Pastors Talk - A podcast by 9Marks

On the Pleasures of God with John Piper (Ep. 338)

9Marks — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 05:00:00 -0400

In this special episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever welcome John Piper to reflect on his book The Pleasures of God, newly reissued by Crossway. Together they explore why God's self-exaltation is not vanity but love, how grace overflows from a God who is full and free, the connection between God's glory and His happiness, and why a gloomy view of God distorts everything downstream.

Special Episode: On Preaching About the American Revolution (Ep. 337)

9Marks — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 05:00:35 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever discuss the unusual sermon Mark preached on July 5th, 2026 — the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence; tackling the question, "Are we celebrating the 250th anniversary of a sin?" Along the way they reflect on when to depart from expositional preaching for a topical occasion, rightly ordered love of country versus idolatry.

Special Episode: On Lessons from Mark's Medical Event (Ep. 336)

9Marks — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 05:00:18 -0400

In this special episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman sits down with Mark and Connie Dever to talk through Mark's sudden medical event. Mark and Connie recount the story, from the emergency room to Mark's slow recovery, and reflect on what the experience revealed: how a healthy church cares for a pastor and his family in crisis, and the importance of building those habits of mutual care long before you need them.

On Raising Up Leaders Part 4 (Ep. 335)

9Marks — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 05:00:23 -0400

In the season finale of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman is joined by Ligon Duncan and Michael Lawrence to discuss the state of the pastoral pipeline — examining why fewer men are entering ministry, the role of demographics and seminary debt, and what healthy churches and seminaries can do about it.

On Raising Up Leaders Part 3 (Ep. 334)

9Marks — Tue, 26 May 2026 05:00:20 -0400

In part three of their series on raising up leaders, Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever work through nine practical principles Mark uses to identify and develop future pastors — from spotting qualified men and extending trust early, to delegating well, cultivating feedback loops, embracing a healthy view of authority, and modeling clarity and humility. Along the way they discuss why spending time with a few people often matters more than chasing a platform, and why a senior pastor who always wins the vote is quietly undermining his own eldership.

On Raising Up Leaders Part 2 (Ep. 333)

9Marks — Tue, 19 May 2026 05:00:19 -0400

Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever continue their conversation on raising up leaders, exploring the connection between discipleship, evangelism, and church planting, how to measure ministry fruitfulness beyond numbers, and what it means to steward your church for the next pastor.

On Raising Up Leaders Part 1 (Ep. 332)

9Marks — Tue, 12 May 2026 05:00:20 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan and Mark dive into the essential, yet often challenging, practice of raising up leaders and passing out authority. They discuss what it takes to build a ministry around giving authority away rather than consolidating it.

On Drifting from the Gospel (Ep. 331)

9Marks — Tue, 05 May 2026 05:00:31 -0400

Hebrews 2:1 warns believers to pay close attention to the gospel message to avoid drifting away from their faith. Mark and Jonathan talk to Jared Wilson about his book on this topic and how believers should be thinking carefully about the centrality of the gospel in their lives.

On "Can I Reimburse that as a Pastor?" (Ep. 330)

9Marks — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 05:00:26 -0400

How should pastors think about their work hours? What are some principles that churches and pastors can consider for pastors to get reimbursed? Mark and Jonathan talk with Garrett and Mike on lessons learned.

On Discerning Repentance in Church Discipline (Ep. 329)

9Marks — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 05:00:29 -0400

Should Christians talk about discerning the repentance of other Christians? What are the instructions from the New Testament to churches? Mark and Jonathan invite Caleb Morell to discuss this.

On The Homebound and Those Near Death (Ep. 328)

9Marks — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 05:00:18 -0400

How to pastor and walk with those in the unique season of life when they can't leave home and approaching death. Mark and Jonathan discuss practical ideas on how to be mindful as pastors.

On Eastern Orthodoxy Part 2 (Ep. 327)

9Marks — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 05:00:19 -0400

Jonathan and Mark Feather talk to Joshua Schooping, a former Eastern Orthodox priest, on how to pastor church members who may be considering joining the Eastern Orthodox church.

On Eastern Orthodoxy Part 1 (Ep. 326)

9Marks — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 05:00:20 -0400

Jonathan, Mark and Mark Feather talk to Joshua Schooping, a former Eastern Orthodox priest, on the reasons he had to leave that church.

On The Ministry of Small Things and Fighting Pastoral Cynicism (Ep. 325)

9Marks — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 05:00:17 -0400

Jonathan talks to Reuben Bredenhof, author of The Ministry of Small Things. They consider the ordinary ministry of pastors, focusing on all the small things they must be faithful to, and reflect on the temptation of pastoral cynicism.

On Why Should Pastors Teach the Job Description of Deacons (Ep. 324)

9Marks — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 05:00:19 -0400

If Jesus is the great deacon, what does that say about the office of deacon in our churches?

Jonathan sits down with Larry Lazarus to discuss why it is important for churches to know the job descriptions of deacons.

On Why Should Pastors Teach Their Job Descriptions (Ep. 323)

9Marks — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 05:00:18 -0400

Have you ever wondered why it's important for congregations to know their pastor's job description according to the Bible? Jonathan sits down with his senior pastor, Larry Lazarus, to consider this question.

On Expositional Preaching with H.B. Charles Jr. (Ep. 322)

9Marks — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 05:00:17 -0500

Mark talks to H.B. Charles Jr. on ministerial calling and how he prepares for preaching.

On Getting to know HB Charles Jr (Ep. 321)

9Marks — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 05:00:26 -0500

Mark sits down with H.B. Charles Jr. to talk about his ministerial journey and how God has used him.

On Religious Liberty (Ep. 320)

9Marks — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 05:00:15 -0500

Is there a doctrine of religious liberty in the Bible? Mark and Jonathan talk with Andrew Walker on how to think about this question.

On Persecution in Missions (Ep. 319)

9Marks — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 05:00:16 -0500

On this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark and Jonathan talk with Matt Rhodes about his new book, Persecution in Missions.

On John Cotton's Congregationalism (Ep. 318)

9Marks — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 05:00:20 -0500

On this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark and Jonathan invite Stephen Yuille and Caleb Morell to talk about the writing of John Cotton, focusing on his perspective on Congregationalism.

On Church-Disrupting Protests (Ep. 317)

9Marks — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 05:00:23 -0500

How should christians think about protests that stop church services?
Mark and Jonathan talk about the recent disruption that happened at St. Paul Church.

On What’s the Most Important Thing About a Church (Ep. 316)

9Marks — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 05:00:19 -0500

Mark and Jonathan talk to Jimmy Scroggins about similarities and difference on how 9Marks' principle apply in a mega church context.

On Reviewing the Year 2025 (Ep. 315)

9Marks — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 05:00:20 -0500

Mark and Jonathan sit down and review this past year by talking about the transition and sharing a top 10 list of things 9Marks did.

On Fighting Boredom and Repetition (Ep. 314)

9Marks — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 05:00:18 -0500

How should people in ministry relate to boredom and the nature of repetition? Mark and Jonathan talk about the good and the concerns on how we relate to those things.

You can enter the giveaway at mbts.edu/pastorstalk

On How to Talk to the Church about the Budget (Ep. 313)

9Marks — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 05:00:21 -0500

As a pastor, talking to the church about money and the budget could be difficult for several reasons. In this episode Jonathan and Mark talk to Jamie Dunlop about his experience when he talks to the church about the budget.

On Weddings (Ep. 312)

9Marks — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 05:00:18 -0500

Does the Bible require pastors to officiate weddings? How should we think about christian marriage ceremonies? In this episode Mark and Jonathan discuss the practice of weddings.

On The Ordinances (Ep. 311)

9Marks — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 23:13:22 -0500

Mark and Jonathan talk with Taylor Hartley on the new issue of Church Matters and on the Ordinances.

On Congregationalism (Ep. 310)

9Marks — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 05:00:16 -0400

Finally! After 300 episodes we cover the topic of Congregationalism. Mark and Jonathan discuss the biblical evidence and its helpfulness for the life of the church

On Prioritizing Missions in the Church (Ep. 309)

9Marks — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 05:00:20 -0400

Mark and Jonathan talk to Aaron and Harshit about their book Prioritizing Missions in the Church and how important it is for the life of the church.

On Christianity in Brazil (Ep. 308)

9Marks — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 05:00:17 -0400

Mark and Jonathan talk to Vinicius Musselman Pimentel about christianity in Brazil and book publishing.

On Prison Ministry (Ep. 307)

9Marks — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 05:00:16 -0400

How is prison ministry done and how does it connect to the local church? Can you have a church inside of a prison? Jonathan Leeman interviews Jamey Norman and Sean DeMars.

On the Africa Statement on the Prosperity Gospel and Word of Faith Theology (Ep. 306)

9Marks — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 05:00:19 -0400

Mark and Jonathan talk to John Musyimi about the release and the content of the Africa Statement on Prosperity Gospel and Word of Faith Theology.

On Christianity in Lebanon (Ep. 305)

9Marks — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 05:00:17 -0400

Mark and Jonathan talk to Issam about the state of Christianity in Lebanon.

On Prioritizing the Church in Missions (Ep. 304)

9Marks — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 05:00:17 -0400

Mark and Jonathan interview John Folmar and Scott Logsdon on their new Church-Centered Missions book Prioritizing the Church in Missions.

