Love

You Matter! You Really Do!

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter! We’ve been bombarded with so much of that in this last year that it eventually gets on a person’s nerves. And while I fundamentally agree with all three statements I totally disagree with any kind of violent expression to get the point across. It does absolutely nothing but fuel the racial tension that has been purposely escalated by the current administration and perpetrated by the false idea that black people in America are routinely treated with disregard. That’s just my opinion and you don’t have to agree.

But the truth of the matter remains. We all have a profound, deep seated and inherent sense that we matter. It’s a very legitimate thing and it was put there in our basic makeup by the Lord, Himself, when He created mankind. We ‘want’ to matter! We want our lives to count; We want to make a difference. It’s “built in”! But, life inevitably gets in the way. Busyness, misfires, failures, unexpected calamities, bad decisions, heartbreaks……they all figure in. And if we’re not careful….the fact that we really do matter, somehow, gets lost in the shuffle.

But, you do matter! You matter to your people; your family, your friends, the people who you love and who love you, the people who trust you, the people who depend on you, the people who believe in you, the people who have invested in you, the people who’ve been there for you and the ones you’ve been there for. You matter to the people you’ll ‘touch’ through the fulfilling of your destiny. I’m telling the truth…You Matter!

You mattered enough to Jesus for Him to lay down His life for you!

You matter…..and you’ll always matter!

Try these:

Have a Nice Day, Lord!

Are You ‘Led’, or Are You ‘Driven’?

Resistance Training

*If you find these helpful, “Share” ’em, and pass ’em along to people you think might be interested.

Thanks!

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I Don’t Know How He Does It!

/ Andy R Taylor / 1 Comment

I’ve been seeing Him do it consistently for over thirty years now! My guess is that He’s been doing it since time began! It’s amazing to me how the Lord can inevitably, flawlessly and decisively, cause good things to happen …right in the midst of what we might think are terrible circumstances. It started for me in 1984 in what I thought was the worst time of my life. At a time when I couldn’t see my way out the Lord miraculously came through. And, I certainly didn’t know it at the time but it has turned out to be, undoubtedly, the best time of my life. It wasn’t the funnest….if you know what I mean….but it was definitely the best. Because it was there, at that point, that the Lord rescued me. It was there that my relationship with Him began. A relationship, by the way, that I didn’t even know you could….or should have.

I really think the Lord just loves to do this kind of thing. He loves His kids, there’s no question about that! And He loves the opportunity to bless us at anytime, really. But, it appears that maybe He loves to bless us when we think and feel that there’s nothing good that can come in our circumstances. I have a dozen or more stories, and have heard at least a hundred others from people I know, of how the Lord did some amazing things in the midst of life’s greatest tragedies. In fact, if you think about it, the very worst thing that has ever happened in the context of time (without question), was when Jesus died on the cross. But for you and me….it turned out to be the very best thing that could’ve possibly ever happened!

Maybe you’re in the middle of one of those crises in your life right now. I can almost guarantee that the Lord has something very good for you in the near future!

It’s just routine for Him!

Tell me your story.

Try these, too:

What If It’s Not to ‘Break’ You,….but to ‘Make’ You?

Making the Best of a Bad Situation

Walkin’ the Floor

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Maybe He Saved More Than Your Life!

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

I just returned from a fantastic week of trout fishing in Montana. It’s the second year I’ve been invited there by my great friend, Ty Bean. It has been, these two years, an incredible time to unwind, relax, replenish and meet up with a few old, and some new friends. I had a great time….all except when I fell into the river! Maybe I’ll tell you about it sometime. But, until then suffice it to say that the Big Horn, …in October, is waaaay too chilly to go into…on purpose!

We were picked up at the airport in Billings by a sharp young man named Tyler. There were five of us in the Suburban for the hour and a half trip to the lodge. I was riding ‘shotgun’ with Tyler and he began to ask me about my life. Now I sure don’t mind telling ‘my story’ but I have absolutely no agenda to try to force my way into telling it. But I was glad to answer Tyler’s questions and tell him how the Lord rescued me 32 years ago. When I finished he said, “That’s a great story!” I said, “Well, I take no credit for it, it’s just the story of how God saved my life.”

At almost that precise time I received a text. My screen-saver on my phone now ( I change it periodically with a pic of one or more of our 9 Grandkids!) is a pic of Knox and Timber, our two ‘newest’ grand babies. He (the Lord) immediately took me to that time in 1984 when my marriage was over with no hope of repair, and just about every other problem you could imagine. At that point in my life I only had two sons, Clint and Cade. And, the Lord showed me all that I now have…..that I wouldn’t have had, had He not answered my desperate prayer of, “God, if You’re out there, you gotta help me!”

My mind went immediately to Cole, his wife Kelly and their 3 precious little kids, Calli, Maverick and Knox. Then to Clay, his wife Chelsea and precious little Timber. Then to Cord, our little boy in heaven. *(Something for us to really look forward to!!) Then to Cameron, our little girl who has been the ‘icing on the cake’ after four boys! I was broken beyond words right there in the Suburban. It wasn’t tears of sadness but tears of overwhelming joy and gratefulness toward the Father.  None of these, who are now such a huge a part of our lives, and a huge part of why our lives are so rich today……,  would’ve been here. I can’t imagine life without them!!

God did the impossible….and fixed the un-fixable!! 

And, maybe…..just maybe…..He saved more than your life!!

**Here’s that pic on my phone!! The two newest little Taylors’, Timber & Knox!

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“God, If You’re Out There, You Gotta Help Me!”

It’s A Different Kind of Love!

If He Can Fix My Life…..I Know He Can Fix Yours!

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Accepted or Valued? There’s a Vast Difference!

/ Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

One of the hard things in life occurs when we don’t feel accepted. And, I imagine just about everyone of us has experienced it more than a few times. It just doesn’t feel good to be on the outside…especially when the ‘in’ group is our family or friends and people we care about. Because of our insecurities (and most of us have ’em) it’s possible to have that feeling pretty often. But, many times that feeling is just something that’s perceived on our part and not really legitimate,….or even intended on the other party’s part. But we can still experience the blunt pain of it anyway. Being accepted on the other hand has a very positive feel to it. 

There’s plenty of talk around the church these days about acceptance. I hear some people, from time to time, kind of ‘braggingly’, alluding to the fact that they accept everyone, as it’s supposed to be some real badge of nobility. It’s not rare to hear someone say, “Yep, we accept bikers, poor folks, alcoholics, drug addicts, ex-cons, those that are all ‘tatted’ up, gays, lesbians….”, and the list could go on and on. I wanna say, (but I don’t!) “Well, ain’t that what we’re supposed to do anyway?!” I don’t have much tolerance for bragging about something that oughta be commonplace, and a ‘no-brainer’,  for the church!

But, just deciding to accept someone….I don’t think is enough! I mean, from the position of not being accepted to being accepted, that’s a big thing, no question. It’s huge!! But, just accepting someone has the feel that we’re just kinda ‘tolerating’ them ’til they change to be like us. (which in most cases they really don’t care to do….and, seriously,…..who could blame ’em!) 

But, something really supernatural happens when we go beyond just ‘accepting’ them to actually ‘valuing’ them!! Valuing someone is going to the next level. It amounts to seeing someone through the eyes of the Lord. When we can do that and then show it through our attitude….and actions with them….amazing things are apt to happen!

I’m glad the Lord didn’t just accept me! I’m really glad that He’s not just ‘tolerating’ me! I can tell by my interaction with Him, and how good He’s been to me, that He’s gone way beyond that…and that He’s put a huge amount of value on me. (….incredibly undeserving on my part, I might add!) 

Oh, and those people that you ‘accept’…..they can feel whether you actually value them or not. And, if you don’t….enjoy their presence now ’cause more than likely they won’t be there long!

