Brian Croft is quickly becoming a go-to resource for practical theology of the local church.
If you’re a pastor, be sure to check out his blog, Practical Shepherding.
Many of you pastors probably already know about his slim volume, Visit the Sick: Ministering God’s Grace in Times of Illness. (Kevin DeYoung has a brief summary of practical take-aways from the book here.)
Croft’s new book is called Test, Train, Affirm, and Send Into Ministry: Recovering the Local Church’s Responsibility in the External Call. Don Whitney’s blurb describes the book’s purpose and usefulness:
Brian Croft provides clear, practical teaching about the role of the local church regarding men who sense a call to vocational ministry. . . . Pastor Croft has led his church to develop an intentional approach to evaluating a man’s sense of call, an approach that is as effective as that of almost any church I know. If you have responsibilities of spiritual leadership in your local church, you’ll want to get this book, for you’ll find it helpful every time a man indicates that he senses God’s call to vocational ministry.
After a foreword by Albert Mohler, here are the contents of this short book:
Introduction
1. Prologue: To what is the pastor called?
2. Who is responsible for the external call?
3. Who should receive the external call?
4. Who gives the external call?
5. How should we proceed with the external call?
6. What is at stake with the external call?
7. Conclusion
Appendix 1 Pastoral internship template
Appendix 2 Service review evaluation
Appendix 3 The external call (Acts 13:1–3)
