Author Archives: Dr. Greg Crawford

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About Dr. Greg Crawford

I'm a spiritual father, apostle, revelatory teacher, author and conference speaker. I have helped many leaders through transition into greater expressions of the Kingdom of God. I am on a quest to see ancient paths and ways of God restored to bring a more authentic expression of Christianity upon the earth. I have a heart for the emerging generations, and to help form a place for creatives to be free to have expression. I enjoy hiking, camping, exploring nature and off road motorcycle riding in remote trails.

Fathering, Sufferings, Restoring Hearts

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I just want to share my heart on some things as I reflect today of all those invested into. I am reflecting back on the multitude of pastors overseas, the students in our school of ministry and the current group of connections. One thing that seems to happen is different people connect in different season and for some reason then disconnect I have to honestly say I don’t see a kingdom pattern for the disconnect. Paul connected with Timothy for a life time. The 12 apostles hung around  together. Paul had certain teams who were still connected with him. But still Paul had those who abandoned him while in prison. It was only a handful who remained with him to the end! So what causes the disconnect?

As I am going to my 35 class reunion this weekend, I just got word of the death of a man who was a classmate of my son, who graduated from the same high school I did. He did not see his 15 reunion.  A young life taken so quickly and unexpected. I thought of the parents and grief their heart must be feeling. I thought of the wife and young child left. How does a heart go forth without becoming callused? How do you not become disheartened with life?

I know Paul and Jesus felt this same type of lost concerning those they had invested in and a nurtured in  spiritual growth. We say it is not permanent like a natural death when one walks away. But in many ways the eternal consequences could be the same.  The Father of the prodigal son must have felt some of the same feelings of lose as he stated my “son who once was lost is now found”. He had hope of the return as he was looking for him, but I imagine his faith had to supersede his disheartened state.  He was suffering as he carried the lose of his son daily. Yet through suffering we learn obedience. We see to the obedient state he responded with, when his son came home. He was able to reveal the heart of restoration to his son.

I have felt the disheartened state as sons and daughters have disconnected and seemingly become “dead” towards me. For those spiritually fathering it is very real feeling like the lose of a son or daughter. In some ways the grief is very similar. All those who spiritually father know what I am talking about. The desire to go on with life and keep trying can be overwhelming. But then God sends another towards you to minister to.

That is what happened again this week as I talked with a young woman this past Wed night. She is 20 years old and wants to serve God with her life. She is moving into full time ministry and taking training.  In the conversation I just heard  the Holy Spirit to say, “you need to be healed of your father’s wounds as this is hindering your identity.” She then told me her dad had left her a few years back and she has no contact with him. My heart again reached out. I think this is the key to fight dis-heartedness, to reach outward and not keep looking inward. There are those in need of answers and truly desiring help.

The hope all Spiritual fathers have, is not only the fulfillment of their sons and daughters fully functioning and impacting, but also a hope exist in all those who have disconnected to reconnect. This reconnecting helps ignite faith again and gives hope back. It I believe it helps heal the loses we suffer. This to in the last week has happened as I re-connected with a spiritual daughter who was out of contact with for almost 4 years. We talked as if there was no gap in relationship. This to has encouraged my heart greatly.

Anointing Is Not A Function

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What crowds in on, and takes away the anointing, is business of life. I have seen it time and time again. I have experienced it myself. I believe all believers fight it. But if the anointing is truly the divine enablement of God to do what we cannot do then how does business affect the degree of anointing? The real definition of anoint means to be set apart, consecrated, smeared or marked. It is more a state of being than a function God performs through us. Many I believe are saying “it’s the anointing” when in reality anointing is a past tense reality walked out in a present tense moment. What we are to be seeing is the outcome of being anointed. The outcome of being set apart! The outcome of consecration!

