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Poetry Saturday—Thou Sweet, Beloved Will Of God

September 27, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

The Will of God

Thou sweet, beloved Will of God,

My anchor ground, my fortress hill,

My spirit’s silent, fair abode,

In Thee I hide me, and am still.

O Will, that willest good alone,

Lead Thou the way, Thou guidest best;

A little child I follow on,

And trusting lean upon Thy breast.

Thy beautiful, sweet Will, my God,

Holds fast in Its sublime embrace

My captive will, a gladsome bird,

Prisoned in such a realm of grace.

Within this place of certain good,

Love ever more expands her wings;

Or, nestling in Thy perfect choice,

Abides content with what it brings.

Oh, sweetest burden, lightest yoke,

It lifts, it bears my happy soul,

It giveth wings to this poor heart:

My freedom is Thy grand control.

Upon God’s Will I lay me down,

As child upon its mother’s breast;

No silken couch, nor softest bed,

Could ever give me such sweet rest.

Thy wonderful, grand Will, my God

With triumph now I make It mine,

And Love shall cry a jealous Yes,

To every dear command of Thine. —Gerhard Tersteegen

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: freedom, Gerhard Tersteegen, God's direction, God's love, God's purpose, God's will, grace, happiness, joy, obedience, poetry, security. Leave a Comment »

Guardrails

September 15, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

We need a different way of thinking about God’s laws. We can’t think of them as a bunch of Thou-shalt-nots, because—as I blogged last week—that would mean we would have to look at The Lawgiver in an unbiblical way.

So let’s try this…

Suppose you are out for a drive on a crisp fall afternoon in a brand new sports car. You are really excited to see what this car can do! I’ll bet as you drive along the straight stretches of road, you will see very few guardrails along the sides. The guardrails you do see on the straight stretches usually protect us from things like rivers, roads passing underneath us, or perhaps a steep drop-off.

When you come into a tight turn, in addition to seeing a curved-arrow sign and perhaps a sign cautioning you to reduce speed, you are very likely to see guardrails along the turns.

Do those guardrails make you feel ripped off? Do they rob you of driving enjoyment? Have you ever felt like, “I really wish those guardrails were gone, because I’d love to get a couple of my tires off the side of the road”? Of course not!

We all know that those guardrails are there to protect us. In fact, the guardrails actually increase our driving enjoyment, because the dangerous places have been identified, and the metal guardrails will keep us from going somewhere that could be fatal.

This is a good way to think of God’s laws.

Jesus told us that He had come not to remove the guardrails, but to fulfill them through His life, death and resurrection (see Matthew 5:17-20 and Luke 22:20). Jesus didn’t come to rob us of life!

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36)

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10).

Far from ripping us off and saying “No!” to us, Jesus came to show us that God’s laws were rooted in God’s love. He came for us to see that God’s laws are His guardrails to keep us away from the places that are dangerous, and perhaps even fatal.

If God didn’t love us, He would let us do whatever we wanted to do. But He does love us, and so He gives us His guardrails to keep us safe. Instead of looking at His laws as something which is robbing you of life, see them as protections that are giving you more abundant life!

If you have missed any of the messages in our series The Love In The Law, you can find them all by clicking here.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: abundant living, Calvary Assembly of God, commandment, driving, eternal life, freedom, God's love, Jesus Christ, law, sermon, video. 4 Comments »

Poetry Saturday—Thus Far Did I Come

September 6, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Thus far I did come laden with my sin;

Nor could aught ease the grief that I was in,

Till I came hither: what a place is this!

Must here be the beginning of my bliss?

Must here the burden fall from off my back?

Must here the strings that bound it to me crack?

Blessed Cross, blessed sepulcher! blessed rather be

The Man that there was put to shame for me! —John Bunyan’s Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress, after he lost his burden at Calvary

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: burden, Calvary, Christian, Cross, forgiveness, freedom, Jesus Christ, John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, poetry. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

July 15, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some good reading & watching from today…

[VIDEO] John Maxwell gives us a good reminder of what mercy is.

