Faithful Leaders

Faithful Leaders focuses on two of the most neglected yet most crucial dimensions of leadership: character and godliness. In the plethora of ‘how to’ books, this book offers a compass—or a lifeline—to active Christians struggling with discouragement and defeat. | This book is timely, realistic, honest, searching and relentlessly biblical. Above all, I found it searingly challenging in a way which moved me to take action in my own life. We don’t just need to read Faithful Leaders but to live it. | I suspect many of us, not just church leaders, spend too much time chasing after success in the eyes of the world (whatever that might be) instead of pursuing faithfulness in the eyes of the Lord. This book is a helpful and much needed corrective. | Rico Tice has provided ministry leaders with a gem here. There are many books on leadership today, but many ignore or give little consideration to the overwhelming emphases in Scripture, and Tice helps us prioritize these biblical values. I will be using it in classes and training programs in the days ahead. | Faithful Leaders is a joy to read. Full of wisdom and focused on themes that leadership books ought to be about (but often aren’t), it is somehow both challenging and encouraging at the same time.Reading it made me reflect, and write notes in my Bible, and pray. Wonderfully done. | I could easily have assumed that this was written for those younger in church leadership—but then I discovered it was written for me in my third decade in ministry. Time, tiredness and the sheertoughness of pastoral ministry take their toll, and it is so easy to drift into self-pity, self-indulgence and self-deception. Read this book honestly, and you will be humbled and, yes, frightened. I was. But you will be helped, and your ministry will perhaps be saved from eternal regret, for eternal reward. | There is a crisis of confidence in leadership in our culture because so many in authority have failed to act with integrity and honesty. Tragically this has been replicated in the church as once-respected leaders have too often been revealed to be false teachers, hypocrites, abusers or self-servers. This book is a timely warning and encouragement to pastors and other church leaders to guard their hearts against sin so that they serve Christ and his people faithfully. Rico writes with clarity, honesty and personal vulnerability as he opens and applies the Scriptures. This powerful word is just what we need to hear. | As go the shepherds, so go the sheep. Consequently, it’s vital for ministry leaders to understand not just where to lead God’s people but also how to lead God’s people. The message of this book is one that every Christian leader needs to be reminded of over and again. Whether you are a young or an older leader, a new or experienced leader, pick up this book to remind yourself that it’s not what people say about you and your ministry that matters. Ultimately, we seek the approval of our Lord. | In Faithful Leaders Rico Tice raises his voice to urge us to refocus our ambitions on what matters most. He does so with his characteristic passion for Christ and sobering directness. But he also writes as a humble fellow pilgrim, not as one who has arrived without a struggle. The author comes on his knees to serve us and to urge us to ‘strive … for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord’ (Hebrews 12 v 14). That is a posture worth imitating and a lead worth following. | The book begins with Tice reminding us that it is easy to get caught up in with the worlds definition of what success looks like. i.e how big your church budget is, publishing deals, congregation size etc. and showing that what success looks like to the world is not necessarily how God defines success. I enjoyed the section on godly character and ‘correctly handling the word of truth’ and not just handling the Word but living it out, stressing that you must lead by example. | He primarily writes to an audience of fellow pastors, but the core messages apply to anyone in a leadership position, regardless of their background and specific duties. For that matter, the majority of what he writes applies to any Christian, and I especially appreciated his stern and loving warnings against secret sin. | Although I’m not a pastor—Rico Tice’s primary audience for his book, Faithful Leaders—I found this quick read to be helpful in thinking about my own spheres of family and personal ministry. The book’s subtitle, “and the things that matter most,” is related to four specific areas. | Rico Tice is a passionate evangelist, and former Senior Minister of Evangelism at All Souls, Langham Place in London. Co-Founder of Christianity Explored Ministries, he is a regular speaker at missions and evangelistic events around the world, and is the author of several books, including Honest Evangelism and Capturing God. Rico loves to play and watch rugby. His other hobbies include playing golf and watching films. He’s married to Lucy and they have three children.