Truth

“Be Present!”

/ Andy R Taylor / 5 Comments

I first heard Ben Fike, a great friend of mine, talk about being present. I wasn’t exactly sure what he was talking about when he first mentioned, ‘being present’, in one of our conversations. So I questioned him about it. He went on to say that being present in a conversation meant that our mind is given to the moment and not preoccupied with something else. That’s just one example…there are many more.

I was made aware by our little conversation that I’m not present in a lot of conversations, meetings, etc. I’m there….but my mind is elsewhere. My life is no different in a lot of ways than anyone else’s. We’re all very busy, probably too busy I’m convinced. And it’s not that we’re always preoccupied with trivial things; a lot of those things are very important. I’m learning that my being present means that I’m ‘given’ to the moment whether it’s a one-on-one conversation or it’s a meeting with other people. Being present in a conversation says to the other person, “I respect you!”. I think our culture and the busy-ness of our lives lead us all into varied states of not being present. Cell phones are a great tool but they’re also one of the main contributors to ‘not’ being present. Playing games, FaceBooking, reading emails while our minds should be ‘in the now’ has risen to epidemic proportions. I’m all for multi-tasking but when our other task distracts us from the moment….we should seize!  It’s a bad habit and we should do something about it!

Well, there’s the problem….where’s the solution? For me it has to start with a commitment to ‘give’ myself to the moment. By that I mean that I should deal with and forget the distractions as best I can and get my mind focused on the conversation/situation at hand. I’m finding that at the first it’s a real  challenge, mainly because of my bad habit of ‘not’ doing it so often before. So, it may take a day or two of working at it!!

*Get your mind on the moment, and Be Present!   (You, and everybody else, will be glad you did!)

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“The Poor Need the Church…..But Not Nearly as Much as the Church Needs the Poor!”

/ Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

One of the prominent issues in the New Testament is the plight of the ‘poor’. In fact it was a large part of what Jesus talked about. There’s no biblical reference for the government, local, state or federal, taking care of the poor. But there’s plenty of evidence of the church taking care of them. If you’re serious about doing the works of Jesus, and it’s very biblical that we should, then to miss helping the poor would be a monumental miss in my opinion.

My experience over the last 25+ years is that most everyone believes that the church should help the poor but most would rather give to someone (individual, ministry or organization) doing it….than to do it themselves. That’s noble, I guess, but I don’t believe it’s the best case scenario. I told a friend awhile back who was wanting to go back to his hometown to start a kingdom work, that if I were going to do it I’d go there and find out who the poor were, and where they congregate. Then I’d figure out how to help them. Sadly, there’s no competition for the poor. For the most part no one (church or individual) is contending for them. And I told him, “If you’ll do that, the favor of God will be on everything else you do.”I believe that’s true! He has a tremendous affection toward the poor!

So, it’s obvious that the poor in America need the church. But I think the church needs the poor much more than the poor need the church, here;s why: When someone comes to you for help…..and to help would require your time, resources or money, it’s an immediate (and always accurate!) indicator of ‘where your heart is’! It’s like one of those, “You Are Here”, signs in the mall. *(those things never did me much good. I need one to tell me where my wife is! lol) It’s a ‘good thing’ to have our hearts revealed to us. When we find that our heart isn’t mirroring the heart of Jesus we can, and should, quickly adjust. 

The next time you encounter someone in dire need, do a little ‘heart inventory’. You, they……..and Jesus will be glad you did!

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10 K

/ Andy R Taylor / 9 Comments

I started my blog, “The Way I See It”, exactly two months ago. I’ve made 38 posts and had just over 10,000 ‘Views’! Thai’s pretty amazing, ……and humbling, from my perspective. You’d like to think that your experiences in life would have some value, and that the things you’ve learned could somehow be a benefit to others. That has been the main reason that I started writing in the first place. It would be too far fetched to believe that all 10,000 views were actually helpful to those who read the blogs. After all, I did get a few, very negative, remarks, mostly from the ‘religious right’, on the Lady Gaga Blog. But I expected that…..and it’s OK! But I do think that many of the views caused people to think and in the long haul I do believe that most of the blogs have been helpful in one way or another.

I’ll have a few more headed your way this week. If, and when, you find them helpful pass them along and “Share” them with your friends. As usual, I appreciate your comments. They’re a huge encouragement to me and help me to think that my writing is worthwhile. Listed below are the Top-Five Blog Posts in the last two months, based on actual ‘views’:

1) “Lady Gaga, Little Monsters & Jesus”

2)  “Be Who You Are”

3) “Obviously, I’m God’s Favorite!”

4) “Loosen Up, Sandy Baby!”

5) “The Truth Does NOT Set You Free!”

*Check them out if you haven’t already…..and thanks for joining me on the journey!

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Twitter: @andyrtaylorCom

http://www.justasyouare.com

Lady Gaga, Little Monsters & Jesus!

/ Andy R Taylor / 32 Comments

It’s been about three years since Julie and I, Cameron and one of her friends went to a Lady Gaga concert in Oklahoma City. (I’ll wait a few seconds for those of you so righteous that you just sucked all the oxygen out of the room!I)

On the way to the Chesapeake Center where the concert was to be held there were picketers….Christian picketers…..a lot of them, displaying their signs and banners “, “Lady Gaga is the Devil”, “God hates gays”; “You’re going to hell!” …. you know the typical unconditional love stuff that we’re so known for!

