Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome
by R. Kent Hughes, R. Kent Hughes (Author)
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Every year thousands of God's servants leave the ministry convinced they are failures. Years ago, in the midst of a crisis of faith, Kent Hughes almost became one of them. But instead he and his wife Barbara turned to God's Word, determined to learn what God had to say about success and to evaluate their ministry from a biblical point of view. This book describes their journey and their liberation from the "success syndrome"-the misguided belief that success in ministry means increased show more numbers. In today's world it is easy to be seduced by the secular thinking that places a number on everything. But the authors teach that true success in ministry lies not in numbers but in several key areas: faithfulness, serving, loving, believing, prayer, holiness, and a Christlike attitude. Their thoughts will encourage readers who grapple with feelings of failure and lead them to a deeper, fuller understanding of success in Christian ministry. This book was originally published by Tyndale in 1987 and includes a new preface. show lessTags
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Encouraging book. Begins with them telling their story of how they ended up discouraged in ministry on account of a sense of failure, and how this sparked their study that led to this book. This is followed by their definition of success in about seven different points. These provide a helpful way to truly measure success in God's eyes. They conclude with encouragements and sources of encouragement to the discouraged pastor, as well as ways the congregation and wife can help.
"I know someone who struggles with this..." Yeah right! The beginning story was worth it for me! Anyone in ministry knows it is easy to evaluate yourself based on what you see and can quantify, and feel like a failure when what you quantify fits on one hand. There show more seems to be a lurking pragmatism in the thinking of many today that if you're faithful, God bless your ministry; if you're not fruitful, something is wrong; if people aren't getting saved, something is wrong.
This book was a lifesaver to me at a time I was pretty down. "Success is not numbers" is not just something the losers say to encourage themselves! Radical faithfulness to God and seeking radically to please him is truly the standard of success. Let the chips fall where they may.
[from matthauck.typepad.com] show less
"I know someone who struggles with this..." Yeah right! The beginning story was worth it for me! Anyone in ministry knows it is easy to evaluate yourself based on what you see and can quantify, and feel like a failure when what you quantify fits on one hand. There show more seems to be a lurking pragmatism in the thinking of many today that if you're faithful, God bless your ministry; if you're not fruitful, something is wrong; if people aren't getting saved, something is wrong.
This book was a lifesaver to me at a time I was pretty down. "Success is not numbers" is not just something the losers say to encourage themselves! Radical faithfulness to God and seeking radically to please him is truly the standard of success. Let the chips fall where they may.
[from matthauck.typepad.com] show less
Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome by Kent Hughes/ Barbara Hughes (?)
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74+ Works 13,747 Members
R. Kent Hughes (DMin, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is senior pastor emeritus of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, and a founder of the Charles Simeon Trust, which conducts expository preaching conferences throughout out North America and worldwide. He serves as the series editor for the Preaching the Word commentary Series and is the show more author or coauthor of many books. show less
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- Reviews
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- (4.29)
- Languages
- English, Portuguese
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- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- UPCs
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