Don’t Look Before You Leap!

October 6, 2015October 10, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

Totally goes against logic and reasoning, I know. But for those of us who are trying to follow the Lord by faith…it makes all kinds of sense. You see, we’ve been ‘given’ an incredible quality of faith. We’re apt to never find that out if we’re always looking before we leap. And even though our quality of faith is all that it’ll ever need to be, if we stop to take a long, investigative look at every single thing…..I fear we’ll talk ourselves out of a lot of things that the Father wants to do with,….and through, us!

What if Noah would’ve ‘looked’ before he leaped?? Here’s a man building a boat longer than a football field……in a place where it’d never even rained before! It’d be a little awkward down at the ‘ol lumber yard ordering all those materials and trying to explain your project to everyone! It’d be easy to talk yourself out of that one, huh?! And what about Moses?? OK, you’re standing on the banks of the Red Sea with 3 1/2 million people or so……Pharoah’s army is closing in….and they ain’t happy…..and all you have is a ‘stick’!!? Lookin’ ain’t gonna work……leapin’ is!!

OK, if you’re going to make a major financial investment, build a new home or start a new business it does make sense to ‘look before you leap’. But if you’ve heard the Lord (or even ‘think’ you’ve heard Him) I wouldn’t spend much time ‘looking’ ……no matter how uncertain it might appear. And, if you’re not careful you might just talk yourself out of something the Lord wants to do with your help! I think it makes sense to go ahead and ‘leap’!!

Got’s not looking for people to ‘play it safe’.….there’s enough of them already out there! He’s looking for someone to believe Him at His Word and exercise the faith that they already have. When that happens…..His kingdom comes….right here on Earth just like it does in Heaven! The world is waiting for people like that…….and so is the Lord!!

If You See God “Wrongly”…….You’ll Never See Yourself “Rightly”!nzzz

October 2, 2015April 28, 2024 / Andy R Taylor / 1 Comment

There aren’t many discussions any more important than this one; Who is God? Big question, to say the least. And my fear is that God has been grossly ‘misrepresented’ in our world. Mainly by those who know ‘about’ Him…..but don’t really actually ‘know’ Him! It’s a huge problem if you ask me….and it needs to be fixed ASAP!…..not only for each of us as individuals….but for the whole world in general!

There are a hundred good reasons to connect with the Father relationally. It’s really what our lives should be all about. It’s the answer for everything that ‘s wrong. It’s the ‘cure for mankind’. When you ‘connect’ relationally with the Father you begin to find out “Who” He really is! But if we never do connect in that way we’ll always have a ‘secondhand’ perception of Him.

If you only see God as “Judge” you’ll always be somewhat ‘fearful’ of Him. You’ll always be mindful of your failures and all the things you’ve done to ‘let Him down’. And you’ll be scared about what He might say to you on that ‘final’ day! I have plenty of conversations with people who have made this their reality. They see themselves as not really ‘measuring up’. It’s a ‘wrong’ perception!! It’s not a little wrong, ……it’s a long way from the actual Truth! You see your self ‘wrongly’ ……because you are seeing God ‘wrongly’!

The only way we’ll ever see ourselves ‘rightly’ is when we start to see God for Who He really Is……and that is as a Father. The next step, then, is to begin to interact with Him at that level……as a son or a daughter. Now listen….it really does have to go beyond acknowledging Him as Father; it must be relational or we’ve totally missed the point. Don’t make it hard!! It’s the easiest thing there is for a child ………to naturally relate to his/her Dad.

When you see God for Who He is, you’ll start to see yourself just like He sees you!

You’ll see yourself ‘rightly’!!

You’re gonna like what you see!

I guarantee it!

A “You Can Do It” Atmosphere

October 1, 2015October 1, 2021 / Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

Its a great place to be…..that’s anyplace where there’s a “You Can Do It” atmosphere! I’ve seen it a lot of times down through the years. I first saw it in our home growing up. My Mom and Dad did as perfect a job as could have been done for my brother Monty and myself. They believed in us and they taught us to believe in ourselves, too. ….And somehow I think it gave us a big ‘leg up’ in believing in other people as well. I have found that that one thing can be the ‘difference maker’ in the lives of other people……just to have someone who really believes in them.

I was so impressed a month ago when I went to the Beckham County Drug Court. (That’s when I came up with the title to this blog) It was amazing from my perspective. The Drug Court Team with two of ‘our own’, Lorna Pennington, Drug Court Coordinator and Eric Easter, part of the Drug Court Team and even Judge Michelle Roper had such a “You Can Do It’ atmosphere that the 50 or 60 people in Drug Court felt like they were going to make it. I left there that day feeling like they’re going to make it too! There’s just something about that ‘atmosphere’ that exudes, “you’re going to make it”!!!

