Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry

Author:

Paul David Tripp (DMin, Westminster Theological Seminary) is a pastor, an award-winning author, and an international conference speaker. He has written numerous books, including Lead; Parenting; and the bestselling devotional New Morning Mercies. His not-for-profit ministry exists to connect the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life. Tripp lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Luella, and they have four grown children.

Endorsements:

"Paul David Tripp's Dangerous Calling is a timely, transformative message for every pastor navigating the unique challenges of pastoral ministry. As a mentee of Tripp for nearly twenty years, I know him to be a true pastor of pastors. Dangerous Calling is as challenging as it is courageous, and it brings to light, with biblical clarity and grace, the real issues pastors face. Tripp digs deep, urging pastors to examine their hearts and to embrace their calling with renewed humility and strength. Pastors, leaders, and church members, this book will sharpen, stretch, strengthen, and point you to our Savior Jesus. It's not just a book to read-it's a call to examine, refresh, and deepen your ministry."
--Doug Logan Jr., President, Grimké Seminary and College; Council Member, The Gospel Coalition; author, The Soul-Winning Church and The Least, the Last, and the Lost

"With the heart of a shepherd, the wisdom of a counselor, and the conviction of a prophet, Paul David Tripp helps pastors to embrace their true calling and avoid the perils of ministry. This book is full of biblical principles and real-world insights. It's a field manual for pastoral perseverance." ------Mark Vroegop, President, The Gospel Coalition; author, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy

"Do not read this book-unless you're ready to go to work on your heart. You will taste pleasing pain and be all the better for many bruises. You will run a gauntlet. No serious reader will emerge unscathed. Some may get knocked out cold-and spend the rest of their lives grateful for the timely humbling. These chapters will work you over, and you may freshly thank God for his indwelling Spirit, without whom you'd be a goner and wouldn't have made it till now. Beware, Paul Tripp asks a lot of his reader: readiness to be bruised, willingness to be cut, eagerness to be sifted. Lance a boil, and you'll feel the sting, and with it the joy of relief. Again and again, I felt the sting, and with it the joy of exposure and the hope of healing and preventative medicine. Just make sure not to proceed too quickly. Take your time. Read at the pace of lifelong heart-change."
--David Mathis, Senior Teacher and Executive Editor, Desiring God; Pastor, Cities Church, Saint Paul, Minnesota; author, Habits of Grace

"Pastoral ministry is a dangerous calling, and this is a dangerous book. It will not leave you unchanged. Pastors need pastors, and by God's grace, every page of this book will minister to your heart, your marriage, your family, and the people you serve-in ways you never thought you needed it. This book digs down into the inner recesses of our hearts to reveal our greatest idols and point to our greatest needs. It will make you joyfully uncomfortable and, by God's grace, will bring you to your knees in tears of thankfulness only to help lift your weary head to fix your renewed gaze on Christ. This book is like a mirror that redirects our hearts' reflections from ourselves to Christ. If this book were a sermon, it would be the most weighty and refreshing sermon you've ever needed to hear. My sincere hope is that this book would be translated into multiple languages, become required reading in seminaries, and be distributed to Christians everywhere who know they're called to serve God and others with the gifts with which the Holy Spirit has equipped them."
--Burk Parsons, Senior Pastor, Saint Andrew's Chapel, Sanford, Florida; Editor, Tabletalk