What do you think?
Behind The Preacher's Door
BEHIND THE PREACHER'S DOOR deals particularly with the problems and temptations that preachers face and fall prey too. A number of authors contributed articles to this project.
134 pages, Paperback
First published December 25, 2009
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 24, 2024
PROS
+ The book contains a lot of good advice, both for "preventative maintenance as well as positive reinforcement".
+ Good exhortation to not see the office of an elder / pastor as a job, and busyness as positive:
Quote: "Some preachers pride themselves on the busyness of their schedules, as if the pace of their lives is a badge of honor or an indication of how important they are among the Lord's people. But unrelenting busyness is as good a way to kill one's self spiritually as could be imagined - and it doesn't make any difference that the busyness is religious busyness."
+ Good call for discipline of the pastors, e.g.:
"Even worse, some preachers are dangerously obese, a condition that announces to everyone they are not disciplined in their own eating habits. How effective can such a man be in teaching others about self-discipline when it is so obvious he does not practise what he preaches? Even worse, what of those who 'burn out' in preaching because their bodies were not in condition to keep up with the pace their work required?"
+ No questionable endorsements (except David Jeremiah and John Maxwell, and the NIV Bible).
CONS
- Although the book warns on the surface against abominations, there is a strong sublime sense that it could also trigger, at least in some persons, a sort of normalization of those transgressions. The language of the book is not warning enough and the terminology is problematic.
Could anyone ever imagine that IESOUS or Paul would have said that 'sometimes' people have an extramarital affair with women, while 'sometimes' with men? I seriously doubt those qualifiers and without even looking at statistics, I am certain that it is a very very small minority which does those sins. But the book also normalizes (aside from exhortation) those sins and provides exhorbitant numbers, solely based on the personal acquaintances of the author(s).
Quote: "Sometimes it seems I hear a new story every month - another preacher (or elder) caught fornicating. Parts of the story are different. Sometimes the affair was with a woman; sometimes a man." [...] I had to report to these young men that I personally knew of 52 preachers who committed sexual immorality."
- The authors commit a rookie mistake throughout the book, by badly confusing two concepts which probably even an atheist would understand better. They seriously confuse 'fornication' with 'adultery' and even make this a key theme of the book. I expect from an author who writes a book on sexual discipline, to sit down at least 1 full day and to make a word study on the different concepts of sexual discipline. This had obviously not been done and neither do we find any biblical definitions of those sins mentioned in the book. This would have been absolutely essential, because precisely here is a lot of confusion amongst pastors. What schools do not properly teach pastors, would be expected to be found in this book. Without scriptural specifications and warnings, the authors did not develop authority for this book.
Quote: "They know fornication is wrong, but they don't know what sex is really about. A lot of fornicators think the problem is with their wives."
- Throughout the book, the author(s) differentiate pastors from elders. While this might reflect the reality today, it is a teaching contrary to the Bible.
Each church has to consist of a plurality of elders / overseers who shepherd the flock (the proof for this is found in Act 14:23 and Jam 5:14). Nowhere in Scripture do we find a single pastor for one local assembly. The words 'PRESBUTEROS' (Elder), 'EPISKOPOS' (Overseer), 'POIMAINO' (Shepherd / Pastor) all refer to the same office. Overlap of overseers & shepherds: Act 20:28; of overseers & elders: Tit 1:5-6, 7; of elders & shepherds: 1Pet 5:1-5
If the author(s) would have understood the biblical concept, they could have suggested that churches better move in the direction of plurality and therefore many of the problems mentioned in this book would solve themselves ... (less stress, better accountability amongst a plurality of pastors, better emotional support amongst pastors ...). There is a reason why THEOS set the church up in this way and if we continue stubbornly in our traditions, we do not help those pastors, but rather create more damage.
- The book also automatically assumes that a pastor ought to have a paid full-time position, which is also far from any biblical reality, that rather points in the direction of a plurality of elders who have their ordinary jobs and rotate their preaching and other responsibilities.
- The book treats it as almost normal that pastors watch television and play 'mafia-games'. Such a book should be above reproach. This does not include a prohibition to watch television, but a strong warning to not be part of the world, and to rather stay away from television and to teach their congregations to do the same. Could we picture Paul writing casually about the 'mafia-games' he is playing and the struggles he has with television? He would have rather abstained from both, or at least warned through very, very vivid words. This book is sadly lukewarm.
Quote: "It takes self-discipline to resist the urge to check email one more time, or play ANOTHER game of Mafia Wars on Facebook or sleep in while away the hours with Fox News and television. Yet constant and steady work on self bears tremendous rewards for the disciplined preacher."
- The book teaches against head coverings (by erroneously implying cultural implications which Paul proactively overwrote), while strangely enough endorsing a few lines later communion (while not seeing cultural implications here although mentioned in the very same chapter and -after- head coverings). Both head coverings (prayer only) and communion are spiritual disciplines for us today, no matter the country!
