The Crawford Stand

Work is good. Work is necessary for the fulfillment of every human being. Work is required of every person according to his or her capabilities and talents, so sayeth the Scripture. All of us must work to survive, live, grow and profit and be all that we can be and as God intended us to be.
Our very own America was built on hard work, and is in fact itself a work in progress. The progress depends upon us, we the people, how hard we work and how we make things happen. The majority of we the American people are hard workers. And, the harder and the better we work, the better America and all of us are. To be sure, nothing comes easy in this life, nothing. Everything we have or enjoy is the product of hard work by someone, whether you, or me, or someone else. You and I must do our share, accomplish our calling for the very short time we have on this precious earth. Life, said the wisest man of old King Solomon, is but a vapor here today and gone so soon tomorrow. We should make every working day count to the fullest.
Pioneers built our country. They were men and women who did little but work hard morning till night. They farmed land never before productive. They raised animals and used them for work and feed. They built houses, and churches, and City Halls. They built roads and bridges. They built autos and trucks. They built hospitals and invented medicines. They designed and manufactured clothing. They created places for entertainment and worship. They built elaborate and majestic campuses for education and things theological. They built laboratories and science centers and they sent us deep into space. They were then and we are now the workers who made America great, America, the most exciting, creative human and social experiment in all of history. You and I should be proud of them and we should be proud to be workers like they were. The more we work, the better we are, caught up, energized and thrilled by the spirit of America, our exceptional opportunity to pursue our dreams and to build our future. America and those who believe in what it stands for are indeed EXCEPTIONAL and we have been blessed by EQUALLY EXCEPTIONAL opportunity. As we work, we should do everything possible to protect and defend the opportunities, lifestyles and freedoms which America offers.
How wonderful it is that the talent and ability of every individual God-Made is different, unique. It is marvelous indeed that every single person has talent and gifts which are in fact different. That is true divine diversity. None of us are better at least not in the sight of God, but different only. Each of us has our own special CALLING. So, no matter who you are, YOU are special and it is your right but every bit as importantly your duty to utilize those God-given talents to the fullest. It is your duty to fulfill your calling. So then, we should not be concerned with what others think nor should we judge what we do and how we work by the standards of others. Nor should we be inhibited by their criticism. For we need to know ourselves, be true to that special self and soul which God has created and through prayer and meditation, come to a full recognition of those talents and be the very person God intended that you and I be. We can fail, but we can bounce back. The opportunity for growth and change is still available in America, thank God. Ignore rejection and focus on your calling.
So then, my fellow Americans, you may be called to be a mother. Be all that you can be as a mother for the sake of your children and do your God-given calling with all of your might. Or perhaps you are secretary, or babysitter. Perhaps you clean for a living. Recognize all such work as a calling and do your calling with all of your might. Or perhaps you are plumber, electrician, landscaper, restaurant worker. Do your calling with all of your might and as you can, as unto the Lord. Or perhaps you are lawyer, accountant, radio salesperson, financial planner. Do your calling with all of your might. And if you are the President of anything, including the President of our great United States, you perhaps have a calling with higher standards, duties and demands. No one should do a calling better than you WITH ALL OF YOUR MIGHT!
So, we work, we produce and as we do, we should expect return which of course includes money and profit. We work for economic growth and benefit, for the fruit of our labors. We follow the biblical prescription that we can expect even with minimum work product the return of that work one for one. Or perhaps, five to one. Or even as Scripture indicates, perhaps as much as ten to one or more as we diligently develop and exploit those talents and capabilities through hard work. The money return from our work, efforts, creativity and initiative is blessed by Scripture. That money return is right, as we become work men and work women worthy of our hire. We plant, as Scripture says, and Mother Nature waters and it is GOD who gives the increase so the Scriptures say. It is a good thing to make money and to be rewarded for our work. Money supports. Money helps others. Money creates opportunity. The best of us at work, hard work, is exactly what this world of so many ENTITLED needs now more than ever. In fact, hard and productive work is so necessary for this world of entitlements in which we live in order for it to survive and continue. It is well and good indeed to help those all in real need. But all who can, any and all including those receiving entitlements, should work as they can.
