body of Christ – Grits with Grace

Family, friends, gratitude, life, love, loving others, priorities, Scripture, thankful

Indispensable Volunteers

Posted on August 15, 2023August 14, 2023 by Dewayne Taylor

The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.”1 Corinthians 12:21-22

Who really is most important? In March of 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot as he was walking toward the presidential limousine. The President spent several weeks in the hospital recovering from the injuries he sustained in the shooting. And although he was the nation’s chief executive, his hospitalization had very little impact on the daily lives of Americans.

Now consider this. Not too long ago, garbage collectors in a major city went on a three-week strike. Within a matter of days, the city was a mess, causing a major health hazard for the citizens, and bringing the city to a near halt. Think about it.

Weeks without a president…and weeks without garbage collectors. Which of these had more impact upon the functioning of our nation? Though it is hard to grasp clearly, the absence of the garbage collectors had a larger impact—at least in that city.

This valuable lesson is something that we need to remember in church. All too often we think that just because a person has a title such as pastor, deacon or perhaps trustee, that they are the most important. In reality, it is the everyday member who volunteers and serves week in and week out that makes the biggest difference.

This past Sunday, after speaking, I headed to the doors to shake hands and greet the folks. I opened the doors to the foyer and was greeted with a room full of children…thirty-four to be exact, waiting for their parents. With them was a couple of our faithful volunteers who had spent the last 45 minutes loving on them and teaching them about Jesus. I was both impressed and blessed—grateful for their service.

Our church, and yours, needs people who will volunteer for seemingly insignificant jobs that are almost always behind the scenes. The truth is that these jobs are not insignificant at all…they are vitally important. So be sure and thank them because we can’t do the work without them. Oh, and be sure and thank the Lord too and while you are talking with Him, ask Him is there any area you need to be helping with. Sound frightening? Don’t worry…as always…He’s got that. Bro. Dewayne

Family, fear, forgiveness, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, love, loving others, missions, prayer, Scripture, thankful, Trials

The Brothers

Posted on December 16, 2022December 4, 2022 by Dewayne Taylor

Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.” John 13:35

It just bears repeating. They say that two of the things that were so difficult about the season called COVID-19 was the isolation and the division it caused. I couldn’t agree more. One of the things I have read and heard over and again is how pastors in particular struggled through it all. Church size and denomination mattered little. With so many different opinions, unity was bound to suffer…and it did.

I’ve said it several times, but personally as a leader it was incredibly difficult. I have served as a pastor for 40 years and twenty-two of those have been with the church family located at 1300 South Feazel Street. It has been a great ride. One of the gifts it seems that God has given me is the ability to bring and sometimes hold the family together. But that season made me start to doubt that giftedness.

That year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving we had our family celebration at my daughter’s house outside of Murray, Kentucky. My wife and I went down Friday, spent the night and enjoyed some good family time. The rest of the tribe joined us Saturday for a great meal and more family stuff. About mid-afternoon it was time to head home. We had church the next day and there was a full night of preparation waiting for us. So, we headed north. When we got home, I turned up the furnace (I had turned it down to save the planet and a few bucks) and started unloading the car. After about thirty-minutes or so it occurred to me that the house wasn’t getting any warmer. Hmmmm.

I went downstairs and our furnace was stone, cold dead. It was strange as the breaker had flipped. I called one of the brothers in our church who knew about boilers…in fact, he had helped me before when I had some trouble. Our boiler is older than our first born so…well, you know. Since it was Saturday evening I just called for some advice. He gave some. Since it sounded electrical, he suggested I start with an electrician. That sounded like good advice, so I thanked him.

I called another brother in the church (we have a lot of brothers in the church) who knew about electrical stuff (which appeared to be the problem) and asked if he could maybe come by Sunday afternoon and take a look. He refused. He said it couldn’t wait till then and volunteered to come as soon as he finished supper. I thanked him and also thanked God for brothers to call when there is a need. In just a few minutes the doorbell rang. I assumed it was the electrical brother but in fact it was the boiler brother. Before long, the other brother showed up too. So, on a Saturday night, two brothers came to try and make sure Judy and I weren’t cold that night.

Working together they found a short in the control box and within an hour the furnace was up and running. That night Judy and I slept warm because two brothers were willing to help another brother in a time of need. I was pretty overwhelmed. I said to them, “Thank you for loving us.” The boiler brother said, “How do you know we love you?” And the answer was simple truth. I said, “Because of your actions.” I believe God allowed our furnace to fail so He could send to brothers over to say, “I love you.” Isn’t that just like our Dearest Daddy? I think it is.

