Pastoral Theology, Vol. 1: The Man of God: His Calling and Godly Life

From 1978 to 1998, Pastor A.N. Martin taught Pastoral Theology in the Trinity Ministerial Academy, a church-based ministerial training institution. Every Friday throughout the academic year, all the students would gather for two hours of teaching presented in a four-year cycle. Subsequently various series of the audiotapes were widely circulated. Many expressed their desire to see these lectures printed. As an intermediate step in responding to that desire, the Trinity Baptist Church eldership decided to encourage Pastor Martin to rework the original lectures and deliver them one final time, while professionally recording them. This project was begun in 2007 and completed in 2012 with Pastor Martin teaching his entire Pastoral Theology course “one more time” to 25 to 30 men. The transcriptions of these DVD lectures constituted the basis for the first draft of these edited lectures. Within these lectures there are very few issues faced by the ordinary pastor that are not addressed in one way or another. It is the author’s prayer that when all the volumes are nestled on the bookshelf of any pastor, that whatever his concern may be in conjunction with his pastoral labors, that he can expect that most likely, there is something in these volumes that would be of help to him. It is also the author’s prayer that even the most experienced pastor will find in these pages much that will provoke him to pursue greater personal godliness, increased preaching effectiveness, and expanded pastoral usefulness. This is Volume 1 of what is projected to be three volumes totaling more than 2000 pages. Every effort is being made to bring the subsequent volumes into print in a timely fashion. About the Author Albert N. Martin was one of the founding pastors of Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, NJ, where he labored for 46 years. Pastor Martin faithfully expounded the scriptures with a Christ-exalting focus and with passionate, penetrating, and pointed application at Trinity as well as at its annual pastors’ conferences. His ministry was also sought in churches and conferences throughout the States and around the world. In June 2008, he retired from his pastoral labors and relocated to Michigan with his wife, Dorothy, where he now resides while continuing his labors of counseling, writing, and preaching. Endorsements “More than anything else, the church of Christ needs pastors. It is, of course, essential to have preachers explaining and applying the Bible to those listening. We thank God for these, praying that they will continue to be provided and used for His glory throughout the world. But a pastor, though never less, is more than a preacher, for, as “pastor” means, he is a “shepherd” of God’s people, caring for them in all their spiritual needs, guiding, upholding, protecting and healing the needy and lovable humans whom the Lord has entrusted to his care. After more than half a century of such service Al Martin is a widely experienced shepherd now providing the first of three volumes of pastoral theology for the profound blessing of Christ’s church. From various angles these chapters come before us enriched. The pastor who has written them, having devoted himself to many years of caring for his people, has also deepened his understanding by drawing widely from an extensive library of books on the subject, feeding his own thinking into the lectures. These have then been given several times to students, on each occasion re-shaped, deepened and clarified". —Edward Donnelly, retired Pastor of Trinity Reformed Presbyterian Church, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, and Emeritus Professor of New Testament at the Reformed Theological College, Belfast, Northern Ireland Read more