Collin Hansen & Jeff Robinson Sr. Ed, Faithful Endurance: The Joy of Shepherding People for a Lifetime (Wheaton: Crossway, 2019), 146 pp.
Faithful Endurance: The Joy of Shepherding People for a Lifetime is a call to pastors to remain true to their call and cross the finish line with God-centered resolve.
Faithful Endurance is edited by Collin Hansen and Jeff Robison. The editors gathered a group of seasoned pastors; men who have served for decades in the church. These men not only understand the essence of faithful endurance; they have endured battles and have the scars to prove it.
Each chapter contains a letter from a fictional pastor who seeks advice from one of the veteran leaders mentioned above. While the letters are not real, the scenarios that the letters convey are realities that pastors around the world face on a regular basis. Each letter receives a response that offers godly counsel and wisdom. Such counsel is desperately needed for pastors who face various “minefields” on the battlefield of ministry.
Topics include suffering, dealing with criticism, doubt, depression, finances, Sabbath rest, and many more.
The chapter on Sabbath rest caught me completely off-guard. Instead of the usual, legalistic handwringing that is accompanied by essays on the Sabbath, Mark McCullough reminded me that such a day is a “remembrance of the garden, where we feasted with God in the cool of the day, and a rehearsal of new creation, where we will feast with him in the new world.”
As one who has endured a bitter season of Providence in pastoral ministry, Faithful Endurance was deeply moving and a deep encouragement to me personally. This little book is soul-warming, heart-convicting, and life-changing. My hope is that many pastors will be greatly served as a result of reading these fine essays. May each man who studies these pages endure and be found faithful.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
Veritas et Lux 