Don't Forget!!

Hey there all!

Don't forget that my family's television debut is on the week of October 29th through November 2nd on Wheel of Fortune! Amber, my wife, will be in the audience being shown on the October 31st show and my actual game is on November 1st. Be sure to check your local time and station the Wheel is on to make sure you don't miss it! Let me know what you think and see for yourself how awesome God is!

Love in Christ,
Chad & Family

Pat, Vanna & Me....

Well, here I sit in my hotel room atop the 9th floor of the Radisson Hotel after my most adventureous day to remember. Today was the day that I fulfilled a dream by being a contestant on the Wheel of Fortune. Without exhausting all the details of my day I can summarize as this: Meeting 19 other outstanding competitors and now friends of a common blessing. I was the only "Midwestern" there and the tallest as well. Seeing the studio, it is MUCH smaller than invisioned on TV, yet the fasination of it all was just as I dreamed it would be.

God answered my prayers that day, giving me what I don't deserve and withholding what I desired to show how awesome and in control He is in. He blessed my life through this experience with what He wanted, like I prayed for. Never underestimate how much control of your life God does have even when we are too self-centered to see the actuallity of it all.

I'm sure more thoughts of this weekend will come in the coming weeks....for now, everyone needs to know that the show will air NATIONALLY on NOVEMBER 1st, 2007 on whatever local station shows the Wheel of Fortune....so tune in and see what God has done.

Until another time my friends....

Positive Fortunes....

Wow, it seems like forever since I've been able to update my blog, but I must say, its for good reasons. Ever been at a time in your life when you just don't know which direction at the crossroad you need to take? The whole month of September seems to have many crossroads that I have been given the opportunity to decide which way to venture....but so far, God has led the way.

Right now a great humbling has been surrounding my life starting with my factory job I am now working at, which has been pleasantly great, but the environment is a struggle due to its ever increasing negativity and cursing. God is helping to hypersensitize my boundaries as a Christian and I must say, its a teder-toder right now.

God is good and many roads lie ahead for me and my family and for those keeping tabs, we are doing better than we have been! Also a pleasant venture lies in our waks on October 12th when FINALLY the Wheel called! :)


Yes, Amber and I will play our fortune on the Wheel of Fortune gameshow on October 12th in LA. Pray for us that God will help us make the most of this amazing opportunity and for us to give all the glory for what comes of it, to HIM.

Until next time, God bless you all.

East to West....

How far you ask? How far does the line of forgetfulness go? Listening again to the Casting Crowns new hit "East to West" and on the same day I get a phenominal devotion from Joel Osteen entitled "Free From Condemnation" where he reminds us how when we asked Jesus into our hearts, which is truly an experience only validated between YOU and GOD and never to be doubted by others, he tosses our sins away from us as far as the east is from the west. With the recent occurrances happening in my family's life, I cannot help to but to express to those reading how awesome it is to be reminded of the fact that God doesn't see our past, doesn't focus on it and works with the evil one to bring you down when you may stumble, but to embrace you and remind you that all He sees is "white as snow".

Feeling attacked? Being reminded that your mistakes of your past have to be seen in your future? Remember this:

"God actually chooses to forget your sins! That means your sins are completely removed. In fact, they aren’t even yours anymore. Don’t let the enemy dig up your past or try to make you feel guilty for something that happened a long time ago, or even yesterday. The enemy is called the “accuser of the brethren”, and he works overtime to bring you down with false accusations. Be confident that God doesn’t remember your past. You are free from condemnation through the blood of Jesus Christ. The next time the enemy brings up your past, declare that you are free from condemnation in Jesus’ Name!"

SLAM!! Was that the door???

Sometimes you can't see it coming and for most that do, you try to plug your ears so the emphasis it brings won't hurt as bad. The slamming door....the door forcefully shut in your face by someone who doesn't want you anymore. Many interpretations can be seen by the imagery of the door slamming; however the true meanings seem to hide themselves awaiting the Heavenly translator to interpret the engravings left on your forehead.

