Spiritual Transformation

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!

Doves, Vapor Trails and 555

/ Andy R Taylor / 3 Comments

Those three things have a lot in common. Well, I should say, they have a lot in common for me. I’m sure you’re wonderin’ what in the heck they could possibly have to do with one another.

About ten or twelve years ago I felt like the Lord was directing me to ask the proper people if we could pray over the Beckham County Courthouse. Well, after a phone call or two we found out that we had permission to do just that. That’s pretty amazing in itself if you think about it! We took a team of people in there after hours and prayed over every inch of that courthouse; every office (a couple dozen, at least), two courtrooms, the judge’s chambers….everything! When we finished up and everybody gathered up outside…the most amazing thing happened. I looked up and there were vapor trails forming a perfect cross directly over the city of Sayre! I mean, it was almost too perfect! I took that as a sign from the Lord that something very significant had happened inside that courthouse…and would set the tone for everything  that happened there in the future. That was the first time that I had noticed the vapor trails. Since then I’ve noticed them no less than a hundred times over our area…and many times forming a perfect cross. Call it what you want…but I call it a ‘sign’ from the Lord!

Then it was the doves. Biblically speaking, doves are symbolic of the Holy Spirit. I started seeing them everywhere, and at the most peculiar times. Anytime I had something pressing on my mind, anytime that I was under extreme stress and pressure, anytime that I couldn’t see my way out of a situation….there were the doves. And they appeared in such a way that there was absolutely no way I could miss them. Those sightings, many times, give me just the shot of encouragement that I need. Others started seeing the doves at similar times in their own lives. It’s really no strange thing to see a dove….but the timing on these sightings was uncanny, to say the least! To me, it’s as if the Lord is saying, “Easy, son….I got this!” Again, call it whatever you want…but I call it a sign!

If you study numbers in the Bible you’ll find out that the number ‘five’ is the number for grace. That’s a good number! Occasionally you’ll see the number fifty-five…also a good number. And, then there are those times that you’ll see the number 555! Almost every day I’ll see that number. More often than not it’ll be on my phone as it shows the time. I, somehow, just happen to turn it on at precisely 5:55! Just this week I stopped at the cleaners to pick up some shirts and the number on my check….#5555! Coincidental? I think not!

You may write this all off as hocus-pocus; I really wouldn’t blame you if you did. But, for me….I totally believe it’s the Lord in His magnificent, amazing and mysterious way saying to me, “I’m here….and I’ve got it all under control!”

He’s probably doing it for you too, if you’ll just look around!

You oughta check these out, too:

There’s Just Something About ‘That Name’!!

Just For the Record, You Didn’t ‘Find’ the Lord

I Was Born Rich!

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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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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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What’s ‘Right’ With It?

/ Andy R Taylor / 4 Comments

I was watching ESPN early this morning. There was a piece on the Olympics in Rio. The focus of the segment was on the Zika virus and the crime rate in Rio, which has been escalating for several years. It was also mentioned that with the Athens Olympics, there was a high risk of terrorism; with Sochi it was the possibility that many of the venues that would hold thousands of spectators would not be completed by competition time. Of course, those are all things that need to be considered, especially if you’re making the trip down there. So, all in all, it was a good and informative piece of journalism.

It occurred to me as I listened and watched that we are so geared in our culture to focus on the negative….rather than the positive. We’re bombarded from every direction it seems. The media often reports nothing but negative news. It’s mostly about ‘what’s wrong’. I get that. It seems that there’s an insatiable desire by the general public to want to hear bad news.  After all, the bad news is what causes the ratings to surge.

The problem is that, as a culture, we’ve taken on some of those same attitudes. And, what’s way more serious is the potential for us, who call ourselves ‘believers’, to take on that same mindset. We should be people having a message of hope. These dark, discouraging times should be a great opportunity for us to ‘shine’. After all, we have the answers to the worlds’ problems. But as long as we’re just joining in on the fray….our voice will be muted.

Rather than looking for the ‘bad’, or negative, in everything…..maybe we should try to find something good to focus on. 

“If you can’t think of something good to say, don’t say nothin’ at all”…..still good advice!

Check these out:

It Feels Good To Be “Believed In”!!

If You Love Someone….You Should Tell Them!

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An Often Neglected Part of Prayer

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

Most everyone’s aware of the importance of prayer. And, the Bible is clear, for those of us who believe….it’s not “if” we pray….but “when”. It’s one of those non-negotiables for us. Like the Nike slogan….we “Just Do It”! It’s how we appropriate that which is already ours’ but which we haven’t attained, as of yet. Interesting thing about prayer….faith is ‘built into’  the activity of prayer. In essence you’re asking Someone you can’t see….to do something you can’t do. And, that right there…..that’s faith!