“There is, hidden or flaunted, a sword between the sexes till an entire marriage reconciles them. It is arrogance in us to call frankness, fairness, and chivalry ‘masculine’ when we see them in a woman; it is arrogance in them to describe a man’s sensitiveness or tact or tenderness as ‘feminine.’ But also what poor, warped fragments of humanity most mere men and mere women must be to make the implications of that arrogance plausible. Marriage heals this. Jointly the two become fully human. ‘In the image of God created He them.’ Thus, by a paradox, this carnival of sexuality leads us out beyond our sexes.” —C.S. Lewis

“The highest kind of liberality is, to redeem captives, to save them from the hands of their enemies, to snatch men from death, and, most of all, women from shame, to restore children to their parents, parents to their children, and to give back a citizen to his country.” —Ambrose

John Piper says, “We are supposed to let our light shine before others that they give glory to our Father. But in my experience shining with supernatural, divine light from another world is the very essence of non-regular.” Read the rest of his post: I Do Not Aspire To Be A “Regular Guy.”

It nauseates me when I think that my tax dollars are funding this sort of irresponsible, atrocious behavior at Planned Parenthood! Read more about the latest lawsuit against Planned Parenthood.

Praying for the peace of Israel in light of the newest Hamas attacks.

[INFOGRAPHIC] Research into the lifespans of biblical people in Did Adam Really Live 930 Years?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: abuse, Ambrose, Bible, biblical history, C.S. Lewis, extraordinary, freedom, Hamas, infographic, Israel, John Maxwell, John Piper, manhood, marriage, medical science, mercy, Planned Parenthood, pro-life, quotes, research, sexuality, video, womanhood. Leave a Comment »

Where Are The Churches Of Courage?

July 11, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

I am becoming more and more concerned about pastors and churches who will not take a stand. So many seem apathetic to what is happening in our world, seldom taking a stand or speaking out against unbiblical cultural trends or the misdeeds of evil.

If not Christians or churches, then who will speak up for truth?

“Being a lover of freedom, when the [Nazi] revolution came, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but no, the universities were immediately silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks. … Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler’s campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration for it because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual and moral freedom. I am forced to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly.” —Albert Einstein

Pastor, are you standing “squarely across the path” of the things “suppressing truth”? Are you teaching and arming your congregations to do the same?

Posted in Pastoring. Tags: Albert Einstein, apathy, biblical truth, church, courage, evil, freedom, history, Nazi, quotes, truth. 11 Comments »

Noble Revenge

June 2, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Perhaps one of the most counter culture things a Christian will ever do is to forgive. More specifically, to forgive God’s way in which the offending party is forgiven and the offense is no longer counter against him.

But this isn’t what today’s culture teaches us. Instead they say things like—

“I’ll forgive them only if they’re really, really, REALLY sorry for what they did….
…and I’ll forgive them only if they ask for forgiveness…
…and then only I’ll only forgive them a certain number of times…
…and most importantly, I may forgive, but I’ll never forget.”

Why do we feel this way?

We buy into the old line: “Hurt me once, shame on you; hurt me twice, shame on me,” and we don’t want to feel shame.
We like to be in control. If we hold on to slights and injuries, then we have a trump card we can play later—“You owe me” or “This is why I don’t trust you.”
We mistakenly think that forgiveness makes us appear weak, like our offender won and we lost. And we certainly don’t want them to think they can take advantage of us again.
Because if they take advantage of us again it’s right back to, “Hurt me once…” so I’m going to make a preemptive strike and not forgive them.

Yes, forgiveness could make us appear vulnerable. Yes, we could be hurt again by the same offender. And, yes, we could be viewed as weak. But—The foolish thing that has its source in God is wiser than men, and the weak thing that springs from God is stronger than men (1 Corinthians 1:25, AMP). Total forgiveness is foolish looking in the natural, but it has God’s blessing on it.

With this in mind, the Apostle Paul wrote—

But Jesus said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

When we are totally reliant on Christ, that’s when His power rests on us. When we say, “I’m going to do this my way,” we block ourselves off from Christ’s grace and power and strength.

We need to remember HOW MUCH God has forgiven in us—He forgave ALL my sins and He no longer counts any of my treachery and rebellion against me. With this in mind, how dare I hold on to the comparatively small injuries others have inflicted on me (see Matthew 18:21-35).

“The noblest revenge is to forgive.” —Thomas Fuller

Forgiveness gives me a nobility.

Forgiveness sets me free from the hurt.

Forgiveness makes me a child of God.

Forgiveness gives me God-sent strength.

Forgiveness is counter culture.

Because forgiveness glorifies God, and not my wound.

What are you waiting for? Get free today by giving and receiving forgiveness.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apostle Paul, Bible, counter-cultural, forgiveness, freedom, God's strength, Jesus Christ, revenge, Scripture, sin, Thomas Fuller, weakness. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

May 5, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Here are the links to some interesting reading I found today.

