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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Author Interview

1. Why did you choose to write non-fiction?

Non-fiction fits with the mission of Cecil Taylor Ministries to teach Christians how to live a seven-

day practical faith, putting their faith into practice between Sundays (learn more at

CecilTaylorMinistries.com). The mission emerges from my teaching of adult Sunday School

classes for decades. People would tell me, “I can do this Christian stuff on Sundays, but the rest

of the week is hard.” I work to address that need.

2. Why did you choose to write about this particular topic?

The concept of risk-taking runs strong through many of my works. After I wrote Live Like You’re

Loved, I kept thinking about a page where I discussed risk-taking for Jesus’s sake. So I

investigated Bible stories in which Jesus invites people out of comfort zones into his trust zones,

where they take risks for his kingdom while deepening their faith. Then I explore what these

comfort and trust zones mean for us today.

I hope to persuade people to listen to the Spirit’s call to get uncomfortable and embrace

uncertainty, so they’ll do more for Christ and increase their faith and impact.

3. What is your writing area like?

I separate my writing area from my office area where I conduct the administrative part of my

ministry; in my writing space I can block out noise and interruptions. I might play music

sometimes, especially “comfort food” music. Believe it or not, my favorites for writing are the

Herb Alpert and Sergio Mendes Pandora channels, music my parents would listen to.

I keep a folder of notes for the book in progress and have several resources nearby such as the

Bible and reference books. On my computer, I maintain a brainstorm document that also

contains the outline for the book.

I find actual writing to be very intense, like extracting something from your soul. I can only go

about three to four hours per day with high intensity, which is usually very productive. Then I set

the writing aside to do other things and come back the next day.

4. How do you balance writing time with other things?

It’s always a challenge. In an ideal day, I would handle administrative, marketing, and free

content duties like blogs in the morning, then pivot to writing in the afternoon. I might sometimes

come back and write in the evenings.

Over the course of an ideal week, I would spend 35% of time on content creation (including

videos; I create video studies to accompany each book), 30% on free content, 25% on

marketing, and 10% on administrative. I track my hours on each task to understand the balance.

In a given day, that time may be skewed in one direction or another, so I have to consider the

balance on a weekly or biweekly basis.

5. Was there anything you found particularly interesting while researching?

I was fascinated by the story of the disciple Thaddeus (who went by other names as well). The

Bible doesn’t tell much about him, but it’s clear he was one of four Zealot disciples who wanted

to overthrow local Roman rule. We only hear his voice once in scripture, asking Jesus at the

Last Supper why he won’t reveal himself as a powerful messiah, hoping Jesus will take

governmental control. Between Jesus’ answer that he’s more interested in winning hearts, and

the proof of the resurrection days later, Thaddeus gave up his Zealot ambitions, helped the

Christian church grow, and eventually was martyred. He was sainted with the name St. Jude, for

which the famous hospital is named. His story reminds us that Jesus’s focus is on his kingdom

and on winning hearts, not on political issues.

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.

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.