The Pastoral Epistles, which include 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus, are by far some of the most practical letters in the New Testament when it come to ministry. In these short epistles, Paul writes to two young men who are leading churches: Timothy, in Ephesus, and Titus, in Crete.

These letters are full of incredible advice and spiritual insights for growth, both as a Christian and as a leader and minister. One of my personal goals over the past year and a half has been to study and memorize both of the letters to Timothy, and Titus is next on the list for this fall.

I think these are pretty important letters for us to examine in detail.

I’ve read several other books from The Good Book Company in this series, covering Galatians, Romans 1-7, and Judges. I’ve enjoyed each one of them immensely. So, when I saw an opportunity to read this one on Titus, I was pretty excited. At first, I wasn’t sure how it would compare with the others, since all of the ones I have read were written by Timothy Keller, and this one is by Tim Chester.

My fears were ungrounded. Chester hit a home run with this look at Titus. I feel like he did a great job dividing the letter up into sections to examine in detail. The chapters he writes here follow the natural breaks in the text itself, lending itself well to easy reading, or even to fit a preaching schedule.

There are a few items that really stood out to me strongly as I read Chester’s thoughts on this letter. I’m sure many of these will be fleshed out in my thinking and impact my studies as I dig into this letter myself later this year.

My one criticism really has nothing to do with Chester’s specific work on this book, but with the series as a whole. Very little of the biblical text is printed in the book, requiring you to keep a Bible handy as you read. This normally isn’t an issue, but I spent some time with this book in a coffee shop reading, without a Bible handy. I ended up using an app on my phone, but it was a bit cumbersome. Printing the text in the book would eliminate the need to have a Bible within reach.

That said, I normally read books such as this with my study Bible nearby, and the notes I take are usually in the margins of my Bible, allowing me to find them easily, when studying that passage again. It just didn’t happen to be the case this time.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book. Tim Chester approached the letter to Titus with strong biblical integrity, remaining true to the text, and to the culture in which it was written, but aptly drawing applications for readers today, and for tomorrow.

I’m sure that Titus For You will make it’s way off the shelf frequently for reference as I continue to study, write, and preach on this short letter.

Question: Have you ever studied Titus in depth? If so, what was your favorite passage? If not, which letter in the New Testament do you enjoy studying? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

I received this book free from Cross Focused Media as part of their Cross Focused Reviews blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.