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The Legacy Of A Mother’s Sincere Faith

May 11, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here.

“To be a mother is the greatest vocation in the world. No being has a position of such great power and influence.” —Hannah Whitall Smith

A mother’s power impacts her children while she is alive, and a mother’s influence continues to empower them after she is gone. Other than Jesus Himself, I’m not sure who has a greater influence than a God-fearing mother.

A mother’s influence is seen in her children.

Paul was a prolific evangelist and letter writer. His letters make up a huge part of the New Testament of the Bible. Much of his travel and his letters were thanks to a faithful traveling companion named Timothy.

Paul’s very last letter was written to Timothy, in which he called him my dear son (2 Timothy 1:2)
Paul met him in Lystra where Timothy was well spoken of (Acts 16:1-2)
Paul knew the anointing that was on Timothy (2 Timothy 1:6; 1 Timothy 1:18)
Timothy stepped right into the fire of ministry—persecution in Philippi and Thessalonica; then he followed Paul to Corinth (Acts 18:1-5)
Timothy was entrusted to deliver valuable letters and answer questions (1 Corinthians 4:17, 16:10-11; Philippians 2:19-23; 1 Thessalonians 2:18—3:6)
In his first pastoral epistle, we see that Paul commissioned Timothy to pastor in Ephesus (a challenging place), and he reminds Timothy that he is my true son (1 Timothy 1:2)

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

Paul knows that this godly man, this trusted friend, this faithful companion is a product of the power and influence of his mother, who in her turn was influence by her mother (2 Timothy 1:5).

There is very little mention of Timothy’s father, other than he was a Greek. That could mean he was of Greek nationality or that he was a Gentile. We know Gentiles were looking for Jesus (John 12:20-21) and were turning to Jesus (Acts 14:1), but it would seem this wasn’t the case for Timothy’s dad, since neither Luke nor Paul mention him by name.

The fact that we don’t know his name may means that he passed away or he may have been uninvolved in Timothy’s upbringing. We can at least tell that his father—who had the right to name his children—was hoping for great things from his son. The name Timotheus means honoring God.

The main influence in Timotheus’ life was his mother and grandmother. Already he was known as a disciple. Recall that Luke seldom used the word “Christian” but usually called the followers of Jesus saints, believers, and disciples. We also read that the fellow brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him (Acts 16:2).

Paul says this is because Lois (mimi) and Eunice (mama) had a sincere faith (2 Timothy 1:5), which literally means “without any hypocrisy.” Andrew Murray wrote, “Your motherhood is in God’s sight holier and more blessed than you realize.” This was in a time before the Church was very well established, so there were very few supports around them; certainly Timothy’s father wasn’t a supporter.

Timothy felt this impact just as King David did (Psalm 86:16). Paul tells Timothy to follow my example (v. 13-14) and follow the example of your godly mother and grandmother (v. 5).

Mothers and grandmothers, keep the faith!

Your life has power and it has influence. Charles Spurgeon said, “The devil never reckons a man to be lost so long as he has a good mother alive. O woman, great is thy power!”

Great, indeed, is your power, Mom! Don’t give up, don’t give in to despair.

I hope you get to see your power and your influence in your lifetime, but even if you don’t, be assured that your influence will outlive you—I am persuaded [the faith of your mother] now lives in you also!

Kids, today would be an especially good day to let your mother and grandmother know the positive influence they have had on your life. Trust me: nothing would make their day more than hearing those words from you!

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Links & Quotes

May 9, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

We are born with a certain level of intuition, but we can definitely build a stronger intuition by learning lessons from history. Check out the full conversation Greg and I had about a leader’s intuition + execution.