It’s an atmosphere that we ought to work to create anywhere that we’re going to be. In fact, you may be the only one in your office or on your team, or in your restaurant that believes it….but if you’ll ‘represent’, it’ll be contagious and the productivity will automatically go up! Something just happens when you believe the best in people. Contrast that with an atmosphere where your best is ‘never good enough’ and see what you come up with. The difference will be remarkable.

The Bible says emphatically that we’re ‘overcomers’, and ‘more than conquerors’! If that ain’t a “You Can Do It’ atmosphere I’ve never seen one! When you cooperate with the Holy Spirit just about any kind of odds can be overturned. The results might be nothing short of miraculous!

Represent!! You Can Do It!

If you like this blog post….you’ll surely like these too!

*(Click on highlighted link to read)

“It Feels God to be Believed In!”

“Drug Court””

“I Keep A Close Watch On This Heart Of Mine”

September 30, 2015March 7, 2020 / Andy R Taylor / 1 Comment

You probably recognize that line….it’s the first line in Johnny Cash’s song, “I Walk The Line”. (Click on the link to see Johnny sing it ‘LIVE’ in San Quentin) I found it really interesting that Johnny wrote that song in just 20 minutes, backstage, before a show in Gladewater, Texas, in 1956. The song went on to be a #1 hit….and remained #1 for 6 weeks. You’ll still hear “I Walk The Line” regularly on Classic Country stations nationwide……..60 years later!

But that first line has some profound ‘spiritual’ implications if you’ll think about it. Solomon, regarded by many as one of the wisest persons of all time, said it this way, “Guard your heart, for out of it flow the issues of life.”. There’s no doubt about it, one of the greatest challenges of our entire life, is to maintain a ‘pure heart’. Even Cash’s song eluded to that very fact. Everything we do and say, and every thing we ‘are’, for that matter, is directly governed by our heart. Not the body part that’s beating in your chest right now…..but the soul and spirit part of us. That part of us that makes us ‘who we are’!

Guarding our heart starts with a raw, unadulterated honesty with our own selves. That seems to be the hardest thing for some people….but it’s needed for all of us if we’re to get an accurate ‘read’ on our heart with our motives and intentions. You can be sure that everything imaginable in the world is working against us to pollute our heart. The Bible talks extensively about our ‘being conformed into the image of Jesus’. If you’ll stop and think about it….God doesn’t care if we look like Jesus; He doesn’t care if our voice sounds like His. But He does care that our heart responds to the events…..and people in our lives like He did. It’s our ‘heart’ that the Father is determined to conform to be like Jesus’.

Where do we start? We can only start by being honest with ourselves. Then we should ask the Holy Spirit to reveal our thoughts, attitudes and behavior that needs to be adjusted. Nothing to get frustrated about…it’s a lifelong endeavor. But we can ease the discomfort some by cooperating with the Lord. You can do it……so “Keep a Close Watch on That Heart of Yours!”

Prison Prayer Project

September 29, 2015September 29, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / 1 Comment

It has been nearly 20 years since the city of Sayre, Oklahoma began to explore the possibility of constructing a prison here. Not knowing the will of the Lord about that we just prayed about it at our regular Wednesday morning prayer time. One thing led to another and the idea became a reality. Construction started on the facility a mile east of downtown and finished up a couple of years later. All along, as we prayed about the prison, we asked the Lord to place ‘His’ people here. We prayed, amidst a lot of other specific things, that the upper-level management people would be born-again believers.

Construction had been completed but after a few months there were no inmates. Complications came up in the negotiating process. One morning during our Wednesday prayer time the Lord gave me a vivid vision of myself and a team of people praying inside the prison facility. I didn’t think much about it….but the next two Wednesdays’ I saw the same vision in my mind’s eye. I was thinking by then that it was definitely from the Lord. Just about the time our prayer session was over I got a call from a person at the prison who went to church with us. He was calling for another person, an employee, who was having some personal difficulties. He asked if I could come out to the prison and pray with the person. I agreed. I drove there and as I parked my car I said, “Lord, if You’re in this thing of us praying over the prison…put me in the company of the people who can make that decision.”. As soon as I went through the 2nd door….I came face to face with Rick Hudson (who I’d met only once a few months before), the Warden. He was flanked by the Assistant Warden and the Chief of Security, the top three positions in leadership there.

