Typos

I don't think there are many typos in my books but inevitably some creep through. Today I noticed one on page 58 of Pastorals for Pastors, where it says at the top "Firstly, echoing the way they sought to laud Augustine and Julius he calls him Saviour of all people." That Augustine should be Augustus, of course, the Emperor not the Bishop. Oops.

Useful tool to use alongside Pastorals for Pastors

As originally conceived the book Pastorals for Pastors was ti have included the text of the pastoral epistles. Tat was not popssible, however, so you have to look up each of the thirty readings elsewhere. I recently purchased the niv beutiful word Bible journal edition of the pastorals and now use it alongside the book. Expensive for what it is, I suppose, alternatively, you could make your own with an old unwanted Bible.

Review of Pastorals for Pastors in February Banner Mag

With fellow pastors in mind, Pastor Gary Brady has self-published a helpful running commentary on 1 Timothy, Titus and 2 Timothy, drawing on four decades of his own ministerial experience. Though he will occasionally make reference to his own Baptist context, such consideration should not hinder those from a different polity from deriving benefit. A little more distracting are not a few grammatical errors.*

The book itself is written with the encouragement that pastors might read through the pastoral epistles regularly and, if following Brady’s pattern, twice each year. The book itself is divided into thirty chapters. Each chapter is then subdivided into six sub-divisions labelled Jan/Jul, Feb/Aug, and so on. The purpose is to guide the reader to approximately a page of comment for each day for six months before beginning the process over again. If the reader follows the system suggested then he will be focused on 2 Timothy 4:16 on 30 January and then 1 Timothy 1:3–4 on 31 January.** By the same token the reader will be considering the question of the ordination of women on 4 March and then the reasoning Paul gives on 4 April with the argument for male leadership given on 4 May.

The desire to have pastors immersed in the pastoral epistles is certainly warmly encouraging but this reviewer would venture to suggest that reading through the text consecutively with the assistance of able commentators, especially those with the wealth of experience of pastors such as Gary Brady*** with his forty years serving a congregation,**** might prove more helpful than jumping day to day from one verse to another.

IAIN WRIGHT

* This statement involves the use of litotes. It is a strong way of saying the book is full of grammatical errors. As far as I am aware, that is incorrect. There are a few split infinitives and missing commas, perhaps.

** This is a little sloppy. There is no reading on January 31.

*** I'm sure that all my best comments come from such sources

**** The repetition of this makes it sound sneering but apparently that's just his way.

Iain Wright is a Scotsman pastoring in Illinois

Review of Pastorals for Pastors in Evangelical Times November 2021

It was good to see the very positive review by Jeff Haskins of my latest book in this month's ET

Every pastor should get a copy of this book. You will not be disappointed. However other people such as seminary students may also benefit from it; or perhaps someone reading through Paul’s pastoral letters could get this book and read it alongside the Bible.

The book suggests following its reading plan for 30 days and then starting over again. By doing this you would read through the pastoral letters twelve times a year.

Gary Brady writes with clarity and simplicity. I particularly like the way the biblical text is explained with lists and numbering. It means that his thoughts are easy to follow, and it also allows the reader to appreciate the biblical text. The book probably falls into the category of ‘devotional commentary’ but there is much more to glean.

Brady has incorporated many years of pastoral experience into the notes. There are stories to learn from, which preachers could also use as illustrations. The application of the text is very challenging and should stir the reader to take up that challenge. Other notes help shed light on biblical terms and phrases, even those we have become accustomed to.

People might be disappointed that the Bible passage is not included in the sections, but it is woven into the commentary. But perhaps it is better that way, so that the reader has their Bible next to them when reading the book.

Jeffrey Haskins

Lancaster

Book Sales Second Half of 2020

 

Order Page for new book

 Pre-order page now up: https://bespokechristianpublishing.com/order-pastorals-for-pastors/

Cover of new book Pastorals for Pastors

This is the cover of my latest book due out soon and available through me. Details to follow.