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Letters to Timothy: A Handbook for Pastors
After nearly fifty years in ministry, Letters to Timothy is John Bisagno's retirement gift to younger and older pastors alike. A voluminous and comprehensive work, it is full of useful advice to ministers covering the “things that might have fallen through the cracks in seminary.” This book is a practical manual covering all aspects of pastoral life for clergy in churches of all sizes, locations, and denominations.
480 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2001
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About the author
John R. Bisagno
33 books2 followersJohn R. Bisagno (1934-2018) led Houston's First Baptist Church from 1970-2000. He helped launch the Bible teaching ministry of Beth Moore.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 21, 2024
All Pastors Should Read This Book
"Letters to Timothy" is a collection of Bisagno’s essays that give advice on being both a preacher and a pastor. These are lessons that he has learned in his over fifty years in the ministry. The lessons on the pastoral aspects of the ministry really stand out. Case in point is Bisagno’s essay on pastors, deacons, and divorce. It is the best exegesis of 1st Timothy 3:2 that I have ever read. All pastors should read this book.
"Letters to Timothy" is a collection of Bisagno’s essays that give advice on being both a preacher and a pastor. These are lessons that he has learned in his over fifty years in the ministry. The lessons on the pastoral aspects of the ministry really stand out. Case in point is Bisagno’s essay on pastors, deacons, and divorce. It is the best exegesis of 1st Timothy 3:2 that I have ever read. All pastors should read this book.
August 4, 2015
John Bisagno is a hero for pastors. He served First Baptist Houston faithfully for decades. His ministry was innovative, effective and biblically sound. I am grateful for him.
But Letters To Timothy: A Handbook for Pastors is a mixed bag of tricks. This book is subtitled "A Handbook for Pastors". A better appellation would be "A Handbook for pastors of certain kinds of churches with certain kinds of theology." Letters is a potpourri of essays addressing a myriad of issues that churches deal with. It's scope is extremely broad. Unfortunately, it's breadth is a weakness, not a strength.
With 114 chapters (none of which are very lengthy), Letters to Timothy addresses everything from what to pay a guest preacher to how you should counsel a couple desiring to be married. Hidden within the book are some wonderful nuggets of wisdom. Still, I kept finding myself thinking, "This is a mega-church mindset promoted in a book that small church pastors will read." To that end, I'm not sure how helpful Bisagno's offering is worth. Like I said, there are definitely some nuggets of wisdom - worthy of a 5 star rating at times. Mining those nuggets is tedious. You have to sift through lots of superfluous chapters that aren't comprehensive enough to be helpful.
My opinion of John Bisagno is much higher than it is of Letters to Timothy, which has been in large part expanded and repackaged in Bisagno's Pastor's Handbook.
But Letters To Timothy: A Handbook for Pastors is a mixed bag of tricks. This book is subtitled "A Handbook for Pastors". A better appellation would be "A Handbook for pastors of certain kinds of churches with certain kinds of theology." Letters is a potpourri of essays addressing a myriad of issues that churches deal with. It's scope is extremely broad. Unfortunately, it's breadth is a weakness, not a strength.
With 114 chapters (none of which are very lengthy), Letters to Timothy addresses everything from what to pay a guest preacher to how you should counsel a couple desiring to be married. Hidden within the book are some wonderful nuggets of wisdom. Still, I kept finding myself thinking, "This is a mega-church mindset promoted in a book that small church pastors will read." To that end, I'm not sure how helpful Bisagno's offering is worth. Like I said, there are definitely some nuggets of wisdom - worthy of a 5 star rating at times. Mining those nuggets is tedious. You have to sift through lots of superfluous chapters that aren't comprehensive enough to be helpful.
My opinion of John Bisagno is much higher than it is of Letters to Timothy, which has been in large part expanded and repackaged in Bisagno's Pastor's Handbook.
April 10, 2013
Very practical advice from a pastor with 50 years of experience. I would have liked more Biblical arguments, but this is a book written in a father-to-son (in law) conversation. It is worth the read for anyone in any kind of ministry, but especially pastoral.
January 22, 2016
simple read, informative on several issues
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews