Eric Taylor

Another Great Sunday

Yesterday was very cool.  We had several guests that we were able to connect with and I think they'll be back.  The worship yesterday was ON!  You know when you hear preachers get up to speak after a great time of worship and say stuff like, "We should just pray right now and go home"...I wonder how many have actually done that--not many I suppose.  But our worship yesterday really connected with folks.  Our band was excellent as usual... Zach, Joel, Nathan and Ellen really know how to do it.  We brought in a guy from one of our supporting churches in Birmingham... his name is Trey... Trey is a senior in high school but you'd never know it when he's leading worship.   He is CONSUMED by the Spirit when he's leading.  The dude is really passionate about connecting people to God through music.  I slipped around to the side of the auditorium and just watched as God fell on that place... It was pretty easy to get up and teach after that.  We finished up our Rolling Stones series and I'm pumped about our new series we've got coming up... it's called QUESTIONS.  We'll be looking at some questions about what we ask God for, who we are and where we are going.  It's going to be awesome and we're going to have a "FRIEND DAY" on May 20th.  Start now to thing about who YOU will BRING WITH YOU on May 20th. 

Just Gotta Brag!

I know I usually talk about church planting and stuff specific to Journey, but today I've just got to brag on my daughter, Abby.  We have this thing in our community that was started by Family Court Judge Dick Lane called Character in Action.  He recognizes students who demonstrate exceptional character traits in general or a specific incident.  Abby was nominated by her 8th grade teachers and I wanted to share with you the email her teachers sent us about why they nominated her.

"...the Predators nominated Abby for the Character in Action award. I cannot begin to tell you how much we all love Abby. When I think about Philippians 2: 1-5 (If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus), I cannot help but think about Abby. Abby brings such a gentle spirit into all her classes and each one of us are so blessed to have her in our classes. When we nominated Abby, all of us agreed that we hoped that our daughters and future daughters could find someone like Abby to be friends with someone who was loyal and compassionate and exemplified Christ in all she says and does."

Any parent would love for their child's teacher to be able to say stuff like that.  Sonja and I are INCREDIBLY BLESSED that both of our kids love God and strive to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Exponential Conference 07

This week I was suppose to be at the Exponential Conference in Orlando.  A few months ago at the churchplanters.com conference I won free registrations for 3 people... but, long story short, I couldn't go so I gave up the spots.  I'm a little bummed out that I'm not there...but because I've got lots of friends who are there and are blogging, It's like I'm getting the cliff notes version of the conference!  All the high points of the sessions, but I get to sleep in my own bed at night (I do miss the time I would be able to hang out and network with tons of other church planters.). 

As it turned out, had I gone to Orlando, I would've missed out on a GOD MOMENT with someone who just started visiting our church.  God is at work in the person's life and I can't wait to see how God does His thing in them.

This week, we're finishing up our series called "ROLLING STONES".  This week's message:  Stones of Disappointment...You don't want to miss it because we will close out the series with something special that could echo into the months and years to come...Invite your friends and bring them with you this Sunday!

100 Holes of Golf!

Yesterday I played in the East Alabama Youth for Christ Ironman Golf Marathon.  100 Holes of golf in 1 day.  I can barely move my arms to type.  I wished I would've used sunscreen.  I'm spending the day recovering and preparing for the weekend message.

Blown Away at the Response

WARNING:  I'm writing this while heavily medicated.  (If something is misspelled or doesn't make sense, go take a couple of benadryl and read it again--maybe that will help you relate to my state of mind!)
We are still in our Rolling Stones Series and today we talked about Stones of Fear.  We invited folks to write their biggest fear on a card and bring it to the stage and leave it there.  The response was incredible since we usually don't do a "come down front" commitment time.  Over half the crowd responded saying they were laying down their fears and were willing to trust God in the midst of their fears.

I was blown away at all the fears our folks were dealing with.  God was really in the place this morning... and I have to confess, because I was feeling bad... I didn't know what to expect... That goes to show you that it's God's Show, not mine.  He can do what He wants to at any time... and He did.

Some of the fears listed were:
Fear of Rejection
Fear of the Unknown
Fear of Failure
Fear that my children may not follow God
Fear of people who are different than me
Fear of turning into my mother
Fear that my secret sin will destroy my family.

My prayer is that God will roll away the stones of fear and allow us to see Him work in our lives like He did in Moses' life.  I pray that in the days ahead we would face our fears and conquer them and see God expand our view of His Greatness and Glory. 
Can you imagine what could happen at Journey if we all became FEARLESS?  If we all charged into the unknown with the realization that God is charting the course and it's not unknown to Him... and we can trust Him completely.  I believe we will see God will do amazing things in our lives, in our families, in our jobs, in our classrooms and in our church.

I'm going to take some more medicine and hopefully knock this stuff out of me soon. 

I Hate Allergy Season

I'm writing this with a box of Kleenex right by my laptop and a heavy drumbeat thumping inside my head... I hate allergy season... I feel like CRUD.   But there's so much I've got to do today, I can't be sick!  Of course, no one has time to be sick... I'm going to pump myself full of over the counter medicine and see if it knocks it out of me.  We're suppose to go to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival tonight with some of Sonja's teacher friends... I hope I don't get us kicked out by blowing my nose louder than a trumpet!

You Gotta Read This...

I read a few blogs every morning and one of the guys I read is Steven Furtick (I'd really like to meet this guy).  He's getting it done at Elevation Church in Charlotte.  His post on April 16th pretty much sums up the way I feel most of the time.  Church planting is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life-- period.  It's the scariest time in our lives... I admit I struggle with this every week.  But it's also the most fun I've ever had in ministry because I'm watching people move toward becoming a Passionate Christ Followers-- That's why we started Journey Church in the first place!

Our Worship Rocks!

This past weekend our band really rocked!  In fact, I would go as far as to say it was one of the best times of worship I've experienced since we launched last August.  What made the difference?  Was it the specific set list they did?  Was it the musicians and vocalists on stage?  Yes and No.  Yes, we have some incredible musicians and vocalists... in fact, I would put them up against anybody.  I love our worship team.  I don't think it was just the songs we sang.  (You can take a look at the set list from Sunday here.)  I think it was the fact that the Spirit was thick in the worship room on Sunday.  Several people came up to me and told me it was the best worship time they've experienced in a while.  That happens when God moves in the place and connects His spirit with our spirit--and it Completely Rocks!  So, special props go out to the band this week-- Zach, Nathan, Joel, Ellen and Zack... you guys were awesome this week... But not for how great you played...but how you pointed us to Jesus and set the atmosphere for  His Spirit to move in the place!

4-0 and 0-3!

I love baseball.  This weekend was great because we had a game Friday night and then had to turn around and play a rainout game Saturday morning.  My son's team is UNDEFEATED at 4-0.  I am all for sportsmanship and fair play and all that stuff... but I have to tell you... it's pretty sweet to be the dominant team in the league... of course, now everyone's trying to knock off the number one team.  Seth is doing pretty well too... He caught today and drilled a ball to the fence for a triple.  Makes me proud... not just that he's doing well in baseball... but because he's my boy and I love seeing him do something he's passionate about!

Now, about my Daughter's soccer team, it's the complete opposite. While I'm equally proud of her, the soccer team hasn't won a game. But, because I know VERY LITTLE about soccer, I don't get as bent out of shape when they lose... mostly because Abby's out there as much for the social aspect as kicking a ball into a goal.  I'm very proud of her too because she has done VERY WELL and mostly because she's my daughter. 

There's nothing quite like Rec Sports!

Power in Prayer

Woke up early this morning and spent some time praying for our people at Journey.  I pray a lot for our church in general and for disconnected people that we're trying to reach, but I have to confess I don't pray enough for our people that are getting it done week after week.  It was so refreshing to be able to pray for friends who may not really have a specific prayer need at the time, but to pray for God's Favor and Power to be on their lives is incredibly moving for me... I know we're about to see something GOD SIZED happen at Journey and He's going to use ALL OF US to get it done... not just me or the ministry team... it's going to take everyone seeking God's face and preparing our hearts for what He wants to do IN US as individuals and THROUGH US as Journey Church. 

"For the Kingdom of God is not just fancy talk.  It's living by God's Power."  1Cor 4:20