“Certain songs can only be learned in the valley. No music school can teach them, for no theory can cause them to be perfectly sung. Their music is found in the heart. They are songs remembered through personal experience, revealing their burdens through the shadows of the past, and soaring on the wings of yesterday. … Therefore, dear soul, in this life you are receiving a music lesson from your Father. You are being trained to sing in a choir you cannot yet see, and there will be parts in the chorus that only you can sing. … Others have said that He sends sorrow to test you, yet this is not the case. He sends sorrow to educate you, thereby providing you with the proper training for His heavenly choir. … O dear soul, do not despise your school of sorrow. It is bestowing upon you a unique part in the heavenly song [Revelation 14:3].” —George Matheson
God’s Heavenly Choir
June 16, 2016 — Craig T. OwensOvercoming Anxiety
June 6, 2016 — Craig T. Owens
I remember visiting Denver, Colorado. The scenery was so breathtaking, so I decided to go for an early morning hike. Quickly I discovered that my hike became breathtaking in more than one way! Even though I was in good shape, I had a hard time getting my breath because of the mile-high atmosphere.
I learned later that this is why many top athletes train in high elevation: it increases their lung capacity and endurance so that they now have an advantage when they compete against others.
God trains us on His mountains, but He made us to live and minister in the valleys. Our ascent into God’s mountaintop presence is so important for godly maturity!
In the first song of ascent, I noticed something unusual in the very first verse. Some Bibles translate the verbs in the present tense (I call on the Lord and He answers me), but some translations use the past tense (I called on the Lord and He answered me). Which is correct? Actually both of them are correct!
The verbs are written in the perfect tense—something done at a specific point in the past, but still relevant and powerful in the present. In other words, we can say it like this, “I called on the Lord in the past and He most definitely answered me. That gives me confidence to call on the Lord today, knowing that He will answer me again.”
Past answers lead to present power and future hope.
But—oh wow!!—check out how God answers us! The word literally means that God answers us in song. God so loves it when you trust Him enough to bring all your cares to Him, that He sings His answer to you. For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With His love, He will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs (Zephaniah 3:17).
If we don’t continue to recall how God has answered us in the past, we’re missing out on the blessing of hearing Him sing His answers over us again today. As a result, we begin to live in the world’s valley-level turmoil and anxiety.
Peace is longed for in verses 6 and 7. The Christian wants to live in peace, but the world loves turmoil. Want proof? Just look at what makes the headlines today! The solution is to keep going back to God again and again and again—
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Check out the full message to find the peace you are longing for!
If you don’t have a home church, please join us this Sunday as we continue our look at the psalms of ascent, or you can tune in to our live Periscope broadcast from wherever you are.
If you’ve missed any of the messages in this series, you can access the complete list by clicking here.
Psalms Of Ascent
June 1, 2016 — Craig T. Owens
Every year, Jews from around the world made four pilgrimages to Jerusalem for various feasts and sacrifices. These journeys reminded them of God’s goodness as they went to the Temple to worship, and they helped refocus on God’s ways as they returned to their regular routines.
Jerusalem is over 2500 feet above sea level, so the pilgrimage there was a physical workout as well as a spiritual workout. So these times climbing up into God’s presence were beneficial for God’s people, preparing them to minister in their cities in the following months.
The Book of Psalms contains 15 songs that these pilgrims would sing to and with each other as they traveled up to Jerusalem. These Psalms of Ascent are still instructive for Christians today.
Please join me this Sunday as we begin a look at the life-changing truths these pilgrimage songs can still teach today to all of God’s people.
Here are the psalms we looked at:
- Overcoming Anxiety (Psalm 120)
- 12 Blessings While Going Through A Valley (Psalm 121)
- 5 Blessing You Should Expect From Your Church Experience (Psalm 122)
- How Christians Can Overcome Ridicule (Psalm 123)
- How To Escape Your Fears (Psalm 124)
- 4 Blessings From Trusting God + 1 Curse For Not (Psalm 125)
- 7 Tips For A Better Night’s Sleep (Psalm 127)
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
December 8, 2014 — Craig T. Owens
We began our series on The Carols Of Christmas by looking at the poem written by Charles Wesley in 1744: Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus. As far as I can find, Wesley never shared where he got his inspiration for this prose, but I have a hunch that it might be from a song in the Bible called The Benedictus.
Zechariah had been unable to speak for nearly a year because of his doubt over the message God sent him through the angel (see Luke 1:5-20). When his son was born and Zechariah named him John, his tongue was loosed and he “was filled with the Holy Spirit” and burst into song (Luke 1:67-79). The first word of his song in Latin is benedictus, from which the name is derived.
Here’s what I love about both Zechariah’s and Wesley’s songs—they both look forward to Christ’s First Advent and His Second Advent. Mary was still pregnant with Jesus when Zechariah sang his song, but his lyrics reflect the Redemption story that Jesus would fulfill as Emmanuel, God with us. Charles Wesley picks up this same theme, rejoicing over Christ’s birth and His imminent return.
