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Links & Quotes

August 10, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some great reading & watching from this weekend…

[INFOGRAPHIC] The most popular Book of all time.

“Christians are priests, but how priests if they offer no sacrifice? Christians are lights, but how are they lights unless they shine for others? Christians are sent into the world, even as Christ was sent into the world, but how are they sent unless they are sent to pray? Christians are meant not only to be blessed themselves, but in them shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, but how if you refuse to pray?” —Charles Spurgeon

“Reason does not know that salvation must come down from above; we want to work up from below so that the satisfaction is rendered by us.” —Martin Luther

“No matter the society or culture, the city or town, God has never lacked the power to work through available people to glorify His name.” —Jim Cymbala

Chilly Chilton has a very timely message: My Take On Mark Driscoll & Acts 29.

[FREE EBOOK] I love the graphics and Bible study tools from The Overview Bible Project. Check out the free ebook they are offering on the apostles.

[VIDEO] John Maxwell says, “You cannot be full of yourself and focused on others.” Check out his video on humility.

Links & Quotes

August 6, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some good reading & viewing from today…

As the fellowship I grew up in celebrates its 100th anniversary, I love reading quotes like this: “Worldwide, 95% of Assemblies of God adherents lived outside the United States in 2013. In the U.S., over 41% of Assemblies of God adherents were non-white. In the U.S., the white constituency has decreased by 34,922 over the past ten years, while the number of non-white constituency has increased by 433,217.”

An excellent post for unmarried people, and the friends who care about them: 4 Lies Single People Need To Stop Believing.

[VIDEO] Millions of dollars in “humanitarian aid” for the Palestinian people has been hijacked by Hamas to build tunnels into Israel for their terrorist schemes.

“God’s sovereignty means that His design for us cannot be frustrated. Nothing, absolutely nothing, befalls those who love God and are called according to His purpose, except what is for our deepest and highest good (Romans 8:28; Psalm 84:11).” —John Piper

“Since God does in fact address man in His Word, He obviously regards him as addressable in spite of the fact that man as a sinner closes his ears and heart to Him.” —Karl Barth

“Your gift makes you a servant, not a master.” Read more in: Use Your Knowledge To Serve Others.

“In a time when everything in the world seems to be vanity, God is depending on us to proclaim that He is the great Reality, and that only He can give meaning to all other realities.” —A.W. Tozer

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: A.W. Tozer, apologetic, Assembly of God, Bible, biblical truth, church history, gifting, God's Sovereignty, God's will, Hamas, Israel, John Piper, Karl Barth, marriage, Pentecostal, quotes, servanthood, single life, statistics, video, witnessing. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

August 5, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some good reading & watching from today…

“What matters is not the accomplishments you achieve; what matters is the person you become.” —Dallas Willard

“God-given dreams have to do with unselfishness and the serving and blessing of others. Dreams that are initiated out of our own imaginations tend to be primarily focused on ourselves and what we can ‘get.’” —Jeff Hlavin

“Pray against pride, dear friends, wherever you may be. Pride will grow on a dunghill, as well as in the king’s garden. Pray against pride and vainglory, and God give you grace to keep it under!” —C.H. Spurgeon

[VIDEO] John Maxwell reminds us that you don’t have to be a cosmetologist to make someone else beautiful.

Mark Atteberry addresses an article about why millennials are leaving churches, and he does a great job refuting the main points.

Great encouragement from David Wilkerson for anyone praying for a wayward child or spouse.

Planned Parenthood’s stance: if it’s consensual, then violent sex is okay. Again I ask, “Why are my tax dollars funding this garbage?!” Check out this transcript from Live Action’s latest undercover investigation—

PLANNED PARENTHOOD: OK. Um, role-play absolutely is normal. Um, it’s—I would say anything within the sexual world is normal as long as it’s consensual—

15-YEAR-OLD: OK.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD: —between the two people. So if you feel like—like, if he threw out role-play and you were like, “That sounds really weird,” or “I feel really uncomfortable with that,” and he still, like, pressured you, then that is not normal.

