In, On, And Through

June 12, 2023 — 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’ve talked before about the benefits of calling the Old and New Testaments the First and Second Testaments. This helps me not to subconsciously slip into the thought that “old” means outdated or that “new” means a replacement of what came before it. When I say First and Second I remember that there cannot be a Second without a First, that the First anticipates the Second and the Second fulfills the First. 

The people of the First Testament experienced the Spirit of God in an often-repeated phrase: “the Spirit of the Lord came on” someone. It usually came on them for a specific task or season. For instance…

  • 70 leaders to help Moses (Numbers 11:25)
  • the judges that delivered Israel from their enemies (Judges 3:10, 6:34, 11:29, 14:6, 15:14)
  • the anointing for Israel’s king (1 Samuel 16:13)
  • empowerment for prophets to prophesy (Ezekiel 11:5)

(Check out all of the above references by clicking here.)

When the Holy Spirit came on these men, there was a noticeable supernatural anointing and empowerment, but more times than not these men also had visible and sometimes crippling stumbles. 

What happens on the outside often stays on the outside. Sort of like the little boy whose mom brought him to church one Sunday. The little boy was constantly standing up on his chair and disturbing everyone around him. Finally, the exasperated mother whispered, “If you don’t sit down I’m going to take you to the restroom and spank you.” The little boy immediately sat down with his arms tightly crossed. He looked at his mom and said, “Outside I may be sitting down but inside I’m standing up!” 

God looks at the heart. He told the Israelites that their inward defiance didn’t outweigh their outward religious practices. And Jesus said that people who prophesied, cast out demons, and performed miracles, but still had an unrepentant heart, would hear Him say, “I never knew you” (Isaiah 1:12-13; Matthew 7:21-23). 

In the First Testament, we see a desire for the Holy Spirit to be more than on—a desire for Him to come in. David prayed, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). And God promised His people, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them … And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep My laws” (Ezekiel 11:19, 36:27). 

That is exactly what happened on that Pentecost Sunday immediately following Christ’s resurrection and ascension. The Christians were baptized in the Holy Spirit. He came in them and brought them into the Godhead (John 14:20). 

Jesus described this “in-ness” in the picturesque language of a branch joined to the vine. The branch cannot produce any fruit on its own, but it abides in the vine so that the fruit-producing power can flow into the branch (see John 15:1-5). 

Paul identified this fruit of the Spirit as “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,” and he concluded with the phrase, “against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23). The law always sets limits, but when the Holy Spirit abides in us, the production of fruit is limitless! 

Being baptized in the Holy Spirit means that we allow Him to come in us and then to work on us. It’s only when the Holy Spirit has worked in us that can He flow through us to others. Jesus said that we would receive the Spirit’s empowerment to be witnesses—that’s an inward change that produces an outward fruit.

The Holy Spirit works in us to work on us so that He can work through us. So don’t stop at just salvation, but be baptized in the Holy Spirit! 

If you’ve missed any of the messages in our series on the Pentecostal experience, you can find all of those messages by clicking here. 

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

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Check Your Inputs

June 5, 2023 — 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.

Jesus was the healthiest Person to ever walk planet Earth. When Luke, a physician, tells us about the growth of Jesus, he says first that “Jesus grew in wisdom.” (Luke 2:52). That is our indication that a healthy mind is at the foundation for every other aspect of health. 

But mental health doesn’t stay in your mind—it affects every other part of your life. Likewise, all of the other parts of your life can enhance or drain your mental health. We are created as interconnected beings. For instance, it’s hard to think correctly when you’re physically tired, spiritually drained, or involved in an unhealthy relationship. It’s also true that it’s hard to make good decisions about your physical health, stay focused on God, or handle your relationships successfully if you aren’t thinking correctly. 

We see the apostles writing about our wholly healthiness—

Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. (3 John 2) 

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. (1 Thessalonians 5:23 NLT) 

When my laptop is disconnected from the monitors I use at our church building, the message on the screen tells me to “check your inputs.” That’s not just for inanimate technology, but for us too: To maintain good overall health, we need to check our physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional inputs. 

