What Does God Want of Us Anyway? – Mark Dever

© 2010 Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois

I am slowly working my way through a number of short titles written and produced by a variety of authors at 9 Marks. Some of them have been placed on my “must read” shelf, while others are good, but probably won’t be revisited. Among the books are What Is aHealthy Church?, Dever’s concise discussion of his original Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (I recommend the smaller digest for all but the really deep readers out there); Thabiti Anyabwile’s What Is a Healthy ChurchMember? which highlights the purpose and life of a Christian who really wants his Christianity to mean something (it’s a nice concise overview of Church Life, and I recommend it to anyone who either is unsure about joining with a local church or is considering what kind of church to join); and What Is the Gospel?, the little black book by Greg Gilbert that I think ought to be read by everyone—Christian and non-Christian alike.

My latest read in this “What Is . . .” series is a digest of some material that Dever presents in two volumes elsewhere at great length. In this short book, the author takes us on a whirlwind tour of the Scriptures. Part I composes roughly the first half of the book and argues that the entire Bible (Old and New Testaments) are worth our while as Christians. In parts II and III, Dever focuses on the Old Testament and the New Testament respectively.

The really positive aspects of this book may spur you to get a copy for a quick read. It is short (only about 120 pages), it reminds the Christian of the usefulness of studying Scripture, and it develops excellent arguments concerning the unity of the message in the whole Bible which leads to a unique unity in the preaching that is based on the Bible and the Life that is lived according to the message found within its covers.

All that said, there are some drawbacks to this volume. For all its shortness, I found it easy to put the book down to read something more interesting. The writing is at times dry, and (even with the author’s warning that it’s about to happen) the repetitive material can at times bog down the reader. I have not read the longer books—Promises Made: The Message of the OldTestament and Promises Kept: The Message of the New Testament (collections of sermons that this volume is based on)—but think that it might serve the reader to dive into the them for a more complete look at this much needed topic.

 

Three and one-half out of four reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter, January 13, 2012

Twelve Challenges Churches Face – Mark Dever

©2008 Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL

As senior pastor of the Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Mark Dever’s preferred method of preaching systems is to preach through books of the Bible in a series. This book is a collection of the sermons he preached one year based on the text of 1 Corinthians.

Dever identifies these issues that could be detrimental to the health of a church (as addressed by the apostle Paul):

1. Forgetfulness
2. Division
3. Impostors
4. Sin
5. Asceticism
6. Disobedience
7. Legalism
8. Autonomy
9. Thoughtlessness
10. Selfishness
11. Death
12. Decline

While Dever’s exegesis shows his typical attention to detail with a strong respect for the scripture. And the majority of the sermons are not only challenging to the reader/listener, but also extremely easy to follow. On the other hand, his chapters on Autonomy, Death and Decline keep us guessing as to either what he is addressing or where he is going in the discussion.

Even so, this volume is an excellent study on the book of 1 Corinthians. I would not place it on the shelf with my commentaries of the book (which isn’t really what the goal of the book is anyway), but it will find its way to sermon collections to which I can refer for illustrative or exegetical material when preaching from this epistle myself. Thanks Mark for a good read.  Four out of five reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter, June 2, 2011

Preaching the Cross – Mark Dever, J. Ligon Duncan III, R. Albert Mohler Jr., & C.J. Mehaney

©2007 Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL

This is a collection of addresses that were delivered at the first (2006) Together for the Gospel conference. The catalysts for the conference are a group of Christian thinkers who have become friends over the years and their desire for their friendship to benefit other church leaders/pastors. The group includes two Baptists (Dever and Mohler), a Presbyterian (Duncan), and a non-denominational leader (Mehaney) who set aside their differences to focus on the main agenda—Christ and the Cross. Also appearing at the conference (and consequently in the book) are other popular preachers of our day—John MacArthur, John Piper, and R.C. Sproul.

Dever pens the introduction, speaking for the group, which outlines the history and make-up of the Together for the Gospel ideology. And then each person contributes a chapter dealing with a variety of aspects pertinent to genuine gospel preaching—Old Testament connections, Cultural responsibility, expository preaching, and the like.

Some of the addresses are exceptionally helpful, while others tend to drag. I found Dever’s treatment of I Corinthians 4, inspiring as a pastor, and Duncan’s highlight of preaching Christ from the Old Testament was certainly refreshing. Piper, who has a tendency to lose me after the first paragraph, continued to do so (perhaps I’m just not as intellectual as he is).

