Scott Thomas - Gospel Coach: Shepherding Leaders to Glorify God

After leading hundreds of pastors and attending a few of their tragic funerals, Scott Thomas became burdened by God to create a gospel-centered coaching system to serve leaders. I am deeply thankful for all of his wisdom and beyond excited to see him give this gift to the whole church.

Pastor Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, Acts 29 Church Planting Network

This is an outstanding book, filled with immense amounts of spiritual and practical wisdom concerning the training of leaders among Gods people. The book reflects a solid understanding of Scripture and many years of pastoral ministry experience. It challenged and encouraged my own life, ministry, and walk with God. Highly recommended!

Wayne Grudem, research professor of theology and biblical studies, Phoenix Seminary, Phoenix, Arizona

Ive seen my friend Scott Thomas shepherd church leaders for years. Scott is aware of the issues leaders face in their personal, spiritual, and ministry lives. Gospel Coach is a practical and theologically rich book that will help produce healthy leaders to lead missional churches.

Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, www.edstetzer.com

This book is biblical, theological, and extremely practical. It is Christ centered and gospel centered (though the two cannot be separated). This book is insightful and, at times, quite painful. The pain, however, is healing and redemptive. I like this book a lot. I will put it to good use for years to come.

Daniel L. Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, North Carolina

Filled with wisdom and insight, Gospel Coach gives a practical process for caring for the church of God by encouraging church leaders to focus on the right things. Gods church needs healthy leaders who are not sidelined by the worlds distractions. I encourage you to read it, digest it, and use it to help you fulfill Gods call on your life.

Jonathan Falwell, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Virginia

In Gospel Coach, Scott Thomas and Tom Wood not only describe the practices necessary to be an effective shepherd/coach; they also explain how these practices must be (and can be) motivated by a heart that has been transformed by the gospel. I highly recommend it!

Steve Childers, president and CEO, Global Church Advancement, and professor at Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida

What a fantastic read and gold mine of resources Scott Thomas and Tom Wood have given us in Gospel Coach. As a young pastor, I would have tremendously benefited from the gospel-soaked wisdom and experience-birthed insights contained in these pages. The DNA of the gospel would have been woven more deeply into the organic life of our church. But now, twenty-five years later, Im thankful to have a tool I can use to coach an emerging generation of impassioned church leaders who love the gospel of grace, the bride of Christ, and the kingdom of God. By all means, buy this book and encourage anyone with a heart for the church to do the same.

Scotty Smith, pastor for preaching, Christ Community Church, Franklin, Tennessee

Gospel Coach takes the mystery out of coaching by sharing how women in ministry can have an intentional coaching relationship. Our female voice is needed for the advancement of the mission of the church, and Gospel Coach gives an easy-to-use tool for coaching others who follow in our footsteps.

Shari Thomas, founder and director of Parakaleo, a ministry to church-planting spouses, and coauthor of Beyond Duct Tape: Holding the Heart Together in a Life of Ministry

One of the great needs of our day is a pastors shepherding pastors movement. This book can equip and motivate pastors to become fully involved in this desperately needed ministry. It is gospel-saturated, biblically faithful, and realistically practical. Scott Thomas and Tom Wood have served the church well by providing us such a resource.

Tom Ascol, executive director of Founders Ministries, and pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Cape Coral, Florida

What Gospel Coach is really describing is intentional friendship and care, and we all need that. This book helps to ensure that friendship and care is centered on the gospel, addressed to the heart, and shepherds the person to Christ. I am definitely going to use it and enthusiastically encourage others to do the same.

Steve Timmis, author of Total Church, director of Acts 29 Western Europe, and founder of The Crowded House, Sheffield, UK

This tool has been essential in helping pastors and church planters to effectively lead their flocks and their families by developing a gospel-centered life plan.

George Ross, director of ONE8 Church Planting Network and pastor of Lifepoint Church in Senatobia, Mississippi

We want to hear from you. Please send your comments about this book to us in care of zreview@zondervan.com. Thank you.

ZONDERVAN

Gospel Coach

Copyright 2012 by Scott Thomas and Tom Wood

ePub Edition March 2021 : ISBN 978-0-3104-9434-8

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thomas, Scott, 1959 Nov. 22

Gospel coach : shepherding leaders to glorify God / Scott Thomas and Tom Wood.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-310-49432-4 (softcover)

1. Christian leadership. 2. Leadership Religious aspects Christianity. 3. Clergy Post-ordination training. I. Wood, Tom, 1957- II. Title.

BV652.1.T476 2011

253 dc23

2011050692

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design: Patrick Mahoney

Interior design: Ben Fetterley and Matthew Van Zomeren

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