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

“It is idle to talk always of the alternative of reason and faith. Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all. If you are merely a sceptic, you must sooner or later ask yourself the question, ‘Why should anything go right; even observation and deduction? Why should not good logic be as misleading as bad logic? They are both movements in the brain of a bewildered ape?’” —G.K. Chesterton

I keep six honest serving-men

(They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When

And How and Where and Who. —Rudyard Kipling

“All the work of man is but the spinning of a righteousness which is undone as quickly as it is spun; but Christ has finished the seamless and spotless robe of His righteousness which is to last for ever.” —Charles Spurgeon

The Institute for Creation Research opens an article about the impact of and recovery from the biblical Flood with this, “In the beginning, God created plants and animals to multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 1:11–13, 20–25). So, when areas are devastated, living things are engineered with the innate ability to rebound and recolonize. This was seen in the rapid recovery of life at Mount St. Helens after the cataclysmic volcanic eruption of May 18, 1980. But conventional scientists seem to be finally recognizing and appreciating the reality of rapid recovery a bit more after studying the life that existed after the supposed Chicxulub impact.”

John Piper addressing the role of spiritual affections in the life of a Christian says, “No machine, no computer, no AI will ever duplicate the spiritual reality of the soul’s enjoyment of God.”

“Ignorance of Scripture is the mother of error. … Many lay aside Scripture as rusty armour (Jeremiah 8:9); they are better read in romances than in St. Paul; they spend many hours inter pectinem et speculum—‘between the comb and the glass’—but their eyes begin to be sore when they look upon a Bible. They who slight the Word written, slight God Himself, whose stamp it bears.” —Thomas Watson

Links & Quotes

May 2, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

Christians need to be very cautious about not quarreling in a way that pushes people away from the love of God.

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

In discussing how Thomas Huxley coined the term agnostic, John Stonestreet and Dr. Glenn Sunshine note, “If God is rational and created an orderly universe and human beings in His image, we can study the universe. Without these assumptions, there is no reason to assume the world is knowable or that humans are able to know. It is the theistic assumption, not the agnostic assumption, that grounds science. By rejecting God, scientists undercut the foundations for their work.”

“There will come a time when every culture, every institution, every nation, the human race, all biological life is extinct and every one of us is still alive. Immortality is promised to us, not to these generalities. It was not for societies or states that Christ died, but for men.” —C.S. Lewis, in The Weight of Glory

“If Patrick Henry could arise from the dead and revisit the land of the living, and see the vast system and social organization and social science which now controls, he would probably simplify his observation and say, ‘Give me death.’” —G.K. Chesterton, speaking in New York City’s Time Square Theatre in 1921

T.M. Moore has an excellent series of posts about God and reason. In the post Since God is Reasonable, he writes, “If we are sluggish in reason, so that we do not like to have to think hard and long about matters; or if our skills in reasoning are inadequate, poorly honed, or rusty from disuse, then we should make it our business to overcome our laziness and improve our use of reason, since the great prize of reasoning with and knowing God lies open to us.”

We all experience conflicts with other people, but this post—8 signs you’re the problem in your arguments—is quite insightful.

Stanley Horton’s influence on the Assemblies of God—and wider Pentecostal circles too—cannot be understated. This is a great mini-biography of his life.

I’m always impressed by the historicity of the Bible. “Archaeology has demonstrated that numerous people, places, and events within the books [of Ezra and Nehemiah] are historically accurate,” says this post.

“The Jewish high priests went once a year into the Holy of Holies. Each year as it came round demanded that they should go again. Their work was never done; but ‘He entered in once,’ and only once, ‘into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.’ I love that expression, ‘eternal redemption’—a redemption which really does redeem, and redeems forever and ever. If you are redeemed by it, you cannot be lost; if this redemption be yours, it is not for a time, or for a season, but it is ‘eternal redemption.’ Oh, how you ought to rejoice in the one entrance within the veil by our great High Priest who has obtained eternal redemption for us!” —Charles Spurgeon

Links & Quotes

April 25, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

The so-called “overnight success” almost always is the result of a very long road. The difficult times are teaching you lessons that you can learn in no other way—hang in there and keep on learning. Success is coming!

