25 for 25

25 Years of Life-Changing Music

Phillips Craig & Dean

• Publisher: Leafwood Publishers
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9780891126027

Behind the music that has shaped an expressed a generation's faith.Very few artists have had as wide spread an impact on faith of other Christians as Phillips, Craig, & Dean. For twenty-five years, the group has communicated God's love through worship with some of the most well-liked inspirational music ever performed. In the pages of this book, you will now discover what the music has meant to them, the stories behind the songs, and how the music has touched so many lives. Your faith will also be impacted and deepened as you refresh your spirit with this music and find powerful messages of grace, love, and hope. God has shaped and used Phillips, Craig, & Dean in amazing ways in their years of working together, and now you can have an inside view of God's artistry through their music.

Blessing in the Thorn

Composed by David Allen Clark, Don Koch, and Randy Phillips
Album: Where Strength Begins (1997)

“Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so I would not exalt myself.

“Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.

“So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and in pressures, because of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:7–10 HCSB)

I read about a man of God who gloried in his weakness
And I wish that I could be more like Him and less like me
Am I to blame for what I’m not or is pain the way God

teaches me to grow
I need to know

When does the thorn become a blessing?
When does the pain become a friend?
When does the weakness make me stronger?
When does my faith make me whole again?
I want to feel His arms around me
In the middle of my raging storm
So that I can see the blessing in the thorn

I’ve heard it said the strength of Christ is perfect in my weakness
And the more that I go through, the more I prove the promise true
His love will go to any length and reaches even now to where I am
But tell me once again

When does the thorn become a blessing?
When does the pain become a friend?
When does the weakness make me stronger?
When does my faith make me whole again?
I want to feel His arms around me
In the middle of my raging storm
So that I can see the blessing in the thorn

Lord, I have to ask You
On the cross You suffered through

Was there a time You ever doubted
What You already knew?

When does the thorn become a blessing?
When does the pain become a friend?
When does the weakness make me stronger?
When does my faith make me whole again?
I want to feel His arms around me
In the middle of my raging storm
So that I can see the blessing in the thorn

I want to feel the blessing in the thorn

Copyright © 1997 Ariose Music (ASCAP) Bridge Building Music (BMI) New Spring Publishing Inc. (ASCAP) World Of Pentecost (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) / Word Music (ASCAP) / Dayspring Music (BMI) All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The Story Behind the Song

Garwin Dobyns Always Called Himself a “one-in-a-million.” It wasn’t some arrogant statement designed to bring attention to his uniqueness. He had a disease that only one in a million people truly have—progressive myositis ossificans. It’s a disease where the soft tissues in the body calcify and basically turn into bone. It’s incredibly painful and debilitating. My friend, who was a member of the church where I pastored, had lived with it most of his life.

The disease was so rare that surgeons would fly in from all over the country to examine Garwin, because progressive myositis ossificans is something they’d read about in textbooks, but they’d likely never encounter in their lifetimes. Garwin called the disease his “babe ministry” because through it he got to meet so many beautiful women—including the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.

Despite the painful and difficult disease, this man was the most cheerful, friendly guy I have ever met. He never missed church. Instead, he’d show up early. Always encouraging, he’d leave voice messages on my phone letting me know how much he enjoyed my sermons. He had been able to take this terribly difficult disease and make it into something beautiful.

I asked Garwin one day, “How do you do it? You don’t seem to be angry with God. I don’t sense any faith crisis with you.”

He then began to describe how grateful he was to have life. He told me that every time these top physicians from around the world would fly in to see him, he had the opportunity to testify to the glory of Jesus—and all that the Lord had done for him.

Paul described a “thorn in the flesh” in 2 Corinthians 12—one that brought glory to God as he worked through the apostle’s weakness. In a similar way, Garwin’s illness brought glory and honor to God.

Paul asked God to remove his thorn three times, but God wouldn’t do it. Instead, the Lord told Paul, “My grace is sufficient.” The challenge for Paul—and for Garwin—is to find the blessing in the thorn.

With the help of Don Koch, I wrote this song for all the Garwins out there. For everyone out there who has been given such a difficult, debilitating challenge. I wanted them to know that despite the obvious pains they have, there’s a blessing in the thorn.—Randy

Lessons from “Blessing in the Thorn”

The song lyrics say, “Is pain the way God teaches me to grow?” What do you think about that? When was a time that difficult circumstances or a painful event deepened your faith in God? Explain what happened?

The song lyrics ask, “When does the thorn become a blessing? When does the pain become a friend? When does the weakness make me stronger? When does my faith make me whole again?” How has God turned a thorn in your life into a true blessing?

God says he will work through your weaknesses; how does that change the way you see them?

Blessings from Our Thorns

God uses pain to shape us into people who are more like Jesus and more able to minister to the very real needs of the people around us. Randy Phillips, Shawn Craig, and Dan Dean are no different. Here are some significant situations where God shaped their ministry through painful experiences—and how they’ve been able to use that pain to minister to others.

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