A Portrait of Paul: Identifying a True Minister of Christ
The apostle Paul has always been a hero whom I look to as a model for my ministry. His unrelenting faithfulness in the worst kinds of trials is a remarkable example to every pastor and missionary. In the midst of suffering, hardship, and (in the end) the abandonment of his own friends and fellow workers, Paul remained steadfast, dynamic, and utterly devoted to Christ. This invaluable study of Paul s life from Rob Ventura and Jeremy Walker is a wonderful, powerful, soul-stirring examination of Paul s self-sacrifice and his unfaltering service to the church. It will both motivate and encourage you, especially if you re facing trials, opposition, or discouragement in your service for Christ. John MacArthur, Pastor/Teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California and President of The Master s College and Seminary --endorsementThe greatest need in churches today is for godly men to shepherd the flock of God. No church will rise any higher than the level of its spiritual leaders. Like priest, like people. To this end, Rob Ventura and Jeremy Walker have done an exceptional job in providing a model for pastoral ministry, drawn from the extraordinary example of the apostle Paul. This book is built upon careful exegesis, proper interpretation, penetrating insight, and challenging application. Herein is profiled the kind of minister every church so desperately needs and what every true minister should desire to become. Steven J. Lawson, Senior Pastor of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama --endorsementThis work on the Christian ministry is a clarion call to true devotion and piety in the pastorate. The theology is pure and the language is as powerful as it is beautiful. I pray that every pastor and congregant might take up this book and read it. It will hold a place in my library beside Baxter s Reformed Pastor, Bridges s Christian Ministry, and Spurgeon s Lectures. I will refer to it often. It will serve as a great antidote against all that might cause my heart to stray from Christ s call. Paul Washer, Director of HeartCry Missionary Society --endorsement