video | Craig T. Owens

April 2026
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30

Links & Quotes

November 21, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“If then, Christian, you believe the gospel to be ‘glad tidings’ (Luke 1:19; 8:1), show that you believe it, by lighting up your face with a smile.” —Charles Bridges

“God’s yardstick for measuring faithfulness is how faithful you are with your own gifts. You are not responsible for the nature of your gift. But you are responsible for how you use it!” —Max Lucado

J. Warner Wallace shares some of his favorite sources for Christians to make their case.

How to keep your gratitude going after Thanksgiving Day.

From Live Action: “Extremists have made the 2016 election about attacking reproductive rights,” Cecile Richards says in the video. “Enough is enough.” Yes, Ms. Richards—enough IS enough:

when it comes to the slaughter of preborn babies in the womb. (327,653 reported in their 2013-2014 annual report)
when it comes to harvesting their body parts for profit.
when it comes to $528 million tax dollars annually to the abortion chain while Planned Parenthood directors receive six digit salaries.
when it comes to Planned Parenthood pushing sexual deviancy on teens.
when Planned Parenthood covers up the sexual abuse of young girls.
when Planned Parenthood names its highest award after its founder, Margaret Sanger, a known Klan speaker and supporter of racist eugenics.
of ambulances summoned to Planned Parenthood due to abortion complications.
of the silence when Planned Parenthood leaves a Black woman on the table to bleed to death after an abortion.
of Planned Parenthood’s lies.
nearly one-quarter of all Planned Parenthood’s revenue comes from abortions.

[VIDEO] I like what Barnabas Piper says about how the church should handle questions—

Links & Quotes

November 19, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“No man can murder his brother who has not first murdered God in himself.” —Oswald Chambers

“We love our neighbors when, like Jesus, we seek them out to love them (cf. Luke 19:1-10). Jesus did not wait for lost or hurting people to find their way to Him. He went looking for them. He learned the names of many of them, and used their names freely. He took the initiative in making certain contacts, some of which He repeated many times during His earthly sojourn. Jesus started conversations with people and was doubtless a good listener. And He prayed often for others, seeking their wellbeing before the Father. We can know that we love our neighbors when, like Jesus, we go seeking them, in order to touch them with His love.” —T.M. Moore

“The Word of God is our only hope. The good news of God’s promises and the warnings of His judgment are sharp enough and living enough and active enough to penetrate to the bottom of my heart and show me that the lies of sin are indeed lies. Abortion will not create a wonderful future for me. Neither will cheating, or dressing provocatively, or throwing away my sexual purity, or keeping quiet about dishonesty at work, or divorce, or vengeance. And what rescues me from this deception is the Word of God.” —John Piper

“If you spend too much time looking for your next big break, you’ll be stealing your opportunity to do your best work. Which is the the most important break of all.” —Seth Godin

“God’s definition of promotion isn’t a move up the ladder, it is a move toward your call. Don’t let someone ‘promote’ you out of your call!” —Max Lucado

“In the parable of Matthew 18:23-27 did the king overlook his servant’s sin? Did he wink at his debt and merely excuse it? No, not at all. The fact is, by forgiving him, the king placed upon this man a weighty responsibility, a responsibility even greater than the burden of his debt. Indeed, this servant now owed his master more than ever. How? He was responsible to forgive and love others, just as the king had done for him.” —David Wilkerson

If you don’t think Planned Parenthood’s business of abortion is a huge money-maker for them, why are they spending $20 million in 2016 to elect pro-abortion candidates?

For Detroit Red Wings fan, here is a nice mini-biography of Mr. Hockey: Gordie Howe.

[VIDEO] Barbabas Piper and Bobby Conway on the difference between knowing and believing—

Links & Quotes

November 18, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Scripture is about God, God is love, therefore, if you want to learn the Scriptures, look to learn love.” —T.M. Moore

“It is remarkable that the persons in positions of power who wrote most of Israel’s Wisdom Literature did not present the poor as immoral or second-class, but as neighbors in need of mercy. On the other hand, there is never an indication that the needy are necessarily more pious; after all, poverty was never presented as an ideal of Israelite society (Deuteronomy 15:4).” —Archeological Study Bible

“Where would you have been but for grace? To repeat the old saying of John Bradford, when he saw a cartful of men going off to Tyburn to be hanged, ‘There goes John Bradford but for the grace of God.’ When you see the swearer in the street, or the drunkard rolling home at night, there are you, there am I, but for the grace of God. Who am I? What should I have been if the Lord, in mercy, had not stopped me in my mad career?” —Charles Spurgeon

