Jesus In Me (book review)

September 24, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

When Jesus was about to ascend back into heaven, His disciples were understandably anxious. But Jesus spoke these reassuring words to them, “I will not leave you alone. I will ask the Father to send the Comforter to you.” And true to His word, the Holy Spirit was made available to all Christians. This is what Anne Graham Lotz explores in Jesus In Me.

In the opening pages, Anne explains that an important verse to help us understand the Holy Spirit is found in John 16:7. Anne and I both like the Amplified Bible’s rendering of this verse—However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you].

Using the multiple names of the Holy Spirit captured in this verse—Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby—Anne begins to dive deeper into what the Spirit of God does in these various roles.

This is not a heavy theological dissertation, nor does this book wade deeply into complex doctrines. Jesus In Me feels like Anne is your friend, and she is just sharing with you what the Bible has said to her about the Holy Spirit and how she has experienced Him for herself. The Scripture references are there for you to read on your own, and Anne shares her personal stories, but both of these simply invite you and me to experience more of the Holy Spirit for ourselves. I really like this book! 

I am a Multnomah book reviewer. 

P.S. There are some special pre-order offers available from Anne Graham Lotz’s website which you may want to check out.

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Poetry Saturday—The Precious Blood

September 21, 2019 — Craig T. Owens
Before Your Cross I kneel and see
the heinousness of my sin,
my iniquity that caused You to be
‘made a curse,’
the evil that excites the severity of divine wrath.


Show me the enormity of my guilt by


the crown of thorns,


the pierced hands and feet,


the bruised body,


the dying cries.




Your blood is the blood of incarnate God,


its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought.


Infinite must be the evil and guilt


that demands such a price.




Sin is my condition, my monster, my foe, my viper,


born in my birth,


alive in my life,


strong in my character,


dominating my faculties


following me as a shadow,


intermingling with my every thought,


my chain that holds me captive in the empire of my soul.




Sinner that I am, why should the sun give me light,


the air supply breath,


the earth bear my treat,


its fruit nourish me,


its creatures serve my ends?




Yet, Your compassion yearns over me,


Your heart hastens to my rescue,


Your love endured my curse,


Your mercy bore my deserved stripes.




Let me walk humbly in the lowest depths of humility,


bathed in Your blood


tender of conscience,


triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation. —Arthur Bennett








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A Bizarre Sermon Illustration

September 16, 2019 — Craig T. Owens 




Hosea is the only prophet from Israel (he calls the Israelite king “our king” in 7:5), and along with Amos he is the only prophet to address the northern kingdom exclusively. Hosea addresses the northern tribes of Israel with brutal honesty—he calls them an adulteress wife! Hosea isn’t alone in saying this, as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel all same the same thing too. 


But Hosea alone is called on to live out his message in a most unusual way: God instructs him to marry “an adulterous woman”! The question is: was she already a promiscuous woman before they married? Or did she become unfaithful after they were married? 


I believe that she became unfaithful after marriage. When Gomer gives birth to their first son, Hosea writes that “she bore him a son”—indicating he is the father. But with Gomer’s second and third pregnancies, Hosea simply writes, “she gave birth,” leading me to think that Hosea wasn’t the father of those children. 



The names of the children are also interesting: 


    

  • Jezreel—This boy’s name means “God sows.” It is a neutral word meaning either sowing good seed and reaping a healthy harvest, or sowing godlessness and reaping punishment. 
    • 

  • Lo-Ruhamah—Her name means “not pitied.” God indicates that He will bring a judgment on Israel that is deserved justice. He has been patiently calling them to repentance but they kept running farther away from Him. 
    • 

  • Lo-Ammi—This boy’s name is saddest of all. It means “not My people.” 
    • 



How sad! Can you imagine Hosea’s heartache?! Can you imagine God’s heartache?! God tells Hosea the penalty for their adulterous life (Hosea 2:2-13), which the apostle Paul would later sum up in these straightforward words: the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). 


“YET” and “THEREFORE”…


In the middle of God expressing His heartache over His wayward wife He says two amazing words “Yet” and “Therefore” (1:10; 2:14). 


