Pastor Taylor is a native of Pine Bluff and a graduate of Pine Bluff High School. He attended Ouachita Baptist University and received his B.A. in 1967. He did graduate Work at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, California. He received his Master of Divinity degree from there in 1970 and the Doctor of Ministry degree in 1980. While attending Seminary, Pastor Taylor served as a Student Chaplain at San Quentin State Prison for two years. He has served as Pastor in Arkansas, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay area. Pastor Taylor and his wife JoAnne have two grown children and twelve grandchildren.
Remember Moses at the Burning Bush in Exodus 3 when God asks him a question:
And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent: and Moses fled from before it. And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.
Moses, what is that in your hand? “A Rod.” Just a plain old stick. Throw it down Moses.
Understand, God did not want the stick in Moses’ hand. He wanted the hand of Moses.
We have a lot of things in our hands today that we are trying to use to help God save the world.
We focus more on what is in our hands, than we do understanding how to yield our hands to the service of God.
Are you willing to give him your heart and hands in service to do as He leads you?
Moses is reluctant and we are as well. What difference will it make, we say to ourselves?
Then he tells him to put his hand into his bosom. And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again.
Moses does so, but when he pulls it out it is covered with leprosy.
He is told to put in back into his bosom and then pull it out a second time.
When he does, the leprosy is gone; the hand restored. What are we to learn from this?
Is it possible that there are times when our hands are not connected to our heart?
What we do is just routine, a task, a job. We go through the motions, but keep our heart to ourselves.
Some time ago a major magazine ran a picture of a young girl with her hand over her heart, with words of the pledge printed.
They said in the next issue they got a lot of mail because of it. Why? What was wrong with the picture? The girl was pledging with her left hand.
There are those who tell us that God not only wanted the hands of Moses, but he wanted his heart as well.
When Moses is instructed to put his hand into his bosom, it is to place it over his heart.
That in doing so, God is teaching Moses that our hands simply do the work of our heart.
Perhaps that is what we are to understand from Proverbs 4:23: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
What God is looking for in Moses is a life yielded to His plan and purpose.
All God wants from Moses is for him to give him his heart and his hands.
And whatever is needed, when it is needed, for as long as it is needed, it will be placed by God in his hands.
Let’s give God a hand…our hand…in obedient service to Him.