John 13:35 – Grits with Grace

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

The Community of Love

Posted on October 8, 2024September 24, 2024 by Dewayne Taylor

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.” John 13:35

It made me pause and ponder. So, the other day I was reading a devotion that told a story about history and about us. Normally a story like this wouldn’t grab my interest but then I realized it was more than just a story about civilization—it was a story about the body of Christ—about us Jesus followers.

First the story. Years ago, anthropologist (usually any word with 14 letters is way beyond me) Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Professor Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones. But no. She said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed.

Professor Mead explained that in the animal kingdom (and that includes humans), if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, go to the river for a drink or hunt for food. Instead of looking for dinner, you are going to be somebody’s dinner. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal. I love to watch animal programs, especially ones about Africa, and what was true a zillion years ago is still true today.

Now here is where it gets very interesting. A broken femur (or leg bone) that has healed is evidence that someone helped someone. They had taken the time to stay with the one who fell, bound up the wound, carried the person to safety and tended the person through recovery. Professor Mead says that “Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts.” And let me add that is where the church, the body of Christ starts too.

The greatest evidence that we belong to Christ is not some religious ritual instead it is the love of Christ lived out in our lives. Jesus told His followers, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.” Wow how powerful is that?

Contrary to life outside the Jesus tribe, we are to be acceptors and healers. Just as Jesus willingly went to the back of the line every time, we are to do the same. We are to put others first—not when it is just convenient but all the time. That is so unusual (just like the healed bone was at a time when no one should have cared) and that is why Jesus said that the world will take notice and know we belong to Someone who is other worldly.

In a time when “me first” is more rampant than ever, let’s choose something different. Just like the Good Samaritan helped the helpless, let’s do the same. Let’s live in such a way that our lives cause every atheist to question their denial of God’s existence. Sound daunting? Well, it probably would be except for one thing. We belong to and serve a God who is greater than everything else and because of that—He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

Family, friends, gratitude, love, loving others, prayer, priorities, Scripture, spiritual battles, thankful, Trials

Dessert or Desert

Posted on September 25, 2024September 22, 2024 by Dewayne Taylor

By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

Hmmm…I said. I like to talk, and I guess it can be said I like to write. When I write I love to use words in special ways. One of those is playing words off one another—using the same word in the same sentence in a different way. I’ve found that I often bump into words that can dramatically change in meaning by changing just one letter. Here’s an example. First, we have the word dessert. Now this is one of my favorite words because of all the images that pop into my mind. In one corner of my brain, a picture of a perfectly prepared pecan pie appears. Over in another corner is my daughter’s apple crumb pie. Oh my, is that good! Wait, over there is my friend Maggie’s fried pecan pies. And then over there is the dessert display case at my favorite local restaurant. It is filled with pies, cakes, cookies and cream horns.

Well, now that we are all drooling you can almost taste the word dessert. Even if you are not a fan of sweets, surely it stirred your heart a little. Now we are going to change just one small letter. Are you ready? We are going to go from dessert to desert. Wait? What? Yup, just remove one of the “s” in the word and we go from sweets heaven to the Sahara. We go from visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads to sand…lots of sand. Now we are not thinking about pleasure but rather pain. There is not abundance…there is leanness. Just like the word dessert makes our mouth water…desert makes us thirsty. And it all happens by removing one small letter.

What is true with words is also true about birds. I was reading the other day, and it talked about two different kinds of birds. Even though they are radically different, the bottom line is they are still both birds. Both defy gravity and fly, and both have feathers. One is one (there’s that play on words) of the smallest birds in the world and the other is one of the larger ones. One is tiny and cute and the is large and ugly. One is a hummingbird and the other is a vulture. Both birds…but both miles apart…just like our words dessert and desert.

One of the ways the birds are different is their eating habits. The hummingbird spends it’s time zipping around our yard, going from feeder to feeder and flower to flower looking for “dessert.” Their diet consists of a few small buds and sweet nectar. The vulture, on the other hand, soars overhead. He could care less about something sweet—he is looking for his next meal too but his is a “desert” or to put it plainly…something dead. Both are birds, but both are entirely different. Their differences may seem big, but really, they are not. You might say they are separated by a letter or two.

