{"title":"Austin Carty","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"pastor-s-bookshelf-book-austin-carty-9780802879103","title":"The Pastor's Bookshelf","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHearts \u0026amp; Minds\u003c\/b\u003e Best Books List (2022) \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eChristianity Today \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eAward of Merit in Church \u0026amp; Pastoral Leadership (2023) \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eIt's time to give pastors permission to read books besides the Bible.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e Six months into his first senior pastorate, Austin Carty sat in his office reading--not the Bible, not a commentary, not a theological tract, but a novel\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eby Fyodor Dostoevsky. As the minutes turned to hours, while he sat engrossed in this book, he noticed something: he began feeling uneasy. And then anxious. And then \u003ci\u003eguilty\u003c\/i\u003e. What would someone think if they opened the door and caught him reading \u003ci\u003efiction\u003c\/i\u003e? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e For busy pastors (is there any other kind?), time spent reading feels hard to justify, especially when it's not for sermon prep. But what if reading felt less like a luxury and more like a vocational responsibility--a spiritual practice that bears fruit in every aspect of ministry, from preaching to pastoral care to church leadership? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Austin Carty believes that this is exactly how pastors ought to think about reading. \u003ci\u003eThe Pastor's Bookshelf\u003c\/i\u003e shows how worthwhile reading is more about\u003ci\u003e formation \u003c\/i\u003ethan \u003ci\u003ein\u003c\/i\u003eformation and how, through reading, a pastor becomes a fuller, more enriched human being with a deeper capacity for wisdom and love, better equipped to understand and work for God's kingdom. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49743177679121,"sku":"NGR9780802879103","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50206940856593,"sku":"CIN0802879101VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":50984489058577,"sku":"NIN9780802879103","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52668938617105,"sku":"NLS9780802879103","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52699900215569,"sku":"CIN0802879101G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0802879101.jpg?v=1750979446"},{"product_id":"high-points-and-lows-book-austin-carty-9780452295803","title":"High Points and Lows","description":"\u003cb\u003eFor readers who loved \u003ci\u003eBlue Like Jazz\u003c\/i\u003e, comes inspiration and advice from \u003ci\u003eSurvivor\u003c\/i\u003e contestant and Christian speaker Austin Carty\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Figuring out who you want to be in life is never easy. In \u003ci\u003eHigh Points and Lows\u003c\/i\u003e, Austin Carty traces his own stumbling journey toward adulthood and true faith, drawing on lessons from pop culture and Christianity. In these funny and moving essays that address questions on faith, goals, and vocation, Carty offers an uplifting message for religious and secular audiences alike.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e By turns amusing and endearing, Carty's essays explore everything from misguided evangelicals who treat salvation as a cottage industry to the real danger of cheating in school-everyone will think you're brilliant and then you've got a real problem. Whether he is failing miserably at his first real job as a nightclub gofer, explaining how \u003ci\u003eSaved by the Bell\u003c\/i\u003e has ruined our youth, or struggling to come to terms with the death of a beloved friend, Carty demonstrates how finding the courage to be ourselves is the best way to forge a genuine connection with friends, family, and God.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50350080622865,"sku":"CIN0452295807VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53548224643345,"sku":"CIN0452295807G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0452295807.jpg?v=1777111977"},{"product_id":"some-of-the-words-are-theirs-book-austin-carty-9780802884220","title":"Some of the Words Are Theirs","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA wise and lyrical encounter with the distinctive work of a pastor,\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eSome of the Words Are Theirs\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cb\u003ereveals the beating heart of a life measured not just in years lived, but in sermons preached.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Given the stiff competition in today's attention economy, many pastors feel pressured to make their sermons strikingly original. But Austin Carty, a longtime pastor and award-winning writer, has a different perspective: nothing we do or say is ever truly new. The power of a sermon is found not in novelty, but in the mandate it gives preachers to collect their thoughts every week and put them down in a succinct, coherent fashion. Seen this way, sermon writing is a built-in answer to the distinctly human quandary of making meaning from the stuff of our lives. As Carty puts it, \"This is the unique gift of preaching. While all writers are blessed by self-discovery, preachers are the most blessed writers of all--for we have a deadline for self-discovery each Sunday.\"\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In \u003ci\u003eSome of the Words Are Theirs: The Art of Writing and Living a Sermon\u003c\/i\u003e, Carty offers a masterclass in sermon writing that also explores the \"why\" driving this vocation. In so doing, he discovers how often his own sermons have been an exercise in trying to make sense of his own past, and how much autobiography lies beneath the themes he has been preaching throughout his pastoral career.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Ultimately, Carty shows how careful attention to the craft of writing a sermon--like careful attention to living a meaningful life--leads to greater self-awareness and humility. The Holy Spirit can use a preacher's words and life in ways he or she never could have anticipated. A beautifully woven tapestry of homiletical instruction and memoir, \u003ci\u003eSome of the Words Are Theirs\u003c\/i\u003e will appeal to readers of Annie Dillard's \u003ci\u003eThe Writing Life\u003c\/i\u003e and Anne Lamott's \u003ci\u003eBird by Bird\u003c\/i\u003e, and to seminarians and pastors who yearn for a more holistic understanding of the craft of sermon writing.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eForeword Reviews\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e INDIES Adult Nonfiction Religion Finalist (2025)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51883501682961,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51883501879569,"sku":"NGR9780802884220","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52609384907025,"sku":"NIN9780802884220","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ LIKE_NEW \/ SBYB","offer_id":52890228785425,"sku":"CIN0802884229LN","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53393312284945,"sku":"CIN0802884229G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-austin-carty.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}