There is this great lie that most of us live in, the lie that if we somehow just don’t rock the boat, life will stay as it is. We say to ourselves, “If I can just stay in my daily routine, even if life is not perfect,...

Ed. Note: Chris Craig has moved to Atlanta. This month we’ve reprinted some of his favorite Religion in the City commentaries. “When a Dollar is Not Enough” originally appeared on Metro I4 News,...

Ed. Note: Chris Craig recently left Lakeland for a new job in Atlanta. During March we’re republishing some of his favorite Religion in the City columns… I received my undergraduate education at Concordia...

Tomorrow, Chris Craig is leaving Lakeland for a new job in Atlanta. Though we’ll miss his laughter, Lakeland will miss his hard work helping our less fortunate. During March, we’ll republish some of his...

Editor’s note: At right is a recent photo from Munn Park. Placed on Facebook by a friend, the comments included a nod to “Bum Park” and a desire to send it to the newspaper. I told him I’d...

One of the rules of the non-profit I work for is that no one can take their vacation from Thanksgiving to Christmas. It is just such a busy time of year that all hands must be on deck and present. With that information,...

Editor’s Note: On April 11, 2009 Columnist Chris Craig debuted Religion in the City on Lakeland Local. After some time at Metro I4 News, he returns to the fold. What follows is a column from September… When...

Each morning in the midst of my devotional time, I try to end my prayers by asking the Holy Spirit to “intercede with groans too deep for my words”. (Rom 8:27) In the social service world, one of the greatest...

This last week while sitting by our beautiful Lake Morton, I was struck by a spirit of thankfulness for the moment I was living in. There is a Buddhist prayer that goes “By the power and the truth of this practice,...

One of my favorite Church activities, is leading Adult Bible Study. Helping a group of inquiring minds work through the hermeneutics of a piece of scripture. This is taking apart of scripture historical context, analyzing...

He said, “I find your articles hard to read”, when he approached me sitting outside The Chop Shop restaurant in downtown Lakeland. I often find myself winding down after a long day of work, hanging with friends...

One of the many jobs I held while going through school was that of a Church youth director. For those of you who did not grow up in a Church community let me explain the job of Church youth director. The job could be best...

In a session not too long ago, a woman shared with me that when she was a child, her father told her that one of the reasons he and her mother were getting a divorce was how bad she had been as a child. Though we had some...

I received my undergraduate education at Concordia College, a conservative private school in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Concordia was perfect for me because of the patient professors which took my opinionated scrutiny and...

Growing up I remember vividly sitting on my grandfather’s lap while my grandparents and aunt watched the CBS evening news with Walter Cronkite. It did not seem to matter what world crisis Walter Cronkite was reporting...

What has happened to NPR? There used to be nothing like listening to Prairie Home Companion, Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me and This American Life on long car rides or while cleaning my room on a Saturday morning. Yet, as...

Ms J recently spoke up in a homeless prayer support group I was running, “Don’t tell me you’re a Christian, show me you’re a Christian!” Explaining to the group how many counselors,...

This last week my best friend Kris called from Chicago, she said she had just gotten into a fender-bender because of a broken relationship. “I need to feel this, I just need to allow myself to grieve this loss or...

I still hear my dad’s voice saying to me, “everything has a proper place!” He usually said this as he watched me attempting to stick the clutter of my room under my bed! Now, 30 some years later, I am still dealing...

This weekend I am attending a violin performance by Arianna Kim and Robert Waters at Wesley Methodist Church on Massachusetts in Lakeland. Besides being an inner city church, the small congregation of Wesley has an amazing...

I can still remember the first time I tried to walk all the way around Lake Hollingsworth. All I could keep my eyes on was the other side of the lake and how far it was from where I was. What I found I had to do was break...

(Note: This is the first of what I hope are many columns from Lakeland writer Chris Craig. Each Saturday, Craig will address religion, spirituality, and life in our city. — Chuck) Noted theological author and radio...