An excerpt from New Old Sayings Volume Two by Dr. Robert Owens September 26, 2024
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Nothing is exempt from God. Nothing is hidden from God. Nothing exists outside the rule of God.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings Volume Two by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at
Who Are We September 25, 2024
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.Tags: Bible, Christianity, god, Jesus, Salvation
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Who can ever know us better than we know ourselves? Obviously, the answer is no one. Yet most people spend much of their life in frustrating attempts to figure it out. We’re like a man who looks into a mirror and as soon as he walks away forgets what he looks like.
I have that experience in an outward way daily as my inner man who feels like he’s in his mid-thirties remembers that outwardly I appear for some reason to be in my late sixties.
I’ve heard people say that life can be confusing because it doesn’t come with an instruction manual. I always feel bad for these people because they haven’t discovered there is a set of instructions for being a human being on the planet Earth. It’s called the Bible and it’s a really good book.
If we ever decide that this one book was in fact inspired by God in a literal sense, that its words are a God breathed revelation written and preserved through thousands of years just so that we can learn the meaning of life, the universe, and everything and no, it isn’t 42. It can change our life. At least I know it did for me.
You see, I’m one of those radicals who believe to the deepest depths of my soul the Bible is God’s Word for humanity. I have a simple belief … God said it … I believe it … that’s it.
This life changing revelation teaches us God created a perfect world. Man was given the keys to the kingdom and made God’s overseer. We turned away from God and gave the keys to the Devil. God is a just God. He wanted us to have dominion over his creation but we gave it away so He couldn’t just take it from the one we’d given it to and give it back to us.
Imagine our Daddy bought us a brand-new car. He wanted us to have the car. He wanted us to enjoy the car. He gave us the keys and the title. It’s our car. Then we give the car to someone else. That isn’t who Daddy wanted to have the car, but we gave it this other person. We gave them the keys and signed the title over to them. Now it’s their car. It was legal transaction so it wouldn’t be fair or just if Daddy just took the car from that other person and gave it back to us.
It’s the same way with God’s creation. By turning our backs on God and following the devil we turned the whole thing over to our enemy and we became his slaves. That’s what original sin is all about. We inherit the sin nature from our father Adam then each of us adds to the burden of sin on our own. The sin from the first to the last must be paid for if God is to return the title deed to creation back to humanity. And the only way for that to happen was for someone to carry all that sin through a perfect life, pay the penalty for sin, which is physical and spiritual death, descend into hell, and take the keys back from the devil. No human could ever do it because none of us has ever or could ever live a sinless life.
So God had to do it himself. He became flesh. He lived a sinless life. His death on the cross was a physical and spiritual sacrificial substitution for all of us. He went down into hell. He took the keys away from the devil. He rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven. And now as the new Adam of a new human race He declares any who believe in Him to be His children which means we can stand in the presence of God without any feelings of guilt or shame. We are completely forgiven and made sinless because we are united with Jesus through faith. When God looks at us, He sees Jesus. He gives us back the keys.
That’s it in a nutshell.
Who are we? We are who He says we are. We’re His children. We’re living stones built up into a spiritual temple where He himself dwells. He says if we confess Jesus as Lord, acknowledge Him as the boss of our life and believe God raised Him from the dead we will be saved. He doesn’t say we might be saved. He doesn’t say we could be saved. He says we WILL be saved. Believe it. Receive it. Live it. Walk out of this vale of tears and into the light of the Son of His love.
Who are we? You can be anyone you want to be. As for me and my house we will follow the Lord … we will be who He says we are … His children.
Season Three Episode Thirty September 24, 2024
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In Episode Thirty / Season Three of I Took a Right Turn: We continue to share some vintage praise songs: I Saw The Light, We Shall See the King, and There’s Something About That Name. And another one of our homegrown songs: Jesus the Lord. Our Bible study this week looks at Genesis3:1-91; and I Corinthians 15:45-49That though man chose to turn away from God, He still gave us the promise of a Savior, and Jesus is that Savior. Robert reads another essay from his series of books on Christian living, (Faith, Hope, and Love) reading Essay # 27 from the book, Hope: “Who Are We.”
The text of this essay will be posted the day after the release of this episode at www.itookarighturn.com and www.drrobertowens.com All of Robert’s thirty-six books are available in paper back and kindle through Amazon. We also invite everyone to visit our online art store, The Pair a Docs Shop where we offer our original paintings, prints and merchandise.
An excerpt from the book New Old Sayings Volume Two by Dr. Robert Owens September 23, 2024
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We may say sacred spaces are designed to honor God, but they are really meant to keep Him in His place.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings Volume Two by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at
An excerpt from the book New Old Sayings Volume Two by Dr. Robert Owens September 22, 2024
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Following God is always swimming against the stream.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings Volume Two by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at
An excerpt from the book New Old Sayings Volume Two by Dr. Robert Owens September 21, 2024
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The way of the world is never the way of God.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings Volume Two by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at
The most intense lightening storm ever seen in the Promised Land September 20, 2024
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An excerpt from the book New Old Sayings Volume Two by Dr. Robert Owens September 20, 2024
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We need to see God as He reveals Himself in His Word, not as we imagine Him to be.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings Volume Two by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at
We’ve All Had an Apple Out of That Sack September 18, 2024
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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 in 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.”[1]
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 stories of the two sons of Abraham and then about Jacob and Esau,[2] the children of Isaac and that expands the promise of God[3] to send a Savior which is the essence of the entire Old Testament, I came across the line, “I loved Jacob and hated Esau.”[4] 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.[5]
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 happy He never gave up on those Israelites and that He never 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.”[6]
How do we change who we are? We Let Jesus in and He does all the remodeling for us. That’s the best news ever that you’ve heard about.
[1] Best News Ever by Mercy Me, AZLyrics.com, accessed 12-10-19, https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/mercyme/bestnewsever.html
[2] Genesis 25:19-34
[3] Knowing Jesus, 25 Verses about God’s promise to Abraham, accessed 12-10-19, https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/God~s-Promise-To-Abraham
[4] Malachi 1:2; Romans 9:13
[5] Genesis 28:10-22
[6] Who You Are by Unspoken, AZLyrics, accessed 12-10-19, https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/unspoken/whoyouare.html
Season Three Episode Twenty-nine September 17, 2024
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In Episode Twenty-nine / Season Three of I Took a Right Turn: As usual we share some vintage praise songs: I’ve Been Redeemed, Not By Might, and Put Your Hand in the Hand of the Man Who Stilled the Waters. And of course, one of our homegrown songs: He Called My Name. Our Bible study this week looks at Genesis 25:19-34; Malachi 1:2, and Romans 9:10-13highlighting the fact that it is the chosen who are the children of God. Robert reads another essay from his series of books on Christian living, (Faith, Hope, and Love) reading Essay # 25 from the book, Hope: “We’ve All Had an Apple Out of That Sack.”
The text of this essay will be posted the day after the release of this episode at www.itookarighturn.com and www.drrobertowens.com All of Robert’s thirty-six books are available in paper back and kindle through Amazon. We also invite everyone to visit our online art store, The Pair a Docs Shop where we offer our original paintings, prints and merchandise.
Dr. Robert Owens Chronicles the History of the Future 