But today, unfortunately it seems, there are those supposedly progressive in thinking who wish to tell us that profit is wrong, especially in excess. That profit made is the result of GREED at work. Profit they say is not as a result of hard work or special skills, but rather the exploitation of others. Ignore them. You are worthy of the profit and gain of anything you produce at any level of life. The more you invest as a mother, the better your child, perhaps better than others. Enjoy the fruit, the profit of your labors. When you build something, revel in the fruit of your labors and do it with all of your might, and better than others. For no matter what progressives or others would say, YOU DID IN FACT BUILD IT, and you did build it yourself. In fact, so much of what is built would not have been built without you or me. Revel in, enjoy and profit from anything and everything YOU BUILT!
But work produces much more than money. Those who understand the value of work realize full well that the doing well of anything is the reward itself! The satisfaction, the fulfillment, the full expression of the self among mankind and before God are THE BEST REWARDS. They are indeed more valuable than money for money comes and goes. But the rewards of work well done last a lifetime and are in fact eternal. We create an earthly balance sheet, personal financial and loss statements here and now, but it is the ETERNAL balance sheet which really counts. Nothing goes with you, no matter what you leave behind, but only the heavenly balance sheet you create. For there is always something more, often much more than the work itself or the profit therefrom. There is good, often enormous good in work well done and even very spiritual good. See that clearly as part of the goal of your calling and WORK which only adds to the return and the enjoyment.
So, the work we do can be not only for money, or profit, but for non-profit. For worthy causes. For the good of society in which we live. For all humanity, especially those in need. For the Christian Church and for the Christ we love and serve. For blood drives. For HIV awareness and treatment. For feeding and sheltering the homeless. For carrying the message of the Gospel to forsaken and needy parts of America and the world. Shepherding and guiding children. Tending to the needs of the elderly. Visiting and comforting those in prison.
THE WORK OF THE LORD AT WORK FOR ALL MANKIND, AS WE ARE CALLED.
All of these things make us what we should be before the Lord and our fellow man.
So many of us are people of faith. But our faith, sayeth Scripture, without works is dead. Whatever you believe, whatever your faith, there is no way for anyone to know whether or not it is real except by your works. Talk is cheap. But by the fruits of your labors your fellow human beings will know you. If there is in fact a work of God in you, a CALLING, a life objective, the works that you do will prove to others who you are. What you and I do not do also proves who we are. The great thinking Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that not to act is to act. Negative actions, doing nothing, can be as potent negatively as actual action itself.
Unfortunately, there are those who do deceitful works and works of iniquity. They are known for their fraudulent and deceitful acts. They work not for the good of mankind, but only for themselves, for ego, for elicit gain in a deceitful way. Their works and their lives are in vain. William Shakespeare said that the evil that men do lives after them, the legacy they make and that evil is the only thing remembered here and in eternity.
So, it is our duty to study, to grow ourselves in our career and constantly make ourselves better, so that we can show ourselves approved as work men and women, understanding the objectives, values and priorities which are ours, always growing in our understanding, especially the Scriptures so that we can be approved by God before him as well as man. Learning, whether a trade or in law, or by gaining experience and growing or by learning from others, or the school of hard knocks, and by mistakes, learning standards of excellence to which we can aspire so that we can be all, ALL we can be, working with all of our might knowing in this world that indeed the night is coming where no man can work. Work while you can and the best you can.
In this life, we slow down, age or perhaps lose interest or motivation, and of course energy and our ability to work dissipates or even ends. With that ends opportunity and potential and we may not have finished what we are called to do. Some retire, or quit, or are forced to retire prematurely. Some of us are fortunate enough to finish and accomplish our objectives and purposes, while others can not. For us, we are fortunate that even Jesus of Nazareth said in John’s Gospel that he had in fact finished the work for which the Father had sent him. He had accomplished His objectives, fulfilled His purposes and He did so to His last dying breath. Our goal, like HIS should be to finish our work, the work for which we were sent by God and meant to do. That is the greatest fulfillment this life can offer.
