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.
There is a very subtle shift of focus from Jerusalem to the city of Antioch in Acts 11, v.19. In the persecution which took place following the death of Stephen, believers came to the city of Antioch. They shared Jesus with any and all who would listen. Many turned to Jesus and were saved and added to the church. Antioch was a strategic city some 300 miles north of Jerusalem. It was the capital of Syria. It stood near the mouth of the Orontes river, 15 miles from the Mediterranean Sea. It had a population of half a million people, the third largest city in the ancient world behind Rome and Alexandria. The main street was more than 4 miles long, paved with marble and lined with colonnades. It was the only city in the ancient world at that time that had its streets lighted at night. It was a lovely, cosmopolitan city. It attracted all kinds of people with its sports arena, as a place of culture, and the temple of Daphne. It was a wide open, anything goes, kind of city. It was famous for its deliberate pursuit of pleasure, the Las Vegas of its day. On a hill overlooking the city was a pagan worship center where sex was enthroned and worshipped through priestesses who were nothing more than prostitutes. And in such a city, the gospel prospered and the church grew.-21. So many were being saved and in need of discipleship that something needed to be done.
In Jerusalem the church leaders sends Barnabas to look things over and see what kind of help is needed. Barnabas is a very wise choice for such a mission. He didn’t go with preconceived notions of what he should do to deal with the situation. He went and observed, looking closely to see what was taking place. Are you as interested as I am by what he saw? When he arrived and looked, v.23 tells us he saw “the grace of God” and was glad.
Now, I have a question for you: How do you see the grace of God? Grace is the goodness of God poured out into a life. How was Barnabas able to see it? The word for “grace” here is the same word that Paul uses in Ephesians 4:7: “But “grace” was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” It is the word used for speaking about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This “grace” is a gift of the Spirit…That would be love, peace, joy, faith, knowledge, wisdom, prophecy, teaching and such like. When Barnabas saw the people interacting with one another and sharing he knew that what he was watching was of God. These people were exercising the gifts of the Spirit. In Hebrews 2:3,4 we read that…The gospel was first declared by the Lord. It was then preached by those who knew Him, and was finally confirmed by signs and wonders…and By the distribution of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Barnabas saw this in action and he called it the grace of God.
It made him rejoice. Everyone rejoices when the church is truly the church of Jesus.