In this special edition of the Lead2Serve podcast, Cassandra Austin interviews Pastor Ed about his newest book, God's Help for the Troubled Heart. Cassandra is Pastor Ed's assistant and was an integral part of getting this book completed and published. They talk about pain, problems, and the faithfulness of God in bringing healing and comfort. You can get your copy of the book at calvaryco.store or wherever you purchase your books. All net proceeds through our bookstore go directly to our missionaries. So encouraging! Tune in and share.
00:00:05
Calvary Church presents lead to serve a leadership podcast with
00:00:09
Ed Taylor. Good afternoon everyone and
00:00:12
welcome to today's edition, I have with me, my assistant
00:00:17
Cassandra Austin and she and I worked very diligently together
00:00:23
and finished at the end of last year, after many years of time
00:00:28
investment and all sorts of up, And downs and left's and rights.
00:00:31
We work together to finally get God's help for the troubled
00:00:36
heart. A book published right?
00:00:39
Do we make it before Christmas Cassandra?
00:00:42
Yep. It the actual birth date with
00:00:44
the Library of Congress. Congress is November 14th.
00:00:47
So we got it done on a very special day that happens to be
00:00:50
the birthday of my son, my oldest son and we put together
00:00:55
this book and we want to talk to you about it.
00:00:57
So what we're going to do it's going to be a special Mission.
00:01:00
And so, what I'm going to do is, I'm going to hand the show over
00:01:03
to Casandra and she's going to interview me both sections.
00:01:08
Begin this section of the show, first half and second half, so
00:01:12
Cassandra welcome to the program and it's all yours.
00:01:16
Hey, it's great to be here. I am so excited and I just want
00:01:20
to say if you guys are listening whether it's here in Colorado or
00:01:23
you're on the East Coast. If this is your first time
00:01:26
welcome if your regular listener, welcome.
00:01:29
Today, we have my pastor, Pastor, Ed Taylor, pastor of
00:01:33
Calvary Church for 21 years, husband to Marie, father to
00:01:38
three children, a grandfather and author.
00:01:42
Pastor Ed has pamphlets that are designed to encourage families
00:01:45
and marriage. You also wrote a book called
00:01:48
Ordinary Servant that lays out what it looks like to serve
00:01:51
others. And to serve in your church
00:01:53
body, he most recently also had a mini book that we called you
00:01:58
will make it through. That one addressed the pandemic
00:02:01
and trials that we faced over the last year.
00:02:04
But today, today, we're here to talk about your newest book, Ed
00:02:09
God's help for the troubled heart.
00:02:11
So I just want to thank you for taking the time to chat with us
00:02:14
and I thought we could start with this.
00:02:17
Can you tell us a bit about where the idea for the book came
00:02:21
from? Well, nobody sets out to write a
00:02:23
book on Grief and suffering. I can tell you that, I don't
00:02:26
think one of my passions is leadership development and
00:02:30
pouring in the guys, helping them grow ladies and men in the
00:02:35
church to grow in their leadership to grow in their
00:02:37
service. But it was almost eight years
00:02:39
ago. In May of 2013 that we got a
00:02:42
text message that our son had collapsed and he and we ended up
00:02:47
meeting him at the hospital. He was in a coma from which he
00:02:49
never awoke. And so in May of 1013 Eddie died
00:02:54
on that plunged our family into deep Darkness.
00:02:57
Everybody handles grief differently, everybody responds
00:03:01
to grief differently. That's actually normal for me it
00:03:05
and and Marie. And my chip my other children,
00:03:07
Josh and Katie grief hit really hard.
00:03:10
Our home became really dark and even to some degree because and
00:03:13
I didn't think I was coming back.
00:03:15
I didn't think pastoring was going to be in my future.
00:03:19
I wasn't sure what was going to happen.
00:03:21
I really didn't have any idea. It was like one of the ways I
00:03:25
described it was like getting punched in the gut.
00:03:27
You know how you lose your air and you gasp for breathing while
00:03:31
we live like that for a while. But God did give us give me
00:03:34
enough strength to return. I came back to the pulpit that
00:03:37
was it was a hard. I didn't look at the date but it
00:03:40
was probably at least a year year and a half, just
00:03:42
challenging years. Going through the word together.
00:03:46
God was so gracious, I listened to some of those studies and
00:03:48
their powerful and God used them.
00:03:52
Sometimes grief was evident other times it wasn't.
00:03:55
But eventually, I felt like the Lord was was wanting to release
00:03:58
our whole church from this cloud of grief that I brought back
00:04:03
with me and I developed a series of Bible studies that I think at
00:04:07
the time you might be able to help me but I think we called it
00:04:12
something. Troubled, what did we call the?
00:04:14
Do you remember what we call is help for the troubled, help for
00:04:16
the troubled heart and it was a series of Bible studies that
00:04:21
were designed to to highlight people in the Bible that went
00:04:25
through great trials and great hardship and God got them
00:04:29
through because that's really the story of anyone in the
00:04:31
scriptures. God's faithfulness.
00:04:33
We put those studies together and then wasn't too long
00:04:36
afterwards. I never, I didn't put them
00:04:38
together intending to write a book.
00:04:39
I just put them together and God used it.
00:04:42
God released our church, like it was a breakthrough.
00:04:45
It was a breakthrough series but it also, I remember now it was,
00:04:49
it resonated with a lot of For and I know that I relate more to
00:04:55
the written word. Like if you gave me a Bible
00:04:58
study on MP3 or a transcript, I take the transcript.
00:05:02
I relate better to reading and receiving and I'm like, you
00:05:05
know, this would be a good book. I float, the idea by you is that
00:05:08
this would be a great book because you have that gift of
00:05:10
encouragement and then we launched off on getting it into
00:05:15
all the different layers and all the different things that
00:05:18
required, that require it to get a book published.
00:05:22
And since we self-published it and it really, it was bird than
00:05:26
grief and it came out of God, like, taking me out into a new
00:05:31
season because I think that's what grief does.
00:05:33
It takes you from season to season.
00:05:35
And then finally, we didn't plan on having it printed and
00:05:39
available during at the end or the tail end of covid.
00:05:42
But it became a very appropriate book because it's not just a
00:05:45
book on Grief. So when you ask how was it, how
00:05:47
did it start? It started with my own personal
00:05:50
grief, but it's actually not. A book about grief in
00:05:54
particular, that's true, that's true.
00:05:56
So then, who would you say needs to read this book?
00:05:59
Well, it's titled appropriately. I think troubled hearts, whose
00:06:04
heart isn't troubled, whether you have Mary and Martha, and
00:06:09
the scriptures were Martha's distracted.
00:06:11
And troubled about many things, she's not in a mode of grief or
00:06:15
she's just got a lot on her mind.
00:06:17
She's distracted. She has, she has so much going
00:06:21
on that. There's There's not a focus on
00:06:24
what's before, she's in the presence of Jesus, but whatever
00:06:27
is going on in our heart and mind she's missing.
