Home

A decade or more ago, I swore I would never read another book on leadership.  As an undergraduate I readsomany I thought my head would explode.  Then, as an Officer in the Marine Corps I read even more to the point of insanity!  I was sick of reading about it.  I just wanted to do it.  So I swore off leadership books.

Never say never.

To graduate seminary I had to take a Course on Leadership.  Poetic justice, I guess.  So after the course, I swore again to never read another book on leadership.

Never say never.

For many months now, a book has just been sitting on a table in my living room.  I have no idea where it came from, and my wife says she doesn't know either!  I finally got tired of looking at it and cracked it open.

Manna from heaven!

Leadership as an Identity by Crawford Loritts, Jr. is the best book on leadership (from a spiritual perspective) that I have ever read.  And I've read tons of 'em.  Let me share some of his words of wisdom with you from the final chapter of the book.  The Chapter is titled "The Legacy of Faithfulness."

Intelligence and ability will only get you so far.  Faithfulness will carry you across the finish line . . . A faithful person is one who steadily follows God and obeys Him consistently.  Faithfulness is the stuff of stability, the evidence of purpose, the signature of commitment.  Faithfulness demonstrates that we take responsibility and accountability seriously.  Faithfulness says that we believe that God's assignments are important.

If you desire to serve God long term . . . if you want your life to count . . . if you want to leave a legacy with your children and with the people you serve as a leader . . . you will pursue faithfulness in your life.

One day out of curiosity my friend asked his dad why he never needed an alarm, and the father's response was priceless: 'Responsibility woke me up every morning!'  He had a mortgage to pay, mouths to feed, and a future to secure.  Responsibility told laziness, 'Take your hands off him.  It's time for him to get up and get after it!'

It is what you decide to do when the daily alarm clock of responsibility goes off that makes the difference.  Will you shut if off and roll over and go back to sleep?  Or will you get up and greet it with gratitude and holy ambition?

Here's what I have learned: Distractions can cause you to be faithful about the wrong stuff.

God's leaders who are faithful can't help but bring a sense of holy gravitas [weight and substance] to their environment.  'Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord' (Colossians 1:10).  When we do God's will, our lives are characterized by a worthy 'walk.'  Our faithful obedience to His will . . . ensures that God's unique presence will be with us.

So, where are you being tempted to be faithless or unfaithful?  Marriage?  Family? Parenting?  Work?  School?  Friendships?  Small groups?  Bible study and memorization?  Worship attendance?  Evangelism and discipleship?  Accountability for your life?  

God give us courage to be faithful.  Make us faithful servants of Christ, O Holy Spirit God!  May we be those who are not just counted as church members, but those who can be counted on.        

Free as an audiobook in April, you will want to pick this book up. The ebook or soft cover book are also available this month for a donation of any amount Here.

“There is no other book like the Bible. It reveals a different kind of wisdom, comes from a different source, and tells of a different love.”
–Kevin DeYoung

Have you ever wondered if the Bible is really able to help you with your most challenging problems? Have you struggled through difficulty or transition and desired wisdom and insight from the Lord?

Kevin DeYoung explores the sufficiency of the Bible. He encourages us to search its truth, assured that Scripture provides all that is needed to live our lives rightly and contently, and to equip us for every good work.

Taking God At His Word: Why the Bible Is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What That Means for You and Me by Kevin DeYoung is an excellent book about why we trust the Bible. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.  At CBC were always talking about the Bible. We can't get enough of it and in this short book you get introduced to many of the reasons why. DeYoung's writing is fresh, engaging and thought-provoking. This little book is a very readable introduction to Scripture’s teaching about Scripture.  John MacArthur said, “This is a brilliant, succinct, yet thorough study of the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, based on what Scripture says about itself. Clarity and passion are the distinguishing marks of Kevin DeYoung’s writing, and this may be his finest, most important work yet.” I heartily agree. Reading this book gave me even more hunger to read the Bible. It is well worth your time.

Here are some great quotes to give you an appetite for this read,

"The Word of God is more than enough to accomplish the work of God in the people of God."

