Maybe you’re not sure how to answer the question. That’s OK. I”ll be writing a series over the next few weeks and defining what I would call a ‘kingdom’ person.You might decide early on that you are….or you might decide that you’re not. No pressure from me but how you answer the question might just dictate how fruitful the rest of your life will be, from a spiritual standpoint. I will promise that by the time the series is completed you’ll know beyond the shadow of a doubtwhether or not you’re a ‘kingdom’ person.
There’s always been a lot of talk around the church about what God used to do. No doubt, whatsoever, that stuff is extremely important. There’s also always been a lot of talk about what He’s going to do in the future. Likewise, very important stuff. I have a strong feeling that if we’re not careful we’ll find ourselves suspended between what He used to do…..and what He’s going to do. Relative to you and I, a great question would be, “What’s God doing today?”
For starters a ‘kingdom’ person has great respect for what God has done in the past and great respect for what He’s going to do in the future but refuses to be suspended and ‘stalled out’ between the two! A ‘kingdom’ person has a keen understanding that God is up to something BIG in our generation and desires to be a part of it! A ‘kingdom’ person is not content to stand around and wait for something to happen. They want ‘in the game’.….and they’re willing to be led by the Holy Spirit to find their place of anointing (supernatural ability), and responsibility. A ‘kingdom’ person is aware of what the Father’s doing now!
I was actually kind of surprised to realize that I had made it up to 100 Blog Posts since January 1! That happened fast! I guess it’s a ‘milestone’. Writing has been something I’ve enjoyed for quite awhile now. I started writing years back when my friend Derek Manning, who owned a newspaper in nearby Elk City, Oklahoma, asked me to write a weekly article for his paper. Although Derek has since sold the newspaper I’ve written over 600 articles! A few years back Melanie Cole, owner of the Cheyenne Star Newspaper, started to put the articles in her paper. I’m grateful for both her and Derek because it has helped me to develop a talent that was pretty much untapped. I was a little intimidated at first but once I got ‘untracked’ I found that I really enjoyed it. I look now at the things I wrote 7 or 8 years ago and I do think that I’m getting better at putting my thoughts down. It has been very therapeutic for me, too. Writing, for me has really helped me get in touch with my emotions. There’s just something about writing from the heart that’s good for a soul!
I try my best to keep the posts from getting long….but there are some stories that you just can’t tell in 300 words. (that’s my target #) So, I try to keep ’em fairly brief. I’m getting better at condensing!My Blog, “The Way I See It”, has been good for me but my primary reason for writing in the first place is to help others. I’ve learned a lot in 61 years, and still have a lot more to learn, and I enjoy passing along some of those things to people who are interested.
I love feedback so anytime you read something that really ‘speaks’ to you….let me know about it. *Best case scenario.…go to andyrtaylor.com and click the “Follow” link. You’ll get an email every time I make a post. Please feel free to “Share” them with your contacts, too!
Here’s the numbers after 100 posts (in terms of ‘views’):
Views: 20,970 *(seems pretty amazing to me!)
Visitors: 10,650 *(equally amazed!) For the full stats, click here
**If you do go there…under “Posts & Pages” you can see the Top-10 Blog Posts (# of Views)
Definitely VIP’s! Edith Yowell was my first-grade teacher and Nellie Millar, my second-grade teacher.No kindergarten for me…in fact I don’t think they even had kindergarten in Reydon, Oklahoma in 1958. I mean, it was in the day of outhouses (fortunately we had indoor plumbing!). We did, however, have some neighbors who still had a dirt floor in their house.
My first day of school was a memorable one; I can remember the excitement of being a little kid embarking on some kind of great adventure. I met a bunch of new friends and some of them are still friends today. I’m pretty sure on the first day of school we got handed the book, “Tip”. It was a story about a dog. When we finished that one it was “Tip & Mitten”; a dog and a cat this time. Then not long after those it was “Fun With Dick and Jane”. Still remember those vividly.
My Mom and Dad already had me in the mode to read so I just devoured “Tip”, and “Tip & Mitten”. “Fun With Dick and Jane” was a little more challenging, of course, but I was really learning to read now. As I look back, and think back, it seems apparent that these two teachers had an incredible impression on me. I think there are several things that they taught and imparted but the most important thing I got from them was the desire to be a ‘reader’. Somehow they instilled in me the desire to read and that reading was fun, enjoyable and, almost always, productive. It’s a desire that I still have today! I’d definitely advise parents to instill the need to read in their kids. They’re going to have to be reading their whole lives. And to be a good reader just does nothing but good!
