Tag: preaching

Posted in communication, food, priorities, Scripture, spiritual battles

American Idols

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

 “Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us.” Hebrews 12:1a

He was preaching…but was I listening? It is a funny thought but I listen to more sermons now that I am retired than I have over the last forty years. Quite a thought isn’t it? But the truth is on any given Sunday I wasn’t listening…I was talking. So the last year or so, I’m doing more listening…or at least hearing. I discovered fresh and anew just how easy it is to let your mind wander while the preacher guy is up there preaching. It happens so subtlety…one moment you are there and the next you are somewhere else. While I am confessing I might as well let you know that I have even occasionally found myself nodding off.

You might say I have a new found appreciation for just how hard listening can be…especially on Sunday mornings. Well, my wife Judy and I were recently visiting another church in another town and the preacher was preaching…and doing a good job I might add. He was talking about authentic faith and how it is important that we be singularly focused, sold-out on Jesus. He then went to meddling about people with idols in their lives. Now my first response, which lasted just a few moments, was “I don’t have any idols in my life.  I’m a Jesus guy with no room for idols.” It was just about then that he said it.

What he said was this, “We don’t know what our idols are until they are threatened or taken away.” Whoa, wait–that got my attention in a hurry. I realized what he had just given to me and now to us, is a great litmus for recognizing things in our life that just might be idols. You see, idols aren’t just things that are in front of God in our lives, they are anything that we worship other than God—even if they are at the back of line. And trust me–they can and do come in many different shapes and sizes. We can drive them, live in them, eat them, smoke them, look at them and about a million others them’s. And like the preacher said, they become painfully obvious when they are threatened.

So, what is it in your life that if it was suddenly threatened or taken away would fill your world with anxiety? If we can find a way to be painfully honest, the not so obvious will suddenly become apparent. One of my constant battles is food related. No, it’s not food in general, it is, drumroll please–SUGAR. I am addicted to sugar and apparently it is not just me. The medical world tells us that sugar is one of the most addictive substances there is. And, so if the truth is told, that’s one thing I need to examine carefully.

So there you go. Thank you preacher man for giving us something that can make a difference in our lives. I believe that is one of the hallmarks of good preaching–that we preach to make a difference. So why not today sit down and make a list of the things that if they were snatched away from you would mess with your world. Then take a few more minutes and ask God to help you with whatever it is. Thankfully in my case that may not mean giving up sugar totally but it will mean adjusting my priorities. If you need more help, just ask your Dearest Daddy because you know, “He’s got this.”  Bro. Dewayne

Posted in friends, Grace, gratitude, life, priorities, Scripture, thankful, Trials

Unbearable

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

It was almost unbearable. One of the things that I enjoy about my day job is that I get to share good news with people.  Every Sunday, except when I don’t, I have the privilege of sharing truth about God from the Bible.  Now I don’t know if you know, but for most preachers those sermons don’t come in the mail, don’t come from a website, and don’t just magically appear. For me, it all begins with getting God’s opinion about a topic, lesson or idea and then gathering all the necessities such as the right scripture and various stories and quotes. After that, I begin to put it all together to hopefully make it both informational and applicable.

Applicable—now that is a big deal to me.  I want what I prepare and deliver to be something that will help those who hear the message to go home with something that will help them do life.  I know it is important to have a good strong introduction and that is where this story begins.  I was going to talk that day about three things that God gives us from His Word that will help in our day-to-day walk.  Well, somewhere in the process of brainstorming and thinking, the number three and the fact that these three things were there to help make life bearable—in fact more than bearable—made me think of the story of the three bears.  Well, just like that I had the perfect introduction and outline for my message—almost.

So, with the story of the three bears ringing in my head, I began researching, gathering information and writing. After more than a few hours, the message began to take shape and center stage were those three bears.  Like I said, there were three things that God gave us to help make life more than bearable.  Taken from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, they were rejoicing always, praying always and always being thankful.  Enter the three bears.  I had Papa Bear, who was just a hair grumpy, complaining his porridge was too hot and his bed was too hard.  His answer and ours is to learn to live in joy—rejoice always.  Next please.

Next came Mama Bear and she had a problem with her porridge and bed too except hers was too cold and too soft. Oh, these silly bears—she simply needed to learn to pray more and complain less—in other words, pray always. By now I’m getting excited—the message was almost in the bag.  That can only leave Baby Bear and he got it right.  Of course, being the baby of eight in my family—I wasn’t a bit surprised—we always get it right.  His response was that the porridge and the bed were both just right.  He was contented and therefore He was grateful and thankful. There you go…put on a bow…and out we go just in time to beat the other churches to the restaurants.

Well, Saturday night is always my crunch night and I always go over the sermon making any and all final adjustments.  Well, I decided I should check on this three-bear thing to make sure I hadn’t missed anything, so I Googled it and discovered—I had it ALL wrong.  It seems I left out a young lady named Goldilocks and it was her and not the bears that did almost all the talking and complaining about the porridge and beds. And the humor of it all was the opening line in my introduction was, “Everyone knows the story of the three bears” that is everyone but me! Well, it was too late to rewrite the story so all I could do was tell my unbearable—no pun intended—tale.  Thankfully, I think it may have made for a better introduction anyway, but I must admit I am puzzled on how I managed to get it so wrong—even leaving out the main character.

Who knows, right? But then I realized we do it all the time except it isn’t a fairytale, it isn’t three bears, and it isn’t a little girl with golden hair.  Nope—it is the story of our lives, lived out in real life drama and how often we leave our main character, our Dearest Daddy, out of the story.  Well, if my rewriting of the three bears is crazy—leaving God sitting on the curb is even crazier. And remember, that Goldilocks wasn’t some minor player—she was the star of the show—just like God should be in our story.

Well, we will call this Grits a wrap and put the bears to bed. Just a few things to remember.  One, remember to always check the facts and preferably do it sooner than later!  Two, don’t try and make the story fit your story—I’m sure that helped me be wrong.  It all sounded so right—even though it wasn’t.  And finally, just remember that even when you get it all wrong, we can rest in one thing—that no matter what—He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, loving others, priorities, Scripture, thankful, travel, Trials, wisdom

Be Still

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

“Be still, and know that I am God!” Psalm 46:10

It was a gentle reminder.  So last Sunday we were driving to church and heard a soft “ding.” A quick look at the dash told us why.  Our car has a built-in thermometer and when the temperature dips to 39 degrees, it sounds a soft chime to let us know that the temperature outside has reached a point where the roads might be slippery because of ice or snow. It is a great idea because sometimes we get too busy to be careful and then, well, it can lead to a mess.  I wish life sometimes had a little “ding” too…it might save me some oops.  Let me explain.

A week or so ago I had a schedule that was just jam packed.  I knew it was going to be busy. I knew it was going to be crazy but for some reason that didn’t stop me from eventually acting crazy.  It all started on Monday…well, make that Sunday.  Sunday for me is preach twice Sunday morning but this particular week we also had an evening service to prepare for a special event that was happening at our church…which was part of the crazy.  I spent the afternoon getting Grits ready for that week and the next…so, add in a little more crazy.  Now back to Monday.  Monday, I had the privilege of officiating at the funeral service for a church member who happened to be a good friend too.  Because of that it was especially emotionally draining for me.  I felt the loss…we all did.

I returned to the office that afternoon and finished out the day and woke up early on Tuesday to speak on “The Baptist Hour,” a radio program that we sponsor on the first of every month.  Then it was off to the office, preparing for the rest of the week.  In the late afternoon, we packed our bags to attend a state meeting two and a half hours away.  We arrived that night, slept and woke up to a twelve-hour day of conferences and meetings. It was just about then I should have been listening for the little warning chime because certainly it was going off.

Thursday morning began with more meetings before leaving for home. After driving for two and a half hours, we got back in time to serve at our outreach event.  I was one of the speakers and we got to the church at about 5:00 pm and got home about 10:30 pm.  Friday, the day I usually call my day off, was filled with more study and a return trip to the church for the event. Was that a “ding” I heard?   Then Sunday…well, it was Sunday, and our first service begins at 8 am.

Now all of that wasn’t written to whine about a crazy week…it was to warn you that, chime, or no chime, when things get crazy…be careful you don’t.  So, in the second service Sunday morning two things happened that were anything but usual.  First, two young men in our young group, two young men I like and respect, decided to have a conversation while I was speaking. When I say “conversation,” I don’t mean whispering…I mean speaking loudly—loud enough for me to hear from the stage.  Loud enough to distract me. Loud enough to mash my crazy button.  The second crazy thing was, I stopped sharing and publicly told them it was my turn to speak…not their’s. Was their behavior out of line? Yes.  Did they need to be corrected?  Maybe…but not publicly.  Trust me…that is something that I would certainly not normally do. In fact, I don’t think I have done so in forty years…at least not that I can remember, besides the Taylor girls.

