He’s Alive Again!!!

April 5, 2015April 14, 2022 / Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

What a day to celebrate! This is the day that we recognize the resurrection of Jesus. Some 2000 years ago in Jerusalem, a great act of injustice took place when Jesus was nailed to the cross. HIs death on the cross was not proof that He was the Son of God….in fact to his criticizers and detractors it was proof that He wasn’t.

But on the morning of the third day, a rumbling was felt from the center of the Earth. The jingling sound of keys (death, hell, and the grave) was heard; it was Jesus coming out of the tomb! He had conquered, forever, the power of the grave! His resurrection was the indisputable, undeniable truth that this Man was no ordinary man. He was/is, indeed, the Son of God!! My highest hope is that we can learn to live from the resurrection and what was completed for us on that day!

Here’s a song that has been my favorite one about the resurrection for about 35 years. Spoiler Alert….It may make you cry! Listen to it all…..it’s a great one!! Enjoy!

*Click on the link below to listen.

“He’s Alive Again!!!”

Check this one out too: It Ain’t Just “Good News” …… It’s “Great News”!

There’s a Charge For Extra Baggage

April 2, 2015April 11, 2017 / Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

Wasn’t too many years ago that the airlines started charging for extra baggage. In most cases you can have one bag…but if you have any more than that you’re going to pay another twenty-five to fifty dollars. Even though I don’t travel all that much (I’m a ‘home boy’. I do have to travel some, but I’d just as soon be home!) it ticks me off to have to pay that extra fee!

I was thinking about that and it occurred to me that in life we are prone to carry a bunch of extra baggage. We’ve all made monumental mistakes with our lives and we could easily carry that baggage around with us from now on. Some do.

I’ve got plenty of bags I could pick up and bring along with me. Failures, mistakes, wrong decisions, broken relationships and the list could go on and on. I’ll grab one of those bags of my own from time to time and pack it around for awhile…but it never seems to do me any good.

We should take into consideration that God doesn’t hold those things against us, therefore….neither should we! We’re forgiven! His Word says that, “old things have passed away, all things have become new”! We need to give us a break and forgive ourselves!

You can bring along your extra baggage if you’re determined to do it, but It’s going to cost you! “Cost me what?” you say. It’s going to cost you some sleep; some peace, some contentment and some joy in life. If those things aren’t important to you…..then load ’em up! The more bags you bring along, though, the more it’s going to cost you!

I say let’s leave the extra baggage behind. We don’t need it anyway!

A ‘Voice’ or an ‘Echo’ ….. Which Are You?

April 1, 2015April 1, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / 4 Comments

The Christian community, and how it functions, is an interesting phenomenon to say the least. There has been one fad topic after another, seems like, for the 30+ years that I’ve been learning to walk with the Father. The most recent that I can think of is the “Blood Moons” prophecies that surfaced within the last couple of years. Now, first off, I’m not saying that all these fad topics are not valid or important, because obviously some of them are. Some are not! “88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988”, immediately comes to mind.

What’s amazing to me is how the rank and file of the Christian community jumps all over these things and for awhile that’s all they talk about. I had several pastors talk to me about the “Blood Moons”. They were totally obsessed with it. That’s OK, I guess, if that’s your ‘cup of tea’.….but it’s not mine. I’ve never been too quick to jump on that train! I think a lot of the time leaders get their focus on these things because they don’t actually have a ‘word’, or a mandate from the Lord. I’m not trying to cause trouble here but it’s an observation that’s proven to be true over the years.

If leaders don’t have a strong desire to hear the Lord and communicate that, they’ll be looking for anything coming down the pike to pass on to the people. In this critical time I believe God is looking for those who will be a ‘voice’ of what He’s saying rather than just an ‘echo’ of what everyone else is saying!

The “Only Thing” That Really Works

March 31, 2015March 31, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / 1 Comment

Life is a journey! If we’re going to learn to experience it to the fullest we must learn what really works and what doesn’t. When thinking about experiencing the most that this life has to offer one would surely consider the ingredients that would bring happiness and contentment, early on. For some odd reason most of us think that having lots of money is important to having true happiness. But we hear, over and over, those who have way more than enough saying that they’re miserable. So, obviously, money ain’t it! For others it seems that having some degree of notoriety or fame would guarantee happiness but, again, we hear time and again that it leaves them empty, in the final analysis.

Relationships are vital to experiencing a fulfilling life. We’re created to love and to be loved. We’re hardwired for intimacy with one another. “It’s not good that we should be alone.” While relationships bring our greatest satisfaction in life….they also provide us with the greatest frustrations and heartbreaks. Authentic relationships ain’t for sissies! One of the greatest relationship mistakes is to expect someone else to meet the deepest need that resides in each of us. Happens all the time. Husbands expect wives to do it, friends expect it of one another…and on, and on it goes. But those are extremely unreasonable expectations, to put it bluntly.

There is a relationship, however, that does meet the deepest need that exists in the heart of humanity. It’s the relationship of the Father with His kids! Until we engage in this relationship and learn to interact with Him, we’ll always be looking for something to fill up that empty spot inside, only to be disappointed at the end of the day.

