Christopher Ash (1)Besprekingen

As someone who has faced burn out, I wish I had found this book sooner. It is such an excellent resource, despite its short length. I highly recommend it!

Highly recommended by Mike Bullmore

A short book exhorting the church to love its pastor better through 7 virtues, based in Scripture, and rooted in prayer. The overarching themes of humanizing a pastor, his family, his vocation, and the difficulty of his work are all welcome here. As a pastor, we would all love our congregation members to embrace the suggestions and ideas that Christopher Ash has presented here. An easy, short read that would take a lifetime to apply.

Caring for your pastor and the difference it makes.

What do you think about your pastor? Do you chew over his sermons and wonder if they are clear and helpful? Do you feel he spends enough time with you? In fact, do you ever catch yourself wondering what he does all day?

The truth is, often we think, "What can my pastor do for me?" Far less often do we think, "What can I do for my pastor?"

Seasoned former pastor, Christopher Ash, urges church members to think about pastors not just in terms of what they do – how they lead and pray and preach and teach and so on – but about who they are. He encourages us to remember that pastors are people and to pray for them as they serve us.

Paradoxically, caring for our pastor will be a blessing to us as well as to them, and create a culture of true fellowship in our church family.

Hands down: the best, most comprehensive book on God's design for marriage in the market. This book isn't simply a laundry list of arguments, but rather Ash constructs a definition of marriage by exegeting the God's Word itself: the Bible. He handles the text masterfully, doing critical analyses on word structure, phrasing, and taking fair looks at alternative views and interpretations of various contested texts.

Hands down: the best, most comprehensive book on God's design for marriage in the market. This book isn't simply a laundry list of arguments, but rather Ash constructs a definition of marriage by exegeting the God's Word itself: the Bible. He handles the text masterfully, doing critical analyses on word structure, phrasing, and taking fair looks at alternative views and interpretations of various contested texts.

Really good devotional just sticking to the first two chapters of Luke's gospel. Each day has few verses from Christmas story, devotional, song, prayer and space to write up a journal

An excellent must-read book for every Christian ministry worker!

good and helpful; short, not hard to read but profound concepts from the Bible clearly explained.

(Jun-Jul 2017) used w/ Marites & Tom for pre-marital counseling.

How to beat burnout

A review of “Zeal without Burnout” (seven keys to a lifelong ministry of sustainable sacrifice) by Christopher Ash.¹

Preamble

Burnout is prevalent in church leadership.² How do we avoid it? Not by becoming lazy, but keeping ourselves, “fuelled and aflame.” (Rom 12:11 MESSAGE) Christopher provides us with seven simple but profound practical truths to maintain spiritual fervour instead of experiencing spiritual failure. These apply to those serving in Christian ministry, whether on staff of a church or not. Anyone practicing the seven keys with diligence will undoubtable find refreshment and renewed faith.

Summary

The most important aspect of maintaining spiritual health while under strain is soberness, “So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.” (1 Cor 10:12 NRSV) A buyer of the book is, presumably, aware enough of their challenges to recognise the symptoms of burnout either in full view or coming over the horizon. However, we are not the best judges of our fitness and need books like this to conduct a periodic review. I recommend this as a readable and succinct book that could be best used by pulling it off the shelf at least once a year for a checkup.

Body of the Book

Christopher reminds us that sacrifice (good) is not the same as burnout (bad). Statements such as, "I would rather wear out than rust out" (George Whitfield) may be well intended, but smack too much of machismo. The problem with burnout is not simply the effect it has on us, but also on colleagues, friends and especially family. In essence, burnout is avoidable and thus is akin to selfishness. We are called to present our “bodies as a living sacrifice,” (Rom 12:1 CENT) - not a dead one! It helps to remember that we are creatures of dust (Gen 2:7; Psalm 90:3; 103:14).

Having reminded us of our limitations Christopher gives us his “Seven Keys” to sustainable sacrifice:

We need sleep
We need sabbath rests
We need friends
We need inward renewal
A warning: beware celebrity!
An encouragement: it's worth it!
A delight: rejoice in grace, not gifts
Rather than go into detail, I’ll simply add a couple of points not covered in my vlogs.

