Confessions of a Pastor: Adventures in Dropping the Pose and Getting Real with God Review

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Confessions of a Pastor: Adventures in Dropping the Pose and Getting Real with God ReviewI'm not using "rant" in a bad context, but this was my thought as I read Craig's confession in the first chapter about not liking a lot of Christians. Some people may find the candid comments about how we Christians can appear to non-believers (especially how Christians come across on the "Bad Preaching Channel"), but it's time to take an honest look at ourselves through a pastor's eyes. I've read a lot of Christian books and in most of them the writers took great care not to be controversial. However, I think this book reflects the same attitude of Jesus that caused him to upset the merchants' tables in the temple. Once you start reading this, the passionate message makes it hard to put down. This book is a must-read for Christians to get one pastor's perspective about the Church, but more importantly to learn about his own inner struggles. The ultimate things I took away from this great book are that 1) my pastor is not some guy in a lofty place that has it all together, and 2) he tells how he deals with the very same struggles that the rest of us experience, such as fear of failure, sexual temptation and setting the right priorities.Confessions of a Pastor: Adventures in Dropping the Pose and Getting Real with God OverviewThe Dark Side of a Pastor's Life—A Breath of Fresh AirAre you tired of pretending? Living walled up? Going only skin deep? Craig Groeschel , pastor of the thriving LifeChurch.tv, sure was. And in his refreshingly raw and real book, he comes clean. Not that he has anything other than typical, human stuff to confess. Check out a few of his musings: I have to work hard to stay sexually pure, I hate prayer meetings, sometimes I doubt God , and I can't stand a lot of Christians . Through his incredible honesty, he opens the door for you to follow suit. Are you ready to dig deep and let God shine through the genuine you? No more living just to please others. No more hiding. You can be who God called you to be. You can live for an audience of One. Is the real you getting lost because the fake you is just so annoyingly impressive?"Stepping onto the platform to preach that morning, I admitted to myself that I was not a pastor first, but a regular, scared, insecure, everyday guy whose life had been changed by Jesus. And if Jesus really loved me as I was (I knew He did), then why should I go on trying to be someone I wasn't?" Why do we fake it so much? Why do we spend so much time trying to please everyone else and make so little effort trying to please God? When Craig Groeschel asked himself those questions, he couldn't come up with a good answer. So one day he decided to drop the act and start getting real. With that one choice, his life began to change in a big way. And yours can too. Craig's passionate, funny, warts-and-all confessions—and the lessons he learned from them—will help you find your own path to authentic living and a deeper relationship with God (you know He's on to you anyway!). Story Behind the Book"For too many years my life had been a show—my lines well rehearsed and every performance polished. By college, I played so many different roles I lost track of the real me. I began to wonder if there was a real me. Exhausted from playing the parts, I finally took off the masks—and met a God who loved me unconditionally. Confessions of a Pastor reveals in graphic detail my inner struggles, questions, doubts, and fears—to inspire others to abandon lives of pretending—and to meet the authentic love of God like never before." — Craig Groeschel

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Me to We: A Pastor's Discovery of the Power of Partnership Review

