Simplicity

November 22, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

Simplicity does not mean watered-down, nor does it mean dumbed-down. Simplicity means as clear as possible.

Sometimes I get so grieved when I hear a pastor trying to “simplify” the gospel message for people. That definition usually means that they are removing any of the parts which might cause people to feel uncomfortable. That is not simplicity, but it’s a sell-out!

J.C. RyleHere’s how J.C. Ryle defined it—

“All the simplicity in the world can do no good, unless you preach the simple gospel of Jesus Christ so fully and clearly that everybody can understand it. If ‘Christ crucified’ has not His rightful place in your sermons, and sin is not exposed as it should be, and your people are not plainly told what they ought to believe, and be, and do—your preaching is of no use!” (emphasis added)

Pastor, by all means make the gospel clear, but make sure people do hear all of the gospel.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , . 1 Comment »

Is It Too Late For America?

November 20, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

photoThis is not a political post; this is a biblical post. 

“Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God I give you. … Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’” (Deuteronomy 4:2, 6). 

The truthfulness of this passage has been proven in history time and time again. Nations who have followed God’s laws have been blessed; nations who ignore or depart from His laws suffer defeat. 

America has been blessed because of her God-fearing Founding Fathers who fashioned our Constitution on biblically-sound wisdom, and because her God-fearing citizenry recognized we were one nation under God. But America has departed so grievously from that foundation that we will suffer defeat unless we repent. 

It reminds me of what Jesus said to the church in Sardis in Revelation 3, “You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dying. Wake up! Strengthen what remains before it’s too late!” 

Lord God, we as a nation have ignored Your laws and are subject to Your judgment. I pray You would send us another Great Awakening! Let hearts turn to You once again in this nation. Extend Your mercy to this land, giving us time to nationally repent. I don’t believe it’s too late for America … yet. But we will suffer defeat if we persist on this current path. Oh God, help us repent and turn back to You!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

A Warning To The Itinerant Missionary

November 15, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

My cousin wrote this post mainly to himself, but it is an important reminder for everyone—missionary or pastor—who preaches the gospel.

Live DeadGuest Blogger: Dick Brogden 

Missionaries are given the immense privilege of representing God’s heart to both the nations and the church. When we return from our fields of obedience, we are invited into pulpits—grand and humble—to speak on behalf of both the lost and the Lord. We are feted and lauded, which can lead to pride. We observe shallowness and performance, which can lead to a critical spirit. The more we travel and speak, the more we must beware our own hearts. I sat down this weekend and wrote out some warnings to myself:

  • I do not deserve the pulpit; I have not “earned” it.
  • I am not better than the ones I preach to.
  • I cannot presume God’s favor or anointing.
  • I cannot live in sin and call others to holiness.
  • My life has to match my exhortations.
  • I can’t rely on old sermons. I am responsible to give God’s flock fresh bread. If a sermon is to be re-used, it must be fresh to my soul.
  • I cannot allow any whisper of entitlement into my heart. I am not owed praise, respect, attention, or any financial offering.
  • I cannot think my looks, height, posture, style, or natural ability is important, nor that natural gifts can in any way impart divine life to the hearer.
  • I cannot waste God’s time or money with half-hearted preparation, reflection, passion, or effort.The flock must see and feel that I love them, and more importantly that I love Jesus.
  • My spirit must be gentle even if my words are hard.
  • I must have true humility and lowliness. Nothing is as proud or as disgusting as false humility, whether to the individual or before the congregation.
  • I must care more about what God thinks than what man thinks and must obey His promptings and speak as His oracle.
  • If I do not ascend to the pulpit clothed and endued with the Holy Spirit, I am immediately exposed as naked and foolish before God, and it will not be long until I am exposed as a fraud before all men.
  • I must have a holy terror of speaking in my own strength or from my own wisdom. I must have a heavenly horror of speaking what is false, exaggerated, or misleading. I must be terrified of speaking one word without the covering and impetus of the Spirit.

I noted with sadness this weekend that even if all is said in the right spirit and under God’s authority, some ears remain deaf and others hear selectively. We cannot control our hearers, nor are we responsible for how they hear. We are responsible for what and how we speak. It is incumbent on us to speak the words of God in the way and in the spirit He requires. This is a fearful and awesome privilege. God help us. God watch over our hearts and lips.

** I encourage you to follow the Live Dead blog where Dick regularly posts.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

12 Quotes From “10 People Every Christian Should Know”

November 14, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

10 People Every Christian Should KnowWarren Wiersbe’s book 10 People Every Christian Should Know was filled with lots of quotes by and about the notable historical figures he covered in his book. You can read my book review by clicking here, but these are some of the quotes I highlighted while I was reading.

