Recommended Book

Memoirs of An Ordinary Pastor
The life and reflections of Tom Carson by D.A. Carson

Tim Challies of challies.com fame listed this book as his book of the year 2008 writing that it is "D.A. Carson’s tribute to his father, a pastor who labored for many years in relative obscurity. Tom Carson was an ordinary pastor, a man who struggled with depression and who saw his ministry bear visible little fruit, but he was a man who remained faithful and who served the Lord with all his heart. This is a must-read book for anyone in ministry."

I checked out the reviews at Amazon and found myself ordering it immediately despite the backlog of books I have waiting to be read.

I received it today and read the preface before I sat down and am already hooked. Here is some of what Carson writes as introduction:

"Some pastors, mightily endowed by God, are remarkable gifts to the church. They love their people, they handle Scripture well, they see many conversions, their ministries span generations, they understand their culture yet refuse to be domesticated by it, they are theologically robust and personally disciplined....

Most of us, however, serve in more modest patches. Most pastors will not regularly preach to thousands, let alone tens of thousands. They will not write influential books, they will not supervise large staffs, and they will never see more than modest growth. They will plug away at their care for the aged, at their visitation, at their counseling, at their Bible studies and preaching. Some will work with so little support that they will prepare their own bulletins. They cannot possibly discern whether the constraints of their own sphere of service owe more to the specific challenges of the local situation or to their own shortcomings. Once in a while they will cast a wistful eye on "successful" ministries. Many of them will attend conferences sponsored by the revered masters and come away with a slightly discordant combination of, on the one hand, gratitude and encouragement and, on the other, jealousy, feelings of inadequacy and guilt.

Most of us- let us be frank- are ordinary pastors.


Do you see yourself in this description? I sure do.

I'll post any especially helpful nuggets, but if you feel inclined to get the book, drop me a line and lets encourage each other as we read along together.

-Doug