About the Book

Book: From Comfort Zone to Trust Zone: How Jesus Urges Us to Take Leaps of Faith for His Kingdom

Author: Cecil Taylor

Genre: Christian Living

Release date: March 6, 2024

The innate human longing for comfort is undeniable. However, Jesus challenges us to step beyond the boundaries of our comfort zones and venture into the profound realm of faith, aptly described as trust zones by Cecil Taylor. These are the spaces where we dare to take risks in service of Christ’s Kingdom. In this enlightening exploration of the Bible, Cecil Taylor delves into 12 narratives of Jesus encouraging individuals to forsake their comfort zones in favor of trust zones. Through insightful interpretation, he unveils the valuable lessons these stories impart for contemporary followers of Jesus.

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About the Author

With more than 30 years’ experience as an adult Sunday School teacher and as many in youth ministry, Cecil Taylor has impacted lives in local churches throughout his adult life. He founded Cecil Taylor Ministries to broaden that impact, teaching Christians to live a 7-day practical faith through books, video studies, and speaking engagements. His ministry is cross-denominational, focused on the common struggle Christians face in putting their faith into practice and applying scripture and faith principles to life situations.

From Comfort Zone to Trust Zone has won the 2024 Living Water Award (nonfiction, third place) from the Blue Lake Christian Writer’s Conference. This is the fourth award that Cecil has been presented across his three books.

Author Interview with Cecil

Q: How long did it take you to write this book?

Cecil: I probably had the original idea for From Comfort Zone to Trust Zone in March 2023. At the time, I was starting work on another book, Unison Parenting, so I didn’t pay much attention to this book until May. I brainstormed ideas and organized them into a sequence during May and June, then began writing in July.

Despite working on two books at the same time, and taking a two-week August vacation, I was able to deliver the book to the publisher during the last week of September.

Q: Would you share a favorite quote from this book?

Cecil: In the chapter called “Relinquishing Certainty, Embracing Uncertainty,” I close the chapter with the line, “Uncertainty is the soil in which faith grows.”

I think this makes so much sense. Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” If we experience certainty all the time, it cannot grow our faith; faith development depends upon uncertainty. When we embrace uncertainty, we seek an opportunity to expand our trust in Jesus.

Q: Are you working on another book now?

Cecil: Technically, no, as I’m focusing for a while on improving the processes for my expanding ministry, Cecil Taylor Ministries, which teaches Christians how to live a seven-day practical faith. However, I am considering several exciting book ideas.

The first is to write a book aligning with my existing video series, The Legacy Tree: A Christian Model for a Life of Significance. I use a tree metaphor to explain how to define ourselves, how to give ourselves, and how to replenish ourselves for the benefit of God’s kingdom. The video contains wonderful clips and pictures of trees, so I envision a beautiful book with deep, practical meaning.

The second is a sequel of sorts derived from my first book, The Next Thing: A Christian Model for Dealing with Crisis in Personal Life. I plan on taking one vignette out of that book and expanding it into a full book called Live the Life that is Given. I expect this to be a powerful work and possibly a signature book in my writing career.

The third is an unfocused but thrilling book idea. My father was a pastor, and he is bequeathing me all his sermons. I want to begin looking at them this summer. There are several different angles an emerging book could take:

“What if you could hear again all the sermons that formed your spiritual life?”
It could evolve into a biography of me, a biography of him, or a family history.
His sermons could contain messaging that I want to highlight.

Or some mix of the above. The venture is brimming with possibility. I’ll let the Holy Spirit guide me in the way to go.

Q: What are you reading now?

Cecil: I usually read several books concurrently in a rotation, a piece at a time. Not an ideal way to read, but I have so many I want to read!

I am finishing A Modest but Crucial Hero, Judson Stone’s biography of his pastor ancestor George Stone who died while serving the Lord in Oman in 1899. I’m also working my way nightly through Lori Hatcher’s excellent A Word for Your Day book of devotions as part of my bedtime routine.

Other books in the eclectic mix are:

The Call of the Mild by Torry Martin and Doug Peterson
12 Ways to Age Gracefully by Susan Neal
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
The Florentines, from Dante to Galileo by Paul Strathern

I lean much more toward nonfiction than fiction, but I read fiction now and then.

Q: Where can readers find out more about you and your book?

Cecil: The best place is my home page, CecilTaylorMinistries.com. You can access all of my free content, social media, books, products, and services from there. To keep up with my ministry, I recommend registering for my free monthly newsletter. I offer practical faith tips and updates on the ministry and on me personally. Simply visit my home page and register either via the pop-up or the orange box on the home page.

More from Cecil

Comfort zones can be positive. Not only do we feel good about ourselves, but we also can be effective and efficient. We can find a groove. We may even be able to mentor others and cause a ripple effect of good.

But comfort zones can fool us. Our comfort zones can become invisible. They can limit us and tell us not to take risks. Comfort zones can keep us from going all-in on what Jesus has to offer us.

As I read the Gospels, I see how Jesus frequently pushed people out of comfort zones and into his trust zones, where they would take leaps of faith for the sake of his kingdom. Similarly, Jesus calls us out of comfort zones today, inviting us to take risks while deepening our faith.

A woman who read From Comfort Zone to Trust Zone said one of the most gripping moments in the book is when I shared my own story of going all-in for Jesus. I had grown up in the church as a preacher’s kid. Throughout decades of my adult life, I was a leader in my church, a highly committed volunteer, someone others might think was all-in for Christ.

But I wasn’t all-in, though I fooled myself into thinking I was. In a time when I asked for more comfort zone, Jesus gave me a trust zone: to forget about volunteering so much and to focus on giving my heart to God. I was busted, as I foolishly thought I had hidden from God that I wasn’t fully yielding control of my life. I didn’t know what Jesus would ask of me, so I held him at arm’s length. My prayers zeroed in on what was comfortable for me rather than what the Holy Spirit was beckoning me to do.

Since that moment, my life has changed. I believe your life needs to change, too, if you’re feeling comfortable. It’s time to get uncomfortable, to overcome your desire for certainty, and to inspect the ways in which you have limited the Spirit’s power to work through you. I invite you on a journey to identify subtle comfort zones that you never knew you had and to uncover trust zones that will take your faith to new levels while mightily serving Christ. I invite you to the experience that is From Comfort Zone to Trust Zone: How Jesus Urges Us to Take Leaps of Faith for His Kingdom.