Eric Taylor

Running with a Buddy

This morning, I started training for this 15k that I got roped into running... I have never run a 5k... what the heck am I thinking.  But 7:30 came and Keith Thompson showed up and we ran at 3.1 mile loop.  (actually we walked probably a half mile, but it's a good start).  Funny thing was, there was an actual 5k race going on and we bumped into it... it was funny watching the pointers point one way and watch us turn the other way.  The best part was running with someone.  I've run by myself-- with my iPod, that's fine, but there's something about running with a buddy that helps push you to keep going.  Sounds like what happens in real discipleship too.  When we get into each other's lives and help push, encourage, lead, follow and celebrate together it draws us closer to each other.  That's great when you're running, it's even better when you are doing life together to help each other grow closer to Christ.  That's why you'll hear me talk about Growth Groups all the time.  We're starting back up soon.  If you don't have a growth group... let us know and we'll find you a "running buddy" that can help you in your spiritual journey.

Wake Up!

Can't believe it's Friday already.  The internet's been down at my house for most of the week and that's where I usually do my writing and blogging, so no posts since Monday.  Hopefully things are back to normal. 

I can't wait for Sunday.  The message this weekend is one of my favorite characters in the Bible--Samson.  God has some great stuff in store for us this Sunday,  hope to see you there.

Summer's about over... Sonja's starting to have meetings at school, Seth is in band camp and Abby has Sophomore Orientation next week... can't believe my baby girl is in High School... Talk about a Wake Up call!  We have 3 years with her, 4 with Seth and they're out of the house.  Lots of stuff we still want to do before they leave--  New York City,  Cooperstown (Baseball Hall of Fame), several more Mission Trips to Jamaica with A.C.E.  

Time flies... and I'm reminded again today how we must live with a sense of urgency about reaching our community.  Thousands of people... Living life without the hope and grace a relationship with Christ brings.  What will I do?  What will you do?  will you wake up and see how time flies and make the most of every opportunity today? 

Sunday/Monday Rewind

• Had a great time at Journey yesterday.
• God showed up in a big way.
• We got a chance to pray for some folks after the service who are going to do missions in some hard places.
• People are catching the sense of urgency to connect the disconnected.
• We had a bunch of first time guests
• We had a bunch of regulars out
• I used to love summers as a youth pastor... as a pastor I can't wait for it to be over so people will get back in town.
• our website got hacked into this weekend.
• Good time for a redesign
• The next few weeks at Journey are going to rock!
• Our youth had an awesome time at their conference this weekend. 
• My kids couldn't stop talking about it.
• Big Daddy Weave played the conference and my kids played their CDs the rest of the weekend-- glad I like them!  Their new song rocks
• Gotta get back on track with my eating and training for the 15K.
• I ate Zaxby's yesterday... not good for you, but Oh, so good!
• Eating only healthy stuff the rest of the week.
• Great staff meeting this morning... we all took the DiSC inventory and laughed like crazy.  It may have been the most fun staff meeting ever.
• I love working with those guys.
• Got a busy week to prepare for the rest of our Wake Up series and start our next series called - Velocity.
• School starts back in a 3 weeks.
• Where did summer go?
• I didn't Twitter at all last week.
• I didn't miss it
• I don't think anyone else did either.
• I'm scaling back... I'm cutting down the blogs I read, Tweets I follow... and only doing it on the web.. so my phone doesn't go off constantly... So I'm actually getting more things done.
• Finished reading McManus' Wide Awake and almost finished "Breaking the Discipleship Code".
• Mondays are incredibly busy, like today, but I love getting stuff done!

What the Doctor taught me about communication

My wife went to the doctor yesterday because she's been having some pain in her feet.  She came out with patches, prescriptions and a big boot.  She had what they call planter faciatis.  She's on the road to recovery but she had a bad experience with the doctor.  He was a  low talker and she had to get him to repeat everything.  He didn't have a good bedside manner so that didn't set well with Sonja... she likes people to engage in conversation, or at least acknowledge their existence.  The doctor had the expertise and information my wife needed to hear... but it almost got lost in the delivery.  Every time those of us who preach or communicate get up, we need to remember that it's not enough to have the information and expertise to create a great message on paper (Paul calls it "correctly explains  the word of Truth"- 2Tim2:15).  What is equally as important is that we can deliver that Truth to people that need to hear it each week... in a way they can understand it.. and more importantly... apply it.   I'm sitting here now finishing up my message for Sunday... it's full of great Biblical Truth... but I want to make sure that Truth gets delivered in a way that people can relate to and understand. Success doesn't come because I have helpful information... success comes when I  deliver that information in a way that can lead to life change.

