Eric Taylor

Monday Rewind

I was sick all weekend and was concerned that I wouldn't be able to preach one of my favorite messages in the book of James... Had a lot of people praying for me and our services... I felt way better Sunday morning... Thanks for everyone who prayed!

• We had a great time of worship.  I'm so glad we have such talented musicians.
• Attendance was back up but not where it needs to be!   
• We gave out 3 invite cards and challenged people to invest and invite at least 3 people this week.  if everyone did that and 1 of the 3 came... we would DOUBLE! 
• I'm amazed each and every week at our volunteers who show up and serve with passion.   
• Our facilities team (set up and take down) are my heroes.  The broke the whole place down and had the trailer loaded in 20 minutes yesterday.  You guys (and girls)  rock! 
• Brett and Lauren Tyson are rocking youth workers!  They are doing an amazing job.  God's doing some great stuff in our teenagers.  We just have to come up with a cool name for the ministry.  Any ideas? 
• I got to start a new coaching network last week with my friend David Putman from Mountain Lake Church.  I can already tell it's going to challenge me and help our church tremendously.  It's a telecoaching network so that means we don't get face to face time... but that's okay, Dave's' not that good looking... seriously though, David is one of the most brilliant thinkers I know and I'm honored to be able to spend a couple of hours a month with him. 
• This week is going to be slammed full.  But I refuse to get bogged down in my office all week.  I MUST get out and spend time with people.  So, I'm planning to work from a couple of coffee shops this week. 
• High school football started this weekend and Auburn High School won.  They're ranked #5 in the state and I think we could have a GREAT team this year. 
• College football kicks off this weekend... all is right with the world! 
• Trying to decide if I want to try to go to the game.  It's a 6pm kickoff.  I usually like to stay in on Saturday nights to get ready for Sunday, but this week I may make an exception... anyone have any tickets they want to get rid of? 
• I am overwhelmed at times that I get to do something as awesome as pastoring a church that loves God and loves people like Journey.  I really am blessed. 

Fast and Furious

I heard Dallas Willard say recently that fasting teaches us about desire.  The spiritual discipline of fasting, as well as the other spiritual disciplines, help us to bring our desires under the control of the Holy Spirit.  He said that practicing the disciplines of fasting, solitude, prayer, etc was an exercise in not doing what we want.  Our natural desire to want food is strong.  But today as you sense the hunger pangs come on, let your desire for food remind you of your greater desire to see God do something fresh and new in you.  

There is only 1 more week after this one and I pray that after we finish our Fast and Furious Friday that you'll have conditioned yourself to hear from God more clearly and that you'll seek after Him more intensely whether you are fasting or not.  

Don't give up, don't give in... if you've tried and haven't succeeded, today is a brand new day... I'll be praying for you that God gives you the strength and power to not only make it through the day without food, but that He would pour out His rich blessings on your life in ways you never could imagine! 

This Freaked Me Out

I ran across this from Perry Noble and Newspring today.  I hate snakes as much as Perry does... I don't know why I watched it, I'll probably have nightmares.  But the truth of what he says in the video gives me nightmares too! 

  

5 Lies of the devil message video, the snake from NewSpring Production on Vimeo.

Sometimes you gotta see it visually before you realize how crazy it is for us to cozy up with the enemy and our sin.  

Monday Rewind

Spent all morning processing and thinking about worship yesterday and hit the ground running this morning evaluating our processes and even my own personal schedule/calendar.  I've made some pretty big breakthroughs regarding the way we operate and yes, there will be some changes! Here are some of the things I've been rattling around for the past couple of days:

1. We MUST get a handle on scheduling our volunteers and following through with them if they drop the ball.  It does a disservice to the church and to them if we don't address it.
2. I've made the mistake many times that just because I'm passionate about something and think about it all the time, that doesn't mean other people do.  I have to live, sleep, eat, breathe the vision and even more than that-- I must MODEL what I'm calling our church to do.  That's great because I always wanted to be a model!  Seriously though, I must lead the way in areas like evangelism and spiritual growth and community impact, etc.
3. I have to get out of the office more.  By nature, I'm more of a creative than administrative person.  Sitting behind a desk all day wears me out.  As I looked back over my schedule the past few weeks, I've spent more time in my office than I have out with people.  That's why I have felt drained lately.  We all need to be renewed and refreshed.  Nelson Searcy, one of my leadership coaches, says we should "divert daily, withdraw weekly, measure monthly and abandon annually".  I admit, I have a hard time doing that... until now.  I realize that I'm doing no one any good if my energy (physically and spiritually) is gone.  So, that has led me to what I've been working on today...evaluating my effectiveness and the effectiveness of my leadership over the past few weeks.  Here's what I've realized...
4. I have to almost become obsessive about my schedule.  It really has more to do with the rhythms of how I work most effectively than a calendar or series of appointments.  Here's what I've decided works best for me: 
   1.  The mornings are best for me to spend time with God... really focused times of prayer and journaling. 
   2. Monday mornings are for Administrative tasks and evaluating Sunday services, sending emails and writing notes, etc.   
   3. Monday afternoons are best for growth and leadership development.  Reading blogs and articles and books will consume most of my afternoon.  Not just "light reading", but reading with purpose.  Out of that time will also come a Message mind dump of ideas for an upcoming message.
   4. Tuesdays are good meeting days and times to work on the systems of our church and help move them forward. Tuesdays are also days I have set aside for breakfast, lunch or coffee meetings.  
   5. Wednesdays are my Study and Writing days.  I won't do any appointments or meetings unless absolutely necessary.  They are truly Focus days for me.  Sure, I'll break it up and may write at Panera or Starbucks, but the idea is that I have a complete day blocked off to focus on hearing from God and preparing to share what God wants me to share with Journey Church.   
   6. Thursdays are for more systems planning and meetings as well as other conversations to make sure Sunday service will happen with excellence.  It's also a time for me to spend developing as a leader either in a coaching network or helping coach/mentor other young leaders.   
   7. Fridays are going to be my day off from the office.  I'll spend time on Fridays reading, writing and developing creative ideas.  I may work at my office at home, go to a park, coffee shop, it could be anywhere... the key to a successful Friday for me will be to be refreshed and recharged.      

 

Listing my schedule out like this has a couple of objectives.  One... it helps me to get it in print.  It's easier to be accountable for something that you can refer to than just a bunch of good ideas that you never write down.  Two, it let's my church know my schedule. This isn't to say it's not flexible at all.  If you have emergency surgery on Wednesday, I'll be at the hospital... I might even ask if I can scrub in!  What it does for our church family is that it lets you know  when I can give you most of my energy and attention.  The reality is, you don't need my time, you need my energy.  The natural rhythms of my day and week have helped to create this schedule and I have to become almost obsessive about it.  I've already put it into my iCal for the next few weeks and I'm sure I'll have to adjust along the way.  But I believe that this will help me be more effective not only as a pastor, leader, husband and friend... but it will help me be more effective in all I do.  

I'd love to hear more about they way you lay out your schedule.  Do you let the tyranny of the urgent dictate your schedule or do you make your calendar with purpose?  Someone once said "Someone will create your schedule, it might as well be you!"  Great advice... I'm taking it.   

Great word from my wife.

2 more weeks left in Fast and Furious Fridays.  Today I wanted to share with you something that my wife Sonja told me this morning.  She was reading in Mark 16 (our daily bible reading from YouVersion).  It was about the resurrection... a passage we have read hundreds of times.  But isn't it just like God to reveal some things that are fresh and new and completely relevant to your life while you're fasting!

The passage she's talking about was when the women went to the tomb... they asked, "how will we roll away the stone?"

They were thinking from their own power, their own reservoir of skills... but once they got to the tomb, the stone was already rolled away... and Jesus wasn't there.  The interesting thing was that Jesus had told them several times that would happen... but we still try to figure out how we're going to do something that God's called us to do.... like leading a ministry... like giving sacrificially...like inviting a neighbor or coworker to church this Sunday... or like fasting.

Sonja told me she had a hard time last Friday with her fast because she was at school and the schedule and structure she was in made it hard... but because of this passage of Scripture she said... I'm going to remember that when I get hungry, or when I think "how am I going to make it through the day without food, especially when all my students are eating?"  Here's the principle at work-- God will make a way where there doesn't seem to be a way.  The women went to the tomb wondering how THEY would roll the stone away... when they got there GOD HAD ALREADY ROLLED IT AWAY.

What in your life are you still trying to do in your own power?  What barriers are keeping you from complete obedience?  What are you not attempting because you don't think there's any way it can happen?  God may have already removed all the barriers... how will you respond today?

Culture Shock

For the last few days we've had a houseguest.  Morris Edwards is the  principal of Water Valley Primary School in St Mary's,  Jamaica and is one of the schools we work with through the ministry of A.C.E.   He's here because A.C.E. is investing in him to add value to his life as a leader.  He will go back to Jamaica and his school with a notebook full of notes and ideas about how he can make his school better and, most importantly, help the children at his school have a better opportunity to escape extreme poverty and impact the lives of others. That's one of the reasons A.C.E. focuses on and invests in the schools, because they believe, as Whitney Houston said, the children are the future.  A.C.E. invests in the children educationally, financially and spiritually and they are seeing great results.  That's why we love working with that ministry. 

We picked up Morris at the ATL airport on Saturday and he would be staying with us until Wednesday morning.  He had only been to the U.S. 2 other times.  Once to New York City and once to Miami.  I told him Auburn was very similar to both of those places!  Ha!  There was some culture shock to be expected but this was also a week of firsts for him.  Here are some of the things we did that he has never done before:

1. Ate at Cracker Barrel.  We thought the best way to baptize him into the southern culture is to take him there.  He was like a kid  in a candy store, or, in this case, an old country store.  He took it all in and then we sat down to eat.  He played it safe and ordered chicken and rice... I tried to get him to try a biscuit but he wasn't up for it yet.  He can't leave the south without eating a biscuit.  That has become my personal mission! 
2. He went to church in a school.  He was amazed that we transformed our school each week into a house of worship.  He loved it.  He said he didn't know any of the songs but loved the spirit.  (Thanks to all of our Journey people for making him feel so welcome) 
3. He went to a movie theater.  We take so much for granted.  We've probably seen hundreds of movies, but it was so cool to watch Morris take in the whole theater environment.  We saw G.I. Joe (which by the way, I didn't think I would like, but turned out to be a pretty good movie).  I think we wore him out on Sunday because about 7:30 he went to his room and went to bed... we didn't see him until 6 am the next day.  
4. Monday he was all pumped about going to school with Sonja to see how an American school operates.  He came home with both his mind and notebook full.  Same thing on Tuesday. He'll have  more time to observe other teachers and classrooms...  He's going to need a bigger notebook.  
5. We would be bad hosts if we didn't take him to Wal-Mart.  Of course it was the first day back for Auburn students and it was PACKED.  But we went through every section of the store (I didn't even know they had a fabric section).  He was amazed that they had so much stuff.  But he was unlike anyone else I've ever known... He went to Wal-Mart and didn't buy anything! 

I'm taking him to Atlanta today to meet Marla, the Director of A.C.E.  Thinking about how he soaked everything in over the last few days reminded me of a few things... 

• how blessed we are, 
• how much we take things for granted,
• how we have an opportunity to learn as much from people of other cultures as they do from us (we talked about Government, economics, politics, Jesus, worship, family, leadership and, of course, education).  

We got to see our normal routine of going to school, church, movies and Wal-mart through fresh eyes.  Through the eyes of someone who's seeing it for the first time.   That can help renew your perspective, your priorities  and your gratitude.  Thanks Morris Edwards for being our guests...and our teacher.
  
