Cecil Taylor Ministries

Freewheeling Blog: Worst Days and Aftermaths

Perched at the very top of a hackberry tree during last year's Hill Country flood, Aaron Parsley wondered if he would get out alive and if his loved ones would survive. Within just a few moments, he and six family members had been ripped out of their vacation dwelling by raging waters. Everyone survived except his 20-month-old nephew, Clay.

Parsley wrote a Pulitzer-prize winning article for Texas Monthly about his harrowing experience. This month, he has updated the magazine's readers with a piece titled, "After the Flood," about his family's journey since that worst day of their lives.

His article caused me to think about aftermaths. Sara and I pray periodically for the ones whose lives have been devastated, but the news cycle moves on to new tragedies. Yet these earlier tragedies - from earthquakes, fires, war, accidents - either continue or take years from which to recover. People experience the worst days of their lives; the rest of us feel brief sorrow and carry on.

To observe Memorial Day, Sara and I visited the Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas. The most striking thing to me was how Medal of Honor winners see their heroic days very differently than we do. To them, the action occurred on the worst day of their lives. They lost friends and colleagues; their stress level rose to the level of long-term trauma; they often were compelled to take many other lives in order to save their own. The medal winners remember those things more than their warrior glory.

In the aftermath, many struggled with PTSD, survivor guilt, and depression. Being awarded the Medal of Honor vividly resurrected the memory of their worst day.

The prophet Jeremiah envisioned his worst day, the fall of Jerusalem, before it happened. He wrote in Jeremiah 8:21 (NIV):

===Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me.===

Yet in the destruction's aftermath, Jeremiah retained hope in the Lord, writing in Lamentations 3:22 (NIV):

===Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.===

Sara and I experienced adjacent worst days of our lives. My worst day was realizing that Sara's ambulance-summoning medical issue of the night before was actually her first su***de attempt; I was compelled to take her from ER straight to a psychiatric ward. For Sara, her worst day was the day before, when decades of internal anguish and depression forcefully came to light. The aftermath has continued for 23 years now.

That story starts my book, "The Next Thing: A Christian Model for Dealing with Crisis in Personal Life." Deeper in the book, in a section on grief, I share how to deal with aftermaths, using the model of trees.

You see, we never fully recover from a crisis; we are fundamentally changed. Trees innately realize this. When wounded, the tree uses a process called compartmentalization to deal with the injury.

Looking at the damaged tree in the accompanying picture, the injured tissue is not repaired. Trees do not heal; they seal. If you examine an old tree wound, you will notice it does not "heal" from the inside out. Eventually, the tree covers the opening by forming specialized "callus" tissue around the edges of the wound. New wood growing around the wound forms a protective boundary preventing infection or decay from spreading into new tissue.

Compartmentalization allows trees to continue to grow and develop, even if they always carry the wound with them.

This strategy can be usefully applied to aftermaths. While we may never heal, or can feel guilty about healing as we mourn loved ones, new growth can continue. The wound is still there. It will always be there. But like the tree, with God's help, we are able to seal the damage and bear its mark while growing in new directions.

===If you're curious about my Christian Indie Award-winning book and small group video series, "The Next Thing," you can learn more by visiting CecilTaylorMinistries dot com and selecting Books&Videos.===

Podcast Blog: Practical Faith Academy - Season 6, Episode 3 - Ralph Estep, Jr., How Faith and Finances Affect Each Other

A spiritual chicken-and-egg question is how faith and finances intertwine. Do we grow our faith by giving our finances over to God? In allowing God to watch over and drive our saving and spending, do we become more faithful?

The answer, of course, is yes and yes. On this episode of the Selah-award winning Practical Faith Academy podcast, my guest is Ralph Estep, Jr. Estep is a public accountant turned podcaster who focused on stewardship in multiple realms. His primary theme is giving control of your finances and your life to God, living your journey with wisdom, purpose, and faith.

In this podcast, Estep discusses the intertwining of faith and finances and how one impacts the other. He delves into specific situations, such as marriage or church finances, to show the benefit of mixing God’s wisdom and support with sound financial principles. He emphasizes letting God guide your life and trusting God will provide what you need, not necessarily what you want.

For a topic that may seem dry, challenging, or even irritating, Estep brings a positive, fresh approach. He explores a great truth; when we turn over our finances to God's service (since God gave us the money and ability to make money in the first place), then we find we can trust God in other areas of our lives in an upward spiral of faith.

