Church Membership

Nominal Christianity—Not Complementarianism—Leads to Abuse

By Caleb Morell | 9Marks Journal: Complementarianism: A Moment of Reckoning | 11.22.2019

Conservative views on marriage and family are not sufficient in and of themselves to create healthy families and marriages. Church participation and membership make a huge difference.

Some Counsel for Christians Leaving Toxic Church Environments

By Lucas O'Neill | 11.15.2019

Recovery for genuine believers who have been damaged by failed churches is a grueling process.

4 Members Who Tear Down the Church

By Chopo Mwanza | 11.08.2019

All these members have a common thread: self-centeredness. They’ve missed the very essence of salvation; they’ve failed to love God and love people with every ounce of their being.

6 Members Who Build Up the Church

By Chopo Mwanza | 11.04.2019

Dear church member, pursue these qualities in your own life and encourage them in others.

9 Suggestions for Better Members’ Meetings

By Brad Wheeler | 10.28.2019

Do member’s meetings always have to end in bitterness and bickering? I don’t think so. Here are nine suggestions to help set members’ meetings on the right track.

A Tale of Two Baptist Associations

By Geoff Chang | 09.23.2019

Let me tell you the tale of two Baptist associations.

3 Ways Baptism & the Lord’s Supper Ought to Shape our Monday through Saturday

By Sam Emadi | 08.12.2019

For too many Christians, baptism and the Supper are exclusively about personal professions of faith, and personal expression of one’s obedience to Jesus.

Confessing Sin Is Always Awkward, Sometimes Costly, and Absolutely Worth It

By John Lee | 07.22.2019

It’s true. Confession could cost your reputation. It could result in an awkward conversation. But freedom in the gracious, holy light of God is priceless.

7 Well-Meaning Objections to Church Discipline — And How Pastors Ought to Respond to Them

By C. Greggsen, S. Emadi | 07.05.2019

Let’s briefly consider some of the “good-faith” objections to discipline we’ve encountered and how we try to help church members understand the theological principles undergirding discipline.

Two Reasons a Church Shouldn’t Have Multiple Gatherings

By Kyle Schwahn | 07.01.2019

I’ve pastored my church for over twelve years. We’ve always had two morning services, and I never gave them much thought. Until . . .

Mailbag #84: I Live too Far from A Healthy Church. What Should I Do? . . . Among Baptists, What’s the History of a Plurality of Elders?

By S. Emadi, S. DeMars | 05.31.2019

— I live in an extremely rural area where we have many churches but none that are healthy. What should I do? — Many Baptist churches now have multiple elders. I understand the biblical case for this, but what’s the history of a plurality of elders among Baptists?