    

2 Book Reviews- The Friends We Keep/ 40 Minute Bible Studies

Pick up this book from Sarah Zacharias Davis.  When I got this book, I gave it to my wife to read, she read it then gave it to another friend and I'm sure it's been passed on from there. Here's what you can expect:

During a particularly painful time in her life, Sarah Zacharias Davis learned how delightful–and wounding–women can be in friendship. She saw how some friendships end badly, others die slow deaths, and how a chance acquaintance can become that enduring friend you need.

The Friends We Keep is Sarah’s thoughtful account of her own story and the stories of other women about navigating friendship. Her revealing discoveries tackle the questions every woman asks:

• Why do we long so for women friends? 
• Do we need friends like we need air or food or water?
• What causes cattiness, competition, and co-dependency in too many friendships?
• Why do some friendships last forever and others only a season?
• How do I foster friendship?
• When is it time to let a friend go, and how do I do so?

With heartfelt, intelligent writing, Sarah explores these questions and more with personal stories, cultural references and history, faith, and grace. In the process, she delivers wisdom for navigating the challenges, mysteries, and delights of friendship: why we need friendships with other women, what it means to be safe in relationship, and how to embrace what a friend has to offer, whether meager or generous.

 

I also got to review Kay Arthur's  Money and Possessions:  The Quest for Contentment.  It's part of her 40 Minute Bible Study Series.    This is a GREAT resource to help you drill down deeper in your study of Scripture.  Kay is an amazing teacher and leader  of Precept Ministries and every one of the books and studies I've read from her have been fantastic.   This book tackles important issues in brief, easy-to-grasp lessons you can use personally or for small-group discussion. Each book in the series includes six 40-minute studies designed to draw you into God’s Word through basic inductive Bible study. There are 16 titles in the series, with topics ranging from fasting and forgiveness to prayer and worship. With no homework required, everyone in the group can work through the lesson together at the same time. Let these respected Bible teachers lead you in a study that will transform your thinking—and your life.

 

Titles Include:

•The Essentials of Effective Prayer                            •Being a Disciple: Counting the Cost

•Building a Marriage That Really Works                     •Discovering What the Future Holds

•Forgiveness: Breaking the Power of the Past             •Having a Real Relationship with God

•How Do You Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk?      •Living a Life of Real Worship

•How to Make Choices You Won’t Regret                  •Living Victoriously in Difficult Times

•Money & Possessions: The Quest for Contentment  •Rising to the Call of Leadership

•How Do You Know God’s Your Father?                  •Key Principles of Biblical Fasting

•A Man’s Strategy for Conquering Temptation                       •What Does the Bible Say About Sex?

 

Great stuff from Kay Arthur.  They are great for small groups or individual study.  

 

Another Fast & Furious Friday

Today marks the halfway point in our 6 week journey we're calling Fast & Furious Fridays.  If you're participating with us in fasting and praying for our community, our church and spiritual breakthrough in our lives, I'd love to hear how God is speaking to you during this time.  

Here's some of the things He's been teaching me (in rapid fire succession, no particular order):

1. God's at work... I can join him or oppose him.  When I let my pride get in the way, that's opposition (1Peter 5:5)
2. I don't have to wait on God to clarify what He's already made clear in His Word.  I don't have to pray about telling people about Jesus... He's already made that perfectly clear through the Great Commission and Acts 1:8. 
3. God won't grow what we don't sow.  I can pray and pray for God to bless my church with growth, but if I'm not leading our church to Invest and Invite, and modeling it myself, I shouldn't expect God to trust us with His people.  
4. When it comes to growth, I can be a blessing or a bottleneck.  I can help others grow and  become all that God created them to be and fulfill their mission, or I can stunt the growth of my entire church and myself by being the bottleneck for growth.  I have to learn when to get out of the way!