Highlights of the podcast:
3:00 What a seven-day practical faith means to Estep
5:00 How should your faith influence your financial decisions?
8:18 How to merge faith and fear as a couple in a marriage, and what family financial framework should be put in place
11:24 How does financial stewardship impact your spiritual growth?
13:17 Provision follows obedience
19:55 What God desires of us in terms of financial stewardship
21:59 How people can be content, even when digging themselves out of a financial hole
26:37 Advice for people working in church finance
30:16 The hardest part about putting faith into practice
32:47 Estep’s best tip for developing and maintaining a seven-day practical faith
35:03 How to find Estep’s podcast, financial services, and more

The Practical Faith Academy podcast can be played directly on the Cecil Taylor Ministries website at https://www.CecilTaylorMinistries.com/podcast. While on the site, please check out everything Cecil Taylor Ministries offers, including our Instant Content books and video studies for individual learners, small groups, and churches.

The episode is also available on major podcast platforms (Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and others) and hosted on Podbean. Search on each platform for "Practical Faith Academy."

Seven-Day Practical Faith Blog: Sin and the Forgiveness Cycle

When President Abraham Lincoln attended a church service in Washington, D.C., a reporter breathlessly ran up to him afterward. He asked Lincoln, "What was the sermon about?"

Lincoln replied, "Sin."

The reporter persisted. "What did the preacher say about sin?"

Lincoln answered, "He was against it."

I love Lincoln's straightforward answer. But the truth is, we humans have an interesting relationship with sin. If you asked us what would we say about sin, we would also answer that we are against it. But our actions don't always match our words.

We can all relate to Paul's lament about sin in Romans 7. I've excerpted verses 14-15, 17, 19, 21, and 24-25.

===We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. . .As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. . .For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. . .So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. . .What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.===

Paul says our will is not enough, our knowledge of right and wrong is not enough, and our experience is not enough. None of those advantages stand up to the hostile nature of sin.

That's why we need a Savior, Jesus Christ.

That's why Jesus tells us not to judge others. We are sinful creatures without the right perspective to judge others; we each have enough sin struggles of our own.

That's why we need forgiveness from God, over and over and over in a forgiveness cycle. Jesus instructed Peter to forgive not seven times, but seventy-seven (or more, depending on the gospel writer). So, we know God forgives in the same way. We must regularly request and receive absolution and cleansing.

Once, when I was frustrated with my repeated failed attempts to live without sin, God gave me the image of taking a shower to wash myself clean. I bathe so my skin is clean. I ask for God to wash me so my sinful nature is cleansed.

Are we against sin? Most assuredly.

Do we still sin? Most assuredly.

Does God offer forgiveness and a fresh start, forgiving too many times to count? Most assuredly.

===For a more in-depth look at God's love and forgiveness and how to live as a loved, forgiven person, please check out my Oasis Award-winning book and video series, "Live Like You're Loved." Visit CecilTaylorMinistries .com and click on "Books & Videos." It's also available from major booksellers.===

Freewheeling Blog: Remember a Spiritual Mother

I have a mother, now deceased. I have a stepmom, still alive. And I have a number of spiritual mothers - women who poured into me and influenced my life. One spiritual mother is Susan Hoff.

Susan happened to be the wife of my middle school football coach, Ronnie, but more importantly, she was my middle school Sunday School teacher. In the tiny town of Runge, Texas, Susan was often my personal Sunday School teacher on the weeks when I was the only student.

I felt so bad for her on those weeks. Susan diligently prepared the lesson. Usually we would have two to four students. But at least once a month, the preacher's kid (me) was the only one who showed up.

The most awkward moments were when Susan would ask a question to the class, which meant me. Sometimes I had an answer, sometimes not. She would try to guide me into the answer. I knew it was frustrating, but she kept her emotions mostly in check.

Susan taught good lessons, as I recall. But I was learning something else about faith every week. Susan's consistency demonstrated how we're not called to be successful but faithful.

Fast forward about 15 years. I was scheduled to lead a weekend youth lock-in at my Dallas church. Two years earlier, the youth experienced a Planned Famine, in which you locked in for 30 hours and mostly fasted (juice was allowed) while studying the problem of world hunger. It was well-attended, and our youth leaders were confident a repeat event would be as well. A lot of high schoolers and middle schoolers signed up. The youth pastor was going to be absent, so I would lead.

Well, only two middle school boys showed up. I was devastated. I took a break to pray in the sanctuary. While it was OK for me to be there with the two boys, it just seemed like a waste of time. I considered cancelling the event.

But while praying, God reminded me of Susan Hoff. What would Susan do? I knew what she did for me. She would keep going, knowing she was entrusted with the ones (or the one, in my case) who attended.

It turned into a wonderful weekend. I asked questions to a room of two, much like Susan. Through dedicated time together, the two boys and I built friendships that last to this day, decades later.

Whenever ventures look daunting and worthless, I think of my spiritual mother, Susan Hoff. I have no idea where she is or whether she is still alive. But her spirit has influenced me so many times. The lessons Susan taught are embedded in me, but her most important lesson is the one that often propels me.