Eric Taylor

Back in the Saddle

I'm back after about a week of being without internet service and cellphone service for much of that time.  my family and I spent Thanksgiving holidays in the mountains of Tennessee.  Thanks to our friends, Rob and Christen Perry... their place in Wears Valley was the most incredible places I've ever stayed.  Take a look here.  There was absolutely no cell service, no email, no internet, no blogging... there was DirecTV which made it great to watch the Iron Bowl... War Eagle!  But other than that... there were no distractions... We got to spend lots of family time together and I got up earlier than anyone else and just spent some amazing alone time with God...  I'm pumped about what He's confirmed in me and some of the stuff He's challenged me to do... I'll share more about that later.  Being completely out of the loop on Sunday was a little uncomfortable and I would have had a hard time doing it 6 months ago, but I know our Ministry team is more than capable... I heard the Band Rocked ... AGAIN!  As they always do.  I heard Andrew did an awesome job teaching.  They recorded it in audio and video so I can't wait to watch it... He's going to teach a lot more here before he launches out to plant a church in Baltimore. I'm so grateful to stand alongside those guys and do ministry.   I'm about to head out the door to staff meeting... It's going to be a little different tonight because we are shooting a video for Sunday Night Live this Sunday night (hence the name).  If you're a fan of "The Office" you don't want to miss it... it's going to make you wet your pants!   Glad to be back!  Thanks for all of you who prayed for our family while we were gone... God really refreshed and renewed us and we're ready for all that He has for us in 2008.

Ninja Leadership

Yesterday I finished reading the book "Deadly Viper: Character Assassins"  by Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite.   They were giving them out at Catalyst and just happened to snag one... It is a great book that speaks hard truth in a way that's incredibly fun to read.  It was more like having a conversation with Jud and Mike.  It deals with protecting yourself from the things that will corrupt and even cripple a person's character.  (yes, I'm a preacher that can't get rid of the illiteration thing!  sorry!)  It deals with everything... sex, lust, workaholism, materialism...all the stuff that can bring us down as leaders.  At the end of the book, there is a quote from Rabbi David Wolpe that I think should go on every leader's desk... no... every leader's heart. He says:

"Every leader has burdens and difficulties and complaints, but nobody forces you into leadership.  It's your choice and if you are given it--it's a privilege and a gift.  And if you don't feel that way you should step down."

WOW!  That hit me square between the eyes!  There are times I want to complain... there are days I feel overwhelmed by the burden of being a pastor... There are days I wished someone else would make the hard calls... but ultimately, God's called me to lead.  I can do like the old saying goes-- "Lead, follow, or get out of the way". Every day as a leader, we have that choice.  If God has called us to lead,  whether that's leading a church, a business, a family, or yourself... realize it's a privilege and an honor to shoulder the burdens and deal with the complaints because it's in those difficult times that our leadership is being tested and stretched and strengthened to bear even greater burdens and face greater challenges. 

Holidays on the Road

I loved this past Sunday!  We revealed some of the places we're going to invest our time and money over the next year.  If you missed it here are some of the highlights...

• We're going ALL IN locally and globally
  
  • Locally we're partnering with organizations like Women's Hope Medical Clinic and East Alabama Food Bank as well as kicking you out of your growth groups about every 2 months to get off the couch and go serve someone in the community.
  • Globally we're partnering with American Caribbean Experience and investing our time, resources and heart into Jamaica.  We have our first project planned for May 31-June 7.  I'm going to be heading out on site trip to St. Mary's Jamaica the first week of December.  Man... I can't wait! 
  • We're also committed to building a well in Rwanda.  In fact, I'd love to see us build at least one well every year.  It takes $3000 to provide clean water for 750 people in Rwanda.  WE CAN DO THIS! 

Tomorrow night our family is heading out to spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Wear's Valley, TN close to Gatlinburg.  This will be a bittersweet trip because it marks the first anniversary of Sonja's mom's death.  We're all so thankful that she is with Jesus now and isn't suffering, but there's still an incredible void in our family.  So, we've decided to take the holidays on the road.  It's going to be an awesome time... we even get to watch the Iron Bowl up there... bad part is... Sonja's family are all big Bama fans!

I'm taking several books that I'm reading and I hope I'll get to finish them up there... I also picked up a new one today called "UNSTUCK".

  I know you're not suppose to judge a book by it's cover, but the cover is what hooked me... then the layout, design got me... but as I read the preface, I knew it was something I needed because there are days I feel STUCK as a leader and a pastor.  I'll let you know... of course, there's no internet access at the cabin, but I'll be back online on Monday.  Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Banner Week for Internet Service!

