From one pastor to another... No one is ever fully prepared for the ministry. For pastors just starting out, those needing a little rebalancing, or those growing tired in the trenches, a short guide to the basics is a welcome relief. In On Pastoring, H. B. Charles gives 30 instructive reflections on the pastor’s heart, leadership, and public ministry, covering topics like: Cultivating personal godliness Prioritizing your family Guarding your ministry effectiveness Planning, preparing, and preaching sermons Balancing pastoral roles and duties Being a pastor means wearing many hats, weathering lots of pressure, and bearing great responsibility. Let H. B. Charles be a trusted advisor as you do the serious work of shepherding a flock of God.

Few books have more influenced those called to gospel ministry than Charles Spurgeon’s Lectures to My Students. This influence of this book, like the Prince of Preachers himself, reverberates to our present age. Carrying forward this tradition is Jason Allen’s Letters to My Students. Dr. Allen serves as president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Spurgeon College, the former ranking as one of the largest and fastest growing seminaries in North American. Dr. Allen has also served in multiple pastorates. His passion to serve the church by equipping a generation of pastors, missionaries, and ministers for faithful service is reflected in Letters to My Students. Letters to My Students is a biblical, accessible guide for ministers and ministers-in-training. It brings both biblical and practical wisdom to bear on the minister’s three main responsibilities: preaching, leading, and shepherding the flock of God. Martin Lloyd-Jones famously described the call to ministry as the highest, greatest, and most glorious calling to which one can be called. If this assessment resonates with you, you’ll want every available tool to strengthen your ministry. Letters to My Students is one such resource.

What would cause the apostle Paul to testify that "I am innocent of the blood of all"? Godly qualities characterized his ministry, and outside of Christ's, there is no greater ministry example. All ministers struggle, and we all know those who toil in frustration alongside us in the Lord's field. You may be amid deep struggle now; worn, tattered, scarred, ready to quit--you have lost the focus and the joy of your calling. Most of us in ministry have known those who have either left the ministry or shipwrecked their faith. Quite possibly this is you. What we need to do is "put our hands to the plow, focus on our calling and the path before us, and determine to finish well." Drawing on Paul's example from Acts 20:17-38, the authors prescribe ministry principles, touching on a wide range of pastoral and preaching insights. Some have a ministry they should not want; some desire a ministry they think they want, but this book seeks to identify the ministry we need.

Create a church unchurched people absolutely love to attend. Deep and Wide provides church leaders with an in-depth look into North Point Community Church and its strategy for creating churches unchurched people absolutely love to attend. Now available in an expanded edition, this trusted resource has sold over 250,000 copies. In it, Andy Stanley explains: His strategy for preaching and programming to both mature believers and cynical unbelievers North Point's spiritual formation model: The Five Faith Catalysts Three essential ingredients for creating irresistible environments How to tackle the challenge of transitioning a local congregation If your team is more concerned with who you are reaching than who you are keeping, the expanded edition of Deep and Wide will be more than a book you read; it will be a resource you come back to over and over! New bonus content includes a study guide, church staff helps, and an interview with Andy on the most frequently asked questions about Deep and Wide.

A veteran pastor answers the questions that today's pastors are asking In 40 Questions about Pastoral Ministry, veteran pastor Phil Newton provides trustworthy answers to 40 of the most common and pressing questions relating to the life and work of the pastor. Covering five major categories--such as development, practices, and preaching--Newton equips pastors to successfully handle everyday duties and challenges, including: • Remaining spiritually healthy • Strengthening your marriage • Dealing with discouragement • Avoiding pitfalls • Leading elders' meetings • Mentoring future leaders • Preaching through books of the Bible • Conducting marriages and funerals • Practicing church discipline • Leading change and revitalization, and much more Basing his answers on Scripture, theological reflection, and personal experience, Newton serves as a mentor and guide for pastors at every stage of ministry. The questions and answers are self-contained, and topics of interest can be easily located. Pastors will want to consult this volume often for authoritative advice on all aspects of pastoral ministry.

From a recovering “leadershipaholic": our best model is the first one. With all our sleek ministry models, it’s a wonder our churches are declining—until we read Acts 6:4, “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word.” After a long, sometimes trying ministry journey, Daniel Henderson was relieved to discover what the apostles knew from the start: The main thing must stay the main thing. It worked in their pagan times, and it will in ours. Old Paths, New Power: Reviving Our Churches through Prayer and the Ministry of the Word calls us back to the tried-and-true: pray and proclaim the word. Henderson, who leads a growing church revival ministry, guides you through the essentials of sparking a spiritual renaissance: Be a leader who walks with the Lord Develop a strong prayer culture in your life and ministry Preach with unction, dependence, and integrity Equip every saint for the work of the ministry Embrace the sufficiency of the gospel Our churches don’t need fresh models and fancy things; they need the Holy Spirit, and He rains down when we pray and proclaim the word. Read Old Paths, New Power and follow God’s master plan.

