We’ve All Had an Apple Out of That Sack July 16, 2019
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Religion, Uncategorized.Tags: born again, Dr. Robert Owens, Jesus saves, Salvation, the book of Judges, the Epistles, the Gospel
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When I first gave my life to Christ I felt so incredibly clean, so new, and fresh it was truly like being born-again. My old life was washed away and I was a babe in Christ.
Then as I devoured His Word reading, meditating, and praying it into the very fabric of my life it changed me even more. I was miraculously healed of alcoholism. Lifetime habits of chemical abuse and drug addiction were washed away in the life-giving flood of Christ’s love.
I was saved reading and believing the Gospels. The New Testament starts with the birth of Jesus. It tells the whole story of His sinless life. It reveals His sacrificial death. And it imparts life changing reality of His life giving resurrection and ascension into heaven. But it doesn’t end there.
After the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John the New Testament continues with the story of the spreading of the sin shattering story of Jesus from Jerusalem to Rome in the Acts of the Apostles a God breathed History that is truly His Story.
Secular History tells us that the few followers of Jesus shared the good news of freedom from the curse of sin, the empowerment of holiness, and the joy of salvation and that this message of hope spread like wildfire. It couldn’t be contained by persecution. It couldn’t be squelched by religion. Yes, this secular History tells us that this obscure faith movement birthed in an out-of-the-way corner of a vast empire marched from person-to-person and within 300 years became the official religion of Caesar.
Secular History can tell us what happened; however, it takes the New Testament to tell us why. We’ve all heard it said that the Gospel is good news. As one popular song tells us today, “It’s not good news. It’s the best news ever.”
In the beginning, back in the garden, man chose not to obey God but instead to follow his own lusts and desires chasing into a path that has forever led us away from God. We can blame Satan who the Bible tells us tempted Eve into disobedience but it was Adam whose willful choice to follow his own desire to be with his wife instead of with God that crossed the threshold and saw a barrier of sin separate us from our sinless God. There was no way back. There was no way to wash the stain from our spirit. We were no longer united with our creator we were instead united with the father of lies.
Now here’s the why: God in His unsearchable love came Himself in the form of Jesus born of a woman to live a sinless life that He willingly sacrificed to pay the price. Now anyone who will confess Jesus as the Lord, the leader, the master of their life and who believes that God raised Jesus from the dead is forgiven of all sin and re-united with God. That’s it. That’s the best news ever.
I was changed by systematic and prolonged study of the Epistles: the letters of the first followers of Jesus to those who believed through their ministry.
After this saturated my life and I began taking my first steps into a world which was now the Kingdom of God I began my study of the Old Testament.
When I read the story of Jacob and Esau, the children of Isaac and the twin sons of Abraham that expands the promise of God to send a Savior which is the essence of the entire Old Testament, I came across the line, “I loved Jacob and hated Esau.” This was a puzzle. Because when you read about these two brothers it soon becomes evident that Jacob was a lying, cheating, deceiving, schemer and Esau was a nice guy who obeyed his parents and seemed to live a godly life. Why would God choose Jacob over Esau?
Esau esteemed his birthright, which was the promise of God flowing into its third generation so lightly he was willing to trade his place as the eldest child and heir for one single bowl of stew. He threw away eternal blessing for instant gratification.
Seeing this I thought what a fool Esau was. How lacking in faith and fortitude it was no wonder God chose Jacob to be the child of promise, the heir whose bloodline would one day produce Jesus.
It was only as the years passed as I began to live out my own version of the Book of Judges I stumbled and fell. God renewed me over and over. It was then that I came to realize how easy it is for the followers of Christ to find themselves in the path of easy going Esau instead of climbing the ladder of faith with Jacob.
We may not trade our eternal inheritance for a bowl of stew but how many of us choose the things of this world over the things of God? How easy it is to find ourselves drowning in diversions instead of immersed in the Word? Majoring on minors instead of dedicated to doing the works God has called us to do. Perhaps we should ask ourselves, “Are we consumed by the news or devouring the Word?” “Are we serving ourselves at the all-you-can-eat buffet of modern culture or are we helping to seat others at the wedding feast of the King?”
