repentance | Craig T. Owens

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The Healing Word

October 29, 2025 — 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.

If you go to the doctor because you sense that something is wrong, you want your doctor to tell you the truth. A doctor who avoids telling you the truth because it might hurt your feelings doesn’t put you on the road to recovery.

If this is true for medical doctors, isn’t it more important for soul doctors? After all, even the best doctors cannot keep your physical body alive forever, but your soul will live eternally.

If God has given you His Word to share, He says, “I will make My words fire in your mouth” (Jeremiah 5:14). Deliver that painful—but absolutely vital—diagnosis to help people recover from the ravages of their sin.

To soften the words, to water-down the medicine for the sake of people’s feeling or for the desire to be liked by people, is to become a quack, a false prophet. God says of these charlatans, “They dress the wound of My people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14, 8:11).

Then God says,

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests exercise rule at their own hands and by means of the prophets. And My people love to have it so! But what will you do when the end comes? (Jeremiah 5:31)

The healing word is often a hard word. It might even be considered by those plagued by the ravages of sin to be a harsh and painful word. But the only path to healing is the medicine found in God’s Word—the healing balm that comes from exposing my sin, repenting of my sin, and finally enjoying the healing of God’s forgiveness.

We must always speak the truthful healing word in love because eternity is at stake!

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

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: biblical truth, eternity, false prophets, forgiveness, God's Word, healing, healthcare, Jeremiah, repentance, sin. Leave a Comment »

Pointing The Finger At Me

August 5, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Psychologists call it “projection” when I see so quickly in others what’s really in myself.

If I see sin in others, my first response would be to hit my knees and ask the Holy Spirit to search me to point out the same sin in myself.

It’s only after confessing my sin and receiving God’s complete forgiveness that I am equipped with the empathy and mercy to help someone else find the same freedom I have found.

Lord, may I be more sensitive to the sin in my life than I am aware of the sin in the world.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: confession, empathy, forgiveness, Gospel of Matthew, Joshua, prayer, Psalm, psychology, repentance. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

July 12, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Some human employers may ask us to do business for them without giving us a good example or enough resources. But when Jesus told us to be about the Father’s business, He gave us an example and the full empowerment of the Holy Spirit! Check out this full sermon.

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.

“Compromise is a costly word; non-compromise, even more so.” —Bono

Shane Morris said, “But as much as AI’s potential can cause harm, blaming it alone misses the point and likely makes these problems worse. Humans are the fallen ones, and that fallenness manifests in all kinds of destructive ways. Machines, strictly speaking, don’t have morals or intentions. They can only reflect ours.” Check out his podcast AI is not the problem, we are.

“I do not believe that a nation dies save by suicide. To the very last every problem is a problem of will; and if we will we can be whole. But it involves facing our failures as well as counting our successes.” —G.K. Chesterton

I love reading and I have a long list of what I would like to read next. Scott Hubbard addresses this question: “Perhaps the question ‘What should I read or listen to?’ would come into sharper focus if we had a better sense of why we read at all. ‘Why read?’ has more than one right answer. We read to learn, to rest, to deepen friendship with fellow readers, to enjoy the craft of skilled wordsmiths. But alongside these good reasons, consider three others that put our reading into the service of greater loves.”

“I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing—that it was all started by a mouse.” —Walt Disney

“The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. … His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way.” —Nikola Tesla

This week marked the 100th anniversary of a court case that was known as “the trial of the century,” perhaps you have heard it called the Scopes Monkey Trial. It was, and has been, more sensation than substance. Check out this post that puts this trial in its proper perspective.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: artificial intelligence, Bono, books, compromise, empowerment, evolution, G.K. Chesterton, Holy Spirit, humility, John Stonestreet, Nikola Tesla, quotes, reading, repentance, scientist, Scott Hubbard, video, Walt Disney. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

June 7, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Unhappy Christians rob God of glory because unhappy Christians don’t point people to God. Grateful Christians are happy and satisfied in God. Let your smile be your testimony of an all-good 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.

