Bono’s comments on the centrality of Jesus Christ for the life of a Christian is absolutely right on target. Check this out…
Hat tip: basicsoflife.org
Bono On Jesus Christ
August 16, 2015 — Craig T. OwensLinks & Quotes
August 14, 2015 — Craig T. Owens
“May the Lord increase your hunger and your thirst to see the face of God. And may He grant your desire through the gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God.” —John Piper
Chuck Colson said, “It seems that everywhere—from Tennessee to Tokyo—religion is being permeated by a consumerist mentality.” Read more (or take a listen to Chuck’s broadcast) on Gimmie That Hot-Tub Religion.
My friend and mentor, Tom Kaastra, has an amazing new website called The Basics of Life—Help for your spiritual journey. Do yourself a favor, check out the site, and then subscribe so you can receive his wisdom each time he publishes something new.
Ken Davis has some good insights on handling the ups and downs of life.
Dr. Ben Carson sets the record straight on Planned Parenthood’s racist foundation. And Jayme Metztgar explains why abortion is the new slavery, giving three reasons why what Planned Parenthood is doing is morally wrong.
From Planned Parenthood’s own annual report, prenatal services—which have decreased—amount to 18,684 services. Out of the total 10,590,433 services then, pre-natal care accounts for less than 1 percent. For pregnant women who come to Planned Parenthood, 94 percent of them have an abortion. (h/t Live Action)
J. Warner Wallace asks: Can naturalists [evolutionists] explain where life originated? Great apologetics for those who believe in a Creator or Intelligent Design.
David Wilkerson says there is a command from Jesus that far too many Christians ignore: “The King has told us to bind up the devil and cast him out of the banqueting hall. In short, we’re to rise up and take serious action against satan’s attacks on Christ’s Body.” Read more here.
Links & Quotes
August 12, 2015 — Craig T. Owens
“We are not just connected to Jesus, our Head. We are also joined to each other. The fact is, we can’t be connected to Him without also being joined to our brothers and sisters in Christ.” Read more from David Wilkerson in his post Partakers Of The Bread.
“Hard work spotlights the character of people. Some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.” —Sam Ewing
“Grace is an active, present, transformative, obedience-enabling power.” —John Piper
Don’t miss tonight’s meteor shower.
These are some absolutely stunning pictures from National Geographic!
C.S. Lewis On The Scarcity Mindset
August 11, 2015 — Craig T. Owens
When C.S. Lewis wrote The Screwtape Letters, he wrote as an experienced demon giving advice to his young, protege demon. In this writing, when he refers to the “the Enemy” he’s talking about God, and “our Father” is the devil.
“The Enemy’s demand on humans takes the form of a dilemma; either complete abstinence or unmitigated monogamy. Ever since our Father’s first great victory, we have rendered the former very difficult to them. The latter, for the last few centuries, we have been closing up as a way of escape. We have done this through the poets and novelists by persuading the humans that a curious, and usually shortlived, experience which they call ‘being in love’ is the only respectable ground for marriage; that marriage can, and ought to, render this excitement permanent; and that a marriage which does not do so is no longer binding. This idea is our parody of an idea that came from the Enemy. The whole philosophy of Hell rests on recognition of the axiom that one thing is not another thing, and, specially, that one self is not another self. My good is my good and your good is yours. What one gains another loses. Even an inanimate object is what it is by excluding all other objects from the space it occupies; if it expands, it does so by thrusting other objects aside or by absorbing them. A self does the same. With beasts the absorption takes the form of eating; for us, it means the sucking of will and freedom out of a weaker self into a stronger. ‘To be’ means ‘to be in competition.’” —C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Jesus came that we might have life in abundance; the devil wants to leave you competing for scarcity after he steals, kills and destroys. Choose God’s way. Choose abundance! Choose life!
Links & Quotes
August 10, 2015 — Craig T. Owens
“God made humans in His image so that the world would be filled with reflectors of God. Images of God. Seven billion statues of God. So that nobody would miss the point of creation.” —John Piper
“I do not admire the extreme of one virtue unless you show me at the same time the extreme of the opposite virtue. One shows one’s greatness not by being at an extremity but by being simultaneously at two extremities and filling all the space between.” —Blaise Pascal
“The most striking thing about Our Lord is the union of great ferocity with extreme tenderness.” —C.S. Lewis
“Our Lord in His infinite wisdom and superabundant love, sets so high a value upon His people’s faith, that He will not screen them from those trials by which faith is strengthened.” —Charles Spurgeon
“Christians are priests, but how priests if they offer no sacrifice? Christians are lights, but how are they lights unless they shine for others? Christians are sent into the world, even as Christ was sent into the world, but how are they sent unless they are sent to pray? Christians are meant not only to be blessed themselves, but in them shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, but how if you refuse to pray?” —Charles Spurgeon
John Stonestreet shares some alarming information that makes pornography a public health threat.
