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Kas ir veselīga draudze?
Kas ir ideāla draudze, un kā to var noteikt? Ar ko tā atšķiras no citām draudzēm? Vēl svarīgāk – ar ko tās dzīvesveids atšķiras no pārējās sabiedrības? Daudzi no mums nav pārliecināti, kā atbildēt uz šiem jautājumiem, lai gan mums, iespējams, ir kāds priekšstats. Šī grāmata kliedēs visas šaubas.
Autors Marks Devers palīdz ticīgajiem atpazīt galvenās veselīgas draudzes pazīmes: Rakstus skaidrojoša sludināšana, bibliska teoloģija un pareiza izpratne par evaņģēliju. Tālāk Devers mūs aicina izkopt šīs pazīmes savā draudzē. Sekojot Jaunās Derības autoru piemēram un vēršoties pie draudzes locekļiem, sākot ar mācītāju un beidzot ar visiem, kas sēž tās solos, Devers izaicina visus ticīgos pielikt roku draudzes kopšanā. Grāmata “Kas ir veselīga draudze?” piedāvā mūžīgas patiesības un praktiskus padomus, kas palīdzēs katram no mums izpildīt Dieva doto uzdevumu Kristus miesā.
Autors Marks Devers palīdz ticīgajiem atpazīt galvenās veselīgas draudzes pazīmes: Rakstus skaidrojoša sludināšana, bibliska teoloģija un pareiza izpratne par evaņģēliju. Tālāk Devers mūs aicina izkopt šīs pazīmes savā draudzē. Sekojot Jaunās Derības autoru piemēram un vēršoties pie draudzes locekļiem, sākot ar mācītāju un beidzot ar visiem, kas sēž tās solos, Devers izaicina visus ticīgos pielikt roku draudzes kopšanā. Grāmata “Kas ir veselīga draudze?” piedāvā mūžīgas patiesības un praktiskus padomus, kas palīdzēs katram no mums izpildīt Dieva doto uzdevumu Kristus miesā.
138 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
146 people are currently reading
1023 people want to read
About the author
Mark Dever
126 books327 followersMark E. Dever serves as the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. Since his ordination to the ministry in 1985, Dr. Dever has served on the pastoral staffs of four churches, the second being a church he planted in Massachusetts. Prior to moving to Washington in 1994, Dr. Dever taught for the faculty of Divinity at Cambridge University while serving two years as an associate pastor of Eden Baptist Church.
In an effort to build biblically faithful churches in America, Dr. Dever serves as the executive director for 9Marks (formerly The Center for Church Reform, CCR) in Washington, D.C. 9Marks encourages pastors of local churches look to the Bible for instruction on how to organize and lead their churches. Dr. Dever also teaches periodically at various conferences, speaking everywhere from South Africa to Brazil to the United Kingdom to Alabama. Feeling a deep burden for student ministry, Dr. Dever often addresses student ministry groups at campuses throughout the country. He has also taught at a number of seminaries, including Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, AL, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. Dr. Dever’s scholarly interests include Puritanism and ecclesiology.
Dr. Dever currently serves as a trustee of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; he also serves as a member of the board, vice-chairman, and chairman of the Forum for the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. From 1995 until 2001, he served on the steering committee for Founders Ministries, a pastoral movement for biblical teaching and healthy church life within the Southern Baptist Convention. As Guest Senate Chaplain for two weeks in 1995, Dr. Dever opened the daily sessions of the United States Senate in prayer. He is a member of the American Society of Church History and the Tyndale Fellowship. He also held the J.B. Lightfoot Scholarship at Cambridge University from 1989 to 1991.
In an effort to build biblically faithful churches in America, Dr. Dever serves as the executive director for 9Marks (formerly The Center for Church Reform, CCR) in Washington, D.C. 9Marks encourages pastors of local churches look to the Bible for instruction on how to organize and lead their churches. Dr. Dever also teaches periodically at various conferences, speaking everywhere from South Africa to Brazil to the United Kingdom to Alabama. Feeling a deep burden for student ministry, Dr. Dever often addresses student ministry groups at campuses throughout the country. He has also taught at a number of seminaries, including Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, AL, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. Dr. Dever’s scholarly interests include Puritanism and ecclesiology.
