9Marks

  A pastor friend recently emailed me with the following question: In a pastoral counseling or shepherding situation, when do you say, “I have nothing else to give,” and move on? My elders are working very hard on a seemingly endless list of hard cases. Sometimes I wonder if a… Keep Reading >>

Come on, this is 9Marks. What do you think we're going to say to that question? Too-obvious setup aside, our good friend Jeramie Rinne shared some helpful thoughts on the subject with his church in view of his own upcoming sabbatical. Jermaie's post is a good word not just for… Keep Reading >>

Must someone be baptized before he or she can join a church? Of course! The fact that I hear more and more people asking this question these days suggests that people have lost track of what a local church is, what church membership is, as well as what baptism represents.… Keep Reading >>

In the last post, I answered the question, What Is the Local Church? That brings us to the next question: what is church membership? Answer: It’s a declaration of citizenship in Christ’s kingdom. It’s a passport. It’s an announcement made in the pressroom of Christ’s kingdom. It’s the declaration that… Keep Reading >>

There's an amazing story recorded for us in I Kings 13. If you remember the context, Jeroboam has built an altar in Bethel to compete with the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem. Then suddenly, an unnamed prophet let loose a blast against the altar: And the man cried against the… Keep Reading >>

The Written Defense of the Rev. Mehdi Dibaj Delivered to the Sari Court of Justice - Sari, Iran December 3, 1993 A born Muslim who decided to follow and serve Jesus and paid the price with his life   "In the Holy Name of God who is our life and… Keep Reading >>

The following is a guest post from Brian Croft. Brian serves as the senior pastor of Auburndale Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition to contributing to the 9Marks blog, Brian also writes regularly on his own blog called Practical Shepherding. Brian is married to Cara, and they have four… Keep Reading >>

A local church is a group of Christians who regularly gather in Christ’s name to officially affirm and oversee one another’s membership in Jesus Christ and his kingdom through gospel preaching and gospel ordinances. That's a bit clunky, I know, but notice the five parts of this definition:Keep Reading >>

What if you spent years faithfully and earnestly praying for revival to come to your community, and then one day, seemingly out of the blue, God dramatically answered your prayers? All across your city, every day people begin crowding into the church to hear the gospel from God’s Word. On… Keep Reading >>

Did you catch Al Mohler’s provocative and important article posted today “Is the MegaChurch the New Liberalism”? Mohler does not quite put it this way, but it essentially poses the question of whether there is something endemic to the nature of megachurches in America that tempts them in the direction… Keep Reading >>

 1 2 3 >  Last ›

The Author

9Marks

First published on the 9Marks blog 9Marks is an American ministry dedicated to equipping church leaders with a biblical vision and practical resources. Our goal is simple: churches that display the glory of God.