"You do not need another special revelation from God outside the Bible. You can listen to the voice of God every day. Christ still speaks, because the Spirit has already spoken. If you want to hear from God, go to the book that records only what he has said. Immerse yourself in the word of God. You will not find anything more sure."

"The Scriptures are our spectacles (to use Calvin’s phrase), the lenses through which we see God, the world, and ourselves rightly."

“No one who truly delights in God's word will be indifferent to the disregarding of it.”

“The most effective means for bolstering our confidence in the Bible is to spend time in the Bible.”

“You can think too highly of your interpretations of Scripture, but you cannot think too highly of Scripture's interpretation of itself. You can exaggerate your authority in handling the Scriptures, but you cannot exaggerate the Scriptures' authority to handle you. You can use the word of God to come to wrong conclusions, but you cannot find any wrong conclusions in the word of God.”

"God’s Word is final. God’s Word is understandable. God’s Word is necessary. God’s Word is enough."

R.C. Sproul’s The Holiness of God is one of the best books I've ever read. It is a modern theological classic. Sproul’s passion for holiness is contagious. I see how his life has been marked by this study, and I find that I want what he has. I want to be as excited about the character of God as he is. When I’ve read this book in the past it has always moved me to worship and I think it will do the same for you. Right now you can get your own copy of this excellent book for FREE by simply requesting it Here.

Here are just a few quotes from the book.

“Some modern theorists believe that the world was created by nothing. Note the difference between saying that the world was created from nothing and saying that the universe was created by nothing. In this modern view the rabbit comes out of the hat without a rabbit, a hat, or even a magician. The modern view is far more miraculous than the biblical view. It suggests that nothing created something. More than that, it holds that nothing created everything—quite a feat indeed!”

“The God we worship is the God who has always been. He alone can create beings, because He alone has the power of being. He is not nothing. He is not chance. He is pure Being, the One who has the power to be all by Himself. He alone is eternal. He alone has the power over death. He alone can call worlds into being by fiat, by the power of His command. Such power is staggering, awesome. It is deserving of respect, of humble adoration.”

“How we understand the person and character of God the Father affects every aspect of our lives. It affects far more than what we normally call the ‘religious’ aspects of our lives. If God is the Creator of the entire universe, then it must follow that He is the Lord of the whole universe. No part of the world is outside of His lordship. That means that no part of my life must be outside of His lordship. His holy character has something to say about economics, politics, athletics, romance—everything with which we are involved.”

"Only once in sacred Scripture is an attribute of God elevated to the third degree. Only once is a characteristic of God mentioned three times in succession. The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy. Not that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love; or mercy, mercy, mercy; or wrath, wrath, wrath; or justice, justice, justice. It does say that he is holy, holy, holy that the whole earth is full of His glory."

Lastly here's some thoughts from men who are far smarter and wiser than I am. Jerry Bridges said,"Every Christian who is serious about his or her growth needs to read The Holiness of God. I profited greatly from this book." John MacArthur has said that "R. C. Sproul’s teaching on the holiness of God brought me face-to-face with the awful splendor of God’s majestic holiness in a new and fresh way. I was smitten with the realization that holiness is not merely a peripheral attribute of God; it is at the core of all He is and does. I realized then that this was precisely the message the church of our generation urgently needed―and still needs today."

How does God use our marriages to change us?  To grow us in holiness?  To reveal our sins and shortcomings and encourage us to look only to Christ for satisfaction?  How can we gain clearer vision, that we might see God at work in our marriages and come to embrace the everyday grace of the gospel?  How can my marriage be rescued from its primary nemesis - my own selfishness?

Marriage Matters - A 12-week study using Winston Smith's book by the same title aims to answer these very questions, and more!  Join us each Sunday at 9:30 am (June 7 - Aug 23) as we seek to build our marriages on the sure foundation of God's saving love and glory in the gospel of Jesus Christ.   For more information, contact Pastor Keith.

Marriage Matters by Winston Smith is about the Extraordinary Change that can come through Ordinary Moments. The Kindle ebook edition is just $2.50. Drawing on his extensive experience as a marriage counselor Winston Smith, offers a simple yet powerful prescription for changing your marriage. He shows how examining the everyday disappointments and irritations in your marriage will help you understand yourself, your spouse, and your need for God's love. Change begins with seeing day-to-day interactions from a different perspective, taking simple steps to love one another more effectively, and then learning how to take those steps over and over again. Interactions that used to devolve into pointless annoyances and fights can become an opportunity for God's activity and love to become increasingly evident and powerful.

