Thursdays With Spurgeon—Active Love

August 26, 2021 — Craig T. Owens

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Charles Spurgeon. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Spurgeon” in the search box to read more entries.

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

Active Love

     True love next shows itself in obedience. … ‘Tis love that makes our willing feet in swift obedience move.’ We can do anything for those we love, and if we love Jesus, no burden will be heavy, no difficulty will be great. We should rather wish to do more than He asks of us and only desire that He was a little more exacting that we might have a better opportunity of showing forth our affection. …

     The apostle says, ‘Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth’ (1 John 3:18). Actions speak louder than words, and we will always be anxious to tell our love in deeds as well as by our lips. The true disciple asks continually, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do?’ (Acts 9:6). He esteems it his highest honor to serve the Lord. …  

     I believe in an active love that has hands to labor and feet to run as well as a heart to feel, eyes to glance, and ears to listen.

From The Church’s Love To Her Loving Lord

Those who love Jesus obey Him (John 14:15). 

Those who love Jesus serve others out of that love (Matthew 25:31-40). 

Those who love Jesus put action to their faith in Him (James 2:14-18). 

Those who love Jesus continually ask Him, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” 

Love for Jesus isn’t just something we feel, it’s who we are and it’s how we act and speak and serve every single day.

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The Hiding Place (book review)

March 9, 2021 — Craig T. Owens

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

In The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis writes, “Suffering is not good in itself. What is good in any painful experience is, for the sufferer, her submission to the will of God, and, for the spectators, the compassion aroused and the acts of mercy to which it leads.” This sentiment was never more fully displayed than in the lives of the ten Boom family. Corrie ten Boom relates her story in The Hiding Place. 

The ten Boom family had lived in Holland for a couple of generations at the time the Germans occupied their country during World War II. Immediately, their family home and watch repair shop became a hub for underground resistance activity. But the start of this war was not the start of their compassionate activity in their city. The ten Booms lived out their Christian faith in tangible, compassionate ways every single day, and their neighbors reaped the benefits. 

The entire ten Boom family was actively involved in the efforts to protect at-risk people during the Nazi oppression of their country, including the elderly and sick, their Jewish neighbors, the mentally disabled, and the young men that were being pressed into duties to support the German war effort. As The Hiding Place progresses, the story begins to zoom-in on two sisters: Betsie and Corrie, especially their activities inside the German prisons and concentration camps in which they were imprisoned. 

The miracles that God performed for these women are too many to recount here, but it seems like hardly a page in the story passes before another miracle is seen. These Christian women took full advantage of each miracle and used them to continue to bring light and love into one of the most dark and hateful times in human history. Even after the war has ended and Corrie has returned to her Holland home, the ministry of healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation continued unabated through her tirelessly loving activities. 

The Hiding Place is truly a heroic tale! I highly recommend parents and grandparents reading it aloud to their children and grandchildren. May all Christians follow the example of the ten Boom family in finding ways to daily share the love of Jesus to their neighbors-in-need. 

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Poetry Saturday—Must I My Brother Keep?

February 20, 2021 — Craig T. Owens

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

Must I my brother keep,
And share his pain and toil;
And weep for those who weep,
And smile with those who smile;
And act to each a brother’s part,
And feel his sorrows in my heart?


Must I his burden bear,


As though it were my own,


And do as I would care,


Should to myself be done;


And faithful to his interests prove,


And as myself my neighbor love?




Then Jesus at Thy feet


A student let me be,


And learn as it is meet,


My duty, Lord, of Thee;


For Thou didst come on mercy’s plan,


And all Thy life was love to man.




Oh! make me as Thou art;


Thy Spirit, Lord, bestow—


The kind and gentle heart


That feels another’s woe.


May I be thus like Christ my Head,


And in my Savior’s footsteps tread! —Thomas Raffles




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Poetry Saturday—The Lovetobutcants

January 23, 2021 — Craig T. Owens 




Listen to this post as a podcast by clicking here:



I have a disease called


The “lovetobutcants”—


I think it’s time I told it.


I’d love to help with that garbage can


But my fingers just can’t hold it.


Hand me a bag of groceries and


My wrists just turned to jelly.


Cuttin’ grass and hedges


Gives me flutters of the belly.


The smell of paint will make me faint,


Sweat makes my eyes start itchin’.


Dishwater on my little hands


Will start ‘em shaky-twitchin’.


Pickin’ clothes up off the floor


Would paralyze my shoulder.


I must not try to close the door,


At least not till I’m older.


So though I’d love to join the work—


Till this disease is done,


I’ll have to lie here in the shade


While you have all the fun. —Shel Silverstein








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Authority To Serve

December 9, 2020 — Craig T. Owens 




And David knew the Lord has established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been highly exalted for the sake of His people Israel. (1 Chronicles 14:2) 


“David knew” reminds me of “Jesus knew” in John 13:3.


Both knew God had placed them exactly where they were supposed to be. 


Both knew the authority God had given them. 


Both knew the power that was theirs to use.


Both knew they could do self-glorifying, self-promoting things with their power. Yet both used their authority and power to serve others: “for the sake of His people.”


Jesus gave His authority to us (Matthew 28:18). 


Do I know that? 


I mean, really know that? 


If so, am I using His authority to serve others?


A mark of a godly leader is one who uses his God-given authority to serve others. 


This is part 53 in my series on godly leadership. You can check out all of my posts in this series by clicking here.






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Poetry Saturday—I Can Do Something

December 5, 2020 — Craig T. Owens 








I may not do much with all my care,


But I surely may bless a few;


The loving Jesus will give to me


Some work of love to do;


I may wipe the tears from some weeping eyes,


I may bring the smile again


To a face that is weary and worn with care,


To a heart that is full of pain.




I may speak His name to the sorrowful,


As I journey by their side;


To the sinful and despairing ones


I may preach of the Crucified.


I may drop some little gentle word


In the midst of some scene of strife;


I may comfort the sick and the dying


With a thought of eternal life. —Marianne Farningham








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True Prosperity

November 18, 2020 — Craig T. Owens 




…and so he prospered (2 Chronicles 31:20-21). 


When I look up “prosper” in the dictionary, the first entry says, “to be successful or fortunate, especially in financial respects.” This isn’t even close to the Old Testament Hebrew word for prosper! 


God makes prosper a dependence on Him. Mammon makes prosper a dependence on self. 


The Hebrew word tsalach means: 


    

  • to overcome obstacles (like crossing a river) 
    • 

  • to be empowered by the Spirit of God to overcome an enemy (like Samson did) 
    • 

  • to flourish like a plant growing to full harvest 
    • 

  • to have favor with man so that good can be done for others (Nehemiah 1:11) 
    • 

  • to finish well (2 Chronicles 7:11) 
    • 

  • to be poured out; to be a conduit of God’s blessings to others 
    • 



Prosperity God’s way is being blessed to be a blessing to others.


Prosperity is never for me, only from God through me. 


Prosperity from God helps me overcome obstacles for others, defeat enemies for others, bring in a good harvest for others, have earthly favor that will benefit others, finish well for the sake of others. 


I’ll say it again: True prosperity ISN’T for me, it’s only from God through me! 


Hezekiah showed how God’s prosperity came through him to benefit others: 


    

  • he did “what was good and right and faithful before the Lord” 
    • 

  • he lived “in obedience to the law and the commands” 
    • 

  • “he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly” 
    • 



In light of this definition, I have no problem praying, “God, make me prosperous. As I seek You and work wholeheartedly, flow through me to bless others!”






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Think On This…

September 11, 2020 — Craig T. Owens 




Here’s the seed thought for this episode of Think On This…


My t-shirt from To Write Love On Her Arms that says, “You make today better.”




Think on this: Am I being intentional about making other people’s today better? Am I expressing my gratitude to those who are making my today better?








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Poetry Saturday—A Lost Opportunity

September 5, 2020 — Craig T. Owens 




It came and went so quickly,


   My sluggish soul saw not


The Master stand and beckoning


   Toward one of humble lot.




And I rose not up to follow,


   So slow was I to see,


Till the help I might have given


   Forever fled from me.




And often I am grieving,


   And longing all in vain,


For a blessed opportunity


   That will not come again.




Dear Lord, give Thine anointing,


   And make mine eyes to see;


And make me swift in doing


   The work Thou givest to me. —L. Adda Nichols








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Poetry Saturday—Out Of Touch With Your Lord

January 4, 2020 — Craig T. Owens 




Only a smile, yes, only a smile,


That a woman o’er burdened with grief


Expected from you; ‘twould have given relief


For her heart ache sore the while;


But weary and cheerless she went away,


Because as it happened, that very day


You were “out of touch“ with your Lord.




Only a word, yes, only a word,


That the Spirit’s small voice whispered, “Speak”;


But the worker passed onward, unblessed and weak,


Whom you were meant to have stirred


To courage, devotion and love anew,


Because when the message came to you,


You were “out of touch“ with your Lord.




Only a note, yes, only a note,


From a friend in a distant land;


The Spirit said, “Write,” but then you had planned


Some different work, and you thought


It mattered little, you did not know


‘Twould have saved a soul from sin and woe;


You were “out of touch“ with your Lord.




Only a song, yes, only a song,


That the Spirit said, “Sing tonight—


Thy voice is thy Master’s by purchased right“;


But you thought, “Mid this motley throng


I care not to sing of the City of Gold,”


And the heart that your words might have reached grew cold;


You were “out of touch“ with your Lord.




Only a day, yes, only a day!


But, oh, can you guess, my friend,


Where the influence reaches, and where it will end


Of the hours that you frittered away?


The Master’s command is, “Abide in Me,”


And fruitless and vain will your service be,


If “out of touch“ with your Lord. —Jean H. Watson








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