When I first read the Book of Judges and how the Israelites of old after generations of miracles culminating in finding the promised land turned away from God, fell under the heel of oppressors, begged for deliverance, and then after God delivered them forgot about God and wandered off again, and again, and again I felt if I’d been God I would’ve written them off and started over. In the first flush of my regenerated life of joy I couldn’t understand how God could just keep kissing the hand that abused Him.
In time my own book of judges taught me that it’s God’s love that keeps Him constantly ready to accept us back. I also learned that I was really happy that He never gave up on those Israelites and that He nave gives up on me.
Esau gave away an eternal promise for something that looked good, smelled good, and tasted good. But it was also something that perished with the using. He was weak, he was a fool, and we’ve all had an apple out of that sack.
If you’ve wandered off into the dead-end trails of self-indulgence in the trackless waste which is the world as I have time after time don’t despair. We shouldn’t give up on ourselves because God will never give up on us. As many times as we turn away from the world to face God He’s there ever ready and eager to take us back. Or as a current song tells us, “You can never fall too hard, so fast, so far that you can’t get back when you’re lost. Where you are is never too late, so bad, so much that you can’t change who you are. You can change who you are.”
How do we change who we are? We Let Jesus in and He does all the remodeling for us. That’s that best news ever you’ve been hearing about.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, Global Studies, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2019 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens or visit Dr. Owens Amazon Page / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens
Dr. Owens’ Newest Book July 9, 2019
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.add a comment
In America’s Armageddon the fifth volume in the America’s Trojan War Series America splinters as the descendants of the Pioneers, the Founders, and the Framers stand up to be counted. President Bryan, General Stando, and their whole corrupt regime fight to maintain their grip on the throat of a free nation. The battle between the various sides increasingly becomes a war between light and darkness, between good and evil, and a struggle to the death in the midst of a struggle for life.
Buy it today at Amazon
Does Any of This Make Any Sense? June 18, 2019
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Religion, Uncategorized.Tags: Dr. Robert Owens, fallen man, gospel of Jesus Christ, Meaning of life, Salvation, sin
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Looking at the world around us it’s easy to find ourselves asking this question. When we see the suffering, the depression, the poverty, and the horror of everyday life for so many it’s hard not to see the nightmare reality of this world as a curse.
That’s a good place to start searching for the meaning in it all because it is a curse.
You see when God created the world He created it as a good thing, a wondrous, and beautiful thing. Here’s the rub; actions have consequences.
I’ve always thought if I ever found a perfect church I’d spoil it by joining because I’m not perfect. Most of us mature enough in life to realize we aren’t quite what we could or should be. Some people never attain this level of self-awareness and we judge them to suffer from a type of psychological problem known as narcissism. A central aspect of narcissism is grandiosity. That is, narcissists tend to think highly of themselves. In particular, they tend to have a positive view of themselves compared to other people.
Most of us don’t suffer from this malady. It is more often some form of feeling we aren’t good enough that plagues us. Those who stumble out of a dysfunctional family are all too often familiar with this one.
Whatever brand of psychobabble seeps through our lives working itself out in hubris and braggadocio or anxiety and self-doubt it doesn’t take a genius to figure out this world is messed up. Neither is it too complicated for the least perceptive among us to discern. All too often what the world calls good is bad and what the world calls bad is good. This alone is enough to make us see the fractured carnival mirror reflection of justice that permeates our reality. Add to this our personal experiences and anyone who thinks we’ve found ourselves in a bed of roses may be fooling themselves but they aren’t fooling anyone else.
Anyone who can walk through this vale of tears with no faith is a better man then I Gunga Din.
I wasn’t able to do it. I made it till I was thirty years old and the meaninglessness of it all was on the verge of driving me to suicide. I kept coming back to if that’s all there is, my friends then let’s keep dancing let’s break out the booze and have a ball if that’s all there is. However, I found living at the perpetual party at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe was not very uplifting and after a while I couldn’t even pretend it was fun. How anyone can stagger through all this with no hope of anything beyond this is beyond me.
I can only pray that if they ever come to the end of themselves they will look to God. That’s what I did and I was surprised to find that God was looking at me.
‘Why is the world so messed up? Because God made man His viceroy in this creation and instead of listening to God and doing things His way we listened to Satan and gave the whole shooting match away. The story is there for us in Genesis and because of that decision God laid a curse on the whole deal.
