Category: prayer

Posted in Family, forgiveness, friends, Grace, Integrity, life, loving others, prayer, Scripture, thankful, Trials

A Thing Called Tripe

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

“The one who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid someone with a big mouth.” Proverbs 20:19

The more I chewed the bigger it got.  I have lots of food memories from growing up.  First you need to remember that I was born in the South and folks from the South have a whole different way of eating.  And trust me…that means it was good…mostly.  I can remember fried chicken Sunday dinners with green beans and mashed potatoes…the kind that didn’t come from a box but from a real potato.  A lot of Sundays we had pot roast with those same yummy potatoes and green beans. And “dinner on the grounds” at church was a potluck straight from heaven.

My Momma was the biscuit queen.  You can’t imagine how good they were hot out of the oven.  While we did occasionally have dessert we really didn’t need it.  We would just take one of mama’s biscuits, slather it with butter and then pour cane syrup all over it.  Shoot-that-thing! You don’t know good if you’ve never had homemade biscuits and cane syrup.  Now with all that said, there were a few things we had that were a bit—different.

I remember I decided to try something new with peanut butter. It could have been that we were out of jelly but anyway I got the mayonnaise out of the refrigerator, smeared it on some bread and then loaded on the peanut butter.  Bam…just like that a new delicacy was born.  That became one of my favorites for years.  One day, though,  I had one and then got the stomach flu and well, we parted ways. No pun intended.

We didn’t have a whole lot of candy growing up and I’ve always had a sweet tooth.  Somewhere along the journey I discovered the sugar bowl.  Did you know you can get a teaspoon full of sugar and put it in your mouth and it tastes like a candy bar?  Well, it probably didn’t taste like a Snickers, but it was plenty sweet.  You know what they say, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

School lunches were always an adventure.  There were deviled egg sandwiches (awesome), deviled egg sandwiches with potted meat mixed in (not so awesome), potted meat sandwiches without deviled eggs (yuk) and finally Vienna sausages (uh, well, somewhat good).  You just never knew what mom was going to put in the lunch bag.  My all-time favorite was and is pimento cheese.  And then there was—tripe.

Tripe wasn’t a lunch item, it was always for supper.  Some of you may not have discovered the wonder of tripe or even know what it is.  Well, for those of you who don’t know tripe is cow’s stomach.  Yup and let me just tell you it was an experience.  It always smelled great cooking but eating it was a real challenge.  Mama usually cut it up in pretty small pieces but you still had to get a sharp knife to get it down to bite size.  Now tripe was…chewy.  In fact, tripe was very chewy.  Which is why it never made it into the lunch bag—it took two hours to eat one small piece.  You see, the more you chewed it, the bigger it got! 

I’ve heard it said that celery is one of those negative calorie foods…it actually takes more calories to chew it and digest it then are in the food itself.  I think tripe must be one of those also.  In fact, I am sure there is a tripe diet somewhere out there.  You take a bite, chew for two hours and bam…lose two pounds.  Good, ole, tripe.  The supper of champions.

Did you know that tripe and gossip are first cousins?  No really. You mutter a few words about your friend and before you know it, you have yourself a belly full of trouble. Those few hurtful words just get bigger and more hurtful each time they are repeated. Feelings get hurt, relationships are broken and talk about a belly ache…oh yeah.  While the Bible doesn’t say much about tripe it does say a lot about gossip.  One of my favorites is Proverbs 20:19, “The one who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid someone with a big mouth.”  How’s that for being straight to the point?

One of the best ways to avoid gossip is to remember a couple of things.  If the person you are telling isn’t part of the problem…don’t say it. Also, if you wouldn’t say something to a person’s face you shouldn’t share it behind their back.  Now the problem is, most of us just love a good piece of juicy gossip.  The Bible says, “A gossip’s words are like choice food that goes down to one’s innermost being.” That might be true but I know one more thing about tripe.  If it gets stuck in your throat you are in deep weeds.  That choice piece of gossip can get stuck too, and can cause heart breaking consequences.

