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A Work of Heart: Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series Book 65) Kindle Edition

by Reggie McNeal (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Revised and updated edition of the classic work on spiritual leadership

In A Work of Heart, bestselling author and missional expert Reggie McNeal helps leaders reflect on the ways in which God is shaping them by letting us see God at work in the lives of four quintessential biblical leaders: Moses, David, Jesus, and Paul. McNeal identifies the formative influences upon these leaders, which he sees as God's ways of working in their lives: the same influences at work today forming leaders for ministry in our times. He explores the shaping influence of culture, call, community, conflict, and the commonplace.

Offers guidance for church leaders to let God shape their hearts from the inside out
Reggie McNeal is the author of the bestselling book Missional Renaissance
Gives reassurance for maintaining perspective while doing the demanding work of ministry

The book includes illustrative stories of contemporary leaders opening their hearts to God's guidance.

Print length

219 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Jossey-Bass
Publication date

October 12, 2011
File size

1071 KB
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Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

" . . . Many women and men provide real spiritual leadership. These leaders are masterpieces in too short a supply. They are genuine works of heart. They don't develop overnight, though it might seem they appear 'out of nowhere.' They always come from somewhere―the heart of God. They are carefully crafted, faithfully shaped."
―From the Preface

In this updated edition of his bestselling book A Work of Heart, Reggie McNeal proposes that effective spiritual leaders must become experts in matters of the heart―particularly their own. Keeping heart for the demanding work of ministry hinges on leaders' ability to discern God at work in their own lives, shaping their hearts to embrace the particular ministries to which they are called. This process of finding heart depends on an interactive partnership with God. God introduces the storyline―but the leader's responses affect the development of the drama.

To demonstrate the book's key points, McNeal leads readers on an excursion into the heart-shaping drama of four major Biblical leaders: Moses, David, Jesus, and Paul. He identifies the influences God used to shape them: Culture―the times and the environment in which a leader is raised; Call―the leader's personal call by God to mission; Community―the people who shape and sustain the leader; Communion―the leader's personal relationship with God; Conflict―the leader's engagement of destructive forces in life and ministry; and Commonplace―the daily choices of living.

Using illustrative stories of contemporary church leaders who opened their hearts to God's guidance, McNeal shows how God is still using these same influences to shape the hearts of religious leaders today. God creates leaders in order to share his heart with his people.

From the Back Cover

“ … Many women and men provide real spiritual leadership. These leaders are masterpieces in too short a supply. They are genuine works of heart. They don’t develop overnight, though it might seem they appear ‘out of nowhere.’ They always come from somewhere―the heart of God. They are carefully crafted, faithfully shaped.”
―FROM THE PREFACE

In this updated edition of his bestselling book A Work of Heart, Reggie McNeal proposes that effective spiritual leaders must become experts in matters of the heart―particularly their own. Keeping heart for the demanding work of ministry hinges on leaders’ ability to discern God at work in their own lives, shaping their hearts to embrace the particular ministries to which they are called. This process of finding heart depends on an interactive partnership with God. God introduces the storyline―but the leader’s responses affect the development of the drama.

To demonstrate the book’s key points, McNeal leads readers on an excursion into the heart-shaping drama of four major Biblical leaders: Moses, David, Jesus, and Paul. He identifies the influences God used to shape them: Culture―the times and the environment in which a leader is raised; Call―the leader’s personal call by God to mission; Community―the people who shape and sustain the leader; Communion―the leader’s personal relationship with God; Conflict―the leader’s engagement of destructive forces in life and ministry; and Commonplace―the daily choices of living.

Using illustrative stories of contemporary church leaders who opened their hearts to God’s guidance, McNeal shows how God is still using these same influences to shape the hearts of religious leaders today. God creates leaders in order to share his heart with his people.

Leadership # Network^®

Leadership Network, a division of OneHundredX, seeks to accelerate the impact of 100X leaders. Since 1996, Leadership Network Publications has presented thoroughly researched and practical concepts from leading thinkers, practitioners, and pioneering churches. www.leadnet.org

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005V2YJT0
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jossey-Bass; 2nd edition (October 12, 2011)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 12, 2011
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1071 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 219 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1118103181

Best Sellers Rank: #261,902 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #92 in Christian Church Leadership (Kindle Store)
- #563 in Christian Church Leadership (Books)
- #3,593 in Religion & Spirituality (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
229

About the author

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Reggie McNeal

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Reggie enjoys helping people, leaders, and Christian organizations pursue more intentional lives. He currently serves as the Missional Leadership Specialist for Leadership Network of Dallas, TX. Reggie’s past experience involves over a decade as a denominational executive and leadership development coach. He also served in local congregational leadership for over twenty years, including being the founding pastor of a new church. Reggie has lectured or taught as adjunct faculty for multiple seminaries, including Fuller Theological (Pasadena, CA), Southwestern Baptist (Ft. Worth, TX), Golden Gate Baptist (San Francisco, CA), Trinity Divinity School (Deerfield, IL), and Columbia International (Columbia, SC). In addition, he has served as a consultant to local church, denomination, and para-church leadership teams, as well as seminar developer and presenter for thousands of church leaders across North America. He has also resourced the United States Army Chief of Chaplains Office, Air Force chaplains, and the Air Force Education and Training Command. Reggie’s work also extends to the business sector, including The Gallup Organization.

Reggie has contributed to numerous denominational publications and church leadership journals, including Leadership and Net Results. His books include Revolution in Leadership (Abingdon Press, 1998), A Work of Heart: Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders (Jossey-Bass, 2000), The Present Future (Jossey-Bass, 2003), Practicing Greatness (Jossey-Bass, 2006), Get A Life! (Broadman & Holman, 2007). His latest book, Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church (Jossey-Bass, 2009) details the three shifts that church leaders must make to engage the missional movement and offers suggestions for a different scorecard to reflect missional ministry.

Reggie’s education includes a B.A. degree from the University of South Carolina and the M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees both from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Reggie and his wife Cathy, have two daughters, Jessica and Susanna, and make their home in Columbia, South Carolina.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

229 global ratings

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Informational reading

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2023

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Great book.

Amazon Customer

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2022

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This book was required for school but is nothing like a boring textbook. It was an easy practical read. The book encourages spiritual leaders to look at their leadership style and self examination. I recommend this book for all spiritual leaders.

One person found this helpful

Stands the Test of Time

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2014

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I was given this book some years ago by a pastor and Christian leader that I greatly respected. I devoured the book and have returned to it again and again. I now make a habit of re-reading at least once each year and I find it new and insightful each time. I bought this copy to give to someone else to encourage them in their walk with God, and work for God, to further energize them. I highly, highly recommend this book for anyone who wishes to get serious about working to advance the Kingdom of God.

The first part of the book brings novel insights into the development of the ministries of Moses, David, Paul and Jesus. He then brings very realistic ways of viewing one's role in working for God and powerfully brings in their experiences in practical ways.

3 people found this helpful

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2018

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Le fond.
L’organisation.
Le dynamism.
Excelence.
Revue. Djfjghgg kfkgjiirkdodks joicokodkods Kao KOKOU kk did DMin dikjij ikeore KOKOU Ojo Kokou kolkokodek.

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2023

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Great for home library

Anecdotal—for better and for worse

Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2015

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The heart of McNeal’s *A Work of Heart* is to challenge leaders in the church to a level of introspection with which the author assumes many are not familiar. Many of the skills spiritual leaders cultivate have tangible, and often quantifiable, results. McNeal challenges his readers to strive for spiritual goods--goods that are often intangible and whose direct outcomes are difficult to measure. It’s hard to find fault with that kind of premise.

As I read through the book and tried to process what I liked and disliked about it, I came to the conclusion that it is the anecdotal nature of the book that captures its best and worst qualities.

On the positive side, McNeal is obviously a seasoned and wise minister to ministers. Based on the amount of stories McNeal tells one gets the feeling that a lot of this book is the kind of wisdom he gives on a daily basis to the spiritual leaders he assists through his ministry. The reader will benefit from McNeal’s experience and wisdom as he reflects upon the six central domains of introspection or “heart works” he selects. In this sense, reading this book is like having a long lunch with a seasoned mentor and soaking in the advice and stories he has to offer.

That kind of thing has its own intrinsic value, and we can call it anecdotal value. In courts of law “anecdotal evidence” is the kind of evidence that comes from a single person whose perspective is considered valuable but limited. The evidence is not considered complete until it is compared to other accounts and data. So on the positive side of things, McNeal’s anecdotal book is valuable precisely because it gives us the wisdom and perspective of a credible witness in spiritual leadership without all the distillation that a more critical account might require. This book is a great start to a conversation, and it is up to the reader to decide where to agree and disagree with McNeal to continue it.

Yet the anecdotal nature of the book also limits its value. The book lacks a bibliography precisely because McNeal chooses not to investigate the topics beyond the scope of his own knowledge-base. Of course the author has obviously read, studied, and thought about these topics. And it is not difficult to see at certain points where McNeal is reacting to certain trends in ministry or ideologies in the air. But where he alludes to outside voices he is mostly negative and dismissive. There is no real dialogue, complexity, or nuance that a more critical investigation might offer. The reader simply gets McNeal’s pontifications.

This is frustrating in two ways. First, unless a spiritual leader has not thought about these ideas at all (which I don’t think is true of the majority of this book’s target audience), the book does not offer much in the way of novelty. This means that the reader must slog through a lot of familiar ideas to get to the nuggets of wisdom. One might even have problems with the perspective McNeal offers on these familiar ideas simply because they have a history of debate that the author largely ignores.

Second, it leads to a number of errors that distract from the main purposes of the book. McNeal’s explicit refusal to use outside sources like commentaries on his outline of Moses, David, Paul, and Jesus in the first part leads to a number of exegetical errors in the way McNeal understands these figures. In addition, the anecdotal, conversational nature of McNeal’s reflections produce contradictions inevitable to any one-sided perspective. For instance, although at a number of points McNeal rejects the primacy of attendance numbers as the most important evaluative tool for ministerial success, the vast majority of his narrative examples define success in terms of numerical growth or loss.

To summarize, the anecdotal nature of the book is both its strength and weakness. On the one hand, it gives us an audience at McNeal’s feet, learning from someone with experience who has thought through these issues in his own way and puts them to practice in his own ministerial context. On the other hand, it limits the extent to which McNeal can offer anything more than a one-sided perspective, and often falls prey to bothersome errors.

As a point of confession, I write this as a seminary-trained minister. My story is one that began in introspection and theological education and now I’m beginning to tackle a host of complementary skills necessary to a holistic ministry (like leadership training, which is why I’m reading this book) . My suspicion is that McNeal is writing for those whose stories are the opposite: those who have the amazing leadership, technological, and other kinds of skills that I’m working towards and find themselves working towards introspective, spiritual, and theological skills.

In that sense, the book is well-merited, if not timely, as the seminary model of ministry training continues to decline. Yet for those that are familiar with the basics of spiritual discipline, introspection, culture, vocation, community, etc., there might be other books of more value. Any reader will benefit from this book some way, but there may be more efficient ways to spend the limited amount of time ministers have for personal study.

8 people found this helpful

Fun read to reflect on our intentionality of being sure ...

Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2017

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We are tempted on all sides, but our strength lies with Jesus, and this give way to intentionality in our ministry. McNeal states, “lack of focus eventually bankrupts early dreams” (p. 59). If my ministry was a train then it is the frequent stops that sometimes breaks concentration on my intentionality. Fun read to reflect on our intentionality of being sure the ministry one does is "A Work of Heart"

One person found this helpful

This book has got to be the best teaching tool I've every read

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2017

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This book has got to be the best teaching tool I've every read.The writer must have had a one on one conversation with God every step of the way. I recommend that every Leader and want to be leader invest in this awesome book! Glory!

Top reviews from other countries

Sam Kutondo

Great Read

Reviewed in Canada on March 16, 2019

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Great reading on spiritual leadership and how God developed great leaders from oblivion to powerful instruments for his service.

Dr. Alan Wilson

A must-read for Christian leaders

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 23, 2015

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Brilliant book on how leaders are shaped. Insightful and probing. McNeal flags six important concepts which he illustrates in the lives of several of the biblical leaders.

chuchichaschtli

Best book.

Reviewed in Canada on October 30, 2017

Verified Purchase

One of the best books I have read for a long time. Reggie touches on what is most important for every Christian.

Anthony Barham

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 15, 2016

Verified Purchase

Brilliant

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on March 19, 2016

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great book.

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