Anyone Know This Guy...

[Deltamud77]

Or what happened? I've had dealings with his dad and he seemed first rate. Sad stuff...I cannot imagine.

http://onlinemadison.com/main.asp?Secti ... leID=25301

[eSJay]

Took his own life. Sad stuff. Prayers for his family

[southernmallard]

Guided he, his brother, and dad a few years back. Stand-up bunch of folks, sad stuff. Prayers sent for the friends and family.

[mshunter77]

My cousin works with his dad, I have met Andy a few times and he seems like a genuinely good guy.

[Buckwabit]

Took his own life. Sad stuff. Prayers for his family

A permanent solution to a temporary problem. Very sad!

[JDgator]

I don't know him, but based on the linked memorial he sounds like my kind of guy.

Prayers for his family.

[DeltaCotton12]

I saw that earlier. Seemed like a good guy from a good family. Just shows you never really know what someone is going through. Sad deal

Prayers sent.

[huntersmky]

met his father several times. They are good people. I hate this happened.

[rbsdrake]

Seen him at an unnamed wma a few times. Been trying to figure out where I knew him from. Very sad deal

[LawDawg]

the memorial Andy wrote for Brad is incredible.

Brad Taggart, Warrior
July 13, 2012

I am not very happy with Brad today.

The choice he made has caused the anguish and heartbreak that make it necessary for all of us to be here. And I don't really know if those who have gone on before us can hear what we're doing, but I sort of think it might be like Tom Sawyer watching his own funeral after the town all mistakenly thought he had died, and t...hat Brad might be listening in today. So I thought I should let him know he is not on my happy list right now.

But I could hardly ever stay mad at the boy for more than half an hour at a stretch, so here we are.

First of all, I thank all of you on behalf of Karen, Drew, Kata and Rob. I dare not try to name any of you, because so many of you have been so wonderful to us in these bitter hours. Your graciousness and compassion and kindness and prayers and love have made it possible for us still to be vertical today.

A special thank you to Jeanne Batman of Chicago (that's really her name) and Mike McGuffie. You were for me, as Isaiah writes in Is. 63:9, the "angels of His presence," in my hour of deepest darkness on my way home from Chicago on Tuesday.

And thank you to Drew, Kata and Rob for extraordinary service to your mother and my wife in a horrible time until I could get home Tuesday, then for your support and gracious assistance in the face of your own pain for the past three days. You all have had to be adults in a way I would have protected you from if I could have, and I am very grateful to all three of you.

A few things you should know this morning:

1) How he got the name "Bo" -- in case I refer to him in that way
2) He was a maddening combination of attitude and winsome boyish joy that charmed everyone around him
3) Why his body is not here with us today

The answer to that last question requires a look at the description of God's power in creation from Job 38-41. After listening to all the false theology and psycho-babble of Job and his friends in the wake of Job's suffering at the hand of The Enemy, God responds with a series of my favorite questions in Scripture -- the true Mysteries of the Universe:


Who laid the foundation of the earth and decided its measurements?
Who made the stars sing together?
Who told the sea it could only come this far and no farther?
Who commands the morning, and tells the dawn when to break?
Who is the Father of the rain, and who brings the frost that makes water turn to stone? (This one might have been Brad's favorite)
Who put the stars in space to form Orion, the Hunter? (We'll always see Brad in Orion from now on)
Who dares to try to spear Leviathan? (Note to Josh Clark: that's the Swamp Monster, and I suspect that Brad secretly hoped that he'd show up so Brad could kill him by stabbing him in the back of the head with his knife)
Who made the mountain goat climb high? (By the way, to Edith Mitchell: Brad put the spray painted goats in the school in the spring of 2009)
Who has seen the doe give birth to her fawn? (I don't know if Brad ever saw that, because I believe if he had he would have sent me a text message, "Dad, you can't believe what you're missing!")

Brad wanted to find out the answers to all these questions in person!

So, he followed the Lord's example in Luke 5:16 - "He withdrew to the wilderness and prayed." (Though it didn't get him out of being at church at 9:15 on Sunday morning). And, he lived out the first half of Job 39:4 - "Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return." Thanks be to God, Brad did come back, every single time. And he came back home to us this summer, so we had him with us for the past six weeks.

Brad's Eternal Truths of Life:
1) Hunt ducks with the wind at your back
2) If you can't have the wind at your back, have the wind coming from one side
3) If you can't have the wind at your back or from the side, at least have the sun at your back
4) If you can't have the wind at your back or from the side or the sun at your back, you must have a really good blind
5) If you can't have the wind at your back or from the side or the sun at your back or a really good blind, pray the Lord to send blind ducks.

All these reasons -- and our own selfishness in wanting to join Brad in his great adventure to answer these mysteries of the universe -- explain our decision not to have his body here, and instead to find a time when we can spread his earthly remains over his favored earthly haunts until the Lord comes back and calls Brad's newly glorified body out of the swamps and to the banquet table of the King of the universe.

