“Our human minds cannot comprehend the immensity of [Christ’s] task and His sacrifice. We simply know that it was to save us, and that Jesus’ suffering is the most blessed influence the world has ever known.” —Dr. Henry Halley, Halley’s Study Bible
The Hill, though high, I covet to ascend, The Difficulty will not me offend; For I perceive the Way to life lies here. Come, pluck up Heart, let’s neither faint nor fear;
Better, though difficult, the Right Way to go,
Than wrong, though easy, where the End is Woe. —Christian in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress
“Nearly half the Law of God is devoted to directing God’s people in how to worship Him. And while the specific practices of that portion of God’s Law have been replaced (Hebrews 7:11-18), the emphasis on worship and the idea that worship and life are related remains. The more faithful we are in worshiping the Lord the more we will love our neighbors with the justice His Law prescribes.” —T.M. Moore
The deaths of Nadab and Abihu is a tragic story, but I think there are some important leadership insights to be gleaned from it. I shared an exclusive video with my Patreon supporters. Will you prayerfully consider joining?
We’ve added things that we think should be in our prayer vocabulary. But kingdom praying should be as natural as talking to the most loving Father you can imagine! Check out more thoughts in my series of posts called Kingdom Praying. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” —Michael Jordan
In the post-Flood rock layers, fossils are often found of animals that were much larger than are currently observed. This has been called giantism. “Evolutionists claim that adaption occurs as random mutations make some organisms better fitted for their environment, and the less-fit organisms then die off. … This supposed, random, trial-and-error process requires long periods of time waiting for the ‘right’ random mutation to occur. In contrast, ICR gives credit to Jesus. He designed organisms with built-in sensors that enable them to detect changes in their environment. Internal genetic programming then allows these organisms to rapidly adapt to these changes in predictable ways. Such adaptation is often too rapid for natural selection to be the correct explanation. This design-based paradigm of adaptation is called continuous environmental tracking (CET).” This is an excellent article.
“If the stone falls on the pot, alas, for the pot; if the pot falls on the stone, alas for the pot.” —Jewish proverb, based on Psalm 118:22 and Luke 20:17-18
…ears consecrated to hear God’s voice and the voice of the people
…hands dedicated to ministering in love and obedience
…feet that only walk in God-directed paths
Godly leaders don’t minister to please people, but to lead people to God. So godly leaders are ever aware that in all they do, they must hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Stop praying to yourself! God isn’t impressed with your “powerful” prayer! Jesus tells an interesting story about two men: one thought very highly of his spiritual status and the only could barely lift his eyes. Jesus said that the proud man’s prayer received no help from God, but only the humble man’s prayer was heard. This is a short clip from my series called Kingdom Praying. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“If the fetus gets in the way, ditch it. If the old person gets in the way, ditch it. If you get in the way…” —Francis Schaeffer
“The god of convenience, ruling capriciously in the hearts of men and women, and supported by worshipers of the god of wealth—greedy, self-interested profit-takers in the guise of abortionists and abortion-rights advocates—is the putative lord of life and death where children in the womb are concerned. …Christians must insist that all political candidates seeking their support, at whatever level of government, be firm in their commitment to resist the present abortion regime and expose the lie of the pro-choice agenda by every available means. …The Law of God is holy and righteous and good. Abortion is unholy, unrighteous, and evil. If we want a just and loving society, we will worship God and obey His Law, and we will work to dethrone the god of convenience and to expose the folly and self-interest of all its followers. And we will look to God to explain the nature, meaning, and value of all lives.” —T.M. Moore
Elihu is angry at Job “because he justified himself before God.” Better stated: “Job was more concerned about justifying himself—making himself look good—than he was about making God look good.” Elihu is angry at Job’s three friends because they acted like God and pronounced a guilty verdict against Job. Elihu is righteously provoked. After holding his tongue for 31 chapters, he cannot remain silent any longer!I conclude that Elihu is righteous in his response because God doesn’t have anything negative to say to or about Elihu (as He does with the three friends) at the end of the Book of Job.
Long before the term “fake news” made it into our lexicon, Charles E. Robinson wrote an article in 1934 “as a solemn warning to all Christians” about the rising tide of anti-Semitism. He was especially upset about a book that made an erroneous case blaming Jews for global economic and political turmoil. I am thrilled with the strong spiritual and intellectual legacy in the Assembly of God fellowship!
“There’s a lot of blood, sweat and guts between dreams and success.” —Paul Bear Bryant
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Is New Year’s Day really the best time to make a resolution? Well, maybe! Here are some thoughts to help you be more successful whenever you resolve to make some healthy changes in your life.
Check out this episode of The Podcast.
