Here are the books I read and reviewed in 2014. Click a title to read the review…
12 Huge Mistakes Parents Can Avoid
How Do You Kill 11 Million People?
Pleasure & Profit In Bible Study
Smith Wigglesworth On Prayer, Power & Miracles
The Christian’s Secret Of A Happy Life
The Greatest Words Ever Spoken
The Illustrated Guide To The Authors Of The Bible
The Quick-Start Guide To The Whole Bible
Here are my book reviews for 2011.
Here are my book reviews for 2012.
Here are my book reviews for 2013.
This is really good: 4 bad reasons for choosing a church.
10 Historical Myths About World Christianity
This is scary: Canadian bill would legalize euthanasia for people with disabilities.
[VIDEO] A teacher asks students to write letter to themselves 20 years in the future, and then he delivers the letters to them 20 years later—
For history buffs, This Day In Christian History by William D. Blake is a great book to keep handy all throughout the year. Each day you will find two historical items which have had a lasting impact on church history.
The two calendar items each day will take less than 60 seconds to read, but I found that on many days it opened the door of curiosity for me to do some additional research on that event or person. You will also find:
A very fun book to read each day of the year.
This message from Jim Cymbala is a hard word, but right on target.
The apostles never tried to finesse people when they were presenting the gospel. Their communication was not supposed to be “cool” or soothing. They aimed for a piercing of the heart, for conviction of sin. They had not the faintest intention of asking, “What do people want to hear? How can we draw more people to church on Sunday?” That was the last thing on their minds. Such an approach would have been foreign to them.
Instead of trying to bring men and women to Christ in the biblical way, we are consumed with the unbiblical concept of “church growth.” The Bible does not say we should aim at numbers but rather urges us to proclaim God’s message in the boldness of the Holy Spirit. This will build God’s church God’s way.
Unfortunately, some churches now continually monitor how pleased people are with the services and ask what else they would like. We have no permission whatsoever to adjust the message of the gospel! Whether it seems popular or not, whether it is “hip” to the times, we must faithfully and boldly proclaim that sin is real but Jesus forgives those who confess.
Nowhere does God ask anyone to have a large church. He only calls us to do His work, proclaiming His Word to people He loves under the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit to produce results that only He can bring about. The glory then goes to Him alone—not any denomination, local church, local pastor, or church growth consultant. This is God’s only plan, and anything else is a deviation from the teaching of the New Testament.
Today we have an anti-authority spirit in America that says, “Nobody can tell me I need to change. Don’t you dare.”
Both in the pulpit and in pastoral counseling we have too often given in to this mentality and are afraid to speak the truth about sin. We keep appealing to Paul’s line about becoming “all things to all men” (1 Corinthians 9:22), not noticing that in the very next paragraph he says, “Run in such a way as to get the prize” (verse 24). Adapting our style to get a hearing is one thing, but the message can never change without leaving us empty-handed before the Lord.
UPDATE: This challenging word from Pastor Cymbala is one of the thoughts that helped form my thinking about what is considered “successful” in God’s eyes. I share these thoughts in my book Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics That Really Matter.
Some good reading & watching from this weekend…
“A leader’s role is to raise people’s aspirations for what they can become and to release their energies so they will try to get there.” —David Gergen
A powerful reminder about noticing the overlooked people: My Grocery Store Stripper.
This is so repulsive! 10 quotes that reveal how profitable abortion is.
I am a big believer in studying history. Here are 7 ways Christian history benefits you.
A great post for married couples and parents from Pastor Dave Barringer—Too Busy: The Art Of Abusing With Neglect.
I love this life-affirming message in OneRepublic’s song I Lived—
Some good reading from today…
“Sleep is a daily reminder from God that we are not God.” —John Piper
Mark Atteberry says, “One way to tell how you’re doing in the Christian life is to count your ‘except you’ moments.” Read more of his post entitled Except You.
Some interesting facts about stem cell research.
Augustine died on this day in 430 A.D. Here are 15 memorable quotes from the Bishop of Hippo.
The way Christians cared for the sick, the elderly, the young and the poor was counter-cultural in the ancient Roman world. Check out The Witness Of Christian Compassion.
Who really believes Lois Lerner’s IRS computer lost all her emails? Probably no one! Now we hear that her devices were intentionally wiped clean.
“One of the ways the Spirit helps us change is by teaching us that God is merciful with our inadequate notions of Him and is willing not only to commune with us, but also bless others in spite of our flawed conceptions. Paul reminds us, ‘for our knowledge is imperfect…but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. … For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood’ (1 Corinthians 13:9-12). So we may be relieved that our walk with God has been authentic and people have been blessed by our ministry even if we have had flawed ideas about God and His ways.” —John Piper
© Lori Oxford Photography
Yesterday I had the honor of speaking at our annual United service in Cedar Springs. I shared something I noticed about the New Testament church: These Christians spent a lot of time together, and that togetherness became a source of strength and told a story to the those watching the Christians.