I said to them, “For three weeks in a row at our Wednesday prayer time the Lord has given me a vision of us bringing a team of people in here to pray over the prison. That’s probably against every rule you have….but if you would want us to…we’d come in and pray over every square inch of the facility.” They didn’t give me any indication one way or the other if it might happen. I left there thinking, “I shouldn’t have come across so abruptly.” I figured I had probably ‘scared’ them off. About 10 o’clock the next morning I got a call from the Assistant Warden and she said…..“We want it to happen.”! Amazing!!

I handpicked about 15 of our most faithful, serious pray-ers and met with, and instructed them about the project. We would meet in a couple of days at the church where we’d pray for about an hour and then we’d drive the 3 miles to the prison for the project. We all fasted that day and we went into the facility about 6 o’clock that evening.

There were only a few people inside the prison since there were no inmates. We started in the office area and prayed over every square inch of office space. We went from there to the ‘pods’ and prayed over each pod and every single cell in each place. We prayed over the meeting areas, the mess hall, the solitary confinement areas, the showers…..etc. There was not one single area inside the entire facility that wasn’t prayed over.

One of the guards that was in charge of leading us through the facility began to confide in one of our people that at a point in his career as a prison guard he had to shoot someone (who later died)…..and he didn’t believe that God could forgive him. They assured him of God’s forgiveness and ended up praying with him to receive Jesus as his Savior.

We were in the prison more than 3 hours….and when we entered the last room (a meeting room) there was a tangible sense that we had done all that we were there to do. There were some very prophetic things that the Lord spoke to different members of our team that night. Some of those things have already been fulfilled but there are many others that have yet to happen.

It was really an amazing project….and one that the Lord, Himself, had initiated. As we left the prison we were encouraged that there would be some amazing things happen inside those walls in the years to come. It’s probably something that’s never been done in any prison facility on the face of the planet……..ever!

**Incidentally……We prayed that there would be a contract with someone within a week to start receiving inmates. And the negotiations with other states for inmates that had reached a stalemate for several months…somehow miraculously ended!! They secured a contract with Wisconsin within a week!!

We have learned that if God says it….and we cooperate with what He’s said…..stuff happens!!

If you like this blog post, you’ll love these too:

*(Click on the highlighted link to read)

Party at the Prison

VIP #7 Rick Hudson

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

September 25, 2015January 16, 2019 / Andy R Taylor / 1 Comment

It doesn’t matter if you’re the soccer coach for 5-year-olds, a member of the city council, or the Pope….you’re going to have critics. I’m not talking about the professional critic that writes his assessment of a Broadway play for a newspaper, or one who publicly talks about the latest Brad Pitt movie. No, I’m talking about the ‘amateur’ critic; you know, the ones you and I encounter almost every day.

It’s just one of those, kind of, unpleasant facts of life. It just seems inevitable that if you’re doing anything that’s public or anything that really matters that there’s going to be someone ‘standing around’ criticizing either, what you’re doing…..or how you’re doing it. These criticisms can come in many forms and some of them can be quite vicious.

I know, in doing what I do, that character is extremely important. And the criticisms that come my way that strike at my character are the hardest to deal with for me. I learned years ago that anyone can make any kind of accusation toward you. The accusation might not have a single shred of truth to it…..but there always seems to be those out there who want to believe the worst about you. Below are some things I’ve learned in over 25 + years of being a target of criticism:

I’ve learned to look at myself and see if there’s any validity to their accusations. If so, I’ll need to adjust!
It’s taken a while but I don’t get as upset as I used to when I’m criticized. It’s just part of the ‘deal’!
I’ve learned to pray for my persecutors; Very hard at first, but I know it’s ‘right’! This helps me….more than them!
I’ve resolved to not get too stirred up by someone who talks ‘about’ me…..but won’t talk ‘to’ me!
These criticisms seek to distract us from what’s important. I try to get my focus back ‘on’!

As much practice as I’ve had……I’m still far from perfect. We should look to Jesus; He’s the perfect example when it comes to enduring criticism and persecution!

One of my very favorite quotes about criticism:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Teddy Roosevelt

God Loves You, And There’s Nothing You Can Do About It!

September 23, 2015April 13, 2020 / Andy R Taylor / 1 Comment

There’s not a truer statement! But there are millions out there who, for some odd reason, think differently. And to compound the problem there’s the over religious, self-righteous, doctrinal police, church guy telling everyone that God’s mad at them. That’s the result when people read their Bible but have no actual relationship with the Father. That person has no understanding of the grace of God.