This past week an unexpected door slammed in my face bringing with it shock, uneasiness, pain and a surprising peace unlike any experienced before. I had been asked to resign from my Youth Ministry position at Crestview Christian Church. The reasoning??? I had a sinful past that couldn't be overlooked since it danced its way out of my closet by an old acquaintance. A past where many mistakes of immaturity were made by me and at a time where God was tucked away in the crevice of my back pocket only getting the gaseous reminisces of my already devoured actions.

I had a past that I was afraid of to share and too ashamed of as well. God has returned back to the place he belongs in the center of my life and this "stain" upon my life was still viewed as a stain by a body of believers whom are taught to see the white cleansed by the blood where the stain once was....however, that was not what happened.

I am not writing all this to gripe in bitterness the happenings at Crestview, I am here to testify a much greater purposed shown to me by God by the slamming of this door! You see, when your life seems to be going well and you THINK that God is blessing your every move, that is when you have to see that YOU are being glorified, not God because you expect it. The unexpected happenings are the results of faith where the control is immenently in His hands, not yours....that was my problem. The Youth program was growing little-by-little and the spirit of the congregation was positive....but I accepted the ego boost, not the humbleness that God's power brings over my own....causing me to get too confident, and causing me to let down my guard and boundaries that I had made.

Now the walls are crumbling between God's will and my ego boosting mirror allowing my spirit to feed off of God's intentions, not my own for whatever comes next for my family and I. The reconstruction of my stained past is not over yet and may never be by the time our Savior returns, but when God sees I'm ready to do GREAT and POWERFUL things, even beyond my ministry at Crestview....I can't wait for that door to open!

May you as well see the doors opening and closing in your life, whether bad or good to you on the surface, and see the power God will reveal to you!

Get Over Yourself!

Somebody once told me.....and told me....and told me yet again that the only way to let God in to work, is to "Get over yourself". In ministry your goal and prayers are that these moments will become fewer and farther between, yet somehow, some way, when God deems in necessary, He gives you a reminder of how its not about YOU, but about HIM.

Life comes at you fast sometimes and the passing moments are hard to recollect and make sure they are the passing thoughts and comments you want them to be as they travel from your lips and display from your body to another. God doesn't take second place anywhere or anytime, He's the most aggressive Father you'll ever have and more than not, will show you more "tough love" than even your parents can give.

I express this as a pastor who falls short everyday of the glory of God and knows that sometimes when you let your accomplishments of the PAST overshadow the decisions of tomorrow, you push God away from the reigns of control and then you have to wait out the crazy ride that lies ahead. Its like driver's education all over again, let the instructor teach you all the tricks to keep you safe out on the road of this world; don't think you know what He'll say next and then wreck the car (and your life). So I say to you now....GET OVER YOURSELF, and Get back into God!

A Honor to Meet you.....

July 23, 2007--A day that will live in my heart forever as a day that my heart was deeply touched yet again by an artist who truly seeks the Lord's approval. It was our day, Amber and I's to celebrate our 3 year anniversary and we did it in Six Flags in St. Louis. A day of relaxation, rides that make you sick (literally), hand holding and reflexing on the love you bound some three years ago, and a night of worship amist the noisy confinds of the park. We wound the evening down with "the man"....who for a better lack of description mimmicks the 21st century "David" of the Bible in the way his ministry "seeks after God's own heart."

After the second song, Amber and I's eyes were closed in worship over the words being sung by Jeremy. His passion for Jesus, his love others, and the passion within his words all came out in his testimony of song. If you haven't heard him, thought much of his music, you are truly missing out on one of the greatest ministries of music we have to listen to today. I was privileged to hear him for the first time live and even better, was blessed to meet him, get his autograph, pray with him, and forever capture the moment with him in picture. He's lived a life thus far that reflects God's grace, love and perserverence and has a lot to share to encourage those who hear his voice. To him, maybe someday he can read these words....THANK YOU, for blessing my life everytime I was spiritually in need, his music was there; and as he hugged me goodbye and stated he would pray for me and my ministry, I knew he was sincere.