You know, that is true about us. We really aren’t that different and yet…we are. Each one of us is uniquely made by God. You might say we are each handcrafted by the Master craftsman of it all. An old children’s song that used to float around the Christian music world said, “Look all the world over, there’s no one like me…no one like me. Look all the world over, there’s no one exactly like me.” God made each one of us different…on purpose. What a boring world it would be if we were all the same.

Now my intention when I started writing this story was to say how in our world we should be more like the hummingbird and look for sweetness than the vulture who looks for death and decay. But as I wrote I realized the bigger truth is that we should just be who we are…and allow others to do the same. Skin color, economic status, music tastes, piercings and tats or not…we are all uniquely made. I wonder how much better the world would be if we learned to love one another. I mean after all, the biggest sign that a person is a Jesus follower is not if we go to church but if we love other people. How about that?

So, the next time you are in a bakery…or your backyard…remember that we aren’t as different as we seem. Rather than judge and criticize, why not go ahead and see people as creations of God. After all,…the Bible does say He loved everybody enough to send His Son to die on a Roman cross…everybody. And if you happen to know that story…then be sure and spread it around. It is the best news ever. And while you’re chatting with that person, be sure and let them know that there is Someone who, no matter what, has it under control. Tell them that, “He’s got this…no matter what this or that is.” Bro. Dewayne

Family, life, love, loving others, prayer, Scripture, Southern born, thankful, Trials

No Trespassing

Posted on June 16, 2023June 8, 2023 by Dewayne Taylor

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

It was kinda confusing. A while back I was walking in our neighborhood. It was early in the morning and the birds were singing, the sun was shining and as Mister Rogers would say, “It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood.” As I was walking, I would look at the different houses and their yards. I noticed that several, well actually more than several of the homes, had no trespassing signs in their yard or stuck on the house. One home had six or seven signs and about a half dozen security cameras. I think they must have had something very important inside.

I’m not sure what the deal is but there probably is a valid reason. But being from the friendly side of the South, we generally didn’t stick “no trespassing” signs up. More than likely, we would stick up a “hey, y’all come on in” sign. Of course, that was several decades ago and maybe now they have some not so friendly signs up too. At any rate this is America, and you can pretty much put up what you want as long as it isn’t too mean. But then there was this one house that confused me.

As you probably can guess they had a no trespassing sign. But right next to the no trespassing sign they had a big welcome sign. It caused me to wonder which one was right. I didn’t know if I was welcome to come up on the porch and sit or was I going to get shot if I did. I wasn’t sure so I kept right on walking, and I was really sure I didn’t want to find out. To be sure there are lots of times when we seem to send a conflicting message.

Sometimes I see this in churches. There will be a sign on the message board that says “everyone welcome”. There might even be a parking spot in the parking lot that says, “reserved for guests.” Sometimes they have people standing at the door to shake your hand when you come in. But then I wonder, “do they really mean that or are they trying to act nice?” I mean everyone expects churches to be friendly because Jesus was. He liked everybody. I heard a preacher say once that it was pretty amazing that the people who were the least like Jesus felt the most comfortable around Him. It seemed they liked Him, and He liked them.

On the other hand, Jesus was always bumping heads with the religious elite. Theoretically they should have been the most like Him, but they didn’t like Him and I’m not sure He was too fond of them. Of course, Jesus was always trying to find the best in others but some of those guys in the New Testament were mean. I don’t think there was a welcome sign on their house for either Jesus or the ones He hung out with.

However, there was one group they really didn’t like and that was the tax collectors. They worked for the Roman government, and they were seen as thieves and traitors.

Do you know what Jesus did? Jesus invited one of them to be a part of His inner circle. Can you even imagine that? “Hey Matthew,” Jesus said, “why don’t you come and be a part of our group?” I bet the religious guys about fainted and so did the rest of Jesus’ followers. I can just hear them now, “Well, there goes the neighborhood.” They might have been right, but Jesus was always more concerned for the neighbor than the neighborhood. He really loved people.