But He also gave us a promise at the same time that He would send a Savior. Jesus is that Savior. The penalty for disobeying God is eternal separation from God. The only way back is to live a perfect life which no one can do. So God became a human, lived a perfect life, and then died for the sins He never committed as a substitute for us.
In doing this He defeated sin, death, and the Devil. He also opened the way for all of us to get in on the action. All we have to do is accept Jesus as our leader in life and believe that God raised Him from the dead and that’s it. The whole deal is reversed and we are once welcomed home. So let’s run like the prodigal to greet the Father who has waited for us, who greets us like the like lost child we are.
So does any of this make any sense? It does. As a matter of fact it makes perfect sense.
You see no matter how messed up it is if we will accept God’s offer, if we will step past the end of ourselves and into His waiting arms the veil will fall from our eyes and we will see this world for what it is: an incubator for the children of God.
It’s not a matter of seeing and then believing instead it’s a case of believing so you can see.
The Bible lays all this out in great detail. Anyone who’s interested can contact me for a guided tour.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2019 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens or visit Dr. Owens Amazon Page / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens
An Arrow Aimed at America’s Heartland June 4, 2019
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Politics, Politiocal Philosophy, Uncategorized.Tags: Dr. Robert Owens, Electoral College, Majority rule, minority rights, National Popular Vote
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Are you ready to get down into the weeds and look at a current attack on our Federal System through the lenses of American Constitutional History to gain an understanding of something which is nothing less than an arrow aimed at America’s Heartland?
This is a wakeup call to citizens of Middle America of a plot to strip us of our electoral importance by the entrenched elites of the Deep State.
Recently, Nevada became the 15th state to pass a measure granting its Electoral College votes to the candidate winning the nationwide popular vote regardless of how the citizens of their own State voted.
This movement is being led by an organization called National Popular Vote. The founders of the 501(c)(4) Are election law expert and attorney Barry Fadem and John Kaza (co-inventor of the scratch off lottery ticket).
Fadem and Kaza both have impressive careers filled with professional achievement. However, it’s easy for anyone with even a smattering of knowledge of civics to discount their efforts by assuming though they may be intelligent and accomplished they don’t know much about how our government is designed to work.
In reality the exact opposite might be the case. These two and their organization aim to disrupt the balance between the States and have intentionally launched this arrow aimed at America’s Heartland.
Their objective is to influence a group of States whose electoral votes total 270, which is the number needed to win the presidency, into an alliance binding them to follow a majority vote attainable by a combination of New York, New England, and the Left Coast without regard to how the citizens of the States voted.
During the Constitutional Convention the Framers vigorously debated how the government they were designing should operate. When looking at the election of the chief executive they rejected direct democracy because they believed it was too prone to result in a majority that would act as a tyrant.
Looking back across time this collection of largely homeschooled patriots drew upon their knowledge of history and philosophy. Specifically they looked to the writings of Plato who wrote in the Republic that the people or the demos, as they were called in Greek could not be trusted because they would inevitably vote for whoever promised to meet their desires of the moment even if that meant taking from others or from the national treasury. In other words they would vote for a Santa Clause over a Washington or a Jefferson. A lesson well learned and applied by the pitiful politicians promising paradise who make up the best Congress money can buy.
Plato thought the majority would lack the knowledge and wisdom to make sound choices. Of course he didn’t know about our enlightened American education system that spends more time indoctrinating the young skulls full of mush about Al Gore’s Climate hoax religion than it does about the founding of this country. A federally controlled union infected system spends more energy turning our children into good little socialist than teaching them that capitalism has raised more people out of poverty than any other system ever devised.
Instead of echoing the platitudes of Comrade Sanders and AOC as if they had any chance of working in the real world our government indoctrinators could teach about how the Connecticut Compromise led to the structure of our bicameral legislature and the executive branch. They could teach that the electoral college was created to prevent the United States from becoming a place where the majority subjugated the minority.
Hamilton and Madison, two of the key strategists in devising our government focused on factions or combinations of likeminded people who work together to advance their own interests. Mainly they spoke of majorities and minorities. Madison especially thought that government must be structured in such a way as to fragment the power of the majority so that it could not become tyrannical.
