Good day everyone! I have been doing some spiritual reflections this weekend (Memorial Day Weekend) and stumbled across some of Adam Hamilton's teachings he did to the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church back in 2015. These teachings were from his book "Leading Beyond The Walls". This was one of the first books I read when I began my stint in pulpit ministry back in 2003. It inspired me then, and until this weekend was pretty much forgotten. When I discovered these videos I was drawn in by them once again because of some of the struggles my current church is going through. I am employed by the church as their Director of Media Ministries. Which means I am responsible for the media for two services, website, social media, video bulletin boards, etc. This is what I believe my calling is for the church at this time.

I believe that our church is going through a very difficult time. Over the past year and a half to two years the oil and gas industry has gone through a massive downturn. This has resulted in layoffs and hence as a result of that members have moved away and those who are still here have had to cutback on their giving due to loss of income. This is all part of a cycle in the industry. This also has caused the church to look at its staffing and cutbacks having to be done in this area. This involves loved people who are part of our lives and we don't want to see hurt, but reality is reality.

I say all this because I think in some aspects we have missed the mark as a church. Instead of relying on reality, we should have been turning to God for our answers. I wonder how many of us really have been praying daily for our church. If you have wonderful! If you haven't its not too late! We all need to come together in prayer not only for our church but for our people! But not only for our people, but for all people. Those who are suffering, those who are lost, those who need hope. Have we prayed for them? I am not talking about a pastoral prayer on Sunday morning but in our personal prayer life!!! I know there have been and are times that I fail in this miserably! But that's the wonderful thing about Jesus! He is full of second chances for all!!!

I think about the vision of our church, I know we have a group charged with this but I am not hearing much from them and this should be communicated and should be inspiring for the church in a time where it seems negativity has set in. We have a new pastor starting in two weeks.....what can we do in the interim so that she is not faced head on with negative issues of the church but instead comes into a congregation that is filled with love and hope. I believe together we are stronger and together we can change our reality to one that trusts in Christ to protect us and one who counts on Christ to lead us in our triumph and HIS.

I want to invite you to invest in three hour and half sessions with Pastor Adam Hamilton. I have copied the links below.

Part 1: Leadership

Part 2: Worship and Preaching:

Part 3: Mission and Outreach

I hope and pray that you find these inspiring and I ask that you think of our church while watching. Take NOTES! I did.

I will buy the book for anyone who wants it!

Just some ramblings of a former minister.

Steve

Crossroads

I was thinking about several things today while driving home from work. I was thinking about how are own feelings influence the church. I have seen closed minded thinking kill a church. A church in the town I formerly lived was dying. It was a beautiful church but part of the congregation wanted to do some things that would bring younger people into the church. A contemporary worship, activities for young adults, thing I think would work in the town. The other part of the congregation just wanted to keep things the same as they always had been. The were life long members of the church and controlled a lot of the finances of the church. They had the control and power per say. Well as in anything the people with the power won and the church split. The people who wanted to change moved on and formed another congregation and thrived bringing many to know Christ. They offered the programs, the spirit and the vigor it takes to bring the love of Christ to others. Do you know what happened to the other side? Absolutely nothing. One by one as they end their life here on this earth the number of people in the congregation continues to dwindle. The fact is, the church who's sanctuary can hold several hundred now holds less than 50 and that number continues to dwindle. Sad, very sad. I know some people are set in their ways and I understand that change is hard to accept and grasp but folks, Christ came into this world to change the world and save the world. If that is not radical change then what is? If we are not willing to move from where we are to where we need to be to bring others to Christ then why even bother. Lets just lay down our hearts and spirits and say Lord take me now!!! Because there is nothing left. Mainline churches, and I am not pointing at any particular one, are bleeding and dying, and many want to do something about it but they do not want to part with the "traditional" things they have done to move to meet others. To expect people to walk in to church is not realistic these days. We have to work, like Christ did, to bring everyone to see the gospel truth and to expect young people to come into the church and the ways we have always done them is not moving to meet people where they are.....its expecting people to come into "my" way of thinking.
People let's wake up to the fact that this is a changing world and things are not the same today as it was yesterday. We need to lose the "old" mentality and adopt a fresh face for Christ.

Just some ramblings of a former minister....

Complacency....The Killer of Many Things

I have been stewing around this word complacency for a while now. I have thought about it when it comes to many things in our lives. Our relationships, our careers, our time, our churches....as you can see this word and subject can be a killer. Let me explain on several fronts.

