Jesus Christ | Craig T. Owens

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Links & Quotes

December 18, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

“How shall a holy and just God treat us sinners with so much kindness as to give us the greatest Reality in the universe (His Son) to enjoy with the greatest joy possible? The answer is that God put our sins on His Son, and judged them there, so that He could put them out of His mind, and deal with us mercifully and remain just and holy at the same time.” —John Piper

“This Christmas, enjoy the fruit of the first coming, but anticipate the glory of the second. We live between the advents. Let the first one whet your appetite for the final one.” Read more in Max Lucado’s post Between The Advents.

I marvel at the discovering scientists make, but I also marvel at how adamant these scientists are that there isn’t a Creator. In this study on how the earth’s deep crust could support life, one scientist says, “If you identify a source of energy that’s everywhere, it’s no longer a limiting factor for the spread of life.” The Bible does identify The Source of life!

If you love studying the Bible, here is a list of 5 free Bible study tools on the web.

[VIDEO] Lecrae gives us a good word on how to engage race issues—

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Advent, Bible study, Christianity, Christmas, Creation, Creator, First Advent, forgiveness, God's glory, Jesus Christ, John Piper, justice, Lecrae, Max Lucado, mercy, quotes, race relations, science, Second Advent, sin, video. Leave a Comment »

John Bunyan On Prayer

December 18, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some great quotes from John Bunyan on prayer—

“Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Spirit, for such things as God has promised.”

“The best prayers have often more groans than words.”

“Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for satan.”

“When you pray, rather let your heart be without words than your words without heart.”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: feeling, God's promise, heart, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, John Bunyan, prayer, sacrifice, spiritual warfare, Trinity. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

December 16, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Pastor Saeed Abedini is an American citizen imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith. This letter he has written from prison is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. After reading this letter I hope you will sign this petition to let your voice be added to those calling on Iran to release Pastor Saeed.

“Prayer is not a lazy substitute for work. It is not a short cut to skill or knowledge. And sometimes God delays the answer to our prayer in final form until we have time to build up the strength, accumulate the knowledge, or fashion the character that would make it possible for Him to say ‘yes’ to what we ask.” —Roy M. Pearson

“Whoever, therefore, thinks that he understands the divine Scriptures or any part of them so that it does not build the double love of God and of our neighbor does not understand it at all.” —Augustine

As you prepare for Christmas and celebrate Advent, check out these beautiful words from Max Lucado in What Love Does.

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit will like this post: Bilbo’s Last Goodbye.

What this so-called ethicist says about “post-natal abortion” is truly horrifying.

Links & Quotes

December 15, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

“Lord, show me just so much (neither more nor less) about myself as I need for doing Thy will now.” —C.S. Lewis personal prayer

“The whole problem of our life was neatly expressed by John the Baptist when he said (John 3:30) ‘He must increase, but I must decrease.’ This you have realised. But you are expecting it to happen suddenly: and also expecting that you should be clearly aware when it does. But neither of these is usual. We are doing well enough if the slow process of being more in Christ and less in ourselves has made a decent beginning in a long life (it will be completed only in the next world).” —C.S. Lewis

For my pastor friends: “Our preaching and teaching must endeavor to promote three kinds of love: a proper self-love, love for God, and love for our neighbors.” —T.M. Moore

“Among those who are able to enjoy God with us, we love some whom we help, some by whom we are helped, some whose help we need and whose wants we supply, and some on whom we bestow no benefits and from whom we await none ourselves. Be that as it may, we should desire that all enjoy God with us and that all the assistance we give them or get from them should be directed toward this end.” —Augustine

[VIDEO] John Maxwell on the value of exploring new things—

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Augustine, C.S. Lewis, discipleship, exploring, God's will, Jesus Christ, John Maxwell, John the Baptist, lifelong learner, love, neighbor, pastoring, prayer, quotes, T.M. Moore, video. Leave a Comment »

O Come, All Ye Faithful

December 15, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Pastor Tom Kaastra continued our series The Carols Of Christmas by looking at the well-known Christmas hymn O Come, All Ye Faithful. The line he especially highlighted comes from the third stanza—Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.

It is so vital that we keep both of those aspects of Jesus Christ in mind: He is both the Word of the Father and the Word become flesh. As Tom pointed out, this fact helps us answer the two most vital questions that humans have:

Who is God?
Who am I?

I can learn more about who I am when I know more clearly Who God is. And when I know this, I can more fully—as the song says—come and adore Christ the Lord.

Jesus is fully God:

He is the Eternal Word (John 1:1-3)
He is the exact representation of God (Hebrews 1:3)
He is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15)
He is the fullness of God (Colossians 1:19)
When we see Jesus, we see God (John 14:8-9)

Jesus revealed to us the Father’s love; after all, God is love (1 John 4:16). Jesus came to show us the love of God.

Jesus is fully Man:

He got tired and hungry (John 4:6)
He limited Himself to do only what the Father told Him to do (John 5:19-20)
He limited Himself to say only what the Father told Him to say (John 12:49)
He felt anguish and pain (Luke 22:44)

As C.S. Lewis said, “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” And as sons of God, we have access to the Heavenly Father—

Those who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children. For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, “Abba! My Father!” (Romans 8:14-15)

Word of the Father now in flesh appearing is cause for adoration because Jesus has made it possible for us to become sons and daughters of God!

O come let us adore Him!!

If you’ve missed any of the messages in this series, you may check them out by clicking here.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Advent, Bible, C.S. Lewis, Christmas, Christmas carols, God's love, God's Word, Heavenly Father, human, hymn, Jesus Christ, Scripture, Word of God. 3 Comments »

Links & Quotes

December 13, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

“The Lord has many lovers of His crown but few lovers of His Cross.” —Thomas á Kempis

Charles Spurgeon on the power of unity: No Bigotry In Unity.

