Biblical Eldership Resources, Colorado Springs, CO (2026)

09/04/2026

FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU:
A Quick-Start Guide to the BER Website

Whether you’re new to Biblical Eldership Resources or a long-time subscriber to our blogs and online resources, we’re happy you’re here, and we want to make sure you are fully aware of all the free resources you have access to on our website. (www.BiblicalEldership.com).

The Passing the Baton blog is back from summer break with a quick-start guide to BER’s resources.
The purpose of our ministry and website is to promote biblical eldership for the glory of God by providing teaching, resources, training, and mentoring for current and future church leaders, in hopes that they will pass the baton to others.

Below you will find four scenarios people are typically in when they come to BER—and the free resources we offer to help you with each one:

SCENARIO 1:
You’re discovering biblical eldership for the first time, trying to wrap your mind around a church leadership model that differs from the common single-pastor format.
Most churches today have either a single pastor or a pyramid-style leadership structure, with board elders and associate pastors reporting up to a senior pastor who has the ultimate authority. This leadership model is so widespread that few people question it, but it’s starkly different from what the New Testament sets forth.

Under the Biblical Eldership tab on our website (the first among five tabs across the top), you’ll find two key resources:
-Brief Explanation > What the Bible Teaches About Elders.
This is an online abridgement of Alexander Strauch’s book Biblical Eldership: Restoring the Eldership to its Rightful Place in the Local Church. This is a great starting point for understanding biblical eldership and sharing the concept with others. (You can also order the printed booklet from this link => https://www.biblicaleldership.com/product/biblical-eldership-abridged-2024-edition/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e)
Restoring Biblical Eldership video series. (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/what-biblical-eldership-0/restoring-be-series/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e)
This is a nine-part video series in which Alexander Strauch explains the New Testament teaching regarding local church leadership by a plurality of elders. He describes the full biblical requirements for Christian elders and their God-given tasks to teach, protect, and lead God’s flock. The teaching in these nine messages is the foundation of the Biblical Eldership Resources ministry.
If the idea of an elder-led church is unfamiliar to you or the other leaders in your church, these resources are the perfect place to get a solid foundation without reading the entire Biblical Eldership book (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/product/biblical-eldership-restoring-the-eldership-to-its-rightful-place-in-the-local-church-2023-revision/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e)
(though we highly recommend reading that as well!).

SCENARIO 2:
You want to transition your church from a single-pastor model to biblical eldership.

Perhaps you’ve recognized that biblical eldership is the correct leadership model, but you aren’t sure how to broach the subject with your pastor. Or perhaps you are the pastor, and you see the need for shared leadership. How do you proceed?

The Implementation tab on our website has everything you need, developed by a team of experienced elders who have coached other churches through the transition to biblical eldership. (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/implementation/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e)

The extensive content in this section will help you identify your scenario, determine your approach to the transition, and formulate your plan.

Under “Formulate Your Plan,” you’ll find detailed guidance for every step of the process, from forming your church’s shepherding team to strategically leading your congregation through the change. (google.com/url?q=https://us.list-manage.com/19Xa1AlJieQ?e%3Dfe4e28fd4e%26c2id%3D24d8ce883cf01e59a0c3b09385b8c4b4&source=gmail&ust=1788556667220000&usg=AOvVaw2Wx20iCIfNZ1NH5loxO3A0)

We highly recommend reading through this content and using these instructions to guide you through the process so the transition goes as smoothly as possible.

SCENARIO 3:
You want to recognize new elders in your church.

Whether your church is new to biblical eldership or already practicing it, times will arise when new elders are needed. How will you identify the men whom God is calling into the role? Our Elder Qualifications tab is designed to help you with this. We believe the Bible emphasizes character over gifting—in other words, it is essential that a church’s elders be men who meet the character-based qualifications laid out in Scripture rather than simply those who have the biggest personalities or preach the most dynamic sermons.
(https://www.biblicaleldership.com/2025/04/30/character-over-gifting/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e)

Under the Biblical Eldership tab (the first tab), you will find a section called Elder Qualifications. (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/elder-qualifications-2/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e)
There, we review the 31 elder qualifications (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/category/elder-qualifications/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e) in detail (as listed in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1) and provide Elder Evaluation Tools to help you: (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/elder-evaluation/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e)
Identify men who are potentially qualified
Formally evaluate them according to the 31 qualifications
Train them for the shepherding role

SCENARIO 4:
You want to train and develop existing or up-and-coming elders or further develop your own skills.
We have several training programs for elders:
Our basic Training Program: (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/implementation/formulate-your-plan/identify-and-train-elders/training-program/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e)
A simple training plan that combines studying the Biblical Eldership book with mentorship and hands-on shepherding experience. This is suitable for newer churches establishing a leadership team and churches transitioning into biblical eldership. Ideally, your elders’ training will eventually go deeper than this, but circumstances do not always allow for a years-long training process before new elders are established.

