Augustine As Mentor Book Review

In The Confessions, Augustine goes on a journey to discover the truth, and purses the ideals of how he should live and what he finds value in. In his pursuit for the truth and his journey through life, Augustine is faced with obstacles that significantly shaped who he is, forming his very thoughts contained in the novel. The obstacles Augustine had to face through his life was the confrontation of sin and why humans perform sinful actions, the passing of his friend, and the passing of his own mother.

The importance about the pear stealing in Book II is critical because this is when Augustine is aware that he has committed a sin. According to Augustine “But as my enjoyment was not in those pears, it was in the crime itself (Chapter 8)” Augustine does not even know why he really stole the pears. When someone commits there first sin that is something he or she will never forget and it will always be a memory in life.

We need to be with people where they are without the need to ‘fix’ them, rather, trusting God to do what He is doing in their lives, hoping that He uses me as part of the process. I know that I will be learning and growing with those whom God sends me.” Pastor Renfro was then asked how has he evolved or grown as a servant leader. He responded, “Each of us follows a circuitous, sometimes difficult pathway in ministry, we learn, we grow, we become more aware of ourselves as people and as ministers. I am a country preacher, and although I have a wealth of formal education and training, I continue to grow and evolve daily, as a person, and as a minister.” Renfro continues, “the most difficult thing to overcome is our own tendency to be ostentatious - a lack of genuineness and openness; you need to go deep in faith and in ministry; my own history, as a country preacher, took a great deal of energy to integrate and allow this to be my greatest strength.” When asked what he believed are the advantages/disadvantages of being a servant leader, Renfro responded, “a strength and advantage would be to possess a non-judgmental presence, to allow people to be the who, what, and where they need to be in our encounters; the disadvantage in that is some people might consider this position as too indeterminate, lacking in absolutes.” Renfro commented on the partnerships he has forged in his life of servant leadership, starting with being a Clinical Pastor Supervisor (certified to teach at the graduate level), a Diplomate of the College of Pastoral Supervision, a nationally certified Professional Chaplain by the Association of Professional Chaplains, and also an Ordained Bishop in the Church of

Hull, Bill. The Disciple-Making Church: Leading a Body of Believers On the Journey of Faith. Updated ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2010.

In today 's culture the congregational expectations on a pastor are quite different from the vocational spiritual disciplines required for faithful pastoral ministry. The office of the pastor, for the congregation, has become nothing more than a managerial position of running a religious organization. In response to this Eugene Peterson offers his take on the distinctive work of the pastor and the practices that shape pastoral integrity. In his book, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity, Peterson outlines the practices of prayer, Scripture and spiritual direction as the backbone of faithful pastoral ministry. The following will discuss these practice, there benefit to pastoral ministry and why Peterson call to these practice are important to pastors today.

Of all the mentors, by far the most well known and possibly most misinterpreted and misunderstood is Jesus, “son of God”, “Savior of the world”. Jesus helped those who were “less than” such as the weak, sick, poor, and persecuted. He ministered to the people about forgiveness and salvation. In the end, it was his bloodshed that allows us to ultimately gain access to

Augustine was born in 354 A.D. to Monica, a Christian, and Patricius, who was a pagan but converted to Christianity on his deathbed. Augustine was believed to have lived in Northern Africa with his family. Augustine will eventually travel to Carthage.

A sentiment common to almost any organization is that the one fact that remains constant is change. As society changes, and human understanding grows, any organization that maintains a static posture, assures its demise. Churches and Christian organizations are no exception. The gospel may remain the same, but the method for communicating it must speak to the audience to assure understanding. The Christian leader must be prepared to meet this challenge by incorporating an effective model for change into his theology of leadership in order to keep the ministry relevant and effective. Searching for such a change agent can prove to be challenging as well. To aid in this search, four

Edward L. Smither, a gifted writer and scholar in historical theology and intercultural studies, and professor at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, has given the present-day pastor a useful tool to aid in the area of mentoring in Augustine as Mentor. He authored this book with the intentions of helping other spiritual leaders in the area of mentoring. Whether it is mentoring others or having a mentor for themselves, there are pastors and other spiritual leaders today that are spiritually lonely in their walk with Christ, and this book is meant to be a motivational tool to prompt positive actions from these types of spiritual leaders. It is a popular believe that no man is an island. In his book, Smither builds upon this idea by talking about the ways that Augustine used mentoring to help him become more mature in Christ, as well as to help support those whom he mentored. According to Smither, there are many spiritual leaders who “are struggling in isolation without a pastor to nurture their souls” (p. v). This is more common in western societies and Smither mentions that “unless they encounter a radical change, [these leaders] will not finish the race” (p. v). The purpose of this book review is to study and analyze Augustine’s model of mentoring and discuss how it can be applied to pastoring today.

The book selected for the assignment is, ‘Be a people person: Effective leadership through effective relationships,’ by John C. Maxwell. Mr. Maxwell is an author, speaker, leadership expert who is internationally recognized and a pastor. He wrote books on leadership (The John Maxwell Company, n.d.). He has a doctorate in ministry and started his career as a pastor. After 14 years of preaching the word of God, he devoted himself to speaking and writing. He became a religious leader (Christian Books Previews, n.d.). Maxwell has recognized the role of interpersonal relationships in making and breaking a leader. He has also realized the importance of developing personal skills from the people (Victor Books, 2002). In his book, Maxwell explains how a person who follows can turn to a leader by connecting with people and relating to them from a biblical perspective. The author places 50 percent emphasis on others, 25 percent on self and the remaining 25 percent on God in his approach to the followers (Barnes and Noble, n.d.).

The Confessions, a loose autobiography written by Saint Augustine of Hippo, represents an intermediary between the ancient and Christian worlds. Although the eponymous main character has been indoctrinated as a religious figure, his life events as well as his rhetoric throughout The Confessions suggests a man engaged in a constant internal debate surrounding whether to devote his time toward religious or more earthly endeavors. This paper examines how the first four chapters of the book elucidate the theme of one man's attempt to mediate a sensibility that is at turns ancient and Christian.

In this paper, the student-writer will discuss the methods that are taught in In Effective biblical counseling: A model for helping caring Christians become capable counselors by Crabb (1977). The student-writer will also use what is taught in this book with the skills that are expressed in Creating a Healthier Church; Family Systems Theory, Leadership, and congregational life by Richardson (1996) and Blessed Connections: Relationships that sustain vital ministry, by Schwanz (2008). The student-writer will compare and contrast the skills that are mentioned in these books to establish a well maintained way in which to ministry to clients, and meet their needs as a counselor.

Theologians, Biblical scholars and Christians all over the world often wrestle with two extremely important questions about their faith. These questions are, "What is God like?" and "How should we live in response to God?" Some feel that we need others to direct us, some feel we need them to challenge us, but everyone agrees that we need others. That is exactly how Saint Augustine struggles to find his faith and beliefs. He found it extremely difficult to come with a conclusion when it was staring at him straight in the face, but just as he did, we draw up our own conclusions with the guidance of others.

With the development of the more organic and less formal organisational structures the role of mentors has shifted with these changes. Unlike previously where mentors where seen as formal trainers who taught newcomers the processes and got them acquainted with the cultures and the systems within the organisation. Which required good interpersonal skills and a good knowledge of the activity or tasks the mentee would have to undertake, and be able to effectively relay or demonstrate the tasks or activities to the mentee. As opposed to more recently where a mentor would have to be more of an emotional counselor and demonstrate more skills than were traditionally required from

Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, was one of the greatest philosophers of the roman period. He was raised in a religiously divided home, but through time he found his own truth. He was always an excellent student. He fully mastered the Latin language, however, he never did well with Greek. Saint Augustine was also a man who had a way with words. After his teenage rebellious stage, he found an unorthodox religious group that he decided to become involved with for a while. He traveled the area and ended up staying in Milan for a while. This is where he met Bishop Ambrose and began to listen to his teachings. This caused for Augustine think about his life and ultimately converted him to Christianity. After converting, he wrote books such as: Confessions, The City of God, and De Doctrinia (On Christian Doctrine), along with many others. Saint Augustine was and still is a great Christian influence in the world today.