The Pastor Theologian, Resurrecting an Ancient Vision by Gerald Hiestand and Todd Wilson

There was a time, as Hiestand and Wilson document, when local pastors led the church theologically. They preached doctrinally solid sermons, wrote theological works and interacted with the scholarship of their day. But all that began to change with the rise of the university prior to the Reformation (p. 33). Ultimately the role of theological […]

A Pastor Prays for His People by Wendell C. Hawley

When Kent Hughes retired as pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, Wendell Hawley was asked to write and deliver the pastoral prayer each Sunday morning. This book is a collection of 73 of those prayers. There is one for every Sunday of the year plus others for special occasions. Many of those reading A […]

The Trellis and the Vine, The Ministry Mind-Shift That Changes Everything, by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne (Australia: St Matthias Press, 2009) 202 pp., paper $9.99

The Trellis and the Vine is an excellent resource, not only concerning the importance of concentrated discipleship efforts in the church but also for ideas, methods and the practical “how to” in developing disciples. The authors see the church’s mission as “a commission that makes disciple-making the normal agenda and priority of every church and […]

Surviving Shattered Dreams, a Story of Hope after Despair by Yvonne Partyka and Joanne Klinger, (Enumclaw, WA: WinePress Publishing: 2009), 133 pp., paper $16.95

Many who enter pastoral ministry do so with romantic and idealistic dreams that defy reality. The pressure of ministry can lead to tragic ends if responded to incorrectly. Both Partyka and Klinger experienced the shattered dreams as wives of pastors who gave into temptations which ultimately led to divorce. Along the way these men were […]