Well, I gave up tripe a long time ago.  I guess I had enough when I was a kid.  I wish I could say I have totally given up gossip the same way.  I have found out given half-a-chance I can find myself saying, “Hey, did you hear…” and that tripe-like-sin is right back in my mouth.  We just need to be careful to keep it out of our mouth.  The good news is Jesus is more than willing to help if you ask.  He can handle all kind of things whether it be a tough piece of tripe stuck in the wrong place or a juicy piece of gossip right on your lips.  Just ask Him.  He will help…cause He’s got …even this.  Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, loving others, prayer, priorities, Scripture, Trials

Up and Down

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Do not be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2a (CSB)

First you don’t…and then you do.  It is funny how different things can cause us to see, well, different things. So, after church one Wednesday night, when I got home my wife Judy and sat down to finish watching some random feel-good movie I had started.  As I sat there, I realized that the room seemed warm.  So, after a few minutes, I got up and checked and sure enough.  It wasn’t my imagination…the room really was warm. Well, in this case it wasn’t a matter of adjusting the thermostat…it meant that our downstairs air conditioning unit was NOT working.

I checked a couple of things but all to no available.  So, I decided I would call the air conditioning fix-it guys in the morning and off we went to bed.  Now for the good news. We have a separate unit for the upstairs and gratefully it was working fine.  Thank you, Lord.  So, we slept well, and I got up the next morning, had a couple of cups of coffee and some Jesus time and then a little later called the fix-it guys.  Turns out they could come first thing in that morning (God wink) and at 8:30 am they were there.  The compressor was bad so that meant a major repair—but maybe more on that later. But it also meant no quick fix.  Parts had to be ordered and work done—but more on that too.

But even though it was a hot day, the house stayed reasonably cool…oh, 83 degrees…warm but tolerable. So, later that night I went upstairs to get ready for bed…again grateful for the upstairs unit working so very well.  After a while, I realized I had to go back downstairs (forgot to take the night meds) and when I got downstairs it seemed almost unbearably warm.  Had it gotten warmer? What was the deal? Well, the answer is simply profound.

You see, when I lived in the warmer climate downstairs, I grew used to the warmer temperature.  But only a few minutes of the cooler upstairs bliss caused me to realize just how warm the warm was and just how cool the cool was. I guess I’m trying to say we seem to get used to what we live in.  Wait…that’s important.  Whatever we allow or tolerate, can quickly become at least somewhat tolerable or acceptable in our lives.

Of course, that can be good…there’s a lot to be said for learning to be content but if that something is something that is not good…that is dangerous.  You know, some habit, some circumstances, some environment is allowed to be a part of our lives and soon, too soon, we become comfortable with what used to make us uncomfortable.  I wonder how much in this changing culture have we become comfortable with—ok with? That is a good question.

The solution to this is the same solution as air conditioning.  Spend some time in the cool and you will always be able to feel and know how warm the room is.  It will rarely become “comfortable.”  We need to spend time with God every day, time in prayer and time in His Book, and that will help us keep our spiritual sensitivity. One of my favorite go-to verses is Romans 12:2 where it warns us not to allow the world to conform us…to allow us to be too comfortable. It goes on to say we should allow the Word from the God Book to transform us…to help us keep our spiritual equilibrium…or spiritual sensitivity.

Well, hopefully the air conditioning will be fixed in a couple of days but until then, well, we will keep being grateful for what is upstairs and for the lesson it is teaching us. I’m grateful God allows these things to teach us His big truths…like the one we know so well…no matter what…He’s got this.  Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, fear, forgiveness, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, loving others, prayer, Scripture, thankful, Trials

Sleeping When the Wind Blows

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

The Lord is good, The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in Him.” Nahum 1:7

It came up suddenly and without warning.  The other day, I was chatting on the phone with my wife Judy.  She was down house and grand dog sitting in Murray, Kentucky and I was manning the fort at 217.  So, while we were talking, I happened to look out the window and noticed that the wind had gone from nearly nothing to a whole bunch.  I mentioned it to Judy and then I remembered that the patio umbrellas were up, and I knew that they weren’t big fans of the wind.

I quickly gave an “Oh, no” to Judy explaining about the umbrellas in about ten words, said a quick goodbye and ran for the patio.  Sure enough, the large, nine-foot sails were rocking in the wind which by now was surely gale force. I got one of the umbrellas down and then turned around to lower number two.  Just about the time I started cranking, a big gust of wind came and literally tried to lift the table, and umbrella, off the ground.  Surely if I had not been there, it would have been turned over and surely damaged…or destroyed.