Writing is something that I really enjoy these days. I think I’ll be doing it for a long, long time. I can’t help but think how valuable to me Mrs Yowell and Mrs. Millar were to this process. I can’t say enough good about good teachers; they’re not paid enough in my books and their job isn’t easy. They have a tremendous responsibility….and opportunity, for that matter. I had some really good ones….maybe I’ll write something about them later. But, I’m extremely grateful for Edith Yowell and Nellie Millar!They got me headed in the right direction. They were some great ones!!
Let me answer that for you…..before you answer it wrong! YES!! You do ‘have’ enough faith. Now, whether or not you’re using it is another question, altogether. The Bible is clear that we’ve been given ‘the’ measure of faith. The Father loves us all! And because He doesn’t favor any one of us over another….He gives each of us the very same measure of faith. It’s enough faith! Enough to navigate every single event we’ll ever encounter in our whole life. It’s also enough faith to enable us to fulfill our destiny (God’s perfect plan for our life)! It’s not a flimsy, cut and run at the first sign of trouble, kind of faith either. It’s powerful enough for the sick to be healed, demons to be cast out and enough to empower us to tell the ‘good news’ to the poor!
This amazing faith that’s been given to us works in every situation. But you and I must activate it! It works in perfect synch with the Holy Spirit Who lives in us. “Signs and wonders will follow them that believe”! If we’re to experience this to the degree that the Father has purposed we must be ‘given’ to His Spirit. We can’t ‘go rogue’ with our faith and make ‘unilateral’ decisions. We must be devoted and reliant on His Spirit to see the miraculous manifested.
When our faith is ‘exercised’…..it grows. We have the potential of ‘mountain moving’ faith but if we don’t activate it…..it just abides there dormant. It’s like having a fortune in your bank account but never writing a check on it! The Bible says, “We’re created in Christ Jesus for good works.” The world is waiting for a people like us who really believe!Let’s ignite our faith! Write some ‘checks’ and see what happens!
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!
You’ve heard the old adage, “You can’t get there from here”, right?It’s kind of a tongue-in-cheek reference indicating that it’s next to impossible to make the change to get from one place to another. Can you imagine stopping for directions at some little out of the way service station in the middle of nowhere on how to get to your destination….and hearing the attendant say, “You can’t get there from here.” Well, we all know it’s not true but it definitely feels like that sometimes.
In 30 + years of ministry I’ve seen some amazing life transformations;mine for one!!I’ve seen people whose lives were in a worse mess than you can possibly imagine. I’ve seen marriages that were totally over and done with. I’ve seen those who were so entrenched in their sinful lifestyle that it looked as though there was no way out. I’ve seen people so hopeless that they could never believe that their life could ever be fixed. I’ve seen addicts and alcoholics who were so messed up they just couldn’t see out. I’ve seen those whose financial situation was in virtual ruin. I’ve seen plenty of people who sincerely believed that God would have absolutely nothing to do with them because of their stupid choices. And for all those to think that they could, somehow, end up with a decent life is so far fetched….it’s kind of like, “you can’t get there from here”.
But I’ve got good news…..no, actually it’s great news! God’s a ‘rescuer’!! He’s a ‘fixer’!! He’s never intimidated at the messed up state of our lives.He can restore any life and give it the significance that it deserves. It’s why we all need God. We’ll all make a monumental mess of our lives without Him.
So, if you’re in a place where you have no hope…..or if you’re wondering if your life could ever be livable and enjoyable, I’m here to tell you that it can! You ‘can’ get there from here!
Lots of conflict on the news lately. It seems that racial tension is nearly as high as it was in the ’60’s. I remember that. I actually thought we had made some major strides in overcoming that in the last few decades but it doesn’t take too many like Al Sharpton egging it on to get everyone stirred up again. In my opinion he’s used up way more than his fifteen minutes of fame!
The cry from communities like we’ve seen in Baltimore and Ferguson, MO is that “Black Lives Matter”. I could not agree more! It’s kind of a ‘no brainer’, huh? I saw a sign in a yard in a nearby town that says that “Police Lives Matter”. Agree again! The truth is, and only an idiot would argue otherwise, that all lives matter! I’m discouraged that in the greatest nation on the planet we’re even having this discussion. I don’t doubt that in many areas there are some strong prejudices and biases against minorities. I’m a country boy and I haven’t had to deal with that much, so I don’t consider myself an expert in the least. I just know it doesn’t work….it doesn’t work for anyone!It’s the classic ‘lose-lose’ situation!
I think we’ve gotta stop making it a ‘white’ issue, or a ‘black’ issue and make it a human being issue! “Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you” still works! I agree that it’s a deeper and more complex discussion and that there’s at least dozen or more points to be considered. But let’s not make it any more complicated than it already is.
If there’s anything positive going to happen, you and I should at least do our part. A good start is deciding that “Lives Matter”….. all of them! And anytime we see racial prejudices in our little world, we should step in, if possible, and be the voice of reason, righteousness and reconciliation. We should take the position of ‘peacemakers’ and see what happens. I know the Lord’ll bless the effort.
