I often wake up with a hymn or chorus on my mind. I awoke Christmas morning with the words of an old hymn, “Ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray?” It may have been motivated by a cartoon by my friend Joe McKeever, in which Mary and Joseph are around…
I understand that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” but beyond that priority truth what defines Christmas for you – glitter, gifts, gatherings? For me it has always been about family. I clearly remember my first Christmas with a family other than my own. At the Christmas celebration in the home of my then,…
Flying into Vancouver, Canada last week, I was treated to a blanket of snow below. As I made my way around the city, I viewed yards, roofs, trees, and side streets, still covered with snow – a sight as rare in Vancouver, as in my home state of Texas. While non-Texans are amazed by our…
Many have likened life to a journey. I think it is rather a series of short journeys, phases of life, chapters in a larger story. We depart and we return, and even though we can’t really go home again, we can go through home again, and when we do, we find those who celebrate with…
It was a Friday worth forgetting. We sat in a small, cold, hospital emergency room, and listened to a Surgeon we had never met before, as he described the delicate, complicated surgery he would be performing on my wife. An accident had fractured her pelvis, and a faulty x-ray had allowed her to keep walking…
This Thanksgiving season I’ve learned a new word, at least one that is new to me – Friendsgiving. Urban Dictionary defines it as, “The celebration of Thanksgiving dinner with your friends. This usually occurs on the Wednesday before or the Friday after Thanksgiving Day, since Thanksgiving is usually reserved for family gatherings.” The precise origins…
My wife’s medical bills continue to mount, and I have been asked repeatedly by friends, if they can assist with expenses not being covered by insurance. I’ve had a name plaque on my desk since 1967 that has the inscription, “Dan R. Crawford” on the front, and “Jehovah Jireh” on the backside, where I alone…
Let me begin by saying, I love church music – traditional, contemporary, country, liturgical, contemplative, inspirational, to God, about God, etc. If it honors God, and inspires the singers to worship, I’m for it. However, I continue to be amazed with those who absolutely think they cannot worship unless it is with contemporary music. The…
Is the majority of prayer that you hear serious prayer or simply the repeating of well-worn prayer phrases and ideas? Are pray-ers giving serious thought to the wording of their prayers? For instance, if you are talking with me you don’t need to use my name at the beginning and end of every sentence. So…
When I was younger, I had a framed quote on my bedroom wall from American theologian and author, Reinhold Niebuhr: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.” I liked the thought because I miss-read a…