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

“It is the highest and holiest of the paradoxes that the man who really knows he cannot pay his debt will be for ever paying it. He will be for ever giving back what he cannot give back, and cannot be expected to give back. He will be always throwing things away into a bottomless pit of unfathomable thanks.” —G.K. Chesterton

“No Christian and, indeed, no historian could accept the epigram which defines religion as ‘what a man does with his solitude.’ It was one of the Wesleys, I think, who said that the New Testament knows nothing of solitary religion. We are forbidden to neglect the assembling of ourselves together. Christianity is already institutional in the earliest of its documents. The Church is the Bride of Christ. We are members of one another. … We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and privacy, and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship.” —C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

“One will wickedly say, ‘If I am a child of God, I may live as I like.’ That is damnable doctrine. Another will say, ‘If I am a child of God, I shall not want to live as I like, but as God likes, and I shall be led by the grace of God into the path of holiness, and through divine grace I shall persevere in that way of holiness right to the end.’ That is quite another doctrine, and it is the true teaching of the Word of God.” —Charles Spurgeon

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Links & Quotes

April 18, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

There’s nothing wrong with getting godly advice from someone, and there’s nothing wrong with sharing godly wisdom with others. Let’s just make sure that we’re not putting godly people above God Himself.

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

“If sin came to you openly proclaiming itself as sin, you would fight against it; but it is very cunning and deceitful and it gradually petrifies the heart and especially the heart of those who think that they will never provoke God by their sin. Pride has already begun to work in them; and where pride can work, every other sin finds elbow-room.” —Charles Spurgeon

The Eiffel Tower may be one of the most iconic symbols of architecture. In this post, we learn that its creator “Gustave Eiffel, a French engineer, looked not to classical architecture or ancient ruins but to the human body—specifically, the thigh bone.”

“He that hath slight thoughts of sin, never had great thoughts of God.” —John Owen

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: architecture, Charles Spurgeon, Creator, God's wisdom, John Owen, pride, quotes, sin, video, wisdom. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

April 11, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

How’s your EQ? We spend a lot of time (maybe too much time) on IQ, but how high is your emotional quotient? Leaders need this self-awareness, and it starts with humility.

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

“Sin is the most expensive thing in the universe. If it is forgiven sin, it costs God His only Son. If it is unforgiven sin, it costs the sinner his soul an eternity in hell.” —Charles Finney

J. Warner Wallace writes, “What sets Christianity apart from every other theistic worldview is its foundation in history. Many belief systems offer beautiful wisdom and moral guidance—collections of proverbs that inspire and instruct—but they don’t rest on claims that can be examined or tested. … Christianity is different. It rises or falls on a historical event—the resurrection of Jesus.”

“The Love of God is kinder than the measure of man’s mind.” —A.W.Tozer

“If you are worried about the people outside [the Body of Christ], the most unreasonable thing you can do is to remain outside yourself. Christians are Christ’s body, the organism through which He works. Every addition to that body enables Him to do more. If you want to help those outside you must add your own little cell to the body of Christ who alone can help them. Cutting off a man’s fingers would be an odd way of getting him to do more work.” —C.S. Lewis

Fight The New Drug writes, “Research links porn use to changes in brain circuitry, lower relationship satisfaction, increased loneliness, and shifting sexual expectations.” Check out 17 reasons to not watch pornography.

“But if we are describing, for the moment, the atmosphere of what is generous and popular and even picturesque, any knowledge of human nature will tell us that no sufferings of the sons of men, or even of the servants of God, strike the same note as the notion of the Master suffering instead of his servants. … No mysterious monarch, hidden in his starry pavilion at the base of the cosmic campaign, is in the least like that celestial chivalry of the Captain who carries His five wounds in the front of battle.” —G.K. Chesterton

8 Quotes from “Leading In Tough Times”

April 7, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

Everyone faces tough times, but leaders who encounter these difficult times have the opportunity to help their teams thrive or fall during this time. John Maxwell shares the challenges leader face in these situations, and how they can overcome them and help successfully bring others along as well. Check out my full book review of Leading in Tough Times.

“Good leaders understand that adversity and challenges are actually opportunities to rise up in leadership.

Adversity introduces us to ourselves
Adversity is a better teacher than success
Adversity opens doors for new opportunities
Adversity writes our story if our response is right”

“How do people overcome problems, challenges, and difficulties? They make changes. Improvement requires change. Innovation requires change. Seizing opportunities requires change. … As a leader in tough times, you need to become a change agent. You need to help others embrace positive change, even when it takes them outside their comfort zone. You need to help them get results, even when they worry that it might not be possible.”

“There is no downside to adding value to people. Yes, it will cost you time and effort. But when you add value to people, you help them and make them more valuable.”

“If you lead people who are falling short of their potential, you need to start asking why. Have you put them in their strength zones? Are you providing the training and resources they need to be successful? Is there something they need that you’re not giving? You always need to make sure you are not the problem before you look to see where the problem is.”

“If you are a leader, the true measure of your success is not getting people to work. It’s not getting people to work hard. It is getting people to work hard together.”

“In times of difficulty, relationships are a shelter. In terms of opportunity, they are a launching pad. Trust is required for people to feel safe enough to create, share, question, attempt, and risk. Without it, leadership is weak and teamwork is impossible.”

“One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears. That may seem counterintuitive, because we expect persuasion to involve speaking. But when a leader listens to members of the team, that act gives the leader greater credibility and therefore influence. In contrast, when team members no longer believe that their leader listens to understand them, they start looking around for someone who will.”

“Care and candor must be in balance. Care without candor creates dysfunctional relationships. Candor without care creates distant relationships. But care balanced with candor creates developing relationships. … Caring values the person while candor values the person’s potential.”

My Patreon supporters have access to all of the quotes I shared from this book. You can join them to get exclusive content and early access to other content by becoming a supporter today.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: adversity, book review, difficulties, John Maxwell, leadership, quotes, trials. 1 Comment »

The Visible Church

April 6, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

Fifty-eight years ago this weekend, on April 4, 1968, just after 6pm on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was cut down by an assassin’s bullet. A powerful voice in the struggle for civil rights for African Americans was silenced, and yet his legacy still lives on more than a half-century later.

A couple of days ago, we remembered another historic death: the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. But unlike Dr. King, today we also celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead!

Does it matter that Jesus was raised back to life? If Dr. King’s legacy can still live on in the life of his followers, even though his body is in the grave, couldn’t the same thing happen for the followers of Jesus of Nazareth? The answer, quite simply, is “No!” This is because Jesus claimed that His kingdom was an eternal Kingdom, and that He came to bring people eternal life (John 3:16). If the Founder of this Kingdom could be held in the grave, what would His followers have to look forward to? Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19.

(I’m not going to take the time to go through all the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus here, but I would encourage you to check out our series A.L.I.V.E.

We have named this series after a statement from Jesus, “I will build My Church.” He made this statement before His death and before His resurrection, which tells us that He knew the outcome before those events even occurred.

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

Look how Paul concludes that the resurrection of Jesus is what gives meaning to the terms “saints” and “Church” in Ephesians 1:15-23. Our faith in what Jesus did for us on the Cross—namely, paying the penalty for our sins—is what justifies us, allowing us to be called saints (2:4-5). Notice how saints are to now live (2:6-10).

Look at those two phrases: “saved…not by works” and “created…to do good works.” As my friend T.M. Moore noted, “We are not saved by good works, but we’re not truly saved without them.” Good works is what characterized the earthly ministry of Jesus (Acts 10:38), and good works are what His saints are now freed and empowered to do (Romans 7:4; 1 Peter 2:12).

Paul goes on to say that saints are who make up the Church of Jesus (Ephesians 2:14-22). The Church is not a building, but saints following the example of Jesus to make the Kingdom of God known in the world (Acts 4:32-35).

A hundred years later, Aristides wrote a letter to Emperor Hadrian about these saints (who were now known as Christians):

“They help those who offend them, making friends of them; do good to their enemies. They don’t adore idols; they are kind, good, modest, sincere, they love one another; don’t despise widows; protect the orphans; those who have much give without grumbling, to those in need. When they meet strangers, they invite them to their homes with joy, for they recognize them as true brothers, not natural but spiritual. When a poor man dies, if they become aware, they contribute according to their means for his funeral; if they come to know that some people are persecuted or sent to prison or condemned for the sake of Christ’s name, they put their alms together and send them to those in need. If they can do it, they try to obtain their release. When a slave or a beggar is in need of help, they fast two or three days, and give him the food they had prepared for themselves, because they think that he too should be joyful, as he has been called to be joyful like themselves.”