I doubt that many of my regular blog readers are racist…..hopefully none! So, in that sense….I’m preaching to the choir. But if you were to “Share” this post it might just hit someone that could make a huge difference. In the meantime, let’s all decide that “Lives Matter”!!
My rodeo career was just finishing up and Paul’s was just getting in full swing. We’d crossed paths a couple of times but we didn’t really know one another. Fast forward a few years and we had moved from Texas to Oklahoma and started the church in Sayre in ’89. I started hearing about Paul and, his then wife, Susie’s (Reba McEntire’s sister) ministry, which was pretty significant to say the least.We, again, crossed paths a time or two but I never got to spend much time with them.
In about 2008 I bumped into Paul in Wheeler, Texas. We had just finished a leadership training event in a church there and went out to eat. He was in the restaurant with a friend. We talked briefly and went on our way. He said later that the Lord told him that night that he needed to move to Sayre. He came over for a visit or two but it was a full two years before he moved here permanently. After being here a short time, he confessed that he should’ve been here all along.
Paul was not good. Diagnosed with terminal liver cancer and in the process of getting a divorce. His relationship with his kids (all grown) was strained, at best. He was angry, bitter and pretty hard to get along with. He had so many regrets about his life and just couldn’t find any peace to move on. He sorely regretted doing ministry from a condemning standpoint (his own testimony). And just when he’d be at his worst, someone would inevitably show up or call and tell him that 20 years ago, something he said to them totally changed their life. We included him in every single thing we did here. This story’s not about us, but there are some people around here that just won’t let you stay in a defeated mode. We propped him up, we encouraged him, we chastised him when it was unavoidable, we straight-up told him to quit beating himself up,…..but most of all we just loved him, ……and he started to change.
It was a process…but he caught the significance of having a real relationship with the Father, which in turn began to affect every other relationship that he had. He caught the tsunami of God’s grace and he was never the same after that. He started backtracking and repairing broken relationships, none of the least of which was with his children, E.P., Lucchese and Samuel. He was determined to love them and to be there for them in a way, which he said, he’d never really done before. He got that accomplished!
I often compare Paul Luchsinger with the Apostle Paul of bible fame. Both were full of dead religion until their ‘encounter’ with the God of grace. And after that….neither one was ever to be the same! His bitterness was totally gone and he was a blessing to every single person he came into contact with. There’s no telling how many people he helped as he pointed them to the Father. Even when his health was deteriorating he never complained….he always made it about everyone else. He ‘fought the good fight’ like nobody I’ve ever seen before….and may never see again.
I was in North Carolina when Paul graduated to heaven. Not embarrassed to admit that I shed quite a few tears when I received the news. I’m a little sad for us….but not sad for Paul at all. Paul Luchsinger got well in Sayre, Oklahoma! He finished STRONG! I’m sure that he’s not just a VIP in my books, but undoubtedly a VIP in the Father’s eyes!
**Paul Luchsinger was promoted to heaven on May 12, 2015
It took me a lot of years to learn that but I think I’ve finally got it down. It was quite a turnaround for me when I came to the Lord in 1984. When I started cooperating, the Lord began to ‘piece’ my life together, little-by-little. And….after 30 + years He’s still faithful to keep on fixin’ all the things that need fixin’ in my life.
When Julie and I started the church in Sayre in 1989 we didn’t know much. We were pretty sure we’d heard the Lord and we plowed ahead doing the best we could, mostly by faith….and trial and error. It has been amazing how the Lord has blessed the trip. There’s been plenty of obstacles, road blocks and speed-bumps but all in all the Lord has been extremely gracious to us and has had our back in every situation.
There’s been a lot of changed lives down through the years that I take no personal credit for, but it has been rewarding to be involved to see just how the Lord can still miraculously transform a really messed up life. Since right from the start I’ve had a strong desire to see the Lord repair the lives of the hundreds He’s sent our way. So much of a desire, sometimes, that I could get overly involved in trying to help them in the overcoming process. I’d jump at their beck and call, sit up with them all night if that’s what it required, encourage them, give them the best counsel I could, miss events that I should be at, put other important things off to be there to help. I still do some of that after all these years but I’m quite a bit better at discerning this one thing. I’m not sure why it took me so long to learn this. I guess I may just be a slow learner. But I have found it to be true 100 % of the time that if I’m trying harder than they are to fix their problem…..it never, ever works!
So, if you’re in a jam, I’ll still do my best to help. I can be, pretty much, all in if you’re serious. But the moment it feels like I’m trying harder than you are….., nothing personal….., but I’m backin’ off. We can always make another run at it, but if I’m trying harder than you are, this probably ain’t gonna work!
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!