Let’s start with the physical inputs. When we are active during the day our bodies release a stress hormone called cortisol. Stress is not a bad thing—it’s a normal thing. A body that isn’t stressed will atrophy and become susceptible to disease. Balanced, healthy stress is called eustress, and unbalanced, unhealthy stress is called distress. 

Cortisol is naturally flushed from the body in two ways: exercise and sleep. Exercise is important to keep our bodies moving effectively, and sleep helps us recover and helps our brains catalogue our memories (see 1 Timothy 4:8; Psalm 3:5). To fuel our exercise and our sleep requires the energy which we get from a healthy diet. 

So if you’re not thinking healthy thoughts, check your physical inputs: Am I getting the proper amount of sleep? Am I exercising regularly? Am I eating properly? Do I see a doctor for a checkup? 

How about spiritual inputs? Somewhat surprisingly, our spirits are kept healthy very much along the same lines as our physical bodies—proper food, appropriate exercise, and a time of rest. Our spiritual food is God’s Word, our exercise is working out what we’ve studied in the Bible, and our rest is called sabbathing (Jeremiah 15:16; Matthew 7:24-27; James 2:17). Jesus demonstrated all of these in His life and we, too, should follow His example. 

If you’re not thinking healthy thoughts, check your spiritual inputs: Am I reading the Bible regularly? Am I putting what I learn into practice? Am I sabbathing properly?  

Then there our emotional inputs, or the relationships that build us and relationships that drain us. You are always going to encounter people in need, and ministering to those needs is draining (Luke 8:45-46). We also need to be alert to those antagonistic people who purposely drain us (2 Timothy 4:14-15). We can make decisions to place people in our lives who build us up and be cautious of those who drain us (Proverbs 27:3, 5-6, 9, 17). 

Once again, if you’re not thinking healthy thoughts, check your emotional inputs: Do I have healthy people investing in my life? Am I sharpening the iron of others? 

Finally, let’s not forget the mental inputs. Computer programmers are well aware of the acronym GIGO: garbage in, garbage out. If you don’t like the results that are coming out, check what is going in. The apostle Paul gives us an outstanding checklist in Philippians 4:8. 

If your mental health isn’t as healthy as you would like it to be, perhaps you need to talk to your doctor about your physical health, or a mature spiritual friend about your spiritual health, or a Christian counselor about your emotional health. As you consult with these wise people, continue to pray for God’s help. As your Creator, He knows you better than anyone else could and He can give you the wisdom you need as you check your inputs. 

This is part 5 in our series on a Christian’s mental health. If you’ve missed any of the other messages I’ve shared, you can find them all by clicking here. 

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

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Intimacy Expands Our Influence

May 29, 2023 — 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. 

Let’s say you are thinking about buying a particular book. Are you more likely to buy that book because the author says it’s good, because a book reviewer says it’s good, or because a close friend says it’s good? I think all of us give more weight to the suggestions from our friends, especially because they have nothing to gain from making that suggestion.  

In the same way, when someone close to us says, “I know from personal experience that following Jesus is the best decision that I have ever made. Making Jesus my Lord and Savior has completely changed everything for me,” it’s easier for us to make that same decision for ourselves. 

The deeper the level of our intimacy with someone usually means we have more influence with them. 

The Holy Spirit is as much a Person as Jesus. As much as Jesus dominates the pages of the Gospels, the Holy Spirit dominates the pages of The Book of Acts. 

Jesus told us all about the Holy Spirit when He was discussing His ascension. He wasn’t going to leave us as orphans, but told us of the intimate connection the Spirit would make for us. For instance, Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you for ever—the Spirit of Truth” (John 14:16-17). 

Notice that Jesus considers the Holy Spirit an irreplaceable and coequal part of the Godhead—I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor (see also Matthew 3:16-17; Luke 10:21; Matthew 28:19).  