00:06:29
She's missing him. So whether it's anyone really
00:06:33
with a troubled Heart Like We titled it and I liked how, I
00:06:37
don't know if it was you or someone added the word Gods
00:06:40
because that's really it, like it was a great addition to the
00:06:44
the idea that whether your, you could be in deep grief right
00:06:47
now, you could be in job loss. You could be an isolation, you
00:06:51
could be Going through a divorce you cannot prodigal kids like
00:06:56
the feedback all around, you know, in a full circle has been
00:07:01
anyone that needs encouragement. It's it's actually not even a
00:07:03
heavy book. Like it was Heavy in how it got
00:07:07
bird and how it came out of me. But it actually isn't a heavy
00:07:10
book. It's super encouraging.
00:07:11
It's like it's like the kind of book you need it.
00:07:14
Super simple to like Ule, you may read it and think what
00:07:17
nuggets could I find that? I've never learned before and
00:07:21
you may end up reading through it.
00:07:22
And go, uh, you know, I've heard that before, but now I get to
00:07:25
hear it differently. I'm in a different stage of my
00:07:27
life. I didn't know that about Hannah
00:07:30
story or all the different pages that you can go through that.
00:07:34
Anybody that just needs to be encouraged and strengthened, or
00:07:37
from Deep grief, to the things that trouble your heart, it's
00:07:42
true. And one of the things that I
00:07:43
really love about the book is how it touches those deep places
00:07:48
of pain in people's lives. And so perhaps, there's Someone
00:07:52
listening it's been told all the bad things that are happening to
00:07:56
them. In their lives are from the
00:07:57
devil or that mentally, you just have to have enough Faith to get
00:08:01
through what you have going on in your life and the book opens
00:08:05
up by reminding us that God is not finished yet.
00:08:08
So what does that mean for the person that's listening and is
00:08:10
just heavy? Hearted from all that they've
00:08:13
been going through, you know, I got an email and just this week
00:08:16
from someone that was involved in a church just like you
00:08:19
described with the theology that says, it's all your fault.
00:08:22
Fault, God's punishing you. You don't have enough Faith, you
00:08:25
don't give enough. And then this particular lemur
00:08:28
had a bunch of worse stuff than that.
00:08:32
And my response to them is my response to you listening and
00:08:35
it's get out of that type of teaching, get away from that
00:08:38
church, the reality of the pain and suffering that you and I go
00:08:43
through is because of sin, you're right, sometimes it's our
00:08:47
own sin, we bring it upon ourselves other times.
00:08:50
It's because of someone else's sin but General.
00:08:52
It's because sin has so corrupted, our world, and the
00:08:57
idea that it's all because you don't have enough faith.
00:09:00
I mean, if you look at the the men and women around all
00:09:02
throughout the scriptures, the only faith that they had was
00:09:04
with faith, that God gave them and God developed in them.
00:09:08
And I think of, I think of the guy that his friends dropped him
00:09:11
through the roof in front of Jesus.
00:09:13
I mean, it was their fate that brought the sick man in the
00:09:16
presence of Jesus. And, and when we, as we do open
00:09:21
the book and Be reminded that we're all a work in progress.
00:09:25
You know the work that God is doing in our life is he's the
00:09:29
author and he's also the finisher so it's going to take
00:09:31
time yet, he's not. No, he's not finished yet.
00:09:34
And so until we meet him face to face, that God is still working
00:09:38
in and through our lives in and through the pain.
00:09:41
I think. One of the things that will help
00:09:43
us as Believers to remember is that we're not the only ones
00:09:47
that suffer, believer, suffer unbelievers, suffer or not, the
00:09:51
only ones. Suffer except that we suffer
00:09:54
differently because we have hope.
00:09:57
And that's an important. You know, right here on page 13
00:10:00
at the the subtitle is a future. Hope we have a future hope and
00:10:06
one verse that will be repeated over and over again and it's
00:10:08
good. It's not always the best verse
00:10:10
to receive when you're in the midst of Trials.
00:10:12
But it is good to read it because you can just receive it
00:10:15
because the person wrote the book doesn't have any idea where
00:10:17
you're going through is Romans 8:28 as God is working all
00:10:21
things. Together for the good, not all
00:10:23
things are good. Don't ever interpret that it's
00:10:25
not. All things are good but God is
00:10:28
working these things together for his purposes for his plans
00:10:32
under his Providence. That's so true.
00:10:34
And as he's working those things out in and through us, one of
00:10:39
the things that that I believe is a big point that you touch on
00:10:42
in the book, is a Biblical perspective of suffering.
00:10:46
And so, what does that mean for for someone that's going through
00:10:50
a season of just really heavy things?
00:10:52
Their life. And I think without defining
00:10:54
that first, but really emphasizing a Biblical view to
00:10:59
allow ourselves to have our lives defined by God's
00:11:03
prescription by God's observation.
00:11:05
Not the world, not the latest pop, psychology, not whatever is
00:11:10
on dr. Phil or on Oprah or any of the
00:11:13
popular shows that are on today but what does the Bible have to
00:11:16
say? And the first thing that the
00:11:18
Bible has to say is that everybody suffers suffers.
00:11:22
Ring is a normal part of life. That doesn't mean we have to
00:11:25
like it or it doesn't really mean that it's enjoyable, but
00:11:29
it's the facts. You're not a bad person because
00:11:32
you're suffering. And I think of the person right
00:11:34
now, when I think of this, I think of the person right now,
00:11:37
Cassandra that is been suffering for a long time.
00:11:40
You know, this morning, we prayed for Steve and chisa and
00:11:43
we know that Steve has been suffering for a long time, but
00:11:47
so has chisa as his wife and so of the kids and it's easy to I
00:11:52
think under this, what's wrong with me and what did I do wrong,
00:11:55
what did I do to deserve this? But suffer a Biblical view of
00:11:59
suffering, acknowledges that we all suffer.
00:12:02
And that ultimately, we're all going to die.
00:12:05
Every single one of us. We're going to die of our last
00:12:08
sickness of our last disease. The problem that we have is that
00:12:12
we even it's a human condition but especially so, in a, in a
00:12:18
culture that is very prosperous, like ours.
00:12:22
We just think, man, if I do good, then Goods going to come
00:12:25
back. And if I do bad, then bad's
00:12:27
going to come back. So, if bad happens first, then I
00:12:30
immediately interpret that that I did something bad.
00:12:33
But if bad comes we need to not interpret it just by our
00:12:36
observation. But we've got a filter,
00:12:39
everything through God's word and remember we follow a savior
00:12:44
who was perfect 100. The in every way all he did was
00:12:49
love serve. Give care.
00:12:51
He Speak encouragement. All he did was good and the
00:12:57
reward for his life was massive suffering.
00:13:00
That's so true. So that such a powerful thought.
00:13:05
so, I'm thinking on how We have this biblical perspective for
00:13:10
whatever suffering is going on in our lives, in light of what
00:13:14
you're saying. How does it look for the crisis?
00:13:19
That's taking place, you know, maybe you just lost a job or
00:13:24
maybe your marriage is in trouble or you're not getting
00:13:29
along with your kids. How does this become something
00:13:35
that's used as God's tool in the book?
00:13:38
You talk about Joseph, as an example, in Hannah, and draw
00:13:42
that out. So what does that look like, in
00:13:44
the life of our listeners that are really just going through
00:13:47
it? Well, that let let's be real for
00:13:49
a second. Nobody likes suffering.
