1 Colossians 1:16-17 The mourners were asked to sing a hymn at my friend's mother's memorial service, a familiar tune of "This is My Father's World." As we sang the song I had experienced many times, this time the second verse struck a new chord. This is my father's world O let me ne’er forget That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet I wondered why this hymn was sung at the memorial, assuming it was a favorite of the deceased. Yet in the moment, it fit so well, remembering that in the midst of grief and pain, we could acknowledge that God still rules. We can feel t ..read more

Hundreds of churchgoers surrounding me lifted their hands to follow the motions as the children's choir sang "Joy is a Flag." Standing in the congregation, I was trying not to cry, moved by the knowledge of how this glorious moment originated with a simple act decades before. When I was the teenaged preacher's kid in a small church in Poteet, Texas, all grades joined to sing in the sanctuary after the worship service and before Sunday School. Somewhere along the line, adult volunteers asked me to lead the singing of "Joy is a Flag." If you haven't heard it, the key line is "Joy is a flag fl ..read more

If you see a stern-looking man on the Pittsburgh Steelers sideline with a cross around his neck, you've probably found Mike Tomlin, now the longest-tenured coach in the NFL. A Super Bowl champion, Tomlin's run of seventeen consecutive non-losing seasons is the third-longest in league history. I have included interesting observations from Tomlin in my new signature talk, "Uncertainty is the Soil in which Faith grows," derived from my book, "From Comfort Zone to Trust Zone: How Jesus Urges Us to Take Leaps of Faith for His Kingdom." Tomlin seems aligned with me on the concept that being comfo ..read more

2 Timothy 2:1,3-4 I remember my first flight on a rainy day. The dark clouds sat heavy over the landscape, and the tarmac was soaked from their release. Inexperienced in air travel, I didn't know how the plane would ascend from a wet runway. I wondered how bumpy or even dangerous it might be to fly through storm clouds. Indeed, the clouds did jostle the airplane as it journeyed through them. But once the aircraft scaled the low-hanging clouds, the sky was clear and blue, and the sun was brighter than ever in contrast to the gloom below. I immediately took this experience as a metaphor fo ..read more

The monthly podcast component of Cecil Taylor Ministries takes a new, exciting turn in Season 4 with the theme of Practical Faith Academy. In this season, I'm joined by guests who will share their stories and their ideas for living a seven-day practical faith. Instead of hearing solely my voice on this topic, you'll hear fresh, new voices discussing how to put faith into practice each day. Lyvita Brooks is nothing short of the perfect first guest. Lyvita is vivacious and humorous yet thoughtful and poignant. She is a podcaster herself (Hanging Out with Jesus podcast, on which I'll appear ..read more

Matthew 27:54 The Deputy Commander of Auschwitz was outraged. Three prisoners had escaped the Nazi concentration camp; someone had to pay. The Nazi guards randomly selected ten male prisoners to be starved to death in an underground bunker. One doomed man, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, “My wife! My children!” Another man stepped forward, volunteering to take his place. Father Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest, joined the other nine, freeing Gajowniczek, who survived Auschwitz and lived to tell the story. Imprisoned because he had hidden hundreds of Jews in his church, Kolbe experienced h ..read more

A year ago about this time, I met a new brother in Christ, John Rabins, at the Blue Lake Christian Writer's Conference. He is the award-winning author of Defined by Fire: Seven Life-Changing Lessons from Devastating Tragedy. Losing his home, possessions, and a rental home in a forest fire sent John on a spiritual journey for identity and meaning. He captures the seven lessons he learned in the book. One chapter, "What I Think," states this truth: I am not defined by what I think; rather, I'm defined by what He thinks. (meaning, God) John shares a revelation he received from the Lord: "The Chr ..read more

The history of Scotland suggests there are two ways for very different groups of people to come together. Scotland is divided into Highlands and Lowlands. The Highlands contain rugged terrain and experience extreme weather, while the Lowlands offer a milder climate with plains, rolling hills, and fertile soil. The geography means the Highlands people tend to be ranchers with space in between isolated communities, while the Lowlands offers farming and closer space between towns. Historically, the English-speaking Lowlands had a centralized government, while the Gaelic-speaking Highlands were r ..read more

Luke 15:11-31 At 26 years old, R.H. van Rijn became fascinated with the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-31). He would draw sketches of the scene of the young man who went to his father after he had squandered his inheritance, seeking forgiveness and a job. van Rijn kept thinking about how to paint this story. It wasn’t until he was 63 years old, only two years before his death, that van Rijn finally painted a masterpiece depicting the parable. Some say it was his greatest painting, this man who went by the name associated with his first initial, Rembrandt. Supposedly author and priest ..read more

The Top 11 Themes of Jesus podcast season draws to a close with the top theme of Jesus based on volume, Prophecy. We tend to forget that, among his other important qualities and roles, Jesus is a prophet. Nearly 100 times in the Gospels, Jesus speaks prophetically, either predicting the future or taking on the role of prophet warning Israel of wayward ways and the consequences. In this final episode of the season, Cecil reviews four categories of Jesus's prophecies, sharing examples of each from the four Gospels. One such category is how Jesus explains the way he fulfills past scriptural prop ..read more