Confessions of an Amateur Saint - by Mandy Smith (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Confession Is Good for the Soul . . . and for Your Leadership

Why are so many Christian leaders burning out, losing faith, and abusing power? Rather than relying on our self-sufficiency and toughing our way through the tension, Mandy Smith invites us to confess it. As a pastor who also equips and encourages other pastors, Mandy feels the pain. Instead of offering more strategies to fix our problems, she reminds us of the call that first captured our imagination, directing our passions back to God and God's people. In her book you will:

• experience the surprising freedom of grappling with a loving God
• be released from illusions of control into a lifestyle of healing hope
• rediscover your passion for ministry and your love for God and God's people.

Confessions of an Amateur Saint is a different kind of leadership book for a different kind of leader. And different is what we need these days--spiritual leadership refined by fire rather than burned out by it, a leadership unencumbered by unrealistic expectations, a leadership reconnected to the God who receives our confession with love and restores our soul for the task ahead.

In a time where all Christian leaders are required to be pioneers, let Mandy skillfully guide you to a fresh, spiritually-fueled integrity, not weighted by false expectations but leading your people as your faith is increasingly shaped like Christ.

From the Back Cover

Confession Helps You Lead More Faithfully

As Christians in a secular age, we need to show the world more than our perfect lives and our successful church strategies. The world longs to see Christian leaders grappling with a messy reliance on the power of a transcendent God. That act of surrender starts with confessing to God the ways we're tempted toward self-reliance--and this becomes the basis of leading by faith.

In Confessions of an Amateur Saint, Mandy Smith exposes seven internal desires in our souls that overwhelm us and limit God's work in our lives and in our ministry. Through stories from Scripture and experiences from her own life as a pastor and seminary instructor, Mandy leads us to a deeper understanding of our distorted desires. She guides us through prayers of confession and prompts us to write our own confessions as we engage in the impossible work of ministry. Mandy teaches us that leading powerfully looks more like leading vulnerably and that our lives will be exposed as both messy and marvelous as we faithfully allow God to work in
and through us.