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

I was looking for a book to use in my introductory pastoral counselling course. The kind of book I needed was one that would challenge students to be in touch with humanity. One that would help them be authentic people who could have the empathy needed for counselling. I certianly found that in this book and so much more... it ended up challenging me and doing more good for me than I expected. I started reading it and couldn't put it down. It's so down-to-earth and practical. The author is talking to the reader as to a friend. It's a definite book for church leaders today!

I enjoyed reading this book as a pastor because of it being so real and vulenrable. It has in it things all pastors think whether spoken or unspoken. It would be helpful to any pastor, future minister, or for a Christian to understand a pastor's life at times. Happy reading!

In this age of "superstar" pastors who appear larger than life it is refreshing to hear the perspective of a man who sounds just like me! We need to remember that our pastors are sinful, fallen men with the same frustrations, struggles and sins that we all have--they just have to do a better job of hiding it. Craig Groeschel writes with brutal honesty and, at times, when reading his book I felt like it was a mirror of my life. Thanks to him for being so transparent and open about his struggles. My faith was strengthened by reading his book.

I am continually amazed at how life-changing Craig Groeschel's messages can be. This book is simple in its approach but astounding in that it succeeds in dropping all the superficial masks and guises we paint ourselves with in regards to holiness and "churchianity." This book brings you back to the crux of Christianity and the biggest struggle we must overcome: our own mistakes and trials. This book will not leave you unchanged.

I'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.