On Pastors Loving Their Wives Well (Ep. 303)

9Marks — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 05:00:16 -0400

Mark and Jonathan talk to Zach and Garrett on how they seek to love their wives well while pastoring their churches.

On Remembering John MacArthur (Ep. 302)

9Marks — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 05:00:17 -0400

On this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan asks Mark about his friendship with John MacArthur.

On Selecting the Winners for the 300th Giveaway

9Marks — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 05:00:15 -0400

Jonathan selects two winners for the 300th episode giveaway!

On Christianity in France (Ep. 301)

9Marks — Tue, 27 May 2025 07:20:34 -0400

In the last few decades France has become more secular. In this episode, Mark and Jonathan interview pastor Matthieu Giralt about the state of Christianity and his personal church experience.

On Your Questions - Celebrating 300 Episodes

9Marks — Tue, 20 May 2025 05:00:14 -0400

To celebrate the 300th episode milestone, Mark and Jonathan answer some of the questions that were submitted by the community.

On Growing Up in a "Christian" Colony (Ep. 299)

9Marks — Tue, 13 May 2025 05:00:15 -0400

There are many "Christians"communities out there, but do they proclaim the biblical gospel? Mark and Jonathan talk to Josh Waldner who grew up in a Hutterites colony.

On the Book From Eden to Egypt (Ep. 298)

9Marks — Tue, 06 May 2025 05:00:14 -0400

Why did Alex duke write From Eden to Egypt? Mark and Jonathan interview Alex on the burden behind the book.

On the Pastors Library (Ep. 297)

9Marks — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 05:00:12 -0400

Jonathan and Mark share how they structure their libraries and also discuss how much importance pastors should give to their libraries.

On Ministering When Spiritually Dry (Ep. 296)

9Marks — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 05:00:13 -0400

There are seasons in a pastor's life when they could feel spiritually dry. In this episode, Mark and Jonathan, alongside 2 friends, think practically about what to do in those seasons.

On Maturity (Ep. 295)

9Marks — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 05:00:12 -0400

Jonathan talks to Samuel James about an article he wrote and together consider how maturity should look like inside of the church in light of the times we live in.

On the Pastor's Personal Evangelism (Ep. 294)

9Marks — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 05:00:13 -0400

Mark and Jonathan talk about the pastor's personal evangelism and consider how to carefully think about how we should relate to it.

Related Resources:

Evangelism by Mack Stiles
How Do I Get Started in Evangelism? by Mack Stiles
What If I'm Discouraged in My Evangelism? by Isaac Adams
The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever

On A Light on the Hill (Ep. 293)

9Marks — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 05:00:12 -0400

Mark and Jonathan talk to the author of A Light on the Hill, which tells the history of a church 5 blocks from the US Capitol: Capitol Hill Baptist Church.

On Extra Biblical Qualifications for Elders (Ep. 292)

9Marks — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 05:00:47 -0400

Are there other qualifications for considering men as elders aside from the Bible's? In this episode Jonathan and Mark discuss what other things could be considered when nominating elders.

On Pastors as Writers (Ep. 291)

9Marks — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 05:00:12 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about the good desire some pastors have to write outside of church ministry and how to think about it.

Subscribe to our new podcast, A Storm in the Desert, here: https://www.9marks.org/podcast/a-storm-in-the-desert/

On Christianity in Colombia (Ep. 290)

9Marks — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 05:00:12 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk with the President of Poiema (a Spanish publisher) about the state of Christianity in Colombia.

On the Pastor's Private Prayer Life (Ep. 289)

9Marks — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 05:00:14 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Caleb Morell interviews Mark Dever about some general practices of his private prayer life.

Subscribe to our new podcast, A Storm in the Desert.

On Running Your Staff (Ep. 288)

9Marks — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 05:00:13 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman discuss a way to possibly run your church staff.

Subscribe to our new podcast: A Storm in the Desert

A Storm in the Desert: Mack + Leeann (Ep. 1)

9Marks — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 05:00:14 -0500

Introducing a new podcast from 9Marks—A Storm in the Desert.

In 1972, at the base of a Swiss mountain, God saved a man named Mack Stiles. Two decades later, John Folmar “accepted Jesus as his personal Savior”; he doesn’t know even where he first heard that phrase. What happens in the next quarter-century is a testament to God’s commitment to use faithful, ordinary ministry to effect fruitful, extraordinary change. A Storm in the Desert tells this story.

The first act in our story covers a lot of ground—from an icy crevice on a Swiss mountain to a below-freezing night capped off by the fiery Billy Graham. It involves a surprising conversion that eventually leads to a transatlantic flight on an empty plane. This is the story of Mack and Leeann.

Subscribe to our new podcast, A Storm in the Desert.

On The Evangelistic Power of Exclusivity (Ep. 287)

9Marks — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 05:00:13 -0500

Can one belong before believing? In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Caleb Morell discuss the evangelistic power of exclusivity.

Subscribe to our new podcast, A Storm in the Desert.

On Service Reviews (Ep. 286)

9Marks — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 05:00:13 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about service reviews. What is it? What do you talk about during service reviews? What if some feedback is too harsh? Mark Dever shares how the lead pastor can utilize this time to not only make the services better in the future, but also pastor and shepherd his staff and members.

Subscribe to our new podcast, A Storm in the Desert, here: https://www.9marks.org/podcast/a-storm-in-the-desert/

On A Storm in the Desert Podcast (Ep. 285)

9Marks — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 05:00:13 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman interviews Alex Duke and Alberto Jaquez about A Storm in the Desert, a new podcast series by 9Marks.

Subscribe to our new podcast, A Storm in the Desert, here: https://www.9marks.org/podcast/a-storm-in-the-desert/

On Christianity in Indonesia (Ep. 284)

9Marks — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 05:00:13 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman interview Eric Yee, lead pastor of Harvest Mission Community Church of Jakarta, about Christianity in Indonesia.

On Internships Part 2 (Ep. 283)

9Marks — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 05:00:11 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk again about the nuts and bolts of pastoral internship in a local church.

On Being Convictional without Being Cranky (Ep. 282)

9Marks — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 05:00:12 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman chat about how pastors can be both convictional and charitable.

On Internship Part 1 (Ep. 281)

9Marks — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 05:00:14 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about pastoral internships

On Small Groups: Helpful, not Essential (Ep. 280)

9Marks — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 05:00:14 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about small groups and how they can help the church while it not being an essential part of what a church is.

On How Sound Ecclesiology Protects the Gospel (Ep. 279)

9Marks — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 05:00:08 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about how sound ecclesiology protects the gospel in a local church.

On Leading Inductive Bible Studies (Ep. 278)

9Marks — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 05:00:09 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about how to lead inductive bible studies.

On the Church in Portugal, with Tiago Oliveira (Ep. 277)

9Marks — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 07:37:33 -0400

In this episode, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman interview Tiago Oliveira, a pastor of First Baptist Church of Lisbon, about the state of Christianity in Lisbon.

Episode 276: On the Importance of Ecclesiology for a Church Plant, with Matt Smethurst

9Marks — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 05:00:07 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman interview Matt Smethurst, a pastor of River City Baptist Church, on the importance of ecclesiology for a church plant.

Episode 275: On Seasons in a Pastor's Life

9Marks — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 05:00:08 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about our newest Church Matters: Seasons in a Pastor's Life.

Episode 274: On an Unbelieving Australian’s Journey to Being a Baptist Pastor

9Marks — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 05:00:06 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman interview Grant Borg, pastor of Church of the Risen King Jesus, about his spiritual journey and the state of Christianity in Australia.

Episode 273: On Youth Ministry, with Mark Feather and Alex Duke

9Marks — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 05:00:11 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman interviews Mark Feather and Alex Duke about how to lead youth group with the whole church in mind.

Related resources:
– Our Main Goals for Youth Ministry
– Youth Ministry and the Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self
– LGBTQ+ Policies: What Do We Do about Youth Group?

Episode 272: On Christianity in Kazakhstan, with Dennis Boris

9Marks — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 05:00:06 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman interviews Dennis Boris, a pastor of Almaty Bible Church in Kazakhstan, about the state of Christianity and local churches.

Episode 271: On ACME, with Aaron Menikoff, Greg Gilbert, Juan Sanchez, and Sebastian Traeger

9Marks — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 06:00:02 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman interviews Aaron Menikoff, Greg Gilbert, Juan Sanchez, and Sebastian Traeger about a new network of like-minded churches: the ACME Fellowship.

Check out ACMEfellowship.org for more information.

Episode 270: On Pastoral Transition, with Phil Newton and Bob Johnson

9Marks — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 07:00:02 -0400

Pastors Talk is back for season 9! In this episode, Jonathan Leeman interviews Phil Newton and Bob Johnson about pastoral transition and retirement.

Related Resources:

Articles: Preparing Pastors for Retirement by Brad Thayer, There’s No Such Thing as “Retiring” From Ministry by David Gough

Journal: Seasons in a Pastor's Life

Episode 269: On The (Not-So-Secret) Secret to Reaching the Next Generation with Kevin DeYoung

9Marks — Tue, 28 May 2024 05:00:11 -0400

Many pastors rightly desire to reach the next generation. But how should they?