Dr. Dever currently serves as a trustee of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; he also serves as a member of the board, vice-chairman, and chairman of the Forum for the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. From 1995 until 2001, he served on the steering committee for Founders Ministries, a pastoral movement for biblical teaching and healthy church life within the Southern Baptist Convention. As Guest Senate Chaplain for two weeks in 1995, Dr. Dever opened the daily sessions of the United States Senate in prayer. He is a member of the American Society of Church History and the Tyndale Fellowship. He also held the J.B. Lightfoot Scholarship at Cambridge University from 1989 to 1991.
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January 11, 2022
Dever's opening words absolutely grabbed my attention (see below):
"Sometimes college campus ministries will ask me to speak to their students. I've been known, on several occasions, to begin my remarks this way: "If you call yourself a Christian but you are not a member of the church you regularly attend, I worry that you might be going to hell."
You could say that it gets their attention.
Now, am I just going for shock value? I don't think so. Am I trying to scare them into church membership? Not really. Am I saying that joining a church makes someone a Christian? Certainly not! Throw any book (or speaker) out the window that says as much.
So why would I begin with this kind of warning? It's because I want them to see something of the urgency of the need for a healthy local church in the Christian's life and to begin sharing the passion for the church that characterizes both Christ and his followers."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dever's approach to the importance of the local, New Testament church is unlike I have read before. He insists on its utmost importance while clearly stating that it will not save you. However, he firmly believes and shows from the overarching reach of Scripture that a truly saved individual will be an active participant in a Bible-believing local church.
Checking in at a scant 126 pages, this is not a manual on all things New Testament church. However, it is a succinct manual not on the size of a church, not quick church-growth, not how to grow a church, but on what specifically constitutes a healthy church. I have not read the author's larger work entitled "Nine Marks of a Healthy Church" but it is my understanding that some of the material crosses over.
I loved Dever's analogy between our membership in the universal church and our membership in the local church. Have never read anything like it but is spot on and Biblical. Read below:
"The relationship between our membership in the universal church and our membership in the local church is a lot like the relationship between the righteousness God gives us through faith and the actual practice of righteousness in our daily lives. When we become Christians by faith, God declares us righteous. Yet we are still called to actively be righteous. A person who happily goes on living in unrighteousness calls into question whether he ever possessed Christ's righteousness in the first place (see Rom. 6:1-18; 8:5-14; James 2:14-15). So, too, it is with those who refuse to commit themselves to a local church. Committing to a local body is the natural outcome-it confirms what Christ has done. If you have no interest in actually committing yourself to an actual group of gospel-believing, Bible-teaching Christians, you might question whether you belong to the body of Christ at all!"
Dever constantly challenges us that it is inside a church with all of its messy relationships that we show we have been changed. Look at what he states on page 28: "We demonstrate to the world that we have been changed, not primarily because we memorize Bible verses, pray before meals, tithe a portion of our income, and listen to Christian radio stations, but because we increasingly show a willingness to put up with, to forgive, and even to love a bunch of fellow sinners." I say YES to that. Reminds me of Jesus' admonition to the disciples in John 15:35, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
The book breaks down into three sections:
Part 1: What Is a Healthy Church?
Part 2: Essential Marks of a Healthy Church
-Expositional Preaching
-Biblical Theology
-A Biblical Understanding of the Good News
Part 3: Important Marks of a Healthy Church
-A Biblical Understanding of Conversion
-A Biblical Understanding of Evangelism
-A Biblical Understanding of Membership
-Biblical Church Discipline
-Biblical Discipleship & Church Growth
-Biblical Church Leadership
Before I share some of my favorite quotes/sections, the sentence that made me respect Dever more than anything was found on page 56. "Even if you don't agree with something I say in the following chapters, I hope you disagree because you think the Bible says something different from what I think it says." What is he doing here? Dever is driving people to the authority of the Bible and not to himself. Much respect earned in that statement.
In addition, Dever's one page "Quick Tips If You're Thinking About Leaving a Church" found on page 57 are excellent! I will most likely copy them and give them out to future members.