I was just talking to a friend a day or two ago that I hadn’t seen in 4 or 5 years. He said that he’d been in a hard place. Upon the death of his father several years ago he blamed God for it and turned his back on Him. His exact words were, “God, just leave me alone.” But what he found after a few years of being mad at God…….was that the Father just loved him more! And somehow He loved my friend back into relationship with Himself! ……..that’s the God that I know!

Have you been mad at God? I know a lot of people who have been mad at Him at one time or another. It’s understandable. Some of them have been mad at Him for years. And for the most part, their anger has resulted from something that they believed God mishandled. There’s everything from, “God, why did you let my mom die?” to “Why do you make my life like it is?” What would you think if I told you that God can ‘take’ that….He really can. And, in some strange way, I think He understands. After all, ….He made us! But what’s amazing is that He never, ever lets that affect His love for you in an adverse way. Much to the contrary; I think it’s like my friend experienced….He’ll just end up loving you more.

There’s nothing you can do to diminish the Father’s love for you…..not one degree! You can be mad at Him, you can cuss Him, you can even tell Him you hate Him and turn your back on Him. But He’ll still keep on loving you……and there’s nothing you can do about it!

“Opportunism” Is Not a Good Thing – But Have You Thought About It From This Perspective??

September 22, 2015September 22, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

Opportunism is not a positive word; not a positive thing. Wikipedia’s definition: the conscious policy and practice of taking selfish advantage of circumstances – with little regard for principles, or with what the consequences are for others. Therefore, an opportunist is someone who takes advantage of someone else’s misfortune….and for their own gain. That’s not nice!

But I have another perspective to think about. In fact, we’ve been practicing it to some degree for 20+ years. An ‘opportunist’ sees someone going through a bad time and they lurk around to see how they can personally capitalize, benefit or profit from their calamity. But what if we were to take a more positive position?? What if, when we see someone going through a bad time, we were to reach out to those people and, rather than take advantage of them, do whatever we could do to help them in their dilemma?

At one time we actually had a person at Trinity on a part-time salary to do just that. He was very good at it too. His name was James Daniels, or JD as we all called him. He had an uncanny knack for noticing people who were going through trials in their lives. He could quickly discern what their actual needs were and did whatever he could, whenever he could, , with whatever resources we had, to help. (JD passed away a few years ago) Instead of just waiting around for people to come our way for help we were actually being aggressive in searching those people/families out. It seems like just something that the church should naturally do!

Of course, it was a huge ‘difference maker’ in the lives of the affected families.….but more than that it gave them a ‘good taste’ of church and even more important, the kingdom of God. Oh, and we’d supply the help that we could with absolutely no strings attached. We think that’s how Jesus would do it.

Imagine how different the world would look if we would all think that way!! And maybe, just maybe the world would change how they think about the church….and it’s people!

I say, “Let’s all be opportunists”.…..but from a kingdom perspective!

VIP #7 – Rick Hudson

September 18, 2015September 18, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / 8 Comments

I first met Rick Hudson in the office of the Sayre, Oklahoma City Manager, Jack McKennon. Jack had invited me down to meet the newly hired Prison Warden. Jack, being a part of out Trinity Family, knew that we’d been praying for several years about the new prison here. We had also been praying that the upper-level management personnel would be born-again believers. So to me it was a big deal to meet up with the new warden.

I remember vividly that meeting that day. After we did our introductions, handshakes, etc., I told Rick, ‘I’ve been praying for you for three years.” After I left the office that day I wished that I hadn’t said that to him. I thought….that’ll probably scare him off…..but it didn’t. It wasn’t long after Rick moved here that his entire family began to come to church with us. Rick’s family consisted of his wife, Jan; two daughters, Kealan and Taylor, and a son, Cooper.

Rick made it possible for us to take a team into the prison and pray over the entire facility. It’s a great story….but it’s for another time. Rick and I quickly became the best of friends. I had a Friday afternoon small group consisting of Jack, the City Manager, a retired executive banker of one of largest banks in Oklahoma, a young man who secured oil leases, a farmer……and Rick. Rick would often stay after our meetings and we’d have some great talks. I remember one day our meeting subject was prayer; Rick stayed after the meeting that day and said, “Andy, I want you to teach me how to pray.”. I encouraged him to start coming to our regular Wednesday morning prayer time, which he did. In fact, he hardly ever missed after that day. I remember telling him that this prayer thing is more “caught”, than “taught”. And he caught it! A month or two after that conversation I asked him to pray at one of our small group meetings and he prayed as if he’d been doing it for years……and it was ‘real’, not just a bunch of words.