Summer break is upon us! Jean Holthaus writes, “During the school year, your child’s entire day is structured. This can leave you feeling the need to schedule every minute of the summer as well … and quickly becoming overwhelmed by both the cost and logistics of trying to do so.” Check out Jean’s tips.

“Comradeship and serious joy are not interludes in our travel; but that rather our travels are interludes in comradeship and joy, which through God shall endure for ever.” —G.K. Chesterton

A neuroscientist explains how our left and right brain hear language differently, and how early childhood experiences can impact the way we hear and process language for the rest of our life.

“Does Christianity encourage morbid introspection? The alternative is much more morbid. Those who do not think about their own sins make up for it by thinking incessantly about the sins of others. It is healthier to think of one’s own. It is the reverse of morbid. It is not even, in the long run, very gloomy. A serious attempt to repent and really to know one’s own sins is in the long run a lightening and relieving process.” —C.S. Lewis

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: brain, C.S. Lewis, Christianity, confession, friendship, G.K. Chesterton, gratitude, happy, introspection, language, neuroimaging, neuroplasticity, parenting, quotes, repentance, summer, video. Leave a Comment »

God’s Loving “Stop!”

May 29, 2025 — 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.

Does it sound loving when the Bible says that God’s hand was against His people to defeat them when they went out to battle? It’s actually one of the most loving things God could do for them.

Check out the full message from which I took this clip.

Not only does Judges 2:15 say, “Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them,” but these words from Isaiah 63 are just as startling—

In all their distress [God] too was distressed, and the angel of His presence saved them. In His love and mercy He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Yet they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy and He Himself fought against them. (Isaiah 63:9-10)

But this got their attention: “Then His people recalled the days of old” (v. 11), repented of their evil ways, and turned wholeheartedly back to God.

Remember that the opposite of love is not hate, but the opposite of love is apathy. If God simply ignored their sin, He would not be loving them. It is God’s love that causes His loving hand to be against us in our sinful ways so that we will recall, repent, and return.

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

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apathy, God's hate, God's love, Isaiah, Judges, repentance, video. Leave a Comment »

Grief From God

April 28, 2025 — 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.

The insidious thing about leprosy is that it kills the body’s pain receptors. Lepers may walk on a broken ankle, utterly mangling their foot. Or they may stick their hand in the first without realizing it.

Pain is important to us—it tells us that something isn’t right and that we should seek help. Just as there is a danger if we ignore physical pain, there is a greater danger if we ignore spiritual pain. It’s a greater danger because eternal separation from God is far more deadly than mere physical death.

Moses warned the Israelites of the danger of spiritual complacency, or we could call it spiritual leprosy. Check out the warning in Deuteronomy 8:10-14, 17. It didn’t take too long for this spiritual numbness to set it (see the fulfillment of Moses’ words in Judges 2:10-15).

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

When we read in Judges 2, “The hand of the Lord was against them,” this is actually a very loving statement. Think about it: What would happen if God continued to give them success in their sinful endeavors?

We can see this a little more clearly in Isaiah 63:7-10 where we see that God’s love is both redemptive and corrective. His fighting against His people caused them to recall God’s ways and wait on Him once again (63:11; 64:4-5). Notice the last question of verse 5, “How can we be saved?”

It starts with remembering—that’s what Moses said at the beginning of this journey, and it’s also what Jesus says at the end (Revelation 2:5).

We have to meditate on God’s Word because it…

…is a mirror (James 1:22-25)
…is a bright, revealing light (Psalm 90:8 AMPC)
…surgically brings healing (Hebrews 4:12-13; Psalm 119:67, 70)
…prompts godly sorrow without condemnation (Romans 8:1-2; 2 Corinthians 7:8-9)

Only when this grief is turned to joy again can God use us to minister to others. We are able to comfort and redirect others because God has comforted and redirected us back onto His path.

David became enamored with his spiritual success and forgot God’s laws. His sin caused God to turn and fight against him. In his deep grief, David cried out to God (Psalm 51:7-13). It was only after David repented that his grief was lifted and he was able to teach others about our loving God.

