Customer Reviews

Visit the Sick: Ministering God's Grace in Times of Illness (Ministering the Master's Way)

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I recently got a copy of Brian Croft's book that is entitled Visit the sick: Ministering God's grace in times of illness. The book is in the Ministering the Master's Way series, published by Day One Publications. Brian, a pastor himself, has written a concise, gospel centered book, that is both theologically rich and practically helpful.

At the beginning of his book, Croft quotes the seventeenth-century Puritan pastor, Richard Baxter, who wisely wrote, "We must be diligent in visiting the sick, and helping them to prepare either for a fruitful life, or a happy death" (14). The rest of the book is filled with wisdom to aid us in this part of pastoral ministry.

In chapter one, Croft delivers a concise biblical theology of sickness, disease, and suffering, in light of what the Bible teaches concerning Creation, the Fall, the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Church, and the New Creation. Chapter two is focused on theological considerations when we visit the sick or dying, so that our visits can honor God, point to Christ, and comfort the sick. Chapters three and four are filled with pastoral and practical considerations for making effective visits. In chapter five, Croft points to Charles Spurgeon as a faithful model of how pastors must make visiting the sick a priority.

Croft concludes his book with some practical advice on how to train not only other leaders, but also our church members how to make effective visits to the sick in our congregations. The first three short appendices include a visitation checklist, a couple of examples of spiritual conversations, and a helpful FAQ. The fourth and final appendix included, is an abridged version of `Sickness,' a challenging piece written by the great Anglican bishop of the nineteenth century, J.C. Ryle.

In his book, Brian Croft rightly points out that our "hearts are wired to forget that death and sickness can fall on each of us at any moment and will fall on all of us eventually. Through caring for the sick and afflicted, we are reminded of the fragility of life and our closeness to eternity" (46). If we are honest, visiting those who are sick or dying is not always the part of ministry that we enjoy most. However, God can and will use our efforts in this area of pastoral ministry, and Brian Croft's gospel centered book is a tool that will encourage and instruct us on how we can be more effective in this task.

We at Passion for Preaching (http://www.passionforpreaching.net) highly recommend this work to you and your ministry!

If you are looking for a concise, theologically grounded handbook on hospital visitation, this is the one. Unlike any pastoral "how-to" manual I have read, Croft begins by giving readers the proper foundation for visiting the sick. As a matter of fact, over half the book is spent dealing with biblical and theological considerations.

While task oriented people might be tempted to skim through those pages and get to the "practical" advice, by doing so, they would miss this book's richest value. So-called practical handbooks are plentiful, but a book that succinctly combines orthodoxy and orthopraxy in the specific area of hospital visitation is rare--so rare that I know of none besides this one.

Croft has created a doctrinally sound, intensely practical and wonderfully brief guide for pastors to train and equip their deacons or care teams in this important area of ministry.

In just 90 pages, Croft dispenses much wisdom. This book is very valuable to new ministers. There is so much practical wisdom contained in this book that many do not receive unless they have hands on training with more experienced, good Shepherds.

Text provided excellent material which I used to facilitate training of ministers for home and health care facilities visitations. It was well received and purchased by several in the class.

Brian Croft does a wonderful job of giving us a very simple quick read that is loaded with good practical information.

He starts with an introduction, then a Theological background of why we should visit the sick, why there is sickness and how sickness can be a blessing in disguise for many people.

He proceeds from the Biblical / Theological basis to the very practical aspect of what to do when visiting, what to talk about, what you should wear, how to address family members, etc. There are sections where he gives good questions that you can use as lead ins to talking about the Gospel.

I thought that some of the most practical suggestions was a good reminder that you should 'prepare' before going on the visit. Don't just show up and not have a simple plan on what you want to accomplish. Have your Bible handy with some prepared scripture that you can read. Have a few questions ready to help guide your time. Don't be pushy.

Practical questions are addressed;

1. What scripture should I read?

2. How long should I stay?

3. What if they are in a ward or a semi-private room? How much can I share?

4. What does my body language tell the person?

5. It is important to incorporate good eye contact and physical touch, as appropriate.

All in all this is a great little book. I think it would be good for any Pastor of Caring Ministries to use in training lay people about the importance of visiting the sick and how to go about it. The book is short, so it won't take long to go through. You could have a training time for two hours with your lay people and cover all of the material. Have them read in advance. Then follow Croft's suggestion and practice what you teach, lead by example, take others with you when you visit.

This book is short and sweet, but filled with good information.

Enjoy!