Mailbag #51: Requiring Attendance at a Second Gathering; A Member Who Refuses Baptism

By Jonathan Leeman | 02.10.2017

— Is it okay for churches to require members to attend a second gathering? — I discovered a long-standing member has never been baptized. What do I do?

Mark Dever Interviews Jonathan Leeman about “Don’t Fire Your Church Members”

By J. Leeman, M. Dever | 02.07.2017

Would you believe it if someone told you church structure actually plays a crucial role in your individual discipleship?

Mailbag #48: How to Discuss Books as Elders; Advice for Husband & Wife Who Can’t Agree about Church

By Jonathan Leeman | 01.13.2017

— You’ve mentioned before the value of elders reading books together. What’s the best way to go about that? — Do you have any advice for a husband and wife who can’t agree on which church to go to?

What Preachers Can Learn from George Whitefield’s First Sermon

By Thomas S. Kidd | 01.12.2017

In George Whitefield’s very first sermon, he exposed the spirit of nominal religion that was so debilitating to England, and to so much of America today.

Mailbag #47: Applying Paul’s “Able to Teach” Qualification; Confidentiality between Pastors and Members?

By Jonathan Leeman | 01.06.2017

— How gifted does someone have to be in order to be considered “able to teach”? — Can church members appeal to a kind of “pastor-member confidentiality”?

What Is a Healthy Church Member?

By Thabiti Anyabwile

What Is a Healthy Church Member? takes its cue from Mark Dever’s book What Is a Healthy Church?, which offered one definition of what a healthy church looks like biblically … keep reading…

Mailbag #46: Tricky Membership Question about Immigration; Pastoring a Church with Lots of Divorcees

By Jonathan Leeman | 12.23.2016

— A woman who came to the United States under false pretenses wants to join our church. What should we do? — How should a pastor proceed when he inherits a church with several divorcees?

Churches in Great Britain: Living with the Legacy

By Mike Gilbart-Smith | 9Marks Journal: Healthy Churches around the World | 12.12.2016

Conservative evangelical churches in Britain benefit from the legacy of faithful expositors of the Word. However, clarity on the centrality of the gospel is accompanied by confusion on the importance of secondary matters.

Churches in India: A People “Formed for God”

By Aubrey Sequeira | 9Marks Journal: Healthy Churches around the World | 12.12.2016

As a result of a low view of preaching for many years, the health of churches in India has suffered. Yet through a growing number of faithful shepherds, faithful preaching, and your prayers, the Lord may bring to India the reformation its churches need.

Churches in Israel: Proclaiming the True Messiah

By David Zadok | 9Marks Journal: Healthy Churches around the World | 12.12.2016

Churches in Israel are growing in evangelistic confidence and doctrinal care, even as they wrestle with the cost of being identified with Gentile believers.

Churches in South Africa: Hoping in the Word, Not the World

By Gustav Pritchard | 9Marks Journal: Healthy Churches around the World | 12.12.2016

Despite unhelpful Western influences, over-spiritualized leadership, and even a struggling economy, the Lord is establishing his kingdom in South Africa through churches feasting on his Word.

Churches in Spain: A Smoking Flax He Will Not Quench

By Andrew Birch | 9Marks Journal: Healthy Churches around the World | 12.12.2016

Though many of the churches in Spain often confuse or lose the gospel in their preaching, there is a small and growing network of churches who love gospel clarity and church health.

A Guide for Praying Nation by Nation

By Jonathan Leeman | 9Marks Journal: Healthy Churches around the World | 12.12.2016

One of our hopes for this Journal is that it will spur you on in prayer for our brothers and sisters around the globe. To that end, we’ve compiled a list of prayer requests from our contributors.

Mailbag #44: Applying “Husband of One Wife”; Leaving the Church but Attending Bible Study; Women Voting in the Church

By Jonathan Leeman | 12.09.2016

— What does “husband of one wife” mean? That a prospective elder must have never been divorced? — Someone who left our church still wants to attend our church’s ladies’ Bible study. Is that okay? — Does 1 Timothy 2:12 forbid women from voting in congregational matters?

Mailbag #43: Relationship to Excommunicated Members; Baptism & the Developmentally Disabled

By Jonathan Leeman | 12.02.2016

— How does your church care for an excommunicated member when they show up at church? — Can a person who wants to be a member of the church but is functionally at the level of a child be baptized?