In fact, that’s exactly the point! We aren’t celebrating Christmas as much as we are celebrating Advent. Jesus was born “when the time had fully come” for His First Advent (Galatians 4:4-5), and “this same Jesus, Who has been taken from you into Heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into Heaven” (Acts 1:11). That’s the message that should encourage us (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Check out the remarkable parallels between the Benedictus and Wesley’s hymn—
If you’d like to download a PDF of this side-by-side comparison, here it is → Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus & Benedictus ←
If you’ve missed any of the messages in this series, you may check them out by clicking here.
National Anthem
July 5, 2014 — Craig T. Owens
I have seldom heard this song done better. God bless America!
Links & Quotes
July 3, 2014 — Craig T. Owens
Some great reading from today…
“The reason fraudulent religious leaders are such a sensation is because the religion they profess has taught millions of people not to steal or kill or commit adultery or lie or covet, but to love others as they love themselves. They make news because they don’t make sense. Ten thousand honest, self-sacrificing, care-giving pastors are not news, precisely because it is simply expected that they will be that way. Why? Because we take for granted that their faith produces good behavior. The justified media outrage is an indirect testimony to long patterns of uprightness that Christianity has produced.” —John Piper
The Hobby Lobby case that the Supreme Court ruled on continues to have positive outcomes for other businesses as well. “A religious person should not be forced to choose between their faith and their ability to participate in the private sector. Operating a business does not mean that someone’s religious beliefs cease to matter, and thankfully, the Supreme Court is acknowledging that truth as well.” Read more in Supreme Court rules in favor of another corporation challenging the HHS mandate just one day after the Hobby Lobby ruling.
This post—Planets In Chaos—is a fascinating piece of astronomy. But the overall conclusion is even a more amazing admission from scientists: “The discovery of thousands of star systems wildly different from our own has demolished ideas about how planets form. Astronomers are searching for a whole new theory.” Perhaps a theory they might consider is one that has a Creator at the center.
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has already spent $3 billion (yes, billion) trying to find medical benefits for embryonic stem cells. Now they are poised to ask for another $5 billion in funding. For this expenditure, how many medical processes are now in place using embryonic stem cells: None! The CEO of CIRM made this astounding claim, “We have to protect science’s access to the full range of cellular types now. And in doing that, we will protect the freedom of science to ethically pursue knowledge in this country outside of religious ideology” (emphasis mine). Meanwhile, research facilities using adult stem cells (which do not destroy life) have actual life-saving procedures in place for far less money. So I guess there’s something to be said for those religious ideologies guiding scientific research.
The Overview Bible Project has a cool [INFOGRAPHIC] on all the songs in the Bible.
Thursdays With Oswald—Get Closer To Jesus
July 3, 2014 — Craig T. Owens
This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.
Get Closer To Jesus
You can’t pump up faith out of your own heart. Whenever faith is starved in your soul it is because you are not in contact with Jesus; get in contact with Him and lack of faith will go in two seconds.
From Conformed To His Image
Oswald Chambers’ words remind me of the old song…
No!
November 20, 2012 — Craig T. Owens
Do you have a hard time saying “No”?
How about saying “No” to temptations? Perhaps this thought will help.
For the grace of God…teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. (Titus 2:11-12)
How does grace teach me to say, “No”?
The more I realize how much it cost Jesus to extend grace to me, the more I will realize what I can do to show gratitude for this amazing gift. I show my appreciation for this inestimable gift by saying “No” to ungodliness, AND saying “Yes” to godliness.
Saying “Yes” to my sinful passions is like a slap in the face of God. It’s saying that what I want to indulge in is somehow more valuable than Christ’s death on the Cross.
To live a self-controlled, upright, godly life is the bare minimum I can do to show my gratitude to my Savior! Grace is not a license to live as I want to live. Grace teaches me to say “No” to anything that would offend Jesus Christ.
George Whitefield said, “Think of the love of Jesus and let that love constrain you to keep near unto Him.” Which reminds me of a stanza of an old song—
This Little Light Of Mine
August 27, 2010 — Craig T. Owens
Did you ever sing that song as a kid?
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine
Let it shine, all the time
Why did I stop singing that as a “grown-up”? Yesterday I was reading in Matthew 5 where Jesus talked about shining. Many of the translations read, “Let your light shine.” But I really like the Contemporary English Version —
Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven.
Make it shine!
That’s really the most accurate translation. Let it shine sounds passive. Almost like, “Well, it’s shining already, so I guess I won’t put it out.” But make it shine is definitely in the active tense
… it’s right now
… it’s burning brightly and deliberately and unashamed
I grew up in a Christian home, so maybe I just assumed that my lamp was lit already and I could just let it shine. Maybe you’ve just assumed your light was shining too.
But today I want to be active in making my light shine. I’m going to do good so that others can praise God too.
Won’t you join me in making your light shine brightly today too?
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