As much as the Father loves you, He won’t force Himself on you but He’s waiting, ever so patiently, for you to come to Him! You don’t have to jump through a bunch of ‘religious hoops’. He’s made it easy for us! It’s the only thing that really works!

“The Way I See It” – After Three Months

March 28, 2015April 1, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / 7 Comments

The year is 1/4 over with!! My Blog, “The Way I See It” is three months old. Below are some interesting numbers. I’m posting this on the weekend because I’m told that some people who are new to the blog take extra time on the weekends to ‘go back’ and read many of the previous posts. At any rate, it’s been an enjoyable three months. I hope you’ve enjoyed the posts and I hope they’ve been helpful to you! If that’s the case, please “LIKE”, “SHARE” …….. and pass the word!

Here’s the numbers:

3 – The number of months I’ve been blogging

55 – The number of blog posts

4,300 – Followers

6,140 – Visitors

13,277 – The number of ‘Views’

The Top Ten Viewed Blog Posts:

*Click on Link to View

1 – Lady Gaga, Little Monsters & Jesus

2 – VIP #1 – Booger Bryant

3 – Branson to Cherokee – The Longest Night I Ever Spent

4 – Reflect & Refocus #1

5 – The Truth Does Not ‘Set’ You Free

6 – “Obviously, I’m God’s Favorite!”

7 – What Are You Saying to Yourself?

8 – “Be Present!”

9 – “Be Who You Are!”

10 – Laugh a Little…No Make That a Lot!

A Few of My Personal Favorites:

You May Not Know This, But I’m Kind of a Big Deal

“Loosen Up, Sandy Baby!”

Why I Think Cowboys Make Good ‘Hands’ For the Lord

“Known”

March 26, 2015April 13, 2020 / Andy R Taylor / 6 Comments

One of the things that frequently comes my way as a pastor is the performing of funerals. It’s kinda amazing what the Lord has done; when I was a young man I’d avoid going to them at all because of the feeling that it left me with. But soon after I was in the ministry I got my first request to do one. I immediately thought, “There’s no way!” Even though I said yes, I wasn’t sure I could do it. But I found that the Lord had given me grace to do it and I made it through the first one. Since that time I’ve done right at 350 more funerals. It’s always an honor to be asked to do a service but it carries with it a good size load of stress. But I figure, compared to the grieving family….I’ve got the easy part.

I recently got a call from the funeral home to do a service. I didn’t recognize the name of the woman but I said yes, anyway. I was sure that I’d know someone in the family but after reading the obituary I, again, didn’t recognize anyone. I met with the family the next day to plan the service and I was sure I’d know at least one of them. Nope, didn’t know any of them, either. It was apparent that the family didn’t have many resources; the cardboard casket was just more evidence of that. On the day of the funeral, I asked the funeral director if he knew this family, to which he said, “No”. I told him that I didn’t know them either, to which he replied, “Well, they know you!” and “They specifically asked for you!”

I can’t explain in words how that made me feel. It’s one thing to be ‘known’ in the company of the ‘elite’, and I guess I have a few acquaintances in that small crowd. But it’s a totally different thing to be ‘known’ in the community of the downtrodden! I can’t remember when anything left me feeling more honored than that!

What Are You Saying to Yourself?

March 24, 2015April 30, 2017 / Andy R Taylor / 6 Comments

I don’t think it’s just me; I think it’s most of us. We have these little conversations in our head fairly often. I call it ‘inner talk’. It might be about something we’re concerned or worried about. It might be about a decision we’re needing to make, or it might be about our relationship with someone or any number of things. At any rate these little conversations have the ability to influence our lives in profound ways.

I think the key thing here is to know when this ‘inner talk’ is productive and when it isn’t. I know, for me, that I can get pretty worked up over things and I can move from calm and collected to discouraged or worried in just a short period of time. There’s a lot of times I go to bed with my mind on something and wake up during the night and engage in inner talk with myself. And most often it’s not very positive. It’s amazing how quickly I can go negative with these little conversations. It can leave me with an uneasiness and from time to time it can cause me some pretty major anxiety.

Here’s what I’m doing to remedy the negative thoughts:

1) Prayer; when we pray, faith is released...and when faith is released my perspective starts to change. I’m a lot more optimistic if I’ll just discipline myself to pray when I go negative with my inner talk and thoughts.

2) The Father’s ‘got my back’!; The Book says that “nothing can separate me from the love of God that’s in Christ Jesus”. So, whatever’s going on, I can trust that He’ll help me through it.

3) I’m More Than a Conqueror!: It’s just a fact that we’re going to have tribulation in this life but we’re destined, by Him, to overcome. So maybe, just maybe, there’s some redeeming value to this trial I’m going through.

*I don’t exactly have this one mastered yet but I’m working on it! I’d be interested in your ideas of how we can better deal with our ‘inner talk’.