Each short chapter reviews differences between us and God. We have needs that He does not, and thus we do well to take advantage of the resources He has provided to continue to do the work He has in mind for us. Christopher carefully treads the line between self-care and selfishness. Christian work does make you tired! Paul and others had “sleepless nights and hunger” (2 Cor 6:5 NIV11). Our writer is not advocating a comfortable cross, but a sustainable life of discipleship.

The example of a firefighter is a helpful thread throughout the book. It is not selfish to guard our devotional times any more than it is selfish for a firefighter to take a break before heading back into the fire. Remaining in the burning building beyond his or her capacity for strength or air would be folly, not faith. “To neglect sleep, sabbaths, friendships and inward renewal is not heroism but hubris.”

In essence the book is concerned with self-awareness. Once we are aware, we then must be humble enough to surrender any fears or selfish ambition to God. Hard to do unless we also share our predicament with at least one trusted friend. Perhaps, if I have a criticism of this book, it would be that it lacks detail on what to do when you find yourself in a place without ‘safe’ people around. It’s a situation I have faced in the past as do many in Christian service. I’d like to have heard Christopher's thoughts on this topic.

Conclusion

The book’s brevity does not indicate a superficial treatment of this vital topic. There is enough between the pages to bless your burnout - or even prevent it in the first place. A more detailed exploration of many of the themes can be found in the works of Gordon MacDonald (“Ordering your private world”, “Restoring your spiritual passion”, “A resilient life” and others).

Let's hope and pray that we can live out the instruction that Paul gave the Romans, and that he himself lived, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11 NIV11).

His concluding poem/prayer is a helpful meditation:

“I am – and will never, this side of the resurrection, be more than – a creature of dust. I will rest content in my creaturely weakness; I will use the means God has given me to keep going in this life while I can; I will allow myself time to sleep; I will trust him enough to take a day off each week; I will invest in friendships and not be a proud loner; I will take with gladness the inward refreshment he offers me. I will serve the Lord Jesus with a glad and restful zeal with all the energy that he works within me; but not with anxious toil, selfish ambition, the desire for the praise of people, and all the other ugly motivations that will destroy my soul. So help me God.”

Malcolm Cox

3 October 2016

¹ thegoodbook company, hardback, 123 pages, 2016

² In the USA it is estimated that some 1500 people leave pastoral ministry each month due to burnout, conflict or moral failure. A third of pastors say they feel burned out within just five years of starting ministry, and almost a half of pastors and their wives say they have experienced depression or burnout to the extent that they needed to take a leave of absence from ministry.

It's well worth examining Psalm 119, and Christopher Ash has mined its depths. But I wouldn't say it was always a joy to read, nor was it easy or quick read. It exposed my lack of love for God's word, both where I struggled to sing with the psalmist, and as I realised I do not examine the word with anything like the depth that Christopher Ash has done here.

A detailed look at theology of marriage, and related matters of sex, procreation, divorce, cohabitation and (briefly) homosexuality. But beware what it isn't: not a book of pastoral response, nor even of ethical principles to follow. Both, he thinks, need other books.

Persistently Preaching Christ: Fifty years of Bible ministry in a Cambridge church is a book that lays out the profound impact two men had as they served as the pastors of a church in Cambridge, England. These two men, Mark Ruston and Mark Ashton, had long pastorates, serving the congregation of the Round Church for a combined total of 55 years. To borrow from the hymn, they touched the congregation in ways that were both deep and wide.

The book opens with an introductory chapter by Ashton outlining what he believes are the eight key convictions about the local church. Following this Ash, Davis and White tell the story of the pastors and the church through chapters that walk through different phases of the church while Ruston and Ashton served there. Each chapter concludes with one or two brief personal reflections by a member of the church at that time. At the end of the book are a larger number of personal thoughts from church members about the influence the pastors and the congregation, influence that has lasted a lifetime in many cases.

Throughout the book the unifying factor is that both preachers were committed to preaching Christ, i.e. preaching in a manner that consistently focused on Christ and his work of salvation. They did this no matter what book of the Bible they preached from and they were conscientious about preaching from the whole Bible, not following the lectionary or staying to their own personal favorite passages.