Let’s not ignore our grief, but instead let’s ask God what He is trying to tell us through that grief. Remember, in our distress He is distressed and will carry us. But if our spiritual leprosy has taken us away from God, He will lovingly fight against us to get us to return to Him!

You can check out all of the other messages in this series by clicking here.

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

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 2 Corinthians, Book of James, Calvary Assembly of God, Deuteronomy, grief, Hebrews, Isaiah, joy, Judges, pain, Psalm, repentance, Romans, sermon. 1 Comment »

The Prayer Before The Prayer

January 13, 2025 — 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.

Last week I shared this thought with you from Pastor Tim Keller: “Your prayer must be firmly connected to and grounded in your reading of the Word. This wedding of Bible and prayer anchors your life down in the real God. … Without immersion in God’s words, our prayers may not be merely limited and shallow but also untethered from reality.”

“Untethered from reality” means that we determine the manner in which we come to God in prayer, the way prayer works, and the way God must respond to our prayer. But what we read in the Bible is the opposite of this (Isaiah 1:11-15).

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

I think there are two opposite and equal erroneous thoughts about how we approach prayer:

I’m not worthy to come into the presence of an all-holy God
I can waltz right into God’s presence whenever and however I please

Both are wrong and both are strategies the devil has used to keep us prayerless. Either we don’t go to God at all or our prayers are unheard because the Bible says that our arrogance has made our prayer ineffectual.

Our Prayer Book—the Bible—helps us find the balance. George Whitefield noted, “Reading the Bible is a good preparative for prayer, as prayer is an excellent means to render reading effectual.” So here’s what we read about those two errors.

I’m not worthy. God is unapproachable in His holiness, but Jesus has made it possible for us to enter in through His righteousness (1 Timothy 6:15-16; Isaiah 6:1-5; Hebrews 4:1, 14, 16; John 16:23-24).
I can come anyway I want to. Passages like Psalm 15:1-5 and Isaiah 58:2-4 make it clear that we cannot simply approach God in a way of our choosing.

Let’s unpack that second error a little more. We have to be clothed in righteousness in order to come into God’s presence, but we cannot be clothed in a righteousness that is apart from Jesus. When we say that we are praying in the name of Jesus, it means we are praying in the nature of Jesus and through the righteousness of Jesus. We must be wearing His righteous robe (Romans 3:22-24; Isaiah 61:10).

So I think we need to pray before we pray. Let’s try these actions which are tethered to the reality of our Prayer Book.

Worship. This is a deep pondering of who God is; it is humbly assigning Him the highest worth. In face, the Old English spelling of this word (“worthship”) gives us insight into what worship does. It is this kind of humility that God responds to (Isaiah 6:5-7; 57:15; Luke 18:9-14).

Confession. As we are worshiping, we will see our inadequacies (much like Isaiah did in Isaiah 6, or the tax collector did in Luke 18). We then need to confession these shortcomings. Dick Brogden wrote, “Confessed sin opens the portals of heaven into our darkness, and light and glory overwhelm shame. Confession is our glory for it lifts our heads and eradicates shame.” We see this so vividly lived out in the prayers of David (Psalm 139:23-24; 51:1-2; 19:12-14).

Repentance. I think we could also call this Repair. After confession where we have fallen short, we resolve now to both take a different path and repair what was damaged (Matthew 5:23-24; Mark 11:25-26; 1 Peter 3:7).

Petition. After worship, confession, and repentance / repair, our heart’s attitude is now in the place for God to heed our cries for His help (1 Peter 3:12).

Let’s learn to pray before we pray. Don’t just rush in and rush out of God’s presence. Take time to worship, confession any sins the Holy Spirit reveals, make things right, and then present your petitions.

Our hearts need to be prepared to present our petitions. This is how we know that God will hear our voice.

If you’ve missed any of the messages in our prayer series, you can find them all here.

