That One “Nut Job”!

December 2, 2015December 2, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

It’s been a ‘phenomenon’, I guess you could call it, that’s been going on my entire life. I remember even when I was a kid it was happening with me, and I just keep on finding myself in the same scenario over and over again.

I’ve made this statement, or a variation of it, at least a hundred times down through the years. It went something like this: “I could go to Dallas Cowboy Stadium where there’s a hundred thousand people….and if there’s one ‘nut job’ there, ……he’ll find me!”. It’s a true story and it’s happened with me more often than you’d believe.

It was a few years ago, and after it’d just happened again, (don’t remember when or where but it did happen) that I made that same statement again. But this time it was different….I mean, really different! Immediately on making that statement, that ‘still small voice’ of the Lord spoke ever so clearly to my spirit saying, “I know, Andy….that’s a ‘gift’ I’ve given you!” I’m telling you it was a ‘gut-check’ of epic proportions! And as that thing captured my entire attention He followed it with, “I don’t trust those kind of people with just anyone!”.

I don’t know if you can grasp the complete gravity of what the Lord said to me. But, for me, it was one of those, “stop you dead in your tracks”, kinds of things. In fact I can’t remember any other time in my life that His word to me was any clearer and life-altering than this one thing. It totally changed my entire perspective on that ‘phenomenon’, literally, in a moment of time! All of a sudden I saw ‘those people’ like the Father sees them….and it changed everything!

My heart was broken…..in a very good way, by how I’d viewed all those people down through the years before. And since that day I can’t even tell this story without being brought to tears.

So, they’re still coming, maybe with a greater frequency than ever before,….but everything has changed for me…..and in turn….maybe them, too!

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It’s ‘Atmospheric’, …..There’s No Question About It!

Double Check Your “Invitation List”!!

November 19, 2015November 19, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / 3 Comments

You’ll be glad you did. Anytime you’re going to host an event, party or get together of any kind you first have to think about who you want to be there. I don’t do many things where I have to think about that but if I did…..I’d definitely double-check! I’m an ‘all-inclusive’ kind of guy and I’d be scared that I’d leave somebody out. That would be awkward and it’d make me feel really, really bad to leave somebody out….and it’d probably make them feel bad too. Yep….definitely double-check the invite list!

Years and years ago there was a wedding happening. There were a lot of people at this wedding; actually quite a few more than the wedding planner had bargained for. So, naturally the refreshments started to run low. The wine for the wedding was just about to the point of running completely out but luckily the hostess had invited her Son to the wedding. She instructed the other helpers at the wedding to do whatever her Son said. He told the helpers to fill up the water containers and take them to the wedding table. When the containers were poured out….miraculously wine was in them! Not the cheap stuff either….it was fine wine.

You’ve probably figured out by now that it was Jesus Who was invited to the wedding. It was the first miracle He performed….changing water into wine.

Have you invited Him? Have you invited Him to your life, to your problems and dilemmas? Have you invited Him to your relationship problems or your business decisions? Have you invited Him to your 401k or your family functions? There could be some miraculous things happen if we would actually invite Him into our little world.

…..PS-And, don’t worry about sending a self-addressed stamp envelope for the RSVP. You can be sure that if you invite Him, He will definitely come!

Some of It’s ‘Taught’……But Most of It’s ‘Caught’!

October 15, 2015October 15, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

After observing for over half a century, and looking even closer the past 20 years or so it just seems to be a fact. We can spend a good deal of our time teaching or being taught…..and I’m definitely for that. I’ve committed myself to be a ‘learner’ up until my last day on the planet. And so far it seems to be working. It’s easy to be a learner if you want to be one. And, if you are really serious about being a learner it’s wise to understand that you can learn a little something from just about anyone.

Learning comes in a lot of different packages. (Experience is a great teacher. I’ll write about that later.) Some of our learning came in the classroom. Especially, early on, we learned from teachers (or our parents) how to read, how to write and basic things like that. So, obviously, a lot of what we have learned in our lives has been taught. But as I look at myself and my life it’s clear that much, maybe even most, of what I know, and what I’m actually living out….I’ve ‘caught’ from others along the way.

When I look at how I think and reason, how I behave and how I react to different situations it becomes pretty clear that I picked a lot of that up from my folks growing up and then being around them as an adult. I admire them to a great degree. I see them at least a few times a week (they’re in their 80’s) and I’m still ‘catching’ things from them. We have a tendency to ‘catch‘ things in life from those that at are ‘over’ us; parents, teachers, coaches, church leaders, etc. It’s especially true when those people have been ones that we trust or admire.We can even ‘catch’ things from our friends who are on an even level with us. I think that ‘s a good thing. Even Paul in the Bible said, “Imitate me, as I imitate Christ.”

So, from here on out, I think we should commit ourselves to both….what we’re ‘taught’..….and what can be ‘caught’. As I write this I kinda wonder what people might say they ‘caught’ from me.

I really hope some of it’s good.

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There’s Just So Much of This Stuff in Life We’re Gonna Have to Learn the ‘Hard Way’!

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There’s Something To Be Said For Not Knowing Anything!