Maybe You Should Quit Whippin’ Your Own A#$!!

May 15, 2015March 5, 2019 / Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

Did you see the movie, “Liar Liar”? You should. Jim Carrey, who’s about the funniest guy alive, in my opinion, is a lawyer who just can’t tell the truth about anything. He makes a vow to not tell a lie for a certain amount of time. At one point he goes into the bathroom in the courthouse and starts beating himself up. Someone comes into the bathroom and asks him what he’s doing, to which he replies, “I’m whipping my a#$!” It’s really pretty funny!

The world is a tough place; people can be cruel. It’s easy to find yourself on the receiving end of people’s bad intentions. Nothing pleasant about that at all. But in my 60 + years of experience, I’ve seen as much, or more, ‘self-inflicted’ pain, discomfort and mental anguish as the other kind. I really don’t think the Father likes us to do that!

Most everyone I know has made monumental mistakes in their lives. I’m pretty sure that most of us have regrets; things we shouldn’t have done; things we should have done differently; maybe even things we should have done but didn’t. It’s just kind of how life goes. We could keep our focus on those things and let them rule our lives today….or we could learn from them and move on.

Peter is a great example. He failed Jesus at a time when the Lord needed him the most. He denied Jesus three times in the dark hours before the cross, once to a little 12-year-old girl. In the greatest test of his life, he folded like a cheap lawn chair. But something happened to Peter after Jesus was resurrected. You know the story; Jesus took him aside and asked Peter if he loved Him three times. His encounter with Jesus, somehow, healed him from his epic failure. And the rest of the story: Peter was the most important man on the planet, as it relates to the plan of God, for the next 25 years or so.

If the Father doesn’t hold those things against us….maybe we shouldn’t either! One thing I know….our failures dim in comparison to Peter’s. We really should quit whipping’ our own a#$ and move on with our destiny!

You Don’t Have to Have Had a Good Dad to be a Good Dad…..!

May 12, 2015May 12, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

When it comes to dads I’ve had it better than about anyone I know! Cliff Taylor is about the best example of a dad you could possibly have. To this day he’s the hardest working man I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen him do business on his ‘word’ all my life. I’ve never once in my 61+ years seen him do one person wrong. He’s been a great example to me in every facet of his life. But more important than all of that is how he’s been as a dad. He gave my brother, Monty, and I a pattern of how a dad really ought to be. He helped us, nurtured us and loved us….both in word and in deed. So, as dads go, I’ve had the very best……I would have no excuse if I were a failure as a dad. I think I’m a decent dad myself. I doubt if I’m as good as he was but I’m still getting better, after 37 years.

These days I see lots of men that are good dads but one of the things that amazes me are these men that had a ‘no-good’ dad (by their own admission), but themselves are some of the best dads out there. I love that! I think much of it derives from wanting to do more for their children than was done for them. And the sense of pain and mental anguish that they might have experienced, they’re not willing to let their own little ones experience. I admire that a lot.

Of course, the best case scenario is that we had a good dad to begin with. I have learned something over the past 15 years or so and it proves to nearly always be true. As we come into our ‘sonship’ with the Father….we start to take on His characteristics. Those who are becoming aware of that sonship and who are engaging in relationship with the Father, I think, ….make the very best dads.

There’s so many benefits of connecting relationally with the Father and this is just one…..but it’s an important one! You don’t have to have had a good dad to be a good dad…..but if you’re in the process of learning to be a ‘son’ from the Father, you’ll be an exceptional dad!!

We Oughta Get Our Ducks in a Row!! Part 4 – Relationships

May 6, 2015May 6, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

Get your ducks in a row, AKA ….Setting your priorities in order. If you really want your life to go smoother, I’d say realign your priorities ASAP. It’s quite amazing how much better it all goes when we do it. Here’s where we are so far: 1) Spiritual Life. 2) Marriage. 3) Parenting. #4 on my list is “Relationships”.