    

  • “Yet I will bless you and reverse your misfortune” 
    • 

  • “Therefore I will allure you and speak tenderly to you” 
    • 



This is UNBELIEVABLE!! Who would respond like this to such vile unfaithfulness?! 


God would.


God did! But God shows and clearly proves His own love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ—the Messiah, the Anointed One—died for us (Romans 5:8). 


Hosea—whose name means salvation—is called on to do exactly what Jesus did for us. Hosea buys back his wife from her master. Hosea pays the price for Gomer’s sin, just as Jesus paid the price for our sin. 


What amazing love God has for us! 


You have never lived an unloved day in your life. Not a single one! God loves you more than the best husband could ever love his wife. He paid for your forgiveness and your freedom. Will you receive that forgiveness and restoration today?




Join me next Sunday as we learn more major lessons from the minor prophets. 






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Intimate Prayer Requests

September 11, 2019 — Craig T. Owens 




“When you bring Me prayer requests, lay out your concerns before Me. Speak to Me candidly; pour out your heart. Then thank Me for the answers that I have set into motion long before you can discern results. When your requests come to mind again, continue to thank Me for the answers that are on the way. If you keep on stating your concerns to Me, you will live in a state of tension. When you thank Me for how I am answering your prayers, your mind-set becomes more positive. Thankful prayers keep your focus on My presence and My promise.” —Jesus (in Sarah Young’s 40 Days With Jesus)






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Favorable Influence

September 2, 2019 — Craig T. Owens 




Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 



Twice the 80th psalm declares—Restore us, O Lord God Almighty; make Your face shine upon us, that we may be saved (Psalm 80:19). 


But if we are already a Christian that has been saved from the penalty of our sin and saved to an eternal reward, then that also means that God’s face IS already shining on us, He HAS already restored us, and He HAS already given us His favor. 


I like how the Amplified Bible renders this verse: Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; cause Your face to shine in pleasure, approval, and favor on us, and we shall be saved! 


What we have received is too wonderful for us to keep to ourselves, so we must let His pleasure, approval, and favor now shine out of us! 


“If the result of our experience of God does not compel and propel us into global mission, it is doubtful whether we have really encountered the God of the Bible.” —Dick Brogden 


Jesus stated His mission simply and then sent us out on the exact same mission (Luke 4:18-19; John 20:21). We do this best by living closely among people so they can also see us shine with God’s favor.


Paul called us to shine as well: Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people (Philippians 2:15). I believe this is a perfect definition of the word influence. The origin of the word meant the supposed flowing of ethereal fluid from the stars thought to affect the actions of men. Christians that let their good deeds shine in the darkness can influence the entire culture around them!


“Radical Christianity is not going on a missions trip or a big conference. Radical Christianity is staying steady for decades.” —Mike Bickle 


Being a person that shines with favorable influence requires staying involved for the long haul so that you can build trustworthiness. It’s being in visible places not to get glory, but to let people see God’s glory. When they see His glory shine on you and out of you, they will want what you have too!


Solomon said, By the blessing of the influence of the upright and God’s favor—because of them the city is exalted (Proverbs 11:11). So, my fellow Christian, let me ask you: 


    

  • Has God shined on you?
    • 

  • Are you letting Him shine out of you? 
    • 

  • Are you living a noteworthy, trustworthy, visible life in your dark community? 
    • 



“It’s your choice: You can be a part of your city’s elevation or its deterioration.” 


—Craig T. Owens


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The Personal Element

August 27, 2019 — Craig T. Owens 




“It is the personal element that Christian discipleship needs to emphasize. ‘The gift without the Giver is bare.’ The call of this age is a call for a new discipleship, a new following of Jesus, more like the early, simple, apostolic Christianity when the disciples left all and literally followed the Master. Nothing but a discipleship of this kind can face the destructive selfishness of the age, with any hope of overcoming it. … But if our definition of being a Christian is simply to enjoy the privileges of worship, be generous at no expense to ourselves, have a good, easy time surrounded by pleasant friends and by comfortable things, live respectably, and at the same time avoid the world’s great stress of sin and trouble because it is too painful—if this is our definition of Christianity, then surely we are a long way from following the steps of Him who trod the way with tears of anguish for a lost humanity.” —Rev. Maxwell in Charles Sheldon’s In His Steps (emphasis mine)






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A Life Worthy Of The Gospel

August 27, 2019 — Craig T. Owens 




Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ… (Philippians 1:27).