The more in-depth Elder Development Program: (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/effective-shepherding-172/elder-dev-prog-2/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e)
A robust one- to two-year development plan, formatted into a 50-page document that you can print and use to train elders in your local church. This approach is ideal for churches that already have elders in place and are looking to add new ones who are thoroughly prepared, or to further develop their existing elders (or other leaders in the church). This program includes detailed instructions for evaluating the character and doctrine of potential elders, a recommended schedule of rotations through various shepherding responsibilities, suggestions for gathering congregational feedback, and much more.

Free topical video teaching on our website: Under the Development tab of BiblicalEldership.com you will find 40 different video series for elders. Here, you can learn from several of BER’s current and former core team members about everything from developing your teaching skills (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/effectiveness/teaching/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e) and elder relationships, (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/effectiveness/elder-team/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e) to conducting church discipline, (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/effectiveness/caring-gods-flock-0/church-discipline/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e) to counseling believers with same-sex attraction (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/effectiveness/caring-gods-flock-0/same-sex-attraction/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e) and po*******hy struggles.(https://www.biblicaleldership.com/effectiveness/protecting-0/protecting-from-po*******hy/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e)

Our online courses in the School of the Shepherds: (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/effectiveness/protecting-0/protecting-from-po*******hy/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e)
A series of online classes for elders that you can purchase for a modest cost (the first class, 101: Introduction to Shepherding, is free.) (google.com/url?q=https://us.list-manage.com/YdrKFtM6W5k?e%3Dfe4e28fd4e%26c2id%3D24d8ce883cf01e59a0c3b09385b8c4b4&source=gmail&ust=1788556667220000&usg=AOvVaw2HFGw7dtGqJTixL7CuVNf6) Soon we will be redesigning SOTS to make it easier to use. Stay tuned!

BONUS SCENARIO: YOUR WIFE NEEDS ENCOURAGEMENT IN HER ROLE.

The job of an elder or deacon isn’t easy—and neither is his wife’s. The wives of church leaders have unique challenges and responsibilities. That’s why, along with the Passing the Baton blog you’re reading now, we send a women’s blog every other week. (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/titus-2-blog/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e)

We know the integral role a godly wife plays in shepherding, and the Titus 2 Women blog aims to encourage and equip women in ministry and in their walk with the Lord.

Check out the archive to see recent articles (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/category/titus-2-women/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e), and enter your email address (or your wife’s) on the subscription page to receive these every two weeks. (https://www.biblicaleldership.com/titus-2-blog/?mc_cid=b3ff3744fa&mc_eid=fe4e28fd4e)
Photo by Tamas Tuzeskatai on Unsplash
www.BiblicalEldership.com

09/01/2026

5 STEPS IN MY SERMON PREPARATION PROCESS
-Mike Bullmore
Over the years I’ve come to depend on a five-step process of sermon preparation. Certainly this is not the only way to do things...Read on=> https://ber.short.gy/5HcSl8

09/01/2026

5 STEPS IN MY SERMON PREPARATION PROCESS
-Mike Bullmore

Over the years I’ve come to depend on a five-step process of sermon preparation. Certainly this is not the only way to do things. But as I have heard other men whose peaching I admire describe their process, I’ve been encouraged by similarities to mine. That should be no surprise. Given that we share convictions and goals, our processes naturally are similar.

The steps in my sermon preparation process are
(1) text work;
(2) secondary reading;
(3) homiletical structuring;
(4) writing; and
(5) familiarizing.

TEXT WORK

This step involves me sitting down with my Bible and a notepad. I read and reread the text dozens of times, observing things that help me understand what God is saying and why he is saying it.

I WANT TO DO THREE THINGS DURING THIS STEP.

FIRST, I WANT TO DETERMINE WHAT I CALL THE PRIMARY CLAIM OF MY TEXT.