In real estate it’s location, location, location. But in the kingdom of God it’s relationship, relationship, relationship! At the end of our lives we’re going to realize that it’s not money, fortune or fame that’s caused our lives to be full and significant. No, it’ll be crystal clear then that what’s really made our lives ‘rich’ are the relationships that we’ve been involved in. I say we need to make the adjustment now and start placing the value on our relationships that the Father has so we won’t miss the significance of each one of them over the long haul.

God is sovereign when it comes to relationships. By that I mean that He’s instrumental in bringing us together for His purposes. And, when He does bring two people together He never does it for just what one person can offer the other; When He brings people together it’s always a win-win! Everybody benefits!

While the greatest blessings in life come from our relationships, they can also be extremely challenging. It’s very common to get your feelings hurt, get wounded or betrayed through relationships but they’re still worth the effort. Here’s a little formula that we’ve been working on for a few years. We’re far from perfect in our execution and not everyone is willing to ‘buy in’ …… but if, and when, they do the rewards are almost certain to come.

1) God is sovereign in relationships. *You only know the people you know because of God

2) Every relationship, given enough time, will encounter problems. (It’s very common!)

3) Anytime we make the problem more important than the relationship….the relationship is in trouble.

4) Since God put us together, we must make a resolve to ‘stay’ together. (What God has joined together, let not man put asunder)

5) We must work to restore the relationship. (sometimes a ‘mediator’ is needed to help heal the relationship)

6) The Payoff: What we’re finding out is, if we’ll put the value on relationship that God has placed on it and sit down and work it out, ….God not only restores the relationship, but He restores it and makes it ‘stronger’ than it was before the offense.

When we put the value on our relationships that the Father has put on them…..life takes on a whole new meaning!

We Oughta Get Our Ducks in a Row!! Part 3 – Parenting Our Children

May 5, 2015May 5, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

Getting our ducks in a row involves setting our priorities in proper order. #1 on that list is to give our spiritual life the attention that it needs. #2 is making your relationship with our spouse as important as it’s really supposed to be. It just makes sense that #3 would be to work on our responsibility as parents.

Being a parent is one of the greatest blessings that we can experience in our lifetime. Children are a ‘gift’ of the Lord. I’ve often said, and I totally believe it’s true that the love we have for our children is exactly like the love the Father has for us. We don’t love our children because we’re supposed to; we don’t love them because it’s the ‘noble’ thing to do; we don’t love them because it’s right; No, while all those things may be somewhat true…..we love our children just exactly like the Father loves us…..because He can’t help it!!

This is not a conclusive treatise and I’m far from an expert on parenting but I have learned a few things in my 38 years of being a dad. Some of those things I’ve learned the hard way….by doing them wrong first. Maybe I can pass along a few tips so you won’t have to learn them that way.

Everything we’ve done down through the years, we’ve done as a family…..I mean the ‘whole crew’! That’s one of the things that I think we really got right! We hardly ever missed any activities that our kids were involved in. That’s quite a challenge when you have as many kids as we had! There were a lot of days I’d come home from work to find a note from Julie that she had gone to one of the kid’s soccer games. I’d head out and make a baseball game of one of the the others. Those things, I think, are really important!

We all have to work for a living but our jobs are never more important than our children. It’s a challenge but we need to learn to adjust our lives so we’re able to spend quality time with our kids. We’ve done a good job in showing and telling our kids that they’re loved. We’ve disciplined them. We’ve tried to release them so they could each be the person the Lord wants them to be. All those things say loud and clear, “I love you”!

We Oughta Get Our Ducks in a Row!! Part 2 – Marriage

May 1, 2015May 1, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / 3 Comments

Obviously, (or at least it should be obvious) getting our spiritual life in order should be first on the list of getting our priorities in proper order. After that, our family should be the very next priority in order of importance. Problems arise within families when friends, jobs, hobbies or other activities get in the way. None of those things are unimportant….but they’re not as important as our family.

