Christianity | Craig T. Owens

February 2026
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Links & Quotes

August 31, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

A.W. Tozer said, “There’s an awesomeness about God which is missing in our day altogether; there’s little sense of admiring awe in the Church of Christ these days.” May we repent of little prayers and boldly pray to an awesome God who wants to do awesome things that will bring Him glory!

I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

I always smile at the archeological discoveries which confirm the historicity of the Bible! Discovery after discovery keeps reinforcing that the Bible is a reliable historical document—which is exactly what one would expect from the inspired Word of God. Here are two recent article: (1) An archeological biography of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, and (2) The excavation of a rare Roman prison in Corinth that “likely gives us a picture of those that held the apostles as recorded in the New Testament (e.g. Acts 5:18, 12:5, 16:23).”

This is a very informative Q&A session with cold case detective and Christian apologist J. Warner Wallace. But I especially like his answer to the first question: Do Christians have to investigate every other religion to be convinced that the Bible is true?

“Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. … No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those which grow at the foot of the frozen glacier; no stars gleam so brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky; no water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand; and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. … Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Mature Christians can be recognized by a variety of indicators. They feast on the Word of God (Hebrews 5:14), persevere in love and good works (Hebrews 6:9-10), bear the fruit of the Spirit rather than the marks of the flesh (Galatians 6:16-23), use their gifts to help build the church (1 Corinthians 12:7-11; Ephesians 4:12-16), teach the things of Jesus to others (Hebrews 5:12: Acts 1:8), and more. This, the New Testament insists, is the condition toward which every Christian strives.” —T.M. Moore (check out all of the Scriptures T.M. references here)

“Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done.” —W.E.B. Du Bois

Jesus shows us that only secure people can serve others. Insecure people won’t ever make themselves vulnerable, and so they miss out on God’s blessing. I address this in more depth in my book Shepherd Leadership.

An Apologetic For Apologetics

August 28, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

I would like to give Christians an apologetic about Christian apologetics.

Check out this episode of The Podcast.

The Scriptures I reference in this episode of The Podcast are 1 Peter 3:15-16; Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-3; Luke 24:45-49; Acts 1:5, 8.

In a couple of earlier blog posts, I elaborate more on some points in this episode. Check out:

I have also talked quite a bit about apologetics on my blog, which you can find here.

Keep up with everything else I have going on, including my newest book and my other podcasts by clicking here.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Peter, apologetic, Book of Acts, Christianity, evidence, Gospel of Luke, Holy Spirit, hope, Jesus Christ, reason, testimony, video. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

August 17, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

It’s easy to get along with those we like. But God calls on Christians to do the hard—but rewarding—work of getting along with everyone! Check out this full sermon about the strength in Christian unity.

I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“Dad always said you could fall off the same ladder you climbed up.” —Hank Aaron

Paleontologists have noted that what Creationists would call pre-Flood mammals lived longer than similar mammals today. “This research should be of interest to Bible-believing Christians because, as chronicled in Genesis 5, humans in the pre-Flood world were experiencing much greater lifespans. Moreover, the advanced ages of the Genesis 5 patriarchs at the births of their sons strongly suggest delayed sexual maturation and possible delayed skeletal maturation, too. The Bible gives no hint that this amazing longevity was in any way supernatural.”

“If we leave our failure, we don’t learn from our failure. If we learn from our failure, we seldom have to leave because of our failure.” —John Maxwell

Dr. Steve Nichols hosts a great podcast called 5 Minutes In Church History. In the episode this week, he talked about the church politics Jonathan Edwards had to confront when he first arrived in Stockbridge. It came to a head in a letter Edwards received: “All it did was go into, again, politics, accusing Edwards of mis-running the school, which wasn’t true, and deflecting the blame and the focus away from the Williams family. And now Edwards needs to vindicate himself. Well, all that to say, we think of these church history figures, and we see their portraits, we sometimes forget that they’re actually people, and they had to deal with challenges too.” These types of faultfinding accusations are what I address in my book When Sheep Bite.

If God would say this (Ezekiel 5:7-9) about His chosen people Israel, how much more so should other nations take notice, repent of their egregious sins, and plead with God for mercy!