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman interviews Kevin DeYoung on his new book, The (Not-So-Secret) Secret to Reaching the Next Generation

Episode 268: On Preparing to Plant with Jeri Choi, Welton Bonner, and Bobby Jamieson

9Marks — Tue, 21 May 2024 08:42:55 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman chat with Jeri Choi, Welton Bonner, and Bobby Jamieson about preparing to plant a church.

Episode 267: On Biblical Covenants, with Bobby Jamieson

9Marks — Tue, 07 May 2024 05:00:06 -0400

What covenant is the new covenant replacing? If your answer is the old covenant, what do you mean?

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman chat with Bobby Jamieson about the implications of biblical covenants in a local church.

Episode 266: On Raising Up Associate Pastors, with Bobby Jamieson, Mark Feather, and Deepak Reju

9Marks — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 05:00:05 -0400

What makes a good associate pastor? How can he complement a senior pastor’s weaknesses and extend his strengths?

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman interviews Deepak Reju, Bobby Jamieson, and Mark Feather about their experience as associate pastors.

Episode 265: On Pastoring Frustrated Sheep

9Marks — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 05:00:06 -0400

Pastors are called to lead their sheep, even the frustrated ones.

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about how pastors should care for frustrated sheep in the church.

Episode 264: On the Doctrine of the Trinity, with Bobby Jamieson and Mark Feather

9Marks — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 05:00:05 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman interview Bobby Jamieson and Mark Feather about why pastors should care about studying the doctrine of the Trinity.

Episode 263: On When You and Your Boss Have Different Philosophies of Ministry

9Marks — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 05:00:02 -0400

What should you do when you disagree with your boss? Should you stay or leave? What are disagreeable philosophies of ministry? In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about what you should do when you disagree with your boss.

Counseling Talk—Episode 1: On Counseling Talk

9Marks — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 16:09:08 -0400

Counseling Talk is here!

In this episode, Jonathan Leeman interviews the hosts—Deepak Reju, Hayley Satrom, and Garrett Kell—about the what and why of Counseling Talk.

Episode 262: On Children's Ministry (Part 2), with Connie Dever

9Marks — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 05:00:02 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman interview Connie Dever about children's ministry.

Episode 261: On Children's Ministry (Part 1), with Connie Dever

9Marks — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 05:00:03 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman interview Connie Dever about children's ministry in a local church.

Episode 260: On Residential or Online Seminary?

9Marks — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 05:00:01 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman chat about seminary training.

Episode 259: On Corporate Application in Preaching, with Cheston Pickard

9Marks — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 05:00:02 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman chat with Cheston Pickard, a pastor in Louisville, about corporate applications in preaching.

Episode 258: On When May a Congregation Vote Against its Elders, with Jamie Dunlop

9Marks — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 05:00:02 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman chat with Jamie Dunlop about when a congregation should vote against its elders.

Episode 257: On Congregational Singing

9Marks — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 05:00:02 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about congregational singing in a local church.

Why do Christians sing?
What kinds of songs should we sing at church?
What is congregational singing?
What does Colossians 3:16 mean?
How can I help my church to sing?

Episode 256: On Leadership and Church Size Dynamics

9Marks — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 05:00:03 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman interact with Tim Keller's article, "Leadership and Church Size Dynamics"

Tips for leading my church well
What program should I start in my church?
How can I lead my church staff well?
What kind of leadership skill should pastors have?
What are some problems that small churches face?
What are some problems that big churches face?

Episode 255: On Transcendence

9Marks — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 05:00:02 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about transcendence in worship services.

Episode 254: On Interacting After Church Discipline

9Marks — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 05:00:03 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about how we should interact with church disciplined members.

Episode 253: On Criteria for Church Discipline

9Marks — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 05:00:03 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about different criteria for discipline.

Episode 252: On Catholicity

9Marks — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 10:55:11 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about the newest edition of Church Matters, Catholicity: Churches Partnering Together.

Episode 251: On Love the Ones Who Drive You Crazy (with Jamie Dunlop)

9Marks — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 05:00:03 -0500

If your church is centered on Christ alone, unity will sometimes involve building genuine friendships with Christians with whom you honestly don't share much in common.

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever interviews Jamie Dunlop about his new book, Love the Ones Who Drive You Crazy.

Episode 250: On Statements of Faith

9Marks — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 09:38:22 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about the role and the importance of statements of faith.

Episode 249: On Church Covenants

9Marks — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 05:00:03 -0500

What's the history behind church covenants? Do they have more or less authority than the Bible? Is having a church covenant abusive? In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about church covenants.

Episode 248: On Words

9Marks — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 05:00:03 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talks about the importance of words in pastoral ministry.

Episode 247: On Shepherding the Pastor (with Phil Newton and Rich Shadden)

9Marks — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 05:00:03 -0400

Young pastors often have clear vision but little depth perception. From the interview phase to what to preach next, young pastors need guidance from older pastors around the area to offer wisdom and guidance.

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman chat with Phil Newton and Rich Shadden, authors of Shepherding the Pastor.

Episode 246: On Planting by Pastoring (with Nathan Knight)

9Marks — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 05:00:03 -0400

In this Pastors Talk episode, Mark and Jonathan interview Nathan Knight, one of the pastors at Restoration Church in Washington, D.C.

Episode 245: On Pastoral, Public Tone (with Kevin DeYoung)

9Marks — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 05:00:03 -0400

In this Pastors Talk episode, Jonathan interviews Mark and Kevin DeYoung on pastoral, public tone.

Episode 244: On Authority

9Marks — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 09:19:19 -0400

Dr. Leeman is in the hot seat! In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark interviews Jonathan about his new book, Authority, and how Christians should wield authority.

Authority by Jonathan Leeman

Episode 243: On Pastoring (with Bart Barber)

9Marks — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 05:00:03 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark and Jonathan talk with Bart Barber, the President of the Southern Baptist Convention, about pastoring.

Episode 242: On Staffing Titles

9Marks — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 05:00:03 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark and Jonathan chat about staffing titles in the church.

Episode 241: On How to Disagree with Your Pastor

9Marks — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 05:00:03 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark and Jonathan talk about how to disagree with your pastor.

Episode 240: On Friendship with God (with Mike McKinley)

9Marks — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 09:54:33 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark and Jonathan interview Mike McKinley about his new book, Friendship with God: A Path to Deeper Fellowship with the Father, Son, and Spirit

Episode 239: On A New Christian Authoritarianism?

9Marks — Wed, 31 May 2023 05:00:02 -0400

A few weeks ago, we published a new edition of Church Matters—formerly known as the 9Marks Journal—that addresses a few unusual topics: Christian nationalism, theonomy, and magisterial Protestantism.

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever explain why.

Episode 238: On American Exceptionalism (with John Wilsey)

9Marks — Tue, 23 May 2023 05:00:03 -0400

How should a Christian think about patriotism? Why should pastors especially be careful of both nostalgia and cynicism?

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with SBTS professor John D. Wilsey about all these questions and more.

Episode 237: On Having Difficult Conversations

9Marks — Tue, 16 May 2023 05:00:02 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan chats with Mark about this under-reported aspect of a pastor's job description.

Episode 236: On Is Hell Real (with Dane Ortlund)

9Marks — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 09:07:22 -0400

Episode 235: On Spurgeon the Pastor (with Geoff Chang)

9Marks — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 05:00:02 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark and Jonathan chat with Geoff Chang about Spurgeon the pastor.

Episode 234: On Spurgeon and the Poor (with Alex DiPrima)

9Marks — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 05:00:02 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark and Jonathan chat with Alex DiPrima, the author of Spurgeon and the Poor.

Episode 233: On Charges of Domestic Abuse (with Deepak Reju)

9Marks — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 05:00:02 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark and Jonathan chat with Deepak Reju about pastoral responses to domestic abuse.

Episode 232: On Reaching and Mobilizing College Students (with Matt Schmucker and Paul Billings)

9Marks — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 05:00:03 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark and Jonathan talk with Matt Schmucker and Paul Billings about reaching, discipling, and mobilizing college students for missions.

Episode 231: On the Lord's Supper - Nuts and Bolts (with Bobby Jamieson)

9Marks — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 05:00:03 -0400

It's clear in Scripture: local churches should celebrate the Lord's Supper. But there's a lot about these celebrations that is up to us to decide. In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan asks Mark and Bobby a ton of rapid-fire questions about the Lord's Supper.

Episode 230: On Christian Publishing in Africa (with Tommie van der Walt)

9Marks — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 18:35:53 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark and Jonathan chat with Tommie van der Walt about the state of Christian publishing in South Africa.

Episode 229: On Green Dot and Red Dot Churches

9Marks — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 05:00:02 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan and Mark talk about “red-dot churches” and “green-dot churches.”

Related Resources:

“Discipling” by Mark Dever
“Evangelism” by Mack Stiles
“Elders–The Church’s Lead Disciple-Makers” by Jeramie Rinne
“A Foolproof Discipling Program: Corporate Worship” by John Sarver
“Cultivating a Culture of Discipling” by Mark Dever (video)
“How can I as a church leader help cultivate a culture of discipleship?“

Episode 228: On Caring for Missionaries (with Miller Johnson)

9Marks — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 05:00:03 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman chat about how churches should care for their missionaries.