The word Jesus uses for Counselor is parakletos. This means One who comes alongside to help us. I like all the words the Amplified Bible uses: “Comforter—Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby.” Indeed, Luke records numerous instances where the Holy Spirit is alongside Christians to strengthen and encourage them (for instance: Acts 4:8, 6:10, 9:31).

Notice as well that Jesus tells us that as a part of the Trinity the Holy Spirit is eternal: “to be with you for ever.” Because the Holy Spirit is fully God, He knows the end from before the beginning. His perspective is infinite, so He can guide us in ways that only One who can see everything could guide us. For example, He leads us to places we might not have chosen on our own (Luke 4:1; Acts 8:29), or stops us from going somewhere at the wrong time (Acts 16:7), or talking with people we might have overlooked (Acts 10:19, 11:12). 

Jesus also calls the Him the Spirit of Truth. He reveals things that we could not have perceived with our natural minds (see Acts 5:1-9). 

And Jesus calls the Holy Spirit a great Teacher, “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26). So we see the Holy Spirit helping us apply Scripture to our prayers (Acts 4:25-26) and to incredibly complex and delicate situations (Acts 11:15-18, 15:1-21). 

The Holy Spirit is not a force to fear but a Person to know ever more intimately. 

When our lives are transformed and expanding because of an intimate, ongoing, vibrate relationship with the Holy Spirit, we are witness (Acts 1:8). You cannot exhaust all that the Spirit has for you, so keep abiding and growing in that intimate relationship. Let it be said of you as it was said of Peter and John: “We can tell you have been with Jesus!” (Acts 4:13). 

I’ve said this before, but I’m going to keep on saying it—Don’t stop at salvation, but press on to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Then allow Him to transform the way you think, love, and live! 

If you’ve missed any of the messages in our series called We Are: Pentecostal, you can find them all by clicking here. 

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

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Jesus In The Seven Feasts

May 22, 2023 — 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. 

Douglas Carmel from Rock Of Israel ministries shared an amazing overview of the seven Jewish feasts that are listed in the Book of Leviticus, and how Jesus is the fulfillment of all of these feasts. Doug was born into a Jewish family and became a Christian in his late teens, so he has firsthand knowledge of both the traditional celebrations and the Christian understanding of these feasts. 

One of the things I appreciated was Doug’s explanation that the feasts were merely a shadow of the reality—Jesus is the Reality! 

Please check out the message he shared at Calvary Assembly of God. I encourage you to visit his website to get more information on all of the ministries Rock Of Israel. 

Passover—celebrated on the 14th day of the first month 

  • Leviticus 23:4-5
  • Matthew 26:17-29; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-20
  • Jesus was crucified on the same day that the Passover lamb was being sacrificed 

Unleavened Bread—celebrated on the 15th day of the first month

  • Leviticus 23:6
  • 1 Corinthians 5:6-9

Firstfruits—celebrated on the 16th day of the first month (or the day after the Sabbath) 

  • Leviticus 23:9-14 
  • 1 Corinthians 15:12-26 

Seven Weeks—celebrated 50 days after Firstfruits 

  • Leviticus 23:15-21 
  • Also known as Pentecost 
  • Acts 2:1-41

Doug called our attention to the calendar on which these feasts appeared. Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Seven Weeks all happen in the spring. All four of these feasts have already been fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 

There are no feasts in the summer months, as these are the months of field work (Leviticus 23:22). This is where we are now, which is why Jesus told us, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field” (Matthew 9:38). This is the time for us to tell others about Jesus the Messiah! 

The final three feasts appear in the autumn—Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. These are feasts that are still to be fulfilled at Christ’s Second Advent. 