00:13:51
Nobody likes to be in the middle of a trial.
00:13:55
I mean, I haven't if there are any one, somebody might be
00:13:57
raising their hand. No II like them, they're good
00:13:59
for me. But like if you were to tell Joe
00:14:01
Joseph when he was first thrown in the pit and betrayed by his
00:14:04
own brother's that Joseph, just don't worry about it.
00:14:08
Things are going to be great. Just give it 13 years.
00:14:11
I know you don't like the pit right now.
00:14:13
I know you're scared and it's actually going to get worse.
00:14:16
Joseph, you're going to go from the pit, then you're going to
00:14:18
go. Be sold as a slave and then as a
00:14:21
slave you're going to be exalted.
00:14:23
And then you're going to be accused of rape and then but
00:14:25
just it's okay, God's using it all and and Joseph I mean any
00:14:30
normal person would go are Just get me out of the pit.
00:14:33
Don't explain my life to me. I just get me out of the pit.
00:14:36
Like, that's my problem. I can't possibly see how this
00:14:40
pit could in, any way benefit my life.
00:14:43
And that's a normal thought, you could be in the middle of a
00:14:47
trial right now, even listening to Cassandra.
00:14:49
And I talked in here, like that guy doesn't know what he's
00:14:51
talking about. He doesn't understand what I'm
00:14:53
going through and and he, how could he possibly think?
00:14:55
It's good. I don't, I don't you, you would
00:14:59
misunderstand. I don't think it's good.
00:15:01
I think if I was in the pit I wouldn't want, I wouldn't want
00:15:05
you to give me some some sermon at the edge of the pit.
00:15:09
Just throw me a rope and save me get me out of here.
00:15:13
And in in that, In in light of that, I know it's not easy.
00:15:19
And I know it's not, it's not fun.
00:15:22
I know that if you could turn the clock back a day or two or
00:15:26
three, you probably change things but we can't we lived we
00:15:31
live life, we live life linearly day by day and some of those
00:15:36
days are going to be harder than others.
00:15:38
We live in a fallen world and and one of the things that
00:15:42
Joseph teaches us is that God does work all things together.
00:15:47
As a matter of fact, Genesis 50:20 is the Romans 8:28 or the
00:15:51
Old Testament where Joseph looks at his brothers, where he could
00:15:54
have wiped, he could have gotten Revenge, he could have exacted,
00:16:00
all that, pain, and anger, and bitterness of, which we read of
00:16:04
none. So he dealt with it along the
00:16:06
way. By the time God was setting it
00:16:09
up. He could look back and say you
00:16:12
know what you meant for evil God has turned around and meant for
00:16:15
good, but in the midst of it you don't see that you don't
00:16:18
actually feel it. So you got to be careful with
00:16:20
your feelings because your feelings is real, as they are,
00:16:24
they don't always tell you the truth and you can, you can be in
00:16:27
a very difficult thing in your feelings.
00:16:29
Could say this is the this is its you're never going to get
00:16:32
out of this. Your it's never going to be
00:16:34
over. You'll never get out of this
00:16:35
pit. You'll He accused your whole
00:16:37
life, it'll be hard. There's no hope there's no rhyme
00:16:39
knows, no reason, there's no purpose but all that would not
00:16:43
be true. Because the people that God
00:16:46
reserve, the true stories in the Bible for us were people like
00:16:49
you and me they lived at separated by years by they live
00:16:54
separated. You know, they have the
00:16:55
technology we have today, they thousands of years but they
00:16:59
aren't separated from The Human Condition.
00:17:02
Truly when you think of Joseph Joseph, endured trials with far
00:17:06
less know. Of God, then you and I have
00:17:08
today, right? Right.
00:17:09
You didn't know Messiah. He didn't have the word of God.
00:17:12
And that example right there is like lens to one of my favorite
00:17:17
phrases that you have in the book and it's pretty much
00:17:20
throughout the book that this suffering is for our good.
00:17:24
But for his glory and it's just such a reminder of God's
00:17:28
faithfulness and how like he sees he sees every detail of our
00:17:33
lives and know what's going on. And it's not taking him by
00:17:35
surprise. Eyes.
00:17:37
And ultimately he's going to glorify himself.
00:17:40
So if you guys are just joining us, we are chatting with Pastor
00:17:42
Ed Taylor on a special edition of Calvary live about his new
00:17:47
book, God's help for the troubled heart.
00:17:50
So one of the other statements in the book that perhaps you can
00:17:54
unpack a little bit for our listeners is you say this,
00:17:58
trials and suffering, expose the foundation of your life every
00:18:04
time. Well, I think We can live a
00:18:08
rather self-deceived life and I don't necessarily mean
00:18:12
necessarily like we mean to do that or that we think that, you
00:18:18
know, we just think when things are going well until trial hits
00:18:21
and then then we're exposed then, then everything about our
00:18:25
life is there. Can't be anything hidden there.
00:18:27
Can't be anything when a deep trouble.
00:18:30
For example, let's make it simple.
00:18:32
First before we get any complicated, if you, and I were
00:18:35
driving to church, you You and Jason in the back seat.
00:18:38
Marina in the front seat, we're driving to church together and
00:18:41
we all have open containers of hot liquid in our hands with no
00:18:45
lids. And we're very careful.
00:18:48
We're trying. We all we can't smell or see
00:18:51
what each other has and and then we exchange them.
00:18:55
So you get mine and Murray goes to Jason and we all exchange
00:18:59
them but we can't know our noses are plugged.
00:19:01
We can't we don't know what's in them and as I'm turning a
00:19:04
corner, I hit a bump and that Pump then causes us to spill out
00:19:09
our cup. And then we find out what's
00:19:11
inside of it bumps in the road trials, along the way, they
00:19:16
disrupt us as those cups and what's inside of us comes out,
00:19:21
you know, because here's what happens.
00:19:22
This is so common where many people blame the trial for their
00:19:28
bad behavior. They go.
00:19:29
You know what, if it wasn't for this difficulty I would have
00:19:32
never act like this and I would have never done this and I would
00:19:34
have never said this if it wasn't for the trial and I
00:19:37
believe the Bible teaches the exact opposite.
00:19:40
I believe the Bible teaches that it was the trial that revealed
00:19:44
what was in you all along and I used that dumb illustration all
00:19:48
the time. It's you've heard it plenty of
00:19:50
times here in teaching that I'm in the garage I'm building
00:19:54
something which is a lame illustration anyway, because I
00:19:56
would never be me, but I'm in the garage with a hammer, I
00:19:59
strike my thumb and I start cussing like you wouldn't
00:20:03
believe Marie comes out and goes Ed.
00:20:05
What is your problem? Are you talking like that?
00:20:07
And I go what, you know, honey, I normally don't talk like this
00:20:10
but you know, it's the hammer. When I hit my thumb, if I
00:20:13
wouldn't hit my thumb, I would have never cost, but that's not
00:20:15
what the Bible says. The Bible says that out of the
00:20:18
abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, what Jesus uses
00:20:22
this very similar, illustration of this sense of storms
00:20:27
revealing, when he tells us about the two men that built
00:20:30
their house, one on this rock and one on the sand, and I'm
00:20:35
sure I think of it. In the context of all of the.