- Teaching of revenge (!!!)
"I once was threatened by an elder with possibly losing my job for preaching the truth on the qualification of elders. I responded to this veiled threat: 'I'll just tell the next preacher that preaching the truth on a sensitive topic may cost him his job ..."
- They seriously suggest the usage of Twitter for church communication ...
Quote: "With Twitter, we can keep all of our elders, deacons, teachers, group leaders, study groups, or whoever informed with up to the minute information tweeted to their cell phones."
- One, if not the most important topics when looking at Paul's exhortations to the churches, is spiritual discernment, which is totally absent from the book. This is truly tragic, because this also reflects one of the biggest problems in the American church. What about so many pastor's wives who bring through problematic books and other resources so much damage to the churches? How about the pastor who does invest little to nothing of his time in this important task? If discernment was one of Paul's key topics, why is this then not even mentioned in this book, in the midst of a colossal apostasy we are in?
- While I do not question the authors as pastors, I question their spiritual gift of Apostleship (not the office!) which they use as a basis to exhort and teach other pastors. This gift is the sole basis why they would be entitled by THEOS to write to other pastors, but I do not see the working of the HOLY SPIRIT in a book which does even confuse the most basic concepts of sexual discipline, which does not understand the biblical structure of a church and does not lose one word on discernment (except one word against Calvinism at the beginning of the book).
- The fact that the authors state in their prologue that they suffered 'brutal deadlines' confirms that the book is pieced together hastily. Could we imagine that Paul would have added such information to his letters to the elders and their churches? Instruction to thousands of elders / pastors should never be put together in such a manner.
+ The book contains a lot of good advice, both for "preventative maintenance as well as positive reinforcement".
+ Good exhortation to not see the office of an elder / pastor as a job, and busyness as positive:
Quote: "Some preachers pride themselves on the busyness of their schedules, as if the pace of their lives is a badge of honor or an indication of how important they are among the Lord's people. But unrelenting busyness is as good a way to kill one's self spiritually as could be imagined - and it doesn't make any difference that the busyness is religious busyness."
+ Good call for discipline of the pastors, e.g.:
"Even worse, some preachers are dangerously obese, a condition that announces to everyone they are not disciplined in their own eating habits. How effective can such a man be in teaching others about self-discipline when it is so obvious he does not practise what he preaches? Even worse, what of those who 'burn out' in preaching because their bodies were not in condition to keep up with the pace their work required?"
+ No questionable endorsements (except David Jeremiah and John Maxwell, and the NIV Bible).
CONS
- Although the book warns on the surface against abominations, there is a strong sublime sense that it could also trigger, at least in some persons, a sort of normalization of those transgressions. The language of the book is not warning enough and the terminology is problematic.
Could anyone ever imagine that IESOUS or Paul would have said that 'sometimes' people have an extramarital affair with women, while 'sometimes' with men? I seriously doubt those qualifiers and without even looking at statistics, I am certain that it is a very very small minority which does those sins. But the book also normalizes (aside from exhortation) those sins and provides exhorbitant numbers, solely based on the personal acquaintances of the author(s).
Quote: "Sometimes it seems I hear a new story every month - another preacher (or elder) caught fornicating. Parts of the story are different. Sometimes the affair was with a woman; sometimes a man." [...] I had to report to these young men that I personally knew of 52 preachers who committed sexual immorality."
- The authors commit a rookie mistake throughout the book, by badly confusing two concepts which probably even an atheist would understand better. They seriously confuse 'fornication' with 'adultery' and even make this a key theme of the book. I expect from an author who writes a book on sexual discipline, to sit down at least 1 full day and to make a word study on the different concepts of sexual discipline. This had obviously not been done and neither do we find any biblical definitions of those sins mentioned in the book. This would have been absolutely essential, because precisely here is a lot of confusion amongst pastors. What schools do not properly teach pastors, would be expected to be found in this book. Without scriptural specifications and warnings, the authors did not develop authority for this book.
Quote: "They know fornication is wrong, but they don't know what sex is really about. A lot of fornicators think the problem is with their wives."
- Throughout the book, the author(s) differentiate pastors from elders. While this might reflect the reality today, it is a teaching contrary to the Bible.
Each church has to consist of a plurality of elders / overseers who shepherd the flock (the proof for this is found in Act 14:23 and Jam 5:14). Nowhere in Scripture do we find a single pastor for one local assembly. The words 'PRESBUTEROS' (Elder), 'EPISKOPOS' (Overseer), 'POIMAINO' (Shepherd / Pastor) all refer to the same office. Overlap of overseers & shepherds: Act 20:28; of overseers & elders: Tit 1:5-6, 7; of elders & shepherds: 1Pet 5:1-5
If the author(s) would have understood the biblical concept, they could have suggested that churches better move in the direction of plurality and therefore many of the problems mentioned in this book would solve themselves ... (less stress, better accountability amongst a plurality of pastors, better emotional support amongst pastors ...). There is a reason why THEOS set the church up in this way and if we continue stubbornly in our traditions, we do not help those pastors, but rather create more damage.