The apostle Paul wanted the Philippians’ living to be their preaching. Much like Francis of Assisi said years later: “Preach always; if necessary, use words.”


The big question is—what does conduct “worthy of the gospel of Christ” look like? I believe Paul identifies at least 15 characteristics in just the next 20 or so verses…


    

  1. It is not a people-pleasing lifestyle. It is a God-honoring, Spirit-lead, Christ-glorifying lifestyle.
    2. 

  2. It is steadfast, which means it perseveres even through the trials and difficulties.
    3. 

  3. It is a heart and mind unified with other Christians.
    4. 

  4. It is bold—“without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.” 
    5. 

  5. It is strengthened in Christ and it is in constant fellowship with the Holy Spirit. 
    6. 

  6. It overflows with loving comfort, affection, and mercy to those around it.
    7. 

  7. It humbly serves others while confidently refreshing itself in Christ.
    8. 

  8. It strives to live as Jesus did, seeking always for God to be glorified.
    9. 

  9. It is obedient to the conviction and direction of the Holy Spirit.
    10. 

  10. It finds pleasure in doing God’s will.
    11. 

  11. It doesn’t complain.
    12. 

  12. It is a blameless and harmless life.
    13. 

  13. It shines a light that attracts others to God’s love.
    14. 

  14. It holds fast to the Word of life for the long haul.
    15. 

  15. It is a rejoicing, contented lifestyle.
    16. 



Heavenly Father, may it always be said of my life that it is one that is worthy of the gospel of Christ. May I always be sensitive to the nudges of the Holy Spirit to keep my life aligned in this way. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen! 






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Rejoicing At The Coming Of The Judge

August 19, 2019 — Craig T. Owens 




In Psalm 50, we read the first-of-twelve psalms written by King David’s handpicked worship leader, a man named Asaph. On the day that Asaph first took up his position as worship leader, David gave him a special song, which definitely influenced Asaph’s songwriting.  


Psalm 50 has a pretty easy outline: an introduction in the first six verses, followed by 17 verses of God speaking to His people—speaking to you and me! In between the introduction and God’s speaking is the word selah.


Selah means a time for us to pause and carefully consider. So Asaph is essentially saying, “God is getting ready to speak with us, so we need to selah—pause from what we are doing so that we can pay careful attention to His words!”  


Asaph sets the stage in the first verse, telling us that the Mighty One, God, the Lord speaks. The words that are about to be spoken come from THE I AM—the All-Sufficient One, the Omnipotent, the All-Knowing, All-Powerful Ruler of the Universe. Asaph also reminds us that He is coming as THE Judge.


When you hear that THE All-Powerful, All-Knowing One is THE Judge that has summoned you into His courtroom, it’s quite likely that your heart would skip a beat. Especially when God lists some of the sins you and I are guilty of breaking in verses 16-20. 


It’s also possible that the news that you have to appear before THE Judge could cause you to rejoice. What? How can we rejoice at that?! David taught Asaph this concept in the song he gave him: God’s people should rejoice over God’s judgments. 


You see, in Psalm 50 God says, “I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, or for all your attempts to follow the rules.” It’s not in the practices of the law that we find salvation.


God doesn’t need our sacrifices, but He wants our hearts. 


In order to win our hearts for Himself, THE Judge did something absolutely mind-blowing—THE I AM became flesh like us. And then He became the once-for-all sacrifice for our sins, paying our penalty Himself when He died on the Cross (see Hebrews 2:14-17; 7:17-27). 


This is why we can rejoice when we hear we have to stand before THE Judge. When you have placed your faith in what Jesus did for you on the Cross, when THE Judge opens His perfect record book to your page He will read this inscription written in the crimson red blood of Jesus: PAID IN FULL!


This is why we can rejoice at the thought of seeing THE Judge face to face!