00:20:38
There's so much building going on right now around Colorado,
00:20:41
around the church here that they're all very homogenous type
00:20:45
homes. They all look the same same
00:20:48
siding, same structure. And in Colorado, we have this
00:20:53
expansive soil where one house could have it and the next door
00:20:57
doesn't similar. I mean when we built the when we
00:21:01
built the church, one of the biggest expenses was to get rid
00:21:04
of all this expansive soil on An end of the because if it took
00:21:09
out a corner of the building, it would take the whole thing out.
00:21:11
And, and so the, when Jesus uses a illustration, he says, it's
00:21:16
when the the same exact storm came and beat on the house.
00:21:20
One house, stood one house fell and it wasn't until they were
00:21:25
hit with the storm. That was revealed their
00:21:28
foundation. And, you know, I think looking
00:21:31
back at the Genesis of the book Cassandra when when we got the
00:21:35
call and went Who the whole time with Eddie in the hospital and
00:21:38
such that I think I was doing well I think God was marriage is
00:21:44
great families. Great just had a grandson Eddie
00:21:48
had just gotten married a year before and it was really, really
00:21:51
good and then it wasn't a small trial.
00:21:55
It was humongous, it was huge and it did reveal cracks in my
00:22:00
in my life. It revealed areas of my life
00:22:03
that needed God's attention. It revealed areas of Ed, you
00:22:07
know, you're still on The Potter's Wheel, you're still the
00:22:10
clay and God was fat and things were revealed in our marriage.
00:22:14
Things were revealed in our hearts, things were revealed
00:22:17
that through the pain and through the darkness.
00:22:19
That that had Maria and I, and our kids, not humble ourselves
00:22:24
before God and turn to him, it could have ended disastrous.
00:22:29
And so I look back and I say there were some cracks and there
00:22:32
were some things God revealed, but I look back and go.
00:22:35
Wow! We really have been because
00:22:38
sometimes you don't really know but we're like, you know, we
00:22:41
really have been building our house on the rock.
00:22:43
Like, this is real, this is real.
00:22:45
I would have I would never suggest nor would I want anyone
00:22:49
to face the trial of a loss of a loved one, the loss of a child
00:22:53
and on and on that list goes, but that's providentially.
00:22:56
What God allowed into my life? And I'm grateful.
00:23:00
Our house was not built on this, and we're still standing, were
00:23:03
stronger now than we were. And, and there, The testimony of
00:23:08
my son Eddie has been used hundreds, if not thousands of
00:23:12
times to encourage strengthen and help and it's not going to
00:23:17
stop. It's not going to stop.
00:23:19
Obviously, if I could undo everything, I do undo it, but
00:23:23
that's not, that's not God's heart for us.
00:23:24
He doesn't we don't undo things. We Embrace things, and we endure
00:23:29
things, but we can't undo them. And it's been such an example,
00:23:33
too many. How you guys your family, the
00:23:35
humility that You guys have just placed yourselves as servants
00:23:40
through this and really just shared and invited us all into
00:23:44
your lives. So I just in grateful to how the
00:23:49
Lord brought you through to the the, it's important as you're
00:23:54
listening because you might just be tuning in and we're going to
00:23:56
come up on a break here, pretty soon.
00:23:58
So it may it may be important for you to realize it's not
00:24:03
perfect. So when you, when you observe a
00:24:06
family You Know, You observe the results but I have to say that,
00:24:11
I didn't think we'd make it, I was really afraid.
00:24:14
I was really afraid for our marriage.
00:24:16
One of the things I read because it was dark, it was very
00:24:19
difficult. I mean, I don't, I don't know
00:24:22
how to describe it. I had experienced a loss of my
00:24:26
mom and dad prior to our my dad prior to that.
00:24:29
And man, I don't I think it was Greg Laurie talking about
00:24:34
joining a club nobody ever wants to join.
00:24:36
I mean, it was Eddie was a very, very special man in our lives,
00:24:40
you know, born to us as teenage parents.
00:24:43
I and you know, we weren't predicted to make it.
00:24:47
We get married still not predicted to make it.
00:24:49
We get born again, still not predicted to make it.
00:24:52
And that poor little guy had to lift through all of that, all of
00:24:56
those tosses and turns. And but we make it, I caught.
00:25:01
So faithful. We have Born Again.
00:25:03
God Saves our marriage. Eddie now grows up in a Godly.
00:25:06
Home. He has a brother as a sister and
00:25:08
then you fast forward through all the trials, all the
00:25:10
difficulties of church, life and pastoring and all that.
00:25:14
And then man, it was like a like a hitting a brick wall and I was
00:25:19
super, super, you know, scared about our marriage.
00:25:21
They say that marriage. Is that lose a child?
00:25:24
I forget the percentages but they don't make it.
00:25:27
I'm like, oh man. That's I'm not one of those guys
00:25:30
who starts assessing everything. It was oh man, we need don't
00:25:33
make it, don't make it and and so as as we we learned and we
00:25:38
had to learn this as we learn to surrender as we learned even
00:25:43
through mistakes that we made to repent and humble ourselves.
00:25:49
It it's the you don't want to run from God.
00:25:54
You want to run to God or at least I was thinking, one of the
00:25:58
verses that popped into mind is in Psalm 46:10 be still know
00:26:03
that I am God I will be exalted among the Actions, I'll be
00:26:07
exalted in there. Sometimes, the best decision is
00:26:10
just to stay still. So let me just say guys, if
00:26:14
you're tuned in, we're in studio with Cassandra, Austin.
00:26:18
She's my assistant here at Calvary and she, and I worked
00:26:21
together on putting a book finishing, a book publishing and
00:26:24
there's a lot of people on the team but Cassandra carried, most
00:26:28
of the heavy work. The book is called, God's help
00:26:31
for the troubled heart. And whether you're listening to
00:26:33
this live or you listening to a podcast, or Later broadcast on
00:26:38
other stations. We just want to invite you into
00:26:40
the conversation. We want to remind you that this
00:26:43
book is available. It's called God's help for the
00:26:46
troubled, heart, the feedback on.
00:26:47
It's been amazing. It's a book that is designed to
00:26:51
keep you encouraged so Cassandra and I are just having a
00:26:53
conversation together and we're talking about the ingredients or
00:26:58
talking about different. Different aspects and different
00:27:02
chapters. But if you're hurting right now
00:27:04
and you're struggling and you're looking for a piece of help,
00:27:08
this book would be very helpful. You can get it on our website at
00:27:12
Calvary Co dot Store, Calvary Co dot store.
00:27:17
I think all of it. Every part of it, from the
00:27:19
cover, to the dedication page, to the back, to the color to the
00:27:25
artwork. It just man, it came out so
00:27:28
good, that's detail. Above and beyond what we could
00:27:32
think or ask your tune in to Calvary live and this is the
00:27:36
show where we take your calls in your questions.
00:27:39
We talk about things that are relevant to your life.
