The Imperfect Pastor
The Imperfect Pastor

Author: Zack Eswine

Publisher: Crossway

Published: 2015-09-01

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1433549360

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Pastors aren’t superheroes—they have fears and limitations just like everyone else. Zack Eswine knows this from personal experience and has a wealth of wisdom to offer those who feel like they don’t measure up. Written in a compelling memoir style, The Imperfect Pastor is full of insightful stories and theological truths that show how God works unexpectedly through flawed people. By talking honestly about the failure, burnout, pain, and complexities that come along with church ministry, Eswine helps pastors accept their human limitations and experience the freedom of trusting God’s plan for their church and life.

Sensing Jesus
Sensing Jesus

Author: Zack Eswine

Publisher: Crossway

Published: 2012-11-30

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 1433520990

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This is a book about the behind-the-scenes reality of a life in ministry. It tells you what Zack Eswine wishes somebody else would’ve told him. With over 20 years of experience in ministry, Zack shares with incredible honesty about his own failures, burnout, and pain, all the while addressing the complexities of leadership decisions, church discipline, family dynamics, and so on. Presenting sound pastoral theology couched in autobiographical musings and powerful prose, this book offers a fresh and biblically faithful approach to the care of souls, including your own.

The Imperfect Disciple
The Imperfect Disciple

Author: Jared C. Wilson

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2017-05-02

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1493409271

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Too many discipleship books are written for clean, perfect people who know all the right Sunday school answers. The Imperfect Disciple is for the rest of us--people who screw up, people who are weary, people who are wondering if it's safe to say what they're really thinking. For the believer who is tired of quasi-spiritual lifehacks being passed off as true, down-and-dirty discipleship, here is a discipleship book that isn't afraid to be honest about the mess we call real life. With incisive wit, warm humor, and moving stories, Jared Wilson shows readers how the gospel works in them and in their lives when - they can't get their act together - they think God is giving them the silent treatment - they think church would be better without all the people - they're not happy with the person in the mirror - and much more Wilson frees readers from the self-doubt and even the misplaced self-confidence they may feel as they walk with Jesus down the often difficult road of life. The result is a faith that weathers storms, lifts burdens, and goes forth to make more imperfect disciples.

Outgrowing the Ingrown Church
Outgrowing the Ingrown Church

Author: C. John Miller

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 1986

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 0310284112

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This is a book for pacesetters -- church leaders who desire to help their churches break free of the things that turn them in on themselves. It is a masterly mix of biblical principle, objective analysis, and personal experience.

The Pastor's Justification
The Pastor's Justification

Author: Jared C. Wilson

Publisher: Crossway

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1433536641

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Neither a how-to manual nor an academic treatise on pastoral ministry, this book of biblical exposition, pastoral confession, and gospel exultation directs pastors to their only justification: the finished work of Christ.

The Pastor's Book
The Pastor's Book

Author: R. Kent Hughes

Publisher: Crossway

Published: 2015-10-14

Total Pages: 451

ISBN-13: 143354590X

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Pastors are tasked with the incredibly demanding job of caring for the spiritual, emotional, and, at times‚ physical needs of their people. While seminary is helpful preparation for many of the challenges pastors face, there’s far more to pastoral ministry than what can be covered in the classroom. Designed as a reference guide for nearly every situation a pastor will face, this comprehensive book by seasoned pastors Kent Hughes and Doug O’Donnell is packed full of biblical wisdom and practical guidance related to the reality of pastoral ministry in the trenches. From officiating weddings to conducting funerals to visiting the sick, this book will equip pastors and church leaders with the knowledge they need to effectively minister to their flocks, both within the walls of the church and beyond.

Working the Angles
Working the Angles

Author: Eugene Peterson

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 1989-05-12

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 1467419184

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American pastors, says Eugene Peterson, are abandoning their posts at an alarming rate. They are not leaving their churches and getting other jobs. Instead, they have become "a company of shopkeepers, and the shops they keep are churches." Pastors and the communities they serve have become preoccupied with image and standing, with administration, measurable success, sociological impact, and economic viability. In Working the Angles, Peterson calls the attention of his fellow pastors to three basic acts--which he sees as the three angles of a triangle--that are so critical to the pastoral ministry that they determine the shape of everything else. The acts--prayer, reading Scripture, and giving spiritual direction--are acts of attention to God in three different contexts: oneself, the community of faith, and another person. Only by being attentive to these three critical acts, says Peterson, can pastors fulfill their prime responsibility of keeping the religious community attentive to God. Written out of the author's own experience as pastor of a "single pastor church," this well-written, provocative book will be stimulating reading for lay Christians and pastors alike.

Am I Called? (Foreword by Matt Chandler)
Am I Called? (Foreword by Matt Chandler)

Author: Dave Harvey

Publisher: Crossway

Published: 2012-03-31

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1433527510

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Many men have the skills to lead a church, but only some are called. Dave Harvey helps men considering pastoral ministry to see God's active role in the process of discerning their calling. God's Word offers a clear framework for evaluating one's call, especially within the context of community. Harvey offers six diagnostic questions to help prospective pastors process their calling, and what they should be doing now if they aren't sure. Illustrated with personal and historical stories, Harvey explores biblical and practical principles for determining the pastoral call. Over the past twenty-four years of ministry, Harvey has enjoyed assisting many men in discerning whether they are called into ministry. This book will guide you through that all-important process with wisdom and confidence in God's faithfulness in your life.

The Peacemaking Pastor
The Peacemaking Pastor

Author: Alfred J. Poirier

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2006-08-01

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1441201424

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Seminaries generally are not very effective in equipping pastors to be ministers of reconciliation, says pastor and experienced mediator Alfred Poirier. The result is pastors trained in biblical exposition, well-ordered worship, and good theology, but with little practical know-how about one of the most important functions they will be expected to perform: conflict resolution. The Peacemaking Pastor provides a survey of the nature and kinds of conflict typical in the pastorate to bring to light the need to recover the ministry of reconciliation. Poirier, chairman of the board of Peacemaker Ministries, shows pastors the importance of a reconciliation ministry, gives them a theological framework for peacemaking, and provides practical tools for facilitating the peacemaking process. Written by a pastor for pastors, this insightful book will encourage and equip seminaries and ministry leaders in their original calling-promoting a culture of peacemaking in the church.

Pastoral Theology
Pastoral Theology

Author: Dr. Daniel L. Akin

Publisher: B&H Publishing Group

Published: 2017-06-01

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 1433685825

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While many pastoral ministry books focus on the practical duties of the pastor, few works actually consider how theological truth defines the pastor’s role and responsibilities. These pragmatic ministry tools, though instructionally beneficial, essentially divorce biblical doctrine from ministerial practice. As a result, pastors’ lives and ministries often lack the theological roots that provide the stability and nourishment necessary to sustain them. Pastoral Theology constructs a theological framework for pastoral ministry that is biblically derived, historically informed, doctrinally sound, missionally engaged, and contextually relevant. By using traditional theological categories the authors explore the correlation between evangelical doctrine and pastoral practice. Through careful theological integration they formulate a ministry philosophy that defines the pastoral office and determines its corresponding responsibilities in light of theological truth. The authors provide a theological understanding of the pastorate that will equip aspiring pastors to discern and pursue their calling, challenge younger pastors to build on ministerial truth instead of ministerial trends, and inspire seasoned pastors to be reinvigorated in their passion for Christ and his church.