no sense of the possible. There is only the incessant churning. Soon it becomes an excuse, a room into which the heart can run to find justification for failure and wrongs of its own. The end comes after the isolation and the rage have run their course. Bitterness is the second sting of the wound, and its fruit is death.” ―Booker T. Washington

“Progress is impossible if you only attempt to do the things you have always done.” —Mike Krzyzewski

[VIDEO] Is there evidence for a literal Adam and Eve? Does it matter?