Author: John W. Crowder
-
Light Before the Sun
There is a subtle mystery on the first page of the Bible that most of us read right past. On the very first day, God speaks and something happens. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). Light floods the empty darkness and completes Day 1. Notice that the sun…
-
It’s Just a Tie Unless You Know the Story
I wore a tie to church recently, which is rare for me. I usually save a tie for the Sundays when we share the Lord’s Supper. This one was white, and to anyone looking at it from the pew, it was nothing special. But I knew the story behind it, and that changed everything. When…
-
The Preacher as Artist
The sermon is a work of art. That is not just a metaphor. It is a theological conviction about what preaching actually is and why we do it. What Preaching Is Not The sermon is not a motivational speech. Motivational speeches are energetic and inspiring and they have their place, but the pulpit is not…
-
A Light for the Ones We Can’t See Yet
A lighthouse is a strange thing when you stop to think about it. Nobody builds one for the people who are already safe in the harbor. The folks standing on the shore with their feet on dry ground do not need a beam of light sweeping across the water. The lighthouse exists for the boat…
-
Room for One More
There is an empty chair sitting on our platform at church right now. The first Sunday people saw it, I’m sure they were wondering why a single chair was parked up front with nobody in it. It was there to remind us about the building we are planning. We do need the reminder, because we…
-
-
Because He is Faithful
There is a certain kind of house that everyone ought to get to grow up near. Maybe it was a grandmother’s place, or an aunt’s, or the home of a neighbor down the road. What made it that kind of house was something simple. The door was always open to you. You did not have…
-
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…
-
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.…
-
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…