Dan R. Crawford's Posts (94)

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Making Melody in Your Heart

My mother used to worry about me since I exhibited zero musical skills. She actually bought me a trombone and hired a teacher. He showed me the positions on the slide and the sound each made, then quit during the second lesson, when I played “Whispering Hope” by ear. I sang in the church’s Youth Choir because I was the Pastor’s son. I should have suspected something was wrong when the director suggested that I shouldn’t feel forced to sing in the choir. Yet I love music. Most of my family and some of my best friends are musicians. My father was the only family member with less music talent than I, and he whistled everywhere he went. As a Seminary professor some of my best friends were music professors. I enjoyed going to lunch with them because they didn’t have to mix theology with their vegetables. For a segment of my life I awoke every morning with a song in my head. My mother said it was an answer to her prayer and claimed God had given me her song. I’ve actually put new words to existing hymn tunes, so I’m not totally music-less. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. said, “Alas for those that never sing, but die with all their music in them!” I don’t want to do that. Neither do you. So, bottle it up no longer. Somehow, someway, let your music out, “making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19).

Read more from Dr. Dan at www.discipleallnations.org/blog.

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Is Praying “Thank You” Really Enough?

Lately, I’ve seen an interesting quote circulating. “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, Thank you, that would suffice.” Is that true? How does one reconcile this idea of only saying thank you, with Jesus’ comment to Peter, “I have prayed for you” (Luke 22:32), Paul’s frequent reminder to those to whom he wrote that he was praying for them, or James’ instruction to “pray for one another” (James 5:16). A colleague, who took the time to count, says 78% of the prayers in the Bible are prayers for someone other than self. So, who made this questionable quote? The quote is attributed to Meister Eckhart, also known as Eckhart von Hochheim, a German theologian, philosopher and mystic, who lived in the late 1200s and early 1300s. In later life he was accused of heresy and brought up before the local Franciscan-led Inquisition, and tried as a heretic by Pope John XXII. I encourage you to pray lots of “thank you” prayers, but don’t stop with the advice offered in a popular quote from a heretic theologian. Go ahead and practice biblical praying through intercession, petition, and supplication.

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Walking by Faith

He walks by my house every Saturday morning on his way to worship - black slacks, white shirt, black yamaka on his head, black walking cane. His faith prevents him from driving on the Sabbath, so he walks, with a slight limp, for 22 blocks (3 miles round trip). Rain or shine, hot or cold, he walks. Lately, I’ve had bulging disks in my lower spine that create pain in the sciatic nerve of my right leg and I’ve thought of scaling back my activities, especially those that require excessive walking. But then I see him walking by my house again. If he can walk to worship the God of the Old Testament, surely, I can walk to serve the God of the entire Bible. We used to sing a children’s song, “Walking in the sunlight, walking in the shadow, walking everyday walking all the way, walking with Jesus alone.” Even while praying that the doctors can find something to ease my pain, I will continue to “walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7). How about you?

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When Noise Needs a Silence Break

I’ve always enjoyed silence. Early on, God told Isaiah, “In quietness . . . shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15). Jesus had a pattern of rising early to enjoy the stillness of the morning and occasionally retired to the “mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12). Living in a world of noise, I am finding silence more and more difficult to find. Indeed, my younger friends no little about a world that includes silence. Writing what he calls a, “faith-based theology of technology” Archibald Hart says, “Studies have shown that the average person today, surrounded by the cyber world, can only bear about fifteen seconds of silence” (The Digital Invasion). How sad! While I have made a living out of words, spoken and written, I treasure the quiet, wordless, times. I guess some of those young friends, would refer to me as a “throwback,” but not everything in the past is bad. Without periods of silence, one tends to burn-out on noise. Mary Nelson Keithahn has written a moving verse, “Come away with me to a quiet place, apart from the world with its frantic pace, to pray, reflect, and seek God’s grace. Come away with me. Come away.” Since the noise around me often needs a silence break, I treasure the times away.

More from Dr. Dan at www.discipleallnations.org/blog.

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Known by Our Office

How is a person to be known? Various quotes indicate they are known by their silence, deeds, the company they keep, friends, books they read, tastes/distastes, and thanks to Jesus, “by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). May I add another, or perhaps an application of Jesus’ term “fruits”? A person is known by their office. Early in my ministry, a “decorator” looked at my office and almost had cardiac arrest. “Too stuffy” she said, adding “to uncomfortable” plus a few other terms I dare not repeat. I guess it relates to who your office is for, you, or those who visit you. Since I seldom ever closed the door to my office when I was in it, mine was always open to students and others who wandered by. So what does my office look like? No plants, because I hate to water them. Erma Bombeck said, “Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.” Books? Yes, for reference. Mostly un-read, or read only until boredom set in. Every shelf of books is interrupted with an object that causes guests to comment. Pictures? Yes, of family, of significant scenes, and, of course, baseball. A corner with a prayer bench and multitudes of prayer prompters from places I’ve been and pictures of people I’ve taught or known. Framed money around the upper walls from every country I’ve visited, 56 and counting. Mugs (coffee, not beer) from every university campus where I’ve spoken or ministered. I’ve lost count and broken mugs. Quotes, inspiring and otherwise. Stacks of paper, too many. A colleague was known for cleaning his stacks once every semester, “whether they needed it or not.” And of course a space for my brain to work, remembering a quote by Robert Frost,” The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office.” I attended a funeral service recently where a video was shown of the man’s office. I like that. Someone do that for my funeral. Among other things, I want to be remembered for my office. How about you?

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The Long and Short of Separation

“The long and short of it” is an American idiom, said when one wants to get directly to the point of something without giving details. I’d like to do that with the idea of separation. When he was alive, my father and I attended a host of athletic events together. Occasionally, when an athletic event ends in a surprise victory for the home team, I still reach for the phone to call my Dad and share the celebration. Then I remember, he is gone, and I grieve once again. Why do Christians grieve at the loss of a friend or loved one to death? Most would answer, “separation.” Granted, we believers do not “sorrow as others who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13), but we nonetheless sorrow. We sorrow because we miss the departed, and the younger the grieving one is the longer seems the separation before they are united again. But why does the departed one not grieve? Basically the new arrival in heaven is no longer subject to time or space. “There will be no night there” (Rev. 21:25; 22:5) and if there is no night in heaven, it is one continuous day. So even if the departed one does sense the loss of earthly friends and loved ones, they do not grieve for long because to them, we will simply arrive later in the day.

Read more from Dr. Dan at www.discipleallnations.org/blog.

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Sabbath Rest

Some years ago I read in a psychology journal of a wide-spread, rather expensive survey that determined that man needed to rest one day in every seven. The Tokyo City Zoo discovered the animals were showing signs of stress until they let them have a day of rest from human interaction. Amazing how humans discover what God knew all along. Early on, the Bible declares, “On the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested . . . Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work . . .” (Genesis 2:2-3). The Bible speaks often of a “Sabbath-rest” (Ex. 16:23; Lev. 23:24) and even promises an eternal Sabbath rest (Heb. 4:9). Everyone needs a Sunday, a Sabbath, even if, due to job and other responsibilities, it doesn’t come on Sunday. Albert Schweitzer, a German—and later French—theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary in Africa, said, “Do not let Sunday be taken from you. If your soul has no Sunday, it becomes an orphan.”

Read more from Dr. Dan at www.discipleallnations.org/blog.

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Back of the Line

“Putting on the uniform never gets old.” Those were the words of the new Manager of the Fort Worth Cats minor league baseball team, but with an adjustment or two, they could have been my words. I feel that way about my academic regalia. Long ago I lost count of the graduations and convocations in which I marched in my cap and gown. On those occasions, my attention was often drawn to the back of the line where walked the retired professors, those who had given their lives to the training of the called-out ones, my academic heroes, men and women, “of whom the world was not worthy.” (Hebrews 11:38). I remember thinking, “the last will be first.”(Matthew 20:16). I also remember thinking how honored I would someday be to walk at the back of the line, retired, accomplished, proud. But times change and traditions die. Once retired, I was never once asked to walk in graduation or convocation again. It’s OK! There is a great line in an old spiritual that says, “All of God’s chillun got a robe.” My reservation is secure in a place where time never overrules tradition; my eternal robe has been fitted; my place in line has been assigned. Someday, I’ll put on the heavenly uniform (celestial cap and gown) and it will never, ever get old again, even if I’m at the back of the line.

Read more from Dr. Dan Crawford at www.discipleallnations.org/blog.

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Further Along

The book began with the words, “This book is by the one who thought he’d be further along by now, but he’s not.” It doesn’t matter who wrote the book, for its author is legion. Nor does it matter the title of the book, for the opening line describes the book everyone hoped to write someday. How have we learned so much, yet applied so little? How have we grown so much, yet matured so little? Oh, I know a few whose ego allows them to believe they have arrived at perfection or at least they camp out in its vicinity. I remain their friend because I figure they need someone who sees through them and still likes them. I know many who are still on pilgrimage, struggling ever upward to their goal, however they understand it. I remain their friend also for we are sometimes on the same stretch of road and it’s good to fellowship with the like-minded. I also know of an Apostle named Paul who wrote, “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice” (Romans 7:19). I thought Paul would have been further along on his journey by the time he wrote this. Press on fellow pilgrim! 