Well, it began to rain but I still managed to get it down before heading into the house but here is the ironic part.  As quickly as the wind and storm came, it was over. The rain continued for a little while, but the wind was over, gone, done.  The next time I spoke with Judy, I told her about the storm, the umbrellas and the near miss.  I was grateful to have remembered but there was one thing that would have been even better…to have known ahead.

You see the possibility of storms had been forecast but the threat was so small I chose to ignore it.  Looking back, it would have been better to prepare for the possibility by lowering the umbrellas ahead of time.  Had I lost one or both umbrellas I would have surely regretted my lack of attention.  The motto of the Boy Scouts is that we should always, “Be prepared” and truthfully, I wasn’t. There is surely a big truth to be learned here.

The storms of life can blow in and leave just as quickly as the storm that assailed my patio that afternoon.  The other day a storm blew into my life.  I didn’t see it coming and I learned that I probably wasn’t as well prepared as I should have been or thought I was. My bad.  I read a story about a farmer who hired a young hand to help around the place. When he hired him, the young man said, “I can learn to do anything, and I can sleep when the wind blows.”

The farmer didn’t understand what the young man meant but he hired him anyway.  Sometime later, a storm blew up in the middle of the night.  The farmer tried to waken the young man but to no avail.  He was somewhat put out but headed out to prepare for the storm. When he got to the barn yard, to his surprise, the wagon was covered, the barn secured, and all the animals safely put away. It was then that the farmer realized what the young man meant.

A wise person will do two things in preparation for the storms of life.  First, live in a constant state of trust in the Master of the storms and always be prepared…no matter or regardless of what that means.  The windstorm caught me off guard and so did the storm that blew into my life. I am hoping that I learned a little from both.  Trust God because we can, no matter what, “He’s got this.”  Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, fear, forgiveness, Grace, gratitude, life, prayer, Scripture, thankful, Trials

Ordinary Things

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20

It was one strange bouquet of emotions.  It was the end of a good Sunday.  We had a great day at church and after a good nap we headed down to Paducah to return a lawn mower.  We had ordered the mower online and when it arrived it was damaged…of course.  Well, that meant borrowing something big enough to haul it back to the store. About that time our Paducah tribe came to the rescue with their SUV.  They hauled it there and we drove down to finish the return and of course see the family.

We headed to the store that we had ordered it from, returned it, and then celebrated with a trip to Cold Stone.  It was awesome and of course, Papa had to taste the flavors the three grandsons had ordered…as well my daughter’s. After all the eating and sampling, we headed on back to Harrisburg.  Judy, my wife, was a little hungry so I told her we would whip in and buy some diesel and then swing into McDonald’s.  It was a plan.  When we got back in town, I pulled into the station and began to fill up the Jetta.  It was just about then that things went…south.

I decided to clean the windshield since we were there and there must have been something in the water because it was a mess.  Usually, they use plain water but there was nothing plain about this stuff.  While I was trying to get that off the windshield, a man at the other side of pump started talking to me.  Well, between his not too clear speech and my not too good hearing, there was a lot of nodding and agreeing to things that I probably didn’t agree with.  Well, honestly after a while, it was time to draw this conversation to a close.  So, with a bit of frustration about the stuff on the windshield and the too long conversation with my friend, I finally said, “See you later.”

I walked back to the driver’s side, opened the door, cranked the engine, and proceeded to drive off.  About 1.5 seconds after the car started moving there was a very discomforting noise from the back of the car.  I can’t describe it, but I knew exactly what had happened.  I had totally forgotten the nozzle was still in the car and as I drove off…it didn’t come with me.  Well, I immediately stopped and then circled back around not knowing what to expect. Had the nozzle ripped part of the car off? Was fuel spilling on the ground? Had the fuel hose been torn from the pump?  It was not a good moment and there were plenty of emotions rolling around in my mind.

The short list included being frustrated that the guy had distracted me, anger at myself for forgetting that the nozzle was still attached to the car, and a big dose of embarrassment. Oh, and there was one more big emotion…gratitude. It was like a bouquet of weeds and a rose. You see, amazingly, while the hose was laying on the ground, it was not spewing fuel nor was it broken.  Also, the car really had no damage to speak of.  There were no dents, no dings, and not even a scratch.  One small part of the filler thing was pulled loose but that really wasn’t important.  Amazing.