David Witt asks: Is It Time To Rethink Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs?

“The degree of blessing enjoyed by any man will correspond exactly with the completeness of God’s victory over him.” —A.W. Tozer

Dr. Benjamin Mast has a lot of initials after his name (which means he’s really smart!). Check out this interview with him: Alzheimer’s, The Brain and The Soul.

Here is an amazing admission from scientists regarding stem cell formation: “No one, not even the dozen or so groups of scientists who intensively study reprogramming, knows how it happens. They understand that differentiated cells go in, and pluripotent cells come out the other end, but what happens in between is one of biology’s impenetrable black boxes.” Read more in this article about stem cells, but I am glad I can trust the Creator to reveal to us what may be in “the black box”!

I love ReverendFun cartoons! Here is one of my favorites—

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: A.W. Tozer, Abraham Maslow, Advent, Alzheimer's Disease, blessing, brain, cartoon, Charles Spurgeon, Christian, Christmas, Creator, disciples, eternal life, Jesus Christ, medical science, motivation, quotes, ReverendFun, sermon, soul, stem cell, surrender, Thomas a Kempis. 3 Comments »

Thomas á Kempis On Prayer

December 11, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some great quotes from Thomas á Kempis on prayer—

“He who aims at inward and spiritual things must, with Jesus, turn aside from the crowd.”

“Grant me, oh most merciful Jesus, Your grace, that it may be with me, and labor with me, and abide with me even to the end. … Let there be between You and me but one will, so that I may love what You love, and abhor what You hate; and let me not be able to will any thing which You do not will, nor to dislike any thing which You do will.”

“Let no pride or self-seeking, no impure motive or unworthy purpose, no little ends or low imagination stain my spirit, or profane any of my words and actions.”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: God's will, humility, Jesus Christ, prayer, pride, Thomas a Kempis. Leave a Comment »

Inspire To Be Great (book review)

December 9, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

In my dictionary if you look up the word “inspiring,” you’ll find a picture of Zig Ziglar. Zig had such a unique and memorable way of blending quotes, personal examples, motivation, and helpful next-steps, that few have ever inspired to action like him. In Inspire To Be Great you will find a collection of Zig’s inspiring, insightful quotes.

This book is a part of the “Life Wisdom” series, which is a very appropriate title for the folks featured in these books because they are people who have lived their lives successfully. They don’t just talk-the-walk, they walk-the-talk.

Zig, like others in this series, never hid the fact that his personal relationship with Jesus Christ made him a better man, a better husband, a better father, a better salesman. Tapping into the principles found in Scripture, Zig had a God-given gift to make those principles applicable to every walk of life.

Truly this book is an inspiring read for anyone!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: book review, inspiration, Jesus Christ, motivation, quotes, wisdom, Zig Ziglar. 2 Comments »

Links & Quotes

December 8, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some good reading from today…

“As long as you set yourself up as a little god to which you must be loyal there will be those who will delight to offer affront to your idol. How then can you hope to have inward peace? … Such a burden as this is not necessary to bear. Jesus calls us to His rest, and meekness is His method. The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort.” —A.W. Tozer

[PHOTOS] Some great photographs from the scientific world.

Dave Barringer has a great post about marriage and adultery: Affairs And Fruit.

[PHOTOS] Today marks the 73rd anniversary of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “day of infamy” speech. Here are some memorable photos remembering that horrific day.

“It will not bother me in the hour of death to reflect that I have been ‘had for a sucker’ by any number of impostors: but it would be a torment to know that one had refused even one person in need. After all, the parable of the sheep and goats [Matthew 25:31-46] makes our duty perfectly plain, doesn’t it? Another thing that annoys me is when people say ‘Why did you give that man money? He’ll probably go and drink it.’ My reply is ‘But if I’d kept [it] I should probably have drunk it.’” —C.S. Lewis

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: A.W. Tozer, adultery, C.S. Lewis, charity, Dave Barringer, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gospel of Matthew, humility, Jesus Christ, marriage, Pearl Harbor, photography, pride, quotes, science, World War II. Leave a Comment »

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

December 8, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

We began our series on The Carols Of Christmas by looking at the poem written by Charles Wesley in 1744: Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus. As far as I can find, Wesley never shared where he got his inspiration for this prose, but I have a hunch that it might be from a song in the Bible called The Benedictus.

Zechariah had been unable to speak for nearly a year because of his doubt over the message God sent him through the angel (see Luke 1:5-20). When his son was born and Zechariah named him John, his tongue was loosed and he “was filled with the Holy Spirit” and burst into song (Luke 1:67-79). The first word of his song in Latin is benedictus, from which the name is derived.

Here’s what I love about both Zechariah’s and Wesley’s songs—they both look forward to Christ’s First Advent and His Second Advent. Mary was still pregnant with Jesus when Zechariah sang his song, but his lyrics reflect the Redemption story that Jesus would fulfill as Emmanuel, God with us. Charles Wesley picks up this same theme, rejoicing over Christ’s birth and His imminent return.

In fact, that’s exactly the point! We aren’t celebrating Christmas as much as we are celebrating Advent. Jesus was born “when the time had fully come” for His First Advent (Galatians 4:4-5), and “this same Jesus, Who has been taken from you into Heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into Heaven” (Acts 1:11). That’s the message that should encourage us (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Check out the remarkable parallels between the Benedictus and Wesley’s hymn—