GAINESVILLE (FBW)—At first Gary Crawford figured he would write a book along the lines of sharing in “the best of life in some of the most difficult of times,” drawing from his wife’s now eight-year struggle with multiple myeloma.

But then it occurred to him after more than 30 years of ministry and 37 years of marriage, a book combining Scripture and life experience would offer readers a rare look at an all-important issue at a critical juncture in his family’s life. In Celebration of Love, Marriage and Sex: A Journey Through Song of Solomon was birthed.

“In our culture, marriage is facing great challenges—families are,” Crawford, pastor of Westside Baptist Church in Gainesville said. “Sexuality is seldom discussed in a very pro-active and healthy way in a Christian community even, much less in our culture, and so I wanted a positive word for sexuality.

“Never has a word from God been more needed in America about love, marriage and sex than right now,” Crawford told Florida Baptist Witness in an interview.

“Love backs us into a corner. It asks for everything we have. And nowhere does love work more deeply than in marriage,” Crawford continued. “Marriage is about exposure. It is about truth between two people, and it is about the opportunity to know and to be known. And, sex is the handiwork of love and the tool of marriage. It is sacred ground, a gift filled with beauty, grace and power.”

But lest readers shy away from the idea of sexuality discussed openly, Crawford’s most descriptive passages are lifted straight from the Bible—and he said though they may be “graphic for many of our Baptist readers … for our culture, not at all.”

And no Top Ten lists or steamy make-overs in the book’s Table of Contents, just chapter headings such as: “Loving Each Other Deeply” and “Solving Sexual Problems in Marriage: Leadership and Grace.”

“In our culture when we talk about sexuality, too often it is associated with the profane. And we talk about it from a more vulgar and disrespectful perspective,” Crawford said. “The unique thing about the Bible is that it puts it in the context of love and beauty and power to heal and freedom and enhancement of intimacy and all of that is contrary to what we experience in our culture. It’s a paradigm shift and it’s an altogether different kind of experience.

“The Song of Solomon is very erotic. God combines the erotic, the sensual and the spiritual,” Crawford said. “He’s not silent about the most intimate experiences of our lives.”

Crawford said his book can be used as a guidebook or read as inspiration—and can be comfortably used by parents as a “pro-active” way to engage in discussions about sexuality with their teenage children

The lengthy title of the book is purposeful because the work is based entirely on Scripture—the exposition of portions of the Song of Solomon—and yet the book does not read like a theological treatise, but instead is woven with obviously transparent stories about Crawford’s own love relationship with his wife, Freda, their two children and four grandchildren.

Practical instruction about dating and marriage—and even definitions about symbols used in wedding ceremonies have a place in Crawford’s book, alongside deeply emotional stories about creating family memories and leaving a legacy.

Crawford said he believes part of his experience has been shaped by the fact that nearly his entire ministry has been served at Westside, and he credits the church in the book’s forward as well.

“It is so unusual as a pastor to have almost 27 years where your children are raised within the church and where your grandchildren begin to experience that same church family,” Crawford said. “I feel a debt to what this church has provided for my family and me. I wanted to make it clear from the beginning that all of this is embedded in our experience here at Westside.”

There is another reason Crawford said he has worked in the early morning and every evening for months in order to finish the book as quickly as he could. It is Freda’s multiple myeloma, diagnosed eight years ago.

Crawford said quietly that Freda, who taught high school science for nearly 25 years and is a vocalist and pianist, initially had two stem cell transplants and went into remission for five years. Then once out of remission she was about to enter an experimental protocol and developed breast cancer. After she recovered from the breast cancer, she “stabilized” and is now on two treatments a week for the myeloma—but cannot participate in the protocol originally planned.

“This last year was a pretty difficult experience but this last fall I just really felt like I needed to write this book and I just needed to write it now,” Crawford said. “I just think the book needed to be written now because of where we are in our personal pilgrimage, because of the need for such a book in the Christian community and in our culture and I just felt compelled to get it done.

“That’s kind of a nutshell right there, of what the intention was. I really hope this book can be useful in a number of ways. One, it has a lot to say to young people about dating. Important decisions are made even in dating and it addresses that. It addresses choosing a spouse and the important components of that. And it addresses keeping romance in marriage and making and celebrating memories and leaving a legacy for family. And so it has broad appeal in terms of age demographic and in terms of issues that young people face, persons becoming engaged and persons who have been married for short term or long term.”

Crawford plans to write more about leadership development, prayer and missions. He holds a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Forth Worth, Texas, and an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of West Florida in Pensacola. He has served as president of the State Board of Missions and as a trustee of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board.

In Celebration of Love, Marriage and Sex is available at www.Amazon.com or at www.xulonpress.com/book_detail.php?id=5258.