First, I know I probably need to turn in my “man card” for having done this.  If I have said it once, I have said it twenty-five times, “I can’t believe I did that.”  And honestly, it is all on me.  My long-winded friend was not to blame, and I had no right to be frustrated about the windshield either.  Nope…it was my fault.  But here is the part I love.  This is the part that forced me to write this story when I would have much more rather kept it off the page.  What forced me to write was my overwhelming sense of gratitude for my Dearest Daddy watching out for His child.  I mean this could have been nasty, but He had it all under control. I can even say “thank-you” for this because I would have missed the blessing of His kindness if it hadn’t had happened.

Well, like the song says, “He is a good, good Father.”  Hans Christian Andersen said, “The whole world is a series of miracles, but we’re so used to them we call them ordinary things.”  He is so right.  Our world is filled with love notes from a God that loves His creation dearly.  How incredible is that? Paul wrote in the New Testament part of the Bible, “Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  So, whatever we do, whatever happens, believe He is in control and be sure and give Him thanks.  I know more than ever that whatever it is, “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, love, loving others, prayer, priorities, Scripture, sovereignty of God, thankful

Same Kind of Different as Me

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:14

Opposites attract.  I’ve heard that all my life and I think it is true…well, at least sorta.  I mean, take my wife Judy and me.  In a lot of ways, we are similar.  We both like to eat…though I prefer dessert and she prefers food.  We both love traveling and adventures. We both love Jesus.  We both love to serve people.  Oh, and we both love each other.  So, there you go…but wait, in some ways we are different.  We recently went on vacation.  She packed her bag, and I packed mine.  Let me rephrase that.  She put…some would say dumped, clothes in her suitcase, sat on it and closed it.  As for me, well, I neatly organized each item and even sorted them by the function and when they would be used. We are sometimes different.

You can see that difference with our phones too.  If you look at Judy’s phone you will see that the inbox of her email account has 28,246 emails…and I’m not kidding.  On the other hand, my inbox has about 10 emails in it.  In her case, it is a system for keeping and in my case, it is a system for filing.  Hers is “Welcome home and stay as long as you like” and mine is, “In you come and out you go.”  She invited the relatives to move in and I invite them to stay…for just a while.  And then there are the little red dots.

On the iPhone, when there is something that requires action, a little red dot appears on the screen.  The dot stays there until you do something about it.  Well, Miss Judy’s screen on her iPhone looks like it has a case of measles.  There is a red dot here, and here, and here, and here, and oh, here too.  Now on my iPhone, dots are not welcome.  When one appears I almost immediately stop what I am doing to find out what it wants me to do.  You know how when you are growing up and some people get acne, and some don’t?  Well, my phone is the one that doesn’t.

Now, all this is well and good and there really isn’t a right or a wrong…unless of course you can’t see the screen for all the dots.  No, the Bible makes it clear that each one of us is fearfully and wonderfully made.  Each one of us is a jewel…a masterpiece. Some like a full inbox and some like it empty.  Some are organized and some, well, are not quite as much. Smile.  But here is what we need to remember…especially in relationships…especially in marriage.  Someone once said that if both people in a marriage are exactly alike…well, one of them isn’t necessary.  In any relationship…and especially in marriage…diversity is a good thing…a needed thing.

But wait…it’s not just in marriage…it is true with the team at work.  It is true with the people you worship with.  It is even true with the team you play with.  Diversity adds depth.  Diversity adds richness.  When we start feeling comfortable to associate with those who are different from us; when we start embracing others, even though we don’t always agree, a strength develops, and we all become better for it.

Judy and I have been married now for 47 years and people frequently tell us how much they appreciate the example we set in our marriage.  Well, first, let’s be honest.  That is largely because I married up when I married Judy.  But beyond that, well, we have learned and are learning to appreciate our differences.  There was a bestselling book and later a movie about two men from backgrounds that could not have been more different.  And yet, over time, and with no small thanks to Jesus, they became friends.  The impossible became possible.  The book and later the movie were entitled, “The Same Kind of Different as Me.” Read the book, it will inspire you.

