One Last Meeting

 

One Last Meeting

Larry, John, and I shared one final lunch together at Milk n Honey—an iconic Canton establishment that served the community for decades before closing last year. About two years ago, the three of us met there to reminisce, laugh, and enjoy the kind of time brothers should make more often. We never did enough of that.

As we were finishing lunch, I considered taking a photo of the three of us. I hesitated, let the moment pass, and never captured that memory. A year later, we lost John, and the opportunity for that picture is gone forever.

Take your photos. Say “I love you.” Offer forgiveness, and ask for it in return. Say your goodbyes with sincerity and embrace those who are close to you.

For many, tomorrow never arrives.

Daniel Criss

July 14, 2026

 

“What I Miss the Most”

This past August, about one week before his 63^rd birthday, I lost my brother John. John was really more than a brother; we were close friends. His funeral, as beautiful as it was, was particularly difficult for me because I came to realize that would be the last time I would worship the Lord in John’s presence. But that’s not even what I miss the most.

My Dad, the late Rev. Edgar C. Criss, died when I was 6 years old. Although my ears certainly heard him preach many times, I really have no recollection of those messages. Even said, I have no doubt those messages made an impact on my young life because the messages of truth he preached are deeply ingrained in my being. I would love to have had the opportunity to talk to Dad about scripture.

It has now been 23 years since my Mother, Geneva, died. I have what I believe is the last Bible that she used, or one of them. The notes and highlights in these scriptures are treasures. Another treasure I have from her is my memories of our Saturday mornings together. The last several years of her life I brought my young children and stayed with her every other weekend. My eldest daughter Erica once told me that what she would remember the most about her Grandma is how she would always be studying her Bible first thing on Saturday mornings. Mom and I spent many times discussing scripture, those memories will always be precious to me.

John and I spoke about scripture many many times over the years. I would always make a point to call him after my study and prayer time when God would reveal something new to me I hadn’t really noticed before. The last time we had one of these moments together, I spoke of the scripture and got no further. John said, “oh that’s so good”. He wouldn’t let me even finish my thoughts, he said he wanted to do his own study on it. Most of the time though, John would expound on scripture and was a tremendous mentor to me in the word of God. That is what I miss the most.

Who knows who might be my next mentor in the Word? God will provide, He always does.

THE SECRET PLACE

 

The Secret Place

Psalms 91:1 ¶ He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Many years ago during early morning prayer, I felt the sweet but strong presence of the Lord. I opened my bible to a random scripture in the book of psalms at chapter 27 so I began reading there.

Psalms 27:6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.

Immediately upon reading this, a vision was before me of a man who was too small in stature to see the beauty of the land beyond the enemy that surrounded him. The enemy was huge and surrounded him in a circle and he was bent over with his head facing the ground while the enemy beat him in order to keep him in submission. the problem the enemy never seems to understand is when you’re prostrate to the ground broken and humble; you are in the best position to cry out to the only One who can truly deliver you. because of his trust and faith in the power and a Word from the almighty God, the Lord lifted him up so he could see the beauty that God was about to bestow upon him.

Earlier that year I began experiencing a deep depression and despair, it was real and the suffering of my heart was real. The troubles that besieged me caused a great divide between the Lord and me for a period of time because in my anguish my eyes were blinded to the very present help in God.

“In my anguish my eyes were blinded to the very present help in God.”

The Lord spoke some incredibly simple words to me that brought deliverance and healing to my heart. I began to glory in His magnificent presence like never before. the new love I had in my heart for the Lord was beyond description.

Then the Lord came. He became Psalms 27:6 to me; He became the lifter up of mine head. when this happened I began to praise like never before, I entered into the presence of the Lord and felt His spirit stronger than I ever had.

Psalms 3:4 ¶ I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.

The vision I described was me. This is what the Lord did for me and I hadn’t truly seen it until that day. one by one as I glorified the Lord daily, my enemies began to fall.

We are already delivered by the blood of Jesus Christ, may your eyes never be blinded to that. The yoke of oppression is broken. May your faith allow God to raise your head out of the sand and trust under the wings of the everlasting God. In His presence there is fullness of joy; prayer is the secret place we need to abide in.

De 33:27 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.