When setting family priorities in order it’s important, again, to get first things first. Many parents would argue that their children are the most important in the family relationship scheme but I totally disagree. Children are extremely important….but the best thing you can do for your kids is to work on, and shore up your relationship with your spouse. A happy husband-wife relationship is a good guarantee of a healthy home. There’ll be plenty of challenges but when that relationship is in tact, you’ll feel like you can conquer any obstacle.

My experience and observation through the years is that if we’re not doing something to strengthen our marriage, the general conditions of life are slowly eroding the quality of our relationship away. It’s not hard to do but I believe we need to be intentional when it comes to our marriage. We have raised 5 incredible kids and life was extremely busy when they were all in the home. You can have every good intention to spend quality time with your spouse but if you don’t plan for it, it probably isn’t just going to happen. If you’re not careful you might go years without giving your spouse the quality time they need. Your husband/wife does not need the leftovers!! And that’s what happens more often than not.

Fix it! Schedule some quality time together. Have a ‘date night’. Arrange for someone to watch the kids. Block out the distractions and focus your attention on one another. Have some meaningful dialogue; make eye contact and express your love toward one another. Be affectionate toward, and intimate with one another. It’s an investment that you’ll never regret!

We Oughta Get Our Ducks in a Row!!

April 30, 2015April 30, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

We really should! And we oughta do it now! I mean the quicker we get ‘our ducks in a row’ the better off we’ll all be in the long run! Getting our priorities in order has to be one of the most important things we do in life. If we rightly align our priorities everything just runs smoother. It’s really not that hard to get them in proper order but millions of people never do. It’s a challenge to keep them in order….but it’s do-able.

If we’re going to actually get the most important things first we really have to start with our spiritual life. The Bible encourages us to, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you”. I was already about 30 before I began to understand that principle. In the past 30 + years since then it has been proven to be true over and over again. In fact, I often encourage folks, “Ultimately your whole life is only going to be as good as your spiritual life”.

So, how do you bring order to your spiritual life??

1) Trust Jesus as your Savior; If you ‘believe the story’ of Jesus you already have the faith for it. “You didn’t choose Him, He chose you”. That’s what the Bible says…but you do have to agree with that and respond by faith.

2) Join a group of believers; I really think this needs to be prayerfully considered. If the Lord has your entire life already planned out, then the church you’re supposed to be in seems to be a pretty important factor.

3) Let the relationship develop; God is your Father. Keep it simple. Engage, interact, communicate.

4) Find your gifting; the Lord has ‘gifted’ you in certain ways.

5) Find places to serve; Get involved so your gifts can benefit the ‘whole’ Body.

6) Stay faithful; It’s a marathon, decide to be in it for the long-haul.

There’s other things to consider, but if you do these things to get your spiritual life in order you’re well on your way to getting all your ‘ducks in a row’.

If You Love Someone….You Should Tell Them!

April 29, 2015July 23, 2020 / Andy R Taylor / 10 Comments

I’ve had the amazing good fortune to have grown up in a household where the term, “I love you”, was a very regular happening. Cliff and Charlene Taylor never let an opportunity to say it, go by. I think I’d be safe in saying that Monty (my brother) and I heard “I love you” from them most every day of our young lives. I’ve never had to go a single day in my 61 years wondering if I was loved by them. They’re now in their ’80’s and live just a few blocks from me. I see them several times a week and talk to them on the phone almost every day, and every single time, without exception, we tell one another, “I love you”! I think it makes a difference.

We have a ‘built-in’ need to be loved, and hearing it from those around us goes a long ways in meeting that need. Of course, to say it and not show it with our actions doesn’t do much good. It really, really needs to be both! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened in my office to men and women, some younger, some older than me, who agonize over the fact that their dad never told them that he loved them. I don’t think I’ve ever heard even one of them say that their mom never told them that she loved them. Maybe moms are better at it…..and maybe it’s the validation of a father that we so desperately need. In most cases, it isn’t a situation where the dad didn’t love them….I think it’s more of an issue that they, maybe, weren’t told that themselves. And, in our culture,….as wrong as it may be, men saying “I love you” just isn’t cool.