15-YEAR-OLD: OK.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD: But if you were like, “Yeah, I’m open to it, whatever,” and you try it and it felt weird, so you said that, and he was like, “Yeah, that—whatever, that’s fine, let’s not do that again,” that’s also normal.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible, Charles Spurgeon, church, Dallas Willard, David Wilkerson, dreams, encouragement, excuses, family, Generation Y, humility, Jeff Hlavin, John Maxwell, Live Action, Mark Atteberry, maturity, millennials, Planned Parenthood, prayer, pride, quotes, Scripture, unselfish, video. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

August 4, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some good reading & watching from today…

“The nearer our souls draw to God the larger our love will grow, and the greater our love the more unselfish we shall become and the greater our care for the souls of others. Hence increased spiritual experience, so far as it is genuine, brings with it a strong desire that others may know the same grace that we ourselves enjoy. This leads quite naturally to an increased effort to lead others to a closer and more satisfying fellowship with God.” —A.W. Tozer

[VIDEO] What a good sport! Assembly of God General Superintendent Dr. George O. Wood is “interviewed” by comedian Michael Jr.

“There is in the life and teachings of Jesus a relentless tendency toward simplicity. There is a steady impulse toward living at risk, and with a kind of abandon to the Father’s care that looks foolish to the well-off world. There is an unsettling otherworldliness that made Jesus and His first followers radically useful in this dead-end world. There is a freedom from things and for the Kingdom that thrills the heart of His disciples. Lord, give us this freedom.” —John Piper

“Jesus asks you not to lead; He Himself has gone before; He calls you to no labor which He has not Himself already accomplished. … I know the proud flesh wants to serve Christ, by striking out new paths. Proud man has a desire to preach new doctrine, to set up a new Church, to be an original thinker, to judge, and consider, and do anything but obey. This is no service to Christ. He that would serve Christ must follow Him; he must be content to tread only in the old footsteps, and go only where Christ has led the way.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Preserve, then, my sons, that friendship ye have begun with your brethren, for nothing in the world is more beautiful than that. It is indeed a comfort in this life to have one to whom thou canst open thy heart, with whom thou canst share confidences, and to whom thou canst entrust the secrets of thy heart. It is a comfort to have a trusty man by thy side, who will rejoice with thee in prosperity, sympathize in troubles, encourage in persecution.” —Ambrose

Don’t be deceived: Fifty Shades Of Gray is pornography! Here’s how to fight it.

[VIDEO] The Bible Project has these helpful, artistic videos that give you a big-picture-view of a book of the Bible. Check out what they have already done with Genesis.

Links & Quotes

August 3, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some good reading (and watching) from this weekend…

This was a bit convicting: 7 Signs You’re Spending Too Much Time Looking At Your Phone (I am trying to improve on this!).

This post from Chilly Chilton was also a bit convicting: My Take On President Obama.

“Jesus builds His Church, not by programs, facilities, budgets, and good ‘branding,’ but by living His life in and through each of the members of His Body, beginning with their shepherds.” —T.M. Moore

[VIDEO] John Maxwell says being growth oriented is better than being goal oriented.

“The popular notion that the first obligation of the church is to spread the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth is false. Her first obligation is to be spiritually worthy to spread it. Our Lord said ‘Go ye,’ but He also said, ‘Tarry ye,’ and the tarrying had to come before the going.” —A.W. Tozer

“I believe that our Lord wants us to learn more of Him in worship before we become busy for Him. He wants us to have a gift of the Spirit, an inner experience of the heart, as our first service, and out of that will grow the profound and deep and divine activities which are necessary.” —A.W. Tozer

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: A.W. Tozer, Barak Obama, Chilly Chilton, Christian, government, Holy Spirit, iPhone, John Maxwell, pastors, Pentecost, personal growth, quotes, relationships, social media, T.M. Moore, video, witness, worship. 2 Comments »

Like A River

July 31, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

I am proud of my Pentecostal heritage. Both my parents and grandparents grew up in the Assemblies of God, and saw firsthand powerful moves of God. This year (2014) marks the 100th anniversary of the formation of the A/G fellowship. Check out this video from 1964 when the A/G was celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Assembly of God, church history, heritage, Pentecostal, video. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

July 28, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some good reading (and watching) from today…

This year will mark the centennial celebration of the Assemblies of God fellowship. I am so blessed to have this as not only my heritage, but my current affiliation as well. This video was made at the 50th anniversary … what a rich history!