This term grows out of our understanding of the nature of Scripture, that God greatly desires it to accomplish an effect. So I ask, What is this text’s greatly desired effect? What claim does God want to make on the reader through his word? Getting clarity on this primary claim sets the course for all subsequent sermon preparation. Eventually it becomes the sermon’s primary claim. There should be a one-to-one correspondence between the primary claim of the text and the primary claim of the sermon.

To be fair, even though this is the first thing I look for, finding it requires some close text work, which brings me to the second thing I do:
describe the development of the author’s argument.

This looks different for different types of biblical literature, but all Scripture is rational discourse, and all rational discourse has an argument, whether that argument is discursive, narrative, or poetic. My goal is to discern and then be able to describe the movement and development of the text. That understanding invariably provides greater insight into the text’s primary claim.

Third, I make significant exegetical observations.
Please notice that word significant. I must recognize that I cannot say everything I learn about my passage in my sermon. Commentaries can be more or less exhaustive; sermons can’t. I know I have limited time, so I must limit what I include.

Let’s imagine, for the sake of argument, that my text has a hundred exegetical properties—lexical, grammatical, syntactical, contextual, structural, and so forth. There’s no way I can say something about every one of those properties. I must make choices. I shouldn’t include something simply because I find it interesting or because it might show how smart I can be.

So how do I decide what gets included and what doesn’t? What makes an exegetical observation significant? My main criterion is its contribution to advancing the text’s primary claim. We can think of this as the heuristic value of an observation—that is, its lightshedding ability. The things I choose to include should turn the lights on in my passage and help make sense of the things I don’t have space to include.

I’ve found it helpful to think about biblical passages like thermal photographs—the kind of photos we find in scientific magazines, where there might be a picture of the human body that shows the hot spots in red and the cool spots in blue. There are hot spots in every text that are much more useful to the advancement of my primary claim than some cooler secondary or tertiary sections.

This, then, is what I do in my text work, and throughout the whole process I pray and ask God for illumination. I typically spend six to eight hours in this step of sermon preparation. How do I know when I’m done?

First, I have a confident grasp of the text’s primary claim, such that I can explain it in a single clear statement.

I allow no fuzziness. Getting this statement right guides the rest of my preparation. If I don’t have it right, I feel as if I am slogging through mud.

Second, I have some likely lines of development for my sermon’s argument that are informed by the development I observed in the text.

Third, I have a collection of notes that capture the most significant observations.
Early on in my preaching, I gathered far more than I could use. But over time, I learned to more quickly and confidently identify the useful, significant parts.

Fourth (and I realize this is a bit subjective and perhaps a bit personality-dependent), I’ve begun to feel the beginnings of a fire in my belly.
I’m becoming eager, despite my awareness of my frailty, for Sunday to come.

SECONDARY READING

I can describe my second step more briefly, which is appropriate given its lesser importance relative to the first step. One of the mistakes preachers often make, especially young preachers, is to spend far too much time reading commentaries. So let me explain what I do and why I do it.

First, what do I do during this step of preparation?
After doing my own work in the text, I now add to and strengthen my understanding by consulting the work of others. I typically try to read from just two or three commentaries.

Also, I occasionally read a sermon someone else preached on my text. I find it helpful—in fact, necessary—to read one rigorously exegetical commentary to make sure I haven’t mishandled any portion of my text and to strengthen my conviction regarding the conclusions I have drawn.

I also find it helpful to read another one or two commentaries that are more doctrinally and/or pastorally inclined simply to expand my understanding of the passage’s doctrinal and pastoral implications. I read the appropriate sections of these commentaries, underlining some things and taking some notes.

Second, why do I do this secondary reading?
Let me suggest three reasons, the final one being the most important. As I’ve already alluded, one reason is to clarify and possibly correct my understanding of the text.
-Am I guilty of some common lexical error?
-Have I failed to grasp the significance of some syntactical construction?
-Have I missed some significant contextual observation, either from the surrounding text or from the Bible as a whole?
While it’s very important to do our own work carefully and thoroughly first, we can all benefit from those who have labored over God’s word with a kind of expertise we might not have.

A second reason to read commentaries is to benefit from other ways of expressing things.
I don’t recommend excessive use of quotations in preaching, but there are times when we discover a way of saying something that is particularly helpful or poignant. Certainly we ought not to be quoting others or using their original ideas without crediting them, but sometimes an apt quote or even a way of saying something is useful. However, this is an area where we can be tempted to rely on commentaries in an unhealthy way. So I want to be clear: In the list of reasons to read commentaries, this one is near the bottom. Nonetheless, there can be some value here if we use our secondary reading judiciously and honestly.