In passages like Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-35, we see Christians not only worshiping together, but actively involved in living out their faith. Luke, the writer of the Book of Acts, captures something that Eugene Peterson would summarize this way—
“Christians are a community of people who are visible together at worship but who remain in relationship through the week in witness and service.”
This was not just Christians helping Christians, but Christians helping all the people in their communities. It was Christians who formed the first:
And this caught the notice of everyone. Aristides wrote to Emperor Hadrian about the Christians—
“They help those who offend them, making friends of them; do good to their enemies. They don’t adore idols; they are kind, good, modest, sincere, they love one another; don’t despise widows; protect the orphans; those who have much give without grumbling to those in need. When they meet strangers, they invite them to their homes with joy, for they recognize them as true brothers…. When a poor man dies, if they become aware, they contribute according to their means for his funeral; if they come to know that some people are persecuted or sent to prison or condemned for the sake of Christ’s name, they put their alms together and send them to those in need. If they can do it, they try to obtain their release. When a slave or a beggar is in need of help, they fast two or three days, and give him the food they had prepared for themselves, because they think that he too should be joyful….”
The Apostle Paul challenges followers of Jesus to constantly be growing in the outward demonstrations of our faith: to live our lives worthy of God’s calling, to get along with others, and to be making every effort to keep the bond on unity (see Ephesians 4:1-3).
With this in mind I have to ask myself: Am I doing this in my home town? Is there a strength and a story of Christ’s love that is told in my unity with other Christians? Am I helping to address the needs in Cedar Springs? What are people saying about Jesus because of my unity and service with other Christians?
Some good reading & viewing from today…
As the fellowship I grew up in celebrates its 100th anniversary, I love reading quotes like this: “Worldwide, 95% of Assemblies of God adherents lived outside the United States in 2013. In the U.S., over 41% of Assemblies of God adherents were non-white. In the U.S., the white constituency has decreased by 34,922 over the past ten years, while the number of non-white constituency has increased by 433,217.”
An excellent post for unmarried people, and the friends who care about them: 4 Lies Single People Need To Stop Believing.
[VIDEO] Millions of dollars in “humanitarian aid” for the Palestinian people has been hijacked by Hamas to build tunnels into Israel for their terrorist schemes.
“God’s sovereignty means that His design for us cannot be frustrated. Nothing, absolutely nothing, befalls those who love God and are called according to His purpose, except what is for our deepest and highest good (Romans 8:28; Psalm 84:11).” —John Piper
“Since God does in fact address man in His Word, He obviously regards him as addressable in spite of the fact that man as a sinner closes his ears and heart to Him.” —Karl Barth
“Your gift makes you a servant, not a master.” Read more in: Use Your Knowledge To Serve Others.
“In a time when everything in the world seems to be vanity, God is depending on us to proclaim that He is the great Reality, and that only He can give meaning to all other realities.” —A.W. Tozer
As I consider the Pentecostal heritage in which I was raised (and our fellowship’s 100th anniversary), I’ve been thinking about revival. Here are a few quotes I have been pondering…
“As a historian, three things increasingly impress me about awakenings in church history: first, that they really do occur, and—from medieval, monastic revivals through classic evangelical awakenings to modern Pentecostal renewal—they really have brought great benefit to the church. Second, revivals tend to exaggerate, so that along with the real benefit often come increased problems like exalted opinions of one’s self in God’s general design. Third, most of the circumstances that have made a permanent difference in spreading the Gospel and deepening the church’s understanding of the Gospel have taken place in ordinary church settings rather than revivals.” —Mark Noll, historian
“Love for people doesn’t merely say, ‘Here’s the seed, take it or leave it.’ Love pleads, love persuades, and love prays. Love prays until its dying breath for that wonderful, ordinary work of the Spirit to save one here and one there, month after faithful month. And love prays for that extraordinary outpouring of the Spirit that we call revival. … Let us pray without ceasing and labor without sparing for the greatest blessing on this day’s sowing, that it would be blessed with reaping, and that it would be a part of God’s plan to bring extraordinary seasons of harvest and holiness to the church and to the nations.” —John Piper
“You often find people in the world are more desirable, easier to get on with, than people in the Kingdom. There is frequently a stubbornness, a self-opinionativeness, in Christians not exhibited by people in the world. If there is to be another Revival it will be through the readjustment of those of us on the inside who call ourselves Christians.” —Oswald Chambers
What do you think?
![AG founding [1914]](https://craigtowens.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ag-founding-1914.png)
I am proud of my Pentecostal heritage. Both my parents and grandparents grew up in the Assemblies of God, and saw firsthand powerful moves of God. This year (2014) marks the 100th anniversary of the formation of the A/G fellowship. Check out this video from 1964 when the A/G was celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Craig T. Owens 