“Poverty, you may walk through my door, but God is already in my house, and He has chosen me. Sickness, you may intrude into my life, but I have a cure standing ready—God has chosen me. Whatever occurs in the valley of tears, I know He has chosen me. Dear Christian, do not be afraid, for Jesus is with you. Through all your fiery trials, His presence is both your comfort and safety. He will never forsake those He has chosen for His own. ‘Do not be afraid, for I am with you’ (Genesis 26:24) is His unfailing word of promise to His chosen ones who are experiencing ‘the furnace of affliction.’” —Charles Spurgeon
Charles Spurgeon To Christians: Don’t Be Afraid
July 19, 2016 — Craig T. OwensLinks & Quotes
November 20, 2014 — Craig T. Owens
Some good reading from today…
“Remember that sin must be punished. Any theology which offers the pardon of sin without a punishment, ignores part of the character of God. God is love, but God is also just, as severely just as if He had no love, and yet as intensely loving as if He had no justice. To gain a just view of the character of God you must perceive all His attributes as infinitely developed; justice must have its infinity acknowledged as much as mercy. … Sin must be punished, or God must cease to be. The testimony of the gospel is not that the punishment has been mitigated or foregone, or that justice has had a sop given it to close its mouth. The consolation is far more sure and effectual. Christ has for His people borne all the punishment which they deserved; and now every soul for whom Christ died may read with exultation, ‘The punishment of her iniquity is accomplished’ [Lamentations 4:22].” —Charles Spurgeon
Very interesting reading: Has the war on poverty hurt American marriage rates? Check out this data.
“I think it wise, if possible, to move one’s main prayers from the last-thing-at-night position to some earlier time: give them a better chance to infiltrate one’s other thoughts.” —C.S. Lewis
“This Spirit-filled, last-days Church will not hide, but will be on the front lines, fighting a good fight and bringing in a harvest of souls.” Read more from David Wilkerson in his post On The Front Lines.
Links & Quotes
September 15, 2014 — Craig T. Owens
Some good reading & watching from today…
“The true measure of ministry effectiveness is the extent to which we are able to lead God’s people into greater love for Him and His Kingdom.” —T.M. Moore
“Tragedy is that our attention centers on what people are not, rather than on what they are and who they might become.” —Brennan Manning
“The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved.” —Mother Teresa
“Holiness is not the luxury of the few; it is a simple duty, for you and for me.” —Mother Teresa
“The devil does not need to bother about us as long as we remain ignorant of the way God has made us and refuse to discipline ourselves; inattention and our own slovenliness will soon run away with every power we have.” —Oswald Chambers
“There is something which we can do which God does. He does good to all His creatures, and we can do good also. He bears witness to His Son Jesus, and we can bear witness too.” —Charles Spurgeon
[VIDEO] Ken Davis always cracks me up. Check out this clip Arm Vs. Airbag.
Why do people get so annoyed over anything that looks “religious” to them. For people who claim God doesn’t exist, atheists get awfully mad at Him!
Weigh The Options
October 7, 2013 — Craig T. Owens
The message Jesus had to deliver to the church at Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11), was a heavy message. It’s a message I believe Christ is still speaking to the church today. In essence Jesus said, “I know how hard it’s been for you as a Christian. You’ve stood tall so far, but brace yourselves because more persecution is coming.”
Charles Spurgeon said, “There are no crown-wearers in Heaven who were not cross-bearers here below.” How true!
But I love the message from Jesus to us: “Yes,” He says, “things are hard, but weigh those things against the rewards I have for you! Hang in there! You will bring Me glory and you will earn the very highest rewards I can give!”
I tried to illustrate Christ’s message this way—
I will be continuing my series on The 7-Star Church next Sunday. If you are in the Cedar Springs area, I would love to have you join us!
Thursdays With Oswald—Not Possessed By Possessions
May 30, 2013 — Craig T. OwensThis 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.