 

 

 

                                                                         Daniel Criss                                                                                         January 25, 2023

 

Geneva Criss Sparks "Mothers Day 2014"

Geneva Criss Sparks

Mother’s Day, May 11, 2014

I miss the days of playing ‘connect 4’ with her during lunch days at Clarendon Grade school. I’m thankful she didn’t kill me when Mrs. Stoner drove me home from school. She smacked me good when I needed it and sometimes Johnny when I needed it. I only remember feeling like a million bucks at Christmas time and didn’t realize until adulthood that we didn’t have much.

She smacked me good when I needed it and sometimes Johnny when I needed it.

Instead of getting in trouble for running away from home, she gave me a treat. She always did what she could to help me because she never wanted me to struggle. I miss those special weekend visits with my kids when she and I would sit in the family room and talk about scripture. And oh how she loved my kids, and they love her.

Through every failure and mistake I ever made, she never once called me a failure, she never made me feel like a failure; she just simply loved me and always told me she was proud of me. She was prayerful, merciful, kind and loving. I’m so thankful for my Apostolic Pentecostal Heritage, which I wouldn’t have if she didn’t have the listening ear of a virtuous woman. Though she’s with the Lord now as she has always been, she will never leave my heart, and I miss her more than can be imagined. She was the only Mother who could've mothered me, and I love her with all my heart.

Daniel Criss

Prayer Changes...errr Things?

Prayer Changes…errr Things?

By Daniel Criss

March 7, 2014

Prayer changes things. It’s been said and written so many times. And it really is true. I’ve seen too much evidence over the years to believe any differently.

What I believe is even more aptly stated however is that; prayer changes you!

 prayer changes you!

Simple statements such as the title of this article are just so general and really don’t give the Lord the glory due to His Name in my opinion. I believe if we are going to praise God in testimony or song we should be specific. I believe if we are going to speak on a subject, it should be specific. The statement ‘prayer changes things’, just doesn’t speak much faith into me, it never has.

 Once I learned how to get in touch with God in prayer, I quickly learned that the greatest affect daily prayer had, was on me. But it took the right kind or right type of praying for it to be effectual. Matthew chapter 6 is the lesson that Jesus taught on prayer. His first point in verse 9 was to acknowledge and glorify the Lord. And then the second point was in verse 10 which teaches us to be selfless by praying for the will of the Lord. You might pray every day, and it’s even possible that your prayers may be selfless. However, if your heart is not sincere enough to pray for the will of God, then it’s entirely possible that your prayers may be the cause of your soul to be lost. Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts. James 4: 3-4 (KJV) If you continue to pray amiss, you will eventually get it set in your mind that you’re soul is saved, just because you pray. 

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts. James 4:4

It is a biblical fact that prayers can be and are hindered. Hindered is found in 1 Peter 3:7 (KJV). The word means to be delayed, stalled, slowed down, held up, mired, stuck, caught up, over-involved. Now God is omniscient and omnipresent and I’m not saying that God doesn’t hear every prayer. What I am saying is that selfish prayers do not move God to mercy. Selfish prayers do not move God to change anything. And selfish prayers do not usher in the Holy Ghost which is the glorious presence of the Lord. The lack of a consistent, and humble, and selfless daily prayer life just proves that an individual is content with their own life as they want to live it.

The lack of a consistent, and humble, and selfless daily prayer life just proves that an individual is content with their own life as they want to live it.

Humility in prayer is an attribute that immediately gains the attention of the Lord. This can be seen with the prophet Isaiah in the book of Isaiah chapter 6. Here was a prophet of the Lord who describes his vision of seeing the Lord and the temple of the Lord, and though a prophet, Isaiah immediately recognized his unworthiness to be in the presence of a Holy, glorious, magnificent and marvelous God! Once Isaiah cried out to the Lord an immediate action took place that enabled Isaiah to get beyond his own inadequacies and answer to the call of God. God’s people were called to humble themselves in prayer in 2 Chronicles 7:14. This scripture still applies to us today; 

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

If you really want to see prayer change things, then you must resolve to allow the spirit of God to change you first. Once you humble yourself and selflessly begin to pray and read God’s word with prayer, and allow the Lord to speak to you through his word, then prayer will begin to change you. And then, you will begin to see that ‘prayer changes things.  

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16

Try it, test it, I challenge you to pray the will of the Lord with all of your heart.

