presents | Craig T. Owens

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Links & Quotes

December 10, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some good stuff…

“One thing is certain, a Christian’s standing before God does not depend upon his standing before men. A high reputation does not make a man dearer to God, nor does the tongue of the slanderer influence God’s attitude toward His people in any way.” —A.W. Tozer

Wow: “I used to look for people who were ready for ministry. Now I look for people who are ready to die—to die to their own plans and ideas.” Read more in this Live Dead post: The Struggle Of Sacrifice.

Seth Godin talks about creativity in his post The Thing About A Clean Sheet Of Paper.

[VIDEO] John Piper talks about 3 ways to make Christmas special—

[VIDEO] The Lowell (Michigan) Police Department has a great way to spread Christmas cheer—

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: A.W. Tozer, Advent, Christian, Christmas, creativity, family, First Advent, John Piper, Live Dead, ministry, parenting, police, presents, quotes, sacrifice, Seth Godin, video. Leave a Comment »

Presents Or Presence

December 3, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

We kicked off The Q Series last night with some very appropriate-for-the-season questions: what is Christmas? where did it come from? how are we supposed to celebrate Christmas?

As I was preparing to answer this question, the thought came to me that Christmas is the celebration of God’s presence among us, but we’ve turned Christmas into a focus on presents. God wants to give us Himself (His presence), but many times we’re more interested in the presents we think He should give us.

Even in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve exchanged a piece of fruit (a present, the devil told them) for God’s presence.

Quick: Can you think of a present someone gave you last Christmas? This probably doesn’t come easily to mind. Can you think of a time this last year when someone “being there” for you (their presence) was meaningful? This one you could probably think of more quickly.

Presence trump presents.

As you celebrate Christmas this year, focus on God’s presence in your life, and not the presents you’re asking Him for. And then remember those around you want your presence way more than they want your presents, so figure out how to give it to them.