Lance Crawford

Elijah’s First Birthday on Flickr.

My boy is 1 year old today! He’s the biggest blessing I could ever ask for.

364 days old

In my favorite city with my favorite person (Taken with instagram)

Natural Leader vs. Spiritual Leader. Just put this on my desktop to remind me of my priorities. From Oswald Sanders’ Spiritual Leadership.

Hey Philemon,

What is wrong with you? You’re awesome. I’m inspired by you. Tell your wife and church I say hello.

I demand that you Would you do me the favor of reuniting with Onesimus? He’s better now, I promise. I know he probably stole some stuff from you, but he misses you and wants to be friends. Please charge his debt to my tab. I know you’ll do the right thing!

I’m getting out of jail soon and crashing at your place. Please prepare my room.

In Christ,

Paul (Mark, Luke and others say hi too!)

Dear Timothy,

Here are four things people love:

• Arguing over things that don’t matter
• Believing lies
• Religion
• Themselves

Isn’t that silly/absolutely insane? Anyway, don’t be afraid to speak the truth.

I’m proud of you.

- Paul

P.S. Bring me my coat and my books. I’m dying here (literally)!

Dear Galatians, Jesus + anything = nothing. Jesus + nothing = everything. I love you morons. -Paul

Today’s excerpt from My Utmost for His Highest destroyed me (in a good way). I put my convictions in bold:

“Despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him.” Hebrews 12:5

It is very easy to quench the Spirit; we do it by despising the chastening of the Lord, by fainting when we are rebuked by Him. If we have only a shallow experience of sanctification, we mistake the shadow for the reality, and when the Spirit of God begins to check, we say - oh, that must be the devil.

Never quench the Spirit, and do not despise Him when He says to you - “Don’t be blind on this point any more; you are not where you thought you were. Up to the present I have not been able to reveal it to you, but I reveal it now.” When the Lord chastens you like that, let Him have His way. Let Him relate you rightly to God.

“Nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him.” We get into sulks with God and say - “Oh, well, I can’t help it; I did pray and things did not turn out right, and I am going to give it all up.” Think what would happen if we talked like this in any other domain of life!

Am I prepared to let God grip me by His power and do a work in me that is worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me; sanctification is God’s idea of what He wants to do for me, and He has to get me into the attitude of mind and spirit where at any cost I will let Him sanctify me wholly.

Forget good theology. This is why I love Francis Chan…

Married this girl 2 years ago today. Totally lucked out.

September 21, 2009 has etched a vivid memory in my brain. It was a Monday afternoon, and I was spending some time reading this book for the 2nd time. I don’t remember what page I was on or what I was wearing (as you should when having a spiritual epiphany), but I do remember God spoke to me so clearly, that there was no doubt in my mind I had heard from him. It was an instant, quiet, almost-audible voice that said, “Plant a church in Asheville.”

Let me go back a few years. During college, my wife (just my ridiculously good-looking friend then), Stephanie, and I had visited Asheville separately with our families. During the several times I visited, I remember thinking how weird it was. There were loads of local artists, musicians, self-proclaimed hippies. I loved it. Stephanie felt the same way. So, during our short year and a half of dating and engagement, we visited Asheville a couple times and completely fell in love…and not just with each other, but with the city, too! When we got married, we never considered Asheville as a future home for our family. Living in Asheville was more of a pipe dream rather than a possibility. Tallahassee seemed like a permanent home to us. That is, until September 21, 2009.

Back to my spiritual epiphany. As soon as I felt God speak these words to me, I was overcome with a large helping of fear and an equal dose of excitement. I had never really considered planting a church, being a lead pastor, or moving to Asheville. But, in that instant, everything changed. I walked out into the living room of our one-bedroom apartment and began to tell Stephanie what I had just heard. Her look matched her response: “Let do it.” We talked and dreamed for a while about what was happening. I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into. I just knew I had to obey.

I called my dad that afternoon to share the news. I think I partly wanted confirmation from a wise man and partly wanted to share my excitement with someone who wouldn’t think I was out of my ever-loving mind. My dad delivered on both counts. He confirmed and shared that he knew I would be called to North Carolina. He seems to know a lot of things before I do. Go figure. I wasn’t sure what my next steps were, so I did what any good Christian boy called to start a church does: I applied to seminary. I also started reading anything I could get my hands on that had the words “church” and “plant” in the title. I was in over my head from Day 1, but was eager to see where God would lead.

My wife and I spent a month reflecting on what God had spoken before I shared it with my boss and pastor, Brian. He also confirmed the calling and the rest is history. I won’t lie, there’s been many scary/discouraging/doubtful/impossible/pathetic moments thus far along the journey. But the clarity of September 21, 2009, has always kept me continuing in obedience with laser-sharp focus. This is not something I chose to do. This is something God chose to do, and He has graciously allowed me to be part of it. I don’t know exactly what lies ahead. I just know I have to obey.