Still Not Professionals: Ten Pleas for Today's Pastors

by John Piper, Douglas Wilson, R.C. Sproul Jr.

Still Not Professionals: Ten Pleas for Today's Pastors is a celebration and extension of John Piper's Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. With two brief exhortations from Piper and eight others from veteran pastors, this short ebook aims to strengthen and challenge Christians in general, and pastors in particular, for the labor of everyday life and ministry. The contributors were asked to express their “heart of hearts” for fellow leaders. You'll find these chapters tap into profound human themes, in both the pastor and his flock, and will be of use, we hope, beyond the North American context of the contributors.

Genres: Christian, Church, Nonfiction

33 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as senior pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.), and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years, he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem.

John is the author of more than 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Kofi Opoku · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid. Poignant. Relevant. All the stuff pastors and elders need to hear in an age where pragmatism is what defines success in ministry.

[Bill Forgeard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Especially loved the chapter by Raymond C Ortlund Jr on "gospel doctrine leads to gospel culture".

[Jarrell Lemos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really good insights throughout this book that are so good I couldn't give it a three despite its weaknesses.

The most disappointing piece was from Sproul Jr. who maintains a very low view of seminary education. it would be more appropriate to critique lifeless intellectualism, however, sproul created a false dilemma between education and the ability to spiritually feed the flock. the consequence is that he undermines the importance of knowing how to properly do exegesis and handle the scripture rightly.

Doug Wilson spent a half his time backpedaling from a provocative statement he made, when really his point was that we need to model biblical manhood and be exemplary men. Jeff Vanderstelt made a similar point in his section and said it better than Doug.

[Jason Harris · Rating 2 out of 5]

"We asked the contributors to express in these chapters their 'heart of hearts' for fellow pastors—what comes to their minds first, or most profoundly, when they think about influencing fellow ministers. Given their unique involvements and contexts, what one thing would they want other pastors to hear?"

The result of this is a very brief book with some great little challenges for pastors. I'd say a good four star book.

And then there's Douglas Wilson who felt the "one thing" he wanted to share was his perverted obsession with hyper-masculinity. I'll just give you the title of his contribution: "Brothers, we are not sisters." Why do Christians keep elevating people like this?

[Don Filcek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short book that packs a punch to pastoral ministry. It is good to be reminded of the things that matter most in ministry.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, quick read.

Loved hearing from many voices encouraging me to keep chasing after Jesus.

[Elijah Abanto · Rating 5 out of 5]

* Brothers, Build a Gospel Culture (by Ray Ortlund, Jr.) - pastors should not only preach the gospel, but shape the church community by the gospel
* Brothers, Train Up the Next Generation (by Mike Bullmore) - pastors shouldn't only think about his lifetime, but must seek and train people to preach the gospel in the next generation.

A wonderful book for pastors and soon-to-be pastors and other church leaders from pastors.

[Fredy Orozco · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a 3.5 but I bumped it up to a 4 because of the Bullmore essay. It was powerful in reminding me that "guarding the deposit" (2 Tim. 1:14) requires us to entrust it to faithful men (2 Tim. 2:2) who come after us. We must train the next generation of leaders as part of our ministries, and in God's providence I am at a church that is doing that by investing in me... far be it from me to neglect the training of leaders in my future ministry.

[Tom Korporaal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kort en bondig. Een aantal belangrijke aandachtspunten voor predikanten worden genoemd. Een predikant moet het van Gods genade verwachten. Christus’ geur verspreiden is veel meer dan alleen preken. Het is ook aandacht leggen op de gemeenschap als genade-dragend. Het is ook gastvrij zijn om daarmee mensen te kunnen bereiken. Het ambt moet men zien als een roeping en het verweven te laten zijn met een levensstijl.

[Aaron Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, simple, short addition (more like a few appendixes) to the original book. Both books are well worth revisiting over and over again (and reading with fellow pastors/elders) to keep us going back to the basics, when so many things are pulling for our attention. Lord, help us to be authentic shepherds of Your people, and preserve us from becoming phony, putrid professionals. Amen.

[Allen Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, but brief, expansion of Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. Helpful words from many seasoned pastors to other pastors.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really brief but punchy chapters keeping the pastor focused on what really matters.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. A short read that helpful for anyone thinking about pastoral ministry or already shepherding. Humility is the way!

[reena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but direct to the point reminders to pastors.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of essays urging about some of the challenges modern ministers face in building their churches and in following Jesus. It is short, sweet, and free to download!

[Mike Neglia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ten brief reminders from ten diverse contributors to this generation of preachers and pastors.

[Zach Hollifield · Rating 4 out of 5]

10 short but important reminders from pastors from different camps for those in ministry but also for any Christian.

[Chris Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic short read that can be downloaded from Desiring God. I highly recommend pastors add this to their collection.

[Mike Wenzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book.