Customer Reviews

PastorPreneur

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This is a powerful and practical book to help push us out of our comfort zone. Among the many strengths of PastorPreneur is its focus on forming and clarifying vision and giving practical and biblical strategies to help us move forward. If you want to stay fresh and be on the cutting edge - better read John Jackson's PastorPreneur!

Finally. A book that does justice to the entreprenurial spirit. I've always struggled wtih the fact that the church seems to lag behind the culture by 20 years. Where are the Holy Spirit entrepreneurs. John Jackson is one of them. I love his unique angle on the entreprenurial pastor.

Read the book.

It'll unleash the entreprenuer within!

My name is Dr. Jovan-Justine Love and I believe this book is good for top-level vision, mission, leadership work and how to be creative in that regard but, it is weak on the more substantive matters of how to get the job done. In other words, how to bring the heavenly idea down to earth and out of suspended animation. Dr. Jackson readily admits this weakness in the book, in the chapter titled, "A Vision Without
A Plan". He states upfront, "This is not a book on planning. It is a book on vision...yet planning is essential to fulfill the dream God has given you and your church." He then proceeds to give nice tips on how to prepare to plan without giving any instruction on planning - putting legs and feet on the vision. Nevertheless, as the Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurial Ministry at Somerset Christian College. I will also say, the idea of combining pastors with entrepreneurs is not only novel but true. A minister must have a certain amount of entrepreneurial ability in order to start a church or a parachurch ministry. My biggest caution with this book is that implementing Dr. Jackson's strategies without an actual plan of action can quickly turn into a smoke-screen or symbolic politics at best. Reviewed by Dr. Jovan-Justine Love, Entrepreneurial Ministry, Somerset Christian College.

This book is full of great illustrations of how God uses everyday people, just like you and me, to accomplish His eternal purposes. A must read for church leaders and those who aspire to church leadership.

Pastor Ray Johnston of Bayside Church (Calif.) says that "Volunteers are under-nourished, pastors are under-coached, churches lack vision, and small group leaders lack spiritual foundations." Oh...and "87 percent of the churches in America are stagnant or declining."

Sounds like we need a rebirth of spiritual entrepreneurship--or a revival--or both. So this week, I found encouragement in John Jackson's book, PastorPreneur: Pastors and Entrepreneurs Answer the Call. If these zingers and insights don't move you, nothing will:
--"What really attracts large numbers of the unchurched to a church are changed lives." (Rick Warren)
--"I believe people ask two inherent questions: `What's in this for me?' and, `Is there anybody here like me?'"
--"A former Prime Minister of France once said, `If you are doing big things, you attract big people. If you are doing little things, you attract little people.'"
--"But incrementalism leaves a legacy of small dreams, small faith, and stunted leaders."

Jackson suggests churches need five key entrepreneurial strategies: 1) grab the community's attention; 2) build strategic partnerships (no more holy huddles); 3) conduct faith-building events (because big events shape leaders); 4) help people identify their strengths (see below); and 5) multiply your impact. Here's more:
--"Everyone is a 10 somewhere. The task of a leader is to help people identify where they are a 10." (Wayne Cordeiro)
--"A fresh, dynamic vision isn't accomplished by trying to stretch your existing budget a little farther. Instead, look for new resources--both people and funds."
--"Spend lots of time affirming your leadership team."
--"In virtually every meeting, every service, every small group, and every one-on-one mentoring meeting, [leaders] need to include three components: vision, relationships, and programs."

The author (now executive director of Thriving Churches International), quotes Ken Blanchard: "There are two parts to leadership...one is vision-casting and the other is implementation. You have to implement things that match your vision. And remember, the thinking that got you to where you are today will not get you where you need to go."

John Maxwell (no slouch of an entrepreneur himself) wrote in the book's foreword, "Strategic thinking is a different way of thinking." Entrepreneurs understand that. Many leaders do not. Many churches and organizations have a binder on the shelf labeled, "Our Bold Strategic Plan." As I read Jackson's book, I know he would agree that all four words on the binder are a misnomer: "Our" is not owned by the troops. "Bold" is far from it. "Strategic" is calibrated in modest, if any growth. And "Plan" is a wish-and-a-prayer. As Elton Trueblood said, "Pious shoddy is still shoddy." If you've painted yourself into the corner of mediocrity, this book will give you the vision and the strategy to break out.

PastorPreneur is visionary--yet practical. It will breathe life into a leader's entrepreneurial gifts, but won't get him or her in trouble. The take-aways are significant (for church leaders and all leaders) and I counted more than 50 quotes or paragraphs that grabbed me, like this warning for entrepreneurs: "Risk itself is not a goal of leadership. It is simply a reality for those who have a large vision."

Main Idea of the Text:

The purpose of the book was "to challenge pastors and church leaders to take bold steps, to dream big dreams, to take risks to accomplish more for God's glory than they ever dreamed possible."

The Three Top Ideas of Greatest Benefit:

1. There is a lot of wisdom in the line, "Those who are gripped by big goals understand that when God is the course of those goals, he provides wisdom and strength to fulfill them." People are often afraid of growth because of the future problems and dynamics that growth can cause, but if a person is trusting in God than God will provide the solutions to those problems.

2. There is a ringing truth in those lines, "Many church leaders are already overwhelmed with just maintaining the status quo. They are busy with the problems in their communities, their churches, their families, and their own lives. This is too often the case; preachers have no extra time to lead change. Often a new project must be lead by the minister because people do not want to engage in the work, but if the preacher is too busy with all the other work there is little motivation to add some more responsibilities. This also follows along with page 161 in which the question is asked, "What will you stop doing as a result of what you have learned today?"

3. The idea of "everyone is a 10" is a radical concept. Everyone sees 20 percent of the people working, but if we do a better job of fitting people into the right role we will accomplish more work and more results.

The Three Ideas of Major disagreement:

1. The faith based events is a strategy for a larger congregation. Castle Rock is a 200 member congregation in a 45,000 person town. For the congregation to be able to host and advertise well enough for some community involvement would cost a ton of money that the congregation does not have. This is more of a larger church approach.

2. This is not a disagreement but a concern. The book states to expose leaders to other successful works. This is often difficult because of the time factor with some of the lay leaders in the congregation. People are too busy to focus on resources and development for a congregation. Sometimes the books on church growth assume too much that the leaders in congregations have a lot of time. This is typically not the case.

The Recommendation of the Book:

I would recommend this book because of the helpful hints in the various functions for a church to grow. Some of the book is a repeat from well-known Church growth material, but it is practically given which would help in the implementations of the work.

John Jackson obviously isn't your "average" pastor. And you don't have to read far into this book to find out why the church he pastors is one of the fastest growing churches in America. He does things differently. I can only imagine that a lot of "pastoral types" won't necessarily LIKE this book, but if you're serious about bringing unchurched people into relationship with God, you WANT to read this book. And if you're a Christian in a leadership position at work, this book is for you, not just for your pastor!

I really enjoyed PastorPreneur! There were two particular discussions which really stood out to me. The section on "calling" for ministry was profound. This unique and mysterious element warrants discussion, but few books deal with is with as much insight as Jackson. Secondly, his discussion on vision adds much to the dialogue about moving forward with clarity, integrating the concepts of Grasp, Grip and Gifts. Great stuff!