Mentioned Resource:

“Missions” by Andy Johnson

Related Resources:

“On Funding Missionaries” by Mark Dever, Jonathan Leeman, and Tyler Markson
“Stop Sending Missionaries: Why More Isn’t Always Better” by Steve Jennings
“Seven Principles for Funding Foreign Missions” by Tyler Markson
“How Can I Support International Missions?” by Mark Collins

Episode 227: On The Fear of Man

9Marks — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 05:00:02 -0500

Episode 226: On Asking Deacons What They Do (with Grayson Bishop, Mathew Freeman, Jen Kim, and Rebeca Roberts)

9Marks — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 05:00:02 -0500

Episode 225: On Beauty and Creativity in the Church (with Thomas Terry)

9Marks — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 05:00:02 -0500

Episode 224: On Why New Testament Polity Is Prescriptive (with Bobby Jamieson)

9Marks — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 05:00:02 -0500

Episode 223: On Shepherding after a Pastors Moral Failure (with Thomas Terry)

9Marks — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 05:00:02 -0500

Episode 222: On Humor (with Ben Lacey)

9Marks — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 05:00:02 -0500

Episode 221: On Elder Selection Process (with Bobby Jamieson)

9Marks — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 05:00:03 -0500

Episode 220: On Funding Missions

9Marks — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 05:00:03 -0500

Episode 219: On Pastoring in India (with Pastor Harshit)

9Marks — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 05:00:02 -0500

Episode 218: A Conversation with Michael Reeves

9Marks — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 05:00:02 -0500

Episode 217: On Pastoring in Afghanistan (with Josh Manley and two Afghan Pastors)

9Marks — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 05:00:02 -0500

Episode 216: On Singing (with John Piper)

9Marks — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 05:00:03 -0400

Episode 215: On Pastoring Through a Hurricane (with Jeramie Rinne)

9Marks — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 05:00:02 -0400

Episode 214: On Pastors - What You Should Know About Your Wife (with Keri Folmar and Jenny Manley)

9Marks — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 05:00:03 -0400

Priscilla Talk—Episode 1: What is Priscilla Talk?

9Marks — Wed, 12 Oct 2022 05:00:03 -0400

Episode 213: On The Pastor and Church Administration (with Jamie Dunlop and Ryan Townsend)

9Marks — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 05:00:03 -0400

Episode 212: On Preaching (with John Piper)

9Marks — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 05:00:02 -0400

Missions Talk—Episode 1: On The Reasons We Started Missions Talk

9Marks — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 05:00:02 -0400

Episode 211: On Playing the Long Game (with Dave Gobbett)

9Marks — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 05:00:02 -0400

Episode 210: On The State of Evangelicalism (with Ligon Duncan and Simon Gathercole)

9Marks — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 05:00:03 -0400

Episode 209: On Pursuing Revival While Avoiding Revivalism

9Marks — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 05:00:03 -0400

Episode 208: On What the Simeon Trust Guys Have Learned from Years of Training Preachers (w/ Michael Lawrence, Jeremy Meeks & Robert Kinney)

9Marks — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 05:00:02 -0400

Episode 207: On the History and Usefulness of Puritan Paperbacks (with Patrick Daly, Ligon Duncan, Nick Roark)

9Marks — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 05:00:02 -0400

Episode 206: On Christian Publishing in Russian (with Arman)

9Marks — Tue, 24 May 2022 15:58:58 -0400

Episode 205: On Pastoring International Churches (with Caleb Greggsen)

9Marks — Tue, 10 May 2022 05:00:03 -0400

Episode 204: On "No Shortcut to Success" Part 2 (with Matt Rhodes)

9Marks — Tue, 26 Apr 2022 05:00:04 -0400

Episode 203: On The Prosperity Gospel (with Sean DeMars and Mike McKinley)

9Marks — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 05:00:06 -0400

Episode 202: On Expressive Individualism (with Carl Trueman)

9Marks — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 05:00:03 -0400

Episode 201: On Pastoring in Germany (with Matthias Lohmann, Lukas Stadt, and Rudolf Tissen)

9Marks — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 09:13:11 -0400

Episode 200: On Loving People As They Leave

9Marks — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 05:00:03 -0400

Episode 199: On When to Leave Associations

9Marks — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 09:10:02 -0500

Episode 198: On What Should We Do about Members Who Won't Attend? (with Alex Duke)

9Marks — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 05:00:03 -0500

How can you tell if a church practices meaningful membership? Consider how it responds to those “members” who never attend. In this episode, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever and Alex Duke about how this topic is more important than you think.

Episode 197: On Discipling Your Elders

9Marks — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 06:36:11 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever about several practical ways elders can disciple other elders.

Episode 196: On "No Shortcut to Success" Part 1 (with Matt Rhodes)

9Marks — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 04:05:02 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan and Mark chat with Matt Rhodes, the author of "No Shortcut to Success: A Manifesto for Modern Missions."

They discuss rapidity in missions and whether or not missionaries should be “professionals.”

Episode 195: On Wisdom for New Pastors (with Bob Johnson, Omar Johnson, and Sam Emadi)

9Marks — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 03:00:03 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, two pastors—Bob Johnson and Omar Johnson—offer some counsel to a brand-new pastor, Sam Emadi.

Episode 194: On How the Puritans Shaped Mark's Ministry

9Marks — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 07:39:47 -0500

In this episode, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever about who the Puritans are and how they’ve shaped his ministry.

Episode 193: On Top 2021 News Stories for Pastors (with Collin Hansen & Garrett Kell)

9Marks — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 23:29:05 -0500

Last week, Collin Hansen reflected on the top stories of last year. So we had him and Garrett Kell on this episode of Pastors Talk to think through each of these stories pastorally.

Episode 192: On Pastoral Ministry in Post-Christian Sweden (with Johnny Lithell, Ben Lacey, and Caleb Morell)

9Marks — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 07:47:59 -0500

Mark Dever, Caleb Morell, and Ben Lacey chat with Swedish pastor Johnny Lithell about the ups and downs of ministry in a place with so few Christians.

Episode 191: On Pastoral Patience - Part 2 (with John Folmar & Josh Manley)

9Marks — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 06:57:56 -0500

In a previous episode, Jonathan Leeman chatted with Mark Dever, Josh Manley, and John Folmar about the value of pastoral patience.

In this follow-up episode, they discuss how a pastor can slowly change things in a church.

Episode 190: On Pastoral Patience - Part 1 (with John Folmar & Josh Manley)

9Marks — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 08:23:48 -0500

For the first ten minutes of this episode, Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever talk to Josh Manley and John Folmar about Christianity in Afghanistan and the UAE. Then they spend the rest of their time discussing the necessity of pastoral patience.

Episode 189: How Can I Support International Missions? (with Mark Collins)

9Marks — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 06:56:35 -0500

Every Christian has a role in supporting international missions. In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever and Mark Collins—a supported worker in East Asia—about the relationship between a church and its missionaries.

Episode 188: On Sound Doctrine and the Problems with the "Deconstruction" Project

9Marks — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 04:05:14 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever chats with Jonathan Leeman about our new Journal and, in particular, Jonathan’s Editor’s Note, which focuses on the problems of the “deconstruction” project.

Episode 187: On Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (4th Edition)

9Marks — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 06:45:58 -0500

We released Nine Marks of a Healthy Church more than 20 years ago. Today, we celebrate its fourth edition.

In this Pastors Talk episode, Jonathan chats with Mark about the book’s history, and how this edition introduces two “additional” marks.

Episode 186: On Gentle and Lowly (with Dane Ortlund)

9Marks — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 03:50:15 -0400

What’s the thesis of Gentle and Lowly? “Jesus is not who you think he is.”

Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever chat with Dane Ortlund about his book, and how it ought to shape pastors and local churches.

Episode 185: On The Path to Being a Pastor — Part 2 (with Bobby Jamieson)

9Marks — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 03:00:11 -0400

In a previous conversation, Jonathan chatted with Mark and Bobby about the value of going slowly down the road toward pastoral ministry, of being “filtered.” In this follow-up conversation, they discuss a host of other topics: character qualifications, marriage, biblical knowledge, devotional life, and more.

* * * * *

This conversation unpacks the content in Bobby’s new book, "The Path to Being a Pastor".

Episode 184: On The Path to Being a Pastor — Part 1 (with Bobby Jamieson)

9Marks — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 03:55:12 -0400

If you desire to be in pastoral ministry, then what should you do? How long should the path be?

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever and Bobby Jamieson about the first chapter of Bobby’s new book, "The Path to Being a Pastor".

Episode 183: On Church-Centered Missions vs Movement-Driven Missions

9Marks — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 08:01:43 -0400

What’s the difference between “movement-based missions” and “church-based missions”? In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mack Stiles, Brooks Buser, Scott Logsdon, and Aubrey Sequeira about these diverging approaches to obeying the Great Commission.

Episode 182: On How Buildings Turn Churches into Time Machines (with Adam Sinnett)

9Marks — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 08:19:55 -0400

Some people say that investing in a bigger building is at odds with investing in the Great Commission. Is that the case?

Mark Dever, Jonathan Leeman, and Adam Sinnett discuss.