When you read Federalist 9 (Hamilton), Federalist10, and Federalist 51 (Madison), these deep thinking political theorists identified three key elements they felt existed to help give the new United States a chance for success: its population size, geographic size, and the differing interests of the independent States. Back in those days before smartphones, the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, and 24-hour cable news, these factors made it difficult if not impossible for minority factions to combine into a coalition large enough to do any real damage to our system. But today with near instantaneous communication people can be rallied quickly which means emotions can easily out run reflection
In America today intolerant minority factions can be whipped up into tyrannical majorities in a way the Framers never imagined. At the very time in our history when we are more vulnerable than ever to manipulated majority rule the National Popular Vote movement wants us to embrace direct democracy at the presidential level.
The Framers designed a system of government limited in scope and shackled by the Constitution. A system designed to do little as opposed to doing too much. They attempted to build a system based on the nature of man. A system of divided power able to control humanity’s less desirable tendencies.
As Madison said in Federalist #51, “If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
This identifies the basic problem perfectly. We aren’t angels.
Because of this we need controls designed to prevent unfettered majority dominance. The Electoral College is the tool given to us by the Framers to make sure all of the States have a voice that is heard. However, if enough States adopt the National Popular Vote this safeguard will be neutralized, not through amending the Constitution but instead by doing an end-run around it. If this happens we’ll take a long step towards the dystopian vision our Framers sought to avoid: the tyranny of the majority.
One question I have is, “How do these political manipulators convince people to vote to make their future votes irrelevant?” To paraphrase Lincoln, “You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. But you can probably fool enough people to convince a majority to vote themselves onto the sidelines of History.” If this arrow finds its mark a bicoastal electoral juggernaut will trample the voice of the Heartland into the dust of History.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2019 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens or visit Dr. Owens Amazon Page / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens
Marley’s Chains May 29, 2019
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Religion, Uncategorized.Tags: Dr. Robert Owens, Faith, Faith alone, legalism, Religion, religious customs, religious systems, religious traditions
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To paraphrase scripture as presented in the Message we see that not only has the Church become Israel many have become spies only pretending to be Christians, who slipped in to find out just how free true Christians are who seek to pervert the freedom from religious legalism Christ gives us. They want to build their own kingdoms and feather their own nests by bringing others into the same religious bondage they drag around like Marley’s chains through a life that reeks of the grave.
Now the paraphrase of Romans 2:17-29:
If you’re brought up Christian, don’t assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you’re an insider to God’s revelation, a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines! I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God’s revealed Word inside and out, feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God. While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I’m quite serious. While preaching “Don’t steal!” are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you? It is the same with adultery. And it is the same with idolatry. You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law. The line from Scripture, “It’s because of you Christians that the outsiders are down on God,” shows it’s an old problem that isn’t going to go away.
Baptism, the ritual that marks you as a Christian, is great if you live in accord with God’s law. But if you don’t, it’s worse than not being baptized. The reverse is also true: The unbaptized who keep God’s ways are as good as the baptized —in fact, better. Better to keep God’s law unbaptized than break it baptized. Don’t you see: It’s not the submerging in water that makes a Christian. You become a Christian by who you are. It’s the submerging of your heart in God, not the water on your skin that makes you a Christian. And the recognition comes from God, not legalistic critics.
Not only are we warned to avoid the legalism of religion we are specifically warned about false teachers and wolves disguised as Christians who seek to build their own kingdoms and lead others astray.
At the end of the book of Romans Paul warns us; One final word of counsel, friends. Keep a sharp eye out for those who take bits and pieces of the teaching that you learned and then use them to make trouble. Give these people a wide berth. They have no intention of living for our Master Christ. They’re only in this for what they can get out of it, and aren’t above using pious sweet talk to dupe unsuspecting innocents.
And in Philippians 3:17-19 Paul tells us; Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.
I’m not knocking anyone’s beliefs or their traditions. What I am doing is trying to warn those who want to follow Christ. We can’t let anyone, anything, or the peer pressure of any community fool us into elevating a system of man over the freedom of Christ. We should ask ourselves, “How can customs, traditions, holidays, and ceremonies transplanted from paganism to attract or mollify converts as faith in Christ was spread, sometimes by the sword, across barbarian Europe after the fall of Rome save us?” Anything that obscures the fact that it’s by faith alone that we’re saved and by obedience alone we’re changed is something holding us back from becoming what God created us to be.
Once again turning to Paul, the Apostle of the heart set free, we find in Galatians a stunning rebuke of those trying to turn a living faith into a religious structure. In Chapter three he says, “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.
Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.” After faith comes we’re free. Holding on to the structure of religion may make following easier but making ourselves a slave to it doesn’t set us free. And Christ came to set us free.
Remember whatever is not of faith is sin and no one can snatch us out of the hand of God but we can sure jump.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2019 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens or visit Dr. Owens Amazon Page / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens
Show Me Then I’ll Believe May 21, 2019
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Religion, Uncategorized.Tags: Dr. Robert Owens, filled with the Holy Spirit, help!, Jesus saves, Salvation, the Good News, the Gospel, trials and tribulations
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I’m in the process of re-writing my autobiography. I initially wrote it back in the early nineties. Until now it never seemed like the right time to publish it, but now I believe the time has arrived.
As I re-read the chapters which chronicle the adventures of a lost young man throwing away everything nature and nurture gave him and self-medicating his way to total despair I can’t help but think of all the missed opportunities and self-inflicted pain. Anything that should’ve meant something was discarded in a blind attempt to escape the pain of not understanding the world around me.
However, time and maturity have finally taught me that if I hadn’t taken every step I’ve taken to be here I wouldn’t be here. Instead I’d be somewhere else. And I know without a shadow of doubt that I’m standing exactly where God wants me, which is the only place I ever want to be.
At an early age I discovered History and my immature mind told me, “If you understand how we got here maybe you could understand here?” So I started reading History on a daily basis, a habit I’ve never lost. However as I gained a vast knowledge base I didn’t seem to gain any wisdom.
I knew what happened but the why always seemed to escape me. I just couldn’t figure out why bad things happened to good people and good things happened to bad people. A fact the study of History proves over and over. The drugs and alcohol I used to ease the pain of confusion didn’t help. I ended up thinking I should do bad things if I wanted good things to happen.
As a child I’d given up on Christianity the first time I heard about turning the other cheek. My young but already street smart mind told me, “If you do that the world is going to slap the taste out of your mouth.”
I thought ideas such as loving those who hate you, returning good for evil, and sacrificing yourself for the good of others was foolishness. Living like this seemed like walking backwards through a burning building. I just couldn’t see the forest for the trees.
At least not until I’d lived my life into a corner and came to the end of my rope believing there was no afterlife and nothing except what I could touch, see, or feel. I figured if this is all there is why go on, why continue living only to die. My life became a parody of the chorus from the song, Is That All There Is; “Is that all there is, is that all there is, if that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing let’s break out the booze and have a ball if that’s all there is.”
Luckily for me that isn’t all there is.
That’s when I ran into Jesus. I gave my burned-out useless life to Him and He gave it back to me all shiny and new. He gave me purpose. He gave me hope. He gave me a loving wife, the love of my life, who’s my other half in a one flesh marriage. He gave me the opportunity to know the joys of being a second-chance father and a stand-in grandfather after having all my own children aborted.
In my former life I did my best to destroy and throw away everything given to me. But, God works with what’s left. He takes the cinders and the ashes and makes them into something beautiful. Tears may come at night but joy comes in the morning.
Has everything been as smooth as silk and twice as nice since I’ve become a new creation? Not by a long shot. There’ve been trials and tribulations beyond counting and they aren’t over yet. At first I would pray for God to take this cup from me forgetting the second half of the prayer, “but not my will but yours be done.” Then I’d wonder, “Why do I keep going through the same things over and over?”
Somehow in my continuous reading of God’s Word I’d missed this part:
Even when we’re surrounded by troubles we keep right on shouting praises, because we know if we walk through these troubles hand-in-hand with the man who stilled the sea they’ll develop perfect patience in us. And if we learn to practice perfect patience this forges the polished steel of virtue. This virtue keeps living in expectancy ever on the lookout for what God will do next. Living in this kind of breathless expectancy, we’re never left feeling ripped-off or overwhelmed by circumstances. No, it’s just the opposite. If we’ll walk through our problems like this we can’t find enough treasure chests to contain all the blessings God in His mind-blowing generosity pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!
Still seeking after wisdom I spend every day pursuing the One who is wisdom, the One who is light and life, the One who is the Savior of my soul, the King of Glory who died and rose again. The ever living Jesus who sits at the right hand of the Father, the One who sent the Holy Spirit to live in me.