What, then, is the main reason to read commentaries?
I believe it is simply to engage in a conversation of sorts with someone who has thought carefully about your text. When we engage with others thoughtfully about a text, we gain the ability to articulate our understanding of that text. In the back and forth, we are sharpened in our ability to put that understanding into words. Just think of the privilege we have in reading commentaries.

We get to engage in conversation with the likes of John Calvin on the book of Hebrews, Martin Luther on Galatians, or D. A. Carson on the Gospel of John. We must see our commentaries not so much as books but as people, fellow believers with whom we have the privilege of engaging in thoughtful consideration of what we are preparing to preach.

It varies a bit from week to week, but I typically spend two to three hours in this secondary reading.

HOMILETICAL STRUCTURING

Having done my text work and my secondary reading, I’m now in a place to begin to organize what I’ve found into a coherent, unified sermonic argument.

I typically think of this step in terms of drafting the basic flow of the sermon. I’m simply giving shape and order to the set of ideas I collected in the previous steps. I’m aiming at absolute clarity at this point. I’m not filling out the substance of the ideas. Instead, I’m putting them in order, thinking of logical sequence and movement.

I’m also thinking of where component parts such as illustrations and applications might fit in.

Brothers, Roll Up Your Sleeves And Get To Work. Learn To Love The Work.
I resist the impulse to start writing my sermon. If ideas come during this process of organizing, I do try to catch them because they might not come back when I want them to. I typically have an extra notepad or two readily available to catch useful thoughts, but the first order of business is to organize and capture on paper the basic flow of my sermon.

For what it’s worth, when I’m done with this step, I typically have three or four pages. It’s an outline, but not a formal one. It doesn’t have points and subpoints. My goal is simply to have a unified and sequential map of the whole sermon from start to finish.

I aim to be ruthless in deleting things that don’t contribute to the advancement of my sermonic argument, and I resist the desire to create holding places for cherished ideas that really don’t fit in the flow. The purpose of this step is to ensure focus, unity, and force. Its purpose is to eliminate, not accommodate, meandering.

If I’ve done careful and conscientious work in the first two steps, I usually am able to accomplish this third step in one to two hours.

WRITING

For many, writing is the most tedious step of the preparation process, so they’re tempted to be negligent here. This also used to be my least favorite step because it was so intensive. But now it’s one of my favorite parts. I regularly experience the direct help of God, carrying me along, even to the provision of words and phrases. I’m not claiming here that I receive inspiration of the sort that the writers of Scripture experienced, but I am saying that there is a kind of help from God that moves me along and gives me a confidence that is deeply encouraging. If we pray throughout our preparation, and particularly at this step, that God would grant skill and give us the “tongue . . . of a ready writer” (Ps. 45:1 KJV), then we should expect some spiritual activity to take place.

After forty-plus years of preaching, I still write out a full manuscript.

I would strongly urge you, especially the young preachers among you, to do the same, even if you don’t take your full manuscript into the pulpit. The discipline of writing helps me to achieve both clarity and precision.

I’ve said it already but it’s worth repeating: Preaching is an act of love, and one of the best ways I can love my people is by being clear. Writing helps me with that. It forces me to think progressively, making sure that my thoughts follow. Writing also forces me to complete my thoughts, not leaving them to the inspiration of the moment in the pulpit, which can so frequently end in fuzziness or outright confusion.

I know that there are times when the Spirit of God calls us to linger on things spontaneously, but if we are asking God for help in the process of writing, the Holy Spirit will help us then to put thoughts and words together clearly and coherently so that God’s purposes will be achieved.

I write faster now than I did in the first few years of my preaching. Now I typically spend right around three hours writing. I share that to encourage you, especially you younger preachers. You will get better at this; you will be able to do the same quality of work in less time as you mature and gain experience.

I find that if I’ve done good work in the previous steps, the writing is easier and even joy-giving. But if I haven’t done good work in the previous steps, then this step of writing is an exercise in frustration. If that keeps happening, I sadly begin to dread sermon preparation and am tempted to discouragement.

FAMILIARIZING
This final step is the most idiosyncratic. I do whatever is necessary to be sufficiently familiar with my material so that when I’m in the pulpit my primary attention is given to the people I’m preaching to and not to my manuscript.

