Dever Mark - The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel

The great strength of this short book is the rare combination of theological reflection with practical advice. There are many books that offer one or the other; rare is the volume that thinks deeply about Scripture and theology, yet works out the cash value in the how to dimensions of ministry.

D. A. CARSON
Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Mark Dever is deeply concerned about the health of the church. His life and ministry have been devoted to the task of leading a healthy congregation for the glory of God. In The Deliberate Church Dr. Dever and Paul Alexander lead us into the practical application of the biblical principles Mark Dever has advocated for years. Read this book to discover the biblical basis of and key approaches to leading your congregation to become the church God intended her to be.

THOM S. RAINER
Dean, The Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism, and Church Growth, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Here is a novel idea: use the Bible as a handbook to gather and guide the church! And The Deliberate Church is a novel volume indeed, standing amid the spate of church-as-corporation, pastor-as-CEO manuals which glut church life. Here is a book which wafts a radical, refreshing breeze from the pages of Scripture which will breathe life into the church. A crucial read.

R. KENT HUGHES
Senior Pastor, College Church in Wheaton (IL)

Mark Dever is a faithful, wise, biblical pastor who for years now has been helping other pastors to be more faithful to the Bible in the pattern of local church life and ministry. The Deliberate Church is yet another gift from his ministry to all of us who want the local church to be reformed according to Scripture. This book is the perfect example of what a truly practical book on church health and growth should beit gives concrete guidance for and examples of biblical principles being put into practice in the life and ministry of the local congregation. In this era of massive cultural changes the churchs witness hangs in the balance. It will be those congregations most different from the world and most shaped by the Word that will be most strategic as beacons of Gospel truth in the coming post-Christendom era. This book will help the leaders of the local church vigorously rethink what we do and why we do it, in light of the Bibles teaching.

J. LIGON DUNCAN III
Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi President, Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals

As both a long-time pastor and current seminary president, I want to say simply and clearly: I love this book! I want to give it to all the pastors-in-training in our Masters of Divinity program, all our graduates now serving around the world, all the church workers in our denomination, and all my friends who love and serve the Church.

This is the most biblically directed and practically helpful discussion of applied ecclesiology that I have read. The Deliberate Church has a bit of the feel of Luthers Tischreden (Table Talks); i.e., it is a young pastor-scholar (Alexander) listening to an experienced pastor-scholar (Dever) about the church and recording that conversation. This talk begins where it simply must begin for those committed to the authority of Scripture: namely, God telling us what He intended His church to be. Only when we have listened to that do we learn from Dever and Alexander about what the church should do. (Prayerfully, what our churches do will be directed by what our Father says we are!) And only then do we arrive where so many evangelical churches want to beginthinking about how we organize our activity. Dever and Alexander guide us in a very practical way through the implications of the truths of Gods Word about the daily workings of a local church.

My reading of The Deliberate Church has fanned into a greater flame my ongoing love for the church. The book has rekindled my passion to serve a church in which the Gospel is central. It has recreated a longing for a church that is an increasingly clear display of Gods wisdom and glory to the heavenly powers and to the surrounding community.

GREG WAYBRIGHT
President, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

By the grace of God, Mark Dever is working tirelessly to build a thriving, God-centered, Bible-teaching, Gospel-driven church on Capitol Hill. The DeliberateChurch shares many of the ministry lessons that Dr. Dever and his colleagues have learned from Scripture and sought to implement in the life of their church community. This book is for anyone who wants to get serious about following the biblical pattern for the church and is looking for down-to-earth practical help.

PHILIP GRAHAM RYKEN
Senior Minister, Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia Council Member, Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals

Rare indeed are books on the church that begin with the Gospel. Rarer still are books that derive methodology for building the church from the Gospel. This excellent book does both. And both are evident in the personal example and pastoral ministry of Mark Dever. This book is a gift to all pastors and is must reading for all pastors.

C. J. MAHANEY
Sovereign Grace Ministries

Mark Dever has given as much intentional, disciplined, biblical thought to the issues confronting the church in the twenty-first century as any of her caretakers. This present work is the latest of a series of publications in which he has established a thoughtfully tested theological matrix for ecclesiology. He prompts the reader through well-placed questions to consider the authority for church structure, the character of the church, its form, its worship, its ordinances, its proclamation, its officers and their qualifications, the manner in which it conducts its proper business, and its outreach. His approach guides us to practical implementation of those things necessary for lively, God-honoring, Christ-centered, biblically faithful church life.

TOM J. NETTLES
Professor of Church History, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

The strength of The Deliberate Church lies in its combination of biblical fidelity and unapologetic practicality. We can be appropriately wary of all the how-to manuals out there, but practical help is needed and this book delivers itbiblically derived, carefully considered, faithfully tested practical help. It provides this help through both thorough coverage of the essentials of building a healthy church and the introduction of very useful categoriesthings like evangelistic exposition and reverse membership interviews. Ours is a haphazard age and as a result there is a crying need in the local church for a solidly biblical intentionality. TheDeliberate Church will be a great help in meeting that need.

MIKE BULLMORE
Senior Pastor, Crossway Community Church, Kenosha, WI

The church of Jesus Christ is now confronted with a confusing array of consultants, advisors, and analystsall ready to dispense the latest managerial advice. How is the church to regain its bearings in the midst of such clutter? Along comes Mark Dever with The Deliberate Churchand its about time! Here is one of the most faithful and insightful pastors of our time, addressing the most crucial issues of church life. Mark Dever refuses to separate theology and congregational life, combining pastoral insight with clear biblical teaching. This book is a powerful antidote to the merely pragmatic approaches of our dayand a refutation to those who argue that theology just isnt practical.

R. ALBERT MOHLER, JR.
President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel

Copyright 2005 by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander

Published by Crossway Books