Links & Quotes

August 10, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

No one wants what the gloomy person has. Joy is a Christian’s testimony—it’s what attracts others to Jesus! Check out this full message from my series on the Songs of Ascent.

I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“At first glance, people may not see how these different forms of sexual violence connect to each other. But, in fact, experts are increasingly recognizing that they may all stem from one common source—sexual objectification. Sexual objectification occurs when people perceive others as sex objects rather than complex human beings deserving of dignity and respect.” Pornography is a major contributor to the sexual objectification which leads to sexual violence.

Dr. Brian Thomas describes why fossils are found where they are and why land animals may even be found near marine animals: “This fossil discovery [a bone from a South American megaraptor found near Cape Otway, Australia] fits well with a biblical history, which goes something like this: Around 2348 BC, a worldwide flood crushed and reshaped the earth’s surface, breaking up a single landmass (Pangaea) into continents and fossilizing countless living things. Prior to the Flood megaraptors roamed Pangaea, during the Flood they were fossilized, and in the late Flood stages the boundaries of new continents (along with their fossils) were roughly shaped. Unlike the standard story, the outlines of this history have been testified to by reliable eyewitnesses, and this testimony has been faithfully preserved in Genesis.”

“The more we let God take over us, the more truly ourselves we become—because He made us.” —C.S. Lewis

J. Warner Wallace shares two trends in American society that are contributing to the decline of religious adherence in America.

“There is no way around hard work. Embrace it.” —Roger Federer

Shame on my thoughts, how they stray from me!

During the Psalms, they wander on a path that is not right; they run, they distract…

One moment they follow the ways of loveliness, and the next the ways of riotous shame…

Swiftly they leap in one bound from earth to heaven…

O beloved Christ… may the grace of the sevenfold Spirit come to keep them in check!

Rule this heart of mine, O swift God of the elements, that You may be my love, and I may do Your will! —Anonymous, On the Flightiness of Thought, Irish, 8th-9th century

Ungodly leaders become more and more selfish, while shepherd leaders become more and more God-fearing and more and more attentive to the needs of others (Jeremiah 12:10-11). Check out my series of posts for godly leaders and my book Shepherd Leadership.

Links & Quotes

August 3, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Leaders may have to talk about people on their team, but how do we do this without crossing the line into gossip? Greg and I discussed this on a recent episode of our leadership podcast.

I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” —G.K. Chesterton

“Christianity does not consist in telling the truth, or walking in a conscientious way, or adhering to principles; Christianity is something other than all that, it is adhering in absolute surrender to a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ.” —Oswald Chambers, in Baffled To Fight Better

I really like the He Gets Us campaign! Here is a recent one.

“Critics may nitpick the Scriptures upon which we base our beliefs, but each year, the Lord will increasingly demonstrate that His Word contains no errors, exaggerations, or omissions. … We won’t feel ashamed of our hope. It will unfold just as the Lord has promised. We will be nourished, guided, blessed, and comforted. Our Lord will return, and then our days of sorrow will be over. How we will exult in the Lord, who first gave us a vibrant hope and then fulfilled that which we hoped for!” —Charles Spurgeon

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Charles Spurgeon, Christianity, Craig And Greg Show, G.K. Chesterton, God's promise, gossip, He Gets Us, inerrant, Jesus Christ, leadership, Oswald Chambers, quotes, Scripture, video. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

May 25, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

God’s laws, precepts, and commands are given to us because He loves us and wants to keep us safe. His laws keep us in a place where we can experience His abundant blessings!

