Pastor's Corner: "Read a Book with the Pastor"

Dear Friends,One of the things I love to do, and certainly wish I did more of, is read. In particular, I enjoy reading books on Christian living. With that in mind, I would like to invite you to join me in reading a book that will help us grow in our walk with the Lord.To begin, I will select a book on Christian living every other month. If I can maintain this pace maybe we will notch it up to one book a month. I will alternate between new books and old books. Here are a few parameters I will try to follow when selecting and reading books for us:I will not always agree with every word of every book selected for us. It is important for us to learn to be discerning readers and that means taking everything that we read and interpreting it in light of what Scripture teaches.I like to read books on Christian living that point to the Bible and make me want to pick up my Bible, read it and know it better. Therefore, the books selected will be Bible-centered.Additionally, after 6-8 weeks, I will strive to write a short review along with a few discussion questions with which we can wrestle and post them up on the church website. Each book post will have a comment section which will provide an opportunity for discussion/interaction regarding the material as a church community. We will call this "Read a Book With the Pastor" on the church website.The first book I would like us to read together is a new book by Kevin DeYoung called Taking God at His Word: Why the Bible is knowable, necessary, and enough, and what that means for you and me. DeYoung has recently become one of my favorite authors. His writing is very accessible and practical for the whole church. I hope that even our high school and junior high students will join in on reading this book."Why this book?," you may ask. Simply put, my passion for Cornerstone is that we grow in our knowledge and love of God's Word, which in turn will help us to know and love the Lord Jesus more.David Platt, Senior Pastor at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham says this about the book, "My trust in God's Word is greater, my submission to God's Word is deeper, and my love for God's Word is sweeter as a result of reading this book. For these reasons, I cannot recommend it highly enough." After reading the first few chapters of this book, I am in full agreement with David. This book will help you understand, know and love your Bible better - and that is always a good thing!Coincidently, DeYoung's church, University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan, on April 27, 2014, voted 282-9 in favor of leaving the Reformed Church in America (RCA) and affiliating with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Their reasons cited for leaving the RCA was its drift toward disregarding key areas of Scripture that are foundational to Reformed, biblical belief. I say this to you so that you understand some of the context of DeYoung's writing but also so that we, Cornerstone, would pray for University Reformed Church as they seek to be a faithful church in the kingdom of God and that we would welcome them with open arms into the PCA. You can read more about URC at: http://goo.gl/JF2S9c.Your friend,Wilson