Letters to a Young Pastor [Paperback]

Calvin Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2011

 

Much has changed over Calvin Miller’s decades of pastoral ministry, but he believes two things remain the same: God is love and people are broken. Now God is calling young pastors to stand in that gap. And in this honest, warm and humorous series of letters, Miller shares his wisdom and experience so you can flourish in your future ministry—without ever wanting to resign on Monday.

 

 

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Calvin Miller has long been one of the most creative voices in the church. As a best-selling author and poet he has enabled believers to flourish. As a pastor and educator he has equipped countless thousands to know and serve God more fully. And he’s got the battle scars to prove it.

 

Having survived these tumultuous decades, Dr. Miller now shares his well-earned wisdom with the next generation of pastors—including you, or someone you know.

 

Miller acknowledges much has changed over his years of ministry, as we’ve moved from switchboards to smartphones and from big-haired evangelists to cigar-smoking emergents. But two truths remain the same: God is love and people are broken. In this honest, engaging, and humorous collection of letters, he encourages you to fight the good fight, stay the course, and keep your eye on the Author and Finisher of the faith…to serve well every Sunday so you’ll never feel the urge to resign on Monday.

About the Author

 

Calvin Miller was pastor of Westside Church, Omaha, Nebraska, for twenty-five years. After teaching seven years at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he joined the faculty of Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama, where he is Research Professor and distinguished Writer in Residence. He is the author of more than forty books.

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: David C. Cook (September 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0781405777
• ISBN-13: 978-0781405775
• Product Dimensions: 0.7 x 5.4 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars So Much Sarcasm November 28, 2011

By MasterAP

Format:Paperback

Coming from a pastor of twenty-five years, you'd think Calvin Miller would have plenty to share with the new generation of pastors.

This book is stocked full of his anecdotes and insights of what it takes to be a minister, the sort of people you will come in contact with, how to interact with them and what he believes to be wrong with Christianity and its leaders.

You will not be missing any of Miller's sarcasm as these letters are full of it. I'm talking every single letter has the sarcasm included. At times this is confusing because I wasn't sure if he was trying to be serious about a complaint or just making light of it.

For example, he thrashes the megachurch pastors pretty hard. He claims megachurch pastors don't read books unless they deal with church growth.

Then he rips into Christians who don't end their prayers with "in Jesus' Name". As if saying those three words invokes some supernatural authority. (You'd have to understand what it means to do something "in the name of Christ" - it's along the same lines as taking God's name in vain)

He states that Rick Warren's prayer at President Obama's inauguration seemed to give Jesus the right to, "the nation of faith He forged at a terrible price."

See, I'm not sure if he's doing the whole tongue-in-cheek act there or if he is serious.

All in all, this book is a fun read for new preachers. It'll provide some fun insight and humorous stories from a seasoned minister.

I could have done with less sarcasm.

This book was provided for review, at no cost, by David C Cook Publishing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars So much wisdom for leaders January 28, 2012

By Joshua Reich

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Letters to a Young Pastor by Calvin Miller is one of those books I wished I had read several years ago. Miller is in his 70's after spending most of his life as a pastor and writes about the things he's learned, what he'd differently. It reads like sitting with an older mentor at Starbucks. Each chapter averages 4 pages and are written as short emails or letters from Miller to a young pastor.

I was struck by how much time Miller spent talking about character. Most books on pastoral leadership and church growth center on techniques, but it was refreshing to see him spend such a bulk of time on character. Without character, you won't last in ministry. I also appreciated how by the time you are Miller's age, in your mid-70's, the things that used to matter don't matter like they used to.

The other thing he emphasized was tenure, gutting it out when being a leader or pastor becomes difficult. The average pastor now stays at his church 18 months. This is one of the main reasons for a lack of effectiveness among pastors and churches. I am 3 and a half years into Revolution and we are more effective and healthy than we've ever been. I thought back to my 18 month mark and it was one of the hardest seasons of my leadership, but on the other side of that came a lot of vitality.

Here are a few things that jumped out, some of the best advice if it were:

-"People will endure anything in a church except an absence of vitality."
-Not everyone seems to believe it, but at the center of this minor formula for success is tenure. So many of the letters in this book focus on the long haul and the power of sticking to one thing: tenure.
-Every call makes one statement: One preaches because one must.
-"Pastoral care is a world of unbearable pain. However high we lift our spirits in personal or public worship, it is good to remember that many in our congregations come and go from our worship with broken hearts. In some ways this is what is most wrong with public invitations. We ask all those who are shrinking back from life to come forward. But they are refugees from sociability. They want to hide; they do not want to come forward. They want to hide out, so pastors must go to their hiding places. We must come down from our soaring worship and agree to enter the world of unbearable hurt."
-Churches that ignore their communities will not grow, and churches that will not globalize don't matter much.
-When you can't find Jesus, just play Jesus for someone else, and you'll soon have all the Jesus your errant heart can hold.
-Theology only really matters when it is affecting and changing the culture.
-Read the Bible as though the faith depended upon it.
-Never ask your people to do anything you have never done and wouldn't do. Never ask them to run a play you consider beneath your dignity.
-Visions should always be bigger than our life span.
-One of the things I wish I had learned earlier is that my sermons do not have to get better week by week. This would seem an easy thing to know. But we get caught in a trap for approval. We are so eager for our people to keep bragging us up, and so we work even harder, to keep getting better. This is a snare. Avoid it.
-Anytime you speak over people's heads to exhibit your own brilliance, you injure the gospel.
-People will sooner or later guess by the powerless life you live that you've lost your openness with a holy God.
-Never go into the pulpit without a definite plan to change the world in some way. Preaching is to change.
-The apostle Paul was more famous for his trials than his successes, I suppose.

If you are a young church planter or leader, then this is a book that should move up your reading list.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Where was this book 16 years ago? February 20, 2013

By Amber Goodman

Format:Paperback

Calvin Miller, a long time pastor and writer who I had never even heard of before, has captured my heart with his book, Letters to a Young Pastor. This is the book, aka diary, I have always wanted a peek into. Pastors have a hard time of it. We must love the unlovely, keep a smile on our face, shoulder the burden of the gospel, all while maintaining our own sanity and salvation. Mr. Miller sheds light on his own mistakes in ministry and made me laugh over and over with his personal stories. Ministry is hard, true, but if you have been called, its the only thing you can do. Thank you Mr Miller for helping me to see that I'm not the only one out here who feels this way.