00:27:42
And today, it's a special edition because we have my
00:27:45
assistant, Cassandra Austin in studio today and she's talking
00:27:49
to me about a book that we just published here called God's help
00:27:53
for the troubled heart. We just spent the first half of
00:27:57
the program talking about where it came I'm from why we wrote it
00:28:01
some of the earlier chapters. It's if you're just tuning in, I
00:28:05
think it's important for you to stick around because it doesn't
00:28:08
matter. Whether you're grieving, whether
00:28:10
you're fearful anxious, whether you're full of yourself or pain
00:28:17
or hardship. We really mean, you know, the
00:28:20
whole essence of this book is to get your eyes off your situation
00:28:24
and get it back, get your eyes back on the Lord.
00:28:27
Who's ready to minister to your Art, that's troubled.
00:28:31
And it could be troubled in a deep way through grief.
00:28:33
It could be troubled in a, not so deep way.
00:28:36
Like fear or anxiety whatever. It might be God's ready to help
00:28:41
and we put this book together. It's a labor of love really are
00:28:45
Cassandra. Really carried a lot of the
00:28:48
heavy work on this as we work together with some other people
00:28:53
on the team. And and really I think it's it's
00:28:55
a we booked it. So you know what we like to say
00:28:57
around here is we is the language.
00:29:00
Of ministry. Not I and nobody ever does
00:29:02
anything alone ever? Never never, it's always a team.
00:29:06
It's always a group. So, I'm going to hand as we did
00:29:08
in the first half of the program.
00:29:10
I'm going to hand the show right over to our new host today.
00:29:13
Cassandra Austin, welcome again, Cassandra hey and thank you.
00:29:17
Pastor had for letting me be here with you and I appreciate
00:29:21
the opportunity to chat together.
00:29:23
It was such a labor of love for this book but what a privilege
00:29:27
man. And one of the things that I was
00:29:30
reflecting on during their break right now is just thinking
00:29:34
through because because I asked you at the top of the hour, so
00:29:37
who needs to read this book? And in thinking about it, like I
00:29:42
needed this book and I didn't realize how much I needed this
00:29:46
book, A lot of these stories and testimonies came from a time
00:29:53
that you shared this from the pulpit and we put it into the
00:29:56
book form. But as they developed along the
00:29:59
way, I When we turned it over and started to just really pull
00:30:03
things together and I had no clue that incoming and putting
00:30:08
all the pieces together that God had my own journey to go
00:30:12
through. During this time, where I found
00:30:15
out I had cancer. And, and I had spent many months
00:30:19
working on it and I realize I can remember going to each
00:30:22
chapter and going. Yes, light like, this is so good
00:30:25
because it's ministering to me and I'm crying and and the Lords
00:30:30
Just doing a work in me, and then to actually getting the
00:30:32
diagnosis and that was, my anchor was, was God's word in
00:30:38
his faithfulness and I knew, because of the things that had
00:30:40
been taught in the book that in him in, Jesus is how he would
00:30:47
get me through this. And so as I leaned in him, I
00:30:50
allowed the book to just minister to my heart and just
00:30:53
bring me through my own Journey, my own trial, and that kind of
00:30:57
stuff is not easy. And you think of all of The
00:31:00
mental anguish that people go through when there's a different
00:31:03
kind of diagnosis. And one of the things that I
00:31:05
found, that was really important that you brought up is to not
00:31:10
make a big decision when you're in the middle of grief or
00:31:15
suffering or a trial. It's a that's a huge
00:31:19
encouragement. I think that we have a tendency
00:31:22
to want to control something. When everything around our life
00:31:27
is out of control. And because of that, At when
00:31:30
there's immediate decisions to be made, we can make like huge
00:31:33
life tithe. It's time to move because we
00:31:36
think we equate moving with this will take the pain away.
00:31:40
Now moving may or may not take the pain away, I don't know.
00:31:44
But until there's a clear indication that God is leading
00:31:47
you to move. I would encourage you don't move
00:31:50
or I'm going to quit my job. I'm just going to quit.
00:31:52
I can't handle it. I can't take it.
00:31:54
Well, there are probably other Alternatives.
00:31:57
What? Take some days off, talk to your
00:31:59
boss. Don't quit so quickly because
00:32:03
there may be other ways you can handle this, is it.
00:32:06
Usually, if you make a big decision when you're in crisis,
00:32:11
you'll regret it. Because almost, always, it's an
00:32:14
emotional decision, not a spiritual decision, or it's an
00:32:19
emotional response. Rather than a time of Abiding in
00:32:26
Christ knowing no, this is exactly because you don't hear
00:32:28
clearly, like, you think back to even the your mind and your
00:32:34
emotions handling all the cancer, what could be, what if
00:32:38
what about, and then you finally get the diagnosis?
00:32:40
And then you're like, oh no and need to take it proposed you
00:32:43
into another area of. I'm not sure in your mind.
00:32:47
All the capacity of your mind. I mean, most people are like
00:32:51
this. I'm sure some of you may not be
00:32:53
but like it goes. Jesus would have never told us
00:32:55
to worry, not to worry if we didn't worry.
00:32:57
The Bible would never tell us not to don't be anxious if we
00:33:00
weren't going to be anxious. Like the Psalms wouldn't be
00:33:02
there. If we weren't upset, if we
00:33:03
weren't in deep grief, if we didn't cry ourselves, a like The
00:33:08
Human Experience is real. And that's why in the beginning.
00:33:12
And how we shared in the previous segment?
00:33:14
That the idea that it's all your fault.
00:33:17
You don't have enough, Faith? No, you're just a normal human
00:33:19
being and Christians feel that way to its when you're born
00:33:23
again. You don't lose your emotions.
00:33:26
I remember hearing a pastor wants a, you know, men only have
00:33:29
one emotion, they law or they lost all their emotions when as
00:33:33
you know, nobody loses their emotions.
00:33:35
It's not true. We are emotional beings.
00:33:38
Some of us more than others and to not make a big decision is
00:33:44
wise even the Bible says, you know, in the count in the
00:33:47
multitude of counselors there's peace.
00:33:49
So even not making a big decision but having some people
00:33:52
around that can Help like if you're married, your spouse or
00:33:57
your pastor, or a good friend that can speak the truth into
00:34:01
your life and go, you know, I'm not saying whether that's a good
00:34:05
or bad decision. I'm just asking you to wait.
00:34:07
Let's let's catch our breath, let's get to a place because you
00:34:12
lose. I was thinking when I think of
00:34:14
this question that you when you're, when you're hit with
00:34:18
trials, you lose your equilibrium, you lose your
00:34:22
balance, you become off balance. And the last thing you want to
00:34:25
do is is be in a you know the last thing you want to do is
00:34:28
walk down the middle of a highway.
00:34:31
You're already there with that with losing your balance you
00:34:34
know, you're trying to save and you're going to walk that
00:34:36
straight line. But without your balance, most
00:34:39
likely you're going to get hurt deeply.
00:34:41
It's going to be challenging. And, and that, that that's not
00:34:44
just a discussion to. Because Andrew, I'm just
00:34:46
thinking if you're in the midst of trial, right now, like, in
00:34:49
the midst of a trial that is overwhelming your emotions.
00:34:53
I'm just You write down the decisions on a piece of paper,
00:34:58
put them in an envelope and seal that until your until you have a
00:35:01
little bit more equilibrium until the cloud passes.