Check these out: (click on the highlighted link to read)

FOMO

“Obviously, I’m God’s Favorite!”

The Thing About Unconditional Love

“It’s Not Your Job to Fix Them!”

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The Thing About Unconditional Love

/ Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

“Unconditional Love”; I hear that term often; use it quite a bit myself. Most of the time I’m using the term to describe the Father’s love toward us. It’s a self-explanatory phrase. It just means that the love being described is given without conditions. If you can turn your feelings toward someone on and off depending on their behavior or attitude then, obviously, it can’t be labeled ‘unconditional’.

But we live in a fickle world that is very performance based! You act right….I’ll love you….you mess up, I’ll flip the switch! That kind of on again, off again attitude robs both parties of one of the things that’s the most important in life! ……..to be loved unconditionally. And, I believe it’s one of the main reasons that a lot of people can’t believe that God can really love them in the state they’re in. That’s a problem….and it desperately needs to be fixed!

When we’re loved unconditionally by someone (who we can see)….it makes the fact that God, (Who we can’t see), loves us,….believable! I think that’s the reason that the Father has given us a natural unconditional love for certain people. I’ve noticed that I have a pure, unconditional, immeasurable, and undestroyable (I just made that word up! I like it, too!), love for my parents, my kids (and their spouses, too!!) and my grandkids.  I expect I’ll have that same love for my great grandkids when they start showing up, too! I don’t have to work for it….it just comes naturally. But, outside that tight little group….it becomes exponentially harder to love. We do have to ‘work’ at it….even with our spouses. That’s my experience, anyway.

Here’s my ‘takeaway’; We’ve been given a ‘natural’ love for that little group of people I mentioned so we can know what the ‘real thing’ feels like. We can, if we’ve a mind to, love everyone like that. It’s true that we’ll most likely need the help of the Holy Spirit to get it done…but it’s do-able. He lives in us….and He’ll also love through us if we’ll just give him the opportunity.

My thinking is, we need to receive it…and give it,………and give it without restrictions! If you really want to see someone change for the better, love them unconditionally! We need to flip the switch on….and leave it on!

So, here’s the thing about unconditional love; ‘Conditional’ love isn’t love at all! So, if you’re not willing to love unconditionally, call it something other than love! ….’cause it’s not the ‘real thing’!!

I think you’ll like these, too!

Love Gives

How Are We  Doing in the Thing That Matters Most?

“Can We Love Like He Loves?”

 

Talk About a ‘Fixer-Upper’!

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

It’s a real estate term. You know, when you buy a house in disrepair for a good price but it needs a lot of work. Yeah, that’s a ‘fixer-upper’! If you’re willing to invest a little sweat equity you can actually end up with a property worth a lot more than you gave for it. It can be fairly lucrative for people who like to do that kind of thing.

It’s kind of the same principle for you and me if you think about it. The Bible talks about that very thing. Yep, it does. In fact Paul said it this way, “Don’t you know that you’re the temple of God, and that the Holy Spirit lives in you?” When we said, “Yes” to the Lord and were born again, the Holy Spirit moved into the ‘house’! And, let’s just say…..”We were a ‘fixer-upper’!! Oh, yeah! We needed a lot of work; I mean a lot! I seriously doubt anyone but the Lord, Himself, would be willing to invest in a property in this much disrepair. And there’s no question about it, nobody but the Father could do the work required on the dilapitated property that’d make it worth anything at all.

But, He must’ve seen the potential value. I guess He thought the property would end up being worth a lot after it was repaired because of the exorbitant price He had to pay! He basically gave Everything He had! The property was unbelievably high priced! And, as soon as He closed the deal, the Holy Spirit moved in and started to work! He brought all the tools He had and started knocking out walls! It turned out to be a total ‘re-model’!! Then the cleaning started; He brought the cleaning supplies and the mop bucket. Several of the rooms in the ‘house’ were awful dirty. It took awhile on some of them!

The construction, the cleaning and the upkeep ended up taking a lifetime.

But the Owner smiled…..’cause to Him….. it was all well worth the trouble!

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I Was Born Rich!

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

Not the, born with a silver spoon in your mouth, kind of rich. But rich, nonetheless, in other things that, today, stand out as being much more important. If you consider the things that are really important in life like, …..to name just a few: good health, lots of good friends, a beautiful loving wife, loving parents, healthy kids and grandkids (smart & pretty too!), then I would have to be among the wealthiest people on planet Earth! I realize that those things are not experienced by everyone and there’s not a day that I’ve taken any of them for granted. I’m more grateful for those things today than at any other point in my life.

But, regardless, if maybe you don’t have all those things in abundance now…..there’s an incredible inheritance awaiting you. Jesus said in John’s gospel, “You must be born again”. He said that to an extremely religious man by the name of Nicodemus. He didn’t understand and reasoned out loud, “How can a man enter his mother’s womb and be born again?” (paraphrased) But Jesus was talking about a ‘spiritual’ birth. Jesus went on to say, “unless you’re born again you can’t enter the kingdom of heaven”.

Being born again is the simplest, easiest thing to attain. God has made it that way! It amounts to you and I agreeing with what Jesus completed on the cross….and then ‘receiving’ Him into our lives. When that happens some amazing things begin to transpire. One of those things is that you begin to experience that ‘incredible inheritance’ I mentioned earlier!

His Word declares, “We’ve been given all things that pertain to life and godliness”. Think about that one for a minute! On top of that we now have this awesome opportunity to engage in relationship with the Father. His Spirit ‘lives’ in us! And, Heaven is the ‘icing’ on the cake!

So, even though we may be struggling to make ends meet financially, and we may not know how we’re going to make our next car payment…..when we get this perspective we’ll clearly understand that we’ve been born (again) RICH!

I think you’ll like this one, too:

$$$ – Being a “Thousandaire” Might Just Be Better Than Being a “Millionaire”!

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“What’s The Father Telling You?” Part 2

/ Andy R Taylor / 5 Comments

If you didn’t read “What’s The Lord Telling You?”Part 1.…you really should read it before reading Part 2. *(click on highlighted link).It has been an interesting journey in learning to ‘walk out’ the things the Father has put in front of us. It’s always challenging, never boring and the amazement of it still mystifies me today. When the Lord said He would be bringing people in here from all over ….He meant it! Most are still here. Some have come and gone (just like He said!), and others are yet to come. My own take on what the Lord is doing in that is that He has brought, and is bringing, them here to catch the DNA of the house (Trinity Fellowship). Then the natural, or should I say spiritual, thing that happens is that they become a positive influence wherever they may go imparting that same DNA in their own realm of influence.

I’ve grown very close to many of the people who have  arrived here as a result of the Father’s plan. They have become like family to me and it’s hard to imagine how it’d be without them in my life. Most of them look to me as their pastor and some would also say that I’m a spiritual father to them. Either is a huge responsibility and one that I’d never take lightly. But their first disappointment with me happened when they would bring their life’s problems or dilemmas to me. And, rather than give them an easy answer, my response would nearly always be, “What’s the Father telling you?”. Some of them would even admit, now, that it made them mad when I would ask that question. 

It’s never been my way of skirting the issue or passing the buck. But looking back on my own life it’s been those things that the Lord has ‘said’ to me that has made the biggest transformation in my life. It’s the things He’s ‘said’ that has caused the church to flourish and be the influence it is. But even more important….when I ask them the question it has caused them to go to the Lord themselves! And rather than me being some kind of spiritual guru for everyone….they’re all learning to hear the Lord for themselves! And to tell you the truth, I’m totally convinced that the Lord likes it this way above every other way imaginable!

Think about it this way; If you have kids, would you want to talk to them about the important things in their life….or would you rather have someone else talk to them for you?!! Well, God is the perfect Father….and He desperately wants to talk to you!!

What’s He telling you?!

PS-Most of those would now say that it’s the very best thing I’ve done for them!

*Maybe some of them will ‘weigh-in’ and let you hear it from their own perspective!

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Good Ground Grows Good Weeds, Too!

/ Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

I was having a conversation today with a couple of close friends, who also happen to be on the Beckham County Drug Court Team. *(click on link for one of my most read blogs) They were both ecstatic about a person they both knew who had just been approved to enter the Drug Court process. That’s a big deal, especially for that person, because it means he won’t immediately have to go to prison and will have a chance to redeem himself if he’ll adhere to the DC rules. It’s a great program here in Beckham County, with a lot of amazing success stories. *(click link for a blog you’ll love!) This person has been down the wrong road for a good long while but both agreed that he’ll be one who’ll be a leader in the DC program as he progresses on his journey!

But their conversation reminded me of an incident at least a decade before. We were having a big youth event at church and a great pastor friend of mine, Lynn Schaal, from Idaho was staying with us at the time. The teens were showing up for the event by the dozens. There was a small group of about 5 kids who came in the door. Most of them were dressed in black and one particular little teenage girl had several piercings and was wearing a dog collar type thing around her neck with huge silver spikes on it. She was obviously a leader among her little small, rebellious looking/acting group. My friend, Lynn, immediately went to talk to her as soon as she came in the door. They had a short visit and when he returned I’ll never forget what he had to say! “I love kids like that!”, he said. “Anytime I get the chance to talk to them, I do!” …..and here’s what he said that really stuck with me, “You know, good ground grows good weeds too!”  I’d never thought about it that way but it’s true. Everyone knows that good ground grows good fruit. That’s a no-brainer. But his point was that oftentimes when you see people who display some of these bizarre and extreme characteristics with dress, behavior, attitudes, etc., that many times ‘underneath’ it all is a person with incredible potential….if it were just pointed in the right direction.

 

Since that day I’ve never forgotten what Lynn said….and as I’ve observed people…I really believe he’s onto something! It’s helped me to look beyond what’s on the surface and to try and see the untapped potential that might lie just beyond what’s seen!

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This Version of the Taylors’ Est. on This Day 49 Years Ago!

/ Andy R Taylor / 1 Comment

It’s a pretty good sized family. Now, about 18 strong….and getting ready to be 19! This version of the Taylor family was officially established 39 years ago. But 49 years ago today is really when it started, unofficially,….at the Stovall Theater right here in Sayre, Oklahoma. That’s when, at age 13, I met up with the prettiest girl I’d ever seen, to sit by her at the picture show. (that’s what we used to call the movie theater!) I have no idea what the movie was that night but I do remember the girl. Her name was Julie Drake. Our parents had been friends for years but we’d only met less than a year before. There must’ve been something magical about that little date at the movie that night because we did it again…and again, and again. And ten years to the day after that first night at the movie theater we were married. And, now, today it’s been 39 years! It’s almost unbelievable how fast those years have gone by.

So, here we are, now in our 60’s,…after having raised 5 incredible kids (and others that we’ll join up with in heaven shortly) who are in various stages of raising their own families and taking on the world themselves. Add to that 8 of the smartest, best looking grandkids (it’ll be 9 by the end of the month!) that you could possibly imagine. And even the staunchest unbeliever on the planet could not argue that this was undeniably a ‘match made in heaven’….in the truest sense of the word!

I’ve done a lot of dumb stuff in my life but I really outdid myself 49 years ago today when I asked Julie Drake to sit by me at that movie. She’s been the perfect wife, the perfect mother…a truly incredible person by anyone’s standards. People would have to wonder how someone like me could’ve ever ended up with someone like her. It’s more than luck….it’s nothing short of the sovereign will of the Father! We’ve been through all the challenges that couples can go through….and somehow made it to here. It’s obvious that we were made for each other.

Oh, and by the way…she’s still the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen!

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