faith as a way of life: book description

My new book, Faith as a Way of Life: A Vision for Pastoral Leadership, is done.  I sent all the page proofs back to David Bratt, the editor working with me on the book, along with scripture and topical indexes.  Oh, yes, and the final draft of Miroslav Volf's foreword.  I'll post a bit of that soon.  Anyway, here is the book description on the Eerdmans' website.  It is pithy and gets to the core of the book.  It is ranked 148,000 on Amazon so someone's preordering it!  Thanks!

"Christian ministry is deeply concerned with proclaiming the transforming power of God’s gift of faith in the daily lives of disciples. How is it, then, that Christian faith so often fails to be an orienting force that impacts every aspect of our lives?

In Faith as a Way of Life Christian Scharen articulates a vision of pastoral leadership grounded in substantive faith language. He examines other powerful languages in our culture — emotion-driven therapeutic and results-driven managerial models of leadership — and shows how their domination leads to faith becoming a weak sibling. Highlighting concrete examples of excellent pastoral leadership in action, Scharen offers creative practical theological reflection on how faith can truly inform our family life, our work, our politics, our leisure — literally all of life — and how pastoral leaders of all kinds can foster faith as a way of life."