Anyway, I fumbled through the rest of the message and as soon as I was done speaking, I went and apologized to them. And before I could get the words fully out, they apologized to me. They were wrong for talking and I was wrong in how I fixed it.  The good news is the devil didn’t win the day, but he could have.  Now the question is, “How did this happen?”  And the answer is, at least on my side, I had allowed my tank to reach empty and you can’t run on empty without consequences.  You can’t give and give without taking something in.  I was sure I could do it all and found out…I couldn’t.

So, like the chime in my car, I needed something to let me know it was time to restock, to replenish.  While God doesn’t give out chimes, He does give us His Spirit. I love a verse tucked away in Psalm 46:10. It says, “Be still and know I am God.” Be still…literally, “stop striving” and know that I am God. He wants to be our warning chime but to hear Him we must slow down and listen.

I shared a quote a couple of weeks ago, but didn’t personally apply it. It said, “Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is take a nap,” or maybe just get away. So, after church that Sunday, we did a little more crazy. We packed our bags and headed to New Orleans for a five day cruise. We were grateful for a time to physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually recover. This quiet time was a gift from God to us…a time to be still and know that He really is God.  I hope this story will help you stop before you reach the tipping point. But if you do, if we do, at least we know, no matter what, “He’s got this.”  Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Grace, gratitude, life, missions, Scripture, sovereignty of God, travel

Don’t Drink the Water

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

“For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Psalm 30:5

It was my first real mission trip. In 2003, I was given the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Bulgaria. In case you don’t know what a mission trip is, it is when you go to a different part of the world and do Jesus stuff. It might be medical, it might be teaching, it might be giving food away or most anything else that Jesus might do. Bulgaria is up by the Black Sea and snack dab in the middle of the old Soviet block. It was a different world. Imagine stepping back in time to the late fifties or early sixties and that’s where we landed.

When we arrived, it was instant culture shock. The food was different, the language was different, the people were different…everything was different. And there was one big rule—don’t ever drink the water. I was a little nervous and a whole lot excited. Get ready, boys, this is the great adventure. We were given an assignment and my new friend Mike, and I were sent to work a couple of hours from the rest of the group. We were up by the Blue Danube River and not far from the North Sea. We would be working with the Roma people. These folks, also known as Gypsies, were the outcasts of their society…the poorest of the poor and broken.

When we arrived, we were shown a nice apartment where we would stay. It was very recently remodeled and look almost American. We began working right away and starting going to remote villages. Through an interpreter we would talk to folks, I would sing and then one, or both of us, would teach about Jesus. The people were so kind. I remember I was introduced to Turkish coffee for the first time in my life. As you might know with Turkish coffee, they simply dump the grounds in the pot and boil them. They poured me a cup and I took a slug. First response—I almost choked on the grounds. Second response—I didn’t know what to do with the grounds, so I chewed them. Yup…the best part of waking up is with coffee grounds in your cup.

Later in the week, and near the end of our time with the people, we were given the opportunity to do some preaching down on the city square. It was pretty awesome. I sang a song and then preached…and let me tell you I preached. They might not have understood everything I said, but they knew I was excited about it. After I finished it was hot and I was thirsty. A nice street vendor offered me some red Kool Aid. I was so grateful. He filled up a glass and I drank the whole cup in one swig. Man, it was so good, so fruity, and so made with the water… I was not supposed to drink. I never gave it a second thought…until later that night.

After we got back to the apartment, we had supper and went to bed. About 11:00 pm we heard this awful noise and it came from the bathroom. Well, it turns out, a majority of the new plaster ceiling in the bathroom had fallen—filling the sink, the toilet and the floor with plaster pieces. We quickly decided we could clean it up in the morning. There is a great verse in the Bible that says, “Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning.” Well, that verse took on new meaning for me that night.

About 2:00 am I was suddenly awakened by what can only described as the worse cramping and nausea I have ever felt. Remember the red Kool Aid? Well, it was revenge time. I quickly went to the bathroom only to rediscover the sink and toilet totally filled with fallen plaster. It wasn’t a pretty picture. I can only remember trying to clean out the sink and the toilet before the impending disaster hit. I barely made it. Long story short, I was a regular attender to the bathroom all night and into the next day. Sure enough, there was weeping thought the night and joy was scarce. The only “joy” in the morning was when the guys went to the local pharmacy and bought me a Depends. HaHa. Thanks guys.