  Pretty deep thoughts, but something I was pondering as I took a break from preparing for the weekend.

All Star Break

I love baseball.  It's my favorite sport.  I love watching it and most of all, I love hearing the stories of the players.  It's the all star break and the All Star game is tonight... I'll be watching it with my son and some friends.  Last night they had the Home Run Derby... that's one of the coolest things ever to watch guys hit a baseball almost 500 feet.  All the buzz was around a guy named Josh Hamilton.  His story is as big as his bat.  He hit 28 HR in the first round... amazing.  But the most amazing thing was that he was out of baseball for a while because of a drug and alcohol addiction.  Great story of God's grace and second chances and how one man is using his gifts and abilities to share his faith.  Read more of his faith story here.  I can't wait to see the All Star Game tonight.  I'm a die hard Red Sox fan, but I have to tell you that I'm glad to see the game being played at Yankee Stadium in it's last year before being torn down. 

Monday Rewind

I am loving this series we're in called "Wake Up".  Yesterday I really believe God shook some people up and really caused them to begin to live with a sense of urgency!  It was an awesome day.  The band was ON yesterday!  I'm so proud that we have an amazing worship band...Every week they deliver musically as well as spiritually.  We left after church to go to Birmingham and speak at Sonja's dad's church.  They supported us financially for our mission trip to Jamaica and we got to share about our mission trip.  I didn't speak very much... I let Sonja and the kids do it and they all hit it out of the park!  I'm so proud of my kids... they were so articulate and passionate as they talked about how God used them in Jamaica.  Sonja flat out brought it!  She's so awesome and she doesn't even see it sometimes.  I loved the fact that I was the weakest of the 4 of us who spoke!  Got a couple of emails this morning from their people who might be interested in going on our next trip to Jamaica.

This morning we hit it running with Staff Meeting... I always love meeting with the guys... There's some big stuff about to break loose and we'll share more about that later... but believe me--- IT'S BIG!

I'm pretty wiped out after the day yesterday but there's a ton of stuff still to be done today... gotta get it finished before the All Star Home Run Derby tonight!  Seth and I are gathering around a bowl of chips and salsa to watch the monster shots leave Yankee Stadium! 

Just got a shipment from Amazon.  Excited to see the 4 books on deck-- Dan Roam's "The Back of the Napkin;  Seth Godin's "The Dip";  Maxwell's "Talent is never enough" and a book I'm pumped about "Leadership Lessons of the Navy Seals"... I love reading about the Seals!

Urgent!

When I talk about weekend worship services and messages I usually tell you to bring your friends, it's going to be awesome or something like that... Today is different.  I still think it's going to be awesome... but 2 things  are weighing on me right now... 1)The message I just finished and 2) Perry Noble's Blog I just read.  There is an URGENCY that I'm feeling right now for people who are disconnected from God.  The message I'm preaching this weekend comes from Matthew 25:1-13 and we'll talk about the urgency of being prepared and helping others prepare.  I finished my message and started catching up on some blogs I haven't read for a few days and Perry's post hit me right between the eyes.  You'll hear this again on Sunday but he read a statistic that said 50,000 people die every day without knowing Jesus Christ.  WOW!  Does that bother you like it bothered me?  like it bothered Perry?  That's why I'm telling you that the band is going to rock this weekend.  The cafe is going to have great coffee and snacks.  JourneyKidz is going to be exciting and fun for our kids.  But the thing I'm most excited about is what God wants to do in the lives of the person YOU are going to bring with you this weekend.  You may have invited them a hundred times, one more won't hurt.  When you understand the URGENCY that 50000 people die every day outside a relationship with Jesus, that is a HUGE motivator for me... I hope it is for you too.  Can't wait to meet your friends you bring with you on Sunday.