A how-to guide for preparing and delivering Spiritfilled, biblical messages that make an impact Being called to preach is a tremendous commission. In Preaching Life-Changing Sermons, Jesse L. Nelson shares a simple process for effective expository sermon preparation and delivery, flavored with insights from his life in ministry and academic work. Those with teaching and preaching responsibilities with little to no seminary training will learn practical steps they can use today in their ministry. Nelson outlines the six foundations of life-changing preaching and shows how each looks in the everyday life of a pastor: Seek the Spirit Select the Scripture Study the Scripture Structure the Sermon Speak in the Spirit Share the Savior Handling God's Word rightly through prayer, sermon preparation, and sermon delivery sets the stage for people to absorb the message. When the Spirit moves as Scripture speaks, souls are changed--and the call to preach becomes an exciting, transformative adventure.

Proven Methods for Turning Believers into Disciples What does it mean to grow a "convert" into a "disciple"? And how do we help our people get there? Neil Anderson's Freedom in Christ ministry has been walking individuals through these steps for over a quarter century. Now he turns his attention to pastors and church leaders, teaching them how to help their people resolve personal and spiritual conflicts, including everything from difficult marriages to unrepentant sin to church disputes. Before someone can mature spiritually, they must be established alive and free in Christ through genuine repentance and faith in God. This means churches must resolve their people's conflicts as the first step to discipleship, rather than referring them to professional counselors. We as believers have the answers for mental and emotional problems, and through this ministry of reconciliation true discipleship happens.

Most church leaders are passionate about their calling to “go and make disciples.” However, despite their most creative thinking, diligent efforts and rigorous assessments, year after year they arrive at the end of a ministry season with no way of knowing for sure whether they have succeeded or failed in their calling. “I want to serve God,” the refrain goes, “and on most days, I believe I’m doing what I’m called to do. But what if my approach is off-track? What if the work we’re doing as a church doesn’t really help people grow at all?” The only indicators of success most leaders have are numbers. Is attendance up? Are giving trends on the rise? Are we baptizing more people this year than last? Numbers are helpful, but they still come up short. Numbers may tell leaders how active their congregants are, but they reveal very little about whether or not anyone’s heart is changing as a result. Leaders need more than numbers to help them assess their efforts and make strategic ministry decisions. The crux of spiritual growth is not how busy people are with spiritual activities but how engaged they are with Christ. How close is a person to Christ? Are they fully surrendered to his will and his teaching? Do they prioritize faith in their daily lives? Are they growing in their love of God and others? In order to answer these questions, leaders need more than numbers; they need to see inside people’s hearts.In 2004, Willow Creek Community Church completed research that would eventually become the REVEAL Spiritual Life Survey. Based on those initial findings, as well as data from more than 150,000 congregants in 500 churches, the REVEAL team discovered a way to see inside the hearts and minds of congregants. The Christ-Centered Heart presents discoveries not from a hypothetical, theoretical or opinion-driven point of view, but from an empirical one. By linking biblical principles with spiritual attitudes and behaviors, REVEAL research The Christ-Centered Heart provides a foundational understanding of this new lens for spiritual growth and presents findings from the latest REVEAL research. Focusing on Jesus’ definition of spiritual growth as increasing love of God and others (Matthew 22:36 – 40), the book draws on compelling stories of real people as well as engaging charts and graphs to illustrate key concepts and insights. It includes four parts: PART ONE: The Heart of the Matter explains the brutal truth about spiritual growth and an orientation on how REVEAL takes us “inside” the hearts of congregants.PART TWO: The Spiritual Continuum identifies the five segments of intimacy with Christ and describes people with “closed hearts,” who are Far from Christ; people with “searching hearts,” who are Exploring Christ; people with “open hearts,” who are Growing in Christ; people with “engaged hearts,” who are Close to Christ; and people with “surrendered hearts,” who are “Christ-Centered.”PART THREE: Spiritual Movement details the distinct spiritual catalysts that move people toward increasing intimacy with Christ. This includes four spiritual movements: from rejection to searching for Christ; from searching to accepting Christ; from growing in Christ to becoming close to him; and from close to Christ to becoming Christ-centered. We name two primary barriers to spiritual growth—becoming “stalled” along the journey toward intimacy with Christ, and becoming “dissatisfied” with the church’s ability to lead people there.PART FOUR: Spiritual Leadership presents five key findings based on REVEAL’s proprietary “Spiritual Vitality Index,” which ranks a church’s effectiveness in helping people grow. The findings explain the importance of getting people moving once they express interest in knowing Christ; embedding the Bible in everything the church does; creating ownership on the part of the Christ-follower; pastoring the local community rather than merely “doing ministry” inside the church’s four walls; and re-establishing

No church is immune to the problems that can arise when parishioners behave in difficult ways. Responding to such situations with self-awareness and in a manner true to one’s faith tradition makes the difference between peace and disaster. In this must-read book, Boers shows how a better understanding of difficult behavior can help congregational leaders avoid the trap of labeling such parishioners and exercise self-care when the going gets rough.