All Resources
Book
Using Authority Well
Every position of power—in homes, churches, and boardrooms—has the potential to strengthen people or to harm them. Bad leaders abuse their authority or abdicate it. And their actions breed distrust in authority generally. Yet what do godly authority and leadership look like—the kind that causes people to flourish? Many men today have lost their bearings […]
Article
Church Staff Belong in Two Buckets: Elder-Qualified or Deacon-Qualified
God is wiser than man, and so we want to build our churches in accordance with the Scriptures.
Article
What Is the Relationship Between Church Membership, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper?
Baptism and the Supper are the signs and seals of church membership.
Article
Does “Make Disciples” Really Mean “Plant Churches”? Yes
9Marks has long maintained that the New Testament calls churches to plant churches. A friend recently pushed back: “But doesn’t the Bible tell us to ‘make disciples,’ not plant churches?” He was referring to Matthew 28, where Jesus commands his disciples, “Go and make disciples of all nations” (v. 19). Jesus doesn’t say, “Go plant […]
Journal
Seasons in a Pastor’s Life
Different seasons impose different challenges and afford different opportunities. Brother, pastor, are you ready for the next season?
Article
Pastor: Office or Gift?
In recent years, a growing number of churches have begun distinguishing between the offices of “elder” and “pastor.” Typically, the purpose for making this distinction is to create a space for female pastors among complementarian churches.
Journal
Evangelism
How’s your personal evangelism going? Is your church engaged? Are your elders strategizing together?
Article
Connecting Evangelism and Church
Is evangelism an individual sport or a team sport? Really, it’s both.
Journal
Catholicity
Say the word “catholic” or “catholicity,” and many pastors might give you a quizzical look.
Journal
Church Planting
Biblically ordered and healthy churches tend to plant biblically ordered and healthy churches. Biblically disordered and unhealthy churches tend to plant the same.
Article
What Is Catholicity and What Does It Require?
What do our churches mean by “catholic” when we recite the Nicene creed (381) and declare our belief in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church?
Article
Are Ecclesiological Convictions and Catholic Affirmations Mutually Exclusive?
The charge of anti-catholicity, when used to critique ecclesial convictions, evinces an inadequate understanding of catholicity.