Solutions

“Good Tidings of Great Joy”

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

The angel…along with a multitude of the heavenly host praised God and announced, “Glory to god in the highest, and on earth peace”. It was arguably one of the very few most important events that would ever take place within the context of time, itself. But the announcement wasn’t made before a multitude of people; it wasn’t made at the temple before the religious folk; it wasn’t even made on the town square. No, it was announced far away from all these, seemingly obvious, places way out in the middle of nowhere. The angel appeared to the shepherds and made his proclamation. What an unlikely place to bring such an important message to the world!

But, it’s typical of the Lord of Hosts to defy logic, conventional thinking,….even common sense. He can do what He wants to do, when He wants to do it….and how He wants it done.  And we can rest in the reality that He never makes a mistake…..and that everything He’s ever done, or will do, is always to our best interest….and to benefit us!

I have an opinion as to why He chose the shepherds to reveal this incredible happening on the earth. You see, the job of a shepherd in those days was the lowliest of nearly all the other jobs. They were out in the middle of nowhere; it was a lonely job as they were nearly always by themselves; it could be a dangerous job. David had to fight off a bear and a lion in his twelve-plus year stint as a shepherd; it was a thankless job and I’m guessing the pay wasn’t all that good either. It would be easy, if you were a shepherd, to think that life has passed you by, that you’ve been overlooked and forgotten about. But, it reveals the very nature of God to pick that very bunch to announce the most important happening in the whole universe, up to that point in human history.

Why did He do it that way?? I think to let them know that even though society looked down on them and made them feel like second-class citizens of the planet………He didn’t! He’s like that, you know!?

I’ve become aware over the years that this season, for many, is not a fun time. Maybe  you’re lonely; maybe you feel like you’ve been overlooked or forgotten by loved ones. Maybe you’re going through a hard time physically or financially and feel like giving up. But remember the shepherds. They were ‘greatly afraid’…but the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” It was “good news”.

Give Him the chance to love you like He wants to! He’d like to prove to you that you haven’t been forgotten!

Let it be your “good news” in this season!

Check these out:

It Ain’t Just “Good News” …… It’s “Great News”!

You ‘Can’ Get There From Here!

He Won’t ‘Put More On Ya’ Than You Can Stand

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Love People, Trust God!

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

Life is an endless sequence of learning experiences. As long as we’re learning we’re growing. I don’t think that ever has to stop, even as we get older. It does stop, however, for a lot of folks who, for one reason or another, just put it to rest and decide they don’t need to learn anymore. I guess that’s someting we’ll all have to face sooner or later.

I didn’t even start to learn about spiritual things until I was about 30 years old. Didn’t grow up going to church. I had heard a few of the Bible stories like David and Goliath. I believed in Jesus but I knew very little about Him. But, when my life made the turn, I pretty much hit the fast track. I had done so much in my life that didn’t work, and all of a sudden I got ahold of the one thing that does work and I pretty much gave my life to ‘it’!

I think it was the sovereignty of God that caused me to end up in the little Baptist Church in Allison, Texas. Looking back, there was a very profound move of God happening there. There were no less than 8 couples/families that are now serving the Lord in full-time ministry. Our pastor, Ronnie Chadwick, was a great mentor for all of us. His guidance and influence helped set the direction for our lives, and even continues to do so today.

After we’d been there a few years we took a trip down to Dallas to a James Robison conference. We were part of a good sized group that went that year. It was a life-changer for most of us. I was green as a gourd, didn’t know much but my heart was in a good place. After one of the morning sessions as we were exiting the Dallas Convention Center a homeless guy had walked in off the street. He was dirty, smelled of alcohol and was probably there to He had everything he owned in a little plastic Wal-Mart bag. What I saw broke my heart; The biggest part of the 8-10,000 people that were at the conference, supposedly to learn how to be a better Christian, made a big, wide swath around the homeless guy. I don’t want to judge but it appeared that they didn’t want to be bothered by him, and definitely didn’t want to come in contact with him.

I just couldn’t pass by without trying to help the man. I found out he’d been in some bad situations in Vietnam and had been on the streets for years. I really felt for this guy. I spent twenty minutes or so telling him about the goodness of Jesus. I felt like it was my responsibility to ‘lead’ him to the Lord. (that was back when I didn’t know better!) But after those 15 minutes he didn’t want anything to do with that but just whatever handout he could get. I gave him some cash and he was gone.

I met back up with our group and I was totally devastated. I was sobbing for the condition of the man I’d just met. I felt like I had let the Lord down (which wasn’t true, but I didn’t know!) because he had rejected anything to do with Jesus. My pastor, Ronnie Chadwick, gathered me up and gave me some of the best advice I’ve ever received. “Andy, you just have do what you can and trust the Lord to do what, only He, can do.” 