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
"I certainly don't claim to have divine, infallible insight into this latter group. But biblical history does reliably teach us that what separates the people of God from both impostors and unbelievers is that the people of God listen to God's Word and heed it. The others don't." p.50
"The people of God will find life entirely and exclusively through listening to God's Word and obeying it. It's that simple." p.51
"Friend, the church finds its life as it listens to the Word of God. It finds its purpose as it lives out and displays the Word of God. The church's job is to listen and then to echo. That's it." p.55
"...expositional preaching is not fundamentally a matter of style. As others have observed, expositional preaching is not so much about how a preacher says what he says, but about how a preacher decides what to say. Is Scripture determining our content or is something else? Expositional preaching is not marked by a particular form or style. Styles will vary. Instead it's marked by a biblical content." p.65
"Pastors should teach sound doctrine - doctrine that is reliable, accurate, and faithful to the Bible. And churches are responsible for keeping their pastors accountable to sound doctrine." p. 71
"When a church is healthy, and its members know and cherish the gospel above everything else, they will increasingly want to share it with the world." p.77
"True conversion may or may not involve an emotionally heated experience. However, it will evidence itself in its fruit." p.88
"Evangelism, in other words, is not about doing every thing we can to get a person to make a decision for Jesus, much less about imposing our views. Attempting to force a spiritual birth will prove to be as effective as Ezekiel trying to stitch dead, dry bones together to make a person (Ezekiel 37), or as likely as Nicodemus giving himself a new birth in the Spirit (John 3)...in short, evangelism is presenting the good news freely and trusting God to convert people (see Acts 16:14), 'Salvation is of the LORD.' (Jonah 2:9; cf, John 1:12-13)" p.91
"When I evangelize, I attempt to convey three things to people about the decision that must be made about the gospel:
-The decision is costly, so it must be carefully considered (see Luke 9:62).
-The decision is urgent, so make it soon (see Luke 12:20).
-The decision is worth it, so you want to make it (see John 10:10)."
p.92
"What's so dangerous about nonattending, responsibility-shirking members? Uninvolved members confuse both real members and non-Christians about what it means to be a Christian. And active members do the voluntarily inactive members no service when they allow them to remain members of the church, since membership is the church's corporate endorsement of a person's salvation. Did you catch that? By calling someone a member of your church, you are saying that that individual has your church's endorsement as a Christian." p.97
"Membership draws a boundary line around the church, marking the church off from the world. Discipline helps the church that lives inside of that boundary line stay true to the very things that are cause for drawing the line in the first place. It gives meaning to being a member of the church and is another important mark of a healthy church." p.101
"Decisions involving the church but not requiring the attention of all the members should fall not to the pastor alone, but to the elders as a whole. This is sometimes cumbersome, but it has immense benefits. It rounds out the pastor's gifts, making up for some of his defects and supplementing his judgment. It creates support in the congregation for decisions, helping unity and leaving leaders less exposed to unjust criticism. It makes leadership more rooted and permanent and allows for more mature continuity. It encourages the church to take more responsibility for its spirituality and helps make the church less dependent on its employees." p.118
"Clearly, eldership is a biblical idea that has practical value. If implemented in our churches, it could help pastors immensely by removing weight from their shoulders and even removing their own petty tyrannies from their churches." p. 119
I highly recommend this book!
"Sometimes college campus ministries will ask me to speak to their students. I've been known, on several occasions, to begin my remarks this way: "If you call yourself a Christian but you are not a member of the church you regularly attend, I worry that you might be going to hell."
You could say that it gets their attention.
Now, am I just going for shock value? I don't think so. Am I trying to scare them into church membership? Not really. Am I saying that joining a church makes someone a Christian? Certainly not! Throw any book (or speaker) out the window that says as much.
So why would I begin with this kind of warning? It's because I want them to see something of the urgency of the need for a healthy local church in the Christian's life and to begin sharing the passion for the church that characterizes both Christ and his followers."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dever's approach to the importance of the local, New Testament church is unlike I have read before. He insists on its utmost importance while clearly stating that it will not save you. However, he firmly believes and shows from the overarching reach of Scripture that a truly saved individual will be an active participant in a Bible-believing local church.
Checking in at a scant 126 pages, this is not a manual on all things New Testament church. However, it is a succinct manual not on the size of a church, not quick church-growth, not how to grow a church, but on what specifically constitutes a healthy church. I have not read the author's larger work entitled "Nine Marks of a Healthy Church" but it is my understanding that some of the material crosses over.
