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

The Joy Of Trials

September 14, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

A quick show of hands: How many of you would consider your difficult situations a blessing from God?

Probably not a lot of hands went up, but it’s true.

Peter lists six blessings of God for which we can bless Him (see 1 Peter 1:3-3-9):

God’s great mercy
New birth
Living hope
An inheritance that can never perish
God’s shielding power
Trials

Trials?! Yep!

Peter is quick to tell us that trials only last for a little while, but they are sent our way to prove that our faith is genuine. He says that trials result in praise, glory and honor from God to us, and that successfully going through our trials lead to “an inexpressible and glorious joy.”

In trials you probably don’t feel like praising God, but our God-breathed soul is made up of more than just emotions. We also have been given a mind and a will. So here’s what I would suggest—in your trials, use your mind to reflect on the blessings of God. Then use your will to open your mouth. When you you do this, you will experience the emotion of an inexpressible and glorious joy.

In other words: you are more likely to act yourself into feeling than you are you feel yourself into action!

Look at how David did this in Psalm 34. In a huge trial…

…he used his mind and will: I will extol the Lord at all times.
…then his emotions kicked in: My soul will boast in the Lord.
…his worship helped others: let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
…and this pointed everyone to God: Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together.

Seeing your trials as a way to bless God not only benefits you, but it draws others to God’s sustaining power as well.

If you’ve missed any messages in this series, you may find the complete list by clicking here.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Peter, Calvary Assembly of God, difficulties, emotions, God's glory, mercy, mind, praise, Psalm, sermon, trials, video, Vimeo, will, worship. 1 Comment »

Links & Quotes

September 12, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Jackie Hill Perry on how the church can reach those who are LGBT—

Was the Constitution written in a way that was designed to protect freedom and limit the government’s size? Here is how Robert George answers that—

Voddie Baucham talks about how to fight pornography—

Re. Trent Franks makes a passionate appeal for Planned Parenthood to be defunded—

Bobby Conway talks with J. Warner Wallace, a cold case detective, about how he uses his investigative skills to examine the existence of God—

A Letter To Exiles

September 9, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

We are two weeks into our series called Aliens and Strangers, in which we are looking at the book of 1 Peter on how Christians are to live as citizens of Heaven. I have greatly appreciated John Piper’s teaching called “Look At The Book,” where the Scripture is front-and-center.

Pastor Piper has just begun a series on 1 Peter as well. Here is his introduction to this book—

If you are in the Cedar Springs area and don’t have a home church, I would love for you to visit us this Sunday morning. If you cannot make it in person, please tune-in via Periscope (search for @craigtowens) at 10:30am.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Peter, Bible study, Calvary Assembly of God, Christian, Heaven, John Piper, video, Vimeo. Leave a Comment »

Diary Of A Jackwagon (book review)

September 8, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

I’m a huge Tim Hawkins fan! He proves time and time again that you don’t have to be crass to be funny, but that intelligent insights are perhaps a bigger laugh than the base stuff. So I was really looking forward to reading Diary Of A Jackwagon.

This book, Tim explains, is like his personal journal of observations. So you get a little insight into his craft. Indeed it was fascinating to read some of the seed thoughts that became a bit in his public comedic routine.

When J.C. Ryle was writing a biography on George Whitefield, he noted that there was a huge difference between hearing a sermon and reading a sermon. I felt the same about this book. Tim Hawkins uses his voice inflections, facial expressions, singing and musical abilities, and body contortions to create a full comedic experience for the viewer. Unfortunately, this doesn’t translate over very well to the reader. So if you already know who Tim Hawkins is, please read this book and enjoy. However, if you’ve not had the pleasure of seeing Tim’s comedy routine, please pull up some YouTube videos before reading this book. Trust me: it will be much more enjoyable this way.

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: book review, comedy, George Whitefield, J.C. Ryle, Tim Hawkins, video, YouTube. 1 Comment »

Reconnecting the Disconnection

September 7, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

There is a disconnection problem in the United States of America. Consider this:

John Adams, one of our nation’s founding fathers said, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity.”
Every president from George Washington to Barak Obama has invoked the name of God in his inaugural address.
96% of Americans say they believe in God.
80% of Americans call themselves Christians.

And yet:

Our grade schools make no mention of “God”, some even to the point of not reciting the pledge of allegiance.
Higher education is openly antagonistic toward God and Christians.
The entertainment industry normalizes lifestyles that are openly unbiblical.
Even our US government has done things like legalizing murder in the form of abortion, and sanctioning homosexuality by calling their unions “marriage.”

The Bible calls Christians “aliens and strangers in the world.” Perhaps the term “aliens” is not so much for what we say we believe, but how we live what we believe.

So Peter opens his letter to “strangers in the world” by telling Christians how to live in a way that can reconnect this disconnection.

Humble—because we sinners have been chosen (v. 2a) to become citizens of Heaven.
Confident—because of the foreknowledge of God the Father (v. 2b) that can never be thwarted.
Teachable—because the process of the sanctifying work of the Spirit and obedience to Jesus Christ (v. 2c) requires us to be humbly-confident, teachable servants.
Graceful and peaceful (v. 2d)—because what we believe about God’s invitation to come to Him, Christ’s payment that makes that possible, and the Holy Spirit’s sanctification should be lived out in graceful and peaceful lives.

Would your Earthling family members say you are graceful and peaceful?

Would your Earthling coworkers say you promote grace and peace on the job?

Would your Earthling neighbors say you make the neighborhood graceful and peaceful?

Would the Earthling business owners you frequent say your gracefulness and peacefulness is more evident than in the citizens of Earth?

Search me, God, and know my heart test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is ANY offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24).

If you’ve missed any messages in this series, you may find the complete list by clicking here.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Peter, Calvary Assembly of God, Christian, Christianity, confidence, education, Founding Fathers, grace, Heaven, Holy Spirit, humility, Jesus Christ, John Adams, peace, Periscope, quotes, sanctification, teachability, video, Vimeo. 1 Comment »

Links & Quotes

September 4, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“From the beginning of the Bible to the end, God warns that any nation which departs from Him is going to suffer judgment. America has been given more spiritual and moral light than any nation in the history of the world, and yet this great nation has departed from Him and stands in peril of His judgment.” —Billy Graham

“Belief is not faith without evidence but commitment without reservation.” —Leighton Ford

Documented proof of Planned Parenthood breaking the law. They even allowed a high school coach, who impregnated a 14-year-old girl, to sign-off on her abortion without informing the parents nor reporting this as statutory rape!!

Eric Metaxas debunks some of Planned Parenthood’s old lies.

Scientific studies show that forgiving people helps you physically and psychologically.

Tim Elmore always has great insights into the youth culture. Here are his 6 defining characteristics of Generation Z.

[VIDEO] John Maxwell talks about the right attitude to handle rejection, and what it can do to move us forward—

Links & Quotes

September 3, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

I love the resources at The Overview Bible Project! They have a series currently running with a cool look at each book of the Bible. The latest is on 1 John. If you enjoy studying the Bible, go to their site and subscribe.

“It is not simply the Christ that is the magnet; it is the crucified Christ. It is crucifixion that has imparted to Him His attractive power; just as it is death that has given Him His life-giving power. It is not Christ without the Cross; nor is it the Cross without Christ; it is both of them together. … All God’s revealed truth is connected with the Cross. Divine wisdom is concentrated there. In Jesus, the crucified, there is the wisdom of God, and He is made unto us wisdom. In the Cross we have the refutation of man’s errors and satan’s lies; the great embodiment of heavenly and everlasting truth. Here all truth and all wisdom are centered! How can it but be magnetic!” —Horatius Bonar

Brian Fisher shares the real story of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger.

[VIDEO] More revolting Planned Parenthood news—

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 John, abortion, Brian Fisher, Cross, crucifixion, Horatius Bonar, Jesus Christ, Margaret Sanger, Online For Life, Planned Parenthood, The Overview Bible Project, video. Leave a Comment »

Thursdays With Oswald—The Memory Of Sin

September 3, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

This is a periodic 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.

The Memory Of Sin

No aspect of Christian life and service is in more need of revision than our attitude to the memory of sin in the saint. When the Apostle Paul said “forgetting those things which are behind,” he was talking not about sin, but about his spiritual attainment. Paul never forgot what he had been; it comes out repeatedly in the Epistles—“For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle” (1 Corinthians 15:9); “unto me who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given” (Ephesians 3:8); “…sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). …

If one wants a touchstone for the depth of true spiritual Christianity, one will surely find it in this matter of the memory of sin. There are those who exhibit a Pharisaic holiness, they thank God with an arrogant offensiveness that they are “not as other men are”; they have forgotten the horrible pit and miry clay from whence they were taken, and their feet set upon a rock through the might of the Atonement. …

May the conviction of God come with swift and stern rebuke upon any one who is remembering the past of another, and deliberately choosing to forget their restoration through God’s grace. When a servant of God meets these sins in others, let him be reverent with what he does not understand and leave God to deal with them.

From Conformed To His Image (emphasis added)

These are good questions for Christians to ask themselves regularly: (1) Am I remembering the sins of others the way I would want others to remember my sins? (2) Am I remembering my forgiven sins the way that God remembers them (Psalm 103:10-12)?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Corinthians, 1 Timothy, apostle Paul, atonement, Christian, conviction, Ephesians, forgiveness, grace, introspection, memory, Oswald Chambers, Pharisees, Psalm, saints, sin, video. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

August 31, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Is it not said in Scripture, ‘If any man sin, we have an Advocate’? Why is Christ an advocate today? Only because we want an advocate every day. Does He not constantly intercede yonder before the eternal throne? Why does He do that? Because we want daily intercession. And it is because we are constantly sinning that He is constantly an advocate, constantly an intercessor.” —Charles Spurgeon

“The only right a Christian has is the right to give up his rights.” —Oswald Chambers

“Unbelief hinders Christ from working those works which show the glory. It seems a strange saying, and one which we could not have ventured to utter had it not been written down for us by inspired men. That a child’s hand held up against the sun should hinder it from shining; that a weathered leaf thrown into a stream should stay its flowing or dry up its source; that the breath of man, breathed up against the sky, should quench the light of its myriad stars—these things would not really be so marvelous as that man’s unbelief should prevent God’s power from being sent forth, and the Son of God from doing those things which would reveal the glory of the Father. Yet we find the strange truth thus recorded. The evangelist Matthew thus writes, ‘He did not many mighty works there, because of their unbelief’ (13:58); and Mark uses still stronger language, ‘He could there do no mighty work, saving that He laid His hands upon a few sick folk and heal them; and He marveled because of their unbelief ‘(6:5, 6).” —Horatius Bonar

A really nice story about our church’s move.

Despite what some people want to teach, here are 24 reasons to believe Hell is a reality.

George Muller was a faith giant. But check out what John Piper writes about him: Muller did not have the gift of faith.

Jon Bloom writes, “If we want to really know what’s going on in the world, we cannot depend on CNN or FoxNews. We will keep our eyes on the global church. She is at the center of history,” in his post entitled America’s one enduring legacy in history.

[VIDEO] Does free speech offend you?

Making Hearts Burn

August 31, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

There is an interesting line the angels speak to the ladies who came to anoint Christ’s dead body in the tomb: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5).

That phrase sums up much of our culture. People are looking for life, but they are looking for it among dead things. Wise King Solomon wrote that God has placed a God-shaped void in the heart of every human being (Ecclesiastes 3:11). But Solomon went on to say that anything “under the sun” that we try to use to fill that God-void will be utterly meaningless.

Peter wrote to aliens and strangers about living such good lives that will point people to God. This means Christians need to help people who are looking for the living among the dead see that real life is in Christ. To do this, we need to be immersed in the Living Word of God.

In the conversations after Christ’s resurrection, look at the references to God’s Living Word:

Remember how He told you … Then they remembered His words (Luke 24:6-8)
…what was said in all the Scripture concerning Himself… (Luke 24:27)
…written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms … so they could understand the Scriptures ( Luke 24:44-45)

There is life in God’s Word! When the two disciples of Jesus remembered His Living Word, they said their hearts burned inside them (Luke 24:32).

If you want to help those searching for life to find it, let them hear God’s Living Word coming from your lips. This will make their hearts burn, and lead them to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

If you’ve missed any messages in this series, you may find the complete list by clicking here.