Trumpets—celebrated on the 1st day of the seventh month

  • Leviticus 23:23-25 
  • This is also known as Rosh Hashanah when the shofar is blown 
  • 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

Atonement—celebrated on the 10th day of the seventh month

  • Leviticus 23:26-32 
  • This is also known as Yom Kippur—the one day of the year the high priest goes into the Holy of Holies 
  • Romans 11:25-32; Matthew 23:39 

Tabernacles—celebrated on the 15th through the 21st days of the seventh month

Jesus said of Himself, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). Jesus is THE Reality and THE Fulfillment of all of these celebrations! 

(Check out all of the Scripture verses I listed above by clicking here.) 

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

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Whose Words Have Weight?

May 9, 2023 — 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. 

A teacher of the law asked Jesus an important question. In essence, he asks, “There are a lot of commandments in the Scripture. If I have to give a student the most basic of instruction, which of the commandments is the most vital?” 

The response from Jesus is especially important for two reasons: 

  1. Which commandments He listed
  2. The relatively few words He spoke 

Check out His short reply—

The most important one, is this: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:29-31)

In this sermon from Jesus, He speaks a total of 57 words. Notice the breakdown of the words He spoke:

  • Words from Scripture: 40 words 
  • His own words: 17 words

I wonder how many times we get this reversed? How many times do we share a short passage from the Bible and then use a whole bunch of our own words to try to explain the Scripture? Do we think the Holy Spirit needs our help to illuminate the inspired Word? 

Solomon warned twice of the dangers of “many words” (Ecclesiastes 5:3, 7), and Jesus said that if we think a lot of words spoken in prayer makes that prayer effective, we are really just babbling (Matthew 6:7). 

The teacher of the law is astounded at this sermon Jesus delivered. He speaks almost as many words as Jesus (52 words), but nearly all of his words are simply repeating what Jesus had said. Jesus said this man’s synopsis of His message was “wise” and indicated that he was “not far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12:32-34). 

When we are asked questions about the Bible, let’s let the Bible do most of the talking. Let’s be careful that our attitude is not one of trying to “help” the Holy Spirit, but let’s rely on the Holy Spirit to help us know what Scripture to quote, what limited commentary to share, and when to be silent to allow the Word to do its irresistible work. 

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

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Unity Enhances Our Witness

May 1, 2023 — 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. 

Last week we mentioned that one of the things the Holy Spirit did after the Day of Pentecost was to unite individual Christians into the Church. In a world divided by religious and political factions, the unity of the Christians set them apart. Is our culture any different? Of course not! So the unity that the Holy Spirit brings is just as vital today. 

In Psalm 133, David longs for this unity among believers. This psalm is in the collection of “Songs of Ascent.” That means that pilgrims to Jerusalem sang these songs as they literally went up the hill to Jerusalem. Psalm 133 opens with David singing, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together in unity” (v. 1). 

Maybe David thought back to the time when people were joining him to give him support as king—David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart shall be knit to you…” (1 Chronicles 12:17 AMP). In the next two verses of Psalm 133, David explains how this unity from being knit together is seen as a blessing. 

Last week, we talked about the blessing of peace the priests pronounced on the people. That word for “peace” is shalom which could be defined as “nothing missing.” But couldn’t we also say that shalom is “no one missing”? Yes, because each and every part of the Body of Christ is vital and indispensable! 

We see this same unity when the followers of Jesus were baptized in the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Acts 2:1 says these Christians were “all together” (or some translations say “one accord”). This is one word in Greek (homothumadon) which describes the beauty of unity. One Greek dictionary defines this word,  “The image is almost musical; a number of notes are sounded which, while different, harmonize in pitch and tone. As the instruments of a great concert under the direction of a concert master, so the Holy Spirit blends together the lives of members of Christ’s church.”

This picture of a majestic musical is further amplified in the next verses of Acts 2 where people from all over the world heard these Christians praising God in their own native tongues. Luke goes on to use homothumadon again and again throughout Acts to show what a powerful testimony their unity was to the watching world.  

Paul emphasized the need for unity in the Church when he wrote—

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6) 

How does the Holy Spirit help us handle our differences and keep this unity? We first need the Spirit’s help to distinguish whether it’s a biblical, unbiblical, or non-biblical issue. 

