Reformed Pastor (Puritan Paperbacks) (original 1656; edition 1979)

I needed to read a this book to do research for a paper. I ended up reading the whole book. Yes, it is typically puritan in that it is quite wordy. Unless you have a real interest in this type of work it would be boring. However, his sincere concern to serve Christ by caring for those individuals in his care and aiding them in being faithful shines through. It's not a fast read although it's an easy read. It's not fast because it's not the kind of book that you can sit down and read in one fell swoop.

Baxter also approaches issues that are interesting in today's church world. He speak's quite openly and critically of churches that understaff parishes, and of clergy that accept such understaffing. He maintains that it is impossible for a minister to do more than public ministry in an understaffed church and that is not sufficient to build up the people, and when there is insufficient care for the people then the church suffers. ( )

This is a must-read for the pastor and someone who believes they are called or desire the office of Elder/pastor. In fact, it should be an annual read. Baxter convicts the reader of the sheer magnitude of the work and inherent laziness that may creep in to the pastor's life. A masterpiece from one of the greats.

The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter is an extremely slow read. Being that it was written such a long time ago, the language has that sense of dry archaism. While I found it a chore to read, I understand its importance, but more for people who are wanting to be, or are, pastors.

Baxter makes many good points about the purpose of a pastor, addressing his contemporaries who, it seems, were abusing their positions of authority. It was a different world back then, with some pastors profiteering in the name of God. I’m sure there’s no such pastor alive today who would DARE do such a thing.

But if there were, I’d highly recommend they read this book, and learn what it means to be a pastor, and not just an entertainment figure whose watered-down gospel tastes more like Chicken Soup than the fruit of the spirit. ( )

this is what happens when you let reformed people choose the artwork for a book cover. Sometimes overly legalistic and uses guilt and fear to rob the pastor of the joy of ministry. ( )

As a church leader I was strongly challenged and heartily encouraged by this book. Baxter is absolutely on fire for Jesus and utterly focussed on seeing people know Jesus better. I'm not entirely convinced that his methodology is as clearly scripturally mandated as he is, or that it's appropriate or possible in today's Western culture. Despite that, I was absolutely inspired by his passion and zeal for people and his conviction that our actions and decisions now have eternal consequences. ( )