The Bible says people will know we are Christians by our love. Love is a great noun, but it is an even more powerful verb. Compassion is love in action. God demonstrated that by sending His Son to die on a Roman cross. These two men, on a Saturday night, demonstrated it by coming and doing. I believe the one quality that must be evident in a church is love. We need to love God and we need to love each other. God has made it clear that nothing will come between Him and us. We must make sure that nothing Satan throws out today comes between brothers and sisters.

We talked Sunday about how amazing it was that God could ask a young virgin girl to be the mother of Jesus. She couldn’t understand how that could happen. An angel simply said, “With God nothing is impossible.” We wonder how we can love when we disagree, when we are hurt, when we are being pulled in opposite directions. The answer is simple…everything is possible with God. Judy and I rested good that night with a warm house and a heart warmed by love…both His and theirs. It reminded me fresh and anew that He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

fear, forgiveness, Grace, gratitude, life, loving others, prayer, priorities, Scripture, thankful, wisdom

History and Hope

Posted on September 11, 2020September 8, 2020 by Dewayne Taylor

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

It was a bright, wonderfully normal September morning and then everything changed. Nineteen years ago today our country found itself under attack by terrorists on a scale that was beyond almost everyone’s imagination. More amazingly it played out on national television for all of us to witness and mourn.

That morning I walked into the church office like dozens of times before…only this time was different. As I entered the door the secretary asked if I had heard that a plane had crashed into one of the world trade buildings. “Really?” I asked almost casually.” “Was it a big one or what?” She didn’t know and then I went into my office and slowly the news begin to spread. A large airliner had been hijacked and flown into one of the towers. Shortly, again on live television, we were shocked beyond belief as a second airliner flew into the other tower. And then—both towers collapsed. Even as I write this it doesn’t seem possible—but many of us saw it with our own eyes. Later another airliner crashed into the Pentagon. And there was more. Another hijacked aircraft heading to yet another target was taken back from the terrorists by a bunch of heroes. It crashed into a Pennsylvania field saving hundreds or maybe even thousands of lives.

The days that followed were like something we have never seen before. All flights in over the United States were grounded. New York, ground zero, was shutdown. People huddled over televisions soaking up any and all news and in the process becoming more and more afraid. To many it seemed like the end of the world as we knew it. And I suppose in some ways it was. We needed a miracle—we needed an encounter with the living God.

In a matter of a couple of days we witnessed something else. We saw something that was tremendously encouraging and a short time later something that was tremendously sad. First, we witnessed a coming together of the two major political parties in America. We watched as Democrats and Republicans stood on the Capital steps together and sang “God Bless America.” We were amazed. We were encouraged. It was one of our finest hours in the modern era and it was woefully short. Within a day, the finger pointing started as one party started blaming the other and sadly we found ourselves divided. In a time when we desperately needed to be together we were apart.

Fast forward 19 years and we find ourselves in yet another extremely difficult time. It is totally different and yet eerily similar. We are facing circumstances that have not been seen in modern times. The death toll is higher and the enemy faceless. And this time…we skipped the moment of unity and went straight to the finger pointing. We are a nation divided when we desperately need to be a nation united. Just like 19 years ago we are in desperate need of God and His healing power. The only hope lies in the living Hope—Jesus Christ.

God has put in place the army He intends to use. It is not Democrat, it is not Republican, it is you and I—it is His church-the body of Christ. If there was ever a time when followers of Jesus need to act like followers of Jesus—it is now. It is not a time for bigotry or nor is it a time for fussing over things that don’t matter. It is not a time for circling the wagons and defending the fort. It is a time to share the love, the kindness, the grace that every Jesus follower has experienced. It is time to give what we have been given.

I don’t know what this world is going to look like over the next few years. What I do know is that if this army of Jesus people will be Jesus to the world around us—it can, it will be a better place. Will it be perfect? Of course not—after all experiencing God’s grace doesn’t make us perfect—it makes us forgiven and forgiven people forgive others. Jesus said “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Wow—there is so much power—so much purpose—in that one statement.

It has been said that if a people does not learn from history they can only be destined to repeat it. In some ways I’m afraid that has become a reality. But it is not too late. So Jesus people, people who call Creator God, Dearest Father, let’s determine today to give up our fear, our anxiety, our pride and our prejudice and let’s rest in Him. He is big enough, He is strong enough, He is compassionate enough and believe me, He’s got this.