00:35:04
It's like it's another illustration.
00:35:06
I think of is fog or we've got some a snowstorm coming in while
00:35:11
we're recording this. It it may are at a different
00:35:13
time but while we're recording this, their warning a big
00:35:16
blizzard coming into Colorado. Well, when it's snowing And it's
00:35:21
thick. Or if you're in a place with fog
00:35:23
or Heavy Rain, the last thing you want to do in fog, heavy
00:35:27
rain or snow is speed up. And let's go faster in our you
00:35:31
know we're driving. Let's go faster.
00:35:33
No it's slow down, don't put on there are certain things you do
00:35:37
when you drive in the rain. And there's certain things you
00:35:40
do when you drive in the snow. As a matter of fact, right
00:35:43
before the program today, our producer, Kevin.
00:35:45
And I were saying the National Weather Service is saying just
00:35:48
don't go out at all, don't don't go out at all.
00:35:50
Don't drive at all. And at times.
00:35:52
That's the right Council. Don't do anything at all.
00:35:54
Just wait be still be quiet, GetGo.
00:35:59
Just become a person. Instead of making a bunch of
00:36:01
decisions, just read the Bible. Talk to God.
00:36:05
You just even if you're all alone, just seek God him first
00:36:10
and pause on any big decisions. I like that perspective of
00:36:14
seeking that counsel or Just that wisdom from others to pour
00:36:20
into your life, during that, that time.
00:36:22
And one of the things that, that, that makes me think of is
00:36:25
how when were suffering, maybe you're not the person that
00:36:30
suffering but maybe, you know, a family member or a friend or a
00:36:34
co-worker, this just really going through it.
00:36:37
So God's put us in their lives to come alongside of them and
00:36:42
share the burdens that they have.
00:36:45
And in the book, you talk about, What that looks like because you
00:36:50
give the picture of Paul and he's carrying another's burdens
00:36:58
and loads and you equate it to a backpack, well, carrying a
00:37:04
backpack, we want what's essential in there.
00:37:07
We don't want things on our backs.
00:37:10
That would be, you know, you're not looking to pack a backpack
00:37:14
with every single thing that that you, that you Have in life.
00:37:18
But rather you look to have a backpack with just the
00:37:21
essentials is, it's going to be a heavy burden on your back.
00:37:24
We don't normally walk around with a backpacks all the time.
00:37:27
But, you know, there are times to when you think of that
00:37:30
picture where, you know, imagine carrying a backpack and you've
00:37:32
got the essentials, but then you have people putting rocks in
00:37:35
there and rock after Rock after Rock, and you're carrying a
00:37:39
weight and a load that you were never designed to carry your
00:37:43
carrying a weight and a load that what Jesus said, come unto
00:37:47
me all. You are weary and heavy laden
00:37:50
and I will give you rest, you know, take my yoke upon you not.
00:37:54
Not other people's yolks. And I think too, when you when
00:37:57
you think of the burden that you can be a like we can I can I can
00:38:02
help you or I can hurt you in the midst of your, that's
00:38:05
something to really take to heart.
00:38:07
You may not be the one suffering, but you may be the
00:38:09
one that's to give help that, that's a very important role
00:38:13
that you play in someone's life that you can really, really help
00:38:16
them by removing burdens from them by saying the right thing,
00:38:22
one of the places especially when it comes to grief.
00:38:25
If you're looking for help in this area, you can go to my
00:38:27
website, Ed Taylor dot-org because after my son passed
00:38:32
away, I started writing more. And some of the things I would
00:38:35
write would be like, hey there's four things don't ever say to a
00:38:38
grieving person. Not only because I had some
00:38:43
things said to me that weren't helpful to me, they're like
00:38:45
putting rocks in my backpack. But I also offer an alternative
00:38:50
so instead of saying this, say this, because it will really
00:38:53
help. Like I'll give you a quick
00:38:55
example. Anybody going through great
00:38:57
crisis grief or not, don't ask them.
00:39:00
How are you doing? That's a very difficult question
00:39:04
to ask or answer. What do you mean?
00:39:06
How am I doing? What do you mean with my son
00:39:09
died? I'm horrible.
00:39:10
Why would you what do you think? I could say it's been?
00:39:13
Well, yeah. And in the thought is it's been
00:39:15
eight years, you know? You well what do you mean like
00:39:17
how How old am I? How am I doing?
00:39:19
I'm doing horrible. You can always answer it that
00:39:21
way, you can answer that. You could probably ask me that
00:39:24
in 20 years and if it's related to the death of my son.
00:39:27
I'm horrible. I hate it.
00:39:28
I wish it never happened and, and that could take so that
00:39:32
that's, that's a hard question to answer.
00:39:34
But, but if you ask the question like this, how are you doing
00:39:37
today? It Narrows the whole scope of.
00:39:41
And I could say, if you asked me today, Ed, how are you doing
00:39:44
today? You know, I'm doing pretty well
00:39:45
today. You didn't take me back.
00:39:48
Eight years, you just asked me today on some days you could ask
00:39:51
me how, how am I doing it? And I'm going, I'm not doing too
00:39:54
good today but at least you're relieving the burden of me
00:39:58
trying to figure out what exactly you want to know because
00:40:01
I could always ask it I could always answer it.
00:40:04
Well I'm horrible. It's like what do you think?
00:40:05
It's but but then that's adversary already like and you
00:40:09
don't mean it to be but I'm in a position of trying to have an or
00:40:12
the person in crisis is in the position of trying to figure it
00:40:16
all out. That's why I think having a book
00:40:19
like this is helpful to give to a person when you don't know
00:40:24
what to say. Or you don't know how to respond
00:40:27
to them. Like you're not, you're not when
00:40:29
you put this book and if you use that illustration like in a
00:40:32
backpack, you're not adding a burden to them because it's not
00:40:35
a testimony. So the person doesn't have to
00:40:37
relive all my pain. That's not why I wrote it.
00:40:41
I don't I only want people to see the Lord in this so it's not
00:40:46
like you really relieved Pain again it's like it's like a book
00:40:49
of Hope and even today in the timing of this I sent out a text
00:40:55
of I got a I got some feedback from this book recently of of a
00:41:00
sister in California who purchased a copy and this
00:41:04
happens to be a sister that was in, this is amazing.
00:41:06
You never know how God is going to use this.
00:41:08
This sister was in our first home Bible study, when I taught
00:41:12
back in Southern California, they were part of our home group
00:41:14
and so she sent me a Back in December and I and she said, I
00:41:19
gave you a book for Christmas to my boss and in this case she
00:41:23
lost his daughter almost ten years ago.
00:41:26
So, back in 2010. And, and since 2010, he's been
00:41:30
spiraling downward. He told me today, she wrote
00:41:34
that. He started your book and it's
00:41:36
hitting him really hard. I'm praying, he turns back to
00:41:39
Jesus fast forward to yesterday. I got an updated email March
00:41:42
2021. Hey, Ed.
00:41:44
Just wanted to give you a little update and tell you that my boss
00:41:46
bought. More of your books.
00:41:49
He wanted to give them to his family because it's been it's
00:41:52
truly helped him to refocus. Keep praying for him.
