: Mark Dever, Paul Alexander
: How to Build a Healthy Church (Second Edition) A Practical Guide for Deliberate Leadership
: Crossway
: 9781433575808
: 1
: CHF 14.00
:
: Christentum
: English
: 304
: kein Kopierschutz
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
A Newly Updated and Rebranded Edition of The Deliberate Church If churches are the dwelling place of God's Spirit, why are so many built around the strategies of man? Eager for church growth, leaders can be lured by entertaining new schemes, forgetting to keep doctrinal truth as their driving force. Churches must find a way out of the maze of programs and methods and humbly lean on the sufficiency of God's Word. How to Build a Healthy Church, a revised and expanded edition of The Deliberate Church, challenges leaders to evaluate their motivations for ministry and provides practical examples of healthy, deliberate leadership. Written as a companion handbook for Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, it covers important topics including membership, worship, responsible evangelism, and church roles. This is more than a step-by-step plan to mimic; it's a biblical blueprint for pastors, elders, and anyone committed to the church's vitality.

Mark Dever (PhD, Cambridge University) is the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, and president of 9Marks (9Marks.org). Dever has authored over a dozen books and speaks at conferences nationwide. He lives in Washington, DC, with his wife, Connie, and they have two adult children.

A Note to the Reader

Why did you take this book off the shelf? What caught your attention? Come on, be honest. Were you intrigued by the cover design? Did you read the endorsements on the back? Maybe you just picked it up because you like to stay current with the latest stuff out there on church growth and ministry models.

Or maybe the reason was deeper. Maybe you’re a pastor who’s been at it for a long time and you’re discouraged by the lack of growth in your church. “What am I missing? Why am I not being as effective as the pastor down the road?” Maybe you picked it up because you’re tired of not being “successful” in ministry—the fish aren’t biting, so why not change the bait?

On the other hand, you might be a young-buck church planter who’s looking to make an impact for the kingdom. Maybe you’re tired of looking at a new world through old glasses and want to push the envelope—innovate, get creative, experiment with some new methods, try some crazy ideas, find out what really makes people tick in a post-everything generation.

Then again, maybe you’ve invested the last five years of your life trying to implement the latest church growth model and it didn’t work. Maybe you’re reading because you’re disillusioned with the failure of a model that seemed promising and produced amazing results elsewhere. So now you’re on to the next thing—what we call thedeliberate church.

Maybe your interest was piqued by the possibility of a new way of doing church that might breathe fresh life into your congregation. Maybe you’re reading it because it might be the next big wave in church ministry that could spark explosive growth in your church and light a fire in your community. Or perhaps you’ve just found yourself feeling a little outdated—a light blue leisure suit in a Bloomingdale’s world—so you’ve come into the Christian bookstore to update the ministry wardrobe. Search your heart—why did you open this book? What are you looking for?

Before you start reading in earnest, let us clarify what this book is not, just for truth in advertising. First,it’s not new. It’s old—really old. We’re not claiming that any of this stuff is original with us; it’s not a “fresh take” or a “unique approach”—it’s not innovative. In fact, we don’t evenwant to be innovative (there, we said it!). Second,it’s not a program. It’s not something you can just plug into your church and press “Play.” It’s not dependent on technique; we don’t have a set plan for spiritual maturity, or systematic steps for building a church; there’s no flashy lingo or professional diagrams or cool metaphors. Third,it’s not a quick fix. In other words, don’t expect to read this book, implement its suggestions, and see immediate, observable results. Healthy growth takes time, prayer, hard work, patience, and perseverance.

“Well, if it’s not a new program, then what is it?” Simply put, it’s the Word building the church.

It’s easy to agree with our culture that newer is invariably better. New clothes are better than old hand-me-downs; a new car is better than Dad’s old beater. Th