Join me next Sunday as we wrap up this summer looking at the Selahs in the Psalms. We plan to restart this series next summer, unless the Judge calls us home before then!






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The Church Needs To Foster Community

August 14, 2019 — Craig T. Owens 




“Amid the confusion of Christians mistreating people with gender dysphoria to prop up their sense of self-righteousness, and progressives mistreating them to advance their agenda of autonomy, those with real identity struggles are forgotten. Christ alone understands who we are through and through. And because of that each one of us in our fractured states needs to come to Him. …


“The need of the hour is for biblically faithful compassion. The church needs to open its doors and Christians need to open their hearts so that those struggling to find resolution to their dysphoria—and those who are struggling to find clarity amidst other confusions—can find community and, ultimately, their true identity in Christ. In Christ, they can be understood. …


“God’s original intent is for harmony between one’s soul and one’s body. This is why Christians, of all people, should be compassionately concerned with helping people find mind-body congruence. For the Christian, the mind and the body are both important and were meant to work harmoniously. … This biblical perspective defends our integrity as whole human beings in contradistinction to the secular effort to reduce us to our chemistry and jettison any idea that we have an immaterial mind or soul. …


“That is why the invitation of Christ has come in this order: recognition, repentance, redemption, regeneration. When we recognize our need for the Savior (because of our sins in general, not because of our dysphoria), repentance happens and then we are redeemed. But that redemption works itself out in our lives over time. It is the Holy Spirit who lives and works in us to conform us to Jesus’ likeness. It is not an overnight process, which means the church must do a better job of helping that process along. The church needs to foster community.” —Abdu Murray






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Ultimate Wisdom

August 12, 2019 — Craig T. Owens 




Last week I posted a quote on some of my social media channels that simply stated: “Our opinions don’t matter if they don’t square with God’s Word on the matter.” This seemed to me to be a fairly uncontroversial statement, but one anonymous reader really took me to task for using the hashtag #objectivetruth. Apparently, he thinks there is no such thing. 


But don’t we all rely on objective, external standards all the time? For instance, a gallon of gasoline is a gallon regardless of where you buy it, or whether you feel like it’s a gallon or not. And when you go to pay for your gasoline, the price isn’t based on how the gas station attendant is feeling at that moment, but on the objective amount posted. 


Psalm 49 is somewhat unusual in that it is a “wisdom psalm.” This psalm feels a lot more like something we would read in Proverbs or Ecclesiastes than it does a prayer or song in the Psalms. 


For instance, the first four verses of this Psalm sound a lot like the opening verses of the Book of Proverbs. And verses 5-13 of the Psalm echo what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 2. 


This psalmist—like Solomon—wants us to understand how important it is to get wisdom. So we are urged to listen intently to those who have hard-won insight, to those who have “been there, done that” so that we don’t have to repeat their folly. 


What is that wisdom? It can be broken down into two profound statements:


(1) Everyone dies. 


That can be a really depressing truth IF your focus is building your own kingdom. If all there is to life is what you can earn and build before you die, only to realize that your “kingdom” ends at your last breath, that can be very depressing. 


However, this realization that everyone dies can be a very liberating truth IF your focus is on the eternal kingdom that is awaiting you in Heaven. When you realize that Jesus is preparing a place for you to experience ultimate joy and unending pleasure forever and ever, then you will live here for what’s coming next! 


(2) Our eternal destination after we die is determined before we die.


If someone told me that he had discovered the secret to immortality, and then he died and came back to this life to tell me that his theory was correct, it would be wise listen to him. 


That’s exactly what Jesus did for us!


He told us that He would die on a Cross and that He would be raised back to life. AND HE DID IT! His hard-won insight, His “been there, done that” wise words to us are this—“Believe in Me. I died to pay the penalty for the sins that will keep you out of Paradise. So place your faith in what I did, and ask my Father to forgive your sins. Then I promise you that you will spend forever and ever with Me in Paradise!” 


THIS objective truth determines everything else about our lives. 


So I’ll repeat it again—


“Our opinions don’t matter if they don’t square with God’s Word on the matter.” —Craig T. Owens




Join me next Sunday as we continue our series looking at the Selahs in the Psalms. 






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