He must love answering our prayers! In fact the Bible says that before we say it….He’s busy about doing it. He’ll take every opportunity He can to grow and nurture our faith. It’s just more evidence of how good a Father He actually is. We’re encouraged in His Word to  ‘let our requests be made known to God’. My experience has taught me that when I pray in generalities…He answers in generalities. But when I pray in specifics…..He answers specifically!

But, there’s a part of prayer that I hardly ever hear anyone talking about. Simply put, prayer is how we communicate with God. And, if you’ll think about it….genuine communication, productive communication is always a two-way street! Good communication involves a balanced mixture of talking and listening. And, while expressing your heart to Him is important….it just might not be as important as what He has to say to you. I’ve learned that the more time I take to ‘listen’ to the Lord…..the less things I need to ask Him for! It’ll work that way for you, too!

With that in mind it makes all kinds of sense to work on perfecting our ability to hear Him. In doing so there’s a few things that’ll help. 1) Understand that He wants to ‘talk’ to you even more than you think you need to hear from Him! 2) Don’t make it difficult! He’s a Father…you’re His chosen kid!  3) He’s not limited to ‘speaking’ in an audible voice. Learn to notice all the ways in which He speaks. (your circumstances, dreams, visions, through other people, through His Word…and the list could go on and on!)

The Father doesn’t waste words. He always speaks the things we need to hear the most. He always knows just the right thing to say at just the right time!

So, the next time you pray…invest a little time in listening. You’ll be glad you did!

Here’s some more that’ll be helpful:

Listen More …….. Learn More!

You’re Better at Hearing the Lord Than You Think!

“What’s The Lord Telling You?” Part 1

“What’s The Lord Telling You?” Part 2

Your Heart – The Control Room of Your Life

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

Your heart; arguably the most important organ in your body. If it’s not working, and working correctly, nothing else works very good either. But as long as it’s beating like it’s supposed to everything else has a good chance to be working, as well. It makes sense to have some kind of regular checkup to make sure your heart is performing like it should.

The Bible often refers to our ‘heart’ in verses that are extremely important. But it’s not that beating ‘muscle’ that lies there inside your chest it’s talking about. It’s more accurately referring to the deepest, most ‘real’ part of you,…. your spirit. For it’s there that the Spirit of God dwells….and rules the really important things in your life. (but only if you allow it!) It’s your heart that ‘governs’ your mind. I mean, your mind can come up with all kinds of scenarios….but it’s your heart that decides if you should entertain those things, ….and if you should act on them or not! It’s like a compass that can quickly detect if, or when, you might be off a degree or two. And, just like having a regular checkup on your heart, it would serve you well to make sure this ‘heart’ is as good as it should be!

When we’re born again it’s like having a ‘heart transplant’. There’s some real supernatural things that take place at that point and a good deal of it happened in our spirit. Our spirit is instantaneously transformed. Our perspective changes on just about everything. We begin to notice our ability to see things like the Lord sees them. And, as we continue our walk of faith and our deepening relationship with Him….our entire life takes on a whole new dimension. We begin to fulfill the incredible destiny that He’s purposed for us.

It all started with Him…and His relentless desire to have you as His own. He’s given us His own Spirit….Who’s entered our heart, the ‘control room’ of our life!

You’ll like this one, too:

Workin’ it Out

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The Sound of Silence

/ Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

If you were around in the 60’s you’ll remember that song*(click here to listen) It was written by Paul Simon and recorded by him and Art Garfunkel, aka, Simon & Garfunkel. An interesting thing about the song is that the album it was originally released on in 1964 was a total flop and actually led to the breakup of the S&G duo. But the song, after hardly any airplay, began to pick up steam around Harvard University. The producer did a remix adding some electrical instrumentation and it ‘took off’!! The Sound of Silence hit #1 on the Billboard Charts in January of 1966! The duo immediately reunited and recorded their second album. You can still hear it on classic rock stations today. And just recently a group called Disturbed, released another version of the song.

Sound….of Silence; that’s kind of an oxymoron when you think about it. Silence actually has no sound, whatsoever. Silence is something we don’t experience much these days. On a personal note, Julie and I raised 5 kids, 4 boys, and a daughter. And, as you can imagine, there’s not much silence in a household like that. It was challenging, we loved it….but not much silence, if you know what I mean. And now with 9 incredible Grandkids….again, not much silence. We love the activity…and the noise that goes along with it! 

Most of us, when given the opportunity for silence, almost feel the need to turn on the TV, whether we’re watching it or not, just so we don’t have to deal with the deafening silence. But, we could be missing out if we’re not getting at least a little bit of silence now and then. If you think about it, embracing silence is one of those things we probably ought to consider. The clatter of everyday life has the potential of drowning out the, sometimes very quiet, voice of the Father. The Bible calls it, “the still, small voice”. God’s not limited to speaking to you in the silence….but the natural noisiness of life makes it a lot harder for you to hear.

Learn to ‘deal’ with the distractions, ‘make’ time for some silence….and hear what the voice of the Father is saying to you!

 

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