00:41:55
And and so the what what's important for us to realize is
00:42:00
that we can be a help and we can also be heard and I met both
00:42:03
sides, I met I met people that hurt me on purpose.
00:42:07
I met people that hurt me and didn't mean to.
00:42:10
I how I met people that helped me on purpose and I also met
00:42:13
people that helped me in the didn't mean to.
00:42:15
So you're going to face All of that in the and plus, you're
00:42:18
going to still have, you're still going to get sick.
00:42:21
You're like, I physically can get headaches.
00:42:23
Your, you're still going to run out of gas, you're still gonna
00:42:26
have to make your car payment. You're still going to have to
00:42:29
deal with the snow. You're still going to have to
00:42:31
deal with your kids and change diapers like life continues,
00:42:36
around us. And if we're in the position to
00:42:40
help someone, let's do our best to do that and not be a burden
00:42:45
to them. Even so let me just say this
00:42:48
because you can tie back another truth from the book.
00:42:51
You remember when Hannah was desperate she did what we would
00:42:54
tell her to do go to church, she went to the temple, but go to
00:42:59
church, she went to the top, you know, to the place of worship,
00:43:02
go to the place of worship. That's where you'll find help.
00:43:04
Well, when she was there in Desperate prayer, the priest
00:43:07
accused her of being drunk, he was no help at all.
00:43:11
He gay, he was not Abiding. And all he had.
00:43:15
As a matter of fact, the Judgment of God was going.
00:43:17
To come on his house not too long from there.
00:43:18
Like it was not going to be good, not going to be good.
00:43:21
But even though Hannah came to the house of God and didn't
00:43:25
receive the kind of care that you would expect from a man of
00:43:28
God, God was still faithful. And that's the important truth
00:43:34
on every page man. Will fail.
00:43:36
You pastors will fail. You friends will fail you.
00:43:39
And of course, we don't want that, but that happens, but God
00:43:42
will never fail you. He will take care of you.
00:43:45
I mean, you Joseph, his own brother's turn.
00:43:47
No, Anna meets the priest that turns it doesn't help her.
00:43:51
Accuses, her being drunk in her debt.
00:43:52
All she was doing was praying and, and how careful we need to
00:43:56
be to help people along the way. Even if we don't know how to
00:44:01
help, just your presence sometimes just being there,
00:44:03
being present and being available is enough for a
00:44:06
person. You don't have to say anything.
00:44:08
Like just coming and putting an arm.
00:44:09
And can I pray for you? Yeah, and just praying, or with
00:44:12
technology. You have text messages.
00:44:14
Hey, just pray for you today. Yeah.
00:44:17
You can leave a voicemail. You, there's so many tools that
00:44:20
we can use now that to not intrude in someone's life, but
00:44:24
be available in someone's life. Well, I want to.
00:44:31
Give time to any of our listeners that maybe you're
00:44:36
listening and you're in a trial or difficulty, and you just
00:44:42
would like to call and receive encouragement or a prayer.
00:44:45
You can text Pastor Ed, or give us a call here at 3720, 3360,
00:44:52
897 that's our text line. You can also call us at 30 3690
00:44:59
3000, I'm looking at page 100 here.
00:45:04
The title is faithful in the waiting long periods of
00:45:08
suffering or difficult to endure especially when there's no end
00:45:11
in sight. I was thinking, I learned
00:45:14
something. It's not like, I didn't know
00:45:15
this, but I learned it in practicality Cassandra that most
00:45:20
of the time we condition. I won't say we've been
00:45:23
conditioned, but we condition ourselves to think.
00:45:26
Okay? When it comes to trials, I've
00:45:28
got, here's the beginning of a trial.
00:45:30
I have a very short middle and a quick ending, and trials,
00:45:34
especially early on. As a new believer, get resolved,
00:45:36
pretty quickly. We get somebody mad at us on the
00:45:40
highway and then and then the rest of the day goes on or we
00:45:44
get in trouble at work, but then we move on.
00:45:47
We have an argument with someone then when resolve it but
00:45:50
eventually, and maybe you're in this place here, eventually
00:45:55
you're going to face a trial that has a beginning.
00:45:59
A very definite beginning, and a long middle.
00:46:05
With no end in sight. And although we do have an end
00:46:09
in sight when we wake up in the presence of Jesus, there there's
00:46:14
no end in sight and I think in some respects the reality is is
00:46:19
that a lot of Trials, feel that way.
00:46:21
And in these times of waiting is when depression doubt and
00:46:25
discouragement start to take root in your heart and even if
00:46:29
you're even if you're in church regularly, I mean I think of
00:46:32
what this last year has brought with covid isolating people
00:46:37
Putting them behind a face covering keeping them at home.
00:46:41
Instilling, not rational fear because there is good fear,
00:46:45
right? Concern.
00:46:45
If you're a high risk, in the beginning, we didn't know what
00:46:48
this was. Covid has taken lives.
00:46:50
There is real fear, but we've seen fear ratchet up to
00:46:54
irrational fear, even so much, so that there's not even a it's
00:46:59
stolen away. Even Believers ability to trust
00:47:03
God with their own life, they think staying home is a better
00:47:07
choice than being open to the Holy Spirit.
00:47:11
Let's just say the holy spirit says, leave your house.
00:47:13
Just say the holy spirit says, go shopping to say the holy
00:47:16
spirit says, go meet your neighbor.
00:47:17
No, no, no covid-19. I'm not leaving the house.
00:47:20
There's and and not, not just episodes of that, but the, a
00:47:25
real paralyzing fear and isolation and icily combined
00:47:29
with isolation. You think if you're in It's of a
00:47:32
long trial already. This is where depression doubt
00:47:35
and discouragement and like the nation of Israel.
00:47:38
Like, the Israelites we can wonder where is God in our
00:47:42
suffering. We wonder how much longer can we
00:47:45
endure and maybe like you, I wrote you have received well
00:47:50
intention and yet painful and courage, courage meant like this
00:47:53
quote, don't worry. God won't give you more than you
00:47:56
can handle and what a joke. That's not true.
00:48:00
God gives you more than you can handle.
00:48:01
All. All the time that's life.
00:48:04
Like now it's a misapplied verse.
00:48:05
Of course. It's the verse that says no
00:48:07
temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man,
00:48:10
with with every Temptations, God made a way of Escape.
00:48:12
Like that's that's been somehow reinterpreted by God.
00:48:15
I'll never give you more than you can handle, but life is more
00:48:18
than we can handle. God, will allow things.
00:48:21
Send us create things that are more than we can handle.
00:48:25
But the reality is, is that If we place the, if we place the
00:48:31
emphasis upon what we can handle, we will be discouraged
00:48:34
depressed. And just bummed out because we
00:48:36
can't handle anything. But if we place our emphasis
00:48:39
upon the God, who can handle everything, then we'll have our
00:48:43
faith in the right place. And we'll be trusting, God, even
00:48:46
in the Long Middle. Because, you know, this trial
00:48:49
with our son dying will not end until we see Jesus face-to-face.
00:48:54
There's elements of it that could end sooner than that.
00:48:57
And of course, we pray for that. But Eddie's not coming back.
00:49:02
He can't come to me but I can go to him.
00:49:05
David said of his own son and now I can say that a, my son.
00:49:08
So it's a long middle. And the question is well what
00:49:11
will I do in the middle? And really the the same old
00:49:15
thing that you do when you're not in a trial?
00:49:18
You do exactly what the early church did.
00:49:21
They continued steadfastly in the apostles Doctrine and
00:49:24
fellowship and prayer and the breaking of bread whether you
00:49:28
feel like are not Whether you like it or not, whether you're
00:49:30
happy or not, I've been in this Sanctuary dozens of times here.
00:49:36
During this time. We're at.
00:49:37
That is the last place I want to be.
00:49:40
I don't want to be around people, I mean, imagine that mr.
00:49:43
Pastor, I don't want to be around people.
00:49:44
I don't want to hear these songs.
00:49:46
I don't want to sing these songs.
00:49:48
I don't know that I've ever really thought that I didn't
00:49:51
want to teach a Bible study, but I'm sure I have had that thought
00:49:54
but not to be around people, not to want to answer questions, not
00:49:58
to want to Explain things not to want to have to somehow defend
00:50:02
myself of some like nah. I it'd just be better to be
00:50:06
alone but the Bible says that it's foolish to isolate
00:50:12
ourselves and I'm not even talking covid-19, but covid has
00:50:15
played a role in that and trials will do the same thing that
00:50:20
covid did isolate you make you fearful irrational Lashley,
00:50:26
that's a hard thing to say, that's probably a different
00:50:29
Program because we're coming up on the end here.
00:50:30
But it's probably a whole different program altogether.
00:50:33
Where, when you're in the midst of Trials, you can be a deep
00:50:38
deep Center and that's not good, like you don't.
00:50:41
You got to have somebody that can speak the truth to you and
00:50:44
go, you know what? I know you're hurting right now.
00:50:47
I know it's hard, but that doesn't give you permission to
00:50:49
sin. This is you're just going to,
00:50:51
you're going to. So if you sow to the flesh, even
00:50:55
in the midst of, I think of, I think of somebody Be in the
00:50:59
midst of a painful divorce who just wants to stick it to their
00:51:03
ex and they just want to they just want to yell scream
00:51:07
whatever and you think. Will he hurt me so bad?
00:51:10
So I'm going to hurt him. No, it's not going to get you
00:51:14
where you want to go. That's one of the pretty
00:51:19
pictures in the book is just the picture of the reminders that
00:51:23
are constant, that in the middle of that, in the middle of the
00:51:28
heaviness in the suffering that we have deep Grace, from the
00:51:32
Lord, and his love. And, and that tapestry is kind
00:51:36
of woven throughout. We've taken trips.
00:51:39
We've taken teams and groups to Israel and there's that time
00:51:43
where, when we're Nazareth Village in the new, there's a
00:51:47
huge wheel that that turns, and there's olives that they put in
00:51:51
there to give us that sound of the olive press.
00:51:55
And there's nothing like that, that crushing, well, we're
00:52:00
coming up on the end of today's program.
00:52:01
We had a special guest host today, Cassandra Austin.
00:52:04
She happens to be my assistant and we work together to put this
00:52:10
book in your hands and it's a labor of love.
00:52:13
You think things like this, you know, are very easy, they're not
00:52:16
there. He challenging the birth was,
00:52:18
the book was bird that a grief, but it's not a book about grief.
00:52:23
Although, if you're in deep grief, they'll help you.
00:52:25
It's not a book about all of our pain even though if you're in
00:52:28
pain, it'll help you. It's a book about God through
00:52:32
the true stories. In the scriptures to help you
00:52:35
get your eyes back on the Lord, to encourage him to encourage
00:52:39
you with his encouragement, to comfort you to help you, to help
00:52:43
your family and friends, and you can get a copy.
00:52:46
Here at the church are book. Stores opened around Services.
00:52:49
Of course, you can get it on our online bookstore Calvary, Co dot
00:52:54
Store, Calvary, Co dot store. You can of course, get it,
00:52:57
wherever books are sold. So, however, you choose to buy
00:53:00
your books, you can get it there as well, but Cassandra, I want
00:53:04
to thank you for all the work. I know you're already working on
00:53:07
our next project, we were just talking about that.
00:53:09
So we do want to put more of the teachings and edit them into
00:53:13
writing, because just because we know that everyone, Some people
00:53:18
can relate to things in writing more than verbal, you've got 60
00:53:24
seconds. Any final thoughts?
00:53:26
Yeah, I want to thank you. I want to thank you for your
00:53:29
obedience and your faithfulness to follow through and, and put
00:53:33
this from the pulpit into a book form, because I have the
00:53:39
privilege of reading, all of the testimonies that come along the
00:53:42
way. And I just, we have to give
00:53:45
glory to the Lord because It's helping and it's making a
00:53:48
difference in the lives of people.
00:53:50
So get the book, read it and I just send us an e-mail.
00:53:54
Let us know how God uses it to encourage your heart.
00:53:57
Yeah, you can you can email Cassandra directly Cassandra at
00:54:01
Calvary Co dot church. And and in the neat thing to
00:54:06
just as a side note, with the book, all the net proceeds of
00:54:10
the book flow through the church to our missionaries.
00:54:14
They get an extra check at the end of the year.
00:54:16
All the proceeds from our Resurrection, calf, coffeehouse
00:54:20
our bookstore. And this particular book has
00:54:22
been put into our bookstore. So the net proceeds that come
00:54:26
through the bookstore, go right out to support so it's a double
00:54:31
blessing and it's a double encouragement to know that.
00:54:35
As you invest in helping someone invest in yourself proceeds, go
00:54:40
out to our missionaries of which I just read today.
00:54:42
One of our missionaries just had surgery to have a mass taken out
00:54:46
of his head. Ed.
00:54:47
Oh wow. And so like, yes, we want to
00:54:50
encourage them and love on them. I don't know why I had forgotten
00:54:54
about that, but the, the, the title of the book is God's help
00:54:57
for the troubled heart, many years in the making, I do want
00:55:01
to thank not only Cassandra, but I want to thank you the
00:55:03
listeners for praying for my family, for me.
00:55:06
And my wife or my kids are the trials, not over.
00:55:09
So, keep praying for us, and thank you for your
00:55:12
encouragement, and your support, after the death of our sun, but
00:55:16
just in general, Earl. You know the body of Christ is
00:55:18
something special. We're a family like any family?
00:55:21
We're not perfect. We got our ups and downs.
00:55:23
We got our aunts and uncles and cousins.
00:55:25
But God is faithful, thank you for joining us for this episode
00:55:29
of lead to serve with Pastor Ed, Taylor, a leadership podcast
00:55:32
from Calvary Church in Aurora. Colorado, if you have a
00:55:35
leadership question, you want to hear answered on a future lead
00:55:38
to serve podcast, please email it to Pastor Ed at Calvary Co
00:55:42
dot church and if you like our podcast Please Subscribe rate or
00:55:46
review us on iTunes and share us with your friends on social
00:55:49
media. Thanks again for joining us and
00:55:52
we'll see you next time right here on the lead to serve
00:55:54
podcast.