I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“Establishing the Kingdom of God means ending evil, which happens not through violent force or coercive threats but through loving-kindness and patient forgiveness. It’s a world compelled by love instead of fear. … This [the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost] is the beginning of a new world. The old world creates enemies and divides people, falsely claiming that some are loveable and others are throwaways, but not so in the Kingdom of God! In God’s empire, all people mutually love one another without partiality.” —Why Is Pentecost Important? reading plan on YouVersion

In the weekly Culture Translator newsletter from Axis Ministry, they had this insightful reminder about the worldview of pornography: “Pornography is not just sexual entertainment; it is a form of propaganda about what human beings are. In the same way that Scripture has a vision for humanity (that all people are God’s beloved children, worthy of honor and respect, with inherent dignity as his image-bearers), pornography also has a vision for humanity: that people (especially women) are objects to be gawked at, violated, and discarded at will. Porn offers a worldview, and like any other worldview, it shapes the way we think about what people are for—and how they should be treated. ‘Pornography teaches us lies that we ingrain into aspects of our relationships and our lives,’ argues Sam Black, Covenant Eyes’ Director of Recovery Education. These lies include the notion that we can’t live without sex, that sex equals love (or acceptance), and/or that what gives humans value is exclusively their sexual attractiveness. ‘Pornography warps our views of our relationships,’ Black continues, ‘and we haven’t even realized it.’”

“I always turn to the sports page first. They record people’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man’s failure.” —Chief Justice Earl Warren

There is a very unusual story told in 1 Kings about a couple of unnamed prophets. One prophet heard from God, delivered the powerful warning God directed him to give, but then disobeyed God because of something another prophet told him that he had heard from God. I shared this commentary on YouVersion, “If God gave you a firsthand word, don’t let someone else’s secondhand word contradict that!”

“All religions are either a preview or a perversion of Christianity.” —C.S. Lewis

“If our relationships with other human beings are going to be meaningful, they will cost us something. Relationships are demanding.” —Herbert Wagemaker

I saw this side-by-side graphic and so many thoughts about perseverance, grit, and stick-to-it-iveness came to mind. It is so true: we all have moments of stumbling. Losers tend to quit when they fall down, but winners learn something from their stumble, improve, and continue to grow. And then I came across this related quote from John D. Rockefeller, “I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance.”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Kings, C.S. Lewis, Christianity, God's blessing, God's Kingdom, God's love, obedience, Pentecost, perseverance, pornography, quotes, relationships, stick-to-it-iveness, success, video, YouVersion. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

May 18, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Shepherd leaders do know the voice of their sheep, and the sheep know the voice of their shepherd. Leaders, this is the value of regularly being around all the people on your team. Check out this full conversation Greg and I had on our leadership podcast. This idea is central to my book Shepherd Leadership.

I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“Alice Reynolds Flower (1890-1991), the wife of [Assembly of God] pioneer J. Roswell Flower, is a shining example of motherhood. Affectionately known as ‘Mother Flower,’ she preached, taught Sunday School, led prayer meetings, wrote articles, penned poetry, authored books, and lived a godly example in front of her six children and everyone she came in contact with. As Mother’s Day approaches, it is good to consider an article that Mother Flower wrote for the Pentecostal Evangel in May 1952.” Check out Alice Flowers’ article here.

Kenneth Blanchard discusses when it is and isn’t a good time for a leader to be a micromanager. He concludes this insightful post by saying, “The best leaders know how to continually adjust their leadership style to fit each situation, helping to develop individuals who will ultimately achieve each goal and perform well on each task with little direction or support.”

“The pre-Flood world had some truly massive dinosaurs, and the largest of them were in the group Sauropodomorpha. Within this group were titanosaurs, which include the gigantic Argentinosaurus that is estimated to have weighed over 100 tons.” Read more about titanosaurs here.

What is it about morality that points humans higher and higher to find the Source? J. Warner Wallace, in this video based on his book God’s Crime Scene, makes the case that objective, transcendent morality is good proof for God. This reminds me of C.S. Lewis’ similar argument: “My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such a violent reaction against it?”

Pastors, listen to this call to revival from the pen of Jonathan Edwards. Let us seek in prayer for a revival in our day! “The Scripture gives us great reason to think, that when once there comes to appear much of a spirit of prayer in the church of God for this mercy, then it will soon be accomplished…Spiritual waters and rivers are explained by the apostle John, to be the Holy Spirit…It is now a time of scarcity of these spiritual waters; there are, as it were, none. If God’s people, in this time of great drought, were but made sensitive of this calamity, and their own emptiness and necessity, and brought earnestly to thirst and cry for needed supplies, God would, doubtless, soon fulfill this blessed promise.”