I loved Dever's analogy between our membership in the universal church and our membership in the local church. Have never read anything like it but is spot on and Biblical. Read below:
"The relationship between our membership in the universal church and our membership in the local church is a lot like the relationship between the righteousness God gives us through faith and the actual practice of righteousness in our daily lives. When we become Christians by faith, God declares us righteous. Yet we are still called to actively be righteous. A person who happily goes on living in unrighteousness calls into question whether he ever possessed Christ's righteousness in the first place (see Rom. 6:1-18; 8:5-14; James 2:14-15). So, too, it is with those who refuse to commit themselves to a local church. Committing to a local body is the natural outcome-it confirms what Christ has done. If you have no interest in actually committing yourself to an actual group of gospel-believing, Bible-teaching Christians, you might question whether you belong to the body of Christ at all!"
Dever constantly challenges us that it is inside a church with all of its messy relationships that we show we have been changed. Look at what he states on page 28: "We demonstrate to the world that we have been changed, not primarily because we memorize Bible verses, pray before meals, tithe a portion of our income, and listen to Christian radio stations, but because we increasingly show a willingness to put up with, to forgive, and even to love a bunch of fellow sinners." I say YES to that. Reminds me of Jesus' admonition to the disciples in John 15:35, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
The book breaks down into three sections:
Part 1: What Is a Healthy Church?
Part 2: Essential Marks of a Healthy Church
-Expositional Preaching
-Biblical Theology
-A Biblical Understanding of the Good News
Part 3: Important Marks of a Healthy Church
-A Biblical Understanding of Conversion
-A Biblical Understanding of Evangelism
-A Biblical Understanding of Membership
-Biblical Church Discipline
-Biblical Discipleship & Church Growth
-Biblical Church Leadership
Before I share some of my favorite quotes/sections, the sentence that made me respect Dever more than anything was found on page 56. "Even if you don't agree with something I say in the following chapters, I hope you disagree because you think the Bible says something different from what I think it says." What is he doing here? Dever is driving people to the authority of the Bible and not to himself. Much respect earned in that statement.
In addition, Dever's one page "Quick Tips If You're Thinking About Leaving a Church" found on page 57 are excellent! I will most likely copy them and give them out to future members.
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
"I certainly don't claim to have divine, infallible insight into this latter group. But biblical history does reliably teach us that what separates the people of God from both impostors and unbelievers is that the people of God listen to God's Word and heed it. The others don't." p.50
"The people of God will find life entirely and exclusively through listening to God's Word and obeying it. It's that simple." p.51
"Friend, the church finds its life as it listens to the Word of God. It finds its purpose as it lives out and displays the Word of God. The church's job is to listen and then to echo. That's it." p.55
"...expositional preaching is not fundamentally a matter of style. As others have observed, expositional preaching is not so much about how a preacher says what he says, but about how a preacher decides what to say. Is Scripture determining our content or is something else? Expositional preaching is not marked by a particular form or style. Styles will vary. Instead it's marked by a biblical content." p.65
"Pastors should teach sound doctrine - doctrine that is reliable, accurate, and faithful to the Bible. And churches are responsible for keeping their pastors accountable to sound doctrine." p. 71
"When a church is healthy, and its members know and cherish the gospel above everything else, they will increasingly want to share it with the world." p.77
"True conversion may or may not involve an emotionally heated experience. However, it will evidence itself in its fruit." p.88
"Evangelism, in other words, is not about doing every thing we can to get a person to make a decision for Jesus, much less about imposing our views. Attempting to force a spiritual birth will prove to be as effective as Ezekiel trying to stitch dead, dry bones together to make a person (Ezekiel 37), or as likely as Nicodemus giving himself a new birth in the Spirit (John 3)...in short, evangelism is presenting the good news freely and trusting God to convert people (see Acts 16:14), 'Salvation is of the LORD.' (Jonah 2:9; cf, John 1:12-13)" p.91
"When I evangelize, I attempt to convey three things to people about the decision that must be made about the gospel:
-The decision is costly, so it must be carefully considered (see Luke 9:62).
-The decision is urgent, so make it soon (see Luke 12:20).
-The decision is worth it, so you want to make it (see John 10:10)."
p.92
"What's so dangerous about nonattending, responsibility-shirking members? Uninvolved members confuse both real members and non-Christians about what it means to be a Christian. And active members do the voluntarily inactive members no service when they allow them to remain members of the church, since membership is the church's corporate endorsement of a person's salvation. Did you catch that? By calling someone a member of your church, you are saying that that individual has your church's endorsement as a Christian." p.97
"Membership draws a boundary line around the church, marking the church off from the world. Discipline helps the church that lives inside of that boundary line stay true to the very things that are cause for drawing the line in the first place. It gives meaning to being a member of the church and is another important mark of a healthy church." p.101
"Decisions involving the church but not requiring the attention of all the members should fall not to the pastor alone, but to the elders as a whole. This is sometimes cumbersome, but it has immense benefits. It rounds out the pastor's gifts, making up for some of his defects and supplementing his judgment. It creates support in the congregation for decisions, helping unity and leaving leaders less exposed to unjust criticism. It makes leadership more rooted and permanent and allows for more mature continuity. It encourages the church to take more responsibility for its spirituality and helps make the church less dependent on its employees." p.118
"Clearly, eldership is a biblical idea that has practical value. If implemented in our churches, it could help pastors immensely by removing weight from their shoulders and even removing their own petty tyrannies from their churches." p. 119
I highly recommend this book!
July 28, 2022
A shorter version of Dever's classic, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church.
This is a perfect book to pass it out to Christians who are interested in learning more about ecclesiology or someone who wants to join your church.
This is a perfect book to pass it out to Christians who are interested in learning more about ecclesiology or someone who wants to join your church.
June 18, 2025
Excellent foundational primer for what a biblical Christian church ought to be, with much packed into a small page count. Convicting in a few areas relating to my own current situation, but at the same time very encouraging in the rest of the areas. I leave this book motivated to pursue spiritual growth within my church family, anew.
February 5, 2025
Excellent book on exactly what the title says, what is a healthy church. It is bible infused, straight to the point, clear and concise. I’m not sure how one doesn’t become a Baptist when reading this.
I may have missed it, but I wish it did include resources on how to find a healthy church or what to do if there isn’t one near the individual.
I may have missed it, but I wish it did include resources on how to find a healthy church or what to do if there isn’t one near the individual.
August 8, 2025
This is the pinnacle of all 9Marks material.
A concise summary of both the full “Nine Marks of a Healthy Church” book as well as the “Building Healthy Churches” series. Dever delivers the most important points of all these writings, and the very heart of the 9Marks ministry, within the 140 pages of this short book.
A concise summary of both the full “Nine Marks of a Healthy Church” book as well as the “Building Healthy Churches” series. Dever delivers the most important points of all these writings, and the very heart of the 9Marks ministry, within the 140 pages of this short book.
December 2, 2020
Excellent book! Simple but to the point. We all, brothers and sisters in Christ alike, need a crash course on what a healthy church looks like and how to be a active part of a healthy church. A must read for every believer!
June 23, 2022
I’ve encountered no other book providing a better introduction to the importance of the local church.
August 31, 2024
Helpful introduction to the church (a shorter version of Nine Marks of a Healthy Church). Clear definitions and explanations (both exegetical and Systematic Theology). However, it is pretty brief, so a skeptic to these concepts may need further Biblical argumentation. Dever not only explains what a healthy church is, but also why every Christian should be concerned about it and also the heart of how it impacts us.
March 12, 2025
Great book! It’s a great easy read all about key elements for a healthy church. There has since been an updated version of this book, but this one is still a great intro for those looking for a healthy church.
November 25, 2020
This book has been a great read. Not because I agree with all of his conclusions or even believe he rightly applies every Scripture properly (no man is perfect on his understanding of God's Word) but, because he makes some points. I am preaching a series the Church I Pastor about a "Healthy Church". Now I am preaching a series on the "Characteristics of a Healthy Church". This book has been a great help in both series. I appreciate Dever and his books on this subject. I do recommend this book
August 24, 2017
Good thoughts about what a healthy, Biblical church looks like, divided into "essential" marks and "important" marks.
April 19, 2023
Really concise and yet deep book on what a healthy church is. I went through this again with a church member. Great discussion flowed from it! Probably the easiest introduction to 9marks there is out there.
August 6, 2023
A great short resource for Christians to know what a healthy church is. Good to hand to Christians searching for new churches or Christians that don’t know what to look for in a church.
February 4, 2025
Ļoti laba grāmata, lai kristietis saprastu, kas ir veselīga draudze! Saprotamā valodā aprakstītas veselīgas draudzes pazīmes! Iesaku!
July 3, 2022
As a Nine Marks book, no surprise here that Dever’s book is concise, practical and insightful. While he could be a bit overwrought with some of his points or drive home the same message a few too many times for my liking, on the whole, I greatly appreciated his emphasis on the value of “soundness” in our churches, and how a steady obedience of God through following his Word will lead to shifts in practice and culture.
December 18, 2018
This book is based on Dever's larger work, "Nine Marks of a Healthy Church," and is a briefer and more practical treatment of what a healthy church should look like. He does briefly touch on each of the nine marks, but he divides them into essential marks and important marks. I appreciate how he emphasizes that the Bible is the rule of faith and practice. He asks for a hearing and that if the reader disagrees with his conclusions, it will be because, through studying the Bible, the reader believes the texts mean something different.
Having said that, I do disagree with some conclusions here and there because I believe the texts have a different meaning. However, the book overall is helpful for thinking through a number of issues related to the church and the practical application of doctrine.
Having said that, I do disagree with some conclusions here and there because I believe the texts have a different meaning. However, the book overall is helpful for thinking through a number of issues related to the church and the practical application of doctrine.
November 27, 2024
Grāmata ar īsām nodaļām, vieglā valodā un skaidrām atsaucēm uz Bībeli. Domāta katram kristietim (nav kaut kāda "vadītāju grāmata"). Mēs bieži vērtējam draudzi ar emocijām, balstot vērtējumu savā pieredzē un viedoklī. Ja ir spēks paskatīties patiesībai acīs - ko par to, kāda ir veselīga draudze, saka Bībele - šī ir īstā grāmata tev. Daudz, ko pārdomāt, pēc šīs izlasīšanas. Noklāj arī tēmas: kā izvēlēties draudzi, ja tev tā vēl nav. Kā arī, kad/kāpēc mainīt draudzi un kad palikt tajā, kurā esi, lai gan tā ir nepilnīga (un kura gan nav?).
Short book about what to look for in a church, what to do with the church you have and so on. The 9 biblical marks of a healthy church summarized. Many quotes and thoughts to ponder after listening to this.
Short book about what to look for in a church, what to do with the church you have and so on. The 9 biblical marks of a healthy church summarized. Many quotes and thoughts to ponder after listening to this.
June 18, 2024
Mycket enkel och bra bok! Jag tror det är en perfekt introduktion till ämnet församlingen. Jag önskar att alla församlingsledare läste denna och tog med sin församling i att bearbeta dessa frågor.
Jag själv hade gärna gått lite mer på djupet på varje punkt eftersom jag redan fått introduktionen från annat håll. Speciellt hade jag velat kolla närmare på om det finns en biblisk grund för att predikan bör vara utläggande och hur kyrkan historiskt sätt har hållit gudstjänster. Jag hade också gärna läst om exempel på hur man kan praktisera biblisk församlingsdisciplin. Jag kanske kommer läsa den originalversionen som är längre, kanske den tar upp detta i mer detalj.
Jag själv hade gärna gått lite mer på djupet på varje punkt eftersom jag redan fått introduktionen från annat håll. Speciellt hade jag velat kolla närmare på om det finns en biblisk grund för att predikan bör vara utläggande och hur kyrkan historiskt sätt har hållit gudstjänster. Jag hade också gärna läst om exempel på hur man kan praktisera biblisk församlingsdisciplin. Jag kanske kommer läsa den originalversionen som är längre, kanske den tar upp detta i mer detalj.
November 18, 2022
Una iglesia sana no se rige por el número de asistentes, los programas sociales, las actividades semanales o los buenos ingresos registrados por las ofrendas. Una iglesia sana se distingue porque proclama el evangelio fielmente por medio de la predicación expositiva y tiene un claro entendimiento de la obra expiatoria de Cristo; mantiene una cercana supervisión de las ovejas con disciplina y un arduo discipulado; regido por un liderazgo de diáconos y pastores (pluralidad y paridad) que sean fieles a Dios.- Este es un buen libro introductorio..
October 20, 2008
This book is highly reccomended, don't worry, it's a quick read.
What is essential in a local church? What is important? What really doesn't matter?
I'm seeing the local church in a whole new way! I don't mean to say Mark is writing things I've never heard before, he's just putting them all together for me. I've been humbled by this book and can't say enough about it.
What is essential in a local church? What is important? What really doesn't matter?
I'm seeing the local church in a whole new way! I don't mean to say Mark is writing things I've never heard before, he's just putting them all together for me. I've been humbled by this book and can't say enough about it.
August 14, 2021
Bon petit livre pour avoir une vue d'ensemble de ce à quoi devrait ressembler une église locale en bonne santé. De quoi aider les chrétiens à savoir les critères pour chercher une bonne église, et aider les pasteurs à mieux diriger leur église.
