Heaven | Craig T. Owens

January 2026
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Poetry Saturday—Where The Roses Never Fade

July 27, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

I am going to a city where the streets with gold are laid

Where the tree of life is blooming and the roses never fade.

Here they bloom but for a season—soon their beauty is decayed

But I am going to a city where the roses never fade.

In this world we have our troubles, satan’s snares we must evade

We’ll be free from all temptation where the roses never fade.

Here they bloom but for a season—soon their beauty is decayed

But I am going to a city where the roses never fade.

Loved one gone to be with Jesus in their robes of white arrayed

Now are waiting for my coming where the roses never fade.

Here they bloom but for a season—soon their beauty is decayed

But I am going to a city where the roses never fade. —variously attributed to Elsie Osborn, Jack Osborn, or Jim Miller (the handwritten copy is from Russell Coffield, my wife’s grandfather, and was read at his funeral)

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: beauty, eternity, Heaven, poem, poetry, rejoice, Russell Coffield, satan, spiritual warfare, temptation, unfading beauty. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—Walking With God

July 20, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

Alas, my God, that we should be

Such Strangers to each other!

O that as Friends we might agree,

And walk, and talk together!

Thou know’st my Soul doth dearly love

The Place of Thine Abode;

No Music drops so sweet a Sound,

As those two words, My God.

I long not for the Fruit that grows

Within these Gardens here;

I find no sweetness in their Rose

When Jesus is not near:

Thy gracious Presence, O my Christ

Can make a Paradise;

Ah, what are all the goodly Pearls

Unto this Pearl of Price!

May I taste that Communion, Lord,

Thy people have with Thee?

Thy Spirit daily talks with them,

O let it talk with me!

Like Enoch, let me walk with God,

And thus walk out my Day,

Attended with the Heavenly Guards

Upon the King’s High-way.

When wilt Thou come unto me, Lord?

O come, my Lord most dear!

Come near, come nearer, nearer still;

I’m well when Thou art near.

When wilt Thou come unto me, Lord?

I languish for Thy Sight;

Ten Thousand Suns, if Thou art Strange,

Are shades instead of Light.

When wilt Thou come unto me, Lord?

For, till Thou dost appear,

I count each Moment for a Day,

Each Minute for a Year.

Come, Lord and never from me go,

This World’s a darksome Place;

I find no Pleasure here below,

When Thou dost veil Thy Face.

There’s no such Thing as Pleasure here;

My JESUS is my All;

As Thou didst shine or disappear,

My pleasures rise and fall.

Come, spread Thy Savour on my Frame,

No sweetness is so sweet;

Till I get up to sing Thy Name,

Where all Thy Singers meet. —Thomas Shepherd

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Communion, God's presence, Heaven, intimacy, Jesus Christ, joy, pleasure, poem, poetry, relationship, Thomas Shepherd, treasure. 1 Comment »

Poetry Saturday—These Eyes Have Never Seen

July 13, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

Jesus, these eyes have never seen

that radiant form of Thine;

the veil of sense hangs dark between

Thy blessed face and mine.

I see Thee not, I hear Thee not,

yet art Thou oft with me;

and earth hath ne’er so dear a spot

as where I meet with Thee.

Yet, though I have not seen, and still

must rest in faith alone,

I love Thee, dearest Lord, and will,

unseen, but not unknown.

When death these mortal eyes shall seal,

and still this throbbing heart,

the rending veil shall Thee reveal

all glorious as Thou art. —Ray Palmer

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: faith, God's glory, God's presence, Heaven, hymn, Jesus Christ, poem, poetry, Ray Palmer, worship. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—Every Fallen Soul

June 8, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

Every fallen soul, by sinning,

Merits everlasting pain;

But Thy love without beginning,

Has redeem’d the world again:

Countless millions

Shall in life, through Jesus reign.

Pause, my soul, adore and wonder:

Ask, “Oh, why such love to me?”

Grace hath put me in the number

Of the Saviour’s family:

Hallelujah!

Thanks, eternal thanks to Thee!

Since that love had no beginning,

And shall never, never cease;

Keep, oh, keep me, Lord, from sinning;

Guide me in the way of peace:

Make me walk in

All the paths of holiness.

When I quit this feeble mansion,

And my soul returns to Thee,

Let the power of Thy ascension

Manifest itself in me;

Through Thy Spirit,

Give the final victory.

When the angel sounds the trumpet;

When my soul and body join;

When my Saviour comes to judgment,

Bright in majesty divine,

Let me triumph

In Thy righteousness as mine. —Anonymous

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: adoration, angels, end times, eternity, glorification, God's holiness, God's love, grace, Heaven, Jesus Christ, justification, poem, poetry, righteousness, Savior, worship. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—The Course Of Prayer

May 25, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

Even so, the course of prayer who knows?
   It springs in silence where it will,
      Springs out of sight, and flows
         At first a lonely rill:

But streams shall meet it by and by
   From thousand sympathetic hearts,
      Together swelling high
         Their chant of many parts.

Unheard by all but angel ears
   The good Cornelius knelt alone,
      Nor dream’d his prayers and tears
         Would help a world undone.

The while upon his terrac’d roof
   The lov’d Apostle to his Lord
      In silent thought aloof
         For Heavenly vision soar’d.

Far o’er the glowing western main
   His wistful brow was upward rais’d,
      Where, like an angel’s train,
         The burnish’d water blaz’d.

The saint beside the ocean pray’d,
   The soldier in his chosen bower,
      Where all his eye survey’d
         Seem’d sacred in that hour.

To each unknown his brother’s prayer,
   Yet brethren true in dearest love
      Were they—and now they share
         Fraternal joys above. —John Keble

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Heaven, John Keble, joy, poem, poetry, prayer, saints, tears. Leave a Comment »

Worth The Risk

May 22, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

“‘And Jesus said unto them, strive to enter in at the straight gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able’ (Luke 13:24). Christ said His disciples were measuring by a wrong rule. ‘If following after sermons and testimonies and excitement were enough to save, heaven would already be full,’ He was saying. But do not sift the pure from the impure by such a coarse sieve. ‘Strive to enter—fight and wrestle, risk life and limb rather than fall short of heaven.’ … Almost anyone is willing to walk through heaven’s door if he never has to risk his pride in public or hazard his everyday interests by any inconvenience or opposition of the world.” —William Gurnall, in The Christian In Complete Armor

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: discipleship, Gospel of Luke, Heaven, Jesus Christ, quote, rewards, risk, spiritual warfare, William Gurnall. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—O My Soul What Means This Sadness

May 18, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

O my soul! what means this sadness?

Wherefore art thou thus cast down?

Let thy griefs be turned to gladness,

Bid thy restless fears be gone;

Look to Jesus, look to Jesus,

And rejoice in His dear name.

What though satan’s strong temptations

Vex and grieve thee day by day,

And thy sinful inclinations

Often fill thee with dismay;

Thou shalt conquer,

Through the Lamb’s redeeming blood.

Though ten thousand ills beset thee

From without and from within,

Jesus saith He’ll ne’er forget thee,

But will save from hell and sin.

He is faithful

To perform His gracious Word.

Though distresses now attend thee,

And thou tread’st the thorny road,

His right hand shall still defend thee;

Soon He’ll bring thee home to God.

Therefore praise Him,

Praise the great Redeemer’s name.

Oh that I could now adore Him

Like the heavenly host above,

Who forever bow before Him,

And unceasing sing His love.

Happy songsters!

When shall I your chorus join? —W.B. Bradbury

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: adoration, assurance, fear, God's faithfulness, Heaven, hymn, Jesus Christ, joy, poem, poetry, praise, W.B. Bradbury, worship. Leave a Comment »

Christ’s Powerful “I”

March 19, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

“…I…” (Jesus in John 14:2, 3, 6)

The disciples of Jesus, by their words and actions, have made it perfectly clear that they are “troubled” at the thought of being on their own. Jesus assures them with three powerful “I” truths:

I go to prepare a place for you—your future home is secure.
I will come again—we will be with Jesus forever.
I am the way, the truth, and the life—there is no need to second-guess, no confusion; just perfect, heart-cheering clarity!

The disciple’s job—and therefore our job as well—is simply this: “Believe Me” (v. 11).

When we believe what Jesus says—I go, I will, I am—then we unleash the power of God in our lives. The power to…

… do greater works (v. 12)
… pray more powerful prayers (vv. 13, 14)
… know the companionship of the Holy Spirit (vv. 16-18)

Whenever fear tries to creep in and paralyze us, may we quickly drive out that fear by believing and reaffirming what Jesus says: “I go … I will … I AM!”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: belief, Christian, encouragement, eternity, faith in action, Gospel of John, Heaven, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, prayer, salvation, trouble. Leave a Comment »

Thursdays With Oswald—What Is Mammon?

January 10, 2019 — 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.

What Is Mammon?

You cannot serve God and Mammon [Matthew 6:24]. A man of the world says we can; with a little subtlety and wisdom and compromise (it is called diplomacy or tact), we can serve both. The devil’s temptation to our Lord to fall down and worship him, i.e., to compromise, is repeated over and over again in Christian experience. We have to realize that there is a division as high as heaven and as deep as hell between the Christian and the world. ‘Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God’ [James 4:4]. …

Never compromise with the spirit of Mammon. When you are right with God, you become contemptible in the eyes of the world. Put into practice any of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount and you will be treated with amusement at first; then if you persist, the world will get annoyed and will detest you. … What is Mammon? The system of civilized life which organizes itself without considering God. …

When we become mature in godliness God trusts His own honor to us by placing us where the world, the flesh, and the devil may try us, knowing that ‘greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world’ [1 John 4:4].

From Studies In The Sermon On The Mount

Mammon wants to get what it wants to get, without considering God and without regard to the long-term consequences. Mammon wants satisfaction right now!

Mammon is the system of the world. People are constantly driven by what they can get for themselves right now, with little—if any—thought to what God thinks or to what the inevitable outcome is going to be.

A Christian is different.

A Christian is focused on something which cannot be seen right now. But just because the rewards cannot be seen doesn’t make them any less real. In fact, Jesus teaches that the rewards He gives are Reality itself.

When a Christian insists on doing things God’s way, the devil will sneer and people will laugh. But God’s Spirit in you is greater than all of that, and He will help you to stand firm in Him, not compromising with the lure of Mammon.