When are you going to do something about pastoring our people? When he heard that cry, Dr. Melvin Steinbron realized that the centuries-long traditional roles of the clergy and laity - with the clergy doing the pastoring and the laity receiving it - is woefully inadequate to care for all the needs of people in our churches today. So he decided to do something about it. Believing that lay people also have ministry gifts, he, along with a team of church members, initiated a program to enable the laity to share in pastoring the congregation. You, too, can form a lay pastoring ministry which will benefit both pastor and congregation. This book will show you: -how to reach out on a continuing basis to every member of your church -how God gives pastoring gifts to lay people -how to prepare your congregation for a lay pastoring ministry -how to get organized -how to choose lay pastors -how to conduct a 15-hour equipping seminar -seven commitments lay pastors must make -seven common ministry problems and how they can strengthen rather than weaken your program -how to evaluate your program This is much more than a how-to book. It's a how-it's-being-done-and-you-can-do-it-too book. The lengthy track record of scores of lay people doing effective pastoring assures you that lay people can indeed do the pastoring.

My journey as a pastor had quite a few ups and downs. Although there were many aspects of serving in full-time ministry that I loved, there were more things that happened along the way that made a negative impact on both myself and my family. After I resigned from the pastorate, it took several years of forgiving and getting plugged in to a healthy church before I really began to heal from the hurt. Whether you've spent your entire career as a pastor or if you have recently thrown in the towel, Why Pastors Quit is an easy-to-read book that will encourage you and make you ask the question: What can I do to help change the statistics?

Women long to be loved, to be known, to be understood. But who can meet those needs at their deepest level? Only the One who created women--who knows them by name and who designed them--can bring fulfillment that truly satisfies. "Letting God Meet Your Emotional Needs" shows how God desires to help every woman: I need acceptance... God loves, forgives, and accepts I need security... God promises He will never leave I need to feel pretty... Christ sees me as new, spotless I need a companion... He is the perfect friend I need communication... He talks to me intimately through His Word Formerly "Heart Hunger."

David Murray writes in the Foreword: 'The minister's soul is the soul of his ministry.' I can't remember where I first heard this saying, but I've never been able to forget it. And, having read this book, I never want to forget it. In these pages, Jim Savastio and Brian Croft establish the foundation of all faithful and fruitful ministry"€"the pastor's soul. But, although their main target is the epidemic of ministerial hyper-activity and the accompanying burnout, backsliding, and brokenness, they carefully avoid over-reacting and running to the opposite extremes of monkish withdrawal or lazy self-indulgence. Instead, you have a book that skillfully walks a balanced biblical path in both content and style. It balances self and others. Yes, the pastor is all about serving others, about sacrificing for the sake of others, about spending and being spent for others, and about pouring out themselves to fill others. But, as many pastors have discovered to their cost and pain, servants are finite, sacrifices eventually turn to ashes, non-stop spending leads to bankruptcy, and pouring out without ever filling up ends in drought. This book reminds us that caring for self is not selfish but necessary if we are to sustain a life of caring service to others. It's not a warrant for sloth or selfishness, but rather a call to self-care that will lead to better other-care.

Follow God's process for growth and learn how you can benefit from life's challenging experiences with this book by bestselling inspirational author T.D. Jakes. In this insightful book, #1 New York Times bestselling author T.D. Jakes wrestles with the age-old questions: Why do the righteous suffer? Where is God in all the injustice? In his most personal offering yet, Bishop Jakes tells crushing stories from his own journey-the painful experience of learning his young teenage daughter was pregnant, the agony of watching his mother succumb to Alzheimer's, and the shock and helplessness he felt when his son had a heart attack. Bishop Jakes wants to encourage you that God uses difficult, crushing experiences to prepare you for unexpected blessings. If you are faithful through suffering, you will be surprised by God's joy, comforted by His peace, and fulfilled with His purpose. Crushing will inspire you to have hope, even in your most difficult moments. If you trust in God and lean on Him during setbacks, He will lead you through.

With clarity and depth characteristic of the classics, this spiritual bestseller from the author of The Return of the Prodigal Son lays out a perceptive and insightful plan for the spiritual life and achieving the ultimate goal of that life—union with God. “One of the world’s greatest spiritual writers.”—Christianity Today Henri Nouwen views our spiritual “ascent” as evolving in three movements: The first, from loneliness to solitude, focuses on the spiritual life as it relates to the experience of our own selves. The second, from hostility to hospitality, explores our spiritual life as a life for others. The final movement, from illusion to prayer, offers penetrating thoughts on the most mysterious relationship of all: our relationship with God. Throughout, Nouwen emphasizes that the more we understand (and not simply deny) our inner struggles, the more we will be able to embrace a prayerful and genuine life that is also open to others’ needs. Reaching Out is a rich book to be read, reread, pondered, and shared. It “does not offer answers or solutions,” Nouwen cautions, “but is written in the conviction that the quest for an authentic Christian spirituality is worth the effort and the pain, since in the midst of this quest we can find signs offering hope, courage, and confidence.”

Pastoral ministry is more challenging than ever with unique, complicated burdens and expectations some have not experienced in previous generations. Because of this, the number of pastors who start with a great zeal for the work, quickly crash and burn and are left with a battered faith and family. This book seeks to identify those unique challenges, diagnose the problem, propose a biblical solution, and then guide the pastor and his family to embrace these challenges while shepherding the family through them.