sin | Craig T. Owens

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What Are You Looking At?

March 20, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

I read a fascinating article on some recent research on how eye movement can effect moral decision-making.

The researchers found that, “people asked to choose between two written moral statements tend to glance more often towards the option they favour.” And also that a decision can be influenced by asking for an answer immediately after the person looks at what you want them to choose.

The Bible has much to say about where our eyes are fixed, and how that impacts our life decisions―

I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Psalm 36:1)

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning…. (2 Peter 2:14)

Your eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye (your conscience) is sound and fulfilling its office, your whole body is full of light; but when it is not sound and is not fulfilling its office, your body is full of darkness. (Luke 11:34, Amplified)

I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman. (Job 31:1)

Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. (Proverbs 4:25, Message)

So … what are you looking at?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible, choices, decision-making, eye, morality, sin, vision. Leave a Comment »

12 Quotes From “The Cross Of Jesus”

March 18, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Warren Wiersbe’s book The Cross Of Jesus is a very easy read, but that doesn’t mean the subject matter is light. It is a sobering look at what Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross, and it’s something at which we should always take a repeated look. You can read my book review by clicking here. Below are some quotes I especially appreciated.

“The Cross was a divine assignment, not a human accident; it was a God-given obligation, not a human option.”

“The fundamental problem lost sinners face isn’t that they’re sick and need a remedy. The problem is that they’re ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ (Ephesians 2:1) and need to experience resurrection. Religion and reformation may cosmetize the corpse and make it more presentable, but religion and reformation can never give life to the corpse. Only God can do that. ‘But God, Who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ’ (Ephesians 2:4-5).”

“If our faith in Jesus Christ isolates us from those who need Him, there’s something wrong with our faith—and our love.”

“Respectable religion that rejects the blood of the Cross can’t understand the message of the Bible, and it is powerless to deal with sin and sinful human nature. ‘Comfortable religion’ that avoids bearing the Cross and following Jesus is but a religious facade that knows nothing of true discipleship.”

“The Romans and the Jews ‘by lawless hands’ (Acts 2:23) put Jesus Christ to death, and yet their very actions fulfilled the plan of God. Even the wrath of man praises God (Psalm 76:10), and when sinners are doing their worst, God is giving His best. They were ignorant of their own sin. The enormity of their sins never bothered them. They nailed the Son of God to a Cross and then went about their business celebrating Passover!”

“God still works providentially to create situations that give people opportunity to meet Christ, trust Him, and be saved. No one is ever saved by accident, for meeting Jesus Christ is a divine appointment.”

“Grace is simply the undeserved favor of God. You can’t earn it, buy it, or work for it. You can only receive grace as a gift. But that demands honesty and humility: honesty in admitting that you need to be saved, and humility in confessing that you can’t save yourself.”

“The salvation Jesus gave to this man was personal. Jesus spoke to this man personally and saved him personally. ‘Assuredly, I say to you.…’ (Luke 23:43). God loves us personally. Writing about Jesus Christ, Paul said ‘…Who loved me and gave Himself for me’ (Galatians 2:20). The Lord Jesus Christ died for us personally. God’s love is shown to us personally, and God saves us personally. God doesn’t deal with sinners as part of a crowd; He doesn’t save people en masse. God saves people individually, one by one.”

“Salvation is not a process. You don’t receive the forgiveness of sins on the installment plan. Salvation is an instantaneous spiritual experience by the power of God when you put your faith in Jesus Christ.”

“‘Christ died for our sins’ (1 Corinthians 15:3) is a statement so simple that a child can believe it and be saved, but so profound that a theologian can never fully understand it.”

“A Crossless life is a wasted life. No matter how much enjoyment we experience or accomplishment we achieve, without the Cross our lives have been fruitless and in vain.”

“The question today is not, ‘Do you thirst?’ because all mankind has a thirst for reality, a thirst for God, a thirst for forgiveness, whether they realize it or not. The real question is ‘How long will you continue to thirst?’ When you trust Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will never thirst again. If you reject Him, you will thirst forever.”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible, book review, Calvary, Cross, discipleship, eternal life, faith, God's love, Good Friday, Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, Passion Week, Passover, quotes, religion, salvation, Scripture, sin, Warren Wiersbe. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

March 16, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, had some messed up values! Check out this video where she is interviewed by Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes. If you cannot watch the whole thing, fast forward to the 19:50 mark where she answers a question about sin. She says one of the greatest sins is to bring unfit children into the world(!). Disgusting.

“I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.” ―Harriet Tubman

“We do our Lord an injustice when we suppose He wrought all His mighty acts in days of old, and showed Himself strong for those in the early time, but does not perform wonders or lay bare His arm for the saints that are now upon the earth. … Surely, beloved, the goodness of God of old has been repeated unto us.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Not one life spent in the cause of world evangelization is spent in vain. Not one prayer or one dollar or one sermon or one letter of encouragement mailed or one little light shining in some dark place—nothing in the cause of the advancing kingdom is in vain. The triumph is sure.” —John Piper

“Perfect humility dispenses with modesty. If God is satisfied with the work, the work may be satisfied with itself.” —C.S. Lewis

“Christ lived the life we could not live, and took the punishment we could not take, to offer the hope we cannot resist. Why? Jesus was angry enough to purge the temple, distraught enough to weep in public, winsome enough to attract kids, poor enough to sleep on dirt, responsible enough to care for His mother, tempted enough to know the smell of satan. Why? Why would heaven’s finest Son endure earth’s toughest pain? So you would know that He is able. . .able to to run to the cry of those who are being tempted, tested and tried.” —Max Lucado

Comedian Tim Hawkins shares what songs may be sung at an “atheist church”―

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: atheism, atheist, C.S. Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, children, church, comedy, God's Kingdom, God's strength, Harriet Tubman, humility, Jesus Christ, John Piper, Margaret Sanger, Max Lucado, Planned Parenthood, quotes, saints, satan, sin, slavery, temptation, Tim Hawkins, video. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

March 6, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“When the body is about to be led into a sinful action by some fear or craving, we are to take the sword of the Spirit and kill that fear and that craving. In my experience, that means mainly severing the root of sin’s promise by the power of a superior promise. … Having promises at hand that suit the temptation of the hour is one key to successful warfare against sin…. Be constantly adding to your arsenal of promises. But never lose sight of the chosen few that God has blessed in your life. Do both. Be ever-ready with the old. And every morning look for a new one to take with you through the day.” —John Piper

“At the heart of the Hebrew concept of marriage is the notion of covenant—a legally binding agreement with spiritual and emotional ramification (Proverbs 2:17). God serves as a witness to the marriage covenant, blessing its faithfulness but hating its betrayal (Malachi 2:14-16). The Lord’s intimate involvement renders this legal commitment a spiritual union, ‘so they are no longer two, but one’ (Matthew 19:6). The purpose of marriage as articulated in the Bible is to find true companionship (Genesis 2:18; Proverbs 18: 22), produce godly offspring (Malachi 2:15; 1 Corinthians 7:14) and fulfill God’s calling upon an individual’s life (Genesis 1:28). … Marriage binds husband and wife together into an entity greater than either partner as an individual, and it does so in order to assure continuity of the family lineage.” —Archeological Study Bible

“To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.” —Theodore Roosevelt

Eric Metaxas, in his commentary A Murderous Mother, tells how the environmentalists have gotten off track, and how Christians are really the only one who can help us.

“In our esteem, the joys of earth are little better than husks for swine compared with Jesus the Heavenly Manna. I would rather have one mouthful of Christ’s love, and a sip of His fellowship, than a whole world full of carnal delights. What is the chaff to the wheat? What is the sparkling paste to the true diamond? What is a dream to the glorious reality?” —Charles Spurgeon

I really like this post—Is There A Spiritual Side To Sex?

Abortion, Inc. documents the $500 million Planned Parenthood gets in your tax dollars to keep killing innocent children.

Charles Spurgeon On Humility

March 2, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“How careful should we be when we do anything for God, and God is pleased to accept of our doings, that we never congratulate ourselves. The minister of Christ should unrobe himself of every rag of praise. ‘You preached well,’ said a friend to John Bunyan one morning. ‘You are too late,’ said honest John, ‘the devil told me that before I left the pulpit.’ The devil often tells God’s servants a great many things which they should be sorry to hear. Why, you can hardly be useful in a Sunday School but he will say to you ‘How well you have done it!’ You can scarcely resist a temptation, or set a good example, but he will be whispering to you ‘What an excellent person you must be!’ It is, perhaps, one of the hardest struggles of the Christian life to learn this sentence—‘Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory.’ Now God is so jealous on this point that, while He will forgive His own servants a thousand things, this is an offense for which He is sure to chasten us. Let a believer once say, ‘I am,’ and God will soon make him say ‘I am not.’ Let a Christian begin to boast, ‘I can do all things,’ without adding ‘through Christ which strengtheneth me,’ and before long he will have to groan, ‘I can do nothing,’ and bemoan himself. Many sins of true Christians, I do not doubt, have been the result of their glorifying themselves. Many a man has been permitted by God to stain a noble character and to ruin an admirable reputation, because the character and the reputation had come to be the man’s own, instead of being laid, as all our crowns must be laid, at the feet of Christ.” —Charles Spurgeon

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: character, Charles Spurgeon, Christian, devil, humility, Jesus Christ, John Bunyan, quotes, reputation, sin, temptation. 2 Comments »

9 More Quotes From “The Blood Of The Cross”

February 28, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

There were way too many quotes from The Blood Of The Cross by Horatius Bonar that I wanted to share, so here is the second installment. You can read the first set of quotes by clicking here, and you can read my review of this must-read book by clicking here.

“It is not my looking to the blood in conjunction with my looking to my own act of seeing that brings this peace. It is my simple and direct looking to the blood. It is in looking that I am blessed; not in thinking about my looking. To look to the blood is to be cleansed; to look away from the blood, or too self, or to the world, or to sin, is to arrest the cleansing process and to neutralize the healing power. The more I see of the matchless value of that blood, and understand the substitution of life for life, which that blood proclaims, and to which it is ever pointing, the more will my peace be like a river.”

“The Lamb has been slain, the Lamb of God, as it is written, ‘It pleased the Lord to bruise Him’ (Isaiah 53:10). His blood has been shed, and sprinkled, and accepted; and that shed blood is for the remission of sin, and for reconciling us to God. That blood is intended to set us in the place of the innocent; to bring us nigh to God just as if we had never separated; to be our recommendation to God, so that coming with it as our plea, we may expect to be treated by God as HE is treated Whose blood we thus recognize and rest on.”

“To come with anything else than the blood as our introduction is most certainly to secure or for ourselves rejection; but to come with it alone is to ensure that blessed welcome which the blood has never yet failed to obtain for the vilest sinner that ever went to God with it as his only plea.”

“That blood is valuable enough to answer for yours, and God is willing to accept the exchange. Nay, it was He Who first proposed it; it is He Who is pressing this exchange upon your notice and entreating you to receive it, so that there maybe nothing left for you to pay.”

“It loses none of its efficacy by time or repetition. It is the same in this age as when it was shed at first. It is the same today as when first we applied to it for healing and for cleansing. Nothing can rob it of its potency. It has cleansed millions; it can cleanse millions more; it has washed out stains, in number past calculation, in dye most thoroughly crimson. Yet it is unpolluted. It has taken on no stain. It is still as able to pacify the conscience and to release the soul from guilt.”

“Realizing these things, the saint moves on his joyful course. The blood is ALL to him. It is his peace; it is his medicine; it is his daily comforter. And resting in it he rejoices in hope hope of the glory to be revealed.”

“Thou hast gone near enough to the gates of hell; yet go not in. Turn back. It is not yet too late. Even thou mayest be saved. The gate of light stands as widely open as the gate of darkness. The way of life, the narrow way, is as free to thee as is the way of death. There is still forgiveness. And the glad tidings of it are as glad as ever. No sin of thine has altered that gladness or made the tidings a forbidden joy to thee. We can tell you as truly as ever that ‘these things are written that thou mightest believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that believing thou mayest have life through His name’ (John 20:31).”

“That nonconductor is unbelief. It interposes between the soul and all heavenly blessing, all divine intercourse. It may seem a thing too slight to effect so great result; yet it does so inevitably. It shuts off the communication with the source of all glad tidings. It isolates man, and forbids the approach of blessing. That conductor is faith. In itself it is nothing, but in its connection everything. It restores in a moment the broken communication; and this, not from any virtue in itself, but simply as the conducting link between the soul and the fountain of all blessing above.”

“In Jesus there is salvation—salvation without a price—salvation for the most totally and thoroughly lost that this fallen earth contains. Go and receive it.”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible, blood, book review, Calvary, conscience, Cross, crucifixion, faith, forgiveness, God's Word, healing, Horatius Bonar, Jesus Christ, Lamb of God, peace, quotes, repentance, salvation, sin, unbelief. 1 Comment »

8 Quotes From “The Blood Of The Cross”

February 25, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

As I said in my book review of The Blood Of The Cross by Horatius Bonar (which you can read by clicking here), I have never read such a penetrating look at the beyond-all-measurement value of the blood Jesus Christ shed on the Cross. An absolutely fascinating read! There are way too many quotes from this book to share them all now, so this is the first set of quotes I’d like to share with you.

“Nothing now will keep us, but certainty. Such a storm will need a sure anchor. A man may cheat his soul into tranquility when days are prosperous and skies are blue. He may say, ‘I hope it will go well with me at last,’ and sit down contented with his meager hope. But when heaven and earth are shaken, he cannot but tremble. His peace gives way at the first ruffle of the tempest. He had no certainty to lean upon, and his false security was broken in an hour. … It is not yet too late. The Cross is still standing on the earth. The Crucified One is still upon the mercy seat. If the favor of God has hitherto been a dark uncertainty, it may yet been made sure. The way of reconciliation through the blood is as open as ever.”

“If God and we, then, are at variance, how is this variance to cease? Is it by His adopting our judgment, or by our adopting His? It cannot be the former. … What thank you, then, of the blood of Christ? Is that which is so precious in God’s eyes as precious in yours? Has the controversy between Him and you upon this point been solidly adjusted? And are you at one with Him in His estimate of the blood of His dear Son? If so, it is well. For this is faith; and it is by this faith that you are saved.”

“Most men imagine that they know its value sufficiently already, and that what they need is not a higher estimate of the blood, but a deeper impression wrought in them by the estimate which they now possess. But is it so? Is this the whole evil? Is this its root? No. Whatever they may now suppose that they have, let them know this, that it is just in their estimate of the blood that they are deficient.”

“The new estimate which God enables us to form of this at once infuses peace. If that estimate which God had given of it be true, then all that is needful for our peace has been accomplished. That infinitely precious blood sheds peace and sunshine into our souls. We see that blood as God sees it, and our consciences are unburdened—our souls are set at rest. … The blood of His Cross has finished our peace. And that finished peace is all we need to banish every fear.”

“What does God thinks of this blood? He counts it as infinitely precious—more precious than all corruptible things such as gold and silver. Its value can only be measured by the greatness of Him from Whom it flowed.”

“If a sinner of old might come into the courts of the Lord as an accepted worshipper, simply because presenting to God the blood of bulls and goats, may not a sinner now come into the real, the immediate presence of Jehovah, with still greater certainty of acceptance, simply making mention of that divine blood which has flowed from the Lamb of God—the Word made flesh—Who made His soul an offering for sin, and gave His life a ransom for the sins of many (Isaiah 53:10; Matthew 20:28)?”

“And now it is safe for the sinner to enter in, and it is honorable for God to admit him. The sanctuary is not defiled by his entrance, for the blood is there to prevent this. He does not need to be alarmed, or shrink back, for that blood which opens the way gives him also liberty and boldness in coming in, removing that terror of a guilty conscience which would keep him back, and enabling him to come ‘with a true heart, and in full assurance of faith, having his heart sprinkled from an evil conscience, and his body washed with pure water’ (Hebrews 10:22).”

“It is the sprinkling of the blood upon the soul (which takes place so soon as we take God’s Word for its efficacy) that makes it fit for being the tabernacle of the Holy One. It is the sight of this blood that makes the sinner feel safe and happy in such near contact with God; for otherwise how could he feel at home with such a Guest—the unholy with the Holy?”

** Look for another set of quotes from this book later this week. **

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: blood, book review, conscience, Cross, crucifixion, faith, forgiveness, God's Word, guilt, Heavenly Father, holiness, hope, Horatius Bonar, Jesus Christ, peace, quotes, reconciliation, sacrifice, sanctuary, sin, value, worship. Leave a Comment »

…And Then A Miracle Occurs

February 23, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Last week I shared how important it is for us to remember what we were before meeting Christ, and what we now are after meeting Him (you can click here to read that post). But we need to spend some time looking at how we went from “were” to “are.”

First, we need to recall how bad we really were without Christ. We were…

…dead (Ephesians 2:1)—this is a rotting corpse.
…separated (2:12)—we faced a gaping, unbridgeable, uncrossable chasm.

…alienated (4:18)— we were completely shut-out from fellowship with God.
…given over (4:19)—this implies an open betrayal which resulted in us running the opposite direction from God.

