Author: John W. Crowder
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What the Winter Field Knows
Toward the end of winter, if you stand at the edge of a field and look across it, everything tells you the same thing. The ground is gray and brown. Nothing is moving. Nothing is growing. If you trusted your eyes alone, you would conclude that the field is finished, that whatever life it once…
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The Strongest Word in the Hymnal
By John Crowder | View from the Vine | Faith & Christian Life There is a word we have sung for generations in Baptist churches, a word that shows up in some of the most beloved hymns and in the testimonies of ministers who describe how they came to their calling. The word is surrender.…
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Top 10 Reason to Pray the Bible
Most of us pray the same things in the same words every single day. Not because we don’t mean it — but because we’ve run out of words. Donald Whitney, in his book Praying the Bible (Crossway, 2015), puts his finger on the problem precisely, “When we pray, we tend to say the same old…
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How a Rabbit Trail Became a Devotional Guide
What if every day in June someone could spend a few minutes learning more about Jesus and getting closer to Him by thinking about one of His titles.
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Stop Covering It Up
God is not interested in how polished we look on the outside when the inside tells a different story.
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Dead Corn and Divine Plans
Drive through Central Texas in July and you will see something that puzzles a lot of people who don’t live around here. The fields are full of corn that looks dead. The stalks are brown and dried out. The ears are drooping. Everything about it looks like something went wrong. I have heard people ask…
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Yesterday’s Trophy Won’t Win Today’s Game
Corey Seager was the World Series MVP in 2023. Today he has gone 27 straight at-bats without a hit. Trophies don’t get you hits — and past experiences with God, as real and sacred as they are, don’t substitute for fresh dependence on Him today.
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Under a Broom Tree
Elijah was the greatest prophet in Israel’s history — and one day he sat under a broom tree and asked God to let him die. If you have ever known that kind of exhaustion, you are in good company. The God who met Elijah in the wilderness has not stopped paying attention.
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Restore the Joy
That joy is not manufactured by positive thinking or spiritual effort. It flows from the reality that we are known by God, loved by God, covered by God.