If You Want to Read One Book on the Church

I read (or re-read) about 20 books on the church this week (ironic — I’m writing a book on productivity, and yet I felt compelled to review my understanding of the church before fully diving in; there is a relationship there that I might talk about sometime).

Many of the books were really good, but one of them stands out above all others: Mark Dever’s Nine Marks of a Healthy Church.

Whether or not you are a pastor, it is important for all Christians to have a good grasp of the doctrine of the church and what makes for a healthy church. One reason for this, as I blogged the other day (also from Dever’s book), is that it is ultimately the church members who, at the human level, are most responsible for what the church becomes.

With that in mind, if you are looking for the one book to read that might give you the best help in understanding what makes for a healthy church, I would recommend Dever’s Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. You will be more equipped to serve your church and love people if you read this book — whether or not you are a pastor.

And, it’s also an enjoyable read.

March 11, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Comments

6 Responses to “If You Want to Read One Book on the Church”

Roy Verrips on March 11th, 2011 2:28 pm

I loved 9Marks as well – Was the followup, Deliberate Church, also on your list. It’s a natural followup with some very practical applications of the 9 Marks. Also, a smaller version, “What is a Healthy Church” is a good gift-sized give-away
Matt on March 11th, 2011 2:46 pm

Yes–_The Deliberate Church_ was also excellent and very helpful. Agreed on _What is a Healthy Church_ as well. A great intro and good gift.
Loren Pinilis on March 13th, 2011 11:26 pm

Huh – Now you’ve got my gears turning. I’d be fascinated to hear your take on how the church is related to productivity.
I know thaqt Harvey’s thoughts about the local church in “Rescuing Ambition” were incredibly eye-opening for me.
JC on March 14th, 2011 8:19 am

Good post. But I’m still stuck at the first sentence. 20 books this week? Really? That is a lot of reading. Just the Nine Marks book is 288 pages. That is amazing, I am encouraged to read more.
JC on March 17th, 2011 8:46 am

Ok, I’ve been thinking about this a couple of days now, and I must ask you about your reading habits. The way I see it, you read 20 books last week, that averages 3/day. One of them was the book you mention above, which is 288 pages, according to Amazon. I’ll be conservative and average the other 19 at 200 pages. That still puts you reading about 600 – 800 pages A DAY. How is this possible? I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, doubting that you did it. I just want to know how you consume that many words in a day (actual reading, audiobooks?), let alone process all of that information. And how on earth do you find time for anything else?

I would love to hear insight about your reading habits. I would love to read more, but it seems hard enough to find time (and attention span) to read the 40 or 50 pages (not including blogs I follow, etc.) I read daily. Thanks.
Matt on March 20th, 2011 8:38 pm

JC: It would be fun to do some posts or such on this. Here are a few things.

First, I definitely couldn’t do this every week. I had to “set the table” really well by making this the primary focus of my week. Get up early, work as long as I have the energy to, and etc.

Second, I vary my reading speed quite a bit. I slow down when the material is new or less familiar, and speed up when it is more familiar. Some books I go relatively slow through, and some I go through very fast. The biggest thing is perseverance.

Third, I end up going through each book a second time as well by reviewing my underlining and typing key points into my notes. I find this especially helpful in cementing things. This second time through is usually very fast, although for a paradigm-shaping book I will often go very slowly through this second time.