If life doesn’t seem to make any sense, if we find ourselves going through the same things over and over let’s step out of the meaningless maze of carnival mirrors and find peace in union with God. Give it all up to get it all back. If we lay down our lives Jesus will show us how to live. Let’s stop fighting a war that’s already been won. Victory is found in surrender. It isn’t a matter of “Show me then I’ll believe,” instead it’s a matter of “Believe and it will be revealed.”
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2019 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens or visit Dr. Owens Amazon Page / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens
Dr. Owens’ Newest Book May 16, 2019
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.add a comment
America’s Steel Horse Brigade
In America’s Steel Horse Brigade, the fourth volume of Dr. Owens’ thrilling America’s Trojan War series, the battle between the Bryan/Stando regime and the forces of freedom heats up. Tensions rise and emotions flare as fighting erupts like a volcano of violence melting any semblance of normal life. From the Heartland through the border regions massive armies dance in a duel of death as freedom hangs in the balance.
This title as well as all Dr. Owens’ books are available at Amazon
All We Need To Know May 14, 2019
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Religion, Uncategorized.Tags: Adam’s sin, Dr. Robert Owens, Jesus saves, propitiation, redemption, Salvation, the Gospel
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The Bible tells us Adam sold us down the river of sin. His first sin, disobedience was followed by death; spiritual death or separation from God and then physical death. The Bible also tells us no one gets a free pass. Every one of us descended from Adam is born in sin and subject to death. Because that first sin of Adam’s broke humanity’s relationship with God in every way.
However, the far reaching extent of this wasn’t apparent till God made it crystal clear to Moses. Here’s what we learned from God’s detailed and explicit law: Sin is a yawning chasm separating us from God that leads to death. We also learned that even those who don’t sin in the same way Adam did, by disobeying a specific command of God, sin in one way or another. Consequently we all experience both the spiritual and the physical end of life which is separation from God not just as an inheritance but as something each of us earns on our own.
But God didn’t leave us hopeless. When God cursed the serpent for tempting Eve to sin which is what dragged Adam into choosing fellowship with his wife over fellowship with his Creator He also made a promise that from woman would come a Savior. From the moment of the fall comes the hope of resurrection pointing ahead to the One chosen before the foundation of the world to get us off this one way conveyor belt to hell.
To maintain God’s absolute justice sin had to be paid for. The penalty of separation and death had to be fulfilled. All humanity could ever do was continue the cycle over and over since everyone sinned and added to the burden of the verdict. Then Jesus Christ, God Himself, came to bear the burden and pay the price becoming a sinless sacrifice, the just for the unjust. His death foreshadowed by every sacrifice ever offered up under the Law.
However, the blood of goats, bulls, sheep, and other animals could never cleanse from sin. The best they could do was cover symptoms of sin through obedience to the commands of God. They couldn’t deal with the root cause, separation from God because no human ever lived a sinless life after offering one sacrifice so another was always needed and death flowed like a river of sewage through the lives of all.
Just as Adam’s sin brought death into the world one person condemning many the sacrifice of Jesus brings life into the world One person making the way open for many. Though one foreshadowed the other and one fulfilled the other the gift of Jesus is not perfectly parallel to the death-dealing sin of Adam. You see if Adam’s sin put all of humanity in the well-deserved black hole of separation from God, imagine what God’s undeserved gift poured out through Jesus Christ’s sinless sacrifice can do. How can we possibly compare Adam’s death-dealing sin and Jesus’ life-giving gift? The righteous verdict on Adam’s sin was the death sentence on everyone born of Adam. The gracious verdict on the sacrifice of Jesus is this life restoring sentence on everyone born of Jesus, the second Adam.
Here it is in a nutshell: Death which is separation from God gained the upper hand through Adam’s sin. Now the astounding recovery of life, real life, life in union with God explodes in our spirit as soon as we’re born-again out of the descending line of Adam and into the ascending line of Jesus. Since the price has been paid and an acceptable sacrifice made the just for the unjust everyone who accepts this absolutely undeserved and free life-gift sees reality flow back into the mold God initially wanted for humanity: Living, loving, and praising in union with Him.
That’s the back story now for all you need to know:
If we confess Jesus as the head of our life and if we believe in our hearts God raised Him from the dead we will be saved.
It just that easy and it’s yours if you want it.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2019 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens or visit Dr. Owens Amazon Page / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens
