joy | Craig T. Owens

March 2026
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

Links & Quotes

June 10, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some things I was reading today…

“Adolescence is an attempt to grab the privileges of adulthood while still clinging to the privileges of childhood” —Rabbi Daniel Lapin. This got me thinking: How am I preparing my kids for adulthood?

Charles Darwin said his pursuit of knowledge diminished his joy of discovery. Read this: Let Darwin Teach You.

“To know nothing but Christ, there must be a continual flow of revelation from the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit knows the mind of God, if He searches the deep and hidden things of the Father, and if He is to be a well of living water springing up, then that well of flowing water must be a continual, never-ending revelation of Christ. It awaits every servant of the Lord who is willing to wait on the Lord—quietly, in faith believing, trusting the Holy Spirit to manifest the mind of God.” —David Wilkerson

As he does so well, Ken Davis uses his hilarious adventures on the golf course to teach us about Golf And Repentance.

[WARNING] There is some fairly graphic language in this post, but it serves to illustrate how profane the pro-abortion movement is Sarah Silverman: The Abortion Movement’s Nutty Professor.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: abortion, adolescence, Charles Darwin, Daniel Lapin, David Wilkerson, Desiring God, evolution, golf, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, joy, Ken Davis, parenting, pro-life, profanity, quotes, repentance, Revelation, Sarah Silverman. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

June 9, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some good reading from today…

Food for thought: Worship In A Selfie World.

“The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention. A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words.” —Rachel Naomi Remen

Pastor Dave Barringer has some good thoughts on Successful Communication In Marriage.

“Joy is distinctly a Christian word and a Christian thing. It is the reverse of happiness. Happiness is the result of what happens of an agreeable sort. Joy has its springs deep down inside. And that spring never runs dry, no matter what happens. Only Jesus gives that joy.” —S.D. Gordon

“The Holy Spirit does not bring text after text until we are utterly confused; He simply brings back with the greatest of ease the words which we need in the particular circumstances we are in. Then comes in the use of the will, will I obey the word which has been brought back to our remembrance? The battle comes when we begin to debate instead of obeying.” —Oswald Chambers

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Christian, Dave Barringer, friendship, happiness, healing, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, joy, listening, marriage, memory, obedience, Oswald Chambers, quotes, relationships, S.D. Gordon, silence, social media, worship. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

April 21, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some great reading I found today.

“God has sought us out: let us have good hope for those who are laid upon our hearts in prayer, for He will find them out also. … It is a point of honor with Jesus to seek and to save all the flock, without a single exception. What a promise to plead!” —Charles Spurgeon

Where is the outrage?! Christian Girls Abducted & Raped In Egypt.

[INFOGRAPHI] Right on the heels of Easter, Bible Overview has a great infographic of everyone in the Bible who was raised from the dead.

“The apostles had this instinct: When in trouble, pray. When intimidated, pray. When challenged, pray. When persecuted, pray!” —Jim Cymbala. Read more from Pastor Cymbala’s great post on prayer.

“Throughout our history Americans have put their faith in God and no one can doubt that we have been blessed for it. The earliest settlers of this land came in search of religious freedom. Landing on a desolate shoreline, they established a spiritual foundation that has served us ever since.” —Ronald Reagan

“Nobody ever got anything from God on the grounds that he deserved it. Having fallen, man deserves only punishment and death. So if God answers prayer it’s because God is good.” —A.W. Tozer

“Sacrifice is not giving up things, but giving to God with joy the best we have.” —Oswald Chambers

Come On In

March 12, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is constantly calling us to “Come!” He wants to draw us nearer to God’s presence. But sin separates. Let me be more specific and more personal: My sin can make me believe I can’t come closer to God.

In Psalm 99:8, notice how the psalmist focuses first on God’s forgiveness, and then on His punishment. It’s as though he is saying, “Yes, God punishes sin, but He is first and foremost a forgiving God”—

…You were to Israel a forgiving God, though You punished their misdeeds. (Psalm 99:8)

God is slow to anger, but He must punish sin. His punishment is always to encourage reconciliation. He wants to remove the sin that separates us. This has always been His focus since the very first sin.