June 9, 2021
Great short treatment on the doctrine of the church! Excellent for pastors and church members alike!
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April 1, 2023A pastor-friend gave me this book, and I finally decided to read it. Believe there is an expanded version of the book that I may purchase at a later date. Many of the marks of a healthy church were fairly well-known by the reader (me), not to say the church I attend has all of them. Honestly, I'm not sure where my church stands on discipline since I've never seen it in action. (Not to say that it hasn't.) Anyway, the main takeaway from the book was a reminder we, the church members individually, are image bearers of Jesus Christ and Creator God. Do we live like an image-bearer? Are we singularly focused on Jesus or serving Him? Out of our relationship with Jesus first and foremost will flow everything else. That Jesus may have pre-eminence. Don't let the size of the book fool you, it will pack a punch. About to read a second book by the same author. Looking forward to it.
April 13, 2023
I grew up in a relatively unorganized church. Specifically, unorganized for the purpose of growing people spiritually. This book was very helpful for my understanding of what a well-organized church looks like, how a church becomes well-organized, and what my role is as a member of a church to help its organization and growth. I also grew up in a culture that did not support church membership as it is in this book, an official status bestowed upon a regular attendee through an onboarding process. I experienced churches that were healthy without the use of membership. As such, I don't understand why some Christians make a big deal out of membership. As this book addresses this topic, I was hoping it would be able to explain it to me. But it didn't. It was still helpful, though, in showing me certain benefits that may be made easier by use of membership.
February 18, 2022
This book does exactly what it promises. This is a great resource to share with a friend who may have questions about what the church should be, what God’s purposes for the church are, or how that should be played out in the life of the church. Scriptural in its defense, concise in its argument, and pastoral in its writing, this is a wonderful resource.
As a side note, this is essentially a condensed version of the material in “9 Marks of a Healthy Church” and is written more for laypeople than church leaders, but is still valuable for leadership as well.
As a side note, this is essentially a condensed version of the material in “9 Marks of a Healthy Church” and is written more for laypeople than church leaders, but is still valuable for leadership as well.
June 30, 2024
“What are you looking for in a church? Are you looking for one that reflects you and your community or one that reflects the out-of-this-world and glorious character of God?”
Very good book! The book leaves a lot to desire but I think that’s the point as it is an introduction to a series about the marks of a healthy church. Even so, I still learned a lot and there were some really good pieces in here! I am super excited to continue to dive deeper into topics that I have always known about but never thought deeply about. Also, I appreciate Mark’s last notes to the pew and to the pastor.
Very good book! The book leaves a lot to desire but I think that’s the point as it is an introduction to a series about the marks of a healthy church. Even so, I still learned a lot and there were some really good pieces in here! I am super excited to continue to dive deeper into topics that I have always known about but never thought deeply about. Also, I appreciate Mark’s last notes to the pew and to the pastor.
November 13, 2024
I loved the point that believers more clearly demonstrate the gospel when we are together, a diverse but unified body. It pushes against the mindset that Christianity is only a personal relationship with God and then identifies their 9 marks of healthy churches. This is written from a very strong Baptist perspective so not every church might agree on how to practice the last 6 marks, but all healthy churches should definitely agree on what Mark Dever calls the 3 essentials. We need expositional preaching, biblical theology, and the gospel.
November 14, 2024
It had been a while since I read these small books. Barely more than a hard cover booklet it does a deep dive on why we need churches and why we should push for membership. Especially since Covid this category is esp relevant. Dever favors his baptist bias but there is much for every Christian to glean. Churches help us grow. We need them. We need to be in there and active participants not spectators.
May 22, 2021
Es un excelente recurso que resume y pone en contexto grandes verdades bíblicas sin embargo, no debemos olvidar que hay doctrinas fundamentales y doctrinas complementarias por lo que no podemos llegar a la conclusión que si alguna característica del libro no es llevada a cabo, entonces la iglesia no es de sana doctrina (por ejemplo la membresia De la Iglesia).
August 28, 2023
Clear and concise. I really enjoyed this one! Super informative and made me think more deeply about the foundations of exposition so preaching and how that impacts the entire body.
“Many churches today are sick. We mistake selfish gain for spiritual growth. We mistake more emotion for true worship.” 122
“Many churches today are sick. We mistake selfish gain for spiritual growth. We mistake more emotion for true worship.” 122
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