We are called upon by God Almighty to live every day to the fullest. CARPE DIEM my fellow Americans, seize the day. It is the day which the Lord hath made and for you to work and be productive. Worry not about tomorrow, or the criticism, expectations or even the rejections of any man. It has its own problems-evil-which you can not control or do anything about. But, rather think in terms of how precious every minute of every hour of every day is, and rejoice in that. Maximize the opportunity that minute brings and, whatever your hand finds to do, YOUR CALLING, do it with all of your might. Every God-given minute is indeed an opportunity there once never to return. So that everything we do, everything no matter how menial works together for good. The joy of living is so special. We are told by our Lord that He is come that we might have life in its most ABUNDANT form and that our joy, OUR TOTAL JOY may be full. There is joy in every moment, as we work, as we rest, as we play, as we love others and as we understand who we are and:
BE ALL THAT WE CAN BE
Those who love to work and love as much to be productive and make things happen know that the ultimate reward for such work is:
THE VERY WORK ITSELF
No matter the accolades of man, or profit, or any other earthly benefit, the ultimate reward, the ultimate satisfaction is the work itself. Nothing feels better to any right-thinking person than a job well done, having done the best you can with all of your might.
So then, for the Christian, there is something even greater than works. There is GRACE, saving grace. And no manner of works can ever equal that. The grace at God at work trumps the works of any man, but when added to works, leads to the complete fulfillment of that life. We can and should be proud of the works we do, but the work of God in Jesus Christ, saving grace through Him is the greatest work of all. The combination of grace producing work, the right work is the very best thing in life.
So, my fellow Americans, work hard. Work well, with purpose. Know your calling. Do what you were CALLED to do, and do it in each and every minute, hour and day of your life. Do what your Creator would have you do and you will find fulfillment in that work and in your life. It matters not whether you are housewife or President, millionaire or middle class, never forget that:
YOU AND YOUR WORK ARE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT
YOU AND YOUR WORK ARE UNIQUE, DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHERS
We need not the approval or recognition of mankind however enjoyable that may be. We need to work to be approved by God, who knows us, our every thought and deed. His approval is all that matters.
I and the Crawford Broadcasting Company honor all of the men and women in America who work, and work hard, and make America, family and friends, and all of us so much better and especially those who work as unto the Lord. Find the work you love to do, really love to do and you will never work a day in your life!
God bless you work men and women worthy of your hire and it is because of you that:
GOD WILL BLESS AMERICA

George Barna, he of the ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY, may well be the most respected Christian surveyist in America. In a survey he conducted, released August 6, 2024, on CHRISTIAN EVANGELICALISM and Christianity in America, the Barna survey said the following:
“The cultural awareness sparked by the Covid pandemic and the 2024 Presidential campaign has led millions of Americans to realize just how depraved American society has become. Corrupt politicians, dishonest journalists and media outlets, broken social institutions, immoral religious leaders, unconstitutional government programs and policies, and more, have generated non-stop headlines highlighting the decadence of American society and the demise of the United States.”
That, my fellow Americans and fellow Christians, may be the most damning judgment of our great country in many years. The depth of the depravity in America, says Barna, is shocking. And it really is with no end in sight. The real reason for this satanic cultural decline says Barna:
“is a direct result of the spiritual collapse of Christianity in our nation.”
Barna is right. The once dynamic of Christianity in America does indeed seem gone, tarnished, diminished, of little force and effect, not only nationally and generally, but individually as well.
