poetry | Craig T. Owens

March 2026
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Poetry Saturday—Worthwhile

May 23, 2020 — Craig T. Owens

It is easy enough to be pleasant

When life flows along like a song,

But the man worthwhile is the one who will smile

When everything goes dead wrong;

For the test of the heart is trouble,

And it always comes with the years,

And the smile that is worth the praises of earth

Is the smile that shines through tears.

It is easy enough to be prudent

When nothing tempts you to stray:

When without or within no voice of sin

Is luring your soul away;

But it’s only a negative virtue

Until it is tried by fire,

And the life that is worth the honor of earth

Is the one that resists desire.

By the cynic, the sad, the fallen

Who had no strength for the strife,

The world’s highway is cumbered today;

They make up the item of life.

But the virtue that conquers passion,

And the sorrow that hides in a smile,

It is these that are worth the homage of earth,

For we find them but once in a while. —Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: difficulties, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, leadership, perseverance, poem, poetry, prudence, trials, virtue. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—Sacred Bond

May 16, 2020 — Craig T. Owens

‘Twixt Jesus and the chosen race,

Subsists a bond of sovereign grace.

That hell, with its infernal train.

Shall ne’er dissolve, or rend in twain.

This sacred bond shall never break,

Though earth should to her centre shake ;

Rest, doubting saint, assured of this,

For God has pledged His holiness.

He swore but once, the deed was done;

‘Twas settled by the great Three One;

Christ was appointed to r’deem

All that the Father loved in Him.

Hail sacred union, firm and strong!

How great the grace, how sweet the song!

That worms of earth should ever be

One with incarnate Deity!

One in the tomb, one when He rose,

One when He triumph’d o’er His foes.

One when in heaven He took His seat.

While seraph’s sung all hell’s defeat.

This sacred tie forbids their fears,

For all He is, or has, is theirs;

With Him their head, they stand or fall,

Their life, their surety, and their all. —Anonymous

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: assurance, eternal life, God's Sovereignty, grace, hope, Jesus Christ, poem, poetry, redemption, salvation, Trinity. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—Jesus, Saviour, Grow In Me

May 9, 2020 — Craig T. Owens

O Jesus, Saviour, grow in me,

and all things else recede:

to You my heart would nearer be,

from sin be daily freed.

Each day embrace my weakness, Lord,

with Your supporting might;

and let my death be lost in life,

my darkness in Your light.

Let faith in You and in Your strength

my every motive move;

may You alone be my delight,

my passion and my love.

Fill me with gladness from above,

hold me by strength divine.

Lord, let the glow of Your great love

through my whole being shine.

Show me Your glory more and more,

Lord, holy, wise, and true!

Your living image I would be,

in joy and sorrow too.

Make this poor self grow less and less,

and be Yourself my aim;

and through Your grace, make me each day

more worthy of Your name. —Johann K. Lavater

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Christlike, faith, God's strength, Image Deo, Johann Lavater, passion, poem, poetry, prayer. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—Trinitie Sunday

May 2, 2020 — Craig T. Owens

Lord, who hast form’d me out of mud,

And hast redeem’d me through Thy bloud,

And sanctifi’d me to do good;

Purge all my sinnes done heretofore:

For I confesse my heavie score,

And I will strive to sinne no more.

Enrich my heart, mouth, hands in me,

With faith, with hope, with charitie;

That I may runne, rise, rest with Thee. —George Herbert

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: confession, Creator, empowerment, forgiveness, George Herbert, hope, poem, poetry, rest, salvation, sanctification, Savior, Trinity. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—The Thorn

April 25, 2020 — Craig T. Owens

I stood a mendicant of God before His royal throne

And begged Him for one priceless gift, which I could call my own.

I took the gift from out of His hand, but as I would depart

I cried, “But Lord this is a thorn and it has pierced my heart.

This is a strange, a hurtful gift, which Thou hast given me.”

He said, “My child, I give good gifts and gave My best to thee.”

I took it home and though at first the cruel thorn hurt sore,

As long years passed I learned at last to love it more and more.

I learned He never gives a thorn without this added grace,

He takes the thorn to pin aside the veil which hides His face. —Martha Snell Nicholson

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: beauty, Calvary, crucifixion, God's love, Jesus Christ, pain, poem, poetry. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—Beyond The Glittering, Starry Skies

April 18, 2020 — Craig T. Owens

Beyond the glittering starry skies,

Far as th’ eternal hills,

There, in those boundless worlds of light,

Our great Redeemer dwells.

Legions of angels strong and fair,

In countless armies shine,

At His right hand with golden harps,

To offer songs divine.

“Hail, Prince!” they cry, “forever hail!
Whose unexampled love
Moved Thee to quit those glorious realms,
And royalties above.”

While He did condescend on earth

To suffer rude disdain,

They cast their honors at His feet,

And waited in His train.

Through all His travels here below

They did His steps attend!

Oft gazed and wondered where at last

This scene of love would end.

They saw His heart transfixed with wounds,

His crimson sweat and gore,

They saw Him break the bars of death,

Which none e’er brake before.