Karen's goals as a Mom and constant admonition to Brad and all of our boys: "Love Jesus," "I will never let you run out of anything in the kitchen or the bathroom," and "You're taking Jesus with you wherever you go today." Pretty close to a perfect Mom's line-up I think.

Drew's and Rob's role in leading Brad to the Lord, and as examples to him of discipleship and manhood.

And Kata's model as a bride to be desired and precious sister and friend. I'm sorry that you got to know him for so short a time.

Baseball -- Breakout 12 year old year
Archery -- Junior Olympics and 4-H Nationals
Truck repair/replacement -- "Watch, Then Do"
Deal making -- Trip to Myrtle Beach with Karen
Work ethic -- Working for JL, BP Oil Spill, our mud room
And especially hunting and fishing --
1) Jesus called fishermen to be his followers and best friends, while they were mending their nets, in Matthew 4 -- and we all need mending
2) David killed wild animals that threatened his flock, per 1 Samuel 17:32-36 (We had no idea how apt the name "David" would be when we named him), and David "ran to meet" Goliath, per 1 Samuel 17:48.

The Warrior
1) After trying to come too early, and nearly breaking our hearts before we ever met him, Brad was born in a world at war, during the internationally televised air assault on Baghdad during the first Gulf War -- the "Bradley" in his name is for Omar, and "David" is for the Biblical king, whom God refused to allow to build the temple because he was a man of war.
2) Two days later the cease fire was announced
3) Twelve years later, the war resumed with a different name, on the heels of 9/11
4) And now, OBL himself is dead, but no thinking person believes that the attacks of the enemies of our nation are over.
5) And still somehow we think we can enter into effective cease fires, or appeasement, with The Enemy
6) But Appeasement with The Enemy is no more effective today than it was in 1938 when PM Neville Chamberlain tried to appease Hitler - a liar and a murderer - by giving him Czechoslovakia.

Brad would have met him in hand to hand combat, like the first David did when he ran to meet Goliath on the battlefield. But The Enemy we fight, and that Brad tried to fight, does not fight under any rules of engagement. He:

-- Has always been a murderer
-- Has always been a liar
-- Is always at war
-- Always wants more

If our Enemy is always at war with us, how can we choose cease fire or appeasement? Our only rational choice is full scale spiritual warfare, protected by the full armor of God, armed with the Sword of the Spirit, and led and guarded by the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith, Who lives within us and Who is greater than he who is in the world.

But understand who the Enemy is, and is not. The Enemy is not people who disagree with us, or who don't look like us, or who we think don't belong here, or who don't worship as we do, or even who do not worship at all.

The Enemy is a powerful, personal, spiritual being who ever lives to steal, kill and destroy, and who exploits our fears, our weaknesses and our frailties for his devious ends. He lied to our son by convincing him that the way he took was the only way, that there was no hope, that no one could help. And he murdered our son, by our son's own hand.

So let us not believe we can appease The Enemy with a token, or ever think he will honor a cease fire agreement. He has dealt our family, our church and our community a great body blow that buckled our knees and knocked us to the canvas. But we are not down for the count, and the next blow - and the victory - belong to the Lord.

Instead, with Abraham Lincoln, let us here resolve that this honored dead shall not have died in vain, and that we the living here resolve to bring honor to the memory of our son, and brother, and grandson and nephew and cousin and friend and companion -- The Warrior, Brad Taggart -- by serving with the great soldiers of the cause of Christ in all time, fighting the evil, lies and murders of The Enemy wherever we find them, every time we find them.

We love you, Bo. We miss you so much already. And we look forward to seeing you soon. You might suggest to the Lord before I get there that I'd like to have a few minutes with you outside the gates when I arrive, because you and I need to have a conversation He does not need to hear.

Meantime, if the Lord lets you reveal any of His secrets, we'd really appreciate it if you'd give us a hint about where the ducks are going to be this season. Or at least ask the Lord to put the wind at our backs until we see you again.

[country_20boy]

I read that on FB last night. Very....unique......

[mossyisland]

I had the pleasure of guiding the family a few years back and invited Brad on a couple of buddy hunts. Very sad! Great Guy!

[SNOT]

Very sad - I can't imagine how terrible it was to find out about it while in Chicago then to make the trip home.

[cwink]

He looks so familar to me, but I can't place him..

And I love the speech. I know how the guy feels.. I am still not very happy with my uncle.

My prayers go out to the family.

[cootkiller]

Critisize me or say what you want but it is the cowards way out. I have no respect for someone who will do this. You may cure your problem but only create it ten fold for those who care about you. I have had to deal with this with close friends and family 4 times this year. Just my opinion

Prayers for his family and friends.