Anthony Payton is a native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He has served as Senior Pastor/Teacher of Come As You Are Community Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for twenty-seven years. Pastor Payton accepted his call to the ministry in 1986. He preached his first sermon on April 14, 1986, at True Love Missionary Baptist Church, in Fort Wayne, under the pastorate of the late Bishop Jesse White. Led by the Holy Spirit in 1995, Pastor Payton accepted the responsibility of stewarding 12 people of the former Greater Come As You Are Missionary Baptist Church. Today, with a membership of over 600 people, the church's home is a 28,000-square-foot state-of-the-art sanctuary. Among other accomplishments are:

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Pastor Payton travels the world sharing the good news of Christ and has helped plant churches in Brazil and the United States. He speaks very candidly of a life of addiction and of his deliverance. What Satan once meant to use for evil, God has now converted and uses for the good of His kingdom building here on earth. On June 28, 1986, Pastor Payton married the love of his life, wife Sandra Kay. They are the parents of Zachary and Lydia and the grandparents of three wonderful girls. He resides with his family in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

In a day of vanishing authentic Biblical Leadership, this book, Leadership Reflections was a breath of fresh air! It was penned as it was bathed in a servant spirit of brokenness and humility as it exalted the Savior and edified the Saints! In some instances, the lessons provoked repentance, revitalization, and refreshment in me! I believe that it is a MUST-READ for every blood-bought born-again believer that has been birthed in the Body of Christ! For as ministers of reconciliation, we are all leaders, as we are living epistles read of all men ( 2 Cor.3:2). The only Bibles many will read in our lives! (Matt.5:16) With blessed transparency, Dr. Payton shares godly wisdom as he assembled a multiplicity of real-life issues and struggles, that will equip and encourage us to be an ocular demonstration and a pictorial illustration of incarnational truth manifesting the power of God in our person, which is a primary prerequisite for leadership! (1 Tim.3:2a; John 15:13) This book is a Rhema word!! For we live in a day where many mistakes in leaders, gift for character. For the ability to eloquently articulate the Agenda of the Almighty when it comes to the proclamation, has nothing to do with persistent practicum or being a good Christian by living the Spirit-filled life! (Matt.22;37-40; Gal.5:16; James 1:22-25)

My Grandmother said, "I'd rather see a good sermon any day than hear one! Thank you, Dr. Payton, for this word will usher in a revival of Godliness and Holiness in leaders that will be a catalyst to fix fractures, and revolutionize relationships and realities as we walk as Kingdom citizens with our Redeemer!"

K. Marshall Williams Sr., Senior Pastor,

Nazarene Baptist Church,

President, National African American Fellowship, SBC

Thank you for allowing me the honor to be a part of this! Bless you, my brother ( 3 John 2). Leadership Reflections is one of those rare books you'll want to give every leader you know. The personal and penetrating tenor of the meta-narratives invites you to interact with the pathos, ethos, and logos of African American Pastoral leadership in the 21st-century church. Its three-fold lesson review engages and enlightens the reader as they travel through the peaks and valleys of spiritual leadership. Pastor Anthony Payton has produced his spiritual opus of leadership.

Jimmie Ruffin

Pastor-Teacher

New Life Community Church