We say things like “wow that was anointed”! The reality is it was anointed way back before it was seen. What we are commenting on it’s the manifestation of the anointing! Something that has been through a long process. If we are waiting on a certain anointing to come in a meeting we will be waiting a long time. This is why we do not see things like in other nations. We are not going through the consecrating actions before we speak or minister. Anointing is not an indicator of character fully developed. So a person can be anointed in certain areas and in other areas have zero anointing. In other words anointing is a private act of God working out a person’s walk and not a corporate moment. Hence business in life crowding out God time and moments of dealing will decrease the process time required and diminish the anointing. What we have been calling anointed is only a glimpse into a person’s personal secret moments with God. It is the overflow that we minister from, and not so much a new flow we are trying to find!

Word That Encourages Me Personally

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“See how they suffer for righteousness’ sake. But see the steadfastness of spirit and faithfulness in the midst of the suffering. The Father’s heart is lavished upon them in their suffering, that He might reveal Himself more fully and encourage them in their journey. Not many will stand with them, but God has chosen them and will put His glory in them.

God has made covenant with them and they are set apart to break open many avenues for the Great Outpouring of the Spirit. The hedge of protection is around them for the completion of the work. There are 2,000 people in this country who carry the same mandates as them, but they are blazing the trail for multitudes to come into the greater glory of God.

Only purified vessels can walk in the midst of the fire. They have been speaking of sanctification and carry the end time message of consecration. It shall be released and fall like fire from heaven upon the churches. There are flames of fire hovering over the churches (like cloven tongues of fire). Such purity we have not seen since the days in the garden.

Such protection, Satan knows this is hollowed territory. Its like the fire and the cloud separating Egypt from the children of Israel. The trials have been abundant, but the strength of spirit is more abundant. Champions, warriors. So much yet lies ahead. So many storehouses yet to be opened. Storehouses of weapons for different battles. They must not ask for ‘just enough to get by on’. For the storehouses are overflowing and there is enough provision to carry out their mandates. As they engage the covenant, all of heaven moves and the earth responds. Someone has said, “but how can it be, they are so small?” But the 7-fold Spirit of God has empowered them!”

Peggy Miller Prophet

A Leader and Faithfulness

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Today as I was reading an article on leaders who are unqualified to teach, it reminded me of how many leaders were unqualified when God first called them. The one common thing all had was faithful hearts. Josephs heart was tried by the word he had been given. Moses heart was tried as well as God called him to be a deliver after many years of wilderness experience. We all know David’s heart was also right and after Gods own heart. Paul’s heart was to please God even though as a religious leader he faithfully persecuted believers until conversion. It seems all were faithful with the truth they had been given and when more truth came that faithfulness enabled them steward it as well.

I was on assignment last night to deliver a word to man. The word touched him deeply. It can be applied to almost anyone. I did say almost anyone. It went like this: “Consider my servant (the man before me) who has had a faithful heart. I will now show myself through his life in an amazing way. Watch his life and see what I will faithfully do.”

The entire world is watching to see if our lives will show faithfulness to what we believe. But are we studying those leaders who had lived faithful lives, and God has done something amazing in their life? The Holy Spirit spoke to me as I was reflecting on this and said, “I am looking for faithful leaders to pour my spirit through that people would see my faithfulness in their lives. I can do more with the uneducated man who yields to me than the most educated man who has become a fool in his knowledge.”

We discredit leaders by looking at them through the eyes of how much education they have or knowledge they have attained. Both of these are manmade standards and not how God views the spiritual qualifiers he measures by. God is always looking at the heart and faithfulness emerges from the hidden place of the heart. It comes from an intimate relationship that is so cherished and guarded that no circumstance, comments, problem or discouragement will shift its position. From that place of passion, faithfulness is born and comes upon the scene. It is not a decision to act, or move because of obligation but is a response already decided before any opportunity arises.