- The book also automatically assumes that a pastor ought to have a paid full-time position, which is also far from any biblical reality, that rather points in the direction of a plurality of elders who have their ordinary jobs and rotate their preaching and other responsibilities.
- The book treats it as almost normal that pastors watch television and play 'mafia-games'. Such a book should be above reproach. This does not include a prohibition to watch television, but a strong warning to not be part of the world, and to rather stay away from television and to teach their congregations to do the same. Could we picture Paul writing casually about the 'mafia-games' he is playing and the struggles he has with television? He would have rather abstained from both, or at least warned through very, very vivid words. This book is sadly lukewarm.
Quote: "It takes self-discipline to resist the urge to check email one more time, or play ANOTHER game of Mafia Wars on Facebook or sleep in while away the hours with Fox News and television. Yet constant and steady work on self bears tremendous rewards for the disciplined preacher."
- The book teaches against head coverings (by erroneously implying cultural implications which Paul proactively overwrote), while strangely enough endorsing a few lines later communion (while not seeing cultural implications here although mentioned in the very same chapter and -after- head coverings). Both head coverings (prayer only) and communion are spiritual disciplines for us today, no matter the country!
- Teaching of revenge (!!!)
"I once was threatened by an elder with possibly losing my job for preaching the truth on the qualification of elders. I responded to this veiled threat: 'I'll just tell the next preacher that preaching the truth on a sensitive topic may cost him his job ..."
- They seriously suggest the usage of Twitter for church communication ...
Quote: "With Twitter, we can keep all of our elders, deacons, teachers, group leaders, study groups, or whoever informed with up to the minute information tweeted to their cell phones."
- One, if not the most important topics when looking at Paul's exhortations to the churches, is spiritual discernment, which is totally absent from the book. This is truly tragic, because this also reflects one of the biggest problems in the American church. What about so many pastor's wives who bring through problematic books and other resources so much damage to the churches? How about the pastor who does invest little to nothing of his time in this important task? If discernment was one of Paul's key topics, why is this then not even mentioned in this book, in the midst of a colossal apostasy we are in?
- While I do not question the authors as pastors, I question their spiritual gift of Apostleship (not the office!) which they use as a basis to exhort and teach other pastors. This gift is the sole basis why they would be entitled by THEOS to write to other pastors, but I do not see the working of the HOLY SPIRIT in a book which does even confuse the most basic concepts of sexual discipline, which does not understand the biblical structure of a church and does not lose one word on discernment (except one word against Calvinism at the beginning of the book).
- The fact that the authors state in their prologue that they suffered 'brutal deadlines' confirms that the book is pieced together hastily. Could we imagine that Paul would have added such information to his letters to the elders and their churches? Instruction to thousands of elders / pastors should never be put together in such a manner.
July 14, 2016
The work of an evangelist is challenging. It involves dedication, study, perseverance, passion, interpersonal skills, discipline, and much love, compassion, humility, and prayer. There are many technical and personal aspects to the work that preachers do.
Behind the Preacher's Door, addresses many of the personal challenges that will inevitably confront the man who proclaims the Gospel for a living. It is designed to encourage preachers (and any Christian) to greater personal faithfulness and devotion in an attempt to reduce the staggering statistics regarding preachers who have fallen into sin, disrepute, and/or distress.
The book features submissions by preachers of all ages. Topics included feature concerns regarding sexual immorality, personal devotion to God, managing time, managing finances, working with difficult Christians, friends, working for unity, managing technology, and maintaining good relationships with wives and children.
All preachers can gain from the insights and experiences in the book. We will all feel convicted and challenged by many of them. Hopefully it will lead us to greater faithfulness and integrity in accomplishing the work of promoting the Gospel. If nothing else it should reinforce for us the dangers of ministerial improprieties and encourage us to take heed lest we, too, fall.
The book is highly recommended and provides valuable insights for preachers of the Gospel.
Behind the Preacher's Door, addresses many of the personal challenges that will inevitably confront the man who proclaims the Gospel for a living. It is designed to encourage preachers (and any Christian) to greater personal faithfulness and devotion in an attempt to reduce the staggering statistics regarding preachers who have fallen into sin, disrepute, and/or distress.
The book features submissions by preachers of all ages. Topics included feature concerns regarding sexual immorality, personal devotion to God, managing time, managing finances, working with difficult Christians, friends, working for unity, managing technology, and maintaining good relationships with wives and children.
All preachers can gain from the insights and experiences in the book. We will all feel convicted and challenged by many of them. Hopefully it will lead us to greater faithfulness and integrity in accomplishing the work of promoting the Gospel. If nothing else it should reinforce for us the dangers of ministerial improprieties and encourage us to take heed lest we, too, fall.
The book is highly recommended and provides valuable insights for preachers of the Gospel.
June 10, 2017
Really good overview book
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews