Posts by Karl Crawford

Every Christmas season for the past few years, my thoughts have gone back to the shepherds to whom Christ's birth was announced. Everything we know about those shepherds is recorded in just thirteen verses in Luke 2. We all know that story: from the angel’s first, “Fear not!;” to seeing the heavenly hosts, to visiting the Baby Jesus in Bethlehem. They never dreamed they would experience anything like this night—ever! And then verse 20 says, “And the shepherds returned...” Did you ever stop to think about what they returned to? It was the same world they had left only a few hours before. Herod still ruled over the Jews. Roman soldiers had free reign to do pretty much as they pleased. Loved ones still got terminal diseases. Spouses and parents still died way too soon. Hucksters still cheated people out of their life’s savings, even in the temple. Children still went prodigal. And possibly, one of their young sons was killed in Herod’s vendetta to do away with the Baby King. Maybe that father wondered why the Infant Savior was hiding in Egypt and his son was killed. Shouldn’t the Savior save; instead of letting innocent babies die in His place? They had to wonder when they would experience this great joy and peace and goodwill that was to be to all people. We can understand their questions. We can understand why the luster of that night with the angels and Baby Jesus would wear off for the shepherds who returned to the same problems they thought had been put behind them. But we know that the shepherds did not see the whole story. We know “the rest of the story,” that the Baby came back from Egypt, we know that He healed the sick, raised the dead, and fed thousands of people with a young lad’s lunch. We know that He confronted the religious leaders who were perverting His Father’s message. And we know that He went to the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven. But just like the shepherds, we live in a world that has not yet been redeemed, we know what it is like to have a dear friend stab us in the back, to have a child go prodigal, to suffer financial ruin, to hear the doctor say, “you have cancer,” or to drive home from a cemetery, leaving behind the dearest person on earth to us. Like the shepherds, we live life on this side of our Lord’s return. Many of us have faced great loss in the past year. Some of us carry a new grief into this Christmas season that we have not known before. But we do not grieve like those who have no hope. We reluctantly yet confidently face the days ahead with a tear in one eye and a ray of hope in the other. We look up for the glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are to live life looking forward, knowing that someday death will be defeated, disease will be eliminated, sin will be judged, and evil will be banished to hell, never to be heard from again. The angel’s promise of good tidings of great joy will be fully realized when we see Jesus face to face and we are reunited with loved ones who have gone on before. The angel said that night long ago, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Just as prophecy was fulfilled in that little Baby in a manger, so will the promise of the Baby’s return be fulfilled. But this time, that little Baby will return as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. And the song will be sung, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.” “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” And that is the promise He made, and this is our hope today and every day, no matter what grief our hearts may carry.

It is common for old-timers, a group in which I am solidly ensconced, to envy the strength and vitality of the youth.  I envy the number of years they have ahead of them.  I would love to do life over again, assuming I would know on the second pass through what I have learned through toil and trouble the first time along life’s journey. But there is no guarantee of days.  The “three score and ten” (Psalm 90:10) is an...

I received news just recently that one of my heroes had left this land for the better one. It was not unexpected, he had been in failing health for many months, needing more and more care from his family to stay in the home he loved at age 91. We, my wife and I, became friends with his daughter and son-in-law many years ago when we all attended the same church. They invited us to St. Ignace to visit Glen...

We might say to a group of people, “God is in your crisis.” But it is entirely different to look into the eyes of a hurting believer and say, “God is in your crisis.” This morning, as I read a commentary on the book of Isaiah, those words, “God is in your crisis,” popped off the page to me. I underlined them…and then I chewed on them as I drove to work. And God rephrased them, He re-emphasized them, “God...

I remember the evening a few years ago now when a visitor attended our church service.  He was a slender man with lots of energy and it was obvious he was trying to find a place to sit.  Certainly, he was aware of the rules for the Crawford Section; that we were very selective about someone invading our turf…but alas, he was not cognizant of our rules made for such a time as this.  I made casual eye contact with...

Roe v. Wade is the name of a Supreme Court case decided back in 1973.  A case that has divided much of the nation since that day.  In my social circle in my tiny berg in Northern Michigan the 1973 decision did not have much impact at the time.  Over the years, the gravity of taking the life of an unborn human being by the choice of the mother seemed very wrong to me.  I began to be more involved...

We all remember the story of Abraham and Sarah waiting so many years for the male child that God had promised them.  This was the only child who could fulfil the promises God had made to them on multiple occasions. (That promise to Abraham and Sarah was made to you and me too.  The promise was not only for their progeny as the sands of the seashore but for a Deliverer.  That Deliverer is as important to me thousands of...

The last few years have been difficult since we were made aware of some new type of flu found in a place called Wuhan on the other side of the world.  “Normal” has become a fading dream as the results of that medical discovery have changed our personal world and our greater world.  I remember the first time I heard on the news of this new virus: “It will affect mainly older people and those with comorbidities” the young newscaster...

My sister-in-law, Kenda, passed away almost 22 years ago now. It doesn’t seem like it could possibly be that long since we have been together. It would have been about this time of year that I would have done her income tax for her after her husband died. And she would have been flummoxed because she was so uncomfortable having people do things for her, in her mind it was to be the other way around. I woke up this...