We spent a lot of time together and I really got to know Rick. HIs job as Warden, of the largest prison in the state up to that point, was not ‘just a job’ to Rick. He put his whole heart and soul into it, always believing he could make a difference in the lives of the, better than 1500, inmates in the North Fork Correctional Facility. Some of the first inmates to arrive were from Wisconsin. And there was one of them who was infamous for causing trouble. He’d been locked up most of his adult life and had caused problems in every facility he’d been in, including inciting riots. We’d pray for this guy every week….because Rick believed that he was salvageable and ‘worth it’! He cared about the future of this lifelong troublemaker.

In my whole life I’ve never seen anyone in a leadership position that received as much respect, honor and loyalty as Rick did from his employees. They all knew that he was deeply concerned about them, and he would often invite me to meet with him and someone who was going through a rough time. Simply put….his employees loved him and they knew that they could trust him.

Rick left us about 14 years ago as a result of a brain tumor and it left a huge ‘gap’ for all of us here…….me especially. It’s hard for me, even today, to write through the tears. I do take solace in the assurance that I’ll see him again soon. I just don’t ‘get it’ sometimes…..how those who have such a knack of making the world a better place have to go so soon. But again, I take comfort in knowing that the Father has it all well in hand.

Rick Hudson…..I wish you could have known him like I did. You’d totally agree that he was a VIP; and not just with me…..He was a VIP with every person who ever came in contact with him!

**If you enjoyed this post…..you’ll surely like this one too: “Party at the Prison” (click on red print)

PS-There’s a lot of my regular blog readers that knew Rick. I know that your comments and feedback would be treasured by Jan, Kealan, Taylor and Coop.

“To Err is Human, To Forgive is Div………Well, It’s Just Flat Out Hard Sometimes”!

September 17, 2015September 17, 2015 / Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

Do you want to be a good ‘forgiver’?? Most people would answer, “Yes”, to that question. But the reality is that we only get better at it when we practice it! And you know what that means, right? Somebody has offended you; someone has betrayed you, someone has wounded you. These offenses that come our way might be trivial in nature or they may have left some very deep wounds and if not ‘tended’ to in a positive way, carry the possibility of being permanent. Either way, when forgiveness is required, it’s just kinda hard.

It’s just a fact of life that we’re going to get offended……..and we’re going to offend others, as well. Jesus, in the training of the Twelve told them that “offenses must come”. The kingdom of God is really all about relationships…..that’s why they’re so hard. The greatest blessings and rewards in life are relational…….and the greatest frustrations are relational, as well.

There was a guy years ago that was a complete ‘thorn in my flesh’. His mission in life was to torment me and make me as miserable as he could. He was actually being fairly successful at it, although I never did get in the flesh with him…..but man, I wanted to!! It was way back when the church was small and I was working another job. I sat at my lunch break and wrote down 18 things that I needed to confront him about. These were 18 legitimate things too…..not ‘trumped up’ things; for instance, after one of our conversations he peeled out with his car throwing dirt and gravel all over me. Yep…..that kind of stuff! My plan was to go to him and confront him about these 18 things….and just being candid, here…..he really did need to be confronted of some of those things….and in love, of course, which just makes it harder. On my drive home that day the Lord started showing me all the things that He’d forgiven me for. It really made my ‘little list’ of 18 seem kind of trivial. I often think of some of those things and realize, again, that the Lord was allowing the testing, and giving us the opportunity to behave and react like He would.

Here are a few things that’ll make you a good forgiver:

Just know that offenses are coming; it really does help to come to that realization.
Set your mind/heart now to forgive anyone who offends/betrays you.
Put the ‘value’ on your relationships…..like the Father has! It’ll change everything!
Pray for the people that hurt you! It does as much, or more, for you than it does them!

Here’s a few of my own quotes about forgiveness:

“Forgive somebody, you’ll both be glad you did!”

“It’s never wrong to forgive……it’s always right!”

“Forgiveness is not a ‘feeling’ you have….it’s a ‘choice’ you make”

“Anytime we forgive, a minimum of two people are set free!”

“Unforgiveness puts you in prison…..but the ‘key’ to the cell door is always in your possession!”

“Of everyone in the picture of woundedness and betrayal….no one has has much to gain as ‘the forgiver’!!”

(*Feel free to use any of those quotes (in fact, please do)….but I’d appreciate it if you’d credit me with them)

So, to finish the title quote, “To err is human, to forgive, divine!”

To forgive and to become a ‘good forgiver’ is proof that we’re becoming like Jesus!