-- D14 biblical business academy --

The CEO &
The Carpenter

A biblical business workbook built around the parables and teachings of Jesus.

It helps Christian business owners apply the teachings of Jesus to real-world decisions about leadership, stewardship, service, planning, operations, growth, accountability, and team formation.

This is not a book about chasing success with religious language.

It is a workbook for Christian owners and leaders who want to slow down, open Scripture, examine their business honestly, and ask:

How do I build and lead this business biblically?

Start with the Book

Join the Free Community

40 Business Themes

A 9-Step System

Built on the Parables

Proceeds Given Away

WHY THIS WORKBOOK EXISTS

Christian business owners need more than scattered advice.

Business ownership is a blessing, but it is not light.

Most Christian business owners want to honor God in their work.

They want to lead well.
Serve customers honestly.
Treat employees with dignity.
Make wise decisions.
Steward money responsibly.
Grow without being ruled by ambition.
Build something that reflects faithfulness, not just efficiency.

But many are left to figure out business from secular advice alone.

They may learn marketing from one place, leadership from another, finance from another, operations from another, and culture from another.

Some of that advice may be useful.

But Christian business owners need more than useful tactics.

They need biblical formation.

The CEO & The Carpenter was created to help close that gap.

It gives owners a structured way to think through business responsibilities in light of the teachings of Jesus.

Not vaguely.
Not sentimentally.
Not as a slogan.

Practically.

WHAT THE WORKBOOK IS

A workbook for biblical business formation.

The CEO & The Carpenter is not meant to be skimmed and shelved.

It is meant to be worked through.

The book is built around practical business themes drawn from the parables and teachings of Jesus.

Each theme is designed to help business owners reflect, examine, discuss, and apply biblical wisdom to the way they lead and steward their work.

The workbook helps you ask better questions:

What has God entrusted to me?
Who am I called to serve?
How should I lead?
What kind of fruit is this business producing?
Where am I being faithful?
Where am I drifting?
What needs to be corrected, strengthened, pruned, or rebuilt?

This is the starting point for D14BBA because the workbook gives the academy its shared language, biblical foundation, and practical structure.

WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT

Built on the teachings of Jesus, not business hype.

There are many Christian business books.

Some focus on motivation.
Some focus on mindset.
Some focus on networking.
Some focus on growth.
Some focus on money.
Some focus on leadership principles with a few Bible verses added.

The CEO & The Carpenter is different because it is built around the parables and teachings of Jesus as the foundation for business formation.

The goal is not to help you become a more religious version of a worldly business leader.

The goal is to help you examine the way you build, lead, serve, plan, grow, and steward under the authority of Christ.

D14BBA is not trying to become the loudest “Kingdom entrepreneur” brand in the market.

The stronger lane is clear: a church-deployable, Scripture-explicit, parables-centered biblical business formation system for owners, teams, and business fellowships.

This workbook is the first step into that system.

WHAT THE WORKBOOK HELPS YOU THINK THROUGH

Real business responsibilities through a biblical lens.

D14BBA helps Christian business owners think through the responsibilities they actually carry.

The CEO & The Carpenter helps Christian business owners think through the daily responsibilities of ownership and leadership.

Stewardship

What has God entrusted to you — and how should you manage it faithfully?

This includes money, time, people, opportunity, influence, customers, assets, relationships, and responsibility.

Leadership

How do you lead people with humility, clarity, courage, and accountability?

The workbook helps you examine not only what you lead, but how you lead.

Service

Who are you called to serve, and what does faithful service look like in your business?

This includes customers, employees, vendors, families, communities, and the people affected by your decisions.

Planning

How do you prepare wisely while remembering you are not sovereign over tomorrow?

The workbook helps you think about preparation, wisdom, humility, and dependence on God.

Growth

How do you pursue healthy growth without allowing ambition to become an idol?

Growth is not automatically wrong. But growth needs to be examined, stewarded, and submitted to biblical wisdom.

Money

How should you think about revenue, profit, compensation, generosity, debt, provision, and financial responsibility?

The workbook helps business owners think about money as stewardship, not merely accumulation.

Risk

How do you evaluate opportunity, danger, responsibility, timing, and faithfulness?

Business owners make risk decisions constantly. The question is not whether risk exists, but how it is discerned and stewarded.

Operations

How do your systems, processes, and habits either support or weaken faithful service?

Biblical business formation is not only about values. It must reach the way work actually gets done.

Team Formation

How do you build a workplace marked by dignity, truth, responsibility, service, trust, and accountability?

The workbook helps owners think about the people they lead, not merely the outcomes they want.

HOW INDIVIDUALS CAN USE THE WORKBOOK

Work through it slowly and honestly.

If you are reading the workbook as an individual business owner, do not rush it.

Read one theme at a time.
Reflect on the questions.
Write honest answers.
Pray through what is being exposed.
Identify one practical area to examine or adjust.
Come back to the material again.

This is not about finishing a book quickly.

It is about letting Scripture examine the way you think, decide, lead, and steward.

A simple individual rhythm:

1 Read one theme.
2 Review the Scripture connection.
3 Answer the workbook questions.
4 Identify one business application.
5 Pray over the decision or issue.
6 Discuss it with a trusted Christian advisor, pastor, spouse, mentor, or business owner.
7 Apply what is clear.

Start with the Workbook

HOW CHURCHES CAN USE THE WORKBOOK

A simple workbook-based study for business owners.

Churches can use The CEO & The Carpenter to gather business owners around Scripture and practical business formation.

The goal is not to create extra burden for the pastor.