My goal is freedom in my preaching, so I need to find out what it takes to achieve that.

In one sense, I’ve been familiarizing myself with my material throughout the preparation process. But I need to get familiar with the flow and movement of my sermon as it’s represented by my manuscript, which I have constructed so that it is easy for me to get in and out of it. I use various sizes of type. I use a system of arrows, dashes, and dots to represent various levels of importance. I use boxes, underlining, and all sorts of things to make it easy for me to make use of my manuscript without being tyrannized by it.

Similarly, you need to decide what to take into the pulpit with you. Some take an outline. Some take various forms of notes. Some take a full manuscript. You must make sure that whatever you take with you is put together in such a way that you can easily access it.

Here’s what familiarizing typically looks like for me.

The last thing I do before I go to bed on Saturday is carefully read through my manuscript. I might make an adjustment or two here or there, but this is not the time for any significant editing. Rather, this is the time to get familiar with what I’ve carefully put together. Then, with my final thoughts for the day on my sermon, and my spirit asking God for both the gift of good rest and for a heart rightly prepared for the coming task, I go to sleep.

On Sunday morning I get up early so as to have plenty of time to once again read through my manuscript, praying along the way for God to help me remember and to speak clearly what he has given me to say. When I finish going through the manuscript, I get down on my knees, put my face in my Bible, and pray again for God’s help. The combination of my work and the promise of the Spirit’s help gives me the confidence I need to get dressed, eat my breakfast, and then head off to church in a peaceful state of mind.

I typically allow two hours for this step.

But let me say again, this step is different for every preacher. Each of us needs to find out what is necessary to gain the level of freedom and confidence he desires.

A CONCLUDING WORD

So, brothers, roll up your sleeves and get to work. Learn to love the work. It is a happy labor, and being organized in it will contribute greatly to both your pastoral faithfulness and your personal sanity. Yes, it can be daunting to think about all that must be done, but you will find that once you begin the work it does turn into a happy labor.

This article is adapted from The Heart of Preaching: The Functional Centrality of the Gospel in the Life and Work of the Preacher.

-Mike Bullmore (PhD, Northwestern University) served as the founding and senior pastor of CrossWay Community Church in Bristol, Wisconsin, for 25 years. He now spends his time in various venues helping to train the next generation of faithful pastors. Mike lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with his wife, Beverly. They have three children.

This article first appeared here => https://www.crossway.org/articles/5-steps-in-my-sermon-preparation-process/?utm_source=Crossway+Marketing&utm_campaign=3b065a744d-20260821+Pastors-5StepsintheSermonPreparationProc&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-95fc521891-321368909&mc_cid=3b065a744d&mc_eid=723120b73a

08/31/2026

Dear Church Leader,
O Lord, keep us from "winging it".

From...
-Assuming prerogatives,
-Doing ministry in the flesh, &
-Losing sight of the heavenly calling.

O Lord, keep us humble & prayerfully desperate for You. Amen!

www.BiblicalEldership.com

08/31/2026

Dear Church Leader,
O Lord, keep us from "winging it".

From...
-Assuming prerogatives,
-Doing ministry in the flesh, &
-Losing sight of the heavenly calling.

O Lord, keep us humble & prayerfully desperate for You. Amen!

www.BiblicalEldership.com

08/30/2026

YOU KNOW CHARLES SPURGEON. NOW MEET HIS WIFE.
-Nikki Daniel
Several weeks ago, I spent some time in London. I marveled at Westminster Abbey, drifted down the River Thames ... Read on=> https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/susie-spurgeon/

08/30/2026

YOU KNOW CHARLES SPURGEON. NOW MEET HIS WIFE.
-Nikki Daniel

Several weeks ago, I spent some time in London. I marveled at Westminster Abbey, drifted down the River Thames, and toured Buckingham Palace. I also relished the opportunity to visit the historic Metropolitan Tabernacle, where Charles Haddon Spurgeon faithfully proclaimed the gospel for 38 years.

Many of us are familiar with Charles’s biography, preaching abilities, and prodigious writing. But few of us know much about his wife, Susie. In Susie: The Life and Legacy of Susannah Spurgeon, Ray Rhodes Jr. tells Susie’s compelling story by weaving together historical records, older biographies, personal writings, and family member interviews.

Susie has a full narrative to tell.

Rhodes—founding pastor of Grace Community Church in Dawsonville, Georgia, and president of Nourished in the Word Ministries—vibrantly chronicles her life, bringing us into Susie’s heartbreaking yet faith-building world. She loved her God and her family with excellence despite the difficulties of life. And Susie will encourage you as you encounter her persevering faith.

SUFFERING WELL AND SUPPORTING OTHERS

Sometimes we think encouraging books must have cheerful storylines and fairytale endings. This isn’t one of those.

Susie’s first 35 years were full of adventure. One of her favorite pastimes was walking outdoors for several miles to enjoy God’s creation. She traveled to Paris numerous times to learn the language and culture, and she was educated in music and art. But Susie’s active lifestyle abruptly ended when she suffered a life-changing medical condition—likely endometriosis or a tumor—which left her mostly homebound for the rest of her life. In spite of her suffering, she continued to serve both the Lord and others from the confines of her home. She set up a ministry to mail theological books to needy pastors, and she wrote many books and articles.

Susie wasn’t the only one who suffered.

Charles often struggled with depression, anxiety, intense criticism, and horrific devastations as he depended on Susie’s wisdom, prayers, and love. She also read aloud to him from authors like George Herbert. As Rhodes shares, “Often Susie’s reading to Charles brought great conviction to their hearts, and they wept together.” Even when he was away, she wrote him letters of encouragement. Susie trusted the Lord, pressed into her sorrow, and served her family and the wider world.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PARENTS AND SPOUSES

Every believer will find deep encouragement in Susie to live in the Scriptures. Parents will be spurred on as they read about Susie leading her twin sons in reading the Bible, singing, and prayer. One of my favorite stories in the book was told by her son Thomas. Susie would sit at the piano with one boy on either side and teach them hymns. When the trio would sing “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” she’d pause before the chorus and say:

Dear boys of mine, I have no reason to suppose that you are yet trusting Christ: you will, I hope, in answer to our constant prayers, but till you definitely do you must not say or sing “I do believe, that Jesus died for me.” It’s just as wrong to sing a lie as to tell one.

And so she’d sing that line alone. After Thomas became a believer, he couldn’t wait to sing that line with his mother as loudly as possible.

Husbands and wives will find a model in the Spurgeons’ deep love for one another and the ways they pointed each other to Christ. Because Susie was unable to attend Sunday church services, Charles set aside Saturday mornings to minister to her directly. He also invited her to help in his sermon preparation by having her read aloud from commentaries, about which she said:

Never was occupation more delightful, instructive, and spiritually helpful; my heart has often burned within me, as the meaning of some passage of God’s Word has been opened up, and the hidden stores of wisdom and knowledge have been revealed; or when the marrow and fatness of a precious promise or doctrine has been spread like a dainty banquet before my admiring eyes.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS’ WIVES

As I pondered Susie’s life, I thought about expectations for pastors’ wives. It’s no secret that pastors’ wives face pressure to be visible in the life of the church. I can’t imagine how Susie must’ve felt when people asked why she was absent from church services. Her heart desired to be with her church family, but her illness kept her home Sunday after Sunday, month after month, year after year. Many people probably felt that an invalid makes a poor pastor’s wife. Yet the Lord prepared Susie to be the partner Charles needed. He used Susie’s sufferings to fill her with compassion for her struggling husband.

This was especially important when the Spurgeons faced several calamitous ministry situations.

Once, seven people were killed and 28 injured at a preaching event led by Charles. Susie comforted him through the grief for the rest of his life. They also faced a prominent theological split with beloved friends and family as well as continued criticism in the papers.

If you’re a pastor’s wife, this book will likely compel you to lavishly encourage your husband.

Susie shows us that we have a unique opportunity to point our pastor-husbands to God’s faithfulness after they preach a less-than-stellar sermon or when they’re harshly critiqued. They need to know we’re at their side in both the joys and also the hardships of ministry.

Rhodes’s book is well-researched and well-written. It’s a page-turner of encouragement. Buy three copies: one for yourself, one for someone going through a difficult time, and one for a ministry wife. You’ll likely read this one more than once.

-Nikki Daniel is a pastor’s wife from Augusta, Georgia. Nikki and her husband, Bert, have two sons and a daughter. She enjoys homeschooling, writing, and playing intense games of Settlers of Catan. Nikki graduated with a BA in advertising from the University of Houston and a MATS degree from Southern Seminary.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/susie-spurgeon/

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