  • Biblical issues must send us back to the Bible to find the truth (2 Timothy 3:16-17). 
  • Unbiblical issues—where a brother or sister is living in a way contrary to Scripture—call on us to speak the truth in love and correct in love only after allowing the Holy Spirit to examine our own lives (Ephesians 4:15; Matthew 7:1-5; James 5:19-20). Notice that we are to do this with fellow brothers and sisters, not with those outside the Church.  
  • Non-biblical issues are the trickiest. These are issues over which we should immediately stop fighting as we defer to the weakest brother or sister (Romans 12:10, 14:19-21).  

(I wrote much more about biblical, unbiblical, and non-biblical issues here, and how to correctly apply the principle of confrontation here.)

The Church needs this unity today. We need to be in “one accord.” In a world divided by religious and political factions, our unity enhances our witness.

If you’ve missed any of the messages in our series We Are: Pentecostal, you can check them all out by clicking here. 

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

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God’s Blessing Empowers Our Witness

April 24, 2023 — 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. 

Last week we learned that we have a job to do. If we want to see Jesus come back to take us Home, we need to share the Good News with everyone. Jesus said that we didn’t have to obey Him in this Great Commission by ourselves, but we can go in His authority and with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 24:14; 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). 

In Acts 1:8 notice that Jesus said we are “be My witnesses.” This isn’t an action first, but they are actions that spring out of who we are. So we need to ask: How are we to be His witnesses? Answer: By being blessed by God! 

God has desired that we know the blessing of His presence since the very beginning. He instructed the priests to bless the people with these words: 

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)

The Hebrew word for “peace” in this passage is shalom. One of the most basic definitions for shalom is “nothing missing.” In other words, we are blessed people when we realize there is nothing keeping us back from God’s presence. 

If you asked someone in the Old Testament where they thought God’s presence was, they would probably point you to the Tent of Meeting or the Tabernacle in Jerusalem. But that was merely a foreshadowing of what God truly desired for His relationship with us. Jesus promised His followers, “On that day you will realize that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you” (John 14:20). So if Jesus is in the Father, and we are in Him, that means we are also in the Father. In this position, we can experience the nearness to the Father that Jesus knows (see Ephesians 1:3-8). 

This nearness is our source of peace: Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you (2 Thessalonians 3:16). In this verse, the Greek word for “peace” is eirene, which means a soul at utter peace with God because it is assured of its eternal Home in God’s presence. 

Blessed people are abundance people. Blessed people have all their needs supplied so that they can be a conduit of blessing to others. Our increasing awareness of God’s blessing empowers us to be witnesses for Him. 

Let me take you back to the Book of Psalms. In Psalm 67, the psalmist asks for God’s blessing on his life four times in just seven short verses. Why does he desire this blessing? It’s not for himself but for others. Look at just the first two verses of this psalm: 

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine on us THAT Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.

Recall that Jesus commissioned us to go to all nations and that the Holy Spirit empowers our witness to all peoples. This psalmist is asking for God’s blessing so that he can be a witness to everyone. Nine times he says that he desires that all nations or all peoples will know and worship the Most High God. 

God’s blessing on His people is really SO THAT all peoples and nations can see His blessing and turn to Him. One of the roles of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life is to remind us that we are indeed blessed in Jesus, and that we have a mission to fulfill in taking that blessing to others. 

The Holy Spirit positions us to be blessed in Christ. This blessing empowers us to be a witness to all peoples so that they can come to God through Jesus. 

It is good for us to pray for the Spirit’s blessing on our lives so that we can BE a blessing to all nations and peoples. 

If you would like to check out all of the other messages in our series called We Are: Pentecostal, please click here. 

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

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Finish The Race

April 17, 2023 — 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. 

Jesus is alive! He has risen from the dead and now holds the keys to Death and Hades! He is the undisputed King of kings and Lord of lords! 