They brought His chariot from above,

To bear Him to His throne,

Clapped their triumphant wings and cried,

“The glorious work is done!” —James Fanch

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: angels, ascension, Heaven, James Fanch, Jesus Christ, poem, poetry, Redeemer, victory. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—How Few Receive With Cordial Faith

April 11, 2020 — Craig T. Owens

How few receive with cordial faith

the tidings which we bring?

How few have seen the arm revealed

of heav’n’s eternal King?

The Saviour comes! no outward pomp

bespeaks His presence nigh;

No earthly beauty shines in Him

to draw the carnal eye.

Fair as a beauteous tender flow’r

amidst the desert grows,

So slighted by a rebel race

the heav’nly Saviour rose.

Rejected and despised of men,

behold a Man of woe!

Grief was His close companion still

through all His life below.

Yet all the griefs He felt were ours,

ours were the woes He bore:

Pangs, not His own, His spotless soul

with bitter anguish tore.

We held Him as condemned by Heav’n,

an outcast from His God,

While for our sins He groaned, He bled,

beneath His Father’s rod.

His sacred blood hath washed our souls

from sin’s polluted stain;

His stripes have healed us, and His death

revived our souls again.

We all, like sheep, had gone astray

in ruin’s fatal road:

On Him were our transgressions laid;

He bore the mighty load.

Wronged and oppressed how meekly He

in patient silence stood!

Mute, as the peaceful harmless lamb,

when brought to shed its blood.

Who can His generation tell?

from prison see Him led!

With impious show of law condemned,

and numbered with the dead.

’Midst sinners low in dust He lay;

the rich a grave supplied:

Unspotted was His blameless life;

unstained by sin He died.

Yet God shall raise His head on high,

though thus He brought Him low;

His sacred off’ring, when complete,

shall terminate His woe.

For, saith the Lord, My pleasure then

shall prosper in His hand;

His shall a num’rous offspring be,

and still His honours stand.

His soul, rejoicing, shall behold

the purchase of His pain;

And all the guilty whom He saved

shall bless Messiah’s reign.

He with the great shall share the spoil,

and baffle all His foes;

Though ranked with sinners, here He fell,

a conqueror He rose.

He died to bear the guilt of men,

that sin might be forgiv’n:

He lives to bless them and defend,

and plead their cause in heav’n. —William Robertson

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Calvary, Cross, crucified, God's love, Jesus Christ, Passion Week, poem, poetry, salvation, Savior, William Robertson. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—The 23 Psalme

April 4, 2020 — Craig T. Owens

The God of love my shepherd is,

And He that doth me feed:

While He is mine, and I am His,

What can I want or need?

He leads me to the tender grasse,

Where I both feed and rest;

Then to the streams that gently passe:

In both I have the best.

Or if I stray, He doth convert

And bring my minde in frame:

And all this not for my desert,

But for His holy name.

Yea, in death’s shadie black abode

Well may I walk, not fear:

For Thou art with me; and Thy rod

To guide, Thy staff to bear.

Nay, Thou dost make me sit and dine,

Ev’n in my enemies sight:

My head with oyl, my cup with wine

Runnes over day and night.

Surely Thy sweet and wondrous love

Shall measure all my dayes;

And as it never shall remove,

So neither shall my praise. —George Herbert

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: George Herbert, Good Shepherd, poem, poetry, prayer, Psalm 23, shepherd. Leave a Comment »

The Artisan Collection Bible (book review)

March 31, 2020 — Craig T. Owens

How do “Bible” and “artisan” belong in the same title? They’re more connected than you may have previously thought, and The Artisan Collection Bible is the perfect place to explore this connection.

If you were to ask someone what occupation Jesus had while He was on earth, it would be a safe bet that most people would say He was a carpenter. Indeed, the Greek word tekton is translated as “carpenter” for both Joseph and Jesus (see Matthew 13:54-56 and Mark 6:2-3). However, the consensus among Greek scholars today is that the word tekton is more likely to mean an artisan than just merely a wood-working carpenter.

That makes sense, doesn’t it? After all, you would expect boundless creativity from the Creator. The One who fashioned our beautiful universe would certainly still be interested in expressing Himself in creative and beautiful ways.

For myself, reading the Bible sparks in me a desire to be creative with words, and images, and colors, and designs. This is exactly what The Artisan Collection Bible gives you the space to do. And I literally mean “space.”

One of the most attractive features to me about this Bible is the extra-wide margins along every single page. As you read God’s Word and the beauty of the Creator is illuminated in your heart and mind, you have readily available space to express your own creativity as worship to the Creator. Try crafting a poem, or turning the passage into a personal prayer, or drawing a picture that captures the vibrancy of God’s love letter written to you. The design of this Bible helps you to do more than just read the Word of God, it invites you to interact with the God of the Word.

The Artisan Collection Bible would make an excellent gift for your creative friend or loved one.

I am a Zondervan book reviewer and a member of the Bible Gateway Blogger Grid. As a book reviewer I received a free copy of this book from the book publisher. I am not compensated for my review. Although I may have received the book free of charge, I am under no obligation to write a favorable review. I am free to express my honest opinion about the book’s content. If I say it’s a good book, it’s because I think it’s a good book!