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.

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.

Author Interview

Can you tell us a little bit about what readers can expect from your books?

Aside from my mission to teach Christians how to live a seven-day practical faith, a theme that lies at the heart of every book, I’ll point to what readers and reviewers tell me they see. They appreciate that I don’t propose easy answers and that my books look challenging situations in the eye. They respect how scripture informs all of my thinking and that my use of scripture is sound. They comment lovingly on the heart and vulnerability displayed in my books. The consistent aspect I’ve heard about my writing and my teaching is that it makes the reader or listener think, which is one of my goals.

What is the greatest advice you have ever been given about writing?

To avoid considering the first draft as the finished product. In fact, the advice was to just dump everything in my mind on the page, then return the next day to refine it.

My first drafts are quite wordy. Sometimes I will give myself a word count for a section and rewrite to fit the word count. My writing becomes sharper, more concise, and with more active tense.

Attending writers’ conferences has helped me with techniques such as creating intensity. I’m starting to study fiction writing techniques that can apply to nonfiction.

I feel like future books will be even better written as I practice these techniques in various realms such as blogging, articles, and devotionals.

Can you share something interesting or surprising you learned while researching for the book?

I did not realize that two disciples, James the son of Alphaeus and Matthew the tax collector, may well have been brothers. This relationship drove a chapter of the book called “Journeying from Separation to Brotherhood.”

If James and Matthew were truly brothers, they would have had a huge rift in their family. James was a Zealot who believed in overturning Roman rule of Jewish lands. Matthew was a tax collector who essentially worked in concert with Roman oppression. Imagine a family dinner with those two!

Whether they were brothers or not, the relationship between Matthew and the four Zealot disciples must have been tense. Only the message and love of Christ could bring them together.

What was the most challenging part of bringing this book to life?

I’m glad you used the phrase “bringing to life,” because book creation goes far beyond writing. My biggest challenge was that I wrote two books at the same time, From Comfort Zone to Trust Zone and Unison Parenting. Simultaneous writing was difficult but more manageable than you might think.

What was difficult was submitting the books to two different publishers at the same time and working through each publishing process, which doubled the activity, the complexity, and the stress. I plan to never do that again.

What was the most rewarding?

I wasn’t really sure how this book would be received. People don’t want to leave their comfort zones. They don’t want to take leaps of faith. Yet I firmly believe, based on scripture, that Jesus wants us to trust him and take risks for his sake.

I expected negative reviews and blowback. But From Comfort Zone to Trust Zone has received the most consistent positive feedback of any book I’ve written. I hope and pray that it will make a difference in the lives of those who will read it and put it into practice.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Before you go, where can readers keep up with what’s next?

Thank you for asking the questions and for asking this last question. The best starting point is my web site, CecilTaylorMinistries.com. From there, you can reach practically everything I produce by clicking on my social media links, by accessing my Free Content page, and by examining my products and services.

I especially urge readers to sign up for my free monthly newsletter, which provides valuable practical faith tips to followers while also giving behind-the-scenes insight into what’s happening in the ministry. If you sign up now, you’ll also receive my mini-eBook, Seven Ways the Holy Spirit Speaks to Us.