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Me to We: A Pastor's Discovery of the Power of Partnership ReviewThe book Me to We by Alan Nelson has a great title, but little new content. The entire book could fill two or three chapters, max. I will summarize the book's salient points a little later so you will not waste $20 as I did. Actually a better idea is to go to Rev.org and you can find all the stuff there. The book is full of clichés and as one reviewer said "the conversational style of the book comes across as contrived in parts and does get tiresome" is all too true. I became skeptical as I looked up the other reviewers for this book. The first two reviewers who both gave the book 5 stars, I would suspect are plants of Group Publishing. My cynicism evidenced by the fact that most of the reviews that these two gave other books are 4 and 5 stars and all from Group. They must be professional Group reviewers.
One thing I really hate is when I read a book that is one long advertisement for a product or group of products. This book certainly falls into that category. The main character, which is an older sage pastor constantly, told a younger confused pastor how to improve his church by becoming an equipping church. I have no problem with that. It is when he is told to go to web sites or buy other books or go to conferences or referred to speakers who are all in some way associated with Group. That really bugs me.
Now with that off my chest I believe that the idea of creating an equipping church is a fantastic idea and one worthy of serious consideration. There are other very good books out there. Sue Mallory (who now is connected to Group through Church Volunteer Central) wrote an excellent book called The Equipping Church that is very helpful and will give concrete advice and examples. Where as Me to We tells you that you need to build an equipping church without actually telling you how.
As a parting shot I must admit that Group Publishing has some great material. Though the concept behind this book is solid and the church need equip its saints the book itself will not help you accomplish this.
Me to We: A Pastor's Discovery of the Power of Partnership OverviewThere's no denying that healthier, happier churches have nearly everyone involved in some form of ministry. Alan Nelson, executive editor of REV! Magazine, guides your congregation to discover, develop, and deploy their gifts in service--and help your entire church reach its full potential. Explore practical way to move your church from a pastor-centric model to one that maximizes its volunteers, staff, and everyone in your church. Includes a variety of "best practices" from interviews with churches that have released their pastors from "doing it all" -- and successfully turned the way they do ministry upside-down.

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Dare to Drop the Pose: Ten Things Christians Think but Are Afraid to Say Review

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Dare to Drop the Pose: Ten Things Christians Think but Are Afraid to Say ReviewMasks are very simple and very effective. They cover up what really is to portray a totally different image. The American church, all too often, is a church filled with masks. Instead of being really real at church, we cover it up and put on masks of perfection. We refuse to let our brokenness, our struggles, our pain be exhibited to fellow church members. After all, Christians aren't supposed to struggle with sin, right? Or that's what we believe. If we showed the church who we really were, they would just judge us.
But amid the masks, Craig Groeschel stands above the crowd, gains their attention, and very deliberately and very publicity drops his mask. Dare to Drop the Pose is a book discussing ten things Christians think or experience but are afraid to talk about. Previously titled, Confessions of a Pastor, Groeschel tackles the myth that Christians should be perfect and lets Christians know that we all struggle, and isn't until we take off those masks and drop the pose that the Church will be able to be the ministry of reconciliation Christ intended it to be.
The ten areas Groeschel discusses are:
1. I can't stand a lot of Christians.
2. I have to work hard to stay sexually pure.
3. Most of the time I feel incredibly lonely.
4. I hate prayer meetings.
5. I worry almost all the time.
6. Sometimes I doubt God.
7. I feel completely inadequate.
8. I stink at handling criticism.
9. I'm afraid of failure
10. One last confession...
From start to finish, Groeschel hits the difficult areas swift and strong, pulling no punches and not holding back. With anecdotes and Biblical wisdom, he tackles each issue, picking it apart then suggesting how to deal with it.
As I was reading this book, I was thinking FINALLY someone willing to stand up and just be honest. One of my biggest problems with the modern church is the overall assumption that you have to "get your act together" to get saved, and that after you're saved, you'll never have problems. Groeschel shatters the illusion, using his own honesty and candidness to dare others to drop the pose as well.
Dare to Drop the Pose is a must read, especially for those holding positions in ministry. Completely honesty and authenticity is absolutely necessary for the Church to be function properly and grow as a community. Groeschel's call to Dare to Drop the Pose is something all Christians need to follow.Dare to Drop the Pose: Ten Things Christians Think but Are Afraid to Say OverviewIs the REAL you getting lost because the FAKE you is just so annoyingly impressive? "Stepping onto the platform to preach that morning, I admitted to myself that I was not a pastor first, but a regular, scared, insecure, everyday guy whose life had been changed by Jesus. And if Jesus really loved me as I was (I knew He did), then why should I go on trying to be someone I wasn't?" Why DO we fake it so much? Why do we spend so much time trying to please everyone else and make so little effort trying to please God? When Craig Groeschel asked himself those questions, he couldn't come up with a good answer. So one day he decided to drop the act and start getting real. With that one choice, his life began to change in a big way. And yours can, too. Craig's passionate, funny, warts-and-all confessions and the lessons he learned will help you find you own path to authentic living and a deeper relationship with God. Includes study guide for personal or group use.

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