Faithfulness produces a stewardship that will yield fruits of experiences in God. That stewardship is not just assignments or task to complete; those are only testing tools to reveal to others a person’s heart. The real stewardship is a persons life, their hidden driving forces and motives behind their actions. These play into true faithfulness. Faithfulness is not a persons own will power to perform. This stewardship of a person’s life is what God wants celebrated. Those experiences which come from the stewardship of a life full of truths will teach Gods principles more than any laid out man breathed dissertation can every bring.

Freedom or Liberty?

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A nation celebrates its birth today and recognizes its freedom, but can we truly feel its liberty? With so many nations in turmoil and the earth groaning in this hour for the manifest sons of God, who will truly walk in more than freedom but liberty? Freedom is the power to determine an action without restraint.  It is individualistic.  This is not always good and many times leads us into corruption. Hence what we see politically in our nation. Liberty deals more with the rights of a person who is under governmental rule. Liberty is to a corporate people. Liberty means freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control external or foreign rule, obligation and hampering conditions of being able to do, think or act. As we see we have lost sight of liberty for the sake of freedom.

Our founder fathers sought after liberty more than unrestrained freedom. Whom the son sets free is free indeed. But do not use that freedom to be entangled again with sin. Freedom that is not under liberty is actually a person own interpretations to not be restrained by liberty. The biblical foundation for liberty is where the presence of the Lord is there is liberty. God’s presence is governmental and has the ability to hold restrain upon freedom that it will not become a condition that hampers a nation.

Today the Holy Spirit said “How are people using their freedom? Are they using it to voice their opinion and rights or are they using it to fight for liberty? Who is using the freedom of Christ to bring the Liberty of the kingdom of God upon the earth to shift nations?” for me this is my meditation today.

Apostles Have Seen the Lord

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All apostles have had an encounter with the Lord that forever changed their life. It actually was a requirement in filling the apostolic role left after Judas died. In Acts 1:21 we see they listed the qualifiers they were looking for and one of them was to be a witness of his Resurrection. They choose Mathias. The others were qualified and probably fulfilled apostolic ministry as well, even though there names are never mentioned again. This ministry and apostleship, as verse 25 stated, required specific qualifiers.This same pattern is seen as Paul on the road to Damascus has an encounter with the risen Lord and is started into apostolic ministry. Paul’s encounter was different and his call was different. He was called to “bear Christ name”. Today I ask two questions to those calling themselves apostles. First what are you apostolicing? Second tell me of the encounter you had with the resurrected Christ that started your apostolic ministry.

From Sub-culture to Counter Culture

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In this hour of the Church, with so much upheaval and division over political agendas and candidates, we need to be sure we are advancing the Kingdom of God and not the kingdom of man. As  those who are the true Ecclesia, we must begin to take our role as governing the spiritual realms to establish a Kingdom upon the earth that the structure of man, both political and economical, would be willing to participate in and draw wisdom from it.

As the Church, we have become a subculture like any other subculture within our nation. We have less voice than the recent rising voices of homosexuality, women’s rights, etc. This is due to the eroding away of the Church’s culture of morality and holiness and allowing ourselves to lose footholds we once had in place. For the most part, we have become irrelevant in the decision making process of our government.

We are in dire need of a true spiritual awakening. An awakening that would once again position us as a voice within a culture. Our biblical knowledge from the tree of good and evil is not enough  to convince the gainsayers that we have the goods. We must eat from the tree of life to confound the wisdom of the wise and allow virtue to flow forth touching hearts and shifting culture.

In our last Awakening Fires gathering, our speaker Eric Reeder, had a divine revelation from Act 3. “Why are we constantly passing by what is broken to go and enter into a place (the temple) that Jesus said was no longer relevant?” Amazing revelation! When we look more closely, we can see that once virtue flowed, holiness came and position in culture was shifted from inside the walls to Solomon’s porch. That positioning caused a great stir as it came from a Psalms 133 posture. The previous Psalms were spoken as they ascended the steps of the temple to the porch. Psalms 133 was spoken as they stepped onto the porch.