If you were one of Christ’s disciples, wouldn’t you think it would be time for Jesus to take a victory lap? Maybe He could show up at the next meeting of the Sanhedrin, or in Pontius Pilate’s courtroom, or King Herod Antipas’ throne room. You can almost hear their longing for this when they asked Jesus, “Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). 

Jesus answered that question by saying, “Your race is just now beginning!” You see, Christ’s resurrection wasn’t the end of the race, but an important—absolutely indispensable—part of our ongoing race. “I will be raised back to life again” was a bold claim, but it wasn’t the final bold claim. There is one more for us to consider. 

The resurrection of Jesus is our assurance that what Jesus says He will do, He will do. One of the things He promised is, “I am going to prepare a place for you and I will come back to get you” (John 14:1-3). The place Jesus has prepared for us is the end of our race—the finish line for which every Christian should be longing. 

The disciples asked Jesus how they could know when His return was getting closer. He gave them a lot of things to watch for, but He concluded by saying, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and THEN the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). 

In order for us to go Home, the whole world—people in all nations—have to hear the Good News of the Kingdom of God. 

This is our ongoing race. 

This is also a task that Jesus doesn’t expect us to run in our own strength. He promised to send us the Holy Spirit to equip us and empower us to obey this mandate of worldwide evangelism. 

In one of the boldest claims of all, Jesus says He has ultimate authority, and that He is commissioning us to use His authority for the express purpose of our missionary work to all nations. Notice the “therefore” which indicates what we are to do with His authority—

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. … But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8) 

The apostle Paul appreciated this analogy of running a race. Just before it was time for Paul to go Home, he told his friend Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). 

Earlier in his life, Paul used a running example when he wrote to the Christians at Corinth—

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

Paul gives us three don’ts and three dos in this passage:

  • Don’t fail to train, don’t run aimlessly, don’t get disqualified by focusing on the temporal 
  • Do go into strict training, do stay focused on the eternal, do run for the prize of hearing Jesus say, “Well done!” 

Do you want to go Home? Do you want Jesus to come again to take all of His children Home? Then finish the race of telling everyone in the whole world the Good News about Jesus. 

If you’ve missed any of the bold claims we have unpacked during this series, you can find a list of all of the messages by clicking here. 

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

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Reason To Hope And To Proclaim

April 10, 2023 — 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. 

On Resurrection Sunday, Christians celebrate an event that is the foundational truth for all of the Bible and for the Christian faith which springs from the Scriptures: The resurrection of Jesus. 

If Jesus wasn’t resurrected, this is a terrible, cruel lie we are perpetuating. If Jesus was resurrected, we have been given the key to eternal life. No one has ever made the bold claims that Jesus made about His own death and resurrection and then backed them up! 

On the Sunday morning after Jesus was crucified, some women arrived at His tomb to finish preparing His body for burial, but Luke records something fascinating: “They did not find the body of the Lord Jesus” (Luke 24:1-8). 

Think about this in a modern-day setting. If you were at the bedside of your loved one when they took their last breath, if you heard the doctor pronounce them dead, if you were at the funeral and saw their body in a casket, and if you saw that casket closed, sealed, and lowered into the ground, you would have every reason to find a body if that casket were re-opened. 

These women were on Golgotha when Jesus died, they saw the Roman soldiers verify His death, they witnessed Joseph and Nicodemus wrap His body in linen strips, and they saw His body placed in a sealed tomb. 

Then when there is no body where the dead body of Jesus is expected, there are only three possibilities: 

(1) He never died

Medical experts have concluded that the horrific torture that Jesus endured prior to even being crucified resulted in significant blood loss, and would have put His body in shock. Then the strain on His weakened body during crucifixion would have resulted in His body experiencing either pleural effusion or cardiac effusion, which is attested to by the flow of “blood and water” from Jesus’ dead body when His side was pierced by a Roman spear (John 19:34). 

The dead body of Jesus was thoroughly examined by both the Romans who conducted the crucifixion and His friends who prepared His body for burial (Mark 15:43-45; John 19:38-40). And two contemporary historians—Tacitus and Josephus—who were unfriendly to the cause of Christianity both attested to Christ’s death by crucifixion. 

