Defeating satan

June 23, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Spiritual warfare.1The Bible tells us that satan is a formidable foe. He steals, he kills, he destroys. When he speaks, lies are all that come out of his mouth. He slanders, he deceives, he coaxes, he bullies; he does whatever he can to trip up as many people as he can.

Remember this: “The prince of this world now stands condemned” (John 16:11). He wants to take as many victims down with him as he can! Look what the Bible says about his powers—

  • He is more crafty (Genesis 3:1). This means he is extremely subtle. He seldom throws a huge blatant sin right in your face, but he whispers subtle suggestions.
  • He operates with mighty powers (Ephesians 6:12). He knows how to match strength for strength.
  • He knows the Bible (Luke 4:9-11). The difference is he only knows the words, but the scriptural text is not illuminated by the Holy Spirit to him.
  • He waits for the most opportune time (Luke 4:13) to pounce.

But “…that satan might outwit us… we are not unaware of his schemes” (2 Corinthians 2:11). What are his schemes?

  • Pride—“You can do it yourself.” This was his original downfall, and now he will use it on you.
  • Second-guessing—“Did God really say…?” (Genesis 3:1). He will try to make you think that God’s Word is out-of-date or irrelevant to you.
  • Condemning. Notice that satan wasn’t around when God showed up in the Garden of Eden. Instead he leaves you feeling like you’re unacceptable to God and that you need to hide from Him.

The way we overcome satan is the same way Jesus did it: Jesus quoted Scripture to refute each of satan’s temptations (see Luke 4:1-13). We are victorious in the exact same manner!

Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony… (Revelation 12:10-11).

Don’t try to go toe-to-toe with the devil because he is too strong for you to handle on your own! But with God’s Word as your weapon and the Holy Spirit as your Counselor, you can hurl him down every time!

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3 Steps To Better Bible Studies

June 23, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Inspired WordThe Bible is God’s inspired Word—literally, that means it is “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). If the Holy Spirit inspired the Word to the biblical writers, He can best illuminate the same Word to you as you read and study it.

This is how Jesus said the Holy Spirit would help us handle God’s Word:

Teach (John 14:26a). This word means to teach by holding a discourse with someone (or in this case, with Someone). Reading the Bible is meant to be a dialogue, not a monologue.

Remind (John 14:26b). The Holy Spirit is actively involved in us recalling and applying the Word to the situations in which we find ourselves. The Bible tells us to study to be prepared (1 Peter 3:15) and to handle God’s Word like a good worker (2 Timothy 2:15). We are also told not to pre-plan what to say if we are put on the spot, but that words would be given us (Matthew 10:19) as the Holy Spirit recalls to our memory which we have studied.

Convict (John 16:8). This word means both to refute and to confute. Confute simply means proving something is wrong. Refute means to show us we’ve reached a false or illogical conclusion, perhaps a conclusion we reached without giving it very much thought.

Guide (John 16:13). We get a good idea of the meaning of this word from the negative use of the same word—Can a blind man lead [the same word for “guide” in John 16:13] a blind man? Will they not both fall in a pit? (Luke 6:39). We can trust the Holy Spirit to lead us to the truth in the Scriptures that we can apply to our lives.

Quite simply better Bible studies come from:

  1. Praying for the Holy Spirit to illuminate Scripture to you as your read it.
  2. Reading the Bible.
  3. Obeying what the Holy Spirit illuminates to your heart and mind.

Try it and see what happens. I think you’ll like the results!

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The Precursor Of A Blessing

June 13, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

R.A. TorreyPastor, please carefully read this words from R.A. Torrey…

“There are many ministers who are missing the fullness of power God has for them, simply because they are not willing to admit the lack there has been all these years in their ministry. It is indeed a humiliating thing to confess, but that humiliating confession would be the precursor of a marvelous blessing. But there are not a few who, in their unwillingness to make this wholesome confession, are casting about for some ingenious device or exegesis to get around the plain and simple meaning of God’s Word, and thus they are cheating themselves of the fullness of the Spirit’s power that God is so eager to bestow upon them. And furthermore, they are imperiling the eternal interests of the souls that are dependent upon their ministrations, that might be won for Christ if they had the power of the Holy Spirit which they might have.” —R.A. Torrey

It is indeed a humiliating thing to admit that we have fallen short in our ministry. But as Torrey says, this momentary humbling can lead to an extraordinary outpouring of God’s blessing.

