After decades of music ministry — as well as topping Christian music charts and winning several awards — Craig Smith now focuses on ministering in his local church. He's also working hard to grow the international children’s mission he founded, Village2Village.

For Craig, there’s nothing sweeter than knowing Jesus and helping others do the same. So join us as we dive deeper into the love that drives his efforts, the source of his creativity and the books that have impacted him the most.

QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT

From small towns to big cities, where we grew up can have a big impact on who we are today. How does your hometown reveal the true you behind the web bio?

Until age 13, most of my time was spent roaming a five-block radius of 116 North 46th Street on Louisville’s west side. My neighborhood had a dozen or so boys close in age. That translated to a lot of street football, baseball, epic bike chases and some pretty raucous tag, and hide and seek games. Of course, they were accompanied by scraped elbows, knees and the occasional black eye.

During the summer of 1966, we moved to the city’s Southside, where my interests shifted to a set of drums, local rock bands and dreams of being catapulted into fame and fortune. Well, fame and fortune remained elusive, but I did meet the girl of my dreams at one of our local rock shows, and we eventually married.

Since we invested little into our marriage relationship, we also reaped little, which quickly set us up for serious conflict. Meanwhile, the rock band’s manager came forward to announce he’d become a Jesus follower — whatever that meant.

Okay, not a problem, I thought. I knew several churchgoers and I didn’t see much of a difference between their lifestyles and mine.

Problems arose, though, when his values and lifestyle changed. With those changes came a flood of invitations to attend his church. Effectively wearing us down, we eventually caved in one Sunday to appease him. The visit unfolded into a life-altering event.

Fast forward to today, and my wife and I just celebrated our 50th anniversary this past summer and are thankful for our many great, adventurous, mission-filled years.

Except for a short stint in Missouri and Texas, our home has been based in Northwestern Arkansas. From there, we’ve worn out several vehicles touring and have flown all over (when it was actually fun to fly) to share how our story became part of someone else’s most important story.

QUESTION #2: REVEAL

We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activities do you love and help you find spiritual renewal?

Boyhood adventures in Louisville typically took place on asphalt and cement surfaces, but some of my favorite memories from that era are times when my dad would inform the family we were headed to my uncle’s small farm in Henryville, Indiana.

Each trip usually fell into this pattern. Soon after arrival and a brief hello to relatives, I was off to explore barns, ponds, pastures and wooded areas.

While I have long enjoyed escapes to the quiet corner of some quaint café to read, write and sip a good dark roast from a thick ceramic mug, the outdoors offers crowning moments to decompress.

Odd as it may seem, a long favorite outdoor revitalizer for me — especially in cooler weather — is to load up my chainsaw, splitting axe and some snacks onto a four-wheeler and head into the woods to locate a dead or dying tree to fell for firewood. My early years in the city didn’t lend an opportunity for the fine art of firewood cutting and splitting, but our move to Arkansas and meeting some of its kind folks opened up that opportunity.

Some guys like slamming a white ball and chasing it across a manicured lawn, but I prefer a forest filled with flora and wildlife.

QUESTION #3: CONFESS

Every superhero has a weakness. Every human, too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite and how do you hide it?

I’m not sure of its exact origin, but at some point in my life, insecurity began to peek from the shadows to haunt and intimidate me. I’m sure it had been with me long before, but it seemed a greater challenge once I entered school.

I noticed it most after hearing statements like: “You’re not quite good enough for this reading group,” “You’re not quite tall enough for this ride,” “You’re not quite fast enough for this competition,” “You’re not quite old enough, not quite experienced enough,” and so on. You get the picture.

I’m not a psychologist, but my experience was after those “not enoughs” piled up, a pattern emerged: Insecurity bred a lack of confidence and the fear of failure. Then to avoid embarrassment or exposure of my insecurity, I attempted to control the situations and people around me, often resorting to a lack of transparency or outright lying.

Then, because little was within my control, I weaponized anger, which always wounds you and those around you. However you label it — insecurity, pride, selfishness or anything else — it was a miserably conflicted way to live.

The root of my issue was an identity problem. I was attempting to build success and hope from my own abilities and desires when all the time I had a divinely designed identity already waiting. In fact, we all have a divine design waiting for us — each one developed by the premiere Architect of uniquely formed destinies. We discover it when we abandon our own pale efforts to build one ourselves and instead turn to the divine Designer.

Embracing his identity for us is a truly unparalleled life adventure; it’s the secret to a purposed and fulfilled life. We could never come close to assembling lives for ourselves that equal his creative brilliance and his ability to bring it to fruition.

