H.B. CHARLES, JR. Is the Pastor-Teacher at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida, where he has served since the fall of 2008. He is primarily responsible for preaching-teaching, vision casting, and leadership development. Prior to coming to Shiloh, he led the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church of Los Angeles for almost eighteen years. Succeeding his late father, he began his pastorate at Mt. Sinai at the age of seventeen.H.B. Charles regularly speaks at churches, conferences, and conventions around the country. He has contributed to several books and journals, and is the author of It Happens After Prayer. H.B. and his wife Crystal have three children: H.B. III, Natalie, and Hailey.
"Pastor Charles has delivered a fascinating and well written book
regarding pastoral ministry. I will begin by letting you know I am
not a pastor. I work in the medical field, but I have served as a
deacon in my church for the past two years. I try my best to
encourage and support my pastor in his ministry and personal life,
and I thought that reading this book might help give me a better
insight and help me determine how I can serve my pastor and my
church more effectively. A few months ago my pastor read me an
article that was on Pastor Charles's website. It ended with the
line "As the old preachers used to say, good meat makes its own
gravy". So when my pastor told me that H. B. Charles had written
this new book, I said "I bet there's some good gravy in that one!"
H. B. Charles preached his first sermon when he was 11 years old.
By his middle teen years he was preaching basically every week.
When he was 16, his father died. A year and a half later, at the
age of 17, he was elected to take over as pastor of his father's
church. H. B. Charles has been preaching and teaching all of his
adult life. This puts him in a unique situation to advise other
pastors on what it takes to build a successful pastoral ministry.
His first pastorate was met with criticism and disdain from many
church elders, but he soon realized that the congregation as a
whole loved and accepted him. Through trial and error he
persevered, relying on the Word of God, and continued to lead the
church successfully. Pastor Charles lets you know up front that
this book is not a how-to guide for carrying out the various
functions of pastoral ministry. Nor is it a theological reflection
upon the essential nature of a pastor. He stressed that this book
is more like a ministry compass to make sure the pastor reading it
is heading in the right direction in their own pastoral ministry.
The book is divided into three parts: 1) The Pastor's Heart - Being
a pastorwho is first and foremost a Christian. 2) The Pastor's
Leadership - Practical wisdom for leading your church with
integrity, wisdom, and love. 3) The Pastor's Public Ministry -
Preaching, teaching, and the ministry of the pastor before God and
his congregation. This book is saturated with scripture. Pastor
Charles uses scripture as a reference to reinforce the practical
advice he is giving. There is a wealth of information and wisdom in
this book for new and seasoned pastors alike. I believe this is one
of those books that you keep on your bookshelf and reference when
you are in a slump or if a particular situation arises. The final
chapter is really good, titled "Things I've Learned Along the Way:
Tips, Truths, and principles gleaned from 25 years of pastoral
ministry". There is a section for further reading that contains
recommended books and authors, and the appendix is packed with
recommended books on theology, concordances, and commentaries. I
would highly recommend this book to all pastors and to anyone that
is involved with church ministry. I received this as a free ARC
from Moody Publishers on NetGalley in exchange for an honest
review."Reviewed by Kyle Robertson on NetGalley, Apr 5, 2016
"Any book this guy puts out, I buy. I love HB Charles Jr. This book
was powerful and helpful in the role of being a pastor. I have been
reading any book on pastoring lately and this may be one of the
best. The thing I took away from this book more than anything is
the importance of your heart being connected to His heart. We only
pastor from His resources and not ours. I am reminded of the
disciples who had to come back to Jesus to get more baskets to feed
the thousands...we are the same way. We come to Him to do ministry.
That is critical that we all embrace that truth. Thanks for the
advance reading of this book. Great book!"Reviewed by JT Thomason
on NetGalley, May 31, 2016
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