J.C. Ryle On Prayer
August 10, 2015 — Craig T. Owens
Some great quotes from J.C. Ryle…
“No prayers can be heard which do not come from a forgiving heart.” —J.C. Ryle
“No time is so well spent in every day as that which we spend up on our knees.” —J.C. Ryle
“If saints could only see their souls as the ten afflicted lepers saw their bodies, they would pray far better than they do.” —J.C. Ryle
“Let us beware of selfish prayers—the prayers which are wholly taken up with our own affairs, and in which there is no place for other souls beside our own. …The greatest kindness we can do to anyone is to speak for them to our Lord Jesus Christ.” —J.C. Ryle
“If Jesus is to save you, you must pray. If your sins are to be forgiven, you must pray. If the Spirit is to dwell in your heart, you must pray. If you are to have strength against sin, you must pray. If you are to dwell with God in Heaven, your heart must talk with God upon earth by prayer. Oh! do not be a prayerless Christian, whatever others may think right.” —J.C. Ryle
“Praying and sinning will never live together in the same heart. Prayer will consume sin or sin will choke prayer.” —J.C. Ryle
“Let us pray more heartily in private, and throw our whole souls more into our prayers. There are live prayers and there are dead prayers; prayers that cost us nothing, and prayers which often cost us strong crying and tears. What are yours?” — J.C. Ryle
“What is the cause of most backslidings? I believe, as a general rule, one of the chief causes is neglect of private prayer.” —J.C. Ryle
“Diligence in prayer is the secret of eminent holiness.” —J.C. Ryle
“Prayer obtains fresh and continued outpourings of the Spirit. He alone begins the work of grace in a man’s heart. He alone can carry it forward and make it prosper. But the good Spirit loves to be entreated. And those who ask most will have most of His influence.” —J.C. Ryle
Links & Quotes
August 6, 2015 — Craig T. Owens
“Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even to last at all. Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go. And in fact, whatever people say, the state called ‘being in love’ usually does not last.” —C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity
“There must be nothing about our religion of our own inventing; it is for us to lay thought, and judgment, and opinion at the feet of Christ, and do what He bids us, simply because He gives the command.” —Charles Spurgeon
“The storms of life are no longer our point of reference when Jesus is our focal point.” —Dutch Sheets
Murray Vassar reminds Christians to speak up for morality!
“Policy, however, Sir, is not my principle, and I am not ashamed to say it. There is a principle above everything is political . . . And, Sir, when we think of eternity, and of the future consequences of all human conduct, what is there in this life that should make any man contradict the dictates of his conscience, the principles of justice, the laws of religion, and of God.” —William Wilberforce
Two imprisoned Christian pastors have been released from their prison sentence in Sudan. Kudos to the ACLJ!
J.Warner Wallace asks a great question: Can naturalism/evolution account for human dignity?
John Piper has a weighty post that is worth your time to read: satan and sodomy.
God Stamps His Children
August 3, 2015 — Craig T. Owens
From the pages of history we see how kings would finalize or enact a new law by using their signet ring to make their unique mark on the decree. Think about: there was nothing but words on a page, until the impression from the king’s ring made it a royal decree.
The King of Kings stamps His children as well. Anyone who places his or her faith in Jesus Christ receives God’s seal, marking that person as God’s royal possession!
The Hebrew letter taw means a stamp or inscription. It’s the final letter of the Hebrew Aleph-Beth, and its message seals up all that God’s Word symbolizes. In the last section of Psalm 119 called taw (verses 169-176), we read of someone who has made God’s Word an integral part of his life. Check this out…
- God’s word answers his cry for help and brings him understanding (v. 169)
- God’s promise delivers an answer to his prayer (v. 170)
- God’s decrees lead the psalmist to praise God (v. 171)
- God’s commands cause him to burst into song (v. 172)
- God’s precepts bring him help (v. 173)
- God’s law leads him to salvation (v. 174)
- God’s laws bring sustaining and reviving life (v. 175)
- God’s commands rescue him (v. 176)
In the New Testament, God’s seal is described this way—Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
Here’s one more cool thing about taw. This letter is made up of two other Hebrew letters: daleth and nun. This spells Dan. When the Israelites were in the wilderness, the tribe of Dan went last. Their job was to make sure no one got left behind.