“The man on the street would simply shrugged his shoulders at this charge and say, ‘Sure, no one’s perfect.’ Even we Christians talk about failures and defeats, but the Bible uses other terms. It speaks of wickedness and rebellion (Leviticus 16:21). The Bible speaks of King David as despising God (2 Samuel 12:9-10). It charges another man of God with defying the word of the Lord… (1 Kings 13:21). It is evident by these descriptive synonyms for sin—rebellion, despising, defying—that God takes a far more serious view of sin than the man on the street or even most Christians.” —Jerry Bridges, in Transforming Grace (bold font added)

…and then a miracle occurs! You who once WERE far away [dead, separated, alienated, disgustingly sinful] HAVE BEEN brought near through the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13). Jesus Himself becomes our salvation … He IS the miracle! Notice the wording here—

He Himself IS our peace (v. 14a)
HE has made the two one (v. 14b)
abolishing IN His flesh (v. 15a)
create IN Himself (v. 15b)
IN this one Body…by which HE put to death their hostility (v. 16)
THROUGH Him we both have access to the Father (v. 18)

Jesus Himself IS (1) our peace, (2) our reconciliation, and (3) our atonement.

Not only must we always remember what we WERE and what we ARE, but remember the MIRACLE whereby this transformation could happen: The blood of Jesus spilled for us on the Cross!

We’ll be continuing our walk through the Book of Ephesians next Sunday, and I’d love to have you join us.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: atonement, Bible, Bible study, Calvary Assembly of God, Cross, crucifixion, Ephesians, grace, Jerry Bridges, Jesus Christ, miracles, peace, reconciliation, sermon, sin. 3 Comments »

Links & Quotes

February 11, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Parents and teachers should check out this post from Tim Elmore: Mastering The Art Of Tough Love.

A disgusting movie which glamorizes deviant sexuality opens this weekend. Do NOT be tricked into seeing Fifty Shades Of Grey! Instead check out the post Fifty Shades of Nay.

“We are sinful not because we’re victims of darkness, but because we’re lovers of darkness.” ―John Piper

More proof that so-called “global warming” or “man-made climate change” is not based in science: EPA Under Fire For Concealing Controversial Scientific Data.

If you love studying the Bible like I do, then you have got it check out The Overview Bible Project. Here is one of Jeffrey’s latest infographics…

“I do not know how philosophers may ultimately define religion; but from Micah to James it has been defined as a service to one’s fellow men rendered by following the great rule of justice and mercy, of wisdom and righteousness.” ―Theodore Roosevelt

9 Quotes From “Purple Fish”

February 4, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading Purple Fish (you can read my book review by clicking here), and now I’m looking forward to sharing with others about this eye-opening book. To start with, here are a few quotes from the author of Purple Fish, Mark O. Wilson.

“We write off people too quickly as lost causes when we thought to consider them lost treasures instead.”

“In God’s grand redemption story, we humans are created for good, broken by sin, redeemed by grace, and sent to bless and heal.”

“The love of marriage, joys of childhood, and peace of home are all snippets of Eden, pointing to our original creation.”

“Evangelism is simply how followers of Jesus interact with the world. It’s not a program or a project; it’s a life.”

“God loves us too much to waste our painful experiences. He salvages our shame and redeems our regrets. The place of great pain becomes the place of great gain. When Jesus steps in, His healing touch changes the entire outcome. Jesus mends us to send us—joining Him in the greatest adventure on earth. Salvation joy overflows. We can’t help but share this with others.”

“We are more inclined to look up when things are looking down. … Painful experiences open the soul’s windows. … Christ stands as the solid rock for those overwhelmed by uncertainties.”

“Someone who crosses boundaries without permission is trespassing. Stepping into space where hospitality is not extended is rude and intrusive. When it comes to faith sharing, there are several layers of permission giving, and you should not trespass beyond the area you have been invited to enter. Knock gently and then follow the hints from the other person concerning how deep the conversation goes.”

“If you start with lost, then your job is to set them straight. That means you know something and they don’t. In other words, you assume you’re smart and they’re stupid. But when you start with hurting, your job is to bring healing. … When we begin with healing, we follow the Jesus path and find a strong connection. Distressed people will avoid you if they perceive you are trying to change or correct them. If, on the other hand, through kind words, gentle touch, and understanding, you bring healing and grace to their painful situations, they will seek you out.”

“Does our worldview leave room for the supernatural? Is God truly present and active in our lives? Can He really guide us by the Holy Spirit? If you only listen to your rational side, the answer is no, and you won’t see much in the supernatural department. You’ll accomplish good things, of course, but won’t experience anything marvelous. Those who believe in miracles are much more likely to experience them.”