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

Links & Quotes

August 17, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

It’s easy to get along with those we like. But God calls on Christians to do the hard—but rewarding—work of getting along with everyone! Check out this full sermon about the strength in Christian unity.

I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“Dad always said you could fall off the same ladder you climbed up.” —Hank Aaron

Paleontologists have noted that what Creationists would call pre-Flood mammals lived longer than similar mammals today. “This research should be of interest to Bible-believing Christians because, as chronicled in Genesis 5, humans in the pre-Flood world were experiencing much greater lifespans. Moreover, the advanced ages of the Genesis 5 patriarchs at the births of their sons strongly suggest delayed sexual maturation and possible delayed skeletal maturation, too. The Bible gives no hint that this amazing longevity was in any way supernatural.”

“If we leave our failure, we don’t learn from our failure. If we learn from our failure, we seldom have to leave because of our failure.” —John Maxwell

Dr. Steve Nichols hosts a great podcast called 5 Minutes In Church History. In the episode this week, he talked about the church politics Jonathan Edwards had to confront when he first arrived in Stockbridge. It came to a head in a letter Edwards received: “All it did was go into, again, politics, accusing Edwards of mis-running the school, which wasn’t true, and deflecting the blame and the focus away from the Williams family. And now Edwards needs to vindicate himself. Well, all that to say, we think of these church history figures, and we see their portraits, we sometimes forget that they’re actually people, and they had to deal with challenges too.” These types of faultfinding accusations are what I address in my book When Sheep Bite.

If God would say this (Ezekiel 5:7-9) about His chosen people Israel, how much more so should other nations take notice, repent of their egregious sins, and plead with God for mercy!

Selfish Pragmatism

August 9, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Why has this people, Jerusalem, turned away in continual apostasy? They hold on to deceit, they refuse to return. I have listened and heard, they have spoken what is not right; no one repented of his wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Everyone turned to his own course, like a horse charging into the battle. (Jeremiah 8:5-6)

“Everyone turned to his own course” is the description of our culture today.

It’s selfish pragmatism—I can determine what’s right for me. This “continual apostasy” will be our undoing as individuals and as a nation unless we repent and turn wholeheartedly back to God and His righteous ways!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apostasy, culture, Jeremiah, pragmatism, repentance, revival. 1 Comment »

How To See A National Revival

July 8, 2024 — 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.

After making it up to the 11th step—so close to the top now—how could the psalmist be saying, “Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD”? (Psalm 130:1)

I think that the more we ascend in God, the more sensitive we should be to any semblance of sin in our lives that would offend Him. The mark of a maturing Christian is one who is constantly closing the gap between sin and confession.

(You can check out all of the biblical references in this post by clicking here.)

I like the bridge in the song I Keep Falling In Love With Him—

When I first fell in love with Jesus,
I gave Him all my heart
And I thought I couldn’t love him more
than I did right at the start.
But now I look back over the mountains,
and the valleys where I’ve been
And It makes me know I love Him so much
more than I did then

Out of the depths—Think how far we’ve come on this climb. In the first Song of Ascent, we were experiencing the woes of being in the valley (Psalm 120:5-7). But now in this song, the feelings of being in the depths are not from someone else’s sinful activity.

The psalmist is pointing out that national sin is the culmination of unrepented individual sins. God addressed this in Leviticus 20:22—Keep all My decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.

Even in these depths, the psalmist is confident that God will hear—let Your ears be attentive (v. 2). Nehemiah was confident too. Look how he joins his personal sin to the national sin after Israel had be vomited out of the land (Nehemiah 1:1-7).

Our confidence comes from the rock-solid assurance that God completely forgives our sins and then forgets all that He forgives (vv. 2-3; Psalm 103:10-12).

The middle verses (vv. 5-6) have the key words wait, watch, and hope. This middle part comes down to: (1) What I’m going to pay attention to, and (2) What God pays attention to.

God is attentive to our cries for mercy, and He is watchful for our care, not for our punishment!

We are called to wait and watch in hope because God has proven that He is all in for us. Look at this completeness: