Encouragement for Today’s Pastors: Help from the Puritans

by Joel R. Beeke, Terry D. Slachter

Authors Joel R. Beeke is president and professor of systematic theology and homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and a pastor of the Heritage Netherland Reformed Congregation, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Terry D. Slachter is the executive director of Project Philip, a ministry that helps equip local churches to fulfill the great commission through Bible distribution and discipleship materials, and served in parish ministry for over 25 years in the Christian Reformed Church. Endorsements “As the fresh sea breeze, these Puritan mentors refresh our senses as they discuss the office, calling, and blessing of pastoral ministry. This small compendium contains more useful guidance than some whole seminary curriculae. Any pastor seeking wisdom, any pastor needing fuel should turn to these godly and biblical counselors. Their ideas, as well as passion, are needed now more than ever. It is so refreshing to hear from real experts, proven pastors—not the hirelings. Like eavesdropping on a Roundtable of worthies, this conversation is priceless (and not overpriced!). Drink from this well often; it will help your flocks, along with their shepherds. I commend this heartily to all our friends and the next generation of pastors.” — David Hall, pastor of Midway Presbyterian Church of America, Atlanta, Georgia “There are men in the church of Jesus Christ who are not mighty preachers or evangelists, but are outstanding servants of the Lord because of their God-given ability to visit a congregation and spread encouragement. The very news of their coming can lift the spirits of a church with anticipation and then their actual ministries, both privately and publicly, can renew the aspirations of young and old in Christ. Full of faith and the Holy Spirit, these people are the means under God of building up the morale of wilting congregations, giving them courage and making God’s people feel they can stand, and they can go on, and that they will indeed overcome a time of heaviness. Such Christian leaders are inspirational men and their ministries make people feel strong. Of course it is God who gives such gifts to them to do this. The same Spirit that came upon Barnabas and made him a son of encouragement is upon them, and hundreds like them in our day. But as in all the stewardship of preaching and pastoral graces, such a gift needs to be refined, educated, and stirred up. This is one of the grand benefits that comes from the careful and prayerful reading of this book. You owe it to the people of God to become a son or daughter of encouragement. It is an exercise of Christian prudence, and an energizing ministry of the Spirit of God to do this in you and through you to the body of Christ.” — Geoff Thomas, pastor of Alfred Place Baptist Church, Aberystwyth, Wales

Genres: Leadership, Theology

221 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 2, 2013

About the author

Joel R. Beeke (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) is the chancellor and professor of homiletics and systematic theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. He has served as a pastor since 1978 and currently ministers at the Heritage Reformed Congregation of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the editor of the Puritan Reformed Journal and The Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth magazine, the board chairman of Reformation Heritage Books, the president of Inheritance Publishers, and the vice president of the Dutch Reformed Translation Society.

Beeke has written and coauthored 120 books, edited 120 books, and contributed 2,500 articles to Reformed books, journals, periodicals, and encyclopedias. He frequently lectures at seminaries and speaks at Reformed conferences around the world. The Lord has blessed him and his wife Mary with three children and eleven grandchildren.

Reviews

[Kyle Grindberg]

Quite encouraging indeed!

[Will Pareja]

This is beef jerky pastoral theology.
Our insipid literary diets and short attention spans make reading the Puritans more a drudgery than a delight.
Enter Joel Beeke.
Beeke and Schlacter have scoured and served up appropriate portions of pastoring on a page to pastors today.
Next to Scripture, they have consulted those quills of the past who bled bibline.

This is a truly a help for those who are hard pressed to read Puritans themselves.

[Andrzej Stelmasiak]

Read first 8 chapters, skip the rest. As my Pastor have said 'Beeke and Slachter will not be Encouraged that their book on Encouragement will receive only 3 stars' :D
If anything, it's a clever (not really) way of advertising books your publishing house does...
If not notes that I have made in this book, this would not be necessarily a 'keeper'. And yes, I do appreciate the Puritans, so it's not necessarily them that are at fault here...

[Nate Bate]

There are a lot of long quotes from he puritans in this book. It does have some helpful guidance for today's pastors; however, it feels like the modern gets dwarfed by quotes from long ago. With the main title advertising help for "today's" pastors, I would have liked much more emphasis on pastoring today. This doesn't mean there are not a lot of gems in this book.

[Steve Hemmeke]

Not so much encouragement, as just a hodgepodge of the Puritans’ views on theological topics related to the ministry. The introduction and epilogue were relevant and encouraging. Much of the rest was either convicting or at least relevant to a pastor’s calling. If you’ve worked through 2/3 of your list of books addressing the pastor’s calling, it is time for this one.

I do commend Joel Beeke’s ministry to you, though. A lot of good stuff there. Puritan Theology, co-authored with Mark Jones, is especially good for the theologian.

[Yuri Cameron]

It’s okay. I’m not a big puritan reader so I had a bit of a hard time understanding what the puritan quotes were actually saying. I struggled sometimes seeing how the book was specifically helpful. Generally it’s a good work, but in practical issues that come up, etc, I think it could’ve been a bit more detailed.

[John]

Not at all as advertised or what I expected. Rather than encouraged, I often felt battered and exhausted after reading this book. Rather than help from Puritan spiritual leaders, I felt like I was reading a primer in Calvinist theology. That would be fine, except that's not at all what I was looking for. Disappointing.

[Brian]

What an encouraging book! It is well organized and picks from some very choice Puritan quotes for an easy-to-read volume. This is a great introduction to Puritan writers as well as a very practical Pastoral Devotional. Read it after a few years of ministry to be refreshed and to be reminded of this great marathon we are running for the Lord.

[Alan Rennê]

Que livro! Interessante é que, ao me propor a lê-lo, pensei: - Terminarei a leitura revigorado!

Na verdade, terminei a leitura quebrado, contrito, mas, ao mesmo tempo, suplicante por graça da parte do Senhor, pois quem é suficiente para estas coisas?

Recomendo a todos os meus colegas ministros do evangelho!

[Robin]

Felt this should have been titled "instructions for today's pastors from the Puritans" more than encouragement. There were jewels here and there from the various puritan authors he quoted, but IMHO most of it read more like a "pastor should do this....and be this..." which was good, but didn't hit the spot for my soul. Appreciated the recommended Puritan books though!

[Yuri Cameron]

Ehh. There were gems but nothing too radical. You can read it or not. In my opinion you won’t miss much