 

Daniel Criss

 

President / Founder
Life Achievement Services, Inc.

Look at Me Smile

My Sister Brenda and her daughter Tara have a beautiful living testimony that gives glory to God and speaks of their tremendous faith and love for life. That living testimony has a name, and her name is Geneva Faye Rose Earley. “Gigi” was the inspiration for the song I recently released on iTunes “Look at Me Smile”. Here is their testimony in Brenda’s words;

Late spring 2012 we found out Tara was having a girl. The ultrasound showed that her head was not; however, measuring at the appropriate growth rate and it was out of proportion in comparison to the growth of her body. The doctor ordered additional ultrasounds and Tara was told that it was a probability that Geneva would be born with Down syndrome. Tara was having ultrasounds every 2 weeks so Geneva's growth could be monitored. Tara said that she and Deaune could see the shape and size of Geneva's head, oblong and small, instead of round like it should be. Amniocentesis was discussed but Tara made it clear to her OB/Gyn that the only option for them was to carry this baby to term and love the this gift that God gave them regardless of the condition she came to them in. The doctor said since they would not consider abortion as an option there was no point in doing the Amniocentesis procedure and they continued to monitor growth through ultrasound. Early fall Tara called me at work after one of her tests and told me that Baby Girl's head had come into form but was still undersized. The doctor told her at the very least to expect developmental delays for Geneva. Geneva Faye Rose was born Oct. 6, 2012. A perfectly beautiful little girl who is growing and developing at the average rate for babies her age. Baby girl shows no signs of any developmental delays.

Just look at her smile

Look at Me Smile is available on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody and many other fine digital outlets;
 

CD's are also available at www.danielcrissmusic.com ; Original recording with a bonus song is available or split tracks. Consider "Look at Me Smile" for a baby dedication song.

Daniel Criss
President / Founder
Life Achievement Services, Inc.

The Lifter of Mine Head

"The Lifter of Mine Head"

There was a time in my life when all I could see around me were problems. The problems were real, the suffering of my heart was real, and my life was consumed with the torment of past decisions, mistakes and the scars that would remain. The troubles that besieged me caused a great divide between the LORD and me for a period of time because in my anguish my eyes were blinded to the very help that was present.

Psalms 27:1 (KJV) The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

The LORD spoke some incredibly simple words to me that brought deliverance to my heart. I began to glory in His magnificent present like never before in my life. The new love that I had in my heart for the LORD after this was beyond description. Now I was suddenly consumed with the mercy, grace and love of God, and I was blinded to any problems that life had bestowed upon me.

Suddenly, during early morning prayer one day, I had been worshipping the LORD, His Holy presence surrounding me, I picked up my Bible and opened it to a random scripture. It was Psalms Chapter 27 and I began to read, aloud, from verse one. It was a slow read, because every  word and every sentence the Psalmist wrote, was as though it was written for me, and as the words proceeded from my mouth,  tears flowed from my eyes, my voice shook, my lips quivered, my heart raced, and my head raised. Then the pinnacle as I reached verse six;

Psalms 27:6 (KJV) And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.

Immediately upon reading this, a vision was before me of a man who was too small in stature to see the beauty of the land beyond the enemy that surrounded him. The enemy was huge and surrounded him in a circle and he was bent over with his head facing the ground while the enemy beat him in order to keep him that way. The problem the enemy never seems to understand is when you’re prostrate to the ground broken and humble; you are in the best position to cry out to the only One who can truly deliver you. Because of his trust and faith in the power and a Word from the almighty God, the LORD lifted him up to where he could see what was beyond those that surrounded him. 

The vision described is not what’s illustrated in the Bible for the Psalmist, this vision was me. This is exactly what the LORD did for me, and I hadn’t truly seen it until this day. One by one as I glorified the LORD daily, my enemies began to fall. Yes, some try to follow, some shoot arrows from behind, but I press on to the beauty that I see in the LORD. Now, all I can see is His glory, all I can see is His deliverance, and all I can see is His beauty and resurrecting power. 

You might think about lifting up your head or you might miss your deliverer while he passes you by. What you may not realize is that you are already delivered by the blood of Jesus Christ. Don’t ever be blinded to that. The yoke of oppression is broken.

Daniel Criss

Founder / President

Life Achievement Services, Inc.

www.lifeachievementservices.org

November 6, 2012