“You have been asked to take notice of the sayings of dying men—this is mine: that a life spent in the service of God and communion with Him is the most pleasant life that anyone can live in this world.” —Matthew Henry, on his deathbed 

“I am greatly persuaded that the generality of preachers talk of an unknown, unfelt Christ. And the reason why congregations have been so dead is because dead men preach to them.” —George Whitefield

“To quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open up the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.” —William Temple, giving his definition of worship

“There are men called by God to preach on the issues of the hour, and we need their ministry. But for permanent strengthening of the church, we also need preachers who will dig again the old wells and lead us intelligently down the old paths and who, renouncing cheap pulpit rhetoric, will focus the white light of revelation on the human heart and examine us in that light.” —Warren Wiersbe

“Want of trust is at the root of almost all our sins and all our weaknesses, and how shall we escape it but by looking to Him and observing His faithfulness. The man who holds God’s faithfulness will not be foolhardy or reckless, but he will be ready for every emergency.” —J. Hudson Taylor

“I’d rather be able to pray than to be a great preacher. Jesus Christ never taught His disciples how to preach, but only how to pray.” —D.L. Moody

“The work will never go deeper than we have gone ourselves” —Amy Carmichael

“My Vow: Whatsoever Thou sayest unto me, by Thy grace I will do it.
My Constraint: Thy love, O Christ, my Lord.
My Confidence: Thou art able to keep that which I have committed unto thee.
My Joy: To do Thy will, O God.
My Discipline: That which I would not choose, but which Thy love appoints.
My Prayer: Conform my will to Thine.
My Motto: Love to live—live to love.
My Portion: The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance.” —Amy Carmichael

“You can be much more for Him than ever you know by just being yourself and relying on Him…. Keep praying and playing and being yourself.” —Oswald Chambers 

“You can never give another person that which you have found, but you can make him homesick for what you have.” —Oswald Chambers

“Stop having a measuring rod for other people. There is always one fact more in every man’s case about which we know nothing.” —Oswald Chambers

“The best book is not one that informs merely, but one that stirs the reader up to inform himself.” —A.W. Tozer

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment »

Thursdays With Oswald—Symphonizing In Prayer

November 14, 2013 — 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.

Oswald Chambers

Symphonizing In Prayer 

     Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. (Matthew 18:19) 

     We need to know this simple, direct truth about praying in public. It is perilously easy to make public prayer the mere fringe of devotion to what we are pleased to think of as the real center of the meeting. Agreement in purpose on earth must not be taken to mean a predetermination to agree together to storm God’s fort doggedly till He yields. It is far from right to agree beforehand over what we want, and then go to God and wait, not until He gives us His mind about the matter, but until we extort from Him permission to do what we had made up our minds to do before we prayed; we should rather agree to ask God to convey His mind and meaning to us in regard to the matter. 

     Agreement in purpose on earth is not a public presentation of persistent begging which knows no limit, but a prayer which is conscious that it is limited through the moral nature of the Holy Spirit. It is really “symphonizing” on earth with our Father Who is in Heaven.

From Christian Disciplines

When Jesus taught us to pray He said we should say, “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” God has a perfect plan in mind, and He wants us to be a part of that plan. So before we make up our mind to pray a certain way, and rally others around us to “agree in prayer” with us, we need to find out what God’s mind is on the matter. Our agreement needs to be with God, not with others.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Getting Cold Brings The Heat

November 11, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

A lukewarm Christian is a dangerous thing. So dangerous, in fact, that Jesus said to lukewarm Christians, “I can’t help you.”

Lukewarm is just a few degrees off hot. It’s just a subtle drift. No one can hardly notice that someone is lukewarm, except Christ.

Lukewarm Christians live off yesterday’s encounter with God. They still have an appearance of being hot, but they have settled for something mediocre.

I think cold is much closer to hot than lukewarm is. I think it’s easier to go from cold to hot, than it is to go from lukewarm to hot. At least cold and hot people share this in common: their walk matches their talk.

Jesus counsels lukewarm people to buy from Me. He is saying, “Recognize your need, be in the market, but only buy the best from Me.” Jesus also challenges lukewarm people to repent: literally to change their mind; to stop thinking the way they have been thinking and see themselves differently. And finally Jesus asks lukewarm Christians to listen for His voice.

Light Of The World [William Holman Hunt]William Holman Hunt painted a picture called Light of the World in which Jesus is knocking at a heart’s door. Notice that Jesus is in His royal robes and wearing His King’s crown. He is not coming to ask for something, but to give something. Notice also that it’s getting dark. The day is almost done, and the time to let Him in is almost up. Finally, note that there is no handle on the outside of the door. Jesus will not open the door to come in, but He patiently waits for you to open the door to Him.

Recognizing our desperate need of Christ makes us instantly cold. But in that instant of humble poverty, we can immediately become hot as Jesus is welcomed into our heart. Don’t miss out on the rewards Christ has for you by being comfortably lukewarm!

“There is nothing so necessary as cultivating a spirit of dependence on God and of confidence in Him that refuses to go on without the needed supply of grace and strength.” —Andrew Murray

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , . 1 Comment »

In Name Only

November 4, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

Brennan ManningPhiladelphia, as most people know is “The City of Brotherly Love.” The original Philadelphia in Asia Minor was founded in the second century BC by a man named Attalus who, quite the contrary to cultural norms, kept his brother in a position of power and influence alongside him.

Where many leaders were suspicious of anyone who could make a claim on the throne, Attalus loved (the Greek word is phileo) his brother (Greek adelphos meaning “from the same womb”), so the city took on this name and attitude as well. After the city was leveled by an earthquake in 17 AD, Emperor Tiberius sent the funds needed to rebuild. Out of gratitude to the emperor’s generosity there was a movement to rename the city Neocaesarea in his honor. But the people liked being known for their brotherly kindness, so the name Philadelphia stuck.

At least it stuck in name only. As the first century progressed, Philadelphians bowed more and more to Rome’s influence and this city once known for kindness to all began to persecute Christians.

This reminds me of the United States of America today. Our pledge of allegiance still includes “one nation under God,” and “in God we trust” is still on our currency, and we haven’t repealed the First Amendment which gives us freedom of religion. It appears that we are a “Christian nation,” but in name only.

Many cast the blame far and wide, but as Jesus addressed the people in the first city of Philadelphia (see Revelation 3:7-13), we see the blame is on those self-professing Christians who didn’t live Christ-like lives. They were Christians in name only.

For those who “have kept My Word and not denied My name” Jesus promises a list of rewards longer than the list for any of the other seven churches addressed in the book of Revelation! Those promises are still in effect for those who will not deny Christ. More specifically for those who by their words and their lifestyle hold true to Jesus Christ.

Brennan Manning was exactly right when he said, “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

My prayer is that Christians everywhere would be known not just by the name Christian, but by the way they hold true to Christ and His Word!

Please join me next Sunday as we look at the last of the churches in our series The 7-Star Church.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Thursdays With Oswald—Strength For Others

October 31, 2013 — 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.

Oswald Chambers

Strength For Others 

     The real reason for prayer is intimacy of relationship with our Father. 

We kneel, how weak, we rise full of power.
Why therefore should we do ourselves this wrong
For others that we are not always strong,
That we are ever overcome with care
That we should ever weak or heartless be
Anxious or troubled, when with us is Prayer
And joy and strength and courage are with Thee?

From Christian Disciplines 

It’s a pretty simple principle: I cannot give to others what I do not possess.

Jesus rose early in the morning to find a place of private prayer (see Mark 1:35) so that He would be filled with His Father’s presence and able to meet the pressing needs of people that day. Why, oh why, don’t I follow my Lord’s example more?

People all around me need encouragement, light, hope, love. I cannot give what I do not possess. But I can possess these things in abundance if I will make use of prayer to tap into that intimate relationship with my Heavenly Father.

Prayer provides the strength I need for the day, so that I can provide the strength that others need for the day. Without prayer, I not only rob myself of God’s help, I rob others as well.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments »

If Thou Wilt Be Perfect (book review)

October 29, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

If Thou Wilt Be PerfectOswald Chambers points out something very interesting in his book If Thou Wilt Be Perfect: discipleship with Jesus is optional.

Chambers writes: “Whenever our Lord speaks of discipleship He prefaces what He says with an ‘IF.’ ‘If any man come after Me….’” So this book focuses on the IFs of discipleship, reminding us that is optional for us to step into this deeper relationship with Jesus.

Each chapter was originally a lecture that Chambers gave at the Bible Training College in 1912, and they clearly reveal the mindset that drives him. Most of the chapters/lectures are entitled “The Philosophy Of …” so you will gain a deeper insight into how Oswald Chambers reads the Bible and applies the truths there to the Christian walk.

As I have said before, there are few authors who challenge me to go deeper in Christ than Oswald Chambers. All of the chapters are meaty, but well worth your time and attention.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Making A Name For Yourself

October 28, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

D.L. MoodyIt’s a focus of far too many people: “I’ve got to make a name for myself.” It’s nothing new but has been going on as long as men have been on earth.

In Revelation 3, Jesus is addressing the church in Sardis about their pursuit of a reputation. Jesus tells them, “You have definitely made a name for yourself. People know you are making things happen, and you have a reputation of being successful.” Sounds good, right? Except Jesus goes on to say, “But I’m not concerned about your reputation; I’m more interested in your character.”

Jesus uses the same Greek word four times in just six short verses to show the progression He is looking for to go from a popular reputation to godly character:

  • You have tried to make a name for yourself, but your focus is wrong (Rev. 3:1).
  • The name you should focus on is My name—you should be glorifying Me, not yourself (v. 4).
  • If you glorify Me, I will make sure your name is never erased from the Book of Life (v. 5a).
  • Not only that, if you glorify Me, I will personally introduce you to My Father. I will say, “This one is Mine!” (v. 5b)

Wow! 

Contrast that with people who say, “Jesus, didn’t we do some pretty amazing things in Your name? Did you check us out?!?” And Jesus will reply to them, “I never knew you because you were only using Me to make yourself look good” (see Matthew 7:21-23; Revelation 3:2).

I am not living for the applause of men, but only for the applause of nail-scarred Hands.

I don’t want the headlines here, but I want to hear my Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

I don’t want a reputation here, but I want a godly character in Heaven.

That’s the name I want!! 

If you are near Cedar Springs this weekend, please join us for part six of this series The 7-Star Church.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment »
« Older posts
Newer posts »