(2) His body was stolen

The Sanhedrin was so insistent on Jesus being crucified, they wouldn’t have left the “conspiracy” option open. So they convinced Governor Pontius Pilate to allow them to both seal the tomb and place a group of soldiers outside the tomb to guard it (Matthew 27:62-66). It is highly unlikely that the disciples who fled before the temple guard and who were now locked in a room because they were quaking with fear would somehow gain the courage to undertake a mission to steal Jesus’ body. Nor is it likely that they could have escaped the notice of the highly-trained Roman soldiers guarding the tomb. 

(3) He was resurrected 

The angels at the empty tomb reminded the women that Jesus had foretold both the manner of His death and the assurance of His resurrection. Jesus described His death in detail multiple times, including such key details as His death would be in Jerusalem, the religious leaders would pronounce a death sentence but the Romans would crucify Him, and that He would be resurrected three days later (Matthew 20:18-19; Luke 18:31-33). In addition, Paul tells us that there were hundreds of eyewitnesses to the resurrected Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). 

Jesus said, “The reason my Father loves Me is that I lay down My life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father” (John 10:17-18). 

If Jesus foretold this and fulfilled this, we can also trust His other promises. Assurances such as:

  • He is preparing an eternal home for us and He will come back to take His followers there 
  • That He alone holds the keys to Death and Hades
  • And that only those who have been cleansed from their sins will be able to enter Heaven

(see John 14:1-3; Revelation 1:18, 22:12-14)

The bold claim that Jesus would be resurrected back to life is adequately backed up by the events on Resurrection Sunday! So now we can say that believing the bold claim of Christ’s resurrection gives us hope for the future and reason to tell others about Him! 

If you’ve missed any of the other bold claims that we have discussed, you can find them all by clicking here. 

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An Unlikely Convert

April 8, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

There is a man that we meet in just a couple of verses of Scripture. We know that he is a Roman centurion. I gave him an appropriate Roman name of Vitellius. I created a fictional backstory for this centurion, but all of the events are well documented in both biblical history and contemporary history books of the time. I have listed below all of the scripture references that you may want to consult, along with some quotes from notable historians. 

What isn’t fictional is the fact that the Cross didn’t happen to Jesus, but He came to make Calvary happen. 

Jesus said this about His crucifixion, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself” (John 12:32). That’s what happened to the thief, and to the centurion Vitellius, and to me, and to all who have acknowledged that Jesus is the Savior. 

Vitellius’ bold claim on the day Jesus was crucified still rings true 2000 years later: “Certainly this was a righteous Man!” 

Looking at Jesus who was lifted up on that Cross, we can appreciate the beauty of the 700-year-old prophecy about Him:

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem. Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:2-5)

Which is what we celebrate in Communion still to this day. “And [Jesus] took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you’” (Luke 22:19-20). 

The way Christians live today can still lift Jesus up for all to see. Jesus told His followers, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25). 

When we live this way, our lives become the aroma of life to even sin-hardened thieves and war-hardened soldiers.  

Check out this video of Vitellius’ personal experience—

Here are some further resources for you to check out:

  • The Bible verses that form the background for this centurion’s story—Luke 23:1-47; Matthew 27:11-54; Mark 15:1-39; John 18:28-19:34
  • Historian William Barclay wrote this about the centurions, “The centurions were the backbone of the Roman army. In a Roman legion there were 6,000 men; the legion was divided into sixty centuries, each containing 100 men, and in command of each century there was a centurion. These centurions were the long-service, regular soldiers of the Roman army. They were responsible for the discipline of the regiment, and they were the cement which held the army together. … A centurion was the equivalent of a regimental sergeant-major; and the centurions were the backbone of the Roman army.”
  • The horrific torture of crucifixion

If you have missed any of the other messages in our series of Bold Claims, you can find them all my clicking here.

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