Gospel of Matthew | Craig T. Owens

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Love Beyond Imagining!

April 24, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

God has always been revealing Himself. Sometimes it’s in His Creation, or the conscience He placed inside every human, or the prophets who remind us of God’s ways. But ultimately God revealed His fullness in the Person of Jesus.

Nancy Guthrie wrote—

“God has always wanted His people to know Him—not in a generic or shallow way, but personally, as He truly is. So He revealed Himself in a progressive way, not only through His name, but also through His glorious presence that dwelt in the Temple, through the Law, and through His mighty deeds on behalf of His people. But these revelations all led up to a definitive revelation in the Person of Jesus.”

One of the ways the love of Jesus was revealed to us is in the story of Ruth and Boaz. This is one of my favorite Bible stories. It’s a short story, so please check it out when you have 10 minutes to read it.

Here’s the part of the story I want to share today. Ruth is…

a foreigner in Israel (she has no citizenship)
a widowed woman (she has no legal standing)
without money and no way to earn money, which means she is merely in survival mode
so far in debt that creditors are about to foreclose on the one remaining asset she and her mother-in-law have.

Ruth meets a man named Boaz, who is…

a rich land owner;
a “man of standing,” which can mean hero
well respected by the city leaders
a popular and successful employer
God-fearing and above-and-beyond obedient to God’s laws

Ruth, in an unexpected twist, asks Boaz to marry her!

Boaz has nothing to gain and everything to lose by agreeing to this marriage proposal, but he does it anyway!

In the language of the day, Ruth asks Boaz to “cover me with the corner of your robe.” This becomes the picture that Jesus will ultimately fulfill.

Not only does the corner of Christ’s robe heal people physically (Matthew 9:20-22; 14:34-36), but it also signifies His willingness to take in marriage anyone who is as utterly helpless as Ruth was.

Ruth had nothing but debts; we have nothing but debts. Ruth was barely surviving unless help came; we are headed for death without Jesus.

Boaz took Ruth as she was and gave her citizenship, legal standing, and riches. He covered her shame and allowed her to stand boldly in the city square.

Jesus takes us as we are and gives us citizenship in Heaven, a legal standing before Almighty God, all of His riches, and then…

All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before My Father and His angels that THEY ARE MINE! (Revelation 3:5)

Oh, how Jesus loves us!!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Boaz, Calvary Assembly of God, conscience, Creation, Gospel of Matthew, healing, Jesus Christ, law, marriage, Nancy Guthrie, prophets, quotes, Revelation, Ruth, shame, video, YouTube. Leave a Comment »

The Profit Of Persecution

April 10, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

“Jesus Christ not only warned that persecution would come, He went further and said that it was profitable to go through persecution [Matthew 5:11-12; 2 Corinthians 12:10]. …

“No one understands your circumstances but God, and He has given you the fighting chance to prove you can be more than conqueror in all these things. Let God lift you out of the broken place, out of the the bedraggled place. Let Him put within you the Holy Spirit so that you can face the music of life and become more than conqueror in every place where you have been defeated. …

“The Apostle Paul seems to be never tired of comparing the Christian life to a fight, and a fight against tremendous odds, but always a winning fight. …

“We cannot be more than conquerors if there is nothing to fight! Our Lord Himself and the Spirit of God in the Epistles make it very clear that everything that is not of God will try its best to kill His life out of us; yet instead of doing that it makes us all the stronger. …

“The grace of God will make us marvelously impervious to all the onslaughts of tribulation and persecution and destitution because we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus and cannot be awakened up to self-pity. God sends His rough weather and His smooth weather, but we pay no attention to either because we are taken up only with the one central thing—the love of God in Christ Jesus.” —Oswald Chambers, in The Fighting Chance

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 2 Corinthians, apostle Paul, Christian, conqueror, fight, Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ, Oswald Chambers, persecution, quotes, spiritual warfare, victory. 1 Comment »

No Apathetic Christians Allowed!

March 27, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

Healthy love loves God and then serves God by loving and serving others. Quite simply—love loves.

But my question is how does love love?

Sometimes we can get a fuller definition of a word by looking at its opposite. So what’s the opposite of love? It isn’t hate because hate is actually the flip side of love. That means our hatred for anything that comes against the object of our love is just as strong as our love is.