Links & Quotes

May 11, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Christians do a disservice to the Gospel when we’re known more for what we’re against than what we’re for. Check out this full message here. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

The Hebronites faithfully served God and King David without any fanfare or recognition. God shined His light on these “men of outstanding capability” so that they were finally recognized publicly. Note that they didn’t try to promote themselves. They faithfully served and God promoted these humble men in His timing.

I always appreciate the straightforward leadership insights that Ken Blanchard shares. He wrote, “Leadership is not something you do to people, but something you do with people.” And in this post he discusses some strategies when one of your direct reports is struggling.

“If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed.” —Thomas Edison

“We are a Christian people, according to one another the equal right of religious freedom, and acknowledging with reverence the duty of obedience to the will of God.” —1931 Supreme Court ruling

The Holy Spirit reminds us of God’s Word. But in order for Him to remind us, we have to study it first! Check out this full message.

“Your real, new self…will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for God.” —C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity

“Just because they say it’s impossible doesn’t mean you can’t do it.” —Roger Bannister, who broke the “impossible” barrier of running less than a 4-minute mile on May 6, 1954

What To Do With Complainers

February 7, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

As Christians, how are we supposed to handle those who complain about Christianity or things in the Bible?

Check out this episode of The Podcast.

Some resources from this episode:

The sermon I mentioned where I talk about the complainers in the Old Testament is here.
The Scriptures I reference in this video—Exodus 16:7; Luke 5:27-32.
Check out this blog post where I talk more about Jesus getting the final word—The Tactics of Fear.
My new book When Sheep Bite is available for pre-order!

Here are a bunch of ways to get in touch with me and follow along with other projects on which I am involved

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Christianity, complaints, Exodus, Gospel of Luke, Jesus Christ, skeptic, video. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

February 3, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Stop praying to yourself! God isn’t impressed with your “powerful” prayer! Jesus tells an interesting story about two men: one thought very highly of his spiritual status and the only could barely lift his eyes. Jesus said that the proud man’s prayer received no help from God, but only the humble man’s prayer was heard. This is a short clip from my series called Kingdom Praying. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“If the fetus gets in the way, ditch it. If the old person gets in the way, ditch it. If you get in the way…” —Francis Schaeffer

“The god of convenience, ruling capriciously in the hearts of men and women, and supported by worshipers of the god of wealth—greedy, self-interested profit-takers in the guise of abortionists and abortion-rights advocates—is the putative lord of life and death where children in the womb are concerned. … Christians must insist that all political candidates seeking their support, at whatever level of government, be firm in their commitment to resist the present abortion regime and expose the lie of the pro-choice agenda by every available means. …The Law of God is holy and righteous and good. Abortion is unholy, unrighteous, and evil. If we want a just and loving society, we will worship God and obey His Law, and we will work to dethrone the god of convenience and to expose the folly and self-interest of all its followers. And we will look to God to explain the nature, meaning, and value of all lives.” —T.M. Moore

Elihu is angry at Job “because he justified himself before God.” Better stated: “Job was more concerned about justifying himself—making himself look good—than he was about making God look good.” Elihu is angry at Job’s three friends because they acted like God and pronounced a guilty verdict against Job. Elihu is righteously provoked. After holding his tongue for 31 chapters, he cannot remain silent any longer! I conclude that Elihu is righteous in his response because God doesn’t have anything negative to say to or about Elihu (as He does with the three friends) at the end of the Book of Job.

Long before the term “fake news” made it into our lexicon, Charles E. Robinson wrote an article in 1934 “as a solemn warning to all Christians” about the rising tide of anti-Semitism. He was especially upset about a book that made an erroneous case blaming Jews for global economic and political turmoil. I am thrilled with the strong spiritual and intellectual legacy in the Assembly of God fellowship!

“There’s a lot of blood, sweat and guts between dreams and success.” —Paul Bear Bryant

Dr. Bruce Hindmarsh looks at the rare friendship between one of my favorite authors and a gifted poet whose work I also admire: John Newton and William Cowper.