If you would like to go a little deeper on this, check out these posts I previously shared:
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
In my book Shepherd Leadership I talk about some strong, godly men who gave into temptation at a moment of weakness—David who behaved so poorly toward Bathsheba and Uriah, Elijah who got depressed and suicidal, and Peter who denied knowing Jesus.
One common factor for all of these guys is that their moment of giving in came when they were alone. They were isolated from others who may have been able to help them overcome the temptations that tripped them up.
Have you ever heard of the law of the weakest link?
If I have a chain with links that can handle 400, 300, 250, 175, and 500 pounds, how much weight can the chain hold? You don’t really need a calculator for this one because the answer is the capacity of the weakest link: 175 pounds. This is why it’s to my advantage to not only strengthen myself, but to help others grow their strength as well.
In Galatians 6:2-5, the apostle Paul talks about the strength we need for ourselves and our fellow Christian brothers and sisters. First, he says that each of us should test our own actions. I can only know my breaking point if I’m tested, and the Holy Spirit knows how to do this perfectly. After this testing, Paul says then I can take pride in myself without saying, “Well, at least I’m better than him!”
Quite simply, Paul tells each of us that we must be able to carry our own loads. Why? Because only a strong Christian can help someone else with their load. We each have to get stronger individually so that we have strength for others!
This is just like what we’ve been learning in our look at the Songs of Ascent: the goal is for all of the pilgrims to get to Zion together!
In this series, we are going to learn about six spiritual disciplines. Much like a physical workout, the Holy Spirit will start with us where we are. Not everyone will be at the same level nor will everyone progress at the same rate. But all of us will need these four things.
(1) Discipline. This is saying no to the easy thing or the thing that brings only fleeting happiness so that I can say yes to the things that bring eternal joy.
(2) Stick-to-it-iveness. I have to be committed to this process for a lifetime.
(3) Grace for yourself. There are going to be moments of struggles, plateaus, and even stumbles. Those are all a part of the journey, so we must extend grace to ourselves to learn, repent, and move forward.
(4) Patience for others. As I just mentioned, we are all on our own journey and we all progress at different rates. Let’s be patient with each other.
All of these spiritual disciplines are to strengthen us individually so that we have something to share with other saints (2 Corinthians 1:3-6).
These spiritual disciplines shouldn’t become legalistic. Don’t make the way you do it the way everyone has to do it. After all, a 175-pound link will be different than a 250-pound link.
What I am calling spiritual disciplines, C.S. Lewis called religious practices. In a letter to a friend, he wrote about the safety and beauty that result from these pursuits—
“I think about the practices what a wise old priest said to me about a ‘rule of life’ in general—‘It is not a stair but a bannister’…i.e. it is, not the thing you ascend by but it is a protective against falling off and a help-up. I think thus we ascend. The stair is God’s grace. One’s climb from step to step is obedience. Many different kinds of bannisters exist, all legitimate. It is possible to get up without any bannisters, if need be: but no one would willingly build a staircase without them because it would be less safe, more laborious, and a little lacking in beauty.” (C.S. Lewis)
My courage and my success are directly tied to my obedience of God’s Word. The life of Joshua is just one example. Check out this full message here. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“Christ is more of an Artist than the artists. He works in the living spirit and the living flesh; He makes men instead of statues.” —Vincent van Gogh
Bryan Windel echoes something I’ve frequently said on this blog, “The Bible is rooted in real history. This is why archaeology is such a valuable tool; it helps us uncover the biblical world and provides us with important background knowledge about the people, places, and events described in the text.” Bryan was a part of a dig at Shiloh (where Joshua and Samuel play key roles) and he shares some of his observations and discoveries.
“I trained four years to run nine seconds, and people give up when they don’t see results in two months.” —Usain Bolt
“Those who have turned the tide of history have turned it by means of prayer. This should be the motto of every follower of Jesus Christ. Never stop praying, no matter how dark and hopeless it may seem.” —Billy Graham
I love these stories of hope from To Write Love On Her Arms. They have lots of great words of encouragement for you to share with others.
God’s grace is so amazing. It keeps coming in like waves on a shore. God’s grace is unearned by our efforts, undeserved despite our sins, and unending for all of eternity! Check out this full message here. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“The humble servant of God is grateful for God’s past blessings, unashamed of his daily dependence on God, and confidant of God’s loving reply to every new request.” —Craig T. Owens
“There’s no shame in failing. The only shame is not giving things your best shot.” —Robin Williams
I’ve often said that praying, “God, here are my plans; please bless them” is an arrogant prayer. Instead, humility prays, “God, what would You have me do.” Proverbs 19:21 makes this point clearly. In his commentary on The Book of Proverbs, Dick Brogden noted on this verse, “God always gets His way over man’s ideas. In our hubris we think we know better than God, so we either make plans and then ask for His endorsement or we stand in judgment of what He is doing as if He should have asked us to endorse His plans. Folly judges only by results in Machiavellian crudity, but things going right doesn’t necessarily mean they were right, and things going wrong doesn’t necessarily mean we were wrong. Let us remember we are prophets, priests, and proclaimers, not pragmatists.”