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Number One or Other

During my first year in High School I was relegated to the Junior Varsity baseball team. The next year I was determined to make the varsity. When the uniforms were passed out I was given #25, not one of my hoped-for numbers. When I asked the coach why I got #25, he replied, “Because we only have twenty-five jerseys to hand out.” In other words, I was player #25 to make the team. My wife was engaged to another guy before we became engaged. I was the second choice to be the Director of Baptist student ministries at the University of Texas. When I was hired by the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board (then called Home Mission Board), I was told they had been interviewing people for one year. Two professor candidates were interviewed for the position I occupied for twenty-two years at Southwestern Baptist Seminary. So, what’s the point? You don’t have to be #1 to be chosen. Our first choice at manager of our own life is our self. That’s why we have to reject self and, “accept” Christ, making Him Lord of our lives. But here is the really good news, Jesus said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). With God, I am #1, and so are you!

To read more from Dr. Dan, go to www.discipleallnations.org/blog.

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Morality, or Spirituality, or Both?

Over the years, I’ve had friends who had strong spiritual convictions but low moral standards. The results of such lifestyles have been displayed widely in the media. I fear what has been revealed in the spotlight is only a fraction of what has been practiced in the shadows. More recently I have developed friendships with those who have strong moral beliefs, but not much spirituality. Must it be either/or? Can it not be both/and? Jesus found a way to incorporate both spirituality and morality into one lifestyle, so much so that his spirituality infuriated the religious leaders, who likely lacked moral convictions, and His solid morality was described as, “in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Expounding on this balance, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values - that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.” However you say it, the ideal is a God-intended, Jesus modeled, lifestyle balance of healthy morality and solid spirituality.

For more from Dr. Dan, go to www.discipleallnations.org/blog.

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From Tablet to Tongue

The skeptic asked me, “Why do Christians talk so much about God?” Good question. Everyone talks about what is important to them, what’s in their heart. Maybe it’s about kids or grandkids, or the weather, or ball scores, or the latest movie or song, or a new found friend. So the path is from the heart to the tongue. While Christians do the same, something additional is in our heart. Moses wrote God’s laws/commands on tablets of stone (Exodus 24:12). Twice, the writer of Proverbs used the phrase, “The tablet of your heart” (Prov. 3:3; 7:3), indicating we are to write God’s laws/commands on our hearts – the true inner self which determines who we really are – to be felt, remembered, and shared. Jesus added, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45). So, here’s the Christian path – God’s law/commands given in a lasting, permanent, unchanging manner (“tablets of stone”), transferred to us (“tablet of your heart”), and then shared from our heart with others. What a wonderful opportunity we have at the Christmas season to share with others – from tablet to tongue.

For more from Dr. Dan Crawford check his blog at www.discipleallnations.org/blog.

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Understood

I once had a friend who responded to almost everything said to him with a one word reply – “Understood!”  It was his way of assuring the talker that he had listened and processed what was said. I sometimes wondered if he really understood or if he was just in the habit of giving that response.  Then I came across a quote from Stephen Covey, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” Ouch! As one who has made a living by speaking (preaching/teaching/advising/consulting/etc.), I plead guilty.  In fact I have lately caught myself replying with what I thought was a better story, a stronger point, a funnier joke.  Many years ago, I memorized a verse that I need to refresh in my thought process. “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak” (James 1:19). It was Epictetus, an ancient Greek sage and Stoic philosopher who said, “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” Understood!

Read more from Dan Crawford at www.discipleallnations.org/blog.

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God’s Will . . . My Will

We divide and categorize people in many ways – politically, racially, economically, denominationally, geographically. The Bible divides people into two groups – those who follow God’s will and those who don’t. Many use their God-given freedom of choice to choose their own way. My granddaughter graduates from college soon. She recently shared with me her feelings of doing something different with her life than her college major prepared her to do. My response was that you do what you feel God is leading you to do and watch to see how everything you’ve thought was God’s will (including a college major) is used by God in your future. Examples of this truth are legion. God has a plan, a purpose for your life. Accept and follow, or reject and refuse to follow. The Bible says it this way: “The Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back” (Isaiah 14:27)? Written by Bo and Dick Baker for a youth camp in the mid-1950s, “His Way . . . Mine” became a favorite for many a youth and young adult who discovered God’s will for their life, myself included:
“Now in His will my soul finds life worth living
Each day new blessings from above
Tho’ shadows come and valley’s seem unending
Still I know He makes a way for me.”

Read more of Dr. Dan’s Monday Morning Manna at www.discipleallnations.org/blog.

 

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