For Christ & His Church

  The Pastor’s Family: Shepherding Your Family Through the Challenges of Pastoral Ministry by Brian Croft and Cara Croft is divided into three parts. Part 1 explores the inner struggles and spiritual burdens of pastoral ministry, emphasizing that the health of a pastor’s ministry flows from the health of his own heart before God. Part 2 highlights the unique challenges and blessings of a pastor’s wife, stressing the importance of understanding and grace in how a husband cares for his wife. And  Part 3 focuses on shepherding the pastor’s children with love and encourages pastors and their wives to disciple their children together in faith and godliness. I appreciate how the author weaves in the vital importance of nurturing a pastor's family and his own spiritual vitality, illustrated through the cautionary examples of John Wesley and George Whitefield, who prioritized ministry at the devastating expense of their marriages. I also admire the author's skillful launch int...

  Rankin Wilbourne’s Union with Christ: The Way to Know and Enjoy God is structured into four parts across fifteen chapters. Part 1 lays the foundation by highlighting the personal and spiritual “gap” many believers experience—and introduces union with Christ as the solution. Part 2 explores why this vital doctrine has faded from prominence in modern Christianity. Part III addresses existential crises like identity confusion, aimlessness, purposelessness, and despair by showing how union with Christ provides transformative solutions. And Part IV shifts to practical living, this part equips believers to experience union daily through abiding— disciplines like prayer and Scripture, suffering as a deepening path, and awareness of Christ's cosmic lordship. In Chapter 2, Rankin beautifully summarizes what it means to be in Christ. He writes, “To be found in Christ means you don’t have to prove yourself anymore. Your frantic attempts to find or craft an acceptable identity, or your ...