Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (3rd Edition)

Like, it's all about FROGS and then it goes into some VBS version of the gospel, complete with a sinner's prayer at the end? Did Joel Osteen hack this site?

This will be just a brief review since this book has been around for a while. I liked the book overall and I'll pretty much leave my praise at that. For those who are disgusted, as I am, by most of the typical church growth nonsense out there today this book is a welcome relief. Instead of outlining how to grow your church Mark Dever describes the marks that characterize truly healthy churches. Although Mark admits that his list is not exhaustive I do think he has identified the crucial aspects lacking from many churches that think they are healthy and may even be growing but are, in fact, not on track. I have absolutely no complaint regarding the content, my only wish is that the book had been less verbose. I am lazy and as such do not like to have the same concept fed at me every possible way. So, for me, this book took on a tedious nature because what I think could have been said in 5 pages took many more. But, then again, I am not really the target audience since I already agreed with Mark before I ever started reading. All pastors who want to know whether their church is truly healthy, regardless of numerical growth, should read this book. All those pastors who just want to know what gimmicks they can use to fill their Sunday service should stay away, unless you are willing to change your mind and focus on what the Bible really teaches about healthy churches. Get the book, skim it at least, read it closely if you need convincing but this should probably be on your shelf!

It's always interesting to read through the reviews people post on a book... the range of opinion is quite wide. I attended Dr. Dever's church in Washington D.C. for a semester in college. Anyone who has done so knows that Dr. Dever's book is not a mere set of ideas or pie-in-the-sky visions, but instead are biblically based concepts that Capitol Hill Baptist Church practices with great faithfulness. In my semester there, I only had two Sundays (in four months) in which I was NOT invited to lunch afterward. I became friends with people in many different age groups and life situations. Most importantly, I recieved the best biblical teaching and training that I had experienced before or since. It's a major mistake to accuse Dr. Dever of being high-brow or "suburban". The fact is, CHBC is right in the middle of Washington, D.C. Its members are from countries all over the world, from different economic situations and backgrounds. Top officials in the federal government chat easily with grocery store clerks. It truly is a display of God's glory. Further, Dr. Dever's preaching is consistently excellent without being condescending. He spends phenomenal amounts of time studying the Scriptures (a constant point of amusement at CHBC is his complete lack of sports knowledge), and yet the average Joe coming to CHBC for the first time has no problem understanding what he's saying. 9 Marks of a Healthy Church is the best book on church health (which is more important than growth) that I have come across. Most important, it is the best because it is the most faithful to the principles already in Scriture. Those churches that honestly seek to glorify God in their corporate life and worship will find this to be an excellent guide.

In the age of the pragmatic Purpose-Driven Church movement with Church Growth gurus such as Rick Warren, C. Wagner, John Maxwell, Andy Stanley, and Bill Hybels, Mark Dever's book is a breath of fresh air of true biblical and sound theological analysis of a healthy church. I appreciate Dever's focus on church health rather than church growth. Too often the stress is on getting the crowd (goats) and mix them with sheep but in Dever's case he has a true passion for teaching and preaching healthy disciples. Each chapter was well thought out and quite easy to read. Dever is not writting a classroom text book on the local church but merely the marks of a healthy congregation focused on the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus. For those who want the get big, get rich quick books, this book is not for you. Dever is not interested in building a seeker model or a purpose driven model but a biblical model and this takes time and energy. I appreaciated Dever's willingness to wrestle with Scripture and not just give his opinions on the local church. He truly gave me a book that I could use on a practical level.

This book was written to address problems in the Church. A topic such as this is difficult to approach without actually pointing out specific issues that are plaguing the Church. That is the whole point of the book! I have read several related titles and this is the simplest and most straight forward (while also being biblical) treatment of the subject that I have encountered. Sure, I don't like the idea of setting aside nine marks as being important, but Dever is not writing a complete work on church polity. Rather he is addressing some of the most important issues that many modern churches do not practice. This is a very important book, enjoyable to read, and well worth your time.

Dever majors in the majors with this book by focusing on how pastors and other church leaders should approach preaching, theology, the gospel, conversion, evangelism, church membership, discipleship and leadership. It is a great read for those who don't just want to complain about the state of the church today, but who actually want some biblical, positive direction. The first chapter on expositional preaching is especially helpful because he provides a biblical foundation to the idea that the preaching the Word is the most fundamental duty of the church pastor. His chapters on membership and leadership are also great because he marshals a biblical argument for having high expectations of members and for elders as a biblical office, respectively.More than anything, after reading Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, I walked away understanding that God has given a lot more direction regarding the day to day operations of His church than I thought.