[VIDEO] I hadn’t thought of it this way before, but John Maxwell says there is a healthy and unhealthy way of being defensive—

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: archeology, Bible, Charles Spurgeon, God's love, grace, John Bradford, John Maxwell, poor, proverbs, quotes, T.M. Moore, video, wealthy, wisdom, YouTube. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

November 17, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“One of the greatest mercies God bestows upon us is His not permitting our inclinations and opportunities to meet. Have you not sometimes noticed that when you had the inclination to a sin there has been no opportunity, and when the opportunity has presented itself you have had no inclination towards it? satan’s principal aim with believers is to bring their appetites and his temptations together….” —Charles Spurgeon

“In a very real sense, we are what we love. … What we treasure in our heart will be what we seek in life and what we become in fact. … What we most love, therefore, tells us something about the condition of our hearts. If the best part of our spiritual and physical energies are invested in making a good living—if being materially well-off is the treasure we seek—then this will be evidence of a heart which believes it can only be satisfied by the enjoyment of things and the realization of every whim.” —T.M. Moore

“Let us make war, not with other people, but with our own unbelief. It is the root of anxiety, which, in turn, is the root of so many other sins. So let us turn our eyes fixed on the precious and very great promises of God. Take up the Bible, ask the Holy Spirit for help, lay the promises up in your heart, and fight the good fight—to live by faith in future grace.” —John Piper

“This third Person is called, in technical language, the Holy Ghost or the ‘spirit’ of God. Do not be worried or surprised if you find it (or Him) rather vaguer or more shadowy in your mind than the other two [Father and Son]. I think there is a reason why that must be so. In the Christian life you are not usually looking at Him: He is always acting through you. If you think of the Father as something ‘out there,’ in front of you, and of the Son as someone standing at your side, helping you to pray, trying to turn you into another son, then you have to think of the third Person as something inside you, or behind you. Perhaps some people might find it easier to begin with the third Person and work backwards. God is love, and that love works through men—especially through the whole community of Christians. But this spirit of love is, from all eternity, a love going on between the Father and Son.” —C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Max Lucado reminds us of the original terrorist.

Lenny Esposito shares 3 problems for atheism.

Good reminders: 5 things married couples should do every day.

[VIDEO] George Will explains campaign finance “reform” in a way I haven’t heard anyone else say it—

You Are God’s Lavish Gift To Others

November 16, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

I have noticed a couple of things about thank-full people (people who are full of thanks). In a single word the difference is ABUNDANCE.

Thank-full people have an abundance mentality—they believe there’s plenty for everyone; that God’s grace overflows and is boundless.
Thank-full people want others to find this abundant life too. As Charles Spurgeon prayed, “I would then that the quickening Spirit would come down upon me, and upon you, upon every one of us in abundance, to create men valiant for truth and mighty for the Lord.”

This abundance mentality is what Paul is referring to when he writes, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16). Both words dwell and richly convey someone who is so saturated in the abundance of God, that they cannot help wanting to share it with everyone!

So how do Christians lavish their thank-fullness and peace-fullness on others? The rest of that verse in Colossians tells us:

We teach.
We admonish with all wisdom.
We sing.

Teaching others is always rooted in love, and is for the benefit of the other person (Ephesians 4:15, 25, 29).

Wisdom is the Greek word sophia. It means heavenly insight that is extremely practical. That’s what we need when we admonish those we love. This word means to warn people if they are on a wrong path. We love them enough to speak a loving word of warning (Proverbs 27:5-6).

And we sing out of our abundant overflow. The word of Christ dwells in us so richly that it literally bursts out of us in song! Have you ever been around someone so full of God’s presence that their words almost seem to be a song?

But don’t miss out on this. The lavish gift God wants to pour out on people is YOU! Notice how many times the pronoun you is used in Colossians 3:15-17. YOU are God’s gift to your family, your friends, your co-workers, your community!

Don’t rob others of this amazing gift by becoming ungrateful.

Grateful is graceful.

Graceful is thankful.

Thankful is worshipful.

Worshipful is God-full.

“The essence of Christianity is that we give the Son of God a chance to live and move and have His being in us, and the meaning of all spiritual growth is that He has an increasing opportunity to manifest Himself in our mortal flesh.” —Oswald Chambers

What will you do to remain thank-full, and remain God’s lavish gift to others?