It was a profound experience for me and a lesson learned that has enabled me to help hundreds of others since then. The Bible says, “Some plant, some water….but it’s the Lord that gives the increase.” As I have matured through the years I often think of that incident. In this journey of learning to serve the Lord we must come to the understanding that, “Yes”, we have a certain amount of responsibility…..but if anything significant is going to happen…..it’s gotta be God!

It was right there that I learned what my responsibility actually is,

“Love people, trust God”. 

 

VIP #3 – Ronnie Chadwick

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

A Long Ways From the Lord

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Fail Forward

/ Andy R Taylor / 3 Comments

It doesn’t matter what you’re doing in life, missing the mark is always a possibility. In fact, it’s inevitable that we’re going to fail at something. Whether it’s not making the 5th-grade basketball team or coming up short for class president. Most of us experienced the heartbreak of not doing quite good enough early on in life. You know, if it’d just stop there it wouldn’t be too bad. We could surely overcome that class president thing and move on with life. But, challengingly enough, it doesn’t stop there.

Every single thing we do in life the possibility of failure is staring us square in the face. It can be distracting and downright intimidating. Get yourself two or three of those heartbreaks in a row, which is not hard, and it makes for a really tough patch of life. It would be easy for anyone to get stuck in that same old pattern and let it set the course of their entire life. It’s happened all too many times.

But it doesn’t have to happen that way. Actually, failure has some profound potential if we just don’t allow it to get the best of us. Failures provide some amazing learning opportunities and they can give us some incredible perspective if we’ll just let it.

Peter was one of those guys that failed. He didn’t just fail a little….he failed BIG! At the time Jesus needed him most he folded like a cheap lawn chair. Three times he denied that he even knew Jesus, once to a little 12 year old girl. You may have had some major blunders in your life but I’m bettin’ you haven’t had one that big. It would have been easy for that failure to define the rest of Peter’s life. But he had an encounter with Jesus after the resurrection and something miraculous happened; something so miraculous, in fact, that for the next 25 years he was the most important man of the planet as it related to the plan of God! That should be a source of great encouragement to people like us.

Failure is a strong word; and, just because you failed at something doesn’t mean you’re a failure! We shouldn’t allow our failures to define us. We should use them as a stepping stone to greatness. Learn your lesson, get back up and get going again, use your bad experience to help someone else. 

You’re gonna miss the mark; you’re gonna fall short, you’re gonna fail occasionally. But when you fail, …….fail forward! Failure is not final…..unless you let it be!

Oh, and don’t forget what really made the difference for Peter! That encounter with Jesus is the ‘clincher’!

It’ll work for you, too!

Here’s a couple more you might like:

Critics……..There’s One On Every Corner

“Nothing I Can Do About it Now”

Thanksgiving, It’s a Holiday to Remind Us

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

The very first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621. It began as a harvest festival thanking God for their bountiful harvest of crops. It’s been celebrated nationally since 1789 after a proclamation by George Washington. And, it has been a ‘federal holiday’ every year since 1863 when Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens”. Don’t you love that! I fear that sometimes we take for granted the fact that our great nation was founded on Biblical principles.

I wrote a blog awhile back titled, The ‘Magic’ Words. You know, the magic words “Please”, and “Thank You”. They really are words that have power, words that show gratitude, words that could, and should, pull us out of any attitude of ‘entitlement’ that might be lingering. We’re conditioned by our flesh to just automatically look at ‘what we don’t have’ rather than seeing what we do have. And, anytime we’re in that mode, true happiness is just another elusive dream that, seemingly, cannot be attained.

So, I think Thanksgiving should be, (among other things like food, family and fellowship), first and foremost a time to stop and just think and reflect on all that we do have. If you’re having a hard time thinking of some of those things…here’s a little list to help you get going.

I’m thankful that God exists; that He’s ‘real’…and that He’s a Father, Who ‘handpicked’ me to be His son! I’m thankful that He really, really loves me, in spite of all my shortcomings! I’m thankful for His grace…and that He’s already judged me to be righteous which is obviously not based on my conduct and behavior. I’m thankful for His amazing ability to rescue me no matter how serious, or impossible my situation might look. I’m thankful to the Lord for my family!

I bet the Lord appreciates it when we say thanks, whether we ‘say’ it in our words or our actions. I think Thanksgiving is a good time to remind ourselves of all that we have to be thankful for!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 

Maybe you’ll have some extra time the next few days for ‘binge reading’! Check out these ‘holiday blogs’, and pass ’em along to anyone you think’ll be interested!

“Freedom’s Just Another Word” …… But It’s a Whole Lot More Than That!

Room at the Inn?

Thanksgiving ’15 – One That’ll Stand Out For Us From Now On!

Labor Day Out on the ‘Ol ‘Lazy J’

Definitely Our Most Memorable New Year’s Day!

Dysfunction Junction

/ Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

Do you remember Schoolhouse Rock? It was part of ABC’s Saturday morning children’s programming starting back in ’73. It ran non-stop through 1985 and then was revived in 1993 again with new, and old, episodes until 1999. I remember it being on the tube when our kids were little even though I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to it. But I think it was a pretty good educational program for little kids. It originated when David McCall, a successful ad agency exec, noticed that his son was having trouble in school. He also noticed that his son could easily remember the words to the current rock songs of that era.  So, he enlisted a few songwriters and started to put multiplication tables to song. Turned out, it was a great way for kids to learn everything from math to English.

One of the songs that I remember hearing on those Saturday mornings was “Conjunction Junction”. Catchy little tune teaching kids what a conjunction is. It’s funny how the tune has stuck with me all these years. I might have trouble explaining what a conjunction is to you…but I do remember some of the words to the song.

For some unknown reason that melody came up in my mind a few weeks back. But, instead of ‘conjunction’, I inserted the word ‘dysfunction’. It’s a word that is dear to me since I operate in a fairly high level of it! LOL. I’ve noticed in my short little tenure of ministry that there’s a lot of dysfunction out there, not counting mine. Some of that dysfunction runs pretty deep and some of it’s just surface level. But it’s there in most all of us. And, it’s just another one of those things that the Lord wants to fix in us.

When we get in some of these stressful tight spots in life our dysfunction is exposed. That’s what I’m gonna start calling the “Dysfunction Junction”. And right there at that point, If we’ll just learn to be sensitive to His Spirit we can begin to overcome that dysfunction that’s had us hamstrung for years! Our lives will be much better….and we won’t be passing that dysfunction on to the next generation!

 I’m glad it ain’t un-fixable! And, I’m grateful that the Lord is patient with us….in all our dysfunction.

You oughta read these, too!

Quit Telling Me What the Problem Is!!

I’m Just the Messenger

“It’s Not Your Job to Fix Them!”

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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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The ‘Magic’ Words

/ Andy R Taylor / 6 Comments

Not sure when I first heard it; I’d guess about the time I started to school, maybe before. But, someone taught me, what they called, the ‘magic’ words. “Please”…..and “Thank You”! I think they really are magic because when you use them and use them with sincerity, some amazing, even magical results can happen.

I was having a visit with a friend a few days ago who had been trying with all his might to help someone very close to him. Beyond helping his friend by giving him some life-giving, Godly advice, he’d helped him financially with bills and expenses….not to mention a lot of time he had willingly invested. But he had made the observation that his friend had never, even one time, said “Thank You”. The absence of a ‘thank you’ left my friend feeling used and unappreciated. That’s not really how you want to feel when you set out to help someone. And now the lack of a ‘thank you’ now and then has left their relationship on slippery ground. It’s tragic but it happens all the time. A little ‘thank you’ goes a long ways!

“Please”, that other ‘magical’ word seems to be equally as important to me. It’s amazing the doors that are apt to open when we just add that little word to our requests. Both those ‘magic’ words have the potential to totally change the outcome (in a positive way!) of just about any conversation they’re used in. When those magic words land in the ears they almost always do something simultaneously in the heart of the person who hears them.

I’m still not sure who it was that told me that those were ‘magic words’, but today…50 some years later, I’m grateful to whoever it was. I can honestly say that they’ve made a difference for me. I don’t think it’s ever too late to learn the ‘magic’ words.

We oughta start using them more…..and teaching others to do the same…..and then watch the magic happen!

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You Ever Get Tired of People Dumping All Their Problems On You?!?

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

I know! ….it can get old….and it’ll wear you plumb out if you’re not careful. I mean, a person can only hear just so much bad news until it starts to really take a toll on you! Besides, we’ve all got our issues and most everyone I know is carrying some kind of burden, themselves. You know, life’s tough….it ain’t for the weakhearted!  And to have to listen to everyone else’s garbage just seems like a little too much sometimes! But I think if you’ll back up a step or two and take a closer look there’s a whole lot more at stake here, and something profoundly more important, than meets the casual eye.

I kind of overstated the above paragraph….on purpose, actually, to make a point. Don’t get me wrong, a constant barrage of bad news is hard to deal with, I don’t care who you are. But there are a couple of things at work here that, if you’ll just consider them, might totally and forever alter the way you see these things.

For starters, one thing to consider is that when someone comes to you telling you their problems….in most cases what they’re actually doing is crying out for ‘help’! And, often, what they need most is just a ‘listening’ ear. You know yourself how when you are able to communicate your dilemma to someone how it can help your perspective by just ‘voicing’ it out. And secondly, and I think maybe even more important, when someone is opening up their life to you (telling you their problems), they are extending a great degree of trust in you as a friend or confidant. That’s pretty important if you ask me. When someone trusts you to that degree it seems to me that we should make a gallant effort to honor that trust by, 1) listening, and 2) giving the best godly counsel that we’re capable of. And, a little perk of helping someone else is that it can, sometimes, really help to put our own problems into better perspective, and focus.

So, the next time someone comes to you telling you their problems stop and think a minute and consider what might really be happening!

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