In the many personal comments by people who sat under their preaching it is evident that both pastors were used powerfully of God, not because of their own personal attributes, but because they believed in, and always pointed their listeners to, a powerful God.

Because this book is written by English authors, for what I assume they considered to be a largely English audience, there are a fair number of references and idiosyncrasies that are more readily understood by people who more naturally inhabit that culture than the American culture I live in. That was a minor distraction for me as a reader, particularly in comparison to the riches in Christ that were evident time and again on each page.

Though not a great book it is a good book published by "The Good Book company" I received it as gift book when I attended "Together for The Gospel 2012." It is a quick read 30 pages and as such does not go into great detail but list several key points in listing to a sermon, live, not recorded.

I humbly can write I'm doing most of get 7 suggestions but not as consistently as I should. For a mere 2.99 on Amazon I would think one couldn't go wrong, but you may want to review other reviews.

Good, quick, read that clearly shows how the *congregation* should approach listening to sermons. It also includes a section at the end on what to do when you find yourself listening to different types of *bad* sermons.

A small booklet filled with important instruction on listening to sermons. Everyone who regularly attends church worship services should read this book if they want to put their time there to good use.

Marketers will tell you that in order to sell something, your product or service must be distinguished from the competition. When Christopher Ash wrote The Priority of Preaching, he explicitly stated that: “This little book is for ordinary pastors who preach regularly to ordinary people in ordinary places, who may dream of being world-renowned [i.e. impressive and strategic] but are going to be spared that fate” (p.12). Right from the start, you know this is not your ordinary book on preaching.

Ordinarily, those who wish to market the Gospel will tell you that you need to devise a unique message, in a unique way to the unique people of your audience. It is a dangerous attempt to gain prominence. That had been tried and warned about before (Mt. 20:20-28).
Ash takes the word of God at face value and shows how it in itself is unique, to each unique person and uniquely relevant. What Ash does is to put the confidence in preaching on God and His inerrant, infallible word. What a preacher will then be stuck with is the unique power, authority and world changing scripture

Beginning as a series of addresses given at the 2008 Evangelical Ministry Assembly in London, the Christian Focus Publishers/Proclamation Trust Media release of The Priority of Preaching, focuses on the preaching of Moses in the book of Deuteronomy. Ash states that his objective is to “persuade (or at least unsettle) those doubtful about preaching, and to deepen the conviction of those already converted to the priority of preaching.” (p.13).

The first section looks at The Authority of the Word Preached (Deuteronomy 18:9-22) Chapter one considers the authority of the expository preacher in speaking the very words of God (2 Tim. 4:2). It begins with a brief history of homiletics, as well as setting the stage with the ever real warning of those who will not tolerate sound teaching (2 Tim. 3:1-9; 4:3-4). Scripture is the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20) and do not let anyone despise you (ie. disregard what you say) (Titus 2:15). Ash warns the preacher to "beware the shortcut of mystical authority" (p. 40) with a lazy assumption that preaching does not require hard word in preparation (1 Tim. 5:17). Not too many should be teachers (James 3:1). It is a spiritual gift only given to some (Eph. 4:11).

With the case of the preachers' authority being the word of God, Ash makes an intriguing statement on how preaching is cross cultural: "Every culture knows what it is to sit and listen to an authoritative human being speak. That is not culturally specific. You don't need to be literate to do that. You don't need to be educated to do that. You don't need to be fluent or confident in debate to do that". (p.27). Many contemporary so called "group Bible studies" have practically placed their own authority over scripture: "discussion substitutes for submission to the word of God...people in fact sit above the Word of God." (p. 29). A better alternative is proposed where the group take the Sunday passage, seek to further understand it, and hold each other accountable for how they live it.

Ash provides an interesting transition from old covenant prophet (prophetic and revelatory) to new covenant preacher (proclamatory). I found Ash's discussion intriguing on how Paul himself found the need for preaching face to face necessary and not just with providing a scroll alone (2 Pt. 2:1). With the word preached, all the other ministries of the word flourish: "In all the other contexts in which we teach and admonish one another and speak the word of Christ to one another (Col. 3:16), we are much more likely to submit and not evade by endless discussion, if we have as our top meeting priority (alongside prayer) sitting together under the preached word" (p.36).