First off complacency can kill us when it comes to our lives......let's take our health. We can become complacent about our health, we can eat too much, we can smoke or drink too much, we don't exercise enough and the list can go on and on, but the end result is we cause ourselves more harm than good when we are complacent with our health.

Second....relationships. We can become complacent when it comes to our relationships. We can take our significant other for granted. we can just go through our life and not work at our relationships and then one day before you know it, the relationship is over. Work on your relationship with your significant other, if they do not reciprocate then that is another issue but my friends if we are complacent with our significant other, then that relationship is sure to fail. Some of my friends have lost their children to death. Some of them think the words..."What if I...." but the fact is it was too late to act on the "what if's". Friendships can be the same way, We need to not be complacent when it comes to our friendships. I am blessed that I have renewed several friendships with people from my high school and college years. That was a time when we were full of life and wanted to have someone to hang out with. Spend time being (I want to use this term) "aggressive" when it comes to our friendships. If you don't then maybe the friendship will just lie dormant.

Third, How about your career? Are you satisfied where you are? some of you may be and that is perfectly fine but the danger is when we become complacent in our career we just tend to "skate by". We don't put our all into our careers and then you will find yourself not being challenged and become lazy in your work. Let me tell you, that has happened to me on several occasions in my life and I work to give my employer 100% and more. It is challenging, it is rewarding and I am enjoying the fruits of my labor.

Fourth, our time. Do you sit around watching a lot of TV and not taking the time to use your time wisely. Most complacent people think....."I can do that later" I had a teacher in high school use the saying and I don't remember who he quoted "why do today what you can put off till tomorrow?" A person who is not complacent is one who says "why put it off til tomorrow, when I can do it today" (Ok so I became complacent about writing this blog....One strike of complacency against me).

Fifth (and my last for this blog) is in our spiritual life. Let's talk about the spiritual life in our church. I believe in the words that can kill a church.."We have never done it that way before" These seven words breed complacency like never before. They foster an attitude as if everything is ok, but folks, its not. Christianity is dying in our country. We push it out of our schools, we push it even out of the church.....(what's up with that?) We become comfortable in our churches and the problem with that is that is not what Jesus wanted us to do. Look at the Apostle Paul. He was not complacent with sharing the good news. He took an attitude of "Whatever it takes" We should do the same.
Now about our personal spiritual life, one that I find myself on a roller coaster on between faithful and complacent. Are you working on your own spiritual life? It is easy for us to say "I don't have time" or "I will get to it" but that fact is we never will have enough time. We have to MAKE THE TIME! Take the time to work on your relationship with Christ everyday (I am talking to myself here) No excuses!!! For those who work in the church (me part-time) our church work is NOT working on our personal spiritual life! That is time we spend working for Christ but not developing our personal relationship with him. Take time to close off life, work, and all the distractions and spend time in His word and prayer. Get to know our Savior personally. Don't be complacent!!!!!! I have seen many good people in my life be complacent when it comes to our personal relationship with Christ....ME INCLUDED!

I want to end with this, We sometimes put ourselves in a box. We think the box is where we have to stay but really the box is the box of complacency. I came across a saying from Deepak Chopra. "Instead of thinking outside the box...get rid of the box!" That is my new life motto!

Just some ramblings of a former minister....

I have lost myself in life……

I have lost myself in life……

That sound profound but its true. I have lost myself in life. Basically I have let my secular life take over in place of my spiritual life. I recently won an award with my company for “Outstanding Marketing Consultant of the Year” I was deeply honored with the award but over the last couple of days I have begun to wonder….at what cost? I have been reflecting on this and came up with several things. My time with God.(or better yet…lack of time with God) I believe if my time on this Earth came to an end today I would stand face to face with Jesus and He would say to me….”Oh yeah I remember you….you are the Steve Taylor, we used to talk all the time….hey its been a while.” I would say I have been so busy with everything in my life I know our relationship has suffered…..but….” You see, it’s the “but” that scares me. Many of my friends out there know my heart…..and yes while good intentions are one thing, following through is another. I am currently reading Adam Hamilton’s book “Revival”. I see myself all over chapter 1 and I have a lot of shame in that. I see myself in need of revival. I used to pray everyday, not so much anymore, I used to read the Bible everyday, I can’t remember the last time I picked up a Bible just to read His word. I work for a church and yes I do ministry there, but that in my eyes is action without faith. In other words its just work.

Folks, its time for me to go look for and find that person I was about 5 years ago, one who was faithful in his life as a Christian and not an “almost Christian” or a “half Christian”. Its time for my “revival” to take place. I do not know the path I will take to get there but I will get there. I have let a lot of my friends down because I have cared so much about my job that I have not been there for them. Its time to fond that Steve Taylor again……The good news is…I WILL find him and like the lost sheep I will be found. What about you? Does this relate to you in any way? Come join me and we can find ourselves together….

Wrestling with God

There have been times in my life when I "Wrestle with God". It seems to me to be a constant match and there is no "Tag Team" Its a battle I deal with myself. I wrestle with spending time with God, Reading God's word, even time for prayer. I wrestle between the secular life and the spiritual life and its balance. It seems like the secular side always wins.Why is that I wonder? As I think about it, its comes right down to priorities. I have not made God a priority in my life. There was a time in my life when God was the priority in my life but not so much now. I make time for my daily walk or ride, work, and family time but I do not seem to be able to fit "God" time in. That is so backwards and I know it. The "God" time should come first but it always seems to be put on the back burner so to speak. Do you wrestle with this in your life as well? I challenge you and me to take time out for God first. I am going to start today by getting away from the computer and television and spending some quality time with Christ. Will you join me?

Just the ramblings of a former minister,

Steve

Believing the Disgruntled

Have you been in the situation where someone who was disgruntled with the church try to convince you to leave as well? I have seen it too often in my years of being active in the church. Some leave because they don't like the pastor, or because they did not mention Aunt Betty in the announcements, or because there is not a real good kids program. The list could go on forever!!!!!! Then they tell someone else and try to use the power of persuasion to get them to feel the same way. The fact is if everybody left the church because they did not like the pastor there would be three or four big churches and no little ones. If the announcements were filled with Aunt Betty's we would not have time for worship. If there is not a real good kids program, start one!!!! or better yet, help those who are trying their best to get the one they have better. We become disgruntled but look to compounding the situation by our tongues instead of doing something about like getting involved.
But lets get back to the disgruntled. Disgruntled people are sometimes the worst at over-exaggerating why they left! They make it about them! Guess what, The church is not about you! Its about worshiping our Lord Jesus!!!Its about leaving ourselves at the door and making it all about Him plain and simple!!! I once preached a sermon on "its not about me". I told the congregation that this church is not about me even though I was the spiritual leader of the church but it was about Jesus! Sometimes churches wrap themselves around the pastor that we forget that the church is not about the pastor its about the church, its members and nonmembers but most of all its about Jesus! Folks its time to put our petty differences aside and start making a difference for Christ. I loved my church in Ada. I did not always agree with the pastors I had there but the church was not about the pastor and I helped make a difference there. When I became a pastor myself, I was appointed to a small church in Fitzhugh, OK. I did not always agree with the members but I continued and I listened to the congregation. I am currently a member and employee of First United Methodist Church in Duncan and I don't always agree with Rev. Tolle but its about making a difference where we are planted!
My final thought is this......Don't listen to the disgruntled, make your own determinations and most of all Serve Christ Faithfully! Just the ramblings of a former pastor.

Blessings to you

Steve

The Bully Boss

In my years of employment, I have had the joy of working for bosses I really liked and then there were some that I did not. That seems to be the way of the world, You win some and you lose some. Some of my bosses I would even go as far as calling "Bully Bosses". These type of bosses are ones that have to have TOTAL control. Not only over their business but have to exert their control over their employees as well. Many use this tactic to "overcompensate" for their shortcomings. This type of boss will do things like watch the clock, criticizing your work, and even go as far as chastising you in front of others. I have had a few of these and the sad thing is some of these type of bosses don't even realize what they are doing is wrong. In my years of ministry I have seen some pastors who do this and don't even realize they are doing it. Ministry is an "off the clock" job. Much of ministry happens not at the office but on the phone listening to people who are going through a tough time, at a coffee shop, lunch, weekends, camps, mission trips, and so much more. As a congregation member to criticize someone because they are not at the office frankly is wrong. In my position, at my current job, my main being working for Centerpoint Energy, I enjoy having a boss that recognizes the fact that I work weekends, nights, early mornings during lunch, breakfast and the like. I am on call 24 hours a day to work with my clients and am not always in my office. I do a lot of travelling. In my part time job in ministry working for a church most of my work is done from a computer and on Sunday mornings. I am fortunate to have a great volunteer staff that assists me. I rarely get to attend staff meetings or other events during the day because of my "secular" job.
My point here is this, if you are a boss, take a look at the type of boss you are. Are you a boss that is encouraging, mentoring and understanding of your employees? If you are not, take a look at how you are operating and make some adjustments. You will find that it will not only increase productivity but your employees will respect you more!!!!!