I think that means that in spite of the fact that they were incredibly different, there was something that overpowered their differences and that was love.  They both discovered Jesus and that led them to share Christian love for each other. Paul, the guy who wrote a chunk of the New Testament said it like this, “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.” The common denominator of love strengthened their lives and their friendship.  It worked there and I can tell you it will work in whatever world you live in. We will become stronger and better when we learn to accept ourselves and others for who God made us. Need a little help?  No problem…He’s got that.  Bro. Dewayne 

Posted in Family, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, love, prayer, Scripture, thankful, Trials, wisdom

Listening

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Serve only the Lord your God and fear Him alone. Obey His commands, listen to His voice, and cling to Him.” Deuteronomy 13:4

It seems that everywhere I go, bells are ringing.  Bells are incredible instruments.  At Christmas, they joyfully announce the arrival of the Christ child.  A week later they peal in the New Year.  Sometimes their message is one of sorrow.  In a couple of months or so we will observe the anniversary of the 9/11/01 attack in New York.  Around the nation, bells will toll mournful as we grieve the loss of so many lives. Many churches ring their bells on Sunday morning, inviting, reminding, and urging people to come to worship.  Yes, bells are still an important part of our culture.

The bells I hear though are totally different.  In fact, I’m not sure bells describe what I hear…but for sure something is ringing…in my ears.  They call it tinnitus—I call it annoying.  I’m not sure when it started by it was ears—uh, make that years, ago.  It is mainly in my left ear, my bad ear, and 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there is this ringing sound.  Sometimes it is louder than others—sometimes softer but it is always there.  Some people even say it sounds like crickets…or even cicadas.  All I know is that I sure wish it would stop.  And that’s not all.

I also have the gift of floaters, also, in my left eye.   Hmmm…left ear, left eye, left-handed.  Is there a connection here?  So, you may ask, “What are floaters?”  In the optical world they are small pieces of something that float around in the fluid that fills your eye.  They are sometimes dots and sometimes strands but all the time they too are annoying.  I notice them most when I look at a bright computer screen…there goes one…there’s another…or at any kind of white or bright background.  And, like the ringing, they are always there.

There are many proposed cures for the ringing…none seem to work…and there is a fix for the floaters, but it involves sticking a needle in your eye.  I remember a childhood rhyme about a needle in my eye and it didn’t sound good then and it doesn’t sound good now.  What am I going to do?  Well, so far, the best trick is to…ignore them both.  I am learning to ignore the ringing and I am learning to ignore the floaters.  Oh sure, it takes practice, but I am learning to deal with it.  They never totally go away but with a bit of practice, I can zone out the ringing and stare past the floaters.

Learning to ignore ringing ears and floater eyes is a good thing but I also am learning that it is not a good thing to ignore everything.  Remember that red engine light…not the orange one…the red one…uh, don’t ignore that.  How about the speed warning you set one day in your gadget rich new car…the one that says, “Slow down?”  Probably shouldn’t ignore that either.  Reminder of your anniversary on your calendar? Nope.  The alarm clock in the morning? Not that either.  You see there are things you can and perhaps should ignore and there are some you just should pay attention too.

When I was growing up, I learned not to ignore my Daddy’s voice.  He would call, “Dewayne, come here.”  My response was a prompted, “Yes, sir.”  He would wait just a few seconds and ask, “Are you coming?”  I would respond again with, “Yes, sir.”  And he always, always responded with, “Make me know it.”  He was making sure I was hearing and responding to his request and not hearing and ignoring it.  It has stuck with me all of my life.  Make.Me.Know.It.

My other Father, my Dearest Father in heaven, wants me to respond to Him too.  He doesn’t shout, in fact, sometimes He whispers, but I have found that if I will intentionally listen, I can hear Him.  Moses, the guy who parted the Red Sea, wrote in Deuteronomy, “Serve only the Lord your God and fear Him alone. Obey His commands, listen to His voice, and cling to Him.” Sounds like a good plan to me.

If I am wise, I will respond with a “Yes, Lord” and never give Him cause to say, “Make me know it.” I say that not because of fear, but because of respect.  You see I obeyed my earthly father, most of the time, because I loved and respected him.  And that is also true for my Dearest Daddy.  He is worthy of our deepest love and respect. Let’s make sure our hearts and ears hear the sweet whispers of heaven. Let’s not miss it when He whispers, “I’ve got this.”  Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, fear, forgiveness, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, loving others, prayer, priorities, Scripture, thankful, Trials

Help, I’ve Fallen

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.” Psalm 37:23

It is a call I get all too often. I have the privilege of serving as a pastor.  That privilege includes being there when people are walking through a crisis. One thing about the pastorate is when I wake up each morning, whether I go to the office or not, I never know what the day will hold.  It is not at all uncommon for someone to call me.  Sometimes it is good news…the baby came…I got the job…we bought a house.  Sometimes, and frankly too often, it is difficult news.  It could be a child going down a difficult path, a job lost, a marriage violated or difficult news of an accident or health crisis.