The second section shows Preaching that Transforms the Church (Deuteronomy 30:11-20). Ash deals with the reality of distractions yet having preaching that grips (p.46). He presents a series of four preaching themes. As interesting as they were, they were light on new covenant application. However, Ash makes some helpful practical applications such as envisioning preaching as "silent dialogue" (p.53), having "urgent passionate clarity" (p. 61), presenting in a language the audience will understand (p.62-63), and offering Christ in our preaching with confident grace (p. 72).

The third sections looks at Preaching that Mends a Broken World (Deuteronomy 4:5-14). Ash discusses how the world is broken (p.76ff) with the need for consistent order. Ash shows how Deuteronomy signals four ways the standard shape of the church as the pattern (p.79) word (p.80) place (p.81) and people (p.82) for the assembly. The new covenant transition from the book of Hebrews would have been better interwoven within these pictures instead of a few pages later. When Ash presents the assembly on its wider biblical canvas, the examples go from the world crisis of distress (false worship always leads to scattering (p.83) and how God promises to gather a reassembled world (p.84). The picture of fulfillment in Christ is now presented with great illustrations from the book of Hebrews. Practical applications are put into practice with illustrations on gathering to hear the word (p.91), how it brings unlikely people together (p.92), and how the word of grace shapes us together (p.98).

The appendix looks at Seven Blessings of Consecutive Expository Preaching. He notes and explains these seven blessings. He shows how Consecutive Expository Preaching 1) Safeguards God’s Agenda Against Being Hijacked by Ours. 2) Makes It Harder for Us to Abuse the Bible by Reading it Out of Context. 3) Dilutes the Selectivity of the Preacher. 4) Keeps the Content of the Sermon Fresh and Surprising. 5) Makes for Variety in the Style of the Sermon. 6) Models Good Nourishing Bible Reading for the Ordinary Christian. and how Consecutive Expository Preaching 7) Helps us Preach the Whole Christ from the Whole of Scripture
The only limitation I see to this work are those I believe the author self-imposed. This is not a Biblical theology of preaching, christocentric fulfillment's or an exegetical, grammatical technical guide. The work almost exclusively concerns itself with Moses' words from Deuteronomy as a helpful model of the confidence in God's word.

Ash is surprisingly candid with sharing feelings that many who preach the Gospel have privately felt yet are often reluctant to express. His influences are explicitly stated and he is not afraid to point out dangerous yet popular approaches to preaching today. As a reader, his writing is personal, practical and pithy. The layout of the book is clear and straightforward. The publisher has to be greatly commended for their efforts in aiding this clarity. With such a simple effort to cite references in footnotes instead of end notes, the reader does not have to ever be distracted with the points at hand.

Not only would this be a highly beneficial resource for anyone preaching the word of God it is also helpful for anyone who needs to understand how scripture uniquely empowers and directs. This would help in not only corporate decision making, but individual and familial as well.

Here is a much needed guide to a discipline that most church members never develop or even think they need to. It is a small 31 page guide on how to listen to sermons. Many people presuppose that all we need is to be simply there and stay awake… right? Yet the found in the Bible are numerous texts that warn us to consider carefully how we listen. The issue is that much more than we think is involved in truly listening to Bible teaching than just sitting and staring at the preacher.

Author Christopher Ash in his small booklet, Listen Up! A Practical Guide to Listening to Sermons gives some simple yet powerful insights on being a healthy listener that hears the voice of God. Also it deals with how to respond to bad sermons that are dull, or inadequate, and even heretical. Additional he provides ideas for assisting in edifying, helping, and encouraging our Bible teachers to give sermons that will spur on growth as Christians.

He further answers questions like where does the authority of a Bible teacher come from. Why is Bible teaching offensive? Why is it important to hear Bible teaching in church? How can we actually enjoy Bible teaching more? You can read this booklet in an single setting an hour. I would encourage you to get a copy and discuss it with four or five friends at your church or on your campus.

A practical and down-to-earth guide to getting the most out of listening to sermons. This little booklet is well presented and written in a friendly manner, and would be useful for anyone who regularly listens to (or for that matter delivers) sermons.