Yes, everyone is a theologian. R.C. Sproul offers a detailed explanation of the importance and role that theology plays in the Christian life. In Everyone's a Theologian R.C. Sproul explains some of the Bible's most important teachings in a readable and systematic fashion. His ability to make complex subjects understandable, and his careful handling of the Word of God make this an excellent resource. This significant theology introduction will aid any believer to apply Christian truths in their walk with Christ. It is a book about God, the Bible and the implications for our life. It is written by one of our days most careful thinkers. He is rightly referred to as a theologian, but in this book he calls every Christian a theologian, because theology is simply thinking about God. Everyone does it, but not everyone does it well. Everyone is a theologian and in this book Dr. Sproul invites every Christian to think about God carefully. The aim of the book is to make sure that our theology is in fact driven by the Word of God. Although he completely confuses the issue of baptism I can still gladly recommend the rest of the book. We plan to use this book in a future study at CBC so we want to encourage you to please go ahead and pick it up.

Reading is for our good. We all know that it is true, but many of us think of it the same way we do vegetables. We know we must have some, so we eat the bare minimum, but we certainly do not enjoy it. When someone recommends a book to us we know that it probably would be quite beneficial if we read it, but still it seems like too much effort. It's easier to just sit on the couch and watch some TV and it is easy to think it's not that big of a deal if we don't read.  What we are forgetting is that there is much that we don't know and there is much that we still need to know. This is especially true when it comes to the things of God. None of us know enough about God! None of us know enough about prayer, about trusting Him, about how we are to live holy lives. The truth is we all have a long way to go, but we have not been left in the dark. God has revealed himself to us. He makes himself known through a book, the Good Book.

The Bible, God's Word, Scripture, the Sacred Writings, the Sword of the Spirit, the Roadmap for Life, the Ultimate Instruction Manual, the Lamp to my Feet and the Light to my Path.

We've given it lots of titles and it has continued to be the best selling book of all-time yet many of our copies remain dusty on the shelf. God has spoken and His Words been written down that we might benefit from it. Have you been reading the Bible regularly? If not you've been missing out on the very words of God. He breathed it out. Jesus quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3 said “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Have you been trying to live without the sustenance of the Word of God? Have you been starving yourself and only tasting scripture on Sunday morning? Even if you read no other book this year, you need to read the Bible. You might not make it all the way through, but you do need to make a regular practice of reading the Scripture.

We have incredible access to the Bible. Are you aware of that of the world's 6,800+ languages only 513 have a copy of the entire Bible (that is around 6.6%). Most of us on the other hand own multiple copies. We can read it on our phone, we can look it up on the web. We can listen to audio versions. We have multiple translations to choose from appropriate to our reading level. We have the freedom to read it. We have the time to read it, yet sadly many of us simply don't read it, or if we do, we read such a small amount that it is quickly overrun by all the other information that flows into our minds each day. Reading the Bible is an incredible privilege and responsibility. Plainly put, we are poor stewards of this incredible access to God's Word if we do not make regular use of it. I cannot encourage you strongly enough, Go read the Bible! Join with the author of Psalm 119 and say, "Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Psalm 119:97,103.

Your pastors want to encourage you to read some really good books this year. We want to recommend books that will help you grow in your Christian maturity and help you be transformed into the likeness of Christ by the renewing of your mind. We are reading them as well and want to discuss them with you. Of course, the primary book we want everyone to read is the Bible, but then in addition to that we want to recommend two other small books for you to read this year. You can do it.

For those who finish these recommended books and are hungry for more check out our books worth reading page.

Several years ago, a little orange book hit the shelves of Christian bookstores.  I dare say nobody who read it came away neutral.  You either loved it (in a sick, this-hurts-but-I-needed-it-kind-of-way) or you hated it (probably because it hurt and you were not willing to deal with its hard truths).

The author is David Platt.  He is the new President of the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention.  And I, for one, am excited!

Platt's heart for the gospel, and particularly the gospel to the peoples of the world who have never heard, oozes out of every book he's written (at least that I've read) and out of every sermon I've heard him preach.  He strikes me as a modern day Paul.  No time for games.  No time for unnecessary church socials.  No time for building programs or capital campaigns.  Billions are dying without the gospel and young girls are being sold into sex slavery and 20,000 are dying today of starvation while we fritter away our time and money.  O Christian  Arise!

That's the message of the book Radical.  

Platt's follow up, however, is called Radical Together.  What Radical is to the individual follower of Christ, Radical Together is for the Church of Christ.  Especially the local church of Christ, which is where the action is in this world.

The Church in America may not be ready for Platt's biblically-driven challenges, but she desperately needs to hear them.  Local churches all across this land have gotten so far off the course Jesus set for His people that one wonders if she'll ever be able to regain her strong sense of God-glorifying, gospel-proclaiming, Christ-exalting purpose and mission.  Platt is not ready to throw in the towel.  Neither am I.

Chapter One really is worth the price of this book.  It's titled "Tyranny of the Good" and its main thrust is that "one of the worst enemies of Christians can be good things in the church."  I could not agree more.  As a Pastor I get weary of putting so much time and effort into tons of "good things" that are not really the best thing.  I also get weary of being expected to put so much time and effort into promoting and planning good things that essentially distract us from the best thing.  I am hungry for more.  For better.  From myself.  From God's flock.  We need to say "no" to lots of things to sharpen our focus on the best thing - making disciples of the nations for God's glory in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Corydon Baptist Church, please add this book to your must read list in 2015.  If every member would read his or her Bible through this year, and read Evangelism (see former post) and Radical Together and start talking about how God would have us change, I would be a very happy Pastor.  More importantly, I believe God would do far greater things in us and among us and through us than we can ever ask, dream or think!

Why has the church over the past decades in the west talked so much about evangelism but done so very little of it? Massive evangelism conferences have been held. Mountains of curricula have been produced. Yet, by and large, most churches I know anything about are not really doing evangelism at all, or very well. Why?

Mack Stiles' little book aims to address this very dilemma. His answer is both profound and simple all at once.

Stiles begins by giving some anecdotes that may seem like evangelism, but they turn out to be fools gold. Thus, the title of Chapter One, "Of Altar Calls and Laser Lights." But if so much that has passed as evangelism really isn't, then what is?

"Evangelism is teaching the gospel with the aim to persuade" (p. 26).

This simple definition drives the rest of the book. Stiles is more about the church working to build and becoming a culture where evangelism happens (preferably routinely as a way of life), rather than the church relegating evangelism to conferences, curricula, and professionals.

OK? But how?

Well, I don't want to spoil it for you. Go buy the book and read it!  I can tell you that this is the most biblical and practical book I have ever read on the subject of evangelism. The primary ways that we can "become intentional evangelists living in intentional cultures of evangelism," says Stiles, are these:

1. Prepare our hearts, minds and feet.
2. Understand a gospel-shaped way of life.
3. Slay our assumptions.
4. See evangelism as a discipline.
5. Pray.
6. When possible, give leadership in evangelism.

Is your appetite whetted? I hope so. Your pastors are asking every member of Corydon Baptist Church to read this book in 2015. Find a buddy or partner and read and discuss it together. Begin to prayerfully seek God for how you can help us grow into an intentionally evangelistic culture.

For God's Glory in the Gospel of Christ!

I want to recommend Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem by Kevin DeYoung.  My time was certainly well spent reading the 128 pages of this book. The Spirit used these words to quickly convict me on how I am not as careful with my time as I need to be. It's filled with practical changes to make us better stewards of the time God has given us. I especially enjoyed the last chapter on Mary and Martha from Luke 10. Below are some of my favorite quotes from the book. In this first quote the author confesses that he too has the problem of being too busy.

"I plan no margin in my weeks—reverse margin, actually. I look at my week, and before any interruptions come or any new opportunities arise or any setbacks occur, I already have no idea how to get everything done. I see the meetings scheduled, the sermons to be prepared, the e-mails I need to write, the blogs I need to post, the projects I need to complete, the people I need to see, and I figure that if everything goes a little better than expected, it can all be squeezed in. But of course, there are no ideal weeks, and so I end up with no margin to absorb the surprises."

"We have more opportunity than ever before. The ability to cheaply go anywhere is a recent development. The ability to get information from anywhere is, too. Even the ability to easily stay up past sundown is relatively new. The result, then, is simple but true: because we can do so much, we do do so much. Our lives have no limits."

"When we are crazy busy, we put our souls at risk. The challenge is not merely to make a few bad habits go away. The challenge is to not let our spiritual lives slip away. The dangers are serious, and they are growing."

"Busyness can ruin our joy. This is the most immediate and obvious spiritual threat. As Christians, our lives should be marked by joy (Phil. 4:4), taste like joy (Gal. 5:22), and be filled with the fullness of joy (John 15:11). Busyness attacks all of that. One study found that commuters experience greater levels of stress than fighter pilots and riot police. That’s what we’re facing. When our lives are frantic and frenzied, we are more prone to anxiety, resentment, impatience, and irritability."

"Cottages, boats, campers, time-shares, investments, real estate, snowmobiles, new cars, new houses, new computers, new iStuff, new video games, new makeup, new DVDs, new downloads, new . . . —they all take time. We’ve heard countless sermons warning us about the dangers of money. But the real danger comes after you spend the money. Once you own it you need to keep it clean, keep it working, and keep up with the latest improvements. If the worries of life don’t swamp us, the upkeep will."

"We are busy because we try to do too many things. We do too many things because we say yes to too many people. We say yes to all these people because we want them to like us and we fear their disapproval."

"Don’t think Jesus can’t sympathize with your busyness. You have bills that need to be paid? Jesus had lepers who wanted to be healed. You have kids screaming for you? Jesus had demons calling him by name. You have stress in your life? Jesus taught large crowds all over Judea and Galilee with people constantly trying to touch him, trick him, and kill him. He had every reason to be run over by a hundred expectations and a thousand great opportunities. And yet, he stayed on mission. Jesus knew his priorities and stuck with them."

"In order to have time for my priorities, some activities must be posteriority for me. One reason we never tame the busyness beast is because we are unwilling to kill anything. We rearrange our schedule and tighten up our breaks, but nothing improves because we haven’t pruned anything. We haven’t established what we won’t do any longer."

"It would be better for us and for our kids if we planned fewer outings, got involved in fewer activities, took more breaks from the kids, did whatever we could to get more help around the house, and made parental sanity a higher priority... The longer I parent the more I want to focus on doing a few things really well, and not get too worked up about everything else. I want to spend time with my kids, teach them the Bible, take them to church, laugh with them, cry with them, discipline them when they disobey, say “sorry” when I mess up, and pray a ton"

"We feel busy, but not with a hobby or recreation or play. We are busy with busyness. Rather than figure out what to do with our spare minutes and hours, we are content to swim in the shallows and pass our time with passing the time."

"One of the dangers of technology is that work and rest blend together in a confusing mush. We never quite leave work when we’re at home, so the next day we have a hard time getting back to work when we’re at work. We have no routine, no order to our days. We are never completely “on” and never totally “off.” So we dawdle on YouTube for twenty minutes at the office and then catch up on e-mails for forty minutes in front of the TV at home... Many of us are simply overcome—hour after hour, day after day—by the urge to connect online. And as Christians we know that “whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved” (2 Pet. 2:19)."

"Most of us could improve our lives significantly by simply getting to bed a little earlier. Some nights I can’t help it; there’s no way to be in bed before midnight. But on other nights I get started on a project I didn’t need to begin, or fritter away thirty minutes on my phone, or waste an extra forty-five minutes watching a meaningless sporting event, or spend an hour reading late at night instead of guarding that time so that I can get up to read my Bible the next morning. Sometimes the godliest thing you can do in the universe is get a good night’s sleep—not pray all night, but sleep. I’m certainly not denying that there may be a place for praying all night; I’m merely insisting that in the normal course of things, spiritual discipline obligates you to get the sleep your body needs."

Click here for more Books Worth Reading.