Some of the most common health crises is when a senior adult takes a fall.  Life is ordinary and then suddenly, a loss of balance or a toe caught on a rug, results in a hard fall and we all know older bones can be very unforgiving.  I can’t tell you how many calls I have received about broken bones and broken bodies.  One of the most difficult situations is when the person fell and can’t get to a phone to call for help.  We have had several situations when someone would fall and have to lay in the floor for hours….long hours.

In one instance, a friend fell in her driveway, and no one found her till the next morning.  She was an amazingly resilient lady and after surgery recovered well, but that is not always the case.  One of the newer devices I really appreciate is a “call button” that a person wears and if they have an emergency, they can press a button and help is soon on the way.  I see the commercials on tv, and they show a woman in the kitchen in pain.  She presses the button and says, “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”  Another scene shows a man down in the park and he presses the button and says, “Help! I’ve fallen in the park, and I can’t get up.”  The last one is someone down in the shower and they too can’t get up and are calling for help.

It is times like these that those simple rescue devices are so valuable.  There is no telling how many lives have been saved.  Of course, for them to work you must have one and you must wear one. And if you do…help is on the way.  It can’t reverse the circumstances, but it can change the outcome.  “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”  It is true when we fall physically but the truth is we can fall in other ways…emotionally and spiritually just to name a couple…and we find we can’t get up.  And I want you to know that there is something better than a button to press…there is a God to call on.

I’ve long said that God often gets a bad rap.  Too often preachers and teachers present Him as a lightening tossing, fire breathing God who can’t wait to send down a little fire and brimstone on creation.  Well, God is holy, and God is just, but first and foremost He is a God of rescue and redemption.  He is a God of love.  The New Testament writer even tells us that He wants no one to perish but everyone to be rescued.  Now, that’s love.  Maybe you think you are beyond rescue…you’ve fallen too far.  No so.  His grace is deep, and it is wide.

One of my favorite Bible verses is Psalm 37:24. It says that even if I fall, I will not be utterly cast down. In other words…no matter how hard or how far I fall, I don’t have to stay down.  The reason?  It simply says that God will pick me up with His strong hand.  Either He will pick me up or grab me on the way down but either way it is not a knockout punch…His grace is sufficient.  If you are feeling down for the count, maybe it’s time to cry out, “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”  You will find His strong hand right there to help you up.  He is just waiting for you to ask.  I like that.  Can He pull it off?  Without a doubt…He’s got this.  Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, fear, friends, Grace, gratitude, Holidays, July 4, life, loving others, Military memories, prayer, priorities, Scripture, sovereignty of God, thankful, travel, Trials

July 4, 1974

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

It was fifty-one years ago today.  The summer of 1972 was unlike any other summer I had experienced.  I had joined the Air Force and spent the summer at “camp” with about forty new friends.  We shared one thing in common—we had taken an oath to “protect the constitution of the United States against all enemies…foreign and domestic.”  We had also committed to obeying the orders of those appointed over us and at this point…that was everyone else but us.  We were brand new, raw recruits who knew a lot about being a civilian and virtually nothing about being in the military.  But we didn’t have to worry…our drill sergeant was taking care of that.

I arrived at Lackland Air Force Base in the early morning hours of June 13th…early as in about 2:00 am.  This was intentional because the Air Force actually wanted you to be disorientated the first few days.  I think it was supposed to make us more cooperative.  Anyway, we quickly got into a routine sporting our new haircuts and green fatigue uniforms. They kept us going from before sunrise and put us to bed even before it was dark.  That was ok too because we were wore out.

This was my first time away from home, but the schedule didn’t allow for home sickness. But all that changed one night in July.  There wasn’t a lot of free time…whether it was a Tuesday, a Friday, or a Sunday…though they did allow time for church for anyone who wanted to go.  Most of us wanted to go…not because we loved God but for a couple of hours, we could forget the grind of basic.

Back then the Air Force didn’t observe holidays either.  Of course, the only one that occurred in my time in basic was—Independence Day.  As I remember, we definitely did NOT get the day off, but I do think we got to do some extra marching…I think it was supposed to be patriotic.  Anyway, it was soon time for lights out and then it happened. I was lying in my bunk; the skies had finally darkened, and I heard a familiar sound.  It was the sound of exploding fireworks.

