9 Marks Ministries

Several readers of this blog are pastors/elders/overseers. I have read some discussion on other blogs concerning what constitutes the position of pastor, who wields the power and what of Church polity.

9 Marks Ministries is a ministry of Capital Hill Baptist Church and Dr. Mark Dever. If anyone is looking to go into the ministry or has questions about what a Biblical Church should look like, you will want to frequent this site often.

A couple of books to start off with of Dever's would be 9 Marks of a Healthy Church (This book looks at what scripture says constitutes a biblically healthy church and relays those via 9 marks). I read this while back at University and found it eye opening to say the least. Here are the 9 marks as laid out by Dever:

1. Expositional Preaching
2. Biblical Theology
3. A Biblical Understanding of the Good News
4. A Biblical Understanding of Conversion
5. A Biblical Understanding of Evangelism
6. A Biblical Understanding of Church Membership
7. Biblical Church Discipline
8. A Concern for Promoting Christian Discipleship and Growth
9. Biblical Church Leadership

I would also recommend Polity: Biblical Arguments on How to Conduct Church Life. It is a collection of historic Baptist writings and well worth the read for anyone looking to please God with how the church under their care is run.

I would dare say these should be required reading for anyone who steps into the pulpit every Sunday to exhort the people of God to honor Him by obeying His word so that they might be blessed and He may be glorified.

You can read the 9 Marks of a Healthy Church in its entirety here.
You can read Polity: Biblical Arguments on How to Conduct Church Life in its entirety here.
You can visit 9 Marks Ministries (and see a short synopsis of the 9 marks) here.
If you are looking for information or need some biblical advice about church leadership, you can contact my church here.

Some questions:
-Do you agree with the 9 marks laid out by Dever concerning health in the local church?
-How is your church run? Does it glorify God? Is it Biblical?
-If you have read these books, did they help shape your view of your ministry (or of the view of your pastor's ministry)?
-After reading these do you plan to change anything?
-What are your thoughts on church discipline?