Christians who have God’s seal of ownership on them, should live as holy rescuers. They serve by going last, and making sure no one gets left behind, but everyone hears the good news of God’s love.
Do you have God’s seal of ownership on you? What are you doing with it.
Here’s the video of the complete message on taw—
If you have missed any of the messages in our P119 series, you can access them all by clicking here.
17 More Quotes From “Our Brilliant Heritage”
July 30, 2015 — Craig T. Owens
This is the second batch of quotes from Our Brilliant Heritage. You can read the first set of quotes here, and my review of this book is posted here.
“God does not supply us with character, He gives us the life of His Son and we can either ignore Him and refused to obey Him, or we can so obey Him, so bring every thought and imagination into captivity, that the life of Jesus is manifested in our mortal flesh. It is not a question of being saved from hell, but of being saved in order to manifest the Son of God in our mortal flesh. Our responsibility is to keep ourselves fit to manifest Him.”
“We cannot do anything for our salvation, but we must do something to manifest it; we must work it out. Am I working out my salvation with my tongue, with my brain, and with my nerves?”
“We are not called to success but to faithfulness.”
“The marvelous thing about spiritual wealth is that when we take our part in that, everyone else is blessed; whereas if we refused to be partakers, we hinder others from entering into the riches of God.”
“It is a crime to allow external physical misery to make us sulky with God. There are desolating experiences, such as the Psalmist describes in Psalms 42-43, and he says, ‘Then will I go…unto God my exceeding joy’—not ‘with joy,’ but unto God Who is my joy. No calamity can touch that wealth. No sin is worse than self-pity because it puts self-interest on the throne; it ‘makes the bastard of self seem in the right’; it obliterates God and opens the mouth to spit out murmurings against God; and the life becomes impoverished and mean, there is nothing lovely or generous about it.”
“The witness of the Holy Spirit is that we realize with growing amazement Who Jesus is to us personally, our Lord and Master. The baptism of the Holy Ghost makes us witnesses to Jesus, not wonder-workers. The witness is not to what Jesus does, but to what He is.”
“When we say—‘But it is common sense to do this and that,’ we make our common sense Almighty God, and God has to retire right out, then after a while He comes back and asks us if we are satisfied.”
“There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed.”
“Pride is the deification of myself.”
“‘Oh, I’m no saint.’ To talk like that is acceptable to human pride, but it is unconscious blasphemy against God. It literally means I defy God to make me a saint. The reason I am not a saint is either that I do not want to be a saint or I do not believe God can make me one.”
“The greatest hindrance of our spiritual life lies in looking for big things to do; Jesus Christ ‘took a towel….’”
“We say we do not expect God to carry us to heaven on ‘flowery beds of ease,’ but we act as if we did!”
“We can all shine in the sun, but Jesus wants us to shine where there is no sun, where it is dark with the press of practical things.”
“Our Lord never taught us to deny sin: sin must be destroyed, not denied. Nothing sinful can ever be good.”
“Never say you will pray about a thing; pray about it. … It is not part of the life of a natural man to pray. We hear it said that a man will suffer in his life if he does not pray; I question it. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food but by prayer.”
“The five minutes we give to the words of Jesus the first thing in the morning are worth more than all the rest of the day.”
“Are we in the habit of listening to the Words of Jesus? Do we realize that Jesus knows more about our business than we do ourselves? Do we take His Word for our clothes, our money, our domestic work; or do we think we can manage these things for ourselves?”
Irresistible Light
July 30, 2015 — Craig T. Owens
“Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11:28)
There are a lot of things we want to call “blessed.” Sometimes we almost use that word as a lucky charm: “I was blessed by…” or “Isn’t a blessing that….”
As Jesus is speaking, someone interrupts Him to say His mother is blessed. Jesus didn’t disagree, but He went back to why Mary was blessed—she heard God speak and she obeyed Him.
All the blessings I could ever need are listed in God’s Word. All I have to do to receive those blessings is obey.
As Jesus goes on, He makes clear that reading and obeying what the Word says will ensure “that the light within you is not darkness” (v. 35). This, then, will make me a better witness for Christ, as the result of this inner light appears outside too: “as when the light of a lamp shines on you” (v. 36).
Does this “lamp that shines on you” look like a halo? Perhaps. But a life that shines with the blessings of God—which come from obedience to His Word—is unmistakable and irresistible! That sounds like a halo to me!
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