Just read Confessions of a Pastor by Craig Groeschel.

He said some things that convicted me and challenged me.

A must-read for pastors.

Right up front, Craig says, “I had become a full-time minister and a part-time follower of Christ.” Not sure if anybody else can relate with that, but I sure can! Here is what I love about the book: Craig says stuff that most pastors think but wouldn’t dare say!

Some of the chapter themes are so good:

I Can’t Stand a Lot of Christians
I Have to Work Hard to Stay Sexually Pure
I Hate Prayer Meetings
Sometimes I doubt God

One of the things that touched a spiritual nerve ending was this:

My heart had “NO TRESSPASSING” signs posted all over it.

I think a lot of pastors really wrestle with this one. We feel like we need to protect our pastoral persona. I think pastoring is one of the loneliest professions on the planet. And it’s self-inflicted. We’ve bought into the lie that we can’t be ourselves; we can’t reveal our sin struggles; and we can’t be friends with the people we pastor.

Isn’t it about time we confront that ministry myth?

Craig shares some hilarious stories in the book as well. One of my favorites was a funeral where he forgot the closing line so he pulled a poetic ad lib that is hilarious to read ex-post facto, but didn’t get a laugh at the time:

Ashes to Ashes
Dust to dust
I hope this coffin doesn’t turn to rust

Check it out on amazon.com.