Sermon Illustrations

By Thabiti Anyabwile | 06.12.2014

Dee, thanks for both your question about illustrations and for your thoughtful response to Mike about how not to get burned out from giving counsel to the people.  I found that … keep reading…

In Defense of Preaching Models

By Aaron Menikoff | 06.12.2014

I think we need to be careful. As I read Scripture, I’m struck by a couple things that are pertinent to this topic. First, we should expect that a disciple … keep reading…

The Remarkable Ordinariness of Pastoral Ministry

By Mike McKinley | 06.12.2014

When I started out as a pastor, I wanted our church to reach the lost.  I hoped to see our ranks stuffed full of people who had been graciously called … keep reading…

One Thing I Remember from Preaching Class

By Kevin DeYoung | 06.12.2014

This has helped me. I pass it along to any young preachers out there looking for free advice. When you come to a passage there are four things you can … keep reading…

Theological Pop-a-Lock

By Greg Gilbert | 06.11.2014

Mark Dever and I are considering, someday, writing a book together about preaching.  In one of the sections of this imagined book, there would be a transcript of one or … keep reading…

A. T. Robertson, the Book of James, and Dudes with Ambition

By Owen Strachan | 06.11.2014

If you have not picked up Greg Wills’s recent The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1859-2009 (Oxford, 2009), you owe it to yourself to do so.  It’s a huge book, it is an … keep reading…

The Scariest Word in Pastoral Ministry

By Mike McKinley | 06.11.2014

Bifurcation. When I was in seminary, Diane Langberg came and spoke to one of our classes.  In addition to counseling victims of all kinds of horrific abuse around the world, Dr. Langberg … keep reading…

The Value of a Fraternal

By Mike Gilbart-Smith | 06.11.2014

Off the back of the conversations about accountability, one of the issues that I think many pastors face is that they just don’t know others well enough to have such … keep reading…

Thinking Humbly About Changing the World

By Greg Gilbert | 06.11.2014

I read James Davison Hunter’s book To Change the World several weeks ago. On the whole, I found it to be a really helpful contribution to the discussion about how Christians should … keep reading…

What Members Are Asking about Elders

By Aaron Menikoff | 06.11.2014

If you are reading this blog post, you may very well be at a church that is already led by a plurality elders. You may, like me, be at a … keep reading…

Clearly Uncomfortable with Contextualization

By Ed Roberts | 06.11.2014

Some people are really uncomfortable with contextualization, even though we all do it and benefit from it all the time.   What is it, anyway?…well here’s one definition…Contextualization is “the … keep reading…

Critical Contextualization and Culturally Prevalent and Deep-rooted Sins

By Ed Roberts | 06.11.2014

  Appropriate or critical contextualization means that the Word of God is our controlling authority and that: -we do not accept another’s culture uncritically-the Word is our touchstone. -we do … keep reading…

Church Disciplines 575 Members

By Jonathan Leeman | 06.11.2014

I recently asked David King, who is a pastor in Tennessee, about his church’s work of cleaning up their membership roles.

Word Ministry and Deed Ministry (1 of 3)

By Jonathan Leeman | 06.11.2014

  About a year ago, a group of us at 9Marks decided to meet together semi-regularly to discuss that thorny bramble of a topic—the mission of the church. It’s a … keep reading…

Word Ministry and Deed Ministry (2 of 3)

By Jonathan Leeman | 06.11.2014

  At the risk of redundancy with the first post in this series, here’s an excerpt from something I wrote which explores a little more deeply this question of whether … keep reading…