Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (4th Edition) (9Marks)

“In the tradition of Martyn Lloyd-Jones and John Stott, Mark Dever calls the church to rediscover her biblical heritage. Perhaps never in history has the church tried so hard to be relevant to a culture and become less relevant in doing so! While many modern church gurus encourage us to be in the world, Mark reminds us that our calling is to do so without being of the world. This volume is consumed with church being rather than church doing. After all, being comes before doing, for what we ultimately do is always determined by who we are. Let the church be the church! Read it and reap!”

“A powerful and passionate call for congregations to take seriously their re- sponsibilities, for the glory of God and the saving of lost souls.”

“Nine Marks of a Healthy Church is required reading for my students in ecclesiology. Even though I do not always come to the same conclusions as the author, the book is one of the few recent serious engagements with trenchantly important ecclesiological issues. This is also a great book for pastors to share with their congregations.”

“The future of biblical Christianity in the Western world is inextricably bound to the future of the local church. Mark Dever knows this, and his Nine Marks of a Healthy Church is a biblical prescription for faithfulness.”

“Postmodern America is awash with spiritualitybut not with authentic Christianity. Clear evidence of this fact is seen in the loss of a biblical ecclesiology in so many sectors. Reformation is always directed to the churchand we must pray to see the church reformed in our age. Mark Dever points toward a truly biblical recovery of the New Testament church in his manifesto, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Every page is loaded with thoughtful analysis and careful consideration. It belongs in the hands of every faithful pastor and all those who pray for reformation in this age.“

“Nine Marks of a Healthy Church is one of the very best, most readable, and useful books for learning how to lead a church into spiritual change. Its focus is not on church growth but on church health, which is the proper goal of a God- centered ministry. Each chapter gives the biblical rationale and o??ers practical suggestions for preaching, evangelism, discipleship, or some other aspect of church life. These principles and practices have been tested in Devers own dynamic ministry as senior pastor of a thriving urban congregation.”

“In a day when a church is most likely evaluated on her cosmetics, its vital to know how to assess her true health. They put cosmetics on corpses! Mark Dever gives the biblical criteria for discerning the spiritual well-being of a church, not what it looks like on the outside before the world, but what it is on the inside before God. This is a foundational work which I highly recommend.”

“Books on the church are a dime a dozen. This one is different. Only rarely does a book on the church come along that marries responsible biblical and theological reflection to godly, experienced, good judgment and practical application. This book is one of them. If you are a Christian leader, be careful of the work you are now holding in your hand: it may change your life and ministry.”

“It is astonishing that the apostle Paul describes the local gathering of Christians as the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood (Acts 20:28, ESV). That raises the stakes of church life and health and mission about as high as it can be. We are dealing with a blood-bought body of people. I do not want human ideas. I want Gods word about the church. I turn with hope and confidence to Mark Devers radically biblical commitment. Few people today have thought more or better about what makes a church biblical and healthy. I thank God for the book and for 9Marks ministries.”