Jesus is the eternally-living Founder of His Church, and those who have had their sins forgiven by their faith in His death and resurrection are the living stones of His Church (1 Peter 2:5).

Coming to the Cross makes us saints. Making the Savior known by the way we live makes us the Church.

We can’t do this unless Jesus is alive and actively empowering us (Matthew 28:18-20).

Let me reiterate what my friend wrote, because this is how saints should live: “We are not saved by good works, but we’re not truly saved without them.”

The resurrection of Jesus makes it possible for us to not only be delivered from trying to earn our salvation by doing good works, but to be empowered to do good works so that we compel others want to know Jesus for themselves.

As the saints go, so goes the Church.

Check out all of the messages in this series “I will build My Church” by clicking here.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Links & Quotes

April 4, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

Before having that difficult conversation, make sure that person you are going to speak to knows two things: (1) God loves them, and (2) You love them. Here’s a great example of how this is done.

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

A very interesting post on the history of the Shroud of Turin, including some of the most recent scientific studies.

“Many read the Bible the way a mouse tries to remove the cheese from a trap… trying not to get caught.” —Søren Kierkegaard

Is there any historical evidence to the claim that Easter is based on pagan deities or pagan practices? John Stonestreet discusses the lack of solid connections to these claims.

“Today…the church is becoming more of a consumer than a steward. This means we want the church to give us friends, marry us, provide financial help, give us counseling, get us to heaven, help us when our house is flooded, give us good music, and fix our teenagers. All of this while we sit and take it in. Exodus 35 speaks to this. To be clear, when we give our offering, we’re not giving to the Lord something He doesn’t already have a right to. We are just taking our hands off that which already belongs to Him.” —Tim Dilena

One generation after the apostle Paul wrote his stern letters to the saints at Corinth, T.M. Moore explains how we get a glimpse of how that church heeded his words in the letters from Clement.

Dr. Glenn Sunshine and John Stonestreet explain, “Thomas Jefferson is rightly called a hypocrite. In the Declaration of Independence, he wrote the famous lines: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’ And yet, Jefferson was among America’s founders who owned slaves.” Check out this insight into Jefferson.

Links & Quotes

March 28, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

If leaders want to get the best ideas and implement the best strategies, they must invite everyone on their team to share from their unique perspective. This is the only way to get the whole picture. Check out this full conversation from The Craig and Greg Show.

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

T.M. Moore writes, “We can know that we love our neighbors when, like Jesus, we go seeking them, in order to touch them with His love.”

This last week marked the 187th anniversary of the first time “O.K.” was first published as an abbreviation. The word’s origin is an interesting story, with some calling it “one of the most ubiquitous terms in the world, and certainly one of America’s greatest lingual exports.”

“Meekness and gentleness are two of the ornaments of our faith. I would that some professed Christians would understand that unholy contentiousness is not after the mind of Christ, it is not according to that gracious command, ‘Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls.’ No, the Christian must be willing to suffer wrongfully, and to bear it in patience; he is never to be one who renders evil for evil, or railing for railing.” —Charles Spurgeon, commenting on Titus 3:2

“Then, since according to the Lord’s warnings the blood of so many will be sought for at the hands of their shepherds, careful watch must be kept, that is, the Word of the Lord must be often preached, and preached by the shepherds, by the Church’s bishops and teachers, that none may perish through ignorance; for he perishes through lack of heed, his blood will be on his own head.” —Columbanus, Letter to Pope Boniface

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance.” —James Madison

“A good friend is like a four-leaf clover, hard to find and lucky to have.” —Irish proverb

“When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. You can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you cannot see them. You can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not when you are drunk. Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either.” —C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

“If you want to win the day, you’ve got to flip the script. How? The Bible is a good starting point. Scripture is more than our script; it’s our script-cure. And that’s more than a play on words. Scripture confronts the false identities and false narratives perpetrated by the Father of Lies. It reveals the heavenly Father’s metanarrative and the unique role that each one of us plays in it.” —Mark Batterson, Win The Day