temptation | Craig T. Owens

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Links & Quotes

May 18, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Some temptations come to the industrious, but all temptations attack the idle. … Idle Christians are not so much tempted of the devil as they are tempting the devil to tempt them. Idleness sets the door of the heart ajar, and asks satan to come in; but if we are occupied from morning till night, if satan shall get in, he must break through the door. Under sovereign grace, and next to faith, there is no better shield against temptation than being ‘Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.’” —Charles Spurgeon

“satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.” —Isaac Watts

“Our God and Father may, for wise ends, which shall ultimately subserve His own glory and our profit, lead us into positions where satan, the world and the flesh may tempt us; and the prayer [Matthew 6:13] to be understood in that sense of a humble self-distrust which shrinks from the conflict. There is courage here, for the suppliant calmly looks the temptation in the face, and dreads only the evil which it may work in him, but there is also a holy fear, a sacred self-suspicion, a dread of contact with sin in any degree. The sentiment is not inconsistent with ‘all joy’ when the divers temptations do come; it is akin to the Savior’s ‘If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me,’ which did not for a moment prevent His drinking the cup even to its dregs.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Meekness loves to learn. And it counts the blows of a friend as precious. And when it must say a critical word to a person caught in sin or error, it speaks from the deep conviction of its own fallibility and its own susceptibility to sin and its utter dependence on the grace of God. The quietness and openness and vulnerability of meekness is a very beautiful and a very painful thing. It goes against all that we are by our sinful nature. It requires supernatural help.” —John Piper

Dads, this is an important article for you to read if you have a daughter.

Did you know that 41,000 people commit suicide each year? Here is a helpful piece on how you can help bring hope to the hopeless.

Seth Godin says, “If your employees can’t answer how something they do helps the customer or the company, you’ve insulated your people from their jobs.” Check out his post Why Do You Do It This Way?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: busyness, Charles Spurgeon, Christian, counseling, Dad, daughter, devil, father, fear of God, grace, hope, humility, Isaac Watts, Jesus Christ, John Piper, lifelong learner, Lord's Prayer, meekness, parenting, quotes, relationships, satan, Seth Godin, spiritual warfare, suicide, temptation. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

May 6, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Building the Church is the Lord Jesus’ primary agenda before He returns. However, for many of the followers of Christ, working to build the Church is just another thing on their ‘to-do list’ which they may or may not get to during the course of any given week. We can become so distracted by work, family, diversions, and avocations that we have precious little time or strength left for the work Jesus is most interested in pursuing. So, as long as the devil can distract us from the work of building Christ’s Church, he doesn’t need to employ more spectacular or drastic measures.” —T.M. Moore

“‘Why has sex become man’s chief stumbling block?’ But has it? Or is it only the most recognizable of the stumbling blocks? I mean, we can mistake pride for a good conscience, and cruelty for zeal, and idleness for the peace of God et cetera. But when lust is upon us, then, owing to the obvious physical symptoms, we can’t pretend it is anything else. Is it perhaps only the least disguisable of our dangers.” —C.S. Lewis

“The mystery of sanctification is that the perfections of Jesus Christ are imparted to us, not gradually, but instantly, when by faith we enter into the realization that Christ is made unto us sanctification. … It is not power to live like Jesus; it is Christ living in us, and it is His life that is seen.” —Oswald Chambers

“Even while we kill and punish we must try to feel about the enemy as we feel about ourselves—to wish that he were not bad, to hope that he may, in this world or another, be cured: in fact, to wish his good. That is what is meant in the Bible by loving him: wishing his good, not feeling fond of him nor saying he is nice when he is not.” —C.S. Lewis

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible, C.S. Lewis, church, conscience, enemies, forgiveness, Jesus Christ, lust, Oswald Chambers, perfection, pride, quotes, sanctification, sexual sin, T.M. Moore, temptation, vocation, work. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

March 19, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Fellas, you need to check this out: 5 More Things Men Should Do To Protect Their Marriage.