Operation Timothy

I love Wednesday mornings at 6:30am.  Some of you may not have been up then... but I'm in a meeting with a new Christ follower.  Every time we meet I think I'm going to impart some great spiritual wisdom on him, but the reality is, I learn as much as he does.  It's so cool because he's devouring the Bible right now and he has such a love and reverence for God's Word... he told me he  wants to make sure when he talks to people that he understand and explains the bible correctly... that's what keeps him studying!  That's what keeps me all jazzed up.  We talked today about Bible Study Methods... how to study the bible for all it's worth (I ripped that off from a book title).  I have several ways I study...I'd love to know how you study the Bible.  Sometimes I read big chunks at a time.  Other times I will do a "One Word" Bible study... I got it from Rick Warren-- you take a passage and read it, then re-read it one word at a time and think, study, meditate, ask questions about each word in a verse... write it down, then go to the next word.  It's VERY time consuming, but I can really drill down deep and God has shown me some amazing insights that I've overlooked before.  Another method I use is simply to ask 3 questions-- What? So What?  Now What? 

• What?  (Observation)  What does the verse say?  Making tons of observations about the passage.
• So What?  (Personalization)  What does this passage say to me specifically?  Why does it matter?  What specific need in my life does the passage speak to?
• Now What?  (Application)  What will I do with it?  How will I use what I learned today?

Pretty simple study methods, but amazingly profound in how they affect my life and my ministry.

So, how do you study the bible? I'd love to hear from you.

Great Meeting in Montgomery

Usually I don't get too fired up about denominational meetings.  But today I met with a room full of church planters and denominational workers who want to see church planting in Alabama taken to another level.  We talked about how we could partner together to see it happen.  I got to meet some new church planting friends from Albertville--Matt Brooks and Quentin Williams are at LifePoint Church and I definitely want to hang out with them some more.  I also met Todd Mitchell, the pastor of the Cowboy Church of Marshall County... now, I'm not a cowboy, don't even own a pair of boots, but I loved this guy's story... they are reaching people who are disconnected from God and from the church and that gets me fired up!  I also got to hang out with Steve Loggins, the pastor of my first church I served in as youth pastor.  We talked about old times and how I almost got fired (another story for another time).  We had an opportunity to share a lot of great input about networking, resourcing and training/coaching.  At the end of the day they called all the church planters up and they gathered around us and prayed for us... that was very cool.  We don't do that enough in our meetings... or in our churches for that matter.  I'm encouraged and left there more Kingdom focused and driven to reach our community and state with the Gospel.  Now it's time to crank out my message for this Sunday... get ready, It's going to be a great Sunday again this week. 

Back from Vacation/Sunday Rewind

Vacation Rewind...
Sonja and Abby went to the beach on Monday... left Seth and me behind for District All Star tournament.
We won a couple of games then lost out Wednesday... so we headed to Destin.  It was hard to cram 6 days of vacation into 3 but I tried.  Started reading 2 new books (Wide Awake by Erwin McManus and Breaking the Discipleship Code by David Putman)  Tried to get started on "The Shack".  It appears that I'm the only one left that hasn't read it.  I'll get to it in a week or two.  Had some great times with the family... great times with the Lord...(more on that in another post) and were blessed to stay at Sandestin Resort... that place was really cool.

• I loved our down time but when we got home Saturday I was itching for Sunday morning... I hadn't preached in 3 weeks and I was ready. 
• The Music was good.
•  I had a blast preaching the first message in our new series "Wake Up". 
• I preached on Eutychus falling asleep in church... I think we actually had someone fall asleep in church!
• God is stirring up something at Journey... I can't wait to see how it all plays out.
• There's a BIG announcement coming soon... hopefully in the next couple of weeks.  Get ready for it.. It will impact our whole community!
• Had Mexican food then saw "Get Smart".  (I love Steve Carrell)
• Now, I'm getting ready for Staff meeting tomorrow... minus Andrew, who's coming back from their church planting site trip to Baltimore. 
• Can't wait to hear their stories.
• Can't believe I get to do this for a living!
• I love my job!
• I love my church!
• I love Jesus!
• I have to tell you that I didn't miss blogging or twittering that much!  Glad for the break, but I'm back at it now.
• Just dropped the kids off at Youth Group and they're having a blast!
• I'm pretty tired... I need a vacation to get over the vacation.