Well, I was sick for the next day or so, but before we got on the plane for home, I was better. Someone let my wife Judy know that I was really sick and that she should look for the insurance policy. Ok, it wasn’t that bad, but I thought it was. I did learn a couple of really good lessons. One…when you do something that God wants you to do…it doesn’t mean that everything is going to be rosy. In fact, you may end up with a bouquet of weeds. But, I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Second…when the rule book says “don’t drink the water, DON’T drink the water. Write it on your hand, write it in your Bible, put duct tape over your mouth, but DON’T drink the water. And by the way, when God says don’t do something, there is also a reason why. He’s not being mean…He is being loving.

Well, we made it home and that trip led to many more…not to Bulgaria but rather to Africa. And guess what? We definitely couldn’t drink the water there either! Guess what again? I didn’t drink the water, because I remembered a lesson that I had learned a couple of years earlier. It just one way that God can take the worst things and teach us something good. Yay God. So, as we journey through these “Bulgarian” days and should we forget and “drink the water,” you will find a loving Heavenly Father who will walk you through the hardest times. He won’t walk out on you, ever. You will find that you can always rest in Him because He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, gratitude, life, prayer, Scripture, sovereignty of God, thankful, Trials

Corena came First

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17

They say that some people have all the luck. And those same people would probably agree with the statement, “If it wasn’t for bad luck I wouldn’t have any luck at all.” Well, I have never been a big fan of luck.  I rather lean toward the sovereignty and providence of God.  That word providence is from the Latin that means “to see before”.  Add in sovereignty and you have more than seeing…you have action. You end up with God watching and allowing somethings while disallowing others.  It’s been said that, “God must have a sense of humor” and that is something I can definitely agree with.  In fact, I am glad that He does.

So back in January and February of this year, as soon as I could get the COVID shot I did.  I figured the chances of getting COVID were greater than the chances of growing a horn or something else from the shot.  So I was vaccinated. I didn’t feel well for a few hours with each shot but other than that…I was good to go…and go I did.  There was a new sense of normalcy and freedom… and I wasn’t the only one. People started moving and traveling just like the good old days…well, sorta anyway.

Life was good, life was fun until August rolled around.  Sometime around mid-August I started to feel lousy…almost like a sinus infection.  I’m known to get those every once in a while and I figured this was just one of those times.  The problem was it just got worse and worse and in a couple of days I was just sick.  Against my will, my wife forced me to call the doctor.  My doctor is the kind of doctor you want…he is my friend and he genuinely cares for me.  I told him what was going on and and I said, “I don’t want to take the test but I will if you think I should. Anybody wanna guess what he said?  Yup…that would be a yes.  Anyway, I was a breakthrough case—positive in spite of the shot. I am sure the shot helped the severity of the case, but I still got it.  I guess I should have read the small print that came with the shot: this shot does not prevent COVID. Hmmmm

So after the infusion and ten days in lockup I was on the road again. Life was good, life was fun and so Corena, my pet name for COVID, was long in the rearview mirror.  So, remember that thing about getting your flu shot?  Was I the only one who had it on their to-do list but didn’t quite get around to it? Am I the only one that wishes they had?  Well, last Thursday, on the way home from our trip to Atlanta for Operation Christmas Child, I developed a little pesky cough. Over the next 24 hours it became just a little more pesky.  I even made a joke about it in a funeral I was doing that Friday.  Well, the cough got worse and worse and by that night I was feeling lousy.

All Friday night I coughed and I woke up Saturday in the pits of despair.  In an attempt to be optimistic, I thought I could still preach on Sunday (dumb) and thought I could still do a funeral I was asked to do Sunday afternoon (dumber).  Finally, Saturday night I gave up hope of preaching and Sunday afternoon I gave up hope of doing the funeral.  I called my doctor friend and because I had already had Corena and the vaccinations, the other suspect was…wait for it…the flu.  Good grief and holy moley. God sure knows how to slow a man down. At any rate, I did discover the difference between Corena and the flu.  Corena has the potential to kill you and the flu makes you wish you could die.

Well, I am into day four of the flu and besides feeling like a truck ran over me I am on the mend. And while I am still cataloging everything that I am supposed to learn from this, for sure it includes a continued trust in my Dearest Daddy and His marvelous sense of humor.  Somehow and someway He figured this was best for me.  James, the half-brother of Jesus said it like this, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” I like that…a lot.  Neither Corena or the flu felt good when I was in the throes of despair but through it all I still had the comfort of knowing that He loved me. Game. Set. Match.