**The opposite of love is apathy.**

Apathy means without pathos (or feeling). Specifically, without feeling that moves us to action. So in order for love to love, it needs pathos as its fuel.

For example. If you hear a coworker mention her frustration with construction slowing down her morning commute, apathy says, “Bummer!” and does nothing else. But love fuel by pathos says, “I found an alternate route that I can share with you.”

When a friend tells you about his frustration with trying to lose weight, apathy says, “Good luck!” Pathos love says, “Here’s the diet that worked for me” or “I’ll go to the gym with you.”

Love is fueled by pathos to: speak out, act out, and reach out.

When Peter was describing the ministry of Jesus, he said, “He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil” (Acts 10:38).

As His follower, we are supposed to feel the needs of the hurting and confused around us, and then let that pathos fuel our love to go around doing good:

When you hear someone asking for help, offer help.
When you see someone who is down, be their friend.
When you don’t see a neighbor for a couple of days, check on them.
When you meet someone looking for answers, invite them to church with you.
When a friend is sick, send a card, bring a meal, or mow their lawn.

These kinds of good deeds make Jesus happy (see Matthew 25:40) because it’s a tangible way to love God and then serve God by loving and serving others.

BE LIKE JESUS—GO AROUND DOING GOOD!

There should never, ever be such a thing as an apathetic Christian!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apathy, Book of Acts, Calvary Assembly of God, Christian, Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ, love, love others, pathos, sermon, serve, video, YouTube. Leave a Comment »

Love Re-members

February 6, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

Christians often talk about God in terms of the “Trinity.” That is, the One True God revealed in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This is sometimes a difficult concept to grasp, especially since the word Trinity doesn’t specifically appear in the Bible. But make no mistake, just because the word isn’t there doesn’t mean it’s not true. Consider…

God’s Three-in-One nature is first exhibited when man is created (Genesis 1:26).
When the prophesy is given about Jesus being born in human flesh, He is given all the titles of the three Persons of the Godhead (Isaiah 9:6).
At Christ’s baptism we see Jesus in human form, we see the Holy Spirit descending as a dove, and we hear the Father’s voice announcing His approval of His Son (Matthew 3:16-17).
Jesus Himself said He would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to the Christians (John 14:16).
And just as Jesus ascended into Heaven, He told His followers to baptize people into all three Persons of the Godhead (Matthew 28:19).

But I think the best expression of the Trinity is revealed in three simple words. John talks about how all three Persons of the Trinity are involved in the life of a Christian. And then he sums it all up in three words—

“GOD IS LOVE”

Each Person of the Godhead is encouraging and illuminating and pointing to the other Persons in the Trinity. Love is perpetually being received and given. We humans are created in God’s image … we are created to receive and to give God’s love. That’s why John tells us that we know and rely on the love God has for us (that’s the receiving part), and that whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him (that’s the giving part).

When Adam and Eve sinned, they were dis-membered from God. As a result, every human in their natural state longs for connection with God and others, but feels separated, isolated, unloved, and even unlovable.

Love re-members!

Jesus came to be broken and crushed and to feel the pain of separation from God. It was out of this brokenness that He could do the work of re-membering us to the fullness of the Trinity.

When Jesus shared His last supper with His disciples, He took bread (which is made from broken wheat kernels) and wine (which is made from crushed grapes). He told us as often as we eat the bread and drink the wine we are to remember how He was broken and crushed for us.

Remembering Christ’s work on the Cross re-members us to the fullness of the Trinity.

Sin and satan want to keep us feeling separated, unloved, and unloveable. But when we were the least worthy of His love, God—Who IS love—was broken and crushed to re-member us to Him.

If you feel lonely, separated, isolated, unloved or unloveable, I urge you to remember what Jesus did for you. He loved you enough to be broken and crushed for your re-membering to all of God’s love.

Check out this video where I explain this amazing thought in more detail…

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 John, Calvary, crucifixion, doctrine, Genesis, God's love, Gospel of John, Gospel of Matthew, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, Isaiah, Jesus Christ, loneliness, love, salvation, theology, Trinity, video, YouTube. 1 Comment »

My “I” Crossed Out

January 16, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

“You shall be blameless before the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 18:13).

“Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

Blameless = complete, whole, entire, sound; from the root word “to be finished.”

Perfect = finished, not needing anything else to be completed.

I cannot be perfect on my own.

I sin.

I strive but always fall short.

But the Cross of Jesus is the “I” crossed out!

From the Cross Jesus said, “It is finished.”

There was nothing needing to be completed.

Finished.

Perfect.

Entire.

Sound.

I, too, must take up my cross.

This is the only way to have my “I” crossed out.

Jesus said, “You are in Me and I am in you.”

As long as I remain in Him I am blameless.

I am perfect.

I am complete.

“Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God” (Deuteronomy 18:13, KJV).

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

I am complete in Him!

Today I will walk out this perfection.

Every day.

Jesus, may You be seen in me as I remain in You.

I am only perfect in You!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: blameless, Christian, Cross, Deuteronomy, Gospel of Matthew, holy, Jesus Christ, perfection. Leave a Comment »

The Blood Of Jesus

January 9, 2017 — Craig T. Owens

“‘They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’ Not only the man, but his garments are made white. This is more than cleansing. It is the word used regarding Christ’s transfiguration-garments (Matthew 17:2); the angel-robes (Matthew 28:3); the heavenly clothing (Revelation 4:4); the judgment throne (Revelation 20:2). Whiter than snow or wool, white as the garments of Christ—nay, the ‘head and hair’ of Christ (Revelation 1:14). This is the result of the application of the blood to those who were ‘blacker than the coal,’ redder than crimson. What potency, what virtue, what excellency does this blood contain! How it beautifies and glorifies!

“He gives us this blood as our right of entrance is sprinkled and consecrated by His blood. Let us draw near! The blood removes all cause of dread, all possibility of rejection, nay, gives the certainty of reception. Let us go in! We are sure of a welcome. It gives boldness as well as right of entrance. It says, ‘Draw near boldly.’” —Horatius Bonar, in Light And Truth—Revelation

Other quotes from this book may be read here and here.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: blood, forgiveness, Gospel of Matthew, Horatius Bonar, Jesus Christ, quotes, Revelation. 1 Comment »

An Angel’s Story (book review)

December 22, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

Reader’s of my blog will know that I seldom read fiction books, but Max Lucado tricked me into reading this one! I read the introduction to An Angel’s Story and thought, “Wow, this is going to be an interesting take on the Christmas story,” and I began reading. But before I realized I was reading a fictional account, I was hooked and had to keep on reading.

I’m so glad I did!

We often think of the night of Christ’s birth being—as the Christmas carols tell us—a silent night of wonder, a holy night of rejoicing, a festive night of an angel choir singing in the skies above Bethlehem. Indeed this is the picture we get in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

However, the book of Revelation tells a different story.

In Revelation, we see the lengths to which the devil and his hoard went to prevent the Advent of Jesus. And we also read about the angels who remain loyal to God battling against the dark forces in the heavens. Max Lucado imagines what this might of have looked like in the unseen spiritual world around Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.

If you’ve ever read anything from Max Lucado, you know that he is a first-class storyteller, and An Angel’s Story is no exception. Believe me: this book will grab your attention, keep you riveted until the very end, and give you a perspective of the night of Christ’s birth like you’ve probably never seen before.

I highly recommend this book to you!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: angels, book review, Christmas, First Advent, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ, Joseph, Mary, Max Lucado, Revelation, spiritual warfare, storytelling. 1 Comment »

The First Noël

December 12, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

When I worked in the business field, I was invited to be a teacher for a program called GROW (Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women), where I taught a class on marketing. Then later on, I served as a reviewer as the students turned in their marketing plans.

One of the main points I tried to drive home to my students is a basic Marketing 101 principle which says—you can’t be all things to all people. You have to pick a niche market and then try to dominate that market. There are two general ideas here: (1) Make your product or service pricey and therefore exclusive to a select group, or (2) Make your product or service affordable and accessible for the mass market.

The Incarnation of Jesus totally violates this Marketing 101 principle. (Which goes to show you that God knows more than all the world’s so-called “experts”!)

First, there was a marketing message to shepherds (see Luke 2:8-11). This would have been the “mass market” as shepherds represented the every-day, working-class man. The first two verses of The First Noël carol addresses these “certain poor shepherds in fields where they lay.”

But then there is this appearance of a very exclusive group of Magi (see Matthew 2:1-2, 11). These men were highly educated and had gained great influence and affluence. Verse 3 of The First Noël references these “wise men…from country far” who could present such lavish gifts to Jesus.