“It is right and inevitable that we should be much concerned about the salvation of those we love. But we must be careful not to expect or demand that their salvation should conform to some ready-made pattern of our own.” —C.S. Lewis

Well, this is interesting. Follow your tax dollars to the countries that are enemies of America.

[PHOTOS] An accurate recap of the tragedy in Benghazi, and the cover up of that terrorist attack…

…and here’s why the media is now covering up the cover up of Benghazi: [INFOGRAPHIC] The relationship between the media and the Obama administration.

“What we practice, not (save at rare intervals) what we preach, is usually our great contribution to the conversion of others.” —C.S. Lewis

“What a bondage it is when the child of God is sold under sin, held in chains by satan, deprived of his liberty, robbed of his power in prayer and his delight in the Lord! Let us watch that we come not into such bondage; but if this has already happened to us, let us by no means despair. But we cannot be held in slavery forever. The Lord Jesus has paid too high a price for our redemption to leave us in the enemy’s hand. The way to freedom is, ‘Return unto the Lord your God.’” —Charles Spurgeon

[VIDEO] A good reminder from John Maxwell: Find a friend that you can edify today.

Links & Quotes

April 29, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some great reading I found today.

“So, go ahead, hold your grudge. Keep your bitterness. Continue stirring up strife. If you do, you will be in total rebellion against God and His Word and you’ll open yourself up to satan. You will become spiritually blind and hardened in heart. On the other hand, if you are spiritual—willingly obedient to God’s Word—then no matter how injured you are, you’ll show the peaceable wisdom of gentleness by forgiving.” —David Wilkerson

“It is nobler to forgive and let the offense pass. To let an injury rankle in your bosom and to meditate revenge is to keep old wounds open and to make new ones. Better forget and forgive.” —Charles Spurgeon

[VIDEO] Sen. Ted Cruz is right: John Kerry should resign over his comments on Israel.

Another breakthrough study says embryonic stem cells can be created from adult cells; there is zero need to abort babies to harvest their stem cells.

Have you ever wondered why Planned Parenthood is so pro-death? Check out some of the hateful statements from their founder, Margaret Sanger, in this post.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Charles Spurgeon, David Wilkerson, forgiveness, freedom, Israel, John Kerry, Margaret Sanger, medical science, peace, Planned Parenthood, pro-life, quotes, revenge, stem cell, Ted Cruz, video. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

April 18, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some great reading (and watching) from the past couple of days.

“This generation has yet to prove all that prayer can do for believing men and women.” —A.W. Tozer

“Come, my heart, be calm and hopeful today. Clouds together, but the Lord can blow them away. Since God will not fail me, my faith shall not fail; and as He will not forsake me, neither will I forsake Him.” —Charles Spurgeon

[VIDEO] This is priceless! Watch as a young man with Down Syndrome reads a special letter.

John Piper shares The Greatest Prayer In The World.

Tim Elmore discussing Generation Y: The Inverse Relationship Between Empathy And Narcissism.

This is why I love loving on our missionaries: Home Without A Home.

Some powerful Good Friday quotes compiled by Chilly Chilton in his post Cross Walk.

“Right now you may feel abused and unloved. The devil would have you believe that God has left you to your own devices—that you deserve to suffer, that it’s all over for you, that there is no hope. Beloved, those are lies from hell. God wants more than anything else to rid you of your perverted concept of Him.” —David Wilkerson

Thursdays With Oswald−Remorse Is Hell On Earth

March 27, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

Remorse Is Hell On Earth

Never mistake remorse for repentance; remorse simply puts a man in hell while he is on earth, it carries no remedial quality with it at all, nothing that betters a man.

From Conformed To His Image

I meet people all the time who are sorry for the wrong things they’ve done, and perpetually beat themselves up over those sins. As Chambers says, their remorse has created a hell on earth and it doesn’t do a single thing to help them.

Even a great man like the Apostle Paul felt the hell-on-earth trap of remorse. “I know what the wrong thing is and I don’t want to do it, but I give in and do it anyhow. I say I’m not going to do it again, but I do it again. Oh, what a wretched man I am! (see Romans 7:15-24). That’s where remorse leaves us, and the devil uses that feeling of remorse to condemn us and to imprison us in his hell on earth.

Repentance, on the other hand, is feeling bad for the sin and also asking God to forgive us through the work Jesus Christ did on the Cross—Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:25). As a result of this repentance and forgiveness Paul can then conclude…

So now there is NO CONDEMNATION for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. (Romans 8:1-2)

Remorse imprisons. Repentance and forgiveness are the only things that free us!