The Pastor’s Justification [eBook]

Applying the Work of Christ in Your Life and Ministry

Ministry can be brutal. As leaders, we face discouragement, frustration, and exhaustion—and many times we face it alone. Helping us to refocus our gaze on the gospel, pastor Jared Wilson offers here practical insights, real-life anecdotes, and in-your-face truth related to the ups and downs of pastoral ministry. Honest yet hopeful, this creative fusion of biblical exposition and personal confession will help pastors weather the storms of ministry by rooting their identity in Christ.

Jared C. Wilson is the pastor of Middletown Springs Community Church in Middletown Springs, Vermont. He is an award-winning author whose articles and short stories have appeared in a number of periodicals, and has written the popular books Your Jesus Is Too Safe, Gospel Deeps, and Gospel Wakefulness. Wilson lives in Vermont with his wife and two daughters, and blogs daily at GospelDrivenChurch.com.

“Jared Wilson is one of my favorite thinkers. He writes with deep conviction, and I have been moved to tears at his robust sense of God and his glorious gospel. Of the books he has written, this one is especially edifying to me. Jared writes from the trenches where he is shepherding, leading, doing weddings, and doing funerals. He knows the highs and lows of our calling. His conviction, passion, and wit pour out onto the page as he shepherds those of us who are shepherding the flock.”
—Matt Chandler, Lead Pastor, The Village Church, Dallas, Texas; President, Acts 29 Church Planting Network

“It ought to go without saying that pastors who preach the gospel need the gospel desperately themselves—but it doesn’t. In The Pastor’s Justification, Jared Wilson boldly reminds ministers where their true measure of success and fulfillment is found. This book will help shepherd shepherds back to the confidence and humility found only in Jesus.”
—Ed Stetzer, President, LifeWay Research; author, Subversive Kingdom

“Nothing has been more frustrating as a pastor than proclaiming the person and work of Christ in a sermon to my church and then realizing I have not applied the gospel to my own heart and life the whole week. Jared is a welcomed guide for pastors who want off of the performance treadmill.”
—Darrin Patrick, Lead Pastor, The Journey, St. Louis, Missouri; Vice President, Acts 29; Chaplain to the St. Louis Cardinals; author, The Dude’s Guide to Manhood

“Why do so many pastors feel burned out, burned up, and simply burned? We allow ourselves to be shaped by the many pseudogospels rooted in our guilt-driven, shame-based, performance-oriented approaches to ministry. The Pastor’s Justification by Jared Wilson exposes these idols and invites us to rediscover the gospel of grace and its application for pastors and church leaders. Jared exercises his considerable pastoral compassion and skill to offer a fresh, much-needed word for burned-out pastors.”
—Daniel Montgomery, Pastor, Sojourn Community Church, Louisville, Kentucky; co-author, Faithmapping

“Pastor, you are not alone—your feelings of loneliness, fear, insecurity, and mediocrity are shared by all pastors, to one degree or another. Pastors need other faithful shepherds to preach to us, admonish us, comfort us, and point us to Jesus. We need others to come alongside us as we look not primarily for better techniques or bigger churches, but to the unity, safety, security, and justification that we have in our Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. This book will engage not only your intellect, but your motives, your idols, and your dreams. Every congregation should want their pastor to read this book, and every pastor will want his congregation to do the same.”
—Burk Parsons, Copastor, Saint Andrew’s Chapel, Sanford, Florida; Editor, Tabletalk magazine