God bless you in your ministry Jeremy and may those who get a chance to hear your voice in music, be blessed forever.

Visit Jeremy's website at: Jeremy Camp or his MySpace at: Jeremy Camp

Happy 3rd Anniversary!!

Some time ago.....actually 3 1/2 years ago, I was serving a family at a local Cracker Barrel in the month of December. Many laughs and singing occurred during this time of service and I grew to like this family very much. God was somewhat stagnet in my life at the time and seeing a family in tune with the Lord and enjoying life made me somewhat realize I was missing something precious I once had.

A few more weeks past and the family continued to visit Cracker Barrel and request my service for them, to which I gladly abiliged. During that time I grew to know one of their daughters better and something inside of me seemed to click....a "click" that I was at the time running from. As much as I prayed for God's intervention to stop the tempting of my mind to seek another relationship, He kept placing her and her family before me...even outside of Cracker Barrel.

Finally, one snowy night they waited for me to get off work in 4 inches of snow so I could "hang out" with this daughter. We took a ride in my red dodge ram and did donuts to begin the trip in a Menards parking lot....sometime afterward some 7 months later....we were married. Its been an awesome dizzy spell of love, commitment and true Godly soul. I love you my "Ber", my one and only greatest TIP I ever received in service to God thus far. Happy Anniversary baby. Love, Chad

Zzzzzz......

Have you ever felt so tired that you've accidently head banged your desk at work? Or fell asleep while your spouse was talking to you about their day? People today are taking on more than they're physically able to handle and yet, are unaware most times its even happening. Take me for example; I have 5 JOBS! Four part-time jobs and then one full-time job, to which I am at right now writing this, and it all begins at 2am! If a person, who isn't tired, thought about the time placed in a day to those active jobs (4 of them), that's over a 12 hour day, everyday! Now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say I'm "Superman" or nothing...I am bringing forth humbleness to you all in the "net" world and say that you might, like me, need to SLOW DOWN and enjoy the little things you're missing!

The Lord said, "Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest;" so why are we shying away from comfort? Do you feel, right now as you read this, so mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually drained from your day that you are leaving your passions, enjoyments and loved ones out? If you are, ponder this....when driving down the highway and you happen to look to the left or right, you travel approximately 500 + feet before you turn back to the front; missing enough space that you could have ran over something or swerved on the road! Each time you do this in your everyday steps, you might miss out on; a life-changing event in history, your spouse saying their potentially last words to you, your child's first steps or words, or even our Savior's return.

Take time....to hug your pillow more;
Take time....to say the words you mean to say;
Take time....to hold your loved ones longer;
Take time....to admire the beauty hidden around you;
Take time....to feel the breeze tickle your hair on your neck;
Take time....to just BE YOU. If you don't know you....FIND YOU!

Life is passing by us all too quickly and the appreciation of the GOOD in life is looked over while the negative has the main focus. Give it the boot and reclaim the good in your life God has given you and still is at this very moment. Writing this to share has blessed me today, I hope it does you as well.

Pastor Wick "Can I have a new baby, Pat?"

Since my brother in Christ, Pastor Chadwick Anderson, Youth Pastor extrodinaire here in Decatur, IL along with me and we were recently BOTH chosen to be future contestants on the Wheel of Fortune Show, I had to shout out a big-time CONGRATULATIONS to him and his wife on their expecting of a new edition to their family in February 2008! So when you get to LA and play the Wheel with yours truly, remember not to be distracted and ask for a baby, not a vowel and lose all that money to ME. :P

Check out my brother's blog spot at: The Wick

The Heart of the Journey
Look up under "Chad E. Taylor"

Our Angel....

This is our Angelique, our sweetness, our life-changing event that has been the best roller-coaster ride of our lives. When I think of being "called" by God for service in my life, it begins at home. It begins as a husband, a father and a friend. When you look at someone as innocent as this, what makes you know you are doing your part? What makes you realize that you are providing the service of Christ to even your child?

I challenge those of you who visit my blog to see how you are called to ministry every day of your life. God Bless.