The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel

Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel is somewhat refreshing in a day of church growth books mainly focused on programs. I mentioned Mark Dever before, and this is the book I hoped to read. Hope fulfilled today. Not a flashy book. Not a whole lot of new insights. Just some key reminders that it is the Gospel that matters. A few quotes: "Our power is not in having small groups, or meeting the felt needs of our target audience, or using the right evangelism program, or having funny skits, or providing plenteous parking, or targeting our ministry to post-moderns. Our power is in our unique message -- the Gospel" (p. 27). "We should be cultivating among our congregations a deep concern over the fame of God's name to extend to other parts of the globe throughout the preaching of His Gospel to all the nations and for the corporate testimony of our own local church to functions as a manifestation of God's wisdom and power to the authorities that hold sway under his sovereignty in the spiritual real" (p. 201). "We need to be teaching people that a biblical church is about much more than simply meeting our felt needs for purpose, significance, fellowship, and mutual understanding. It is about the Glory of God in the Gospel of Christ" (p. 201)