An interesting thing that I did not know was that Lady Gaga’s loyal followers are known as “Little Monsters”. They dress up in some of the wildest, most bizarre costumes and get-ups that you could ever imagine. It’s like Halloween on steroids! I’ll have to admit, it was a little out of my comfort zone! But the show was unbelievable; I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lady Gaga, whether you like her or not, is an extremely talented young woman. She can sing, she can dance, she can play the piano. She can do it all!

But there was a point three quarters of the way into the show that I did NOT see coming! House lights out, she’s in the spotlight lying on the stage. She says,  “Jesus, …. up there in heaven, …. all those people outside tell me you don’t love me…..but I know that’s not true! I know you love me, and I know you love all these “Little Monsters”, too!” And the bigger part of 20,000+ young people cheered as loud as they possibly could. I had a big lump in my throat; I could barely hold back my tears.  And I wondered if anyone had ever told many of these “Little Monsters” that Jesus really does love them. Oh, I know they’ve been told they’re no good and that God’s mad at them. They’ve been reminded of that over and over again but you could tell that they so wanted her words to be true! And I think, somehow, they believed it.

If the Father can’t depend on the church to tell the ‘good news’, He’ll use Lady Gaga, or anyone else He chooses, to let all us “Little Monsters” know how much we’re really loved!

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3 To Help You on Your Way

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

I posted 3 Blogs this past week that I know will help you on your way!

1) Tuesday: “The Truth Does Not ‘Set’ You Free!” – You’ll like this one and the message will change how you think!

2) Wednesday: “Loosen Up Sandy, Baby!” – A humorous story about NFL Great John Riggins, but the message will bless you!

3) Friday: “Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There!!” – This one could revolutionize your life, altogether!

*Check out some of the recent posts

Archived Favorites: “Obviously, I’m God’s Favorite!”; VIP #1 – Booger Bryant

I’d love for you to “Follow” me on WordPress

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Twitter: @andyrtaylorCom

http://www.justasyouare.com

“Loosen Up, Sandy Baby!”

/ Andy R Taylor / 1 Comment

I don’t know if you’ll remember that particular phrase or not, but I sure do, and it makes me laugh every time I think about it! John Riggins, a great pro football player, said that to Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor at a Presidential Gala back in the ’80’s.

John Riggins was a Kansas University, All-American running back who went on to the NFL’s Washington Redskins where he was named NFL’s MVP in 1983 and later inducted into the National Football League Hall of Fame. He was a great running back and a very colorful character, to say the least! Invited to a big DC party along with a bunch of other ‘big whigs’, John proceeded to drink………a lot! Sitting across from Justice O’Connor and apparently noticing her high-society looks and maybe a remark or two in his direction, John says, “Loosen up, Sandy baby!” It made the national news. John ended up asleep under the table (probably passed out) during the President’s speech.

I like John Riggins even though he might’ve went a little far with his drinking on that particular night. But I think all of us could stand a good-size dose of his advice to Sandy! Life is serious, I mean really serious. And it brings with it all kinds of things to stress about. I’m like you…I can get so caught up in that kind of stuff sometimes that it can really get me down.

Worry is not healthy and it fights directly against our faith. I have to continually remind my own self of that. Statistics say, and looking back it’s been true for me as well, that about 75% of the things we worry about never happen anyway! That just says that we’re wasting a lot of valuable time not fully enjoying life. I’ve been guilty of that, but I’m trying to do better…..and I think I am doing some better at it. As many times as the Lord has rescued me, I should know as good as anyone that He’s got my back! If we’re going to get any real enjoyment out of life we’re going to have to learn to take John’s advice and ‘loosen up’!

Who knew that John Riggins’, “Loosen up, Sandy baby” would be so prophetic?!

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The Truth Does Not ‘Set’ You Free!

/ Andy R Taylor / 4 Comments

I bet that got your attention right off the bat! I know how the ‘religious’ mind works….just waiting for anyone to challenge their ‘current’ system of beliefs so they can quickly and decisively chastise the perpetrator so that any other theory other than their own doesn’t get ‘out there’, so to speak. So in some people’s mind the above title is blasphemous.

But it’s a true statement! The bible, in fact, does not say that “the Truth shall set you free”. (John 8:32, ’cause I know you’ll want to look!) it actually says, “the Truth shall ‘make’ you free”; Huge difference if you ask me!

I remember years back the Lord gave me an analogy of that particular verse. Let’s say you had a caged tiger that had been in the cage his whole life. Opening the door to the cage is the equivalent of setting the tiger free. The tiger might, or might not, leave the ‘perceived safety’ of the cage. Hearing truth does not set you free but it carries with it the potential for us to be set free. But the bible says, “you shall know the truth and the truth shall ‘make’ you free”. To be ‘made free’ would be the equivalent of totally removing the cage from the tiger! That’s what happens when we, not only, hear the truth but actually embrace it and act upon it! 

…..or we could take an even more basic approach to that familiar verse; Jesus said of Himself, “I Am the Way, The Truth and the Life”. If we embrace Jesus and act on that by faith…..the cage is removed!!

Enjoy your freedom!