Eric Taylor

Greatest Music Ever!

I need your help. We're beginning to plan for a new series  and I'm doing a little research. We need to compile some of the best 80s music around.  Sure, I could go to the 80s websites and pick some, or I could be completely selfish and pick my favorites  (Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Gap Band(yes, You Dropped a Bomb on Me!).  But I want to hear from YOU.  What's your favorite songs... from any group, any genre... And, if you have a story behind why you like the song so much, let us know that too.  I'm having a blast putting some of this together... I think this may be on of the most fun series that we do... but it's going to be packed with Vision and Truth as well.  Get Ready... we may ask you to break out your spandex pants or fix your hair up BIG like it used to be. Leave me your favorites in the comments section below or you can email your faves to info@journeytogether.net.

Sick Feeling in the Pit of My Stomach

Today I have one of those sick feelings.  We think someone has our bank account information.  We got a call saying that they represented our bank and needed to verify some information and call them at a 414 area code.  I don't have a clue where that is, but my bank is very much a local bank and it sounded fishy so I called them.  They checked my account and sure enough, there were a couple of "soft hits" for $1.41 and $5.00... Then there was a $50 and $500 charge...Great news though... we caught it quickly and our bank is working to make sure we aren't responsible for the charges...Thanks Charter!  Of course, that's been one of those helpless feelings you get from time to time and it reminds me  that I'm not in control... Another incident today that reminded me of that is that Sonja went in to the hospital today for an Epidural.  No, we're not having a baby... but she has had some neck and back pain and her Doctor suggested this to relieve the pain... we'll know in 24-48 hours if it worked.  Once again,  as much as I want to be in control... I can do nothing but pray and keep rubbing her back.  Reminds me of the times that I want to control God's plan for my life... I think I know the best course of action... Like hunting down the person who's fishing out of my bank account and punishing them real bad... But I'm reminded that when I'm not in control...I might feel  weak... but that's when HE is strong.  I'm reminded that His Grace is sufficient... enough... more than enough for me.  Jesus said it Himself..."for my power is made perfect in weakness."(1Cor 12:9) So, as I'm sitting here, feeling helpless, I'm refreshed and renewed knowing that His strength is perfect and it sustains me in every situation. 

The Summer of...

During summer months in the past, our family has always tried to do something we've never done before or go somewhere we've never been.  This summer, Sonja did something that will surely cost me some "Man Points".  She signed us up for a Line Dancing class.  I'll pause right here until you stop laughing....OK... you can stop laughing now.  Here's the thing... I am rhythmically challenged...I can't dance at all...just ask my kids!  I agreed to take the class because I love my wife a lot more than I hate line dancing... and she wanted us to do this together.  How bad could it be, besides, I thought I could blend into a room full of people and everyone would be looking at the instructor right?  WRONG!  There were 4 people in the class... And the cool cowboy instructor I thought we might have turned out to be an elderly guy that was reading the instructions from a sheet.  I prayed for my phone to ring, I would have answered a telemarketer's call...just get me out of there.  But after doing the Electric Slide and the Shoop Shoop and some other steps with goofy names something happened that made me lose it... the elderly instructor began to shake and wiggle his butt...He really sold out to the dance... and He gave me something that would forever be etched in my memory.  I know I shouldn't have laughed... it wasn't him, he really was a nice guy... It was the whole experience...Now, every time Sonja and I hear a line dancing song or even say the word line dancing we laugh uncontrollably.  While the summer's not over yet and there are still a few more things we want to do as a family...This has to be the highlight...The Summer of Line Dancing!  But I am far from being crowned "Lord of the Dance".  While I didn't learn to line dance, I was reminded that every now and then  you have to have a good belly laugh... the kind that makes your abs hurt and you almost wet your pants.
(disclaimer:  my apologies to all elderly, butt-wiggling line dancers out there that I may have offended.)

Braves vs Red Sox

I'm about to head out with Sonja to Atlanta and meet up with some friends and go to the Braves-Red Sox game tonight.  I'm so pumped.  These are my 2 favorite teams in all of baseball.  Curt Schilling is pitching (minus the bloody sock).  I'm going to eat WAY TOO MANY Hot Dogs.   We're going to get to hang out with 2 of our favorite people-- Louie and Lindsay Lovoy.  Louie is the Pastor of Guest Services/Volunteers Pastor at Mountain Lake Church.  We go way back to FBC Pleasant Grove and He's doing some great things at MLC.  I'm going to pick Louie's brain about mobilizing as many people as possible to impact our community.  That's what I get really jazzed about... it's not when we have a spike in attendance, it's not when our worship is kickin', it's not even when I feel like I've done a good job teaching.  I love it when I see our people plugged in and serving... not just on Sunday morning, but through the week as well.  While I might quote a few church planters and pastors that I admire for what they're doing, my real heroes are YOU GUYS @ JOURNEY who show up week after week and do the tedious work of setting up, taking down, making coffee, putting out signs, greeting people and  helping people find their way back to God!  When I hang out with Louie you better believe I'm going to be bragging on you guys. 

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!

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!

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.

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!

Crazy Week!

This has been an incredibly wild week for our family and our church.  Someone broke into our house (that also doubles as the church office) on Thursday.  I came home from a lunch appointment and went to check my email and my laptop was gone... I looked around and another computer was missing and then I saw the door had been pried open.  Over next few minutes I experienced a flood of different type of emotions ... Fear...Anger...Confusion. But then, after a while,  I was incredibly thankful that my kids weren't home at the time.  After all, it's just stuff and our  insurance will cover it. 

With that said...after I began to think and pray and process through the fear and anger and hurt... I had to come to a hard realization--The person or people who broke into our house is someone who Jesus died for.  They are as much of a candidate for His grace as I am.  And strangely enough, they are the kind of folks we are trying to reach with the good news of the gospel. 

Wild Hogs

I went to see Wild Hogs this weekend with a couple of guys on our Navigation Team.  This was one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time... I'd even pay to see it again!  Better than that, I had an incredible time with 2 of my best friends and we all laughed til our sides hurt. 3 guys doing life together going to see a movie about  4 guys doing life together... that's what made it very cool.  Kind of made me want to go out and buy a Harley. (Just kidding, Sonja!)