The survey found that this steep cultural decline emanates from the dramatic transformation in the evangelical community in the United States during the past 30 years. Real evangelicals, however that is defined, seem to be far fewer in number and even more importantly far less biblical in their thinking and beliefs. There has come about the growth of SYNCRETISM, which is a worldview that combines core beliefs and behaviors from a variety of other well-defined worldviews such as Marxism, Secular Humanism, Eastern Mysticism, and Postmodernism. Individuals, in other words, offer their own worldview, belief system, and ultimate values with core beliefs gathered from any number of sources and the Barna survey indicates that as many as 9 out of 10 adults are in fact categorized by this CUT-AND-PASTE approach to their philosophy of life. That also means that any absolute truth claimed by scripture, THE BIBLE, is unacceptable or only acceptable in part, and Christianity, once a dynamic, monolithic force in America and the world, no longer exists. SYNCRETISM has won out over Christianity!
Christians, evangelical Christians, what is left of them, now vote in far fewer numbers than once believed. They are simply far less active in the political process and seem to have little concern for results, so says Barna.
And more, most evangelicals do not possess a biblical worldview with only about one third of so-called evangelicals doing so. In fact, says the Barna survey, evangelicals are more likely to be shaped by the culture around them, than they are to influence that culture or even more importantly, evangelize it.
So then, the ultimate question then becomes:
WHAT IS AN EVANGELICAL?
If the absolute truths of the Bible, the gospel message, the old and new testaments are at best guides and syncretized with other religions and worldviews, and beliefs and values, and that affects evangelicals, what really is an evangelical and what does a real evangelical believe?
Several decades ago, it was thought that there was some 60-70 million adults who were in fact bible believing evangelicals. Barna estimates that today, that figure could be as low as 25-30 million adults. I, for one, do hope and pray that is wrong, for an aggressive, moral, committed, right-thinking and living evangelical is a critical component of the American society.
Barna then goes on to state, as a result of his most recent survey, that the following priorities and beliefs are foundational for the current day evangelical.
First, God is the all-knowing (omniscient), all-powerful, just and perfect creator of the universe.
God is the basis of all truth, and those truths are conveyed to us through the Bible.
The purpose of life is to fully know, love, and serve God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and there is no other besides him.
Satan, representing all evil, truly exists and is the author of the current immoral society.
All humans are born into sin and can only escape the consequences through Jesus Christ.
All such beliefs are incorporated in the Bible, its 66 books, and do in fact comprise basic tenets of belief which a real and true evangelical must embrace and adopt. Do you, as Christian, real Christian, believe in those Christian fundamental and basic tenets, do you?
The Barna survey then concludes that as many as 7 out 10 so-called evangelicals do not believe in all of those tenets and of more concern, reject the idea that truth is absolute and biblically based. Small wonder that Christianity is on the decline and no longer acts as the antidote to the immoral decline in American society.
It is indeed tragic that there are millions of evangelicals who do not vote, so concludes George Barna, are not active in the political process, do not seem to care about political happenings, candidates, or events, and otherwise totally ignore and walk away from their citizenship responsibilities. When these good men and women abandon the political arena, the very bad, immoral men and women take over, exercise power, work to foster things anti-Christian, and further enhance the immoral decay and slide of this once great country. Time, survival time, for all of us, for American democracy, runs out.
More Barna findings. As many as 50% of so-called evangelicals believe that eternal salvation can in fact be earned through good works, something directly contrary to the strong teachings of scripture.
Almost 50% believe, says Barna, that there is no absolute moral truth, again something absolutely contrary to biblical teaching.
And this survey found, shockingly so, that somewhat more than one out of every five so-called evangelicals prefer SOCIALISM TO CAPITALISM! In short, it seems that even the modern-day evangelical has been syncretized, believes something from scripture but otherwise believes whatever they want to believe or whatever they think is right to believe. Small wonder, my fellow Christians, that there is an amazing, considerable, seemingly irreversible immoral decline and slide in America, its culture, politics, and beliefs.
Are you a Christian, and are you an evangelical Christian, and if so, what do you believe, what do you really believe and what is the foundation for those beliefs, the source, the reality of those beliefs? The power of the gospel at work in the lives of individuals, individuals by the millions, is the only real thing which can impact, change, and reverse the immoral slide in this once great country. So that, say many, our motto should not be GOD BLESS AMERICA, but GOD HELP AMERICA! And powerful, moral, people of faith, at work, in control, and dynamic in influence are the only ones who can reverse and save this once great country. I do hope and pray that you are one of those Soldiers of the Cross. That you are ready to put all on the altar and that you will be an active force in politics and culture in America.