Altogether, this is a sound book for any preacher to have in his library. I would hesitate to recommend it to a larger audience out of simple interest appeal, though. Therefore I give it a rating of 3 out of 5 reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter, November 13, 2010

What Is a Healthy Church? – Mark Dever

© 2007 Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois

One thing that struck me the first time I had opportunity to encounter Mark Dever was “this guy thinks a LOT deeper than I usually do.” I’m glad that he does, because it’s given him the opportunity to develop what he calls the “9 Marks of a Healthy Church.” On my shelves I can find both a booklet and an expanded book by that title. This little book is the replacement for the booklet in introducing people to Dever’s brainchild 9 Marks Ministries.

The book itself is divided into three parts—the definition of a healthy church; then two parts dealing with the nine marks—three of which are described as “essential” (if one or more of them are missing, your church is probably not really healthy), and six remaining marks that are designated as “important” (desired, and expected in healthy churches, but not essential—these are marks that will develop as the church grows spiritually).

For the most part Dever, keeps the material flowing, and writes on a level for most readers to follow. At other times, he slips into his academic mode and will leave the unsuspecting reader behind. My advice—bear with him. He is working diligently to remain faithful to Scripture, and you’ll catch back up in a few pages. There are occasions in the reading that some will disagree with Dever’s conclusions—which is okay, but disagreement will still cause the reader to do two things (at least that is the author’s desire): think more intently about what they believe (and why it varies from Dever’s viewpoint), and study more Scripture to find the foundation for their beliefs.

This is a good little introduction to church life. You should read it. (four out of five reading glasses)

—Benjamin Potter, August 31, 2010

The Deliberate Church – Mark Dever & Paul Alexander

Mark Dever is the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. and the creative force behind 9Marks Ministries (based on his Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, published by Crossway originally in 2000). His co-author, Paul Alexander is the contributing editor for 9Marks Ministries. The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel is the last review book I received from Pastor Bookshelf Reviews before they took a hiatus. (Hopefully, they will be able to reinstate this program sometime.)

On the surface, The Deliberate Church looks like an aid to church polity that will bear many Scripture-based suggestions about making your church become what God wants it to be. Getting below the surface, the reader discovers more of a “here’s the way we do it” book. The authors start with separate prefaces attributing all the work of the book to the other author. Each acknowledges that Alexander has put on paper the ideas put forward by Dever.

In essence, the book can be boiled down to two major sections: (1) containing the aforementioned suggestions with appropriate scriptural emphasis, and (2) a “how-to” conduct elder meetings based on the example of Capitol Hill. Granted, when an author provides an example, the best one to use is the one he knows, in this case, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, and the authors suggest that their reason for telling what is done at Capitol Hill is for suggestion purposes only—the reader should approach this model of leadership in the way that best suits his own church. The suggestion is that this is the way found to work at the church where Dever serves as Senior Pastor.

The book has some really sensible advice which can be translated into most any church desiring to be God-driven. Periodically, the text is interrupted to include study questions labeled “Think Tank.” These questions are typically those annoying type which are more nuisance than aid to the reader. However, once in awhile these pauses provide a positive suggestion for an activity that will help put the thoughts of the chapter into practice. For instance, at the end of a section about developing discipling relationships here are some suggestions: “1. Pick one person in your church whom you could start getting together with for his spiritual good. / 2. Pick a book, or even just a booklet, that you’d like to read and discuss with him.” Sadly, the majority of the “Think Tank” questions are simply regurgitation-style questions, asking only for the reader to mimic the information presented in the text.

The major drawback to the book is the assumption that Dever’s interpretation of the scripture is correct. The insistence on an elder board for church leadership comes across more as pragmatic than scriptural, although scripture is used to justify the practice. The larger portion of the book addresses this pragmatism from the viewpoint of Capitol Hill and their practice.

This is a readable, usable book that should be consulted with the understanding that it has some excellent reference material and advice (the inclusion of a new member interview form that can be adapted to any local church for example). I would recommend that most pastors—even those who disagree with Dever and the 9Marks method of doing church—read this book and use the wise counsel within it for practical adaptation in their church. The Deliberate Church earns three and one-half thumbs.

—Benjamin Potter, October 22, 2007