This morning I couldn’t sleep, so at 4:20 I decided to get up and get in the word. I am currently reading through the book of John and this morning reading John 13 something unique stood out to me for the first time. I have read the story about Jesus washing his disciples feet many times through out my walk with God. For some reason I have never realize that Judas was there when Jesus washed his disciples feet. Washing the feet of people during that time was reserve to non-jewish slaves. It was especially not meant for the Savior of the world. Jesus not only served the committed disciples, but he showed loved and served someone who would betray him. It blows my mind how Jesus could do this. I struggle at times serving my wife, kids, and close friends, let alone those who have betrayed or hurt me in the past.

I started asking how could Jesus serve and love someone who would betray him. I believe the answer if found in the next chapter in John 14:6 ““I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. Jesus was able to serve Judas because he was secure and confident in his calling. I have realized that people whom I have been around that are great servant leaders are the ones who are secure in who God has called them to be. When your secure you don’t look to things to validate your calling, you look to God for validation. This allows you to do things that others would see as beneath them because you aren’t looking for things to validate who you are. I really struggle at times looking to other things like ministry and business growth, accolades, and many other things to affirm me as a Christ follower, husband, and leader. The truth is that to be a great servant leader like Jesus we must be secure in who God has made us to be.

I would love to hear your thoughts

As a recovering coward I realized that “Courage Changes Culture”. Throughout the history of the world it’s only been people who had courage to step out and do something that others thought to be impossible, that have changed the course of history. I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes by Winston Churchill: “History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it”. People like Winston Churchill, Martin Luther, Rosa Parks, Dr. King, St. Patrick, and many others knew that one brave act of courage could change culture forever.
One of my favorite books of the Bible is the book of Joshua. It’s about a young leader who was called to help lead millions of people into there destiny. He was following arguably one of the greatest leaders to walk the planet in a man by the name of Moses. Following Moses would be like trying to follow Michael Jordan as the two guard for the Chicago Bulls. Joshua had a huge assignment before him and there were many things God could have said to him, but He emphasized one thing in Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go”.

God knew that in order for Joshua to change culture, he was going to have be courageous. The question I want to ask us is simply this: Are we living a life that changes culture? If not, what do must we do to change? .

I realized that as I have gotten older, I have become more and more of a coward. I find myself not willing take risks or believe for big things because I am afraid of the outcome, what it may cost, or the disappointment if I fail. I have easily justified it as being “responsible”, but when you cut through my crap I have been a straight coward.

A few months ago when I had this revelation of what I had become it really was hard, because ultimately I stopped trusting God and started playing it safe. I was trying to protect and not loose what He had blessed me with. The reality that hit me was that cowards have never changed the world, but bold courageous heroes have. I prayed and asked God to help me not to be a coward anymore. My name is Adrian Crawford and I am a recovering coward. Over the next few posts I will talk about what God has been teaching me through this process.

Watching the NBA Playoffs has been very exciting this year. Beside the awful officiating, it has been one of the best playoffs in recent history.  As I am watching the contact that guys like Lebron James, Dwight Howard, and Kobe Bryant are taking, it reminds me of growing up and learning how to take a “hard foul”.

In middle school we would play lunch time basketball and to this day it counts as some of the most competitive games I have ever experienced. I remember that when we would get to game point, we had a rule of ‘no easy baskets’. That meant that, even if you had to ‘kill’ someone, you did not let them score. I remember going to the basket and what happened to me, it should have been a federal crime. I remember that at first I used to shy away from the contact because of the pain I was going to feel and I would never make a game point basket.  Something interesting happened one day and I decided that on game point I wasn’t going to shy away from the pain anymore. I decided I was going  to embrace it and go towards the contact.. Something amazing happened: I got fouled really hard, but it didn’t stop me, and I scored the game winner!

I never realized the lesson I learned on a playground during lunch would help me in life. It started dawning on me recently that I was shying away from the “hard fouls” of life. I was running from tough situations instead of embracing them and going after them like I did on the middle school basketball court. As leaders we must realize that God wants us to not shy away from hard times, but to embrace and attack them. That doesn’t mean it’s not going to be painful, but the truth is we are going to experience the pain any way, so we might as well go towards it. I believe even in the midst of tough times we can live how Paul tells us to, in hard times: 2 Timothy 2:3 “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus”.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

My wife and I were in Kingston, Jamaica for the last few days for a wedding. It was my first time there and it was great! Late on Sunday night I was having my “Encounter Time” with God ( I call it encounter time because that is what I want to do every time I spend time with Him). I was reading in Deuteronomy and in the first 8 chapters, one word that I kept reading was ‘remember’.

As we all know, God did some tremendous miracles during the time of Moses’s leadership with the Israelites. In case you don’t know or recall them all, here are a few ‘minor’ miracles:
• Rescued them from a dictator by sending plagues the world has never seen before: Hail, Locusts, Darkness, Livestock, and much more.

• Parting the Red Sea so that upwards of a million people could cross it. Also killing the most powerful army on the planet at the time.
• Feeding and hydrating millions of people in a wilderness and desert for 40 years. His only means were the sky and a rock.

God wanted them to remember, because He knew that human nature is to forget the great things God has done for us when we are going through tough times. He was getting ready to take them into their promised land and He knew they would have some tough moments ahead of them, so He wanted them to remember how good He was even though their current circumstances didn’t look like it.
Before we enter our Promised Land we will most likely have a time where our circumstances look bleak. In those moments we must “remember” when and how God has already shown up in our lives. It may be that He performed a super-natural miracle, answered a prayer, or set you free from entanglement. It’s these bleak moments that test and grow our faith to make it as Peter wrote “pure as gold”. In order to occupy the “Promised Land” God is giving you, one thing you must do is “remember” what He has done for you in the past. The biggest thing we must constantly remember as members of the New Covenant, is the death and resurrection of Jesus. That one act shows us how much God loves us and is for us.