This touching of a small part of the culture, a man begging at the gate Beautiful, allowed Peter and John to have a platform, Solomon’s porch, from which to begin to educate the people. As I look at things, it appears we want all or none, when in reality the Biblical pattern was portions were given to show stewardship of truth before more was given.  Eventually the whole was impacted and felt the effect of the Kingdom. Not all became Christian, which is not really our assignment. Our real assignment is to make disciples, thus disciple nations. That is about Kingdom impact more than conversions. Conversions without true deep discipleship will not change nations but will create a subculture within a nation. For the most part, this is what we have done. We have healed them at the gate to only drag them into the temple into what is no longer significant, thus keeping them in an old model and not putting them on Solomon’s porch, a place of audience before nations and a place nations came to hear the wisdom of God.

Maybe we need to stop walking by what is broken. Maybe once people are healed, we need to no longer bring them into what is insignificant. Perhaps we are not the voice of the hour because we have not stewarded what is within us by allowing the virtue to flow out of us to impact the world around us.

A Leaders Heart Deposit

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A leader must not deter from the primary assignment on their life. If you do, you will not fulfill that assignment and you will not release the deposit that leads to your destiny. Nehemiah was a man who had no real position of importance but what was important was the deposit in His heart that God had placed there. As he started out on his journey, he thought he was still doing a physical act of rebuilding what was torn down. Little did he know that when we answer the cry of God’s heart through our heart, that the spiritual ramifications are far reaching. Not only did he fulfill the restoration of physical things but also the true spiritual condition of a nation’s culture. The principle is the deposit of God’s heart in our heart is further reaching than our understanding in the current moment.

A New Season

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Malachi 1:13-14, 2:17

We come into a new season, the world around us has escalated it’s behaviors. Even the church herself has been bewildered, saying, “where is God’s standard on this? Is such really the standard?” She spins to and fro trying to find her bearings, how to please the men of earth and still look lovely in her white garments?

In the last season we’ve drowned the ears of God with pleas of mercy on our nation…but we are not the sacrifice we should be..and God is wearied that the very answer cries out for relief.

In this season our lives are the abiding standard. You may call if difficult, but there is grace. The issue is simple and straight-forward, and the answer is in the obedience.

What lover sees their own entangled in the embraces of another and says, “Oh, it is well. Such is my lot, I will take what I am given?” Even the heathens know this is not love. And yet we are content to offer God whatever He may receive of our unwilling hearts, and then we expect Him to turn our naked, lamed sacrifice into a warhorse to carry us off into the sunset?

The heart of God is not cruel, nor is He unjust. He is not reproaching us on behalf of every mis-deed on the earth, no. He is reproaching us on behalf of our own.  Mal 1:13-14

We have the seed, the standard that the earth desperately needs. If we remove our hearts or our standards, if we refuse to engage, there is NO STANDARD in the earth. And yet we behave as if it is upon the Lord to raise up another to illeviate our pressure. The only illeviation our pressure will receive is to fulfill our purpose. God’s pressure is deliberate and will remain until the church takes up her position. How very coy and foolish of us to assume that we could politely bow out in favor of easier days.

“For what if the Lord hath brought you into the earth for such a time as this?”

Do we think the tremendous grace upon all our lives is by mistake? Look upon where you stand and from whence you have come….and do not be so foolish.

We are the answer, the standard. You know my love for Tolkein. We are the Rohirrim, the Men of the West and the last standard between the unarmed people and the orc population, between the Kings of men and despair. Did we think that we would not feel the pressure of our days? Nay! But we are the only ones with the means to lift up the heads of our people and hold our gates. So the question of the heart of our patient and loving God is this: You have a Well-male among your flocks. A ready sacrifice. You have the means. You are the means….and yet you bring me your lame and keep back your sacrifices? Are you all or are you none?…for I will have no lover secondhand…

Brittany Grindley