This is an amazing admission from a medical doctor who is also an abortion provider: “If a woman with a serious illness―heart disease, say, or diabetes―gets pregnant, the abortion procedure may be as dangerous for her as going through pregnancy … with diseases like lupus, multiple sclerosis, even breast cancer, the chance that pregnancy will make the disease worse is no greater than the chance that the disease will either stay the same or improve. And medical technology has advanced to a point where even women with diabetes and kidney disease can be seen through a pregnancy safely by a doctor who knows what he’s doing. We’ve come a long way since my mother’s time…. The idea of abortion to save the mothers’ life is something that people cling to because it sounds noble and pure―but medically speaking, it probably doesn’t exist. It’s a real stretch of our thinking.” ―Dr. Don Sloan, M.D.

“The Word says, ‘Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world’ (1 John 2:15). Jesus warned, ‘Beware of covetousness: for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses’ (Luke 12:15). Things—our possessions—can tie us down to this world. While heaven and hell prepare for war, we go shopping. Eternal values are at stake! The end of all we know is near—and we are busy playing with our toys!” —David Wilkerson

“The blood of Christ doesn’t cover your sins, conceal your sins, postpone or diminish your sins. It takes away your sins, once and for all! So…since you are saved, you can serve!” Read more from Max Lucado in Saved To Serve.

Dr. Tim Elmore writes about 2 essential ingredients to form a young leader. You should read the whole post, but the two ingredients are quite surprising: problems and empowerment.

[VIDEO] An excellent explanation on what sources are used to determine the text of the Bible―

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.

Links & Quotes

March 2, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“There is a burden of care in getting riches; fear in keeping them; temptation in using them; guilt in abusing them; sorrow in losing them; and a burden of account at last to be given concerning them.” —Matthew Henry

“Don’t imagine I doubt for a moment that what God sends us must be sent in love and will all be for the best if we have grace to use it so. My mind doesn’t waver on this point; my feelings sometimes do. That’s why it does me good to hear what I believe repeated in your voice….” ―C.S. Lewis

“Our comfort comes not from the powerlessness of our enemies, but from our Father’s sovereign rule over their power.” —John Piper

Have you seen all the videos of one of Obamacare’s architects, Jonathan Gruber? Here is the story behind the man, Rich Weinstein, who unearthed all of these clips and exposed the outright lies and hypocrisy. And this video compilation is just a sampling of the lies—

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 »

Links & Quotes

February 26, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis has one demon giving advice to his young protege demon. This is profound wisdom: “You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” —C.S. Lewis

Two surveys seem to be related: First, “Fifty-four percent of U.S. teens 15-to-17-years-old do not live in a home with their married mother and father.” Read more in this post. (2) Lee Strobel reports on some findings from a Barna Group survey he commissioned: “Two findings emerged in a new national poll that I commissioned on fatherhood and faith: the younger the generation, the more people report having difficult relationships with their fathers. At the same time, the younger generation reports the highest percentage of people who are struggling with belief in God.” You can read Lee’s thoughts on this in Fathers & Faith.

Frank Viola shared this great story—In light of their doctrinal disagreements, someone once asked George Whitefield if he thought he’d see John Wesley in heaven. Whitefield replied, “I fear not, for he will be so near the eternal throne and we at such a distance, we shall hardly get sight of him.”

“Grace is simply another word for God’s tumbling, rumbling reservoir of strength and protection. Grace comes to us not occasionally or miserly but constantly and aggressively, wave upon wave. We’ve barely regained our balance from one breaker, and then, bam, here comes another.” Read more in Max Lucado’s post Grace—A Never Ending Supply.

Astronomers are perplexed by the size of a black hole. Apparently it is challenging their views on the origins of the universe. Perhaps there is a better explanation….

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: abortion, astronomy, Barna Group, Bible, C.S. Lewis, Creation, Creator, evolution, faith, father, Frank Viola, George Whitefield, grace, John Wesley, kids, Lee Strobel, marriage, Max Lucado, pro-life, quotes, science, survey, temptation, The Screwtape Letters, video. Leave a Comment »

13 More Quotes From “Notes On Ezekiel”

January 29, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Here are some more quotes from Oswald Chambers’ book Notes On Ezekiel. My book review is here, and my first set of quotes from this book is here.

“We are too shallow to be afraid of God. … It requires a miracle of grace before we believe this, consequently we are foolishly fearless, but when the grace of God lifts us into the life of God we fear nothing and no one saving God alone. … Confusion arises when we do not see God as Almighty.”

“God will put us in circumstances where we have to take steps of which we do not see the meaning, only on looking back do we discern that it was God’s will for us.”

“We are always on the wrong line when we come to God with a pre-occupied mind because a pre-occupied mind springs from a disloyal heart: ‘I don’t want to do God’s will, what I want is for God to give me permission to do what I want to do.’”

“What God burns is not weakness, not imperfection, but perverted goodness.”

“Every part of our human nature which is not brought into subjection to the Holy Spirit after experiencing deliverance from sin will prove a corrupting influence.”

“We all have the sneaking idea that we are the favorites of God—‘It’s alright for me to do this, God will understand.’ If I as a child of God commit sin, I will be as sternly dealt with as if I were not His child.”

“Don’t tie God up in your own conceptions, or say too surely you know what God will do. … The sovereign purposes of God work out slowly and inexorably, but ever be careful to note where God’s sovereignty is at work among men in matters of history and Time, and where it is at work in matters of eternal destiny. Beware of allowing your memory of how God has worked to take the place of present vital moral relationship to Him.”

“When I have been using ‘the sword of the Spirit’ in a spirit of indignation against another, it is a terrible experience to find the sword suddenly wrested out of my hand and laid about me personally by God. Let your personal experience of the work of God’s Spirit instruct you at the foot of Calvary; let the light of God riddle you through, then you will never use the Word of God to another, never turn the light of God on him, without fear and trembling.”

“Liberty is the ability to obey the law of God, with the power to live according to its demands; license is the unrestrained impulse to traffic against the law of God. … The seal of immorality is that I do what I like; the seal of freedom is that I do what God likes.”

“If the Holy Spirit is obeyed the stubbornness is blown out, the dynamite of the Holy Ghost blows it out.”

“Pride in its most estimable as well as its most debased form is self-deification; it is not a yielding to temptation from without, but a distinct alteration of relationships within.”

“I may suffer because of the sins of my progenitors—I am never punished for them.”

“In dealing with Bible experiences we must ever make allowance for the miraculous, which never contradicts reason, but very often does contradict common sense. The miraculous transcends reason and lifts it into another world than the logical one, consequently spiritual experience is something I have lived through, not thought through.”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible study, book review, confusion, Ezekiel, fear, God's plan, God's Sovereignty, God's will, grace, Holy Spirit, liberty, memory, mind, Oswald Chambers, quotes, relationship, temptation, thought life. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

November 25, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some good reading and watching from today…

“I set you down as nearer akin to a devil than to a saint, if you can go your way and look into the face of your friend or child, and know him to be on the downward road, and yet never pray for him nor use any means for his conversion.” —Charles Spurgeon

Truth: 5 reasons why church is good for your marriage.

“Surely you know that if a man can’t be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighborhood looking for the church that ‘suits’ him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches.” —C.S. Lewis, in The Screwtape Letters

When doctors given expectant parents about a health issue for their baby, that information may be misleading.

…but there is no mistaking this abortionist’s vile confession: “we let babies born alive ‘expire.’”

“A person morally incapable of doing evil would be, by the same token, morally incapable of doing good. A free human will is necessary to the concept of morality.” —A.W. Tozer

Yet again climatologists’ “models” of so-called global warming are destroyed.

I love Pastor Chilly’s list: 66 Expressions Of Love.

[VIDEO] John Piper on what it means to be Gospel-centered…