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Nine Marks of a Healthy Church Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥
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Doctrinally Sound; Biblically Pragmatic
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Mark Dever has done what so many others have failed to do: combine the delight of doctrine and biblical interpretation and join it with wise, pragmatic advice on what the church is, is to be and how it should function in order to be healthy. If another pastor or elder from another church asked me to recommend a book that would help their church, this would be one of the first I'd mention. While not exhaustive in content, Nine Marks is more than sufficient. The chapters I took greatest encouragement in where the first two: Biblical Exposition (something I believe in and seek to practice) and Biblical Theology (a concise summation of who God is and how this should impact the church). Perhaps the two most challenging chapters were: Understanding Biblical Church Membership and Biblical Church Discipline. I truly agree with the idea of a congregational covenant; it would be difficult to "pull off" in the Evangelical Free Church (we're just too fiercely independent). The matter of church discipline is one we neglect to our great detriment. Most often, we'd rather re-act to a bad situation than be proactive in spurring our congregants on to growth in Christ through positive forms of discipline. Much work to be done here; but thanks to Dever's work, the challenge and the "how to's" are there.
Read this book, especially if you're a pastor. If you're a pastor of a small church, read this book with your leaders and see what the Lord will do through you. If you're a pastor of a large church, read this book and see if there are biblical corrections you need to make, even if it means hosting a "membership drive" (see the chapter on membership and you'll get the attempt at humor here). Read this book with the Scriptures open next to you and I know you'll be blessed. |
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