 

These are just a few things that God's been showing me over the past few weeks as I've been praying and fasting for spiritual breakthrough in our church and our community.  I can't wait to see what else He's going to show me.  One thing is for sure... it's not always a fun message to hear.  There are things He's shown me that cause me to shiver!  There are things He's called me to do that are uncomfortable for me.  But that's one of the reasons we fast and pray... to hear from God more clearly and respond to Him obediently.   There are a lot of other things that He's teaching me right now and I'll be sharing them in the coming weeks.  But for now, I can't wait to hear what God wants to say to me today-- through His Word, through His Holy Spirit, through the counsel of others, and even through normal, everyday circumstances.

Put Your Dream to the Test- Book Review

Usually I can read a John Maxwell book in a couple of days.  Truth is, I've read most everything he's written- He's one of my favorites. But this book was different.  I started the booin July while at the beach.  I read the first 2 chapters and had to stop- not because the book was bad... because it was so good!  I drove me to change my reading habit.  This was a book I knew I had to read very slowly and process as I went along.  At the beach, the 1st  2 chapters wrecked me.You can read that post here.  Then I read the other chapters and each of them messed me up too.  Here are some quick thoughts about each of the 10 questions:

1. The Ownership Question.  Is the dream really MY dream?  I had to stop and evaluate if the dream I was chasing was the one God burned in my heart or just a reconstituted dream from some other church planter?

2.  The Clarity Question. Do I clearly see my dream?  After 3 years of church planting, the dream can get lost in the daily grind of "doing church".  This chapter helped me shake off the cobwebs and refocus.

3.  The Reality Question.  Am I depending on factors within my control?  Do I REALLY have the strengths and skill set to pull it off?  I had a dream to be a pro baseball player, but the reality is, I didn't have the skills to make it happen.

4. The Passion Question.  Does my dream COMPEL me to follow it? One of the best quotes of the book-- "to succeed, we must stay within our strength zone, but continually move outside our comfort zone.

5.  The Pathway Question.  Do I have a strategy to reach my dream.  This is the How behind the What.  Without a plan, it's just potential!

6.  The People Question. Have I included people I need to realize my dream?  Great chapter on how to cast vision... great people follow big vision!

7. The Cost Question.  Am I willing to pay the price for my dream?  The dream is free but the Journey isn't.  It will always cost more than I think.  This chapter also caused me to evaluate where I am on my journey and if I'm willing to pay the price to go to the next level in achieving my dream.

8.  The Tenacity Question.  Am I moving closer to my dream.  This chapter is one of those that I pulled tons of motivating quotes from.  Those kind that keep you going when you want to give up and walk away--like this one: "most people stop themselves from reaching their potential".  So true!

9. The Fulfillment Question.  Does working toward my dream bring satisfaction?  I'm reminded of another one of Maxwell's books - The Success Journey- He says it's as much about the Journey as it is about the destination.

10.  The Significance Question.  Does my dream benefit others.  This chapter caused me to rethink what significance is all about.  it's not about making a name for myself... it's about leaving my mark on others.  

10 chapters that wrecked me.  They caused me to go back and reevaluate where I've been, what I'm doing and the strategy that I'm using to get there.  I said before that I've read most of John Maxwell's books.  This, by far, is my favorite.  Not because of the great leadership quotes that I get from it, Not because of the sheer motivation and encouragement he gives, but because this book shook me and caused me to retrace my steps to the original dream God burned in my heart to plant a church that would reach people who are far from God and help them take steps to become a passionate Christ follower.  I have my Maxwell book collection lined up on my bookshelves at my office.  This one won't make it on the shelf... It's going to stay on my desk as a reference... something I can look at to remind me to see my dream and seize my dream!  Get a copy of this book today. Click the link below and it can be yours!

My Kind of Counseling

I don't have the gift of mercy.  I wouldn't be a very good counselor.  I'm grateful for pastors and professional counselors who are merciful listeners and can help people navigate through some of life's struggles.  I do that from time to time, but when people come to me for counseling I typically let them know that I may be limited in how I can help them and will probably refer them to someone more capable than me.  

It may be because everything I know about counseling I learned from this guy.

I don't really do that when I'm counseling people... but sometimes I want to!