God did exactly what I told my GROW students they shouldn’t do if they wanted to be successful!

The Incarnation of Jesus is one of those rarest of rare things that actually can be all things to all people! Why? Because ALL people need what the Incarnation of Jesus brings. That’s why the final verse of The First Noël calls for ALL of us to join in singing our praise to God because of the salvation Jesus had purchased for ALL mankind.

Here’s the reason—

ALL we like sheep have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6)…
…and the penalty for that straying from God is death for ALL sinners (Romans 6:23).
But Jesus came to ransom ALL from that penalty (Mark 10:45)…
…so that ALL who believe in Him will be saved (Romans 3:22)!

“The coming of Jesus was a search-and-save mission. ‘The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.’ So Advent is a season for thinking about the mission of God to seek and to save lost people from the wrath to come. … ‘As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you’ (John 20:21). It’s the story of how the vertical Advent of God in the mission of Jesus bends out and becomes the horizontal Advent of Jesus in the mission of the church. In us.” —John Piper

You have been rescued, now go be a rescuer. Take this Noël message to ALL … young/old, rich/poor, Black/white, educated/illiterate, healthy/sick, friend/enemy…. the message in the First Noël and every Noël is for everyone!

If you’ve missed any of the messages in our series The Carols Of Christmas, you can find the full list here.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Advent, Calvary Assembly of God, Christmas, Christmas carols, First Advent, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, Incarnation, Isaiah, Jesus Christ, Magi, Romans, sermon, shepherds, video, YouTube. 2 Comments »

Rick Warren On What Mercy Means

November 14, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

“Mercy means…

…being patient with people’s quirks (James 3:17)

…helping anyone around you who is hurting (Proverbs 3:27)

…giving people a second chance (Ephesians 4:31-32)

…doing good to those who hurt you (Luke 6:35-36)

…being kind to those who offend you (Jude 22-23)

…building bridges of love to the unpopular (premeditated mercy) (Matthew 9:13)

…valuing relationships over rules (Romans 13:10)” —Rick Warren

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Book of James, Ephesians, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Matthew, helping hand, Jude, kindness, mercy, patience, proverbs, quotes, relationships, Rick Warren, Romans, second chance, serve. Leave a Comment »

Don’t Settle For Low Expectations

October 24, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

Some of the greatest discoveries and revelations came about because people were curious. They refused to just go along with what they had always been told, what they grew up believing, or what the conventional wisdom told them was impossible.

Archimedes had his “Eureka!” moment because he refused to believe that it was impossible to measure the volume of an irregularly-shaped object.

Isaac Newton formulated the laws of gravitation because he curiously wondered about why apples fell perpendicular and at the same velocity.

The Apostle Peter saw a vision from God with animals, but didn’t stop there. His openness helped him realize that God didn’t have “favorites.”

Far too many people live their lives cursed with low expectations. They say, “That’s all there is.” and they put a period on it.

God wants us to soar above those low expectations! He tells us things like:

Come now, let us reason together… (Isaiah 1:18).
Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3).
Are you listening to this? Really listening? … The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you… (Matthew 13:9, 11)

But we are trapped in the curse of low expectations when we put a period on things, when we refuse to learn more, see more, hear more.

Most people—“That’s all there is.” (period)
What if we changed it up—“Is this all there is?” (question mark)
Perhaps you might get—“There is so much more!” (exclamation point)

For example, Paul uses the word “mystery” multiple times in his letter to the Ephesians. He explains that a mystery is something hidden from those who have it all figured out (the “period” people), but is revealed to those who will ask God (the “question mark” people). Only the “question mark” people get to see the “exclamation points” God has for them. Things like…

God has a plan, and it is His pleasure to reveal it to me (Ephesians 1:9-10; 2:10).
God’s revelation is fully revealed to me in His Word (3:3-5).
Faith in Jesus makes Christians co-heirs and sharers in all God’s promises (3:6).
I have access to God’s inexhaustible riches, His immense wisdom, and I may approach Him with freedom and confidence (3:8-12).

Don’t stop with “.” but go on to “?” and experience “!”

With great expectation, read God’s Word, approach His throne, dig into His riches, wrestle with the difficult things, learn more of God’s purpose for your life. He wants to give you so much more “!”