QUESTION #4: FIRE UP

Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your obsession? And why should it be ours?

Here’s where I introduce my book, “Awake in the Dawn!” There is a distinct difference between having knowledge of God through religion and living out a genuine relationship with God. That’s my passion — to do everything I can to reveal to others how life comes from a relationship with Jesus, not from a form of religion absent of relationship.

Over the decades, I’ve tried to do this through creative avenues like music and writing as well as attempting to genuinely live it out in relationships with friends and our community.

I would describe the difference between having knowledge about God through religion and living in a genuine relationship with God by using the example of my marriage.

What if my wife and I studied the principles and characteristics of marriage, got the marriage license, and had the marriage ceremony for all our friends to attend but then lived separate lives with separate values and never entered into the daily relationship intended?

We could return to the wedding chapel a couple of times a month and reread the definition of marriage. We could even repeatedly recite the key characteristics of marriage, declare our vows for 45 minutes and sing cool songs about marriage, but it would mean nothing if we then went our separate ways during the rest of the week.

Had that been our pattern, we would have missed 50 wonderful, fulfilling years. We would have missed the adventures of traveling together, making stories together, sharing life, building great friendships, overcoming challenges together and celebrating victories together. And we definitely would have missed three sons and three grandsons!

Having knowledge about a Christ-centered life is quite different from living the daily adventure of the Christ-centered life in a genuine relationship.

“Awake in the Dawn: Living the Lord’s Prayer” is simply an instrument to encourage people to walk through the door of relationship. My goal is to provide an on-ramp for people to continue exploring every day the incredible quality of having a relationship with Jesus. That’s real life — in real time.

QUESTION #5: BOOST

Cashiers, CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?

How do you get to that place of unhindered communion with the Holy Spirit? How do you keep it real, keep it fresh and keep it going daily?

The answer for me was in a very familiar place. So familiar, I’d often raced past the obvious, thinking instead that I had to begin some complex quest to discover the keys to a hidden secret. I wondered if it was only for a privileged few.

But wait a minute! Clearly, God wants this relationship with anyone who wants to enjoy it with him. So the next time I came upon the Lord’s Prayer, I slowed down for a closer look at this simple and familiar collection of words.

Is this prayer too familiar, too simple? I wondered. After all, I’d heard it recited many times at weddings, funerals, and other memorials. And I, too, could repeat it if necessary. But how could this prayer be a catalyst for a genuine and growing relationship with God?

Consider this. Jesus’ disciples observed the peace he had, his resoluteness and the effectiveness of his life on others.

One of the habits they observed in his daily rhythm of life was his time of prayer. He prayed in crowds, prayed with his disciples and often disappeared to pray by himself.

One day, they asked him to teach them to pray. And of course, because he wanted them to succeed in following him, he answered their request by giving them — and us — the best formula for the apex life experience:

1. Honor God first and foremost.
2. Ask for his values, characteristics, and will in all things.
3. Ask for provision to accomplish the above.
4. Receive and give forgiveness as he defines it. Live a life of forgiveness.
5. Request his guidance away from all things contrary to his goodness.
6. Request his protection from the enemy’s destructive plan to derail you.
7. Acknowledge God as he is, gloriously in and above all forever.

These are the path markers to certain hope, the rails for real life in real time.

QUESTION #6: inspire

Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied actions that open our hearts to the presence of God. So spill it, which spiritual practice is workin’ best for you right now?

What keeps these seven sequential steps from becoming dull and shallow assembly-line-like motions for me? The beauty and simplicity of what early mornings offer. For decades now, I’ve cherished the early morning and predawn hours because, for me, they signal the revitalization of my heart — a reset, so to speak.

I saw a pattern in the Bible and in the lives of some incredible folks throughout history. They saw and experienced the rich value in rising early to get in quality quiet time with the Navigator of life. They established a rhythm of getting up early before the day was cluttered with waves of information and issues. They saw it as a time to reset and realign the components of this rich relationship with Jesus.

Since bedtime in my younger years was long after midnight, “early morning” meant a little before lunch. So enjoying the treasure of predawn took a while to enjoy.

Now, though, I can hardly wait for the time between 4 and 4:30 a.m. to roll around because I know how incredibly nourishing the time will be for my soul. I usually make coffee before walking out the side door for about 30 steps and into a small 8-foot-by-10-foot room with windows on all sides that reveal a cluster of mature oaks and a few redbud trees. In this room is a very small desk with a lamp, a Bible and a journal. I almost always have the windows open as the wooded area nearby creates a peaceful ambiance.