I’m on a lifelong crusade to encourage you, whoever you are, to tell the people in your life that you love them! I’ve seen quite a few by now that didn’t grow up in an “I love you’ culture, who have broken the pattern. It has changed everything for the better….they all agree! If you love someone, by all means, show them by your actions. But don’t forget to tell them too!

How Gunner Payne Changed the World

April 28, 2015October 2, 2021 / Andy R Taylor / 6 Comments

You’ve heard of Gunner Payne, right?? Just kidding…..I’d almost be willing to bet the whole ranch that you’ve never heard of him. But Gunner Payne changed the world in an extremely profound way. Gunner was a Quaker; You actually have heard of the Quakers, but if you’re like me you don’t know much about them.

Gunner had a regular Bible study, in the early ’60s, in his hometown of Yorba Linda, California. It was in ’62 that Dick Heying, a professional drummer, took his bandleader and his wife to Gunner’s Bible study. Not too long after that (early ’63) both were saved. They became very faithful as Gunner took them ‘under his wing’ as a mentor and father in the Lord. It wasn’t long before John and Carol were winning people to the Lord themselves. John, a professional musician, was the person who put The Righteous Brothers together. Over the next few years, literally, hundreds came to know Jesus in a personal way. John later said that he just mimicked Gunner’s behavior and attitude.

Gunner’s life wasn’t without some major obstacles; his little 4-year-old daughter was kidnapped by a migrant farm worker from a neighboring community who raped and murdered her. The incident brought about a lot of national media attention that went on for months. It was obviously a tragedy of epic proportions. The fascinating part of the story to me is what happened next; Gunner Payne went to the prison where the murderer was incarcerated at least once a month….until he finally won his little girl’s killer to the Lord!

Oh….and that John and Carol we were talking about…..that’s the Wimber’s. And while John Wimber didn’t initiate the Vineyard Movement, he’s the one that the Lord used to bring it to worldwide prominence and influence. (Now over 1500 churches worldwide) And, if you’re in church today and not singing from a denominational hymnal…..you’re singing songs that were directly influenced by Wimber and the Vineyard Movement. It brought a new style of worship to the forefront, worldwide, and spawned great worship leaders across the globe. John was a huge proponent of ‘signs and wonders’ and his ministry was marked with miracles of every kind. Hundreds of thousands have come to know the Lord because of the ministry of John Wimber.

You just never know what might happen with the people that you’re willing to invest in!

And that’s how Gunner Payne changed the world!

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

April 20, 2015April 20, 2015 / 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??

It Feels Good To Be “Believed In”!!

April 17, 2015April 17, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / 8 Comments

Looking back over my life it becomes clear that people who have ‘believed’ in me, and told me so, have made a huge difference in my life. I think that it probably raised my level of productivity and performance quite a bit, to tell the truth. Beginning with school and sports when I was a kid, there were those along the way who just seemed to have a knack at bringing me up a notch with their encouragement. There’s no way I could forget my Mom and Dad in talking about this subject. They, somehow, imparted the mindset that my brother, Monty and I, could do ‘anything’ that we set out to do! That has served to be invaluable in my life and I think he’d say the same thing too.

I often tell people who are in places of influence, whether they’re a school teacher, soccer coach for 4 year olds or they pastor a church, that they have an extremely important responsibility and opportunity. I’m afraid there’s millions of little kids out there who are not getting much encouragement at all. That really bothers me! We all are born with unlimited potential but many go through their life without ever hearing it. We can make a difference.

It surely starts with children but our need to be validated and believed in doesn’t stop there. We may not ‘need’ it as much as when we’re adults….but it still feels good and I think, still, raises us up to another level. You know, the Father’s very good at this thing we’re talking about! That’s just another reason we should be engaged relationally, and interacting with Him!

When you believe in someone, tell them! …….and even if you’re not overly convinced of the success of their future…..tell them anyway! It might just make all the difference in their life!!