Episode 181: On Translating Books and the Great Commission (with Rick Denham, Daniel Henderson & David Adams)

9Marks — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 03:20:12 -0400

What does translating books have to do with the Great Commission?

Jonathan Leeman sat down with three international publishers to talk about that question.

Episode 180: On Filtering Pastoral Candidates (with Bobby Jamieson)

9Marks — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 07:05:45 -0400

Men who aspire to be a pastor need to be “filtered.” What does that mean?

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman, Mark Dever, and Bobby Jamieson discuss. And in the first 7 minutes of this episode, Jonathan asks Mark his thoughts on Mike Cosper’s podcast, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.

Episode 179: On How to Plant a Church (with Eric Bancroft & Matt Smethurst)

9Marks — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 01:17:38 -0400

Is being a church planter different than being a pastor? What can the book of Acts teach us about church planting?

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman and Matt Smethurst ask Eric Bancroft questions about church planting.

Episode 178: On Rediscover Church (with Collin Hansen)

9Marks — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 03:05:11 -0400

Some Christians think that local churches are merely dispensers of religious information & religious experiences. Is that true?

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark Dever interviews Collin Hansen & Jonathan Leeman about their new book, Rediscover Church.

Episode 177: On Your Old Testament Sermon Needs to Get Saved (with David King & Mike Bullmore)

9Marks — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 10:03:11 -0400

How do you preach a Christ-centered sermon from the Old Testament? Jonathan Leeman chats with David King and Mike Bullmore about our new preaching book, "Your Old Testament Sermon Needs to Get Saved".

Episode 176: On Why We Gather Twice on Sundays

9Marks — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 08:43:26 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever about gathering twice on Sundays, and why it might be good for your church to be “inconvenient.”

Episode 175: On Plagiarism in the Pulpit (with Ben Lacey)

9Marks — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 14:21:46 -0400

Recently, there’s been lots of conversation about what constitutes plagiarism in the pulpit.

So Jonathan Leeman chatted with Mark Dever and Ben Lacey about the topic.

Episode 174: On Why Is the Lord's Supper So Important? (with Aubrey M. Sequeira & Sam Emadi)

9Marks — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 13:07:19 -0400

Why is the Lord’s Supper so important? What should ordinary Christians know about it?

Jonathan Leeman interviews Aubrey M. Sequeira and Sam Emadi about this question.

Episode 173: On How Can I Find Someone to Disciple Me? (with Garrett Kell & Mike McKinley)

9Marks — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 08:37:46 -0400

Have you ever asked, “How can I find someone to disciple me?”

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever, Garrett Kell, and Mike McKinley about that common question.

Episode 172: On Pastoring and Parenting (with David Helm, Juan Sanchez, and Michael Lawrence)

9Marks — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 08:27:33 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with David Helm, Juan Sanchez, and Michael Lawrence about the unique blessings and burdens of parenting your kids while also pastoring your church.

Episode 171: On Does God Love Everyone? (with Matt McCullough & Mike McKinley)

9Marks — Tue, 18 May 2021 14:43:58 -0400

Does God love everyone?

Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever, Mike McKinley, and Matt McCullough about our new Church Questions booklet on that important question.

Episode 170: On Men and Women in the Church (with Kevin DeYoung)

9Marks — Tue, 04 May 2021 09:12:30 -0400

Kevin DeYoung recently wrote a new book—"Men and Women in the Church: A Short, Biblical, Practical Introduction". In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever and DeYoung about the role of men and women in healthy churches.

Episode 169: On Why Should I Give to My Church (with Jamie Dunlop)

9Marks — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 08:57:54 -0400

Most Christians know that they should give to their church, but fewer know why they should. In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever and Jamie Dunlop about this topic, which is also covered in Jamie's new booklet, "Why Should I Give to My Church?"

Episode 168: On Membership Interviews

9Marks — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 09:36:02 -0400

Why should pastors meet with prospective church members? What should they talk about when they do?

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever about the usefulness of membership interviews.

Episode 167: On Deacons (with Matt Smethurst)

9Marks — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 09:04:21 -0400

What does the Bible say about deacons? How are they different than elders? Should they balance the authority of the elders?

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever and Matt Smethurst about his new book.

Episode 166: On How Can Women Thrive in the Local Church (with Keri Folmar)

9Marks — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 10:15:10 -0400

Are local churches uniquely difficult for women? How can women thrive in our churches?

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever chat with Keri Folmar about her new booklet from Crossway and 9Marks.

Episode 165: On Overview Sermons

9Marks — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 08:38:04 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan chats with Mark about the value of preaching big chunks of texts, including whole books in one sermon.

Episode 164: On Pastoral Sabbaticals (with Jamie Dunlop)

9Marks — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 14:07:48 -0400

Are sabbaticals in the Bible? Are they . . . fair? (After all, what other profession gets them!) How should they be structured?

Episode 163: On Paying Pastors (with Jamie Dunlop)

9Marks — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 11:33:35 -0500

How much should churches pay their pastors? How can they even find the answer to that question? Should a pastor ever ask for a raise?

Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever and Jamie Dunlop about these questions.

Episode 162: On Firing Church Staff

9Marks — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 08:37:25 -0500

Firing someone is almost always hard, perhaps especially in the church. In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan chats with Mark about this difficult topic, one that Mark says is a personal weakness of his.

Episode 160: On Raising Up Elders in a Growing Church

9Marks — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 06:42:45 -0500

In a growing church, nominating elders can be hard. After all, people might not know the man. They might never have heard him teach. So what’s a church to do?

Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever about raising up elders as a church’s culture changes.

Episode 159: On How to Talk to Your Church About Leaving (with Hershael York)

9Marks — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 07:12:53 -0500

How transparent should pastors be with their congregation as they think about pursuing other jobs? As it turns out, Mark Dever and Hershael York offer different counsel on this. Jonathan Leeman chats with them about the wisdom of different approaches.

Episode 158: On Chairing an Elders Meeting (with Isaac Adams & Ken Barbic)

9Marks — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 07:15:37 -0500

There’s nothing in the Bible about who should chair—lead—elders’ meetings. But the role and responsibility of the elder chairman is nonetheless very important. Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever, Ken Barbic, and Isaac Adams.

Episode 157: On Why Should I Be Baptized? (with Bobby Jamieson)

9Marks — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 08:47:01 -0500

Surely you’ve heard someone ask, “But pastor, why should I be baptized?”

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever and Bobby Jamieson about that important question.

Episode 156: On How Pastors Should Prepare their People for Eternity

9Marks — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 08:41:29 -0500

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever about one of the pastor’s most important jobs: preparing his people for eternity.

Episode 155: On Remembering 2020

9Marks — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 07:17:38 -0500

This year has been hard, but now it’s finally (nearly) over. In this final Pastors Talk of 2020, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever about the highs and lows of this particular year.

Episode 154: On A Bunch of Fun Biographies

9Marks — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 06:34:16 -0500

Are you looking for books to read this holiday season? Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever about a bunch of fun biographies.

Episode 153: On Caring for Members Unwilling to Come Back to Church (with Nathan Knight)

9Marks — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 07:29:42 -0500

Among the many things 2020 has made more complicated, chief among them is caring for members who are unwilling to come back to church.

Episode 152: On Virtual "Church"

9Marks — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 07:03:20 -0500

For years, certain churches and ministries have referred to “virtual church” or “attending church online.” This year of COVID-19—the “anti-gathering virus,” as Mark puts it in this episode—has made such phrases even more popular.

Episode 151: On How Much a Pastor Should Care About His Reputation

9Marks — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 06:40:16 -0500

Paul says pastors must be “well thought of by outsiders.” But Jesus says we’re “blessed” when others speak evil about us, even falsely.

What do we do with this? How much should a pastor care about his reputation?

Episode 150: On Cleaning the Membership Rolls - Part 2 (with Matt Schmucker)

9Marks — Tue, 03 Nov 2020 06:20:46 -0500

Episode 149 explained what “cleaning the rolls” means, and why pastors should lead their churches to do it. Episode 150 continues the conversation, but focuses on how to actually get it done.

Jonathan Leeman, Mark Dever, and Matt Schmucker discuss.

Episode 149: On Cleaning the Membership Rolls - Part 1 (with Matt Schmucker)

9Marks — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 08:49:29 -0400

Some churches report hundreds of members, with dozens in attendance. These churches need to “clean their rolls.”

Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever and Matt Schmucker about what that means and why churches should do it.

Episode 148: On How A Culture of Discipling + Lay Elders = Church Planting

9Marks — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 07:57:37 -0400

Healthy churches plant churches. But how? What causes a church to “bubble over”? Here’s one way.

Episode 147: On the Appeal and the Errors of Theonomy (with T. David Gordon)

9Marks — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 23:15:11 -0400

Broadly speaking, “theonomy” is the theological persuasion that civil societies ought to be governed by the Mosaic Law. In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever chat with T. David Gordon about the errors and appeal of theonomy.

Episode 146: On Preparing for a Tough Political Season (Part 2)

9Marks — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 07:37:02 -0400

We just released a new Journal: Pastoring through Political Turmoil. In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan chats with Mark about the Journal in particular and the topic of pastoring through an election season in general.

Episode 145: On Preparing for a Tough Political Season (Part 1)

9Marks — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 04:00:16 -0400

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Mark and Jonathan talk about how pastors can prepare their people for a tough political season.

Episode 144: On Lay Elders - Part 2 (with Klon Kitchen)

9Marks — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 05:00:13 -0400

How do you prevent a potential friction between staff and lay elders? How do you ensure they’re not just “yes men”? How much deference should non-staff elders give others?

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman, Mark Dever, and Klon Kitchen continue their conversation on lay elders.

Episode 143: On Lay Elders - Part 1 (with Klon Kitchen)

9Marks — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 07:26:40 -0400

Churches ought to have elders. Some will be paid (1 Tim. 5), but many will be not. These unpaid elders are called “lay elders.” Is this distinction in this Bible? Are lay elders “minor-league elders”? Are they called to ministry in the same way senior pastors are? How can a church make sure that there isn’t a deep divide between elders who are paid by the church and those who aren’t?

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever and Klon Kitchen (a lay elder at Cheverly Baptist Church) about these questions and more.

Bible Talk — Genesis 1:1–3:19: On the Serpent, the Promised Seed, and Nahash the King of the Ammonites

9Marks — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 13:01:30 -0400

In this inaugural episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about the first three chapters of Genesis. These first three chapters of the Bible are so important because they set the trajectory for everything that comes next—all the way until we get to Revelation 22.

Bible Talk is available on iTunes, Spotify and 9Marks.org.

Episode 142: On Preparing for the Next Guy

9Marks — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 08:04:52 -0400

Episode 141: On The Life and Ministry of J. I. Packer

9Marks — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 09:20:33 -0400

Episode 140: A Conversation about Grace Community Church's Statement on Civil Disobedience

9Marks — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 20:48:54 -0400

Jonathan and Mark chat about Grace Community Church’s decision, civil disobedience, and how Christians ought to approach this season with an extra amount of charity and grace.

Episode 139: On Remembering J. I. Packer

9Marks — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 16:38:19 -0400

In this special episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman asks Mark Dever to reflect on his friendship with J. I. Packer.

Episode 138: On What if I Don't Desire to Pray (with John Onwuchekwa)

9Marks — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 08:13:23 -0400

As Christians, we know we should pray. But too often, we fail to because we simply don’t desire to.

Episode 137: On What If I Don't Feel Like Going to Church (with Gunner Gundersen)

9Marks — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 02:00:21 -0400

Sadly, missing church is common. Sometimes, it's for good reasons; other times, it's not. As a pastor, how many times have you heard a member tell you, "I'm so sorry we missed last Sunday—we just couldn't make it with everything we have going on!"?

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever and Gunner Gundersen about how we should respond to those who simply don't feel like going to church—and so they miss for this-or-that reason.

Episodes 136: On Pastors and Social Media

9Marks — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 04:00:02 -0400

Many pastors feel pressure from their members to speak up on social media. “Why aren’t you talking about ___________? Don’t you care?”

In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever about how pastors ought to approach social media use.

Episode 135: On Shepherding: The Work and Character of a Pastor

9Marks — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 07:59:06 -0400

In this Pastors Talk episode, Jonathan chats with Mark about the new 9Marks Journal: On Shepherding — The Work and Character of a Pastor. They focus on three traits of a pastor:

— They should be godly & gifted, but especially godly.
— They should care about other churches.
— They shouldn’t freak out.

Episode 134: On the Difference between Revival and Revivalism

9Marks — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 02:40:06 -0400

In his book Revival & Revivalism, Iain Murray defines revival as God using ordinary means to effect extraordinary change. That’s much different than revivalism, which is when man tries to use extraordinary means to effect the same, extraordinary change.

Can you tell the difference between the two? Is it even possible? In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan asks Mark to take a brief tour of church history so that pastors and Christians today can discern the difference between revival—a good thing—and revivalism—a bad thing.

Episode 133: On Why Should I Join a Church?

9Marks — Mon, 15 Jun 2020 23:59:18 -0400

Have you ever met a growing Christian who is self-consciously choosing not to join a church? In this episode of Pastors Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever about the vital necessity of joining a local church.

For more on this topic, check out Mark’s new mini-book in the Church Questions series: "Why Should I Join a Church?"

Episode 132: On Teaching Your Church about Issues Related to Race (with Jeff Brown, James Miles, and Mark Vroegop)

9Marks — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 11:06:31 -0400

Should pastors try to educate their church about issues related to race and racism? If so, how?

In this Pastors’ Talk episode, Jonathan Leeman chats with three staff members of College Park Church—Mark Vroegop, Jeff Brown, and James Miles—about what they’ve done, how they’ve done it, and why the journey is worth whatever difficulties it brings.

Episode 131: On Pastoring Amidst National Trauma (with Garrett Kell)

9Marks — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 16:19:53 -0400

The past few weeks have been hard. People are grieving and angry, scared and confused.

How should pastors lead and love their people during a national trauma? Jonathan Leeman and Garrett Kell discuss.

Episode 130: On How Can I Love Church Members with Different Politics (with Andy Naselli)

9Marks — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 09:17:43 -0400

Conversations about politics are often emotionally charged. We disagree because our consciences are calibrated differently. So how can we still love each other? Mark Dever, Jonathan Leeman, and Andy Naselli discuss.

Episode 129: On Principles to Consider as We Gather Again

9Marks — Tue, 26 May 2020 08:22:14 -0400

As churches move toward gathering again, there are lots of principles to consider. One of the most important—and one of the least talked about—is the difference between what’s a church and what’s not a church.

Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman discuss in this Pastors’ Talk episode.

Episode 128: On When Elders Disagree (with Matt Schmucker)

9Marks — Tue, 19 May 2020 07:37:40 -0400

In this episode of Pastors' Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever and Matt Schmucker about what to do when elders disagree.

Episode 127: On Character Matters (with Aaron Menikoff)

9Marks — Tue, 12 May 2020 04:00:16 -0400

A few years ago, someone told pastor Aaron Menikoff that he was too harsh. The Holy Spirit took that feedback, and sparked in Aaron a fresh desire to pursue the fruit of the Spirit, which ultimately led to this new book: Character Matters.

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever chat with Aaron about the importance of godly character in the life of all Christians, especially pastors.

Episode 126: On When Should Churches Practice Civil Disobedience? (with Bobby Jamieson)

9Marks — Mon, 04 May 2020 23:28:10 -0400

Episode 125: On "What Should I Do Now That I'm a Christian?" (with Sam Emadi)

9Marks — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 08:02:30 -0400

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Episode 124: On The Case Against Multisite in One Assembly

9Marks — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 08:02:27 -0400

In the previous Pastors’ Talk episode, Jonathan and Mark chatted about why he wrote One Assembly and how he hopes the book will be received. In this episode, Mark asks Jonathan to make his best case from the Bible against multi-site and multi-service churches.

Episode 123: On Why We Pick the Multisite Fight in One Assembly

9Marks — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 02:00:02 -0400

Jonathan’s new book One Assembly argues against multi-site and multi-service churches. What motivated him to write a whole book on the topic? Isn’t this much ado about very little?

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Mark chats with Jonathan about his new book, why he loves multi-site and multi-service pastors, and what he hopes the book will accomplish.

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Episode 122: On Hell

9Marks — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 03:35:05 -0400

https://www.9marks.org/

Episode 121: On Pastoring Suffering People (with Andy Johnson)

9Marks — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 03:00:04 -0400

Episode 120: On Shepherding Saints While Sheltered In Place (with Garrett Kell)

9Marks — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 03:00:06 -0400

Episode 119: On When the Church Can't Gather

9Marks — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 06:23:11 -0400

Quick Take: What Should Churches Do About Coronavirus?

9Marks — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 17:51:57 -0400

In this Pastor's Talk mini-episode, Mark Dever discusses what pastors and churches should do in light of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Episode 118: On Spontaneous Baptisms (with Caleb Morell)

9Marks — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 07:00:04 -0400

Episode 117: On the Connection Between Baptism & Church Membership

9Marks — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 05:24:54 -0500

It should be exceedingly rare to baptize someone apart from local church membership. In this episode of Pastors' Talk, Jonathan chats with Mark about the connection between the two.

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Episode 116: On Training Young Preachers (with Isaac Adams)

9Marks — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 01:35:14 -0500

One of the best ways to raise up the next generation of preachers is to give unproven guys opportunities. In this episode, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever and Isaac Adams about training young preachers.

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Episode 115: On the Regulative Principle

9Marks — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 01:35:19 -0500

God has told us in his Word how we ought to approach him in worship. This should shape how we plan our Sunday gatherings. But it also raises a question: Are we free to do things in our gatherings that God does not explicitly prescribe?

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Episode 114: On Pastoring Difficult Members (with Nathan Knight & John Joseph)

9Marks — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 01:00:18 -0500

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever, John Joseph, and Nathan Knight about a topic every pastor knows well: how to care for difficult people.

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Episode 113: On Biblical Theology (with Paul Alexander)

9Marks — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 05:19:20 -0500

In this Pastors’ Talk episode, Jonathan chats with Mark and Paul Alexander about biblical theology. They cover questions like:

— How do we accurately preach Christ from the Old Testament?
— How should we preach Jesus as a moral example?
— How do we get better at this?

Episode 112: On Planning & Preaching for Non-Christians

9Marks — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 01:00:14 -0500

To what degree should our services and sermons be aimed at non-Christians? How “seeker-sensitive” should we be?

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Preachers' Talk - Episode 1: On Preaching

9Marks — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 07:46:53 -0500

In this inaugural episode of Preachers’ Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with three friends from Simeon Trust—David Helm, Ed Copeland, and Jeremy Meeks—about preaching. To listen to Preachers' Talk, visit 9Marks.org

Episode 111: On Expositional Preaching

9Marks — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 01:00:09 -0500

Episode 110: On Preaching, the Supper, and the Unity of the Church (with Bobby Jamieson & Mark Feather)

9Marks — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 22:41:56 -0500

Recently, the well-known pastor and author Francis Chan made some alarming comments about preaching, the Lord’s Supper, and the unity of the church. In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan chats with Mark Dever, Bobby Jamieson, and Mark Feather about Chan’s comments in particular and the topics of preaching, the Supper, and unity more generally.

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Episode 109: On Complementarianism: A Moment of Reckoning

9Marks — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 07:30:17 -0500

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan chats with Mark about the new 9Marks Journal, Complementarianism: A Moment of Reckoning. Our Journals may be downloaded for free at 9Marks.org.

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Episode 108: On Why Pastoral Candidates Should NOT Put Their Best Foot Forward (with Blake Boylston)

9Marks — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 06:28:55 -0500

Prospective pastors, don’t put your best foot forward.

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever and Blake Boylston about the interviewing and candidating process.

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Episode 107: On Pastoring Amid Depression (with Blake Boylston)

9Marks — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 01:38:00 -0500

Christians get depressed, which means pastors get depressed, too. In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan chats with Mark and Blake Boylston about how pastors ought to face seasons of depression.

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Episode 106: On Spiritual Gifts

9Marks — Tue, 26 Nov 2019 02:50:16 -0500

“I’m gifted in . . . ” How would you finish that sentence?

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Mark and Jonathan talk about how our spiritual gifts are primarily meant for the body. Our gifts aren’t, first and foremost, about our ability, but others’ edification.

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Episode 105: On Transitioning to Elders - Part 2

9Marks — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 07:53:10 -0500

Episode 104: On Transitioning to Elders - Part 1

9Marks — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 01:00:13 -0500

Episode 103: On Pastoring a Small Church (with PJ Tibayan & Jonathan Worsley)

9Marks — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 00:00:05 -0500

Pastoring small churches comes with unique challenges. In this Pastors’ Talk episode, Jonathan Leeman, Mark Dever, PJ Tibayan, and Jonathan Worsley discuss the blessings and burdens of shepherding a small flock.

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Episode 102: On Helping Church Members with Spiritual Disciplines (with Brian Davis & John Onwuchekwa)

9Marks — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 07:09:41 -0400

Episode 101: On Conversion (with Michael Lawrence)

9Marks — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 02:00:09 -0400

Episode 100: On Remembering Death (with Ligon Duncan & Matt McCullough)

9Marks — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 11:25:06 -0400

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with author Matt McCullough about his book “Remember Death.” They’re joined by Mark Dever and Ligon Duncan.

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Episode 99: On the Pastor’s Prayer Life (with Thabiti Anyabwile & H.B. Charles Jr.)

9Marks — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 02:10:06 -0400

Recorded live during 9Marks at Southeastern 2019.

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Episode 98: On Christian Journalism (with Collin Hansen & Matt Smethurst)

9Marks — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 01:10:20 -0400

Episode 97: On Celebrating Pastoral Anniversaries (with Isaac Adams)

9Marks — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 03:00:13 -0400

Episode 96: On Church Elders (with Jeramie Rinne)

9Marks — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 01:00:14 -0400

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Jeramie Rinne about the character and job description of an elder.

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Episode 95: On the Value of Church History

9Marks — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 03:05:05 -0400

Episode 94: On The Heart of the Gospel: Penal Substitutionary Atonement

9Marks — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 11:02:00 -0400

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan chats with Mark about our new Journal—Heart of the Gospel: Penal Substitutionary Atonement.

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Episode 93: On 1 Timothy 2:12 and Recent Complementarian Kerfuffles

9Marks — Tue, 25 Jun 2019 06:48:29 -0400

In recent months, complementarians have been in ongoing discussions about what precisely it means to be a complementarian. Does it mean that women ought not be pastors? Does it mean that women ought not preach in the church? What does 1 Timothy 2:12 specifically forbid?

Unfortunately, many of these conversations yield more heat than light. In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Mark and Jonathan chat about these recent complementarian kerfuffles, in particular how the two “sides” of the argument can disagree and converse with one another charitably.

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Episode 92: Are Healthy Churches Enough for Today's Problems?

9Marks — Tue, 18 Jun 2019 03:00:17 -0400

Our world is full of problems. But what can healthy churches do about it?

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan sits down with Mark to talk about different cultural problems—from the #MeToo movement to identity politics, from social justice concerns to persecution—and think through how pastors ought to address them.

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Episode 91: On the Highs and Lows of Denominational Life

9Marks — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 03:25:03 -0400

Episode 90: On Pastoral Visits (with Brian Davis)

9Marks — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 03:05:09 -0400

Episode 89: On Baptism and Membership (with Ligon Duncan)

9Marks — Tue, 28 May 2019 00:10:21 -0400

Episode 88: On the Prosperity Gospel (with Sean Demars & Greg Gilbert)

9Marks — Tue, 21 May 2019 08:22:31 -0400

Episode 87: On Church Membership

9Marks — Tue, 14 May 2019 04:50:15 -0400

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan chats with Mark about our new Journal—Church Membership: Following the Lord Together.

Episode 86: On What is the Gospel (with Greg Gilbert)

9Marks — Tue, 07 May 2019 04:00:14 -0400

Episode 84: On Church Buildings

9Marks — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 09:17:38 -0400

We know the church is comprised of the people, not the building. And yet, church buildings can be extremely valuable, useful, and vital for the health of long-term Christianity.

In this conversation, Jonathan chats with Mark about these topics and more.

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Episode 83: On Overcoming Fear in Personal Evangelism (with Isaac Adams)

9Marks — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 02:00:06 -0400

Episode 82: On How Your Budget is a Spiritual Issue (with Jamie Dunlop)

9Marks — Tue, 02 Apr 2019 04:00:06 -0400

Jonathan talks to Jamie Dunlop about the new book, "Budgeting for a Healthy Church" now available in the 9Marks bookstore. Visit 9marks.org/bookstore for more.

"If you want to see your church move toward health, the church budget has to move toward health."

--

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Episode 81: On the Christian Practice of Lament (with Mark Vroegop)

9Marks — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 04:00:22 -0400

Lament is a "prayer in pain that leads to trust."

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Episode 80: On Planning your Preaching Schedule

9Marks — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 04:00:16 -0400

Episode 79: On Funerals

9Marks — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 04:00:21 -0400

Episode 78: On Pastoring Members in the Workplace (with Sebastian Traeger)

9Marks — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 00:00:03 -0500

Episode 77: On Living Close to your Church

9Marks — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 04:00:22 -0500

When deciding where to live, Christians ought to consider normal factors: school district, safety, etc. But they should also consider—and perhaps even prioritize—how location affects their relationships at church.

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Episode 76: On Pastoral Pay

9Marks — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 01:00:03 -0500

The Great Commission has been fulfilled, at least in part, by local Christians setting aside money to pay someone to teach them God’s Word full-time when possible.

Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman discuss the principle of churches paying their pastors.

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Episode 75: On Church Planting (with Brian Davis and Nathan Knight)

9Marks — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 05:52:54 -0500

What’s the difference between a church plant and a church? Is it best to start a church with a team of pastors rather than a solo pastor?

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Episode 74: On Ecclesiology for Calvinists (with Sam Emadi)

9Marks — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 02:00:20 -0500

For this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan interviewed Mark Dever and Sam Emadi about our new Journal, Ecclesiology for Calvinists. Download the 9Marks Journal at http://9marks.org .

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Episode 73: On The Lord's Supper (with Bobby Jamieson)

9Marks — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 22:00:21 -0500

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan asks Mark and Bobby a bunch of questions about the Lord’s Supper. What’s the most biblical position: open, close, or closed? Should the Supper be given at small groups and summer camps, weddings and nursing homes? How often—weekly, monthly, quarterly?

Episode 72: On Baptism (with Bobby Jamieson)

9Marks — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 05:09:06 -0500

Almost every Christian denomination and tradition practices baptism. In this episode of Pastors' Talk, Mark and Jonathan are joined by Bobby Jamieson to discuss practical questions about baptism and its connection to the local church.

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Episode 71: On Canceling Church

9Marks — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 00:00:22 -0500

In this episode, Mark and Jonathan discuss the biblical and theological principles for why Christians gather on Sundays, and why, generally speaking, those principles make canceling any Sunday gathering an unusual choice.

Episode 70: On Church Revitalization (with Aaron Menikoff & Andy Davis)

9Marks — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 09:52:33 -0500

What do pastors in the throes of church revitalization need to know? In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan interviews Mark and two other pastors who went through a revitalization, Andy Davis and Aaron Menikoff.