Then I sift through the pages like the miner of rare gems as each page offers writ for the heart not contained in any other book. Often, the words begin to take form in prayers I might incorporate into my own life. It isn’t long before thoughts start stirring and I need to take notes. Most of the time, I emerge from that quiet place encouraged, perhaps with some practical applications for the day ahead and better readied for the potential waves of abundant information and challenges of our current culture.

QUESTION #7: FOCUS

Our email subscribers get free ebooks featuring our favorite resources — lots of things that have truly impacted our faith lives. But you know about some really great stuff, too. What are three resources that have impacted you?

Passion, possibilities and perseverance! For a guy who loves to read and who for a half-century has focused on what is, in his opinion, the most important subject to read about, selecting a trio of favorite sources is tough — impossible really.

So instead I selected three words that should frequent the quest of a God seeker. I’ve paired each word with a book that proved to be a game changer in my life’s spiritual and internal landscape.

The first word is passion, which I gleaned from A.W. Tozer’s “The Pursuit of God.” He once described the genuine God-life as almost otherworldly. His writing concerning the subject could only have been written from a heart that lived with a true passion for God. He seemed very familiar with the otherworldly place he defined.

The second is possibilities. The two-volume biography of George Whitefield by Arnold Dallimore (Volume 1 and Volume 2) affected me so much that I’ve purchased and recommended these books to more people than I can remember.

They had a profound deposit in me and revealed what’s possible when a person is focused on God’s providence. It showed me that, with God, one person can do far more than they could normally do on their own.

The third word is perseverance, which was amazingly abundant throughout the reading of Adoniram Judson’s life in “To the Golden Shore.”

We all have things we cling to to survive (or thrive) in tough times. Name one resource you’ve found indispensable in this current season — and tell us what it’s done for you.

The past two and a half years have been some of the most challenging our culture has faced in roughly 75 years. Just before writing this section, I heard a newscast reporting that hopelessness among Americans is currently very high.

For most people, navigating life over the past couple of years has been challenging to say the least. During this same period, my wife had a serious surgery, which altered plans and caused us to reconsider what’s truly important moving forward.

To quote the opening lines of the Charles Dickens book “A Tale of Two Cities,” “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Actually, on a global scale, I don’t think we’ve seen the worst yet, but this sentence will suffice for the following thoughts.

To many people, many things seem sideways in our nation, and what we once defined as “normal life” may be out of reach for a very long time — maybe permanently. But I also think there’s a huge market and opportunity for genuine trust, security, truth and hope. Many are hungry, dare I say, starving for it. And it exists.

So during these oft-quoted “unprecedented and uncertain” times, I’m seeking my survival and provision source even more, and it’s proving more effective for me than ever. What’s this source? The principles, qualities and characteristics of the Bible and genuine prayer are proven moorings for the human soul. Those in communion with the valuable treasure of an authentic faith community produce certain hope.

It reminds me of a passage that serves as a great concluding summation here: “Christ is all that matters ...” (Colossians 3:11b, NLT)

QUESTION #8: dream

God is continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?

Years ago, someone asked me a question that I’ve since used in numerous discussions with others who are dreaming to launch into some adventure.

The question is this: What would you do if money were no object, and you knew you wouldn’t fail? Answered honestly, it will reveal the substance and character of your dreams.

My passion is to know Christ as deeply as he would have me know him and to lead others into the depths of this unparalleled destiny of heart. That would manifest in the development of creative tools to draw heart and soul to the heart of God. Tools that would lead people to venture deep into what I think is a life-path incomparable to any other human attempt to fabricate or manufacture. The mission of “Awake in the Dawn” is part of the fulfillment of this dream.

I am also working with a community of friends to develop what we call “Hope Village,” which is an effort to build cultures of hope through Christ by reaching and inspiring children and teens to become excellent Christ-centered influencers in whatever career field they enter.

We currently have four Hope Villages initiated. The oldest and largest is in Ganda, Uganda; Fort Smith, Arkansas, which we hope becomes our primary launching base; Northeastern Thailand, where we have just begun a new operation; and Niños de Esperanza (Children of Hope) in San Salvador.

Additionally, we are helping a new and exciting work in Athens, Greece, although not specifically for children.

We love the question Craig posed in his last answer: “What would you do if money were no object, and you knew you wouldn’t fail?”

Whether we have dreams burning in our hearts or not, we can take comfort in knowing that God loves to do impossible things in us and through us. After all, “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18:27, ESV).

We serve a God who parted the Red Sea, who fed the Israelites manna in the desert, who told Daniel the king’s dream and its interpretation, and who caused a virgin to give birth to the Son of God. This is the God who lives in us. As the apostle Paul wrote:

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20,21, ESV).

Craig Smith