Part three of our 3-part series on gratitude is coming up this Sunday. If you don’t have a home church in the Cedar Springs area, I would be so thank-full to have you come join us!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: abundance, apostle Paul, Calvary Assembly of God, Charles Spurgeon, Christian, Colossians, Ephesians, gratitude, Jesus Christ, Oswald Chambers, proverbs, singing, teaching, thankfulness, video, Vimeo, warning, wisdom. 1 Comment »

Links & Quotes

November 13, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“satan is real and may have a hand in our calamities, but not the final hand, and not the decisive hand. James makes clear that God had a good purpose in all Job’s afflictions: ‘You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful’ [James 5:11]. So satan may have been involved, but the ultimate purpose was God’s, and it was ‘compassionate and merciful.’” —John Piper

“God’s will is determined by His wisdom which always perceives, and His goodness which always embraces, the intrinsically good.” —C.S. Lewis

“Let us never suppose that there is any lack of charity in speaking of hell. Let us rather maintain that it is the highest love to warn men plainly of danger, and to beseech them to ‘flee from the wrath to come.’ It was satan, the deceiver, murderer, and liar, who said to Eve in the beginning, ‘You shall not surely die.’ (Genesis 3:4.) To shrink from telling men, that except they believe they will ‘die in their sins,’ may please the devil, but surely it cannot please God.” —J.C. Ryle

“You aren’t the only person with your skill. But you are the only person with your version of your skill.” —Max Lucado

“There is nothing natural about the Christian life. It is all supernatural. It’s a life dependent upon miracles from the very beginning (including your conversion). And it simply can’t be lived without faith in the supernatural.” —David Wilkerson

It is time for science to detach itself from an atheistic worldview. Douglas Rushkoff states, “By starting with Godlessness as a foundational principle of scientific reasoning, we make ourselves unnecessarily resistant to the novelty of human consciousness, its potential continuity over time, and the possibility that it has a purpose.”

Detroit Tigers fans (like me!) will love this: an interactive map that shows where every Tiger has been born.

John Stonestreet asks, “Why is pop music so angry?” Check out his answer in Bad Blood.

[VIDEO] John Maxwell challenges us to find someone we can inspire this weekend—

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apostle James, atheism, baseball, C.S. Lewis, charity, Christian, compassion, culture, David Wilkerson, Detroit Tigers, devil, Dorothy Sayers, God's will, God's wisdom, Heaven, Hell, inspiration, J.C. Ryle, Jesus Christ, job, John Maxwell, John Piper, John Stonestreet, Max Lucado, mercy, miracles, music, quotes, salvation, satan, science, skill, supernatural, trials, uniqueness, video. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

November 12, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“I have learned now that while those who speak about one’s miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more.” —C.S. Lewis

“Jesus spilled His blood for you. You can spill your heart before God.” —Max Lucado

“Too often, when issues of sexual abuse come up, the Church simply stays silent. But a Gospel-centered response to sexual violation of anyone at any age begins with understanding that silence is not an option.” Read more in The Scandal Of Silence.

An abortion clinic in Michigan was shut down for numerous health and safety violations, but now it appears it may re-open.

[VIDEO] Here’s the truth of what abortion providers do—

Eric Metaxas shares the really cool story behind the Navy Hymn.

“You can be saved, Spirit-filled, and walking holy before God, yet still be guilty of unbelief. You may think, ‘I don’t have any unbelief.’ But do you get upset when things go wrong? Are you fearful of failing God? Are you restless, afraid of the future? The believer who has unconditional faith in God’s promise enjoys complete rest. What characterizes this rest? A full, complete confidence in God’s Word, and a total dependence on His faithfulness to that Word. Indeed, rest is the evidence of faith.” —David Wilkerson

Seth Godin discusses what starts to happen when our expectations slip.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: abortion, anxiety, C.S. Lewis, church, David Wilkerson, Eric Metaxas, expectation, faith, God's Word, history, Holy Spirit, hymn, Jesus Christ, Max Lucado, music, Planned Parenthood, quotes, Seth Godin, sexual abuse, silence, talk, trustworthy, unbelief, United States Navy, video. Leave a Comment »

Try Reverse Thinking

November 12, 2015 — 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.

