Positive Thinking

How Are We Doing in ‘The Thing’ That Matters Most?

/ Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

Our lives are important. I don’t think I have to convince you of that. But, have you thought about how important your life might be to God? As a Father…..and the One Who actually gives us life to begin with…..you’d think that He would place an extremely high value on our lives and how they’re spent. Life is a very precious thing. I’m aware of that more today, at nearly 62, than I’ve ever been before. I expect the realization of that truth will continue to escalate as we grow older. It’s almost unbelievable how fast the years go by.

As I stop and look both ways, to the past and to the future, I wonder if I have….and if I will, spend my days doing things that have any kind of eternal value. For me, that’s an extremely sobering thought. I really think the Father wants more for our lives than to for us to just take up space and end up in heaven. If we believe that He has a plan for our life we really should go after Him (ask Him) and allow Him to disclose the details so we can ‘get on with the program’!

But as I think of what really matters most only one thing comes to mind. How are we doing in our journey to love like He loves? Some would argue that there’s no way we could ever love like He does. It’s a valid argument. But I really believe that’s ‘the thing’ that He wants ,more than anything else, to produce in us. Oh there’s all kinds of things He wants to use us to accomplish but none any more important than this. I honestly believe it’s do-able….but not without His Spirit to help us in the process. 

Deep down all of us would want to hear at the end, “Well done, good and faithful servant”. And I think that, of all the positive things we might do with our lives, it actually comes down to…..how well did I do at ‘loving’ people?

How well are you doing in ‘the thing’ that matters most?

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I’m All For Celebrating ‘Independence Day’, But I Think We Need A ‘Dependence Day’ Too!

/ Andy R Taylor / 4 Comments

We just celebrated Independence Day here in the good ‘ol USA….for the 239th time, no less! It was in 1776 when we won our independence out from under British rule. I, for one, am glad that happened; I really can’t see myself speaking that fancy, refined, limey English brogue. That’d be one heckuva stretch for a ‘whangy’ talkin’ Texas Panhandle boy, if you know what I mean. So I’m glad we’re a sovereign, autonomous….and independent nation!

Independence is a good thing from that perspective. And even, to be independent, as a person can be a very good thing. Independent people are naturally confident and assertive…and they’re not prone to let others’ negativity affect them too much on the road to their goals. But in the kingdom of God…independent attitudes can work against us, not for us. Let me explain; God has created each of us with specific strengths…but on the other side of that, we all have weaknesses as well. He has designed the church in such a way that we’re all needed. Nobody has it all. He wants us to learn to depend on others’ strengths where we’re weak…..and vice-versa.

The church is a ‘body’ with many body parts and it only works really, really well when all the parts are working in conjunction with one another. So, in that respect, we need to get over our independence and be team-players. But there’s an even greater issue with independence that must not be overlooked. It’s my opinion that we need to occasionally re-declare our dependency squarely upon the Lord. We cannot live a successful life nor can we fulfill our destiny without a deep dependency on Him. It’s easy to just put our lives on auto-pilot and not be dependent on Him. I’ve done it too often.

So, I hope you had a great 4th of July; a great Independence Day! It’s a pretty important holiday. And, as much as it’s needed, I doubt we’re going to get the Feds to initiate a National ‘Dependence Day’ so I guess you and I will just have to declare one for ourselves! Do it, and without a doubt, and you’ll notice….and enjoy the benefits!

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Faith……..Use it or Lose It!

/ Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

I had an interesting thought the other day. You know, as believers, we’re supposed to be people of faith. It doesn’t always work out that way in real life, though. I must admit that I don’t exactly have it perfected either. I’m working on it, and I’m better than I used to be but still have a long ways to go.

We’ve been ‘given’ (Rom 12:3) ‘the measure of faith‘. It’s actually a measure of the same quality of faith the the Father, Himself, has. That’s a pretty big deal if you think about it. It’s no flimsy faith; it’s faith that’s full of power. That’s very Biblical, by the way. We have a measure of the same kind of faith that the Father exercised when he ‘spoke’ the world into being! 

This faith that we’ve been given is there for a myriad of reasons. For one, it’ll help us to navigate the events of life, good and bad,  in such a way that we prevail in every circumstance. With this faith we’re encouraged in the Bible to “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons and communicate the good news to the poor”. But there are many people who actually never exercise their faith at all. It’s there lying dormant, but it’s there, nonetheless. It’s like having a fortune in our bank account but never writing a check on it.

What if we approached our faith like we do our vacation days with our work? Many companies give a week or two paid vacation to their employees. Some of those companies require that you use those vacation days before the end of the fiscal year. It’s use them-or lose them. Nobody really wants that to happen. I doubt the Lord looks at our faith like that. I’m sure He’s always blessed anytime we exercise our faith. But it wouldn’t hurt us to look at our faith that way. It might just motivate us to walk in faith a lot more.

It could mean more people saved, more people healed from diseases, more addictions broken, more marriages put back together, etc. Maybe we should view our faith from a “Use It or Lose It” standpoint!

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Business = Finished!

