Preaching
Six Ways to Give Your People False Assurance
By Mike McKinley | 9Marks Journal: The Underestimated Doctrine of Conversion | 02.29.2012Don’t preach moralism. Ever. Preach the gospel every week. And then, with the indicatives of the gospel firmly in place, preach the imperatives that necessarily follow.
The Bible’s Burden for Church Revitalization
By Bobby Jamieson | 9Marks Journal: Revitalize: Why We Must Reclaim Dying Churches—and How | 10.27.2011Like Paul, we should have a burden to revitalize churches that are in various stages of sickness. And we’ve got no shortage of those churches, especially in America.
Book Review: Heralds of the King: Christ-Centered Sermons in the Tradition of Edmund P. Clowney, ed. by Dennis Johnson
Review by Bobby Jamieson | 9Marks Journal: The Pastor and his Staff, Part 2 | 08.29.2011This book is a fitting tribute to a man whose writing, teaching, preaching, and personal example have helped a good many pastors to preach Christ from all of Scripture.
The Power of God’s Word
By J. Leeman, M. Dever, S. Linne | 01.31.2011Mark Dever asks Jonathan Leeman and Shai Linne about the unique power of God’s Word in giving life to the church.
What do pastors themselves need in order to preach on hell?
9MarksPreaching on hell is no easy task. What do pastors themselves need in order to do it well?
Book Review: The Priority of Preaching, by Christopher Ash
Review by Alistair Begg | 9Marks Journal: Book Reviews on the Mission of the Church | 10.27.2010All in all I found this short book to be as helpful as anything that I’ve read in a long while on expository preaching. I commend it warmly to all.
Pastoral Fearmongering, Manipulation, and Hell
By Mark Dever | 9Marks Journal: Hell: Remembering the Awful Reality | 08.20.2010Of course, it’s good to teach our children not to be scared by shadows, and to be wary of those who use fear to sell us something. But what if there really is something to fear?
How can a pastor make wise use of commentaries and other helps in sermon preparation?
9MarksA pastor can make wise use of commentaries and other scholarly helps in sermon preparation by using such tools as conversation partners, not as masters.
How? By spending your earliest and best time with the text itself. Meditate on the text. Pray through the text. Exegete the text thoroughly. Outline the text. Ask questions of the text and answer them all yourself before you consult any commentaries.
How can I make the most of the preaching I hear every week?
9MarksHow can a pastor make unwise use of commentaries and other helps in sermon preparation?
9MarksA pastor can make unwise use of commentaries and other resources in sermon preparation if he allows them—rather than the text itself—to set his sermon’s agenda.
How important is knowing the original languages to preaching?
9MarksFor a preacher, knowing the original languages can be likened to what Paul said to slaves about freedom: “If you can gain your freedom, do so. If not, be content with what you have” (1 Cor. 7:21, paraphrase). In other words, if you are able to learn the original languages, do so. They are a valuable tool. But such knowledge is not absolutely necessary for a preacher, for a number of reasons.