We can lose our pride now, or we can lose our pride later when we stand before God.

The choice is up to you and me…

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7 Final Quotes From “The Ministry Of God’s Word”

June 6, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

The Ministry Of God's WordI’ve been sharing some of the many quotes I highlighted in Watchman Nee’s book The Ministry Of God’s Word. You can read previous quotes by clicking here, here, here, here, and here. This is a book that I have called a must read for pastors, and you can read my full book review by clicking here.

“A minister of the Word ought to be attentive to how he speaks. The words he speaks must come through discipline, since God creates the words for us through His disciplining us. … How much you can speak depends upon how much you have learned inwardly. … It is more than your preaching His Word; you as a person must be so chiseled and tested by Him that the word which comes out of you is God’s Word.” 

“Let us realize that the minister of the Word must be tried first. Without any trial there can be no word. If other brothers and sisters should enter into trial before you, you have nothing to help them. Even if you should try to say something, it falls as an empty word. What use is an empty word? Word is formed in fire. … Hence the ministers of the Word are those who are chosen by God to be dealt with first, to be tried first, and to know the Lord first, so that they may minister Christ to God’s children. … If we expect to have a big ministry we should be ready to receive more dealings.”

“The Word of God is full of emotion. It should not be recited verbatim in a mechanical way. It ought to be pressed out through deep feeling. … One’s emotion must be so refined that he can rejoice when God’s Word is joyful and wail when the Word of God is sorrowful. His feeling follows the Word of God closely. This is not performance. Please never learn to perform. … The more spiritual a man is, the richer his feeling. … The more lessons one learns before God the more enriched his feeling will be.” 

“A minister of the Word should know that God is building up his ministry through each trial and difficulty. Do not be so foolish as to deem it best to flee from trial. If no thorn, then no grace, hence no power and little ministry. You may speak the Word but you do not possess the strength of the spirit to push it out. You need the Word; you also need a usable spirit.”

“In preaching the gospel, if you make men a little bigger, you make the gospel somewhat smaller. … Spiritual humility comes through our being enlightened by God to a real knowledge of our self, where as soulish self-abasement is the result of looking at man, comparing ourselves with others, and being afraid of men.” 

“We need to take good care of our mind that it may be usable when God wants it.”

“He who desires to minister the Word must learn how to speak simply. … Always remember that God’s Word is for men to understand, not for them to become confused about. … Hence a very important point in ministering the Word is to climb high before God. The higher we climb the more God’s Word is released. God rejects low thought, low-quality persuasion, cheap metaphors or words. Reach high and yet be clear.” 

 

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Links & Quotes

May 29, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

link quote

“Accept these [euphoric] sensations with thankfulness as birthday cards from God, but remember that they are only greetings, not the real gift. I mean, it is not the sensations that are the real thing. The real thing is the gift of the Holy Spirit which can’t usually be—perhaps not ever—experienced as a sensation or emotion. The sensations are merely the response of your nervous system. Don’t depend on them. Otherwise when they go and you are once more emotionally flat (as you certainly will be quite soon), you might think that the real thing had gone too. But it won’t. It will be there when you can’t feel it. May even be most operative when you can feel it least.” —C.S. Lewis

“Discipline motivates—Punishment mortifies.
Discipline is based on trust—Punishment is based on fear.
Discipline is time in—Punishment is time out.
Discipline is practice—Punishment is penalty.”  Read more from Ken Davis in his post The Power Of The D Word.

“Before you go anywhere else with your disappointments, go to God. Maybe you don’t want to trouble Him with your hurts. ‘He’s got famines and wars; He won’t care about my little struggles,’ you think. Why don’t you let Him decide that? He cared enough about a wedding to provide the wine. He cared enough about Peter’s tax payment to give him a coin. He cared enough about the woman at the well to give her answers. He cares about you! Your first step is to go to the right person. Go to God.” —Max Lucado 

Brian Thomas asks, “Has evolutionary faith blinded biologists from seeing the forensic clues within the insect symbiosis they study?” in his post about the beauty and elegance of Creation shown in symbiosis.

[INFOGRAPHIC] How President Obama’s end-run around Congress is going to cost you money. A lot of money!

“Scripture will ultimately suffice for a saving knowledge of God only when its certainty is founded upon the inward persuasion of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, these human testimonies which exist to confirm it will not be vain if, as secondary aids to our feebleness, they follow that chief and highest testimony. But those who wish to prove to unbelievers that Scripture is the Word of God are acting foolishly, for only by faith can this be known. Augustine therefore justly warns that godliness and peace of mind ought to come first if a man is to understand anything of such great matters.” —John Calvin

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10 More Quotes From “The Ministry Of God’s Word”

May 23, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

The Ministry Of God's WordPastor, if you haven’t read The Ministry Of God’s Word by Watchman Nee yet, you need to put this on your To Do list. It’s one of the very few books I have labeled a must read for pastors (you can read all about it in my book review by clicking here). Here are a few more quotes from this fascinating book.

“There is no assurance that the Word previously anointed by the Holy Spirit will again be anointed each time it is spoken. Let us remember that the Word of revelation we earlier received is not guaranteed to always be such a word whenever it is uttered. The Word remains, but revelation does not linger. You may repeat the Word, yet you cannot repeat the revelation or the anointing. Revelation and anointing are in God’s hand. You can only repeat the words, you cannot recall revelation.” 

“A minister is one in whom there is light, revelation, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. When he arises and speaks on the Bible, God is willing to speak through the Bible. This is how a minister supplies the church with God’s Word.”

“One reason for the prevailing impotency of the church is that our Lord does not find a way through us.”

“Do not be a professional preacher. Once you turn professional you speak not because you have something to say from God but because you are obliged to utter something.”

“Serving the church with God’s Word is ministering the Son of God. … If the Bible is divorced from the Person of Christ it becomes a dead book.” 

“The task is not simply presenting a book to men, rather is it presenting the Son of God in the Book.”

“What you preach must be what you truly know.” 

“The Word of God is not something people hear by just being present. Physical presence does not insure the hearing of the Word.”

“You are sure that the Lord wants you to minister this Word and He will providentially arrange the time and opportunity for you to deliver it. And thus the Word you preach shall become Christ in others. This is the ministry of the Word in us.”

“One cannot minister the Christ one does not know, nor can one serve with only a fragmentary knowledge of Christ. Ministry cannot be based on fragmentary knowledge. … For God to reveal His Son in us is not the result of research or searching; it is entirely a matter of mercy and revelation. It is an inward seeing, an inner knowing. And thereafter the Bible becomes a new and living Book.”

You can read other quotes from this book by clicking here, here, and here.

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Faith’s Checkbook (book review)

May 20, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Faith's CheckbookWhen you pull out your checkbook, it’s nice to have money in the account so your check will be honored. The same concept holds true for your “spiritual bank account.” Charles Spurgeon has a collection of daily biblical promises called Faith’s Checkbook which will help you realize how fully-funded God has made your spiritual account.

Each day the Spurgeon, called the Prince of Preachers, highlights a promise in God’s Word and unpacks all the riches that promise delivers. Each thought only takes a page, but Spurgeon gives you enough “cash” to provide for you for that day.

What a fantastic year-long journey of faith-building I had with Faith’s Checkbook!

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Money & Hammers

May 19, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Money checklistHammers are very similar to money. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at some of the things they have in common. They both…

  1. …are tools.
  2. …can be used to build up or destroy.
  3. …are amoral.
  4. …don’t have any power until they’re in a person’s hand.

I realize in church circles it can make people uncomfortable to talk about money, but it shouldn’t be that way. The Bible is very clear in saying wealth comes from God, as well as how to use that wealth, so why should that be uncomfortable? Here are some of the things the Bible says about wealth:

  • If we honor God, He blesses our work (Proverbs 3:9-10).
  • If we take the glory for our success, God calls us “foolish” (Luke 12:16-21).
  • Money can be used to build God’s kingdom (Acts 4:34-37) or to build our own reputations (Acts 5:1-11).
  • Making the pursuit of money our priority becomes an idol (Luke 16:10-13).
  • The anxiety over money can choke our spiritual life (Matthew 13:22).
  • God gives us the ability to work, to make money, and to enjoy both the work and the rewards of work (Ecclesiastes 5:19).
  • God alone judges our attitude toward money (Luke 16:15).

It’s not money that is immoral, but our pursuit of Money (with a capital “M” or what the Bible calls Mammon) that is immoral.

It’s not money that will ruin us, but our trust in money that will ruin us.

It’s not money that gives us a secure future, but God Who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17).

Don’t envy people with more money than you. Don’t look down on people with less money than you. Don’t—as Jesus said to the Pharisees—justify your opinions and attitudes about money.

Only an honest listening to the Holy Spirit about your attitude and lifestyle concerning money is what can keep us from letting money rob us of God’s blessing.







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5 More Quotes From “The Ministry Of God’s Word”

May 16, 2014 — Craig T. Owens 




The Ministry Of God's WordThere was simply too many passages I highlighted in The Ministry Of God’s Word by Watchman Nee to share in just one post. Pastor, you must read this book! You can read my full book review by clicking here.


“Each man’s special characteristic is brought out only when he is subject to the Holy Spirit.” 


“No one today can have God’s Word extraneous to the Bible; even the New Testament cannot exist alone, nor can the words of Paul. You cannot cut the Old Testament away and retain much of the New Testament; neither can you excise the four Gospels and keep the letters of Paul. … All the ministries in the Bible are interdependent; none possesses an unconnected revelation totally unrelated to the others and entirely disconnected.”


“How does God interpreted the Bible? How does He explain the words of the Old Testament to the New Testament minister? There are at least three distinct ways of interpretation in the New Testament: (1) prophetic interpretation, (2) historical interpretation, and (3) comprehensive interpretation. When New Testament ministers study the Old Testament words, they will approach the Scriptures from these different angles: they look to the Holy Spirit for interpretation of prophetic words, historical records, or comprehensive messages.” 


“Let us remember that ministry of the Word in our day ought to be richer than that of those who wrote the New Testament. … How, then, do we say that today’s ministry of the Word should be richer? Because Paul had in his hand only the Old Testament as the basis of his speaking, but we have in our hand the writings of Paul and Peter and others in addition to the Old Testament. Paul had only 39 books in his hand, but we have 66 books. Hence our ministry should be richer in Word. We have more materials at the disposal of the Spirit of God, more opportunities for God’s Spirit to explain. Our ministry therefore ought not be poorer but richer.”


“One should never deceive himself by thinking he can be a minister of God’s Word if he simply reads the Bible. The question is not whether he has read the Bible: it is instead, how has he read it?”


You can read other quotes from this book by clicking here and here.






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But Power!

May 14, 2014 — Craig T. Owens 




But PowerIt’s not quite a League Of Justice superhero power … but it’s pretty close! Beginning in the first verse of Proverbs 10, King Solomon introduces a small, but powerful, conjunction—


The wise son brings joy to his father, BUT a foolish son grief to his mother (10:1).


Starting here and in nearly every following verse for the next 12 chapters(!) you will find this powerful little 3-letter word.


Sometimes it’s a “yet” and sometimes the semicolon implies the “but,” but it’s there in all of it’s life-changing strength!


Whatever the scenario, Solomon lists the stark contrast between a life on which God’s blessing can rest, and a foolish life that is immune to God’s blessing.


There’s almost a year’s worth of BUT POWER in these chapters. Why don’t you contemplate just one contrasting statement everyday and see what God begins to reveal to you.


BUT POWER is here to save the day!






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