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

If you’re not familiar with the Professional Bull Riders organization this post might not mean much to you. And if you’re not familiar with the PBR….maybe you should be. Bull Riding is the most extreme of all the extreme sports. If you have a disagreement on that thought, go get on a bull and, chances are, you’ll quickly change your mind. Bull Riding as a sport has evolved over the past 20 + years into a high-profile, spectator friendly sport that has made celebrities of the bull riders, as well as the bulls. Sports arenas around the country are filling up when the PBR comes to town much due to the overt, raw danger of the sport and the vanishing individualistic nature of the, authentic, American cowboy.

An event was held this past weekend in Decatur, Texas unlike any Bull Riding event ever before, and almost assuredly, will never happen again. “Unfinished Business” pitted eight of the most high-profile PBR Bull Riders in the organization’s history, all retired for a number of years, riding for a, winner take all, $160,000 payoff. Cody Custer and Mike White, PRCA World Champions; Tater Porter, J.W. Hart, PBR World Finals Champions; Justin McBride, Chris Shivers and Michael Gaffney all PBR World Champions and Ross Coleman, perennial PBR World Finals Qualifier.

To say that these men had ‘unfinished business’ in the arena couldn’t be further from the truth. These eight guys left it all in the arena every single time they ever competed, without exception. Their primary reason for coming out of retirement for this, once in a lifetime, event was in the name of charity. I don’t care who you are, you gotta appreciate that! *(consider that a couple of them are nearing 50 yrs of age!)

Shivers and Hart rode their bulls and split the $160,000. The other six didn’t complete their 8-second ride. But, just like always…..they gave it everything they had…..one last time! I care about Bull Riding; I’ve been directly involved with it in one way or another pretty much my whole life. I’d like to see Bull Riding continue to come to prominence as a sport. My reasons are personal. But I look at the field of bull riders today and I wonder who’ll take the place of these men. I don’t see very many out there on the radar screen, today, the caliber of these guys in the way of sheer effort….and the desire to be ‘ambassadors’ for the sport. The door’s wide open for some ‘young guns’ to step up!

Thank you Cody Custer, Mike White, Tater Porter, J.W. Hart, Justin McBride, Chris Shivers, Michael Gaffney and Ross Coleman….for showing unprecedented ‘class’ with every ride and every interview your entire career! Thanks from us older guys that never had the opportunity to ride for a million dollars.

Thanks for showing the rest of the world what the sport of Bull Riding is really about! You finished your business…..and you finished it well!!

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A Word or Two For the ‘Grads’ Out There

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

School’s out! I’ve had five grads myself down through the years finishing up with Cameron a few years ago at this time. I continually tell parents with young children, “You better wake up….’cause that part of your life is incredibly short!” Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to speak at quite a few graduation ceremonies. There are some things that I think will help the new grads to take on the world. It’s not a conclusive list but it’s a good start.

1)  Live – Live is short! Learn to ‘live’ it with zeal and excitement.

2)  Give – The world has two kinds of people, givers….and takers. Givers live a much more fulfilling life!

3)  Forgive – You’ll have a lot of opportunities to forgive…..resolve to not miss a single one!

4)  Laugh – Enjoy the trip as much as possible. You’ll have to work at this one but you can do it!

5)  Learn – Resolve to be a learner. “When you think you know it all, you’re as smart as you’re ever gonna get.” Cliff Taylor

6)  Love – Learn to relate to God as Father! As you’re exposed to His kind of love…..you’ll learn to love like He does!

7)  Relationship, Relationship, Relationship – It’s really what life is all about. Value your relationships!

8)  Get Back Up – You’re gonna get knocked down; to be successful  you just have to get up one more time than you get knocked down.

9)  Be Courageous – Swing for the fence! You have the faith for it so it’s up to you!

10) Destiny – God has a plan for your life and He’s willing to disclose it to you. Go after it!

11) Purpose – Find those things you’re good at and put your effort into those things.

12) No Regrets – Older folks say they don’t regret the things they did as much as the things they didn’t do. Do it!

After thinking about it, maybe this advice is not ‘just’ for the grads. Maybe it’s for all of us. Even if you’ve gotten a slow start…’saddle up’ and move on! It’s really never too late!       

 

A Challenge: Let’s, You and Me, Take The High Road

/ Andy R Taylor / 7 Comments

I’m normally a pretty positive, upbeat kind of guy….generally speaking. I think I have a pretty healthy sense of humor and I like to laugh and make others laugh, too. It just makes life a lot more bearable, and enjoyable, if you ask me. But, I’ve noticed something in me that’s not a very desirable personality trait at all. I can get negative about things in a hurry if I don’t watch myself. Not making an excuse here but I think it’s partly because I deal with a lot of hard issues. I’ve jokingly made the statement a few times that, “in the ministry, people aren’t necessarily lined up to tell you good news”. If you’re continually bombarded with bad, depressing and discouraging news it can really do a number on you in terms of your overall attitude. And that very thing has happened to me more than I’d like to admit.

So I issued a challenge to myself today; I’m going to try to go a week without saying anything negative. I expect I may flunk the challenge a time or two in the process but I intend to re-focus and go at it again. I’d like to develop a habit of never saying anything negative. I think it’s do-able. It’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of adjusting….and a whole lot of thinking before I speak. I’m thinking if I can do it a week….well then, why not do it from now on? Why don’t you join me in the challenge?!

Think of how much better we’ll feel at the end of the day by not going negative on something or someone. And besides, it’ll help to make the world a whole lot better place to live!

Are you in??

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