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Tim Challies says:
January 29, 2015 at 8:01 am (UTC 0)
A Solid Introduction to Church Health,
If you are familiar with Mark Dever’s ministry you know that he can be provocative, though always in a sanctified way. This book is no exception. Consider this, a portion of a short anecdote he shares: “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.” Why would Dever extend such a warning and do so at the beginning of the book? “I want [the reader] 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.” Church health and church membership really are that important.
The book falls into three parts. In the first, Dever answers the question of “What is a healthy church,” ultimately defining it as “a congregation that increasingly reflects God’s character as his character has been revealed in his Word.” In the second part he looks at the first few of the nine marks of a healthy church, defining three of them as essential: expositional preaching, biblical theology, and a biblical understanding of the Good News. In the final part he looks at the remaining six “important” marks, which are: a biblical understanding of conversion, a biblical understanding of evangelism, a biblical understanding of membership, biblical church discipline, biblical discipleship and growth, and biblical church leadership. Those who have read 9 Marks of a Healthy Church will recognize parts two and three as a summary of nine chapters of that earlier book.
My wife and I have been members of an unhealthy church in the past (though, thankfully, we are now privileged to be members of a distinctly healthy church) and I suppose the one thing I would wonder about a book like this is how likely it is to make its way into churches that may need it most! After all, pastors of unhealthy churches will certainly not be likely to commend it to the members. In a few locations, and most notably at the end, Dever urges caution to those who are members of unhealthy churches, urging them to proceed carefully and biblically in trying to bring about change. “Pray, serve, encourage, set a good example in your own life, and be patient. A healthy church is less about a place that looks a certain way, and more about a people who love in the right way.” This is a valuable charge and one that clearly proceeds from a pastor’s heart.
What is a Healthy Church? is a valuable little book and one I hope is widely distributed and widely read. Churches that truly seek to be healthy should be glad to distribute this among its members and to discuss it. I think it could make a valuable title for study. Those who truly desire church health have nothing to fear from it, and certainly a lot to gain.
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|W. Worcester "PastorCoach" says:
January 29, 2015 at 8:38 am (UTC 0)
Healthy Advice,
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|Amazon Customer says:
January 29, 2015 at 8:50 am (UTC 0)
Excellent Basic Training for Church Members,
Healthy Church is divided up into three sections. The first sets out to describe and identify a healthy church. It attempts to win readers to the understanding that a healthy church is vital to Christian life. The primary arguments center on the church’s role in God’s plan for spreading the gospel, the church’s unique ability to combat sin in its members, and the church’s representation of God’s character. In this section and throughout the book, Dever supports his premises with an incredible amount of scripture while still communicating integral truths in the terms of the layperson. The flow of ideas is easy to follow and a comprehensive picture of the church seems attainable despite such widespread disagreement among Christians about the church.
The second section consists of “essential” marks of a healthy church, of which there are three. These three, plus the remaining six “important” marks make up the titular Nine Marks of the original volume. The essential marks are considered by Dever to be the absolute core of a church’s health, without which it will wither, even if the doors remain open. They are: expository preaching, Biblical theology, and the true gospel. Each of these marks is well-defined and supported with scripture and Dever’s rationale for considering them essential. The third sections includes the important, but non-essential marks of conversion, evangelism, membership, discipline, discipleship, and leadership. These marks are considered to be non-essential because Dever believes that, in the presence of the essential marks, the others will steadily grow as well.
Clocking in at just 120 small pages, this is not a comprehensive manual on ecclesiology, but accurately bills itself to be a quality introduction to the topic for the layperson. It is very readable and lays a solid foundation for discussion and further study. There are many quality metaphors and analogies in addition to highly practical breakdowns of the principles discussed as applied to real church scenarios.
On the whole, Healthy Church is a Biblical, well-written, accessible book that accurately lays out the marks of a healthy church. These marks are not all that a church should have, nor are they arbitrary. Rather, they are timely for our age and both encouraging and convicting to church members.
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|Stacey says:
January 29, 2015 at 9:33 am (UTC 0)
Great book for teens, pre-teens and parents alike,
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|Jed Davis says:
January 29, 2015 at 10:25 am (UTC 0)
Girls’ High School Basketball Coach/AD jlori81@gte.net,
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|Anonymous says:
January 29, 2015 at 10:44 am (UTC 0)
Wonderful book!,
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