Not Possessed By Possessions
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)
Rich in what? Not in possessions, but in personal identity. Our Lord Jesus Christ became poor, not as an example, but to give us the secret of His religion. The religion of Jesus Christ is a religion of personal relationship to God and has nothing to do with possessions. … The disciple realizes that his life does not consist in the abundance of things he possess, because what we possess often possesses us—we are possessed by possessions.
From Bringing Sons Unto Glory
I can’t stand seeing so-called “prosperity preachers” twisting Scripture to make it sound like God is some sort of cosmic slot machine, and if you pull His lever just right financial rewards will pour down on you. Rubbish!!
Chambers said it succinctly and perfectly: The religion of Jesus Christ is a religion of personal relationship to God and has nothing to do with possessions.
Feeding Jesus
July 14, 2009 — Craig T. Owens
Even before reading The Hole In Our Gospel, this thought has been haunting me: Am I doing all that I can to help the last and the least?
- Am I speaking up for the one with no voice?
- Am I looking out for the one who’s been ignored?
- Am I feeding the physically hungry?
- Am I feeding the spiritually hungry?
- Am I representing the cause of the marginalized and ignored?
- Am I doing this everywhere I can?
Jesus made it quite clear: after my brief life here is over, He’s going to say one of two things to me. Either I took care of the least and the last, or I didn’t. There’s no middle ground. The conversation either sounds like this…
“I was hungry and you fed Me,
I was thirsty and you gave Me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave Me a room,
I was shivering and you gave Me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to Me,” Jesus will say.
“Master,” I will answer, “what are You talking about? When did I ever see You hungry and feed You, thirsty and give You a drink? And when did I ever see You sick or in prison and come to You?”
“Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was Me—you did it to Me.”
Or like this…
“I was hungry and you gave Me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave Me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave Me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited,” Jesus will say.
“Master,” I will answer, “what are You talking about? When did I ever see You hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?”
“Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was Me—you failed to do it to Me.” (My paraphrase of Matthew 25:31-46)
Mother Teresa said that in the faces of the poor whom she served she saw “Christ, in His most distressing disguise.” My prayer is that God will open my eyes. I need to see the poor, the marginalized, the hungry, and the suffering through their disguises. That’s Jesus who is poor, ignored, and suffering, and it’s up to me to do something about it.
“Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.” —Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision
The Hole In Our Gospel (book review)
July 13, 2009 — Craig T. Owens
When I first heard the title of Richard Stearns’ book—The Hole In Our Gospel—a thought crept into my mind. When I read on the back cover the phrase “to walk with the poorest of the poor in our world,” I was convinced: I just knew this book was going to be a guilt trip.
I couldn’t have been more wrong!
“The idea behind The Hole In Our Gospel is quite simple. It’s basically the belief that being a Christian, or follower of Jesus Christ, requires much more than just having a personal and transforming relationship with God. It also entails a public and transforming relationship with the world,” writes Stearns as he introduces his book.
Using his life as a personal example, and presenting a stark but realistic picture of the suffering humanity in the world today, Stearns challenged me to look outside my own paradigm. I’ve seen the infomercials about sponsoring a child, and I keep abreast of the latest calamities in the world, but Stearns presents these sobering facts in a way that made me want to do something. Stearns quoted his friend Gary Gulbranson, “It’s not what you believe that counts; it’s what you believe enough to do.”
The other thing I wrongly assumed from the cover of this book was that the problems facing us were so huge, that even if I got involved little would change. Instead, Stearns showed me practical ways to help.
Far from being a “downer” or a guilt-trip, I found this book to paint an exciting picture of what was possible if I would just get involved. I could begin to imagine a world in which humanity was better off because I was in it.
Don’t shy away from this book just because it’s written by the president of World Vision: you will not read a single “commercial” or appeal to donate to World Vision or sponsor a child. But you will be changed. You will be challenged. On the closing page, Stearns asks a poignant question: “And when you close this book, what will you do now?”
I’m going to get involved.
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