Haven't gotten to post all week because our internet service has been spotty at best... I have lost 3 attempts to post... man, they were profound too!  I get pretty mad when I can't finish what I started...Seems the problem is solved and we shouldn't have to deal with it again.  So... Here's the highlights of what those posts would have been...

• Church Planter's Roundtable -- we met in Millbrook for our monthly roundtable.  Mike Mozingo is a good friend and has helped me a ton.  It's very cool to get to spend half a day processing ideas and helping each other get better.  We talked about leadership and followship a lot.  Sometimes great leaders have to know when to be good followers, too!  We don't always have to be the smartest people in the room.  Great leadership means surrounding yourself with people who are WAY smarter than you are in specific area.  This works well when you're dealing with land, building and finances... unless that's your background... find someone who knows what they're doing, build a relationship with them and invite them to the table... They will make you look like a genius!  We're not anywhere close to land or a building yet, but I've got some ideas about who to take with me to those meetings!
• Hanging with Kent-- Thursday I took the day off and spent time with one of our church leaders, Kent Rogers.  His family has been a great friend of ours and they are one of the original families that helped launch the church.  Kent owns a bunch of CiCi's Pizza restaurants... and he's opening another one in Prattville.  I tagged along with him to help him pick up some equipment and it was a lot of fun.  I had a blast... we talked about being an entreprenuer, marketing, finances, taking care of guests and how God is at the center of his business plan... it's amazing how similar his journey in expanding his restaurant business is to our desire to be a multiplying church.  If you're a church leader, a pastor or church planter, we learn a lot from leadership books... even the ones written from a business perspective... but let me encourage you to spend some time with the business leaders in your church... shadow them, offer to make a trip with them.  You'll be amazed at what you can glean from what they do. 
• I'm really pumped about finishing up our ALL IN series.  This has been one of my favorite series of messages to teach.  Partly because it has come from the passion of my heart and so it's easy to share that stuff.  If you're a Journey church member/attender/guest (see note below), we're challenging you to go ALL IN for the mission...  This week we're going to reveal some of the places we believe God's leading us to get involved in the coming year... I think it's going to be an awesome service... Don't miss out!  Also... mark your calendar for December 2nd @ 5:30pm.  That's our first Sunday Night Live.  It's going to be a fun time to get together and eat (Potluck dinners help you grow spiritually...that's somewhere in the Bible), worship, pray and have an awesome time celebrating what God is doing @ Journey.  You'll be getting a call in the next week or two to let us know what you're bringing... (suggestions-- Banana Pudding, Greenbean Casserole and Cornbread.)
• NOTE:  Some churches have cool nicknames for their people... At Elevation Church in Charlotte, Steven Furtick calls his people "Elevators" (pretty cool!),  I'm thinking Revolution Church has a bunch of "Revolutionaries".  Even Andrew Kulp who's getting ready to launch out someday is calling his future church Transformation Church so he can call his people "Transformers".  I'm looking for a  name we can call "those who are members or attenders of Journey Church"... I was really stoked about NBC's show "Journeyman" because if it were a hit, we might be able to use it somehow... but, even though we watch the show, I'm not sure it's gonna make it.  "Journeyer" doesn't make sense...so I'm asking for your help... help me name our collective group of Journey church people.  Leave me a comment or shoot me an  email.  I'd love to hear the responses.  I'll keep you posted on the best ones.

Veteran's Day and Monday Morning Excitement

Veteran's Day... Banks are closed, Sonja and the kids have a day off from school, and, unlike years past, Veteran's Day is becoming a more significant holiday for me.  I want to be much more intentional in my gratitude for those who proudly serve our country.  While I don't have any close relatives in harm's way, I have friends who do... and I'm ever mindful of their sacrifice so that I can blog away freely. 

Great day yesterday... man, we had a great crowd...lots of first time guests and people talked about how exciting it is to hear what God is doing at Journey... and I taught on Tithing!  Go Figure!  God had to be in that one.  I'm very excited about what God's been doing through this series.  I'm hearing more and more stories of how God has used Journey Church to impact your life... I'm hearing how excited people are about what God is going to do in the coming year... that makes me proud to be the pastor of such a great church. 

This weekend is going to be the final week of our ALL IN series... and it's going to be AWESOME!  We'll share some specifics about where we believe God wants us to invest our time and money in 2008.  You're going to be challenged and blessed all at once.  So, get ready... Bring a friend with you this Sunday and let them experience the excitement that is buzzing at Journey!

