Eric Taylor

Signing off for a week!

This will by my first and last post for this week.  My family and I are headed to the beach for a week of much needed rest and play.  I won't have my laptop, so I won't be posting until I get back home.  I will have my cell phone but I've promised my kids that I will only check messages  a couple of times a day.  My priority this week is my beautiful wife... who, by the way gets hotter every day... and my 2 very cool teenage kids (it seems like it was just yesterday they were in diapers... so I'm going to drink in every moment with them!)  I am going to ride go carts, walk on the beach, build sand castles, eat LOTS of seafood and maybe even bungee jump!!!!  Needless to say, I'm excited about how God will refresh and renew us as He always does.  See you all next week!

Catch Up Day

I know it's been several days since my last blog--I'll try to catch you up quick.

• Monday I spent all day with Ray Jones, Pastor of Ridgecrest Baptist in Dothan.  Ray and I were on staff together at Calvary in Clearwater.  He is one of my spiritual heroes and mentors.  He oozes spiritual and leadership wisdom.  Plus, he's a big Auburn fan!
• Tuesday was my son Seth's 13th birthday.  That day was spent celebrating and remembering how much cooler our family is because he's in it!  Happy Birthday Son!

Here's a picture of him catching.  The mighty Cubs are still undefeated!

• Wednesday was filled with meetings and study time during the day and baseball games and growth group that night.

• Other stuff that went on: 
  
  • 24 season finale. GREATLY DISAPPOINTING.  To fade out without blowing something up... I felt cheated!  they should have just played some sappy love song or something.  the only thing that would have made it worse would have been if Audrey had walked to where Jack was and they ended the show with them embracing....and then a Chinese Helicopter came out of nowhere and laid down some massive firepower taking out a bunch of people and they shot both Jack and Audrey and they're lying alone bleeding.  Now THAT'S a cliffhanger.  But, I think I'm with Gary Lamb on this one... I'm officially DONE with 24.  I watched ALL SIX SEASONS... and they've all been good until this one.

Sunday Night Mind Dump

We had an incredible FRIEND DAY... Lots of you brought friends and I was blown away by the spirit in the place this morning. God was definitely up to something great today. 

This weekend was a crazy weekend for our family... Friday night  we went to Leeds, AL (home of Charles Barkley, and Sonja Taylor) for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.  Many of you know my wife's mom died this past November of lung cancer and so our family joined our extended family and walked ALL NIGHT LONG... It has been a LONG time since I stayed up all night... and we had to drive back to Auburn for my daughter Abby's soccer game Saturday at 9. Needless to say I was wasted the rest of the day.  I'm getting too old for that kind of stuff...even if it is for a great cause.

I'm sitting here tonight listening to the CD "Glory Revealed"... There's some great stuff on here... including a couple of songs by Candi Pearson-Shelton... one of the best female voices out there.   
Here's the stuff that's running through my mind right now:

• I really want to go to bed
• The QUESTIONS series went well
• There's a whole bunch of people to follow up on this week
• I would love to be able to do staff meeting at a consistent time, but I know that's impossible when we are working with people who are students or have full time jobs.
• I'm going to Dothan  to hang out with one of my spiritual heroes tomorrow--Ray Jones.
• It was so incredible to see people stand up during the commitment time today.
• I believe there was some significant spiritual stuff happening in the service today.
• We need to discover about 4 or 5 really creative people to help me develop the messages and the environments.
• We're going to have to move the curtain back in our preschool area soon!
• We must not wait til we get "bigger" or have more money before we begin to make a global impact.  I'll be excited to see what nation God reveals where He wants us to invest our hearts.
• It was AMAZING to see the church in motion as you guys worked your tails off to get people here today.  Your efforts will be rewarded greatly!

I love you guys... your commitment to Christ and reaching those disconnected from Christ challenges me daily to want to be a better leader, teacher, pastor and friend.  You all stepped it up a notch this weekend... someone once said, "once stretched, you can NEVER GO BACK to the way you were."  That Rocks!  I expect that after today, we'll never look back as a church but will continue to move forward into the great adventure God's set us on!  I don't know about you, but I am JACKED UP  about the journey!

Hangin with Dave

Yesterday I got a chance to hang out all day with a new friend, Dave Anderson. Dave started Crosspoint Church in Decatur, AL and I met him at a roundtable at Gary Lamb's church.  He had never been to Auburn, so he drove down for the day and we talked about how we can help each other.  They are just ahead of where we are in numbers and we talked about all sorts of church planting stuff.  The thing I love about this guy is he is FEARLESS.  He is doing whatever it takes to reach his city and county for Jesus.  It really was an "iron sharpening iron" time yesterday.   I have been to a lot of church planting conferences, but what we did yesterday may have been some of the most practically helpful stuff I've ever done.  We're going to collaborate on some creative stuff and we'll see if we can't dream big dreams together and make some noise in the state of Alabama as we work together to reach disconnected people for Christ.

It's amazing what you can do when you get an Auburn fan and a Bama fan together and not focus on football.  Oh, but we did that too... I took him on a tour of campus and we stopped at the Athletic Dept and went through the trophy room and sports museum.  He had good things to say about Auburn and even had his picture taken with Bo Jackson's heisman trophy.  I'm looking forward to getting up to Decatur and hanging out with him in his town... Dude, you owe me some Bob Gibson's BBQ!

Tethered to Technology

My internet service provider has not given me world class customer service like they claim.  For the past week, my internet service at home/the church office has been in and out.  It's been painfully frustrating and I could really spiritualize it and say it's some sort of test of my patience (which it might be) but I just think it's Charter not giving a rip about my need to check my email and read my blogs and do my online banking.  Thank goodness for Panera... my office away from the office. But that brings up a good point... How we have become so tethered to technology.  I love gadgets and gizmos that help get my work done and help me stay connected to the rest of the world... and it's an incredible way to communicate with lots of people... but when I can't sync my blackberry, or my internet's down or I can't check my email, I feel like I can't be productive.  But then God shows up outside my computer, away from my email and says,
   I am with you,
   I am mighty to save.
   I will take great delight in you,
   I will quiet you with his love,
   I will rejoice over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3:17)

So why do we stress out when we can't check our email?  Why do we fret when the things in our lives that make the most "noise" go silent?  Look at it as a gift of quietness from God.  Listen to Him... He may be trying to talk to you.  Rest in Him...He may be trying to Refresh you.

During my forced quietness, I had some of the most refreshing time with God that I've had in a while.  I'm thinking about trying it out at other times... turning off the tv or not listening to the radio, iPod, CD when I'm in the car. 

How about you?  Would you be willing to "quiet yourself" for a time in order to simply listen for God's voice?  Let me know how you do this.

Leadership

Today I got to spend time with some of my favorite church planters.  This morning, I got a phone call from Gary Lamb.  I emailed him a few days ago with some questions and the dude gave me a call and invested some time in me.  I appreciate Gary a ton.  He and his staff at Ridgestone are getting it done in Canton, GA. That made my morning... Then, I got to hang out with a couple of guys at lunch and ask lots of questions.  Thanks Matt Hawkins and Rusty Hutson. These guys encouraged me and I left there feeling more and more excited about what God is doing in Auburn and at Journey.

Don't forget about FRIEND DAY coming up May 20th.  It's a great time to begin inviting people to come to Journey that day.  More about friend day later.

Friend Day

In 2 weeks we are having FRIEND DAY at Journey.  Is there someone you know who is disconnected from God and from Church--  Someone you work with, go to school with, hang out with, someone who lives in your neighborhood?  Would you like to see them commit their lives to following Jesus?  Then, do everything you can to get them here on May 20th.  We promise you that as you invest in the lives of your friends, relatives, coworkers and neighbors we are creating an environment where you can BRING THEM TO CHURCH WITH YOU and not have to worry about anything like--"Will the band be good?"  "Will Eric talk about something relevant?"  "Will people be friendly?"  "Will the kids like it?"  The answer to all those questions is YES!  We're preparing this day ESPECIALLY for those who, for some reason or another, have been turned off by church and/or other Christians.  Our desire that day is to change forever their perception of church.  We want them to have an incredible experience where they connect with the music, the people, the message, and mostly, connect or reconnect with God. 

Last week we talked about "PRAYING BIG PRAYERS".  This is a BIG DEAL for some people to even approach someone who's been disconnected from God and church and invite them... but know this-- I'm praying BIG PRAYERS for you that God would give you the Boldness and persistence to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to get your friends here on May 20th.  We're praying that we DOUBLE in size... that WILL happen if each of us brings a friend on FRIEND DAY. 

I'd love to begin praying for the person you're inviting, so please let me know their name-- leave a comment here or email me and I'll be praying for your friend as well as your efforts to get them here.

I'm looking forward to what May 20th will bring.  I know God's going to do something GREAT!   

Sunday Night Mind Dump

I have a tendency to stay wound up pretty tight so I'm being more intentional about using Sunday night after everyone's in bed to do what a few of my church planter buddies do... They hook up their iPods, chill out, reflect on the day and get ready for the crazy busy week coming up... So, my Sunday nights from 9-10 is set aside for that kind of time...

So, I've got the iPod cranked up and I'm listening to Sugarland (Jennifer Nettles has an incredible voice even if it's way twangy) and Elizabethtown Soundtrack (The Same in any language by iNine is a cool song.)

• It was great to have my Father in Law down for a visit this past weekend.  The guy is 70 but is one of the coolest guys.  It was awesome to see how our folks welcomed him.
• My Father in Law told us at lunch that he was blown away by how friendly and welcoming EVERYONE was.  I think we have the most authentically friendly church in town.
• Our setup crew continually amazes me at their work ethic. They are work horses.  Both the men and the ladies will do whatever it takes to create an awesome environment for worship.
• We broke a picture frame and I've got to talk to the art teacher in the morning about replacing it.
• JourneyKidz was rockin' this morning... I snuck around and got a peek during the worship time and they were having a great time.
• Our worship was incredible AGAIN today. 
• I spoke too long.
• We got a good response and see that people are PRAYING BIG PRAYERS.
• I shared my BIG PRAYER  of reaching 6000 people (weird number but that's the one God's burned into my heart) in multiple campuses/sites and connecting them in growth groups and mobilizing them for local and global impact.
• I AM IN WAY OVER MY HEAD.
• God's not surprised that I'm in way over my head.
• He's the one who got me into this!
• I'm surrounded by some incredible people who love God with a passion and love people so much that they're willing to do anything to reach them.
• I'm setting up some meetings with some great leaders and church planters to help me increase my capacity to lead this church.
• I have to ask myself some hard questions this week.
• My daughter had a piano recital today... I think she was the best one of the bunch.
• My son had a band trip to ATL this weekend and got to tour Turner Field and talked to Bobby Cox...He has experienced more in his 13 years than I ever dreamed of at his age.
• I get to hang out with my friend Mike Mozingo from Journey Church Millbrook this week.  I'm pumped about that!

24

Alright... I've held my tongue long enough.  Many of you know I'm a rabid 24 fan... I've seen every episode... every year... It's the only show I'll try to arrange my schedule around.  But I have to tell you... this year it's been more like a soap opera.  Too much lovey dovey stuff.  It started with Nadia and Milo, then Chloe and Morris, then Bill Buchanan and Karen Hayes.  Even the Vice President has some forbidden mistress stuff going on.  Then, last night when Jack and Audrey connected again... I thought they were about to play Michael Bolton or Celine Dion... give me a break... Less lovin'.... more blowin' stuff up! More shooting people in the leg just to make them talk! This has been a good season, not great, but good... let's see if the last 3 episodes can turn it from Good to Great.  Otherwise, move over Days of our Lives... Jack Bauer will be joining you on the daytime soap operas!