If you're involved in ministry (in any form) you should read this

I'm currently in the middle of two weeks of vacation. One of my goals during this time is to revisit a number of books which have impacted me most (so far) this year. One of those is Sensing Jesus, by Zack Eswine. Before reading this book, I had never heard of Zack and, to be honest, would have judged this book by its cover. However, if I had, I would have missed a treasure trove of gospel-laden wisdom for modern-day pastors ministering in a culture of consumerism and celebrity. If you're involved in ministry (particularly in the US), you should read this. In my mind, this book should be read alongside Dangerous Calling, by Paul Tripp. I have lost track of how many times I have recommended it since I first read it. Here are a handful of my favorite quotes: 

"To relinquish; to admit that some dreams are presumptuous; to acknowledge that some needs outlast me; to recognize my inability to fully supply what is lacking; to admit that I am limited; to say no to competition with brothers and sisters, and to give to others what I strongly desired for myself; and in it all to still take up the pen or give voice to preach Jesus—these indicate a surrender to noble limits." (loc 185)

"We are not infinite, everywhere at once, all-powerful, or all-knowing. We are not meant to try to be or to expect this of others. And this is my concern. Forgetting our place as only human, we grasp for incommunicable attributes and try to make them our own as we live and minister with others. Our worldly and church cultures often applaud this and urge us on. You can be like God!" (loc 275)

"God has given you himself to surrender to and love. This means that to daily orient your life toward a moment-by-moment relationship with God is a great thing that brings glory to him. You needn’t be anywhere else than where you are, because Jesus is there." (loc 449)

"Therefore, those of you searching for something larger, faster, and more significant, who feel that if you could just be somewhere else doing something else as somebody else, then your life would really matter—Jesus has come to confound you." (loc 528) 

"I am referring to the discontented who have not yet learned what it means that Jesus is our portion and that he is enough for us. You have wandered far from home. You cannot glorify God by trying to become him. You cannot honor him by overlooking his creatures and the places he has given them in which to enjoy him. This Shepherd is searching for you. His shoulders are ready for you." (loc 530)

"But for a church, when greatness is defined as “big, efficient, and now,” ruin follows, even if the shell of the ministry boasts of strength." (loc 537) 

"No matter how great or gifted we are, God invites us to himself for the sake of local people in a local place with the long learning of local knowledge in Jesus until he comes. This means that if you are wearing yourselves out trying to be and do more than this, Jesus is calling you to stop all of this tramping about and come finally home. The great work to be done is right in front of you with the persons and places that his providence has granted you." (loc 730) 

"Childishness includes throwing tantrums to get our way, boasting in what we know, laughing at others when we win, declaring that we can do it ourselves, resisting surrender to limits, defying the wisdom of benevolent authority, looking down on others as weaker than we are, pretending that we don’t need anyone’s help, and feigning that we are never scared. The foolish believe that the more we know, the more we will be freed to act in the above-stated ways." (loc 2184)

"Some men compare penis size, other men compare church size—there is little difference between these games. Both are false measures and are of the same genre of self-misdirection." (loc 3529)

"If people leave or overlook you or criticize you because you teach them to value this way of life, you are not exposed as hardened. They are. If with grace and patience you embody and teach that persons are not celebrities but human, that Jesus alone is the famous one and our preeminent instructor, that people are not meant for our consumption or use, that knowing doctrinal content does not equal spiritual growth, that obedience in one area does not mean that we are mature, that care for our interior life is a mandate, and that we are all prone to resist everything I just wrote, then you are in good company. You may be overlooked and ridiculed in this world, but not, dear friend, in the next. You know something of fellowship with your Master." (loc 4283)