Who are we here for?

One of my favorite people is Gary Lamb.  He pastors Revolution Church in Canton, GA and I was reading his blog today and he wrote something that resonated with me about who we are here for.  I've had some conversations with some folks over the past few weeks about why there are so many churches in Auburn and people seem to be starting new ones all the time.  The answer is simple... until there are NO MORE DISCONNECTED PEOPLE in Auburn, Opelika and Lee County... we'll continue to focus on reaching those people. 

...if you want to reduce lostness you have no choice but to focus on those who are far from God. We started Revolution not to have the largest crowd in town, but to do whatever it took to reach those who don’t know God. It isn’t easy. It is messy. It is even CRAZY at times.

But, we have learned that when you get a heart for what God has a heart for that is when God shows up and does awesome things. God’s heartbeat is lost people. We pray regularly for God to send us those no one else wants, those who are hurting, those who have given up on church, and those who are far from perfect.

I thank God for the believers He has sent our way, but they know coming in that this place isn’t about them, it is about those far from God.  They know that lostness wins out everytime over their preferences. I don’t want anyone leaving our church but if I have to choose between a mature believer and a person far from God, the person far from God, wins.  I know the Christian will find another place to worship, I don’t know that about the person far from God.

Go after those no one wants and you WILL build a great church that is making a difference.  Will it always be neat and pretty?  Nope.  But we aren’t called to be neat and pretty, we are called to seek and save that which is lost.

I think I may hack some people off because I talk so much about reaching disconnected people, marginalized people, people who've been kicked to the curb... These are the people Jesus wanted to hang with... not the religious folks of the day. But that's OK, I can live with myself if I hack people off for that reason.   So, as we've been challenging you over the last few weeks to go ALL IN... this is what we're going ALL IN for... because there are people who we bump into every day who are living life far from God... and we have the privilege of helping connect them with the God who loves them and wants to have a real relationship with them. 

Completely Blown Away

Man, I'm still trying to process this past weekend.  God really showed up in power and rocked the place.  To give you a quick recap... we talked about going ALL IN with our leadership... and, thanks John Maxwell for the clear definition that Leadership is INFLUENCE.  We all have a circle of influence.  We challenged people to begin to pray for those disconnected people they have influence with... we challenged people to write the names of people on a wall ... tough to do when you're portable... something like that could get us kicked out of the school... so we used a piece of tileboard and at the end of the service, as we challenged people to come,  God began to move and people began to come and I saw tears flowing as they wrote the names of people who are disconnected from God and from the church.  I have to tell you... I'm not an emotional person but THAT OWNED ME.... to see our people catching the vision to go ALL IN to reach disconnected people really rocked!  Over the next several weeks we're going to be praying for these people and preparing to see God move in a mighty way in their lives.  I tell you... I'm all jacked up about what God is doing in our church right now.  I believe He's preparing us for something GREAT and GOD SIZED.  I hope you're ready for it!  I know I am!

Big Weekend

Auburn put it on Tennessee Tech yesterday for homecoming...of course that's what your suppose to do at homecoming.  I felt bad for my friend, Dave Anderson, a TTU Alum... sorry Dave, but I heard they got a lot of money to let us beat up on them.  All 4 quarterbacks got to play, which was very cool.   We turned the clocks back and went to bed and got an extra hour of sleep... except my body woke me up an hour before the alarm went off!   Now I'm looking forward to a great Sunday as we continue to go ALL IN.  This weekend we're stirring things up a little.  We're moving some worship elements around and we've got a special way to end the service this week.  I'm really excited because I believe this can be one of the most significant weeks in the life of our church.  I hope you'll come prepared to hear from God today... He's got something GREAT He wants to speak into your life and mine.

Fajita Surprise

Last night our growth group went out to eat together.  I love it when we get together like that... They are truly my best friends and I love spending time with them.  We went to a mexican restaurant and I went off script from what I usually do... I usually get the burrito, enchilada, taco combo... but tonight... I was living wild!  I ordered fajitas... what I thought would be a "treat"  turned out to be a "trick" at 3am  this morning.  I'll skip the details but tell you I'm working from home this morning.  I hope to get a lot done... There's just a ton of stuff to do before the end of the year to get ready for 2008.  So, that's what I'm focused on today as well as getting ready for Sunday.  I'm pumped about this weekend.  Our ALL IN series is going well... I'll post about that later today!