When Jesus was explaining to those who followed Him how people would know that they were friends with Jesus, do you know what He said? It wasn’t because they went to church on Sunday. It wasn’t because they knew all the answers. And it wasn’t even because they wore the right kind of clothes when they were hanging around Jesus. Nope. Jesus said that people would know that we were friends with Jesus because of the way they loved—and in particular loved each other. This is never a popular topic when I speak in church. The reason is it is a lot easier to dress right, talk right, and go to church, than to love someone—particularly someone who is not very lovable. But that is what He said do.

There is a secret to loving others. All we need to do is remember that when we were not lovable at all, Jesus chose to love us. And if we will let that roll around in our heads and hearts a while, I think we will find that loving others is just a little bit easier. The next time you are all worked up about something, maybe trying to love someone, just get up next to Jesus and sit awhile. You won’t find a no trespassing sign there…just one that says “welcome.” And you can just sit back and let Him handle whatever you’re stressed about…because He’s got this. 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

Family, food, forgiveness, Grace, gratitude, life, love, loving others, Scripture, thankful

Dessert or Desert

Posted on September 7, 2022September 6, 2022 by Dewayne Taylor

By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

What is true with words is also true about birds. I was reading the other day and it talked about two different kind of birds. Even though they are radically different, the bottom line is they are still both birds. Both defy gravity and fly and both have feathers. One is one (there’s that play on words) of the smallest birds in the world and the other is one of the larger ones. One is tiny and cute and the is large and ugly. One is a hummingbird and the other is a vulture. Both birds…but both miles apart…just like our words dessert and desert.

One of the ways the birds are different is their eating habits. The hummingbird spends it’s time zipping around our yard, going from feeder to feeder and flower to flower looking for “dessert.” Their diet consists of nothing but something sweet—nectar. The vulture, on the other hand, soars overhead. He could care less about something sweet—he is looking for his next meal too but his is a “desert” or to put it plainly…something dead. Both are birds, but both are entirely different. Their differences may seem big, but really they are not. You might say they are separated by a letter or two.

So the next time you are in a bakery…or your backyard…remember that we aren’t as different as we seem. Rather than judge and criticize, why not go ahead and see people as creations of God. After all,…the Bible does say He loved everybody enough to send His Son to die on a Roman cross…everybody. And if you happen to know that story…then be sure and spread it around. It is the best news ever. And while you’re chatting with that person, be sure and let them know that there is Someone who, no matter what, has it under control. Tell them that, “He’s got this…no matter what this or that is.” Bro. Dewayne

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

No Trespassing

Posted on August 31, 2021August 30, 2021 by Dewayne Taylor

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

As you probably can guess, they had a no trespassing sign. But right next to the no trespassing sign, they had a big welcome sign. It caused me to wonder which one was right. I didn’t know if I was welcome to come up on the porch and sit, or I was going to get shot if I did. I wasn’t sure so I kept right on walking, and I was real sure I didn’t want to find out. To be sure there are lots of times when we also seem to send a conflicting message.

Sometimes I see this in churches. There will be a sign on the message board that says everyone welcome. There might even be a parking spot in the parking lot that says, “reserved for guests.” Sometimes they have people standing at the door to shake your hand when you come in. But then I wonder, “do they really mean that or are they trying to act nice?” I mean everyone expects churches to be friendly because Jesus was. He liked everybody. I heard a preacher say once that it was pretty amazing that people who were the least like Jesus, felt the most comfortable around Him. It seemed they liked Him, and He liked them.

On the other hand, Jesus was always bumping heads with the religious elite. Theoretically they should have been the most like Him, but they didn’t like Him and I’m not sure He was too fond of them. Of course, Jesus was always trying to find the best in others but some of those guys in the New Testament were really mean. I don’t think there was a welcome sign on their house for either Jesus or the ones He hung out with.

However, there was one group they really didn’t like and that was the tax collectors. They worked for the Roman government, and they were seen as thieves and traitors.

When Jesus was explaining to those who followed Him how people would know that they were friends with Jesus, do you know what He said? It wasn’t because they went to church on Sunday. It wasn’t because they knew all the answers. And it wasn’t even because they wore the right kind of clothes when they were hanging around Jesus. Nope. Jesus said that people would know that we were friends with Jesus because of the way they loved—and in particular… loved each other. This is never a popular topic when I speak in church. The reason is it is a lot easier to dress right, talk right, and go to church, than to love someone—particularly someone who is not very lovable. But that is what He said do.

Family, Grace, gratitude, life, loving others, Scripture, Southern born

“No Trespassing”

Posted on July 31, 2020July 30, 2020 by Dewayne Taylor

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

It was kinda confusing. A while back I was walking in our neighborhood. It was early in the morning and the birds were singing, the sun was shining and as Mister Rogers would say, “It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood.” As I was walking I would look at the different houses and their yards. I noticed that several, well actually more than several, of the homes had “no trespassing” signs in their yard or stuck on the house. One home had six or seven signs and about a half dozen security cameras. I think they must have had something really important inside.

I’m not sure what the deal is but probably there is a valid reason. But being from the South, we generally didn’t stick “no trespassing” signs up in our yard. More than likely we stuck up a “hey, y’all come on in” sign. Of course, that was several decades ago and maybe now they have some not so friendly signs down South too. At any rate this is America and you can pretty much put up what you want as long as it isn’t too mean. But then there was one house that kinda confused me.

As you probably can guess they had a “no trespassing” sign up. But right next to the “no trespassing” sign they had a big “welcome” sign. It caused me to wonder. Which one was correct? I didn’t know if I was welcome to come up on the porch and sit or if I would be shot if I did. I wasn’t sure so I kept right on walking because I was real sure I didn’t want to find out. Oftentimes we seem to send conflicting messages.

Sometimes I see this is at churches. There will be a sign on the message board that says “everyone welcome”. There might even be a parking spot in the parking lot that says, “reserved for guests.” Sometimes they have people standing at the door to shake your hand when you come in. But then I wonder, “do they really mean that or are they trying to act nice?” I mean everyone expects churches to be friendly because Jesus was. He liked everybody. I heard a preacher say once that it was pretty amazing that the people who were the least like Jesus were the ones that felt the most comfortable around Him. It seemed they liked Him and He liked them.

On the other hand, Jesus was always bumping heads with the religious elite. Theoretically they should have been the most like Him, but they didn’t like Him and I’m not sure He was too fond of them. Of course, Jesus was always trying to find the best in others but some of those guys in the New Testament were really mean. I don’t think there was a “welcome” sign on their house for either Jesus or His friends

There was one group they really didn’t like, the tax collectors. Because tax collectors worked for the Roman government, they were seen as thieves and traitors. But do you know what Jesus did? Jesus invited a tax collector to be one of them, to be a part of His inner circle. Can you even imagine that? “Hey Matthew,” Jesus said, “why don’t you come and be a part of our group?” I bet the religious guys about fainted and so did the rest of Jesus’s followers. I can just hear them now, “Well, there goes the neighborhood.” They might have been right, but Jesus was always more concerned for the neighbor than the neighborhood. He did more than talk about loving people, He really loved people.

When Jesus was explaining to those who followed Him how people would know that they were His friends, do you know what He said? It wasn’t because they went to church on Sunday. It wasn’t because they knew all the answers. And it wasn’t even because they wore the right kind of clothes when they were hanging around Jesus. Nope. Jesus said that people would know that we were His friends because of the way we loved—and in particular, the way we loved each other. Whenever I share about that, it never goes over very well. The reason is that it is a lot easier to dress right, talk right and go to church than to love someone—particularly someone who is not very lovable. But that is what He said we should do. There is a secret to loving others.

We need to remember that when we were not lovable at all, Jesus chose to love us. And if we will let that roll around in our heads and hearts awhile, I think we will find that loving others is just a little bit easier. The next time you are all worked up about something, maybe trying to love someone, just get up next to Jesus and sit awhile. You won’t find a “no trespassing” sign there…just one that says “welcome.” And you can just sit back and let Him handle whatever you’re stressed about…cause He’s got this.