And, that you will vote and be active and outspoken in elections 2024!

What makes a leader?
Is a leader born, born with those natural leadership qualities, or is a leader made, made by experience, trial and error?
A leader surely is one who steps up, steps forward, takes charge, one who recognizes the opportunity to provide direction, encouragement.
A leader is surely one who is not afraid to make decisions, take risks, and in extreme cases, be willing to risk life and limb for what he or she believes is right.
A pastor, for example, takes charge. He speaks with voice strong, courageous, especially when those words come from the Lord who has promised to those who love him:
I WILL GIVE YOU THE WORDS!
A leader should surely have perfected the art of:
LISTENING.
Surely for the Christian, one should listen for the direction, the guidance, the wisdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. The meaning of the words is then magnified, and they contain the wisdom of the Lord rather than that of a man.
A leader is strong, courageous, not afraid. A real leader knows that God has not given him or her the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. That loving, sound mind, divinely created, is perhaps the strongest evidence of a real leader.
A mother is a real leader, the captain of the children which God has given her. She trains them, this female leader does, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. She instructs, disciplines, sets standards and values, and by her words and actions, cultivates love and respect not only for her, but for all women, for all humankind.
The values she conveys are strong Christian values, clear standards of right and wrong, and no one in the household in which she is THE LEADER deviates from those standards. She lives those standards by example. She shows her faith by her deeds
and her words always have value and meaning. No household, no husband or wife relationship, no father or mother at work can be all that they can be without the leadership of a mother, a true, loving, god-fearing mother.
A true leader is creative. A plumber analyzes a problem and fixes a toilet. Every true blue collar person at work is creative, a leader, a problem solver, a fixer, taking charge of that situation and making it right. Fixing a broken toilet is leadership at work and that God-given ability can translate to every part of that man or woman’s life. Plumbers are leaders. Carpenters are leaders. Mechanics are leaders. Daycare workers are leaders. Doctors and nurses are leaders. They possess those God-given qualities which can translate to all of life in so many ways.
It should be the task of every man and woman to understand themselves, to analyze their strengths, capabilities, creativity, and understand all the ways in life, everyday life, how they make decisions, take charge, fix problems, and lead. Every single individual God created possesses significant leadership qualities and no one, no matter their calling, career, or life’s work, should ever be disrespected, and perhaps more importantly, never disrespect themselves.
A true leader is loyal. Faithful is he or she in everything.
A true leader is honest. Integrity rules their every thought, word, and deed.
A true leader is positive, knowing that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord. In a negative, often evil world, the positive, make-it-right attitude, approach and conduct proves to all that this man or woman is in fact a true leader.
We are all born with those characteristics. They are inherent, God-given. Unfortunately, so few are recognized or ever developed. But they can be by the experiences of life, from the challenges, the difficulties, the problems which every human being will face. The true character of every person will be challenged in so many ways as life goes on. Our courage and commitment will be challenged. That is especially so if we are spiritually minded, Christian at heart, standing tall and uncompromising for the Lord Jesus Christ we love. Leaders are always at work in little things not just large. Real leaders make leadership decisions in every aspect of life, every day in every way. They follow the example of their Lord, who promised, as our shepherd, that he would lead us in the paths of righteousness, that we would fear no evil, that goodness and mercy would follow us all the days of our lives, and that we should live by those promises.
That very same leader from Nazareth promised that He would guide us with his eye upon us, and in every life situation, bring out the best in us. Trust that, ask for that, believe in that.
You, everyone, were given these strong leadership qualities. You can be a leader in these paths of righteousness and make every person an opportunity in your life better. Believe in yourself. Bring out the best in you, always. Pray for His wisdom, strength, and courage. And you will be all