So, if you are comfortable with it, go ahead and get your flu shot and whatever happens has got to be better that what I had.  And shot or no, just remember this, He is with you always. Looking back, one night at about 2.30 am, I just might have heard a whisper from the whisperer and He said, “Don’t worry son, I’ve got this.” Bro. Dewayne

Posted in fear, forgiveness, Grace, gratitude, life, loving others, prayer, priorities, Scripture, sovereignty of God, Trials, wisdom

A Memorable Funeral

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not.” 2 Timothy 4:2

It was years ago and something that I will never forget.  I am a pastor and that often gives me the opportunity to help people at some of their hardest moments.  Over the last 38 years I have officiated at hundreds of funerals.  Some of them were tragic and some of them were celebrations of life.  Regardless…they were all difficult.  I believe that every service should be as personal as I can make it. I heard a story once of a pastor who was asked to do a service for a man he didn’t know well.  Unfortunately, he kept calling the gentleman by the wrong name.  Finally, in sheer desperation, his wife shouted out, “John, his name is John.” Gratefully, I have managed to avoid something like that thus far.  But there was one funeral I will never forget.

I said earlier that I am a preacher…a pastor.  Well, I happen to be a singing pastor.  You see, long before I started preaching, I was singing.  I’m certainly no Frank Sinatra, but I can carry a tune.  That led to opportunities to serve families in another way.  When the funeral home needed a vocalist, I would sometimes get a call.  One day…the call came.  I was to sing a couple of songs…one at the beginning and one midway through the service.  So, my time came…no pun intended…and I sang my first song and then the second.  An older pastor was speaking and he was really into the sermon.  As the vocalist, I was sitting in a side room where I couldn’t see him, but I could see the audience. And then…it happened.

As I said he was preaching hard, and all of a sudden two things happened in a split second.  First, a moment of silence.  It went from “Katie bar the door” to dead silence.  Then, in a moment of time, there was something that sounded like a clap of thunder—literally. And finally, there was the sound of chaos—-people screaming and crying.  It was a very frightening moment.  Immediately I stood up and looked into the room where the preacher was lying on the floor.  It seems as he was preaching, he suffered a massive heart attack, fell on top of the folding pulpit which then caused it to collapse. That was the clap of thunder.

The funeral home folks called 911 and they quickly arrived and carried him out.  I’m not sure if he passed right there on the floor or in the ambulance, but he didn’t make it.  When they had left with him, I wondered what in the world do you do now?  The funeral director came over and said, “Dewayne, can you finish the service?” I told him I could if he would get me a Bible.  The preacher’s Bible was still laying there so he picked it up and gave it to me and we finished the service.  It was one of the strangest things I have ever witnessed—especially at a funeral.  As a side note, in a day or so, the funeral home called and asked me to do the service for the pastor who had died, and it was my privilege to do so.

I would suppose that there are a lot of lessons that can be learned from this but the big one is—we need to be ready.  We need to be ready to step into any situation that might arise. There is a verse in the Bible that says we should be prepared whether the time is favorable or not.  That is good advice.  We never know when we will have an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life.  I don’t know exactly how well I did finishing the funeral that day, but I hope I was able to bring some peace into a crazy chaotic moment.

There’s also another lesson—another truth—from this story.  We should be prepared to step into eternity.  When we think of death, we often think we will all live well and long, die easy, and go to heaven.  The truth is we just don’t know how long we will live, but we can all be prepared.  I like what a friend of mine said one time.  He said, “I’m prepared to go to heaven, I’m just not ready to go.”  He was just saying that he was prepared to go to heaven he just wasn’t ready to get on the next bus. I’m sure the pastor who was speaking that day was prepared, but he probably didn’t have any idea that he would board the bus right then.

The good news is that because of the Good News, we can all be prepared.  Because of what Jesus did on a Roman cross two thousand years ago, we can know that we are going to heaven.  It’s not about religion or church—it is about faith in Him dying and coming back to life three days later.  It is about believing that He was who He said He was, that He would do what He said He would do, and about repenting and trusting in Jesus as the Way to eternal life with God. If you haven’t made that commitment, I’m hoping you will. Google it and check it out—check Him out.  The Boy Scout motto is “Be Prepared” and I hope you are.  When it comes time for us to board the bus, we can have the confident assurance that He will be there.  He’s got this.  Bro. Dewayne