PS- I do believe we can use these little conversations to speak life into our situations if we’ll just make our ‘inner talk’ positive and uplifting!

You May Not Know This, But I’m Kind of a Big Deal!

March 11, 2015January 23, 2022 / Andy R Taylor / 4 Comments

True statement! But, probably not a ‘big deal’ in the way you were thinking. I receive speaking invitations fairly often. Most of them I say, “No” to because I believe I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing by being at my own church every week. But occasionally and ‘invite’ will come along that I just can’t say “No” to.

It happened again a couple of weeks ago; an invitation came my way that’s my ‘dream speaking engagement’! Yep, it did! I got invited for about the fourth time to do the Sayre Public Schools Kindergarten Graduation! I must’ve done a good job the other few times or they wouldn’t have me back, huh? Well, the truth be known….I have another grandchild that’s graduating Kindergarten, and that’s why, and only why, I get invited to do it. It’s Calli this time and I can’t wait for the day.

The ‘wonder’ on the faces of every one of these little kids never ceases to amaze me. Their little eyes are full of excitement and expectation, to the degree that makes me wonder, “What happened to the rest of us?”. Why, ….and how did we lose that sense of excitement and expectation? We had it……but for the most part, it’s gone now. Life, if we’re not really, really careful can, and will, take it all out of us.

My favorite part of the ceremony is when each of them comes to the mic and tells the audience what they want to be when they grow up. They say everything from being a ‘monster truck driver’, to being president. I love their approach to life….they believe they can do it.

Being the “Keynote Speaker” at the Kindergarten graduation is another great reminder for me to somehow try and regain the excitement that life can bring. And me,….. no….I’m no ‘big deal’ at all. But I do know what I want to be when I grow up……….I want to be just like these little Kindergarteners!

We’re on a ‘Need to Know’ Basis with the Lord!!

March 10, 2015March 31, 2017 / Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

Think about it this way; Let’s just say you have a child and that child is experiencing some kind of life dilemma. As a parent there’s no way you’d withhold information or advice on how to handle the situation. That doesn’t even make sense. No, much to the contrary, you’d do whatever was in your power to help them through the problem. Easy decision!

Well, God….our Father, (He could be anything He wanted to be: His choice is to be our Father!) is so much better at this kind of stuff than we could possibly be. He cares about every little decision that we are faced with. We’re His own children and He wants very much to interact with us and to be involved in our lives. Our problem is that oftentimes we agonize over the situation without even asking the Lord what we should do. Part of our ‘growing up’ in the Lord is learning to relinquish these problems we encounter to Him rather than carrying them around and trying to figure out what to do on our own. Trust me…..you’re going to like this a whole lot better than trying to carry the load yourself. This is how we learn to put our trust in the Lord. It takes faith, and the good news is that you already have adequate faith to get started.

A little disclaimer: some might argue that the Lord doesn’t move quickly enough. I can totally relate to that; I’ve thought it myself many a time. Someone said it this way, “God’s never late”. I agree with that but I’d add, “He’s never early either”!! Reality is, that He’s always on time! He’s always going to do what’s best for you, EVERY TIME!

Oh, and you don’t necessarily have to be going through a trial in life to get this kind of attention from the Father. If we’d learn to go to Him with every single thing in our lives, then the problem times wouldn’t be so stressful…and maybe not last so long.

“I Yub Oo Too Daddy”

March 5, 2015April 7, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

I’ve learned so much from my kids about my relationship with the Father but this one is priceless! Saying “I love you” has been a regular, consistent and heartfelt thing around our house since Julie and I were married 38 years ago, …and it still is today. We were only married a year when Clint was born and our lives have been rich, as parents of 5 phenomenal kids.

I’ve found that God is faithful to instruct us in whatever situations we find ourselves in. But being a parent offers, maybe, the best scenario of being in the ‘school of life’ and for learning from Him.

When one of my little boys (I’ll withhold his name so as not to risk any chance of embarrassment) was just beginning to learn to talk I’d catch myself 10-15 times a day telling him “I love you”, to which he’d reply, “I yub oo too, Daddy”. First off, I do love him….but the Lord got me to thinking about it. And it became apparent that the thing that I enjoyed the most about it was that I loved to hear him tell me in his unique little way that he loved me too.

The Lord showed me that my little boy had absolutely no idea, whatsoever, what the word ‘love’ meant. And that for you and I and our understanding of love compared with God’s concept of love is exactly the same. Although we’re learning…there’s still a great distance between our understanding of love…and what love means to Him! He doesn’t just ‘have’ love….He is love!!

Here’s what I learned;

1) When you tell someone that you love them….it means to them what love means to them!

2) So when my little toddler said, “I yub oo too, Daddy”, it meant to me what love means to me! *That’s why I loved hearing it as much as I did. We have a need to be loved….and hearing it is important.

3) So, (It gets better!) when you tell the Father that you love Him…….it means to Him what love means to Him!!

4) So, as our understanding of love grows, and even if there’s a vast difference in our concept and His….keep telling the Father you love Him because I believe He really likes to hear it!!