The goal is to provide a simple structure churches can use with business owners already in the congregation.

A church can:

order workbooks in bulk
invite a small group of business owners
choose a 6-week, 8-week, or 12-week study format
use the facilitator guide
watch optional video introductions
lead practical discussions
invite participants into the free community or Academy Membership afterward

The recommended first step is small:

Gather 6 to 12 business owners.
Open the workbook.
Discuss what Scripture exposes.
Pray together.
Let the conversations begin.

Request Church Bulk Pricing

HOW TEAMS CAN USE THE WORKBOOK

Bring biblical business conversations into your company.

Business owners can also use The CEO & The Carpenter with leadership teams or staff groups.

This can help create shared language around:

stewardship
service
leadership
responsibility
customer care
accountability
wise planning
operational excellence
mission and impact

The best first step is for the owner or senior leader to go through the workbook personally before leading others through it.

Do the work first.
Examine your own leadership first.
Then bring selected themes into team discussion.

Group discussion can begin through workbook use.

Individual certification requires individual learner access through Academy Membership.

Ask About Team Use

THE WORKBOOK AND THE ACADEMY

The workbook is the foundation. The Academy helps you go deeper.

The CEO & The Carpenter is the starting point for D14 Biblical Business Academy.

After reading the workbook, you can continue through the larger D14BBA path.

1. Buy the workbook / Workbook

Start with the foundational workbook and begin examining your business through biblical themes.

2. Join the Free Community

Connect with other Christian business owners and learn how D14BBA works.

3. Join Academy Membership

Access the digital workbook, short teaching videos, online group studies, business courses, assignments, quizzes, and the individual certification path.

4. Join Business Owner Membership

Add monthly live group Q&A, advance question submission, possible review opportunities, and deeper practical support.

5. Bring It to Your Church or Team

Use the workbook and facilitator structure with business owners in your church or with your leadership team.

The project structure is intentionally simple:

the workbook is the foundation
the free community is the open door
the Academy Membership is the structured learning path
the Business Owner Membership is the deeper support layer
the Church Bulk Workbook Program is the primary church distribution path

SAMPLE THEMES / CHAPTER PREVIEW

A glimpse inside the workbook.

The full workbook is built around biblical business themes from the parables and teachings of Jesus.

Examples of themes may include:

Faithful Stewardship

What has been entrusted to me, and how am I managing it?

Counting the Cost

Have I prepared wisely, or am I rushing into decisions without sober planning?

Fruitfulness

What kind of fruit is my business producing in customers, employees, family, community, and my own heart?

Servant Leadership

Am I using authority to serve, protect, develop, and lead — or to control and extract?

Wise Delegation

Who needs to be equipped, trusted, corrected, or developed?

Multiplication

What should be multiplied — and what should not?

Accountability

Where will I answer for how I have used what was entrusted to me?

Generosity

How should provision, profit, margin, and blessing be stewarded for more than personal comfort?

Pruning

What needs to be cut back, corrected, simplified, or removed so the business can become healthier?

FOUNDER NOTE

From David DeSchoolmeester

David DeSchoolmeester is the founder of D14 Biblical Business Academy.

He is a disabled U.S. Navy Veteran, former member of the Naval Nuclear Power Program, Christian business owner, author, business strategist, and AI strategist.

David has worked across business coaching, marketing strategy, publishing, automation, AI strategy, and practical business systems. He previously operated D14 Agency before focusing this work around biblical business formation.

This did not begin as a funnel.

It began as a burden.

David saw that many Christian business owners genuinely want to honor God in their work, but they often lack a practical structure for thinking biblically about the daily responsibilities of business ownership.

The CEO & The Carpenter was created to help close that gap.

The goal is to build something faithful, practical, church-deployable, and rooted in the teachings of Jesus.

Something pastors can trust.
Something business owners can use.
Something teams can discuss.
Something that helps Christian owners build and lead biblically.

— David DeSchoolmeester
Founder, D14 Biblical Business Academy

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a regular book or a workbook?

It is a biblical business workbook. It is designed to be read, reflected on, written in, discussed, and applied.

Who should read The CEO & The Carpenter?

The workbook is written primarily for Christian business owners, founders, owner-operators, and leaders. It can also be useful for church business groups, leadership teams, staff development groups, nonprofit leaders, and marketplace ministry groups.

Is the workbook only for CEOs?

No. The title speaks to the responsibility of leadership and stewardship, but the material can serve owners, founders, managers, executives, entrepreneurs, and leaders who carry real responsibility.

Is this only for large businesses?

No. The workbook may be especially useful for small business owners, service business owners, contractors, private practice owners, consultants, and owner-led companies.

Can my church use this workbook?

Yes. Churches can order workbooks in bulk and use the facilitator guide to host a small group study for business owners in the congregation.

Can I use this with my team?

Yes. Business owners can use selected themes with leadership teams or staff groups. Individual certification requires individual learner access through Academy Membership.

Do I need to join the Academy to benefit from the workbook?

No. The workbook is valuable as a standalone workbook. Academy Membership exists for those who want digital access, teaching videos, group studies, courses, assignments, quizzes, and certification.

What is the difference between the workbook and Academy Membership?

The workbook is the foundation. Academy Membership adds structure, digital lessons, videos, community, facilitated group studies, practical business courses, homework, quizzes, and individual certification.

Is this prosperity teaching?

No. The workbook does not teach that faithfulness guarantees wealth or business success. It focuses on biblical wisdom, stewardship, leadership, service, accountability, and faithful business ownership.