Today was the absolute worst day ever

And don’t try to convince me that

There’s something good in every day

Because, when you take a closer look,

This world is a pretty evil place.

Even if

Some goodness does shine through once in a while

Satisfaction and happiness don’t last.

And it’s not true that

It’s all in the mind and heart

Because

True happiness can be obtained

Only if one’s surroundings are good

It’s not true that good exists

I’m sure you can agree that

The reality

Creates

My attitude

It’s all beyond my control

And you’ll never in a million years hear me say that

Today was a good day

(now read from the bottom to the top)

Psychologists call it metacognition when we think about what we’re thinking about. The Bible calls it capturing every thought (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Sometimes it takes reversing our thinking.

The devil has a singular agenda: He wants to steal joy from your life, he wants to kill any hope you have for the future, and he wants your end to be utter destruction.

Jesus has a singular agenda for you too: I have come that you might have abundant life.

Try reversing your thinking. Try thinking about your thinking a different way.

The devil says, “Life has no purpose.” God says, “I created you on purpose.”

The devil says, “You’re nothing special.” God says, “You’re one-of-a-kind.”

The devil says, “God remembers you blew it.” God says, “I’ve forgotten everything I’ve forgiven.”

The devil says, “This life is all there is.” God says, “You can’t even imagine what’s coming next!”

The devil says, “You’ll never find true love.” God says, “I love you so much that I died for you.”

Reverse your thinking to listen to what God says. Then you will be able to reverse today was the absolute worst day ever to today was a good day!

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

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Corinthians, 1 Peter, attitude, Bible, BibleGateway, devil, Ephesians, Gospel of John, Jesus Christ, metacognition, mind, poem, poetry, Psalm, psychology, thinking, video. 12 Comments »

Links & Quotes

November 11, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

[VIDEO] John Maxwell has a special message for veterans as he talks about heroism—

“God never says ‘no’ to us unless ‘no’ will make us ultimately happier.” —Jon Bloom

“You may remember the Old Testament story of the Israelite spies sent to scout out the Promised Land. They came back saying, ‘Yes, it’s a land flowing with milk and honey. But it’s also full of giants and walled-up cities. We’re not able to go up against these people. Compared to them, we’re mere grasshoppers’ (see Numbers 13). Now, these men didn’t accuse God. They never said, ‘God isn’t able. He isn’t strong enough.’ They dared not voice such unbelief. Instead, they focused on themselves, saying, ‘We’re not able. We’re like little bugs in our enemies’ sight.’ Yet that is not humility. And it isn’t innocent, harmless talk. Rather, it’s an affront to the One who is the Light of the world, who commands us to believe, ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me’ (Philippians 4:13).” —David Wilkerson

“The voice of God indeed daily calls to us; calls to the world to abandon sins and seek the Kingdom of God wholeheartedly.” —C.S. Lewis

J. Warner Wallace uses his skill as a cold-case detective to examine the testimony of the New Testament Gospel writers. Here is his case for why the Gospels were written fairly soon after Christ’s ascension.

Unfortunately, this is true: The First Amendment Is Dying.

[VIDEO] Was Jesus a myth?—

Links & Quotes

November 8, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Don’t dare to be different, dare to be yourself—if that doesn’t make you different then something is wrong.” —Laura Baker

“Real joy is to be found in the presence of God, with Jesus Christ, secure and loved forever and ever (Psalm 16:11). Knowing the presence of God is the unique privilege of all who have made the Kingdom turn. God never changes in His love for us, and Jesus Christ holds us fast forever, regardless of the outward circumstances of our lives. The result of experiencing this is joy.” —T.M. Moore

“We can do nothing unless by a supernatural grace of God. It is God who gives the will. It is God who gives the power.” —John Calvin

“How singularly does God, in political events, prepare men’s minds for the particular phase which His church assumes! … I cannot go into the question now, but every Christian student of history knows that the circumstances of the outward world have ever been arranged by God so as to prepare the way for the advance of His great cause.” —Charles Spurgeon

“There is no such thing as genuine knowledge of God that does not show itself in obedience to His Word and will.” —Sinclair B. Ferguson

Eric Metaxas reminds us why Darwinism cannot explain religion. Check out Saber-tooth Psychology.

New emails continue to show the tragedy that Benghazi is. Hold our leaders accountable!

Tim Elmore explains how leading and following must go hand-in-hand.

[VIDEO] John Maxwell challenges us to enrich other people’s lives—