“You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things—to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.” —Sir Edmund Hillary
Speaking of an exemplary work ethic, David Mathis writes, “However firsthand your experience as a soldier, athlete, or farmer, Scripture stands ready to fill in, supplement, recast, or override our personal experiences (or lack thereof) and teach us a Christian work ethic—for our own joy, the good of others, and the glory of Christ.” The biblical text Mathis uses to help us learn this Christian work ethic is 2 Timothy 2:1-7.
Marvin Olasky has a sobering and insightful post entitled “United States of Abortion.” He wrote, “For nearly four centuries, the frequency of abortion in America has depended on how citizens and residents answered five questions.” The five questions—and his five answers—are a mini history lesson on which all Christians should reflect.
“If you are ever inclined to pray for a missionary, do it at once, wherever you are. Perhaps he may be in great peril at that moment.” —Amy Carmichael
From the vastly large solar system to the microscopic level, the beauty and genius of our Creator is seen. A new report published in the journal Nature delves into the complexity of our tiny cilia. Only an all-wise Creator could fashion something so precise!
If you are looking for an easily accessible online library (especially for researching older books), check out the Internet Archive.
Though a professing atheist, Richard Feynman poetically mused that “you might say the ‘hand of God’ wrote that number, and ‘we don’t know how He pushed His pencil.’” What number is that? Physicists call it alpha (α): “That number is 0.00729735256—approximately 1/137. This is the fine-structure constant. It appears everywhere in the equations of quantum physics.” Another remarkable signpost to a magnificent Creator!
Some of our best lessons are learned in difficult places, so let’s not be too quick to rush in and soften the blow for someone who has taken a tumble.Check out the full conversation I had with my podcast partner Greg. And be sure to check out all of my videos on my YouTube channel.
“A champion is one who gets up when he can’t.” —Jack Dempsey
Once again, archeological finds in Israel confirm the historicity of the biblical accounts of the kings of Judah and Israel. John Stonestreet shares some of the most recent finds. Jewish archeologist Nelson Gluek states, “It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference.”
“The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.” —Jonas Salk
Scott Hubbard writes, “Stepping into leadership means stepping into mistakes, regrets, and many small but stinging failures. And surviving in leadership, I am learning, means stepping upward on those mistakes—owning them, learning from them, and having the stability in Christ to keep leading after them.” Read more about how leaders can fail well.
J. Warner Wallace addresses the claim that all religions are true or are essentially the same.
“The Scriptures represent the Holy Spirit, not only as moving, and occasionally influencing, the saints, but as dwelling in them as His temple, His proper abode, and everlasting dwelling-place. And He is represented as being there so united to the faculties of the soul, that He becomes there a principle or spring of a new nature and life.” —Jonathan Edwards
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
We are more likely to act ourselves into feeling good than we are to wait until we feel good about something before we act on it. That self-initiative is a true leadership separator.
The deaths of Nadab and Abihu is a tragic story, but I think there are some important leadership insights to be gleaned from it. I shared an exclusive video with my Patreon supporters. Will you prayerfully consider joining?
Craig T. Owens 
Links & Quotes
February 24, 2024 — Craig T. OwensWe’ve added things that we think should be in our prayer vocabulary. But kingdom praying should be as natural as talking to the most loving Father you can imagine! Check out more thoughts in my series of posts called Kingdom Praying. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” —Michael Jordan
In the post-Flood rock layers, fossils are often found of animals that were much larger than are currently observed. This has been called giantism. “Evolutionists claim that adaption occurs as random mutations make some organisms better fitted for their environment, and the less-fit organisms then die off. … This supposed, random, trial-and-error process requires long periods of time waiting for the ‘right’ random mutation to occur. In contrast, ICR gives credit to Jesus. He designed organisms with built-in sensors that enable them to detect changes in their environment. Internal genetic programming then allows these organisms to rapidly adapt to these changes in predictable ways. Such adaptation is often too rapid for natural selection to be the correct explanation. This design-based paradigm of adaptation is called continuous environmental tracking (CET).” This is an excellent article.
“If the stone falls on the pot, alas, for the pot; if the pot falls on the stone, alas for the pot.” —Jewish proverb, based on Psalm 118:22 and Luke 20:17-18
Godly leaders don’t minister to please people, but to lead people to God. So godly leaders are ever aware that in all they do, they must hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
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