“The part of wisdom is to accept our Christian brothers and sisters for what they are rather than for what they should be. … An old Italian proverb says, ‘He that will have none but a perfect brother must resign himself to remain brotherless.’ However earnestly we may desire that our Christian brother go on toward perfection, we must accept him as he is and learn to get along with him. To treat an imperfect brother impatiently is to advertise our own imperfections.” —A.W. Tozer

“The wise man does nothing but what can be done openly and without falseness, nor does he do anything whereby he may involve himself in any wrong-doing, even where he may escape notice. For he is guilty in his own eyes before being so in the eyes of others; and the publicity of his crime does not bring him more shame than his own consciousness of it.” —Ambrose

Mark Atteberry says he is hopelessly uncool. I pray I am too!

Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards is so out of touch! And to think, our taxes dollars fund this sort of nonsense!

When I read this article about dinosaur extinction, all I could think of was: “If ifs and buts were candies and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas!”

“The Centre for the Study of Global Christianity in the United States estimates that 100,000 Christians now die every year, targeted because of their faith—that is 11 every hour. The Pew Research Center says that hostility to religion reached a new high in 2012, when Christians faced some form of discrimination in 139 countries, almost three-quarters of the world’s nations.” Read more of this eye-opening article.

More Ministers Needed In The Church

July 25, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

I always get a bit nervous when someone calls me “the minister of Calvary Assembly of God.” I am not the minister; I’m the pastor and a minister.

There’s a big difference!

A pastor is one of the gifts Jesus gives the church to equip lots of ministers (see Ephesians 4:7-13). A pastor is not the minister, but a minister-equipper.

Check out this quote from Oswald Chambers—

“Notice the gifts that the Apostle Paul says Jesus sent after He ascended—viz. apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers—‘for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.’ The test of a preacher or teacher is that as we listen to him we are built up in our faith in Jesus Christ and in our intimacy with Him; otherwise he is not a gift from God. Today we are apt to test the preacher on the ground of his personality and not by his building up of the saints.” (emphasis added)

I don’t want to be put on a pedestal as the minister. I want Jesus to be exalted. This will only happen when all the gifts to the church—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers—are equipping the entire church to minister.

What do you think?

Posted in Pastoring. Tags: apostle Paul, Calvary Assembly of God, church, Ephesians, equipping, gifts, Jesus Christ, minister, Oswald Chambers, Pastor, video. 2 Comments »

Links & Quotes

July 21, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Some interesting reading & watching today…

“The treacherous enemy facing the church of Jesus Christ today is the dictatorship of the routine, when the routine becomes ‘lord’ in the life of the church. Programs are organized and the prevailing conditions are accepted as normal. … That would be perfectly all right and proper for a cemetery. Nobody expects a cemetery to do anything but conform.” —A.W. Tozer

John Stonestreet reminds us that even in the scientific community, Macroevolution Has No Clothes.

“Father, we fear our deadly fondness for floating toward the falls when we ought to be swimming against the current. Oh, God, have mercy to waken us again and again to the perils of drifting in the Christian life. Help us heed Hebrews 2:1, ‘We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.’” —John Piper

I love this story: Communion On The Moon.

“Hamas are terrorists pure and simple. The Egyptians get it. Why doesn’t the Western media get it? Why don’t Western leaders get it? And why don’t Christian leaders get it?” Read more about the Israeli battle against Hamas in Middle-East Meets Middle-Earth.

[VIDEO] Ken Davis has a hilarious take on airplane restrooms.

The Wall Street Journal rightly sees the situation at Gordon College as The Next Religious Liberty Case.

Dr. Tim Elmore lays out The Messages We Must Send To Millennials About Life After College.

[VIDEO] Perfect Dad, Perfect Daughter

July 17, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

This is an amazing pro-life, pro-family, pro-Dad story! I love the authenticity of a Dad who wanted a “perfect life” on his terms, but then realized that he was using the wrong metric to know what “perfect” was.

A Dad who shows humility, is a true man. All of us Dads can learn from Heath White’s amazing discovery about true fatherhood … true manhood.