In fact the next psalm celebrates coming into God’s presence with joy—

Shout for joy
Worship with gladness
Come in with joyful songs
Remember that God made us and we are His
Enter with thanksgiving
Enter with praise
Come give Him thanks
Praise Him
He is good
His love endures forever
His faithfulness never diminishes

This should encourage me all the more to quickly confess my sin and repent from it, so that I can once again answer the Holy Spirit’s call to come deeper into God’s presence.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible study, confession, forgiveness, God's faithfulness, God's love, God's presence, Holy Spirit, joy, photography, praise, psalms, punishment, reconciliation, repentance, Scripture, singing, thanks, thanksgiving. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—The Very Thought Of Thee

March 8, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Jesus, the very thought of Thee

With sweetness fills the breast;

But sweeter far Thy face to see

And in Thy presence rest.

No voice can sing, no heart can frame,

Nor can the memory find

A sweeter sound than Thy blest Name,

O Savior of mankind!

O hope of every contrite heart,

O joy of all the meek,

To those who fall, how kind Thou art!

How good to those who seek!

But what to those who find? Ah, this

No tongue or pen can show;

The love of Jesus, what it is

None but His loved ones know.

Jesus, our only joy be Thou,

As Thou our prize wilt be;

Jesus, be Thou our glory now

And thru eternity. —Bernard of Clairvaux

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bernard of Clairvaux, God's love, God's presence, hope, hymns, Jesus Christ, joy, poetry, singing. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

February 19, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

“It is not hard for the Lord to turn night into day. He that sends the clouds can as easily clear the skies. Let us be of good cheer. It is better on before. Let us sing hallelujah by anticipation.” —Charles Spurgeon

“A holy life is not an aesthetic, or gloomy, or solitary life, but a life regulated by divine truth and faithful in Christian duty.” —Tyron Edwards

“The greatest miracle that God can do today is to take an unholy man out of an unholy world, and make that man holy and put him back into that unholy world and keep him holy in it.” —Leonard Ravenhill

“If you see church as being just your local fellowship, then you still have not found the true Church. The God-blessed, righteous Church starts where you live.” —David Wilkerson

“As long as Christians split hairs, Christians will split churches.” —Max Lucado

Uh oh! Minimum Wage Hike Would Eliminate 500,000 Jobs

From Tim Elmore: Four Timeless Ideas To Make Your Point

“The Christian church is the body of Christ, Jesus Himself being the Headship of that body. Every true Christian, no matter where he or she lives, is a part of that body, and the Holy Spirit is to the church what our own souls are to our physical bodies.” —A.W. Tozer

Joy! Joy! Joy!

December 15, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

This is an article that I wrote for this week’s Cedar Springs Post newspaper.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing.

Joy is not something that melts away, it is unaffected by circumstances, remaining rock-solid. Joy is what the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem brings us.

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy.

On the day Jesus was born, the angels sang about peace on earth. Jesus Himself said that He didn’t come to condemn us, but to save us. Jesus came to be our Savior which is another reason for great joy!

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.

Jesus Christ’s Advent among us was the fulfillment of a promise given all the way back in the first book of the Bible. God the Father said Jesus would come to wipe out sin, and sorrow, and reverse the curse, turning it back into a blessing for all who would put their faith in Jesus. What joy to have all of the negatives turned into positives!

I hope you will discover—or rediscover—the joy that the birth of Jesus brings. At Calvary Assembly of God, where I have the privilege of pastoring, we are talking about the joy and the light that came with Jesus Christ’s birth. If you don’t have a home church, I would love to have you join us over the next couple of Sundays at 10:30am.

Joy! Joy! Joy! Let it reign!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Advent, Bethlehem, Christmas, Jesus Christ, joy, salvation, Savior, singing. Leave a Comment »

The Joy Of Serving

December 6, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

God told the Levites, “I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift” (Numbers 18:7). So, pastor, a simple question: Does serving seem like a gift to you?

The service I get to do for God, and for my congregation, and for my city is a gift from God. May I never, ever feel it a burden, a task, or an obligation. It should always be a joy to serve!

In order to serve God and others in a manner that is God pleasing and God glorifying, I must keep fit spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally. “You must present as the Lord’s portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you” (Numbers 18:29).

A good prayer for pastors—

Search me, Holy Spirit, test my heart’s attitude on this: am I giving You the best and the holiest? Am I serving with joy or merely serving out of duty? You have given me this responsibility as a gift. May I accept this gift with overflowing joy!

Posted in Pastoring. Tags: God's glory, joy, Levites, pastoring, pastors. Leave a Comment »

6 Quotes From “The Purpose Of Christmas”

December 4, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

I mentioned in my book review of Rick Warren’s The Purpose Of Christmas that this might be a good book to help families recalibrate the meaning of Christmas each year. As you can see from the quotes I highlighted, this book doesn’t talk directly about Christmas trees, or gifts, or mistletoe, or carols. Rather it goes to the heart of the matter: Why did Jesus need to be born in a stable in Bethlehem? He was born for our salvation, and our reconciliation with God and our fellowman.

“Your capacity for enjoyment is evidence of God’s love for you.”

“No one wants what’s best for you more than God. No one knows better what will make you truly happy!”

“Our natural inclination is to want our own way instead of God’s way. This tendency to make wrong choices instead of right ones is called sin. The middle letter of sin is I, and whenever I place myself at the center of my life, I sin. It is any attitude or action that denies God His rightful place as first in my life.”

“Guilt is the mental price we pay for violating our God-given consciences.”

“I asked Peter Drucker, ‘How did you come to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior?’ He thought about it for a few seconds, then replied, ‘The day that I finally understood grace, I realized I was never going to get a better deal than that!’”

“Reconciliation focuses on the relationship, while resolution focuses on the problem. Always focus on reconciliation first.”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Advent, book review, Christmas, conscience, God's love, grace, guilt, happiness, Jesus Christ, joy, Peter Drucker, quotes, reconciliation, relationships, Rick Warren, sin. Leave a Comment »

Sacrifice

September 18, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

Sometimes people get bogged down in some of the Old Testament books because it seems so tedious. And, honestly, some of it can seem irrelevant to today’s Christian. B.B. Warfield described the Old Testament as a richly furnished but dimly lit house. Only when the lights are turned on can we appreciate the beauty that was there all along. In Jesus Christ the light is on, and we can see the beauty of the Old Testament!

In the first seven chapters of Leviticus the sacrifices are described in detail. There are some repeating phrases that we should note: without defect … without yeast … of the proper value. The sacrifices were to be of the best quality, without any “strings attached,” and well thought-out.

Sacrifices were not only physically given, but given emotionally and mentally too. They shouldn’t be given begrudgingly as a “have to” sacrifice, but joyfully as a “get to” sacrifice.

The Archeological Study Bible has an interesting commentary on the sacrifices: “The sacrificial system was not magical. Its efficacy depended not upon the offering of a particular animal… but on God Himself, Who ordained these sacrifices. Fully as important, without an attitude of repentance, perfunctory observation of sacrificial rituals was meaningless.”

Jesus was the once-for-all sacrifice. And if you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, the Bible says Christ is now in you and you are new creation. You are blameless in God’s sight!

So today the best sacrifice you can give God is: YOU. When you joyfully give God your life and talents as a living sacrifice with a grateful attitude, God sees Christ’s sacrifice in you as perfect—no defect, no hypocrisy, a sacrifice of inestimable value!

If Jesus Christ is in you, you are a perfect sacrifice, so don’t hesitate to give yourself to God.