Dallas/Fort Worth-area Pastor Christopher Taylor of Morning Star MBC: ‘Working for the Lord is amazing’

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — Speaking before what was a near capacity crowd of worshippers at Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church Sunday morning, Christopher Taylor assumed his familiar spot behind the sacred desk and, while giving a rather eloquent, spiritually gut-checking sermon, he took a moment to address an issue that is plaguing and crippling the modern-day church.

Much to the delight of the audience that collectively applauded to a round of Amen, it was a subject that was prevalent and appropriate for such a time as now.

“Nobody takes pleasure in those that are hurting,” Taylor told the congregation, his voice echoing through the loudspeakers accompanied by more thunderous applause. “If you do, something is wrong with you. The Bible says to, ‘Cast all of your cares on Him, for He cares for you.’”

A veteran preacher who has been on this sometimes rocky, turbulent, tumultuous battlefield for the Lord since he was a young lad growing up in his native establishment of Texarkana, Texas, Taylor’s reputation is such that he’s widely known throughout the Body of Christ as one who has erected his ministry largely through demonstrating love and compassion to a hurt, oppressed people.

“If you can’t tell me that you love me, show me,” Taylor told the congregation during his latest sermon. “We are to be faithful in consistency every day. Even when you come into the Lord’s house, there ought to be some consistency. God is consistent, and if God is consistent, we’ve got to be like God.”

Ahhhh…consistency.

All things considered, consistency undoubtedly has been the key — the formula, of sorts — for a preacher who has enjoyed sustained success in mighty Dallas/Fort Worth’s Metroplex, the largest inland metropolitan area in America.

A preaching career that spans nearly three decades, Taylor is the Senior Pastor at the historic Morning Star MBC, located at 2251 El Paso Street in the heart of Grand Prairie, roughly 25 minutes from downtown Dallas.

CHECK OUT MSMBC ONLINE: http://www.morningstarbaptist.org/.

Morning Star’s seventh Pastor since its inception on November 30, 1952, Taylor has gone to great lengths to become the devoted, beloved spokesperson for God he was called to be.

“There aren’t enough words to adequately describe the impact that Pastor Taylor has had on my life and ministry,” said Reverend Cedric Beard, the Senior Pastor of Dallas’ Kingdom Life Word Church. “I thank God for his leadership, his love, and his correction. I’m honored to be his son in ministry.”

And because of the close-knit bond he has established with his congregation, the MSMBC membership is grateful to have at its disposal a Pastor who routinely makes it a point to speak life into the lives of those whose faith often seems bleak and they appear on shaky ground.

To his credit, Taylor’s well-publicized pastoral tenure has evolved mightily throughout the years, in large part be he deems it essential to help provide hope, thus help empower and re-energize a hurt people to pursue a victorious life — sometimes even when victory seems farfetched.

What’s so astounding about a sometimes overwhelming, stressful pastoral career is that one would become virtually hard-pressed to recognize if Taylor, too, is harboring hurt (although, of course, he too, is human).

Come hell or high water, what you will mostly get from Taylor amid his share of adversity is his love and passion for having been appointed by God to watch over His sheep.

Sunday was no exception as Taylor, who retreated to his office adjacent to his to MSMBC’s old sanctuary wearing what had become a three-piece suit drenched in sweat following his powerful sermon, and before he could begin to change clothes, he repeated that about which he had told his congregation prior to giving the benediction.

“I thank God for being a preacher,” Taylor, during an exclusive interview with Making Headline News, said while displaying his customary smile.

Out of fairness to professional athletes, there’s a legitimate reason for Taylor’s dauntless declaration, a vital resolution for a veteran man of the cloth who once clung to lofty aspirations of playing professional football.

“Out of any profession, whether it’s the NBA or NFL, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do than being a pastor,” Taylor said. “When I retire from pastoring, I’d probably be gone to glory. Working for the Lord is amazing.”

Interesting enough, Taylor would be the first to admit that even while facing occasional hardships as the chief executive officer of a longstanding Texas-based ministry, pastoring still holds a vital place in his heart.

Take, for instance, how nearly two years, when some unlikely conflict and turmoil arose between Taylor and a few then-members of MSMBC.

So intense and divided such an undisclosed issue had become that a few members wanted what Taylor appropriately described as “to dismiss me,” or to vote him out as Pastor.

According to spokespersons for MSMBC, the legal portion of those issues last approximately six months and was eventually culminated when a judge ruled in favor of Taylor by ultimately dismissing the case.

Nearly two year removed from a brutally chaotic encounter by which Taylor described as the “darkest hour” of his pastoral career, he acknowledged that such an occurrence inspired him to assess the overall landscape of his life both in the natural and spirit.

Especially in the spirit.

“I wouldn’t have wanted my enemy to go through what I went through,” Taylor said. “But I had to go through it, because I wouldn’t be who I am today. It happened because God wanted to perfect me. I was comfortable, pretty much naïve and He wanted to remove my crutches.

“He said He wanted me to trust Him and not people,” Taylor continued. “I had lost focus. I took my eyes off the Lord. Sometimes, we get too comfortable in our situations.”

That Taylor had steadfastly taken ownership of his role in a horricfically gruesome encounter during which cooler heads had ultimately prevailed, that sequence alone is indicative of why he was called to preach the gospel in the first place.

His divine calling, as he recalled, had started to come full circle during his days at Dodge City Community College in Kansas, where though he had dreamt of playing football and sensed he had the skills and mechanics to earn a roster spot, God had other ideas.

Taylor, in fact, was in for the grandest surprise of his young life.

“I started preaching my junior year of high school,” Taylor, an avid Dallas Cowboys fan, explained. “So when I went to college, I got cut (from the football team). And that killed me.”

Not to mention it marked the resurrection of a preaching career he sensed he could put on the back burner for a specific period of time.

Not on God’s time clock.

“I knew I could play,” Taylor said. “When I got cut, the basketball coach didn’t know me, but wanted me to be the manager of the basketball (program). And for me, that was perfect, because that’s when I started my ministry. I used to minister to the players and I knew that’s what the Lord had for me. They used to call me Rev.”

Speaking of “Rev,” nothing really has changed to this very day, considering Taylor is stilling managing a team.

Only this time, it is a team that, just like him, is aiming to have a greater impact, but from a much more meaningful battlefield.

“They have been with me and supported me through thick and thin,” Taylor said of his congregation. “It’s just like a marriage, for better or for worse. But they know I’m making progress. The ministry is not the focus. God is the focus.”

Which, after all, makes his sometimes challenging, seemingly overwhelming job as a pastor much more bearable, particularly with regards to addressing the needs of a hurt people from various walks of life.

“That’s why I chose preaching over being a professional athlete,” Taylor said while reciting the familiar words to his favorite passage that is Romans 8:28. “I never lose. I’m always a winner, even though sometimes it’s disappointing. As Christians, we always win, because there’s always deliverance.”

Especially on God’s time clock.

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Andre Johnson is Founder and Publisher of Making Headline News. A 2000 graduate of the University of Memphis School of Journalism and former sports reporter for the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper, Johnson is the former chief adjutant to Elder Andrew Jackson, Sr. of Faith Temple Ministries Church of God In Christ. Based in Dallas, Texas, Johnson covers the NBA Southwest Division. To reach Johnson, call him at 901-690-6587 or send email to memphisgraduate@yahoo.com. Also, follow him on Twitter @AJ_Journalist.