I eased out of bed and knelt down in front of the window. From there, I watched the fireworks display for the base explode and light up the sky. And as I watched, a wave of homesickness washed over me.  I remembered all the times that we would go to downtown Jacksonville to the riverfront and watch the fireworks together as a family.  I remembered the times we would go to a small neighborhood grocery store and sneak into the backroom where they sold illegal fireworks and load up.  I remembered and as I did I knew that this was the first of many times that being a member of the military would mean separation…and sacrifice.

Before long the fireworks were over and I went back to my bunk and after too many minutes of loneliness, drifted off to sleep.  The next morning it was back to business as usual.  The summer of ’72 passed pretty quickly and before I knew it, I was done with basic and moved on to what was next…more training…and more new adventures. And what I discovered that night, kneeling at my window in basic, came true.  There were many more days and holidays when family was far away.  But also knew it was a small sacrifice to make to serve my country.

So today, be sure and remember those who are serving, who are sacrificing, that we can enjoy our freedoms.  Remember freedom is never free and we should be thankful for those willing to make ours possible.  Jesus said, “No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.” That is so, so true. Look, we all know America is far from perfect, but She is still the best country on the planet—remember that today too. And if you are one of those separated from family to serve, thank you and know that the One who died for you, loves you and will never leave you.  No matter what you are facing today, He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, fear, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, loving others, prayer, priorities, Scripture, sovereignty of God, thankful, Trials

Waverly

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.” Isaiah 43:2

It was only three hours away, but it was another world.  Just short of two years ago, a horrible and intensely powerful flash flood ravaged a small town in Western Tennessee. A small, benign creek traced its way through the center of town.  It is appropriately named, “Trace Creek.” Normally only a couple of feet deep, it gently winds for several miles surrounded by hills.  On a Saturday, a storm system set up shop right over that region and seventeen inches of rain fell in a short period of time. Disaster was coming.

As the rainwater funneled from the hills to the valley, Trace Creek became the collecting point and soon what was a benign creek became a killing flood.  The water rose not in hours but minutes—not in inches, but feet.  A railroad bed that was holding some of the torrent back gave way and a twenty-foot wall of water came down on the town.  As it did, death and destruction struck on what can be only described as “biblical proportions.” As the kid’s song from Sunday school says, the flood was deep, and the flood was wide.

In that short period of time cars became boats and houses were swept off their foundations.  Fences were laid over and trees and power poles were simply bowled over by the force of the water.  Sadly, over twenty people lost their lives and many, many more, were injured. I’m sure no one went to bed the night before dreaming of a flood, at least not of this proportion. It was a nightmare from nowhere.  In a couple or three hours it was over leaving behind a disaster zone that will take years to recover and rebuild.  Some, like the loss of life, will never be the same.

Our church had a personal touch with this small West Tennessee town as a couple of our families moved there last year.  While they were safe, many of their friends were not.  They quickly became important cogs in the wheels of rescue and recovery and that’s where we had an opportunity to help.  We had recently hosted our “Back to School” community event and because of the COVID hot mess, the crowd had been smaller than in previous years and we had many school supply bags left over and several hundred pair of shoes.  We were disappointed, but suddenly something began to make sense.  It was an opportunity.

At the invitation of one of churches there, we loaded up the supplies and shoes and headed to West Tennessee.  When we arrived, the destruction was beyond description.  Our small Southern Illinois city had suffered an F-4 tornado in 2012 so we knew about disasters but this, this was beyond even what we had experienced.  Soon we were setup and giving away the supplies and shoes.  There were stories, there were tears, and there were thanks.  At the end of a hot day, we were the ones who were blessed.

As was the case for us in 2012, their town actually experienced another kind of flood…a flood of kindness, generosity, and love.  Hundreds, if not thousands, of people poured in to offer any help they could give.  Restaurants and stands were set up offering free food and supplies. Life necessities were given to anyone with a need.  It was amazing especially in a world of “me first”. It was obvious that is not always the case.  Love and generosity ruled the day.

Across the street from where we were working was a house that had been flooded with about four feet of water. As cleanup started, the owners had emptied all of their contents and piled them by the road.  I looked and in one of the discarded chairs was a large, white Bible. It didn’t seem right to see it discarded, so I went and asked the owners if I could get it and take it home.  They were grateful.  You see, it had been wet in the flood and couldn’t stay, but it’s present place, in the trash, was not a statement of their faith.  They just didn’t know what to do.  So, it is with me…a reminder of my day in that small West Tennessee town…a town called Waverly.

The story of the Bible, and that it was not discarded because of a lack of faith, was a blessing to me.  People in that disaster didn’t give up on God or each other for that matter.  They chose to still believe…in God, in their town, and in each other.  Now a couple of years later, Waverly is well on the comeback road, and they are stronger than before. Their situation reminds me of a verse in the Old Testament that says, “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.”

You see, even in the midst of disaster, even when our circumstances don’t make a lick of sense, and these days that is often every day, well, He is still there.  Even when we go through the darkest valley we don’t have to fear because He is with us.  No matter how high the water or how hard the circumstances, listen, and you will hear the Whisperer whispering, “Rest in Me.  I’ve got this.”   Bro. Dewayne

Posted in fear, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, loving others, missions, prayer, priorities, Scripture, thankful

He Was Right

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3

How many of you remember the name Copernicus?  No, he’s not a guy we met at the golf course or at a conference we attended. Copernicus made an earth-shattering announcement in 1543 that changed our lives forever.  Do you know what it was?  He announced that our earth was not the center of the universe.

 You see, up until that time people thought the whole universe revolved around the earth–we were the center of it all. That big old fiery ball we call the sun woke up every day to circle the earth and all those stars and planets existed to move around us. The problem–it just wasn’t so.  Copernicus made the announcement and upset the apple cart.  His words were not well received in fact they got him into BIG trouble.  Trouble or not, it didn’t change the truth.

I still remember the time when I traveled to Africa for the first time.  I was surprised that virtually no one spoke English and when I went into a shop to get a cup of coffee and they didn’t know what a dollar was—I was flabbergasted.  Not speak English. Not recognize an America dollar.  It was just about then that I started to realize that the world does not revolve around me or us for that matter.

The latest wakeup call came during the COVID mess.  I watched as slowly but surely a “me mentality” seized our culture, our communities, our churches and yup, me.  What I wanted became more important that what you wanted. In a culture outside of God that kind of is the way it works.  But in God’s economy and culture…uh, it doesn’t.  Jesus made a big deal of it being about others. And somehow, at some way, we dropped the ball.  Fumbled. Threw an interception.

As I stood around observing this phenomenon, and my participation in it, God began speaking to me. At first it was a whisper, but I do believe He is speaking a bit louder these days.  In fact, and if you don’t mind me saying so, I believe shouting would be a better label. The message seems to be, “Hey this isn’t about you, or Joe or Doug or Ryan or Betty, well, you get the picture.  You see our culture tells us (or is it shouting too?) that it is about us—our way, our priorities, our rights—our everything.  You know, “have it your way” –“you deserve a break today” and that mentality has shifted right smack dab into the Christian community.  Somewhere, somehow, we have begun to believe the lie that all that matters is–me.  It may work for the world, but it doesn’t work, or shouldn’t work, for Jesus’ followers, at least not in God’s eyes.  Do you want to know why most churches are struggling to get people to come?  It’s because we have become consumer driven instead of “others” driven.  We are leaning toward being country clubs instead of hospitals. It is because we believe it is about us.

Paul, the guy who wrote more than half of the Bible’s New Testament said, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.”  Wow.  In other words, the center of the universe is not me, not the earth but the God who created it all.  And what matters to Him needs to matter to us. What is that you say?  Others–not me but them–the ones who have never received and, to a large extent in other places in the world, never even heard of Jesus. We are supposed to be Gospel lighthouses or Gospel GPS’s pointing people to Him. If there has ever been a time when our world needs some Good News it is now.

Sometimes people say they’ve heard from God, and you give them a quizzical look like, “Sure.”  I reckon folks gave Copernicus that same quizzical look, but it didn’t change the facts.  It’s amazing to think that even though it was really about Jesus, He never promoted it that way.  He acted as if it wasn’t.  He washed feet, touched people who were untouchable and oh, He died on a criminal’s cross.  How about that? Maybe it is time we take down the “Me Flag” and just love God and love people.  It is the most Jesus’ thing we can do.  Does that sound a little overwhelming?  I know what you mean, but you know what He says, “I’ve got this.”   Bro. Dewayne