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Episode 69: On Pastoral Calling (with Brad Wheeler)

9Marks — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 08:31:49 -0500

How does a man discern whether he ought to pursue pastoral ministry? What if he's already in a successful career?

In this episode of Pastors' Talk, Mark and Jonathan chat with Brad Wheeler about how the Lord led him away from a career in finance to pastoral ministry.

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Episode 68: On Missionaries and Churches (with Andy Johnson and John Folmar)

9Marks — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 08:12:44 -0500

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan sits down with Mark, John Folmar, and Andy Johnson to talk about healthy churches and global missions.

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Episode 67: On Hospitality and the Gospel (with Kent & Rosaria Butterfield)

9Marks — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 07:59:34 -0500

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Episode 66: On Contextualization (with John Folmar and Trip Lee)

9Marks — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 06:06:22 -0500

What’s the goal in contextualization? How do we know if we’ve gone too far, or not far enough?

Episode 65: On Jonathan's New Book, The Rule of Love

9Marks — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 23:00:14 -0500

The Bible tells us that “God is love.” But what does that actually mean? And what does it have to do with our lives and the local church?

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman chat about Jonathan’s new book, The Rule of Love.

Episode 64: On Equipping the Church to Fight Pornography Together (with Deepak Reju)

9Marks — Tue, 13 Nov 2018 00:00:07 -0500

It’s vital for individual Christians to pursue holiness. But how can church members work *together* in fighting against the sin of pornography?

Episode 63: On The Pastor and Pornography

9Marks — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 22:15:10 -0500

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Episode 62: On How to Prepare a Church to Practice Discipline

9Marks — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 01:10:21 -0400

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Episode 61: On Shepherding during Disagreements

9Marks — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 04:00:43 -0400

‪How should a pastor shepherd people through disagreement? How should he balance the tension between being a truth-teller and a peacemaker?‬ ‪Mark and Jonathan discuss.

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Episode 60: On Cultivating a Culture of Evangelism

9Marks — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 00:00:50 -0400

Churches shouldn’t farm out personal evangelism to pastors, professionals, or programs. Instead, the goal for every church ought to be a culture of evangelism.

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Episode 59: On Teaching the Church about the Church

9Marks — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 00:00:03 -0400

Pastors must teach their people about what a church is. If they don’t, then who will?

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about this often overlooked part of a pastor’s job description.

Episode 58: On Members Meetings

9Marks — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 01:00:06 -0400

Are members’ meetings in the Bible? How can a pastor cultivate a culture where people care about the business of their church? What tone should mark these kinds of meetings?

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Mark and Jonathan discuss members meetings—what they are, where they are in the Bible, and how to make them of spiritual interest.

Episode 57: On Prayer (with John Onwuchekwa)

9Marks — Tue, 25 Sep 2018 00:05:03 -0400

In the season premiere of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan and Mark sit down with John Onwuchekwa to talk about his new 9Marks book Prayer: How Praying Together Shapes the Church.

Episode 56: On Pastoral Burnout

9Marks — Mon, 16 Jul 2018 23:05:04 -0400

Mark and Jonathan discuss the subject of burnout, particularly how it happens and what church leaders can do to avoid it in the first place.

Episode 55: On the Ministry of Good Christian Books

9Marks — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 09:00:06 -0400

Good books help us follow Jesus. In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Mark and Jonathan discuss instrumental books in Mark’s conversion, what books every prospective pastor should read, and what books church leaders should hand out to their people.

Episode 54: On “Broad” & “Narrow” Complementarianism

9Marks — Tue, 29 May 2018 15:10:04 -0400

Complementarianism is an umbrella term, under which Christians with both “narrow” and “broad” convictions stand.

Narrow complementarians are reluctant to say much more about the differences between men and women beyond texts like Ephesians 5:22 and 1 Tim. 2:12. “Broad” complementarians place these Pauline precepts inside of a larger theological “vision” or “definition” of manhood and womanhood that applies to all of life.

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever talk about these theological distinctions, and how they sometimes threaten the unity of local churches.

Episode 53: On Deacons

9Marks — Mon, 21 May 2018 23:15:05 -0400

What does a biblical deacon do? How do they differ from elders? In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan talks to Mark about the biblical office of deacon.

Episode 52: On the Sufficiency of Scripture

9Marks — Mon, 14 May 2018 23:20:05 -0400

What do we mean when we say that Scripture is “sufficient”? Does the sufficiency of Scripture have anything to do with pastoral ministry? Does it shackle pastors or does it provide them reassurance?

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan chats with Mark about these questions and more.

Episode 51: On How the Reformation Changed Sunday Gatherings (with Jonathan Gibson)

9Marks — Mon, 07 May 2018 23:50:04 -0400

Through the liturgies of the Reformation, evangelical doctrine was as much caught in public worship as it was taught in published writings

Episode 50: On the Role of Associate Pastors

9Marks — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 23:20:05 -0400

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan Leeman sits down with pastors Jamie Dunlop and Bobby Jamieson to discuss their roles, and how their work complements Mark’s as the senior pastor.

Episode 49: On How the Nations Rage

9Marks — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 23:20:04 -0400

In this episode, Mark chats with Jonathan about his new book How the Nations Rage: Rethinking Faith & Politics in a Divided Age.

Episode 48: On Core Seminars and Sunday School

9Marks — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 00:15:04 -0400

For many churches, the Sunday School hour has gone by the wayside. In this episode of Pastors' Talk, Mark and Jonathan talk about how Core Seminar classes can become a vital ministry for any local church.

Episode 47: On T4G and Celebrity Pastors

9Marks — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 00:10:04 -0400

We're gearing up for the sixth Together for the Gospel conference. Does this conference—which will host 12,000+ people—exacerbate the problem of celebrity pastors, especially as articulated recently on TGC by Andy Crouch?

Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman discuss this question among many others.

Episode 46: On Biblical Theology

9Marks — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 23:50:04 -0400

In this episode, Mark and Jonathan sit down with Nick Roark, a pastor and the author of the new book "Biblical Theology: How the Church Faithfully Teaches the Gospel".

Episode 45: On Elders Meetings (Part 2)

9Marks — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 23:20:05 -0400

Jonathan and Mark continue their conversation on elders' meetings, exploring common questions like: should elders require unanimity? What should a new pastor do if he inherits a contentious elder? Should close decisions be delayed, or should elders just move forward? How can senior pastors resist the temptation to dominate every meeting?

Episode 44: On Elders Meetings (Part 1)

9Marks — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 23:30:05 -0400

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Episode 43: On Pastoring Through Theological Controversies

9Marks — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 23:30:06 -0400

It's not a pastor's job to have a PhD. But pastors *are* called to protect the flock from false teachers, and to shepherd people through theological questions and concerns.

In this episode of Pastors' Talk, Mark and Jonathan are joined by Ligon Duncan of Reformed Theological Seminary to talk through these issues.

Episode 42: On the Usefulness of Pastoral Internships

9Marks — Mon, 05 Mar 2018 22:30:06 -0500

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Matt Merker—a pastoral assistant at Capitol Hill Baptist Church—chats with Mark Dever about the usefulness of pastoral internships.

Episode 41: On Prayer Service

9Marks — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 22:25:03 -0500

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever discuss the benefits and best practices of hosting a regular, church-wide prayer gathering—in addition to the Sunday service.

Episode 40: On Facing Disappointment

9Marks — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 06:49:43 -0500

How should pastors respond when their ministry is marked by disappointment and unmet expectations?

"Pastor, if you’re discouraged by a lack of fruit, stop looking at the past 20 days. Look at the past 20 years." — Mark Dever

Episode 39: On Mere Christianity

9Marks — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 21:10:04 -0500

Is “mere Christianity”—the conviction that we should focus on only what’s essential to being a Christian—really the path toward true Christian unity? Does it guard the gospel over time?

Episode 38: On the Pastor's Heart and Other Churches

9Marks — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 21:40:05 -0500

Pastors are used to saying goodbye to long-time friends. In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan interviews Mark about how to prepare for these sad-but-joyful moments.

Episode 37: On the 20th Anniversary of 9Marks

9Marks — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 06:37:41 -0500

January 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of 9Marks. To celebrate that milestone, Jonathan interviewed the two guys who were there when it all began: Mark Dever and Matt Schmucker.

Episode 36: On Discipling

9Marks — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 14:28:54 -0500

Discipling doesn’t need to be tethered to an elaborate program. Instead, it should be a part of a church’s culture. That’s easy to say, but hard to implement.

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever about discipling in the local church.

Episode 35: On Leadership (with H.B. Charles, Burk Parsons, and Jeramie Rinne)

9Marks — Tue, 16 Jan 2018 10:06:09 -0500

Jonathan Leeman interviews four seasoned pastors—Mark Dever, Burk Parsons, H. B. Charles, and Jeramie Rinne—about leadership.

Episode 34: On Church Discipline

9Marks — Tue, 09 Jan 2018 09:36:47 -0500

Episode 33: On Race (part 2)

9Marks — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 21:10:03 -0500

Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman continue their conversation about racial division in the church, highlighting the ways pastors can both educate themselves and work against it.

Episode 32: Remembering R.C. Sproul

9Marks — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 09:55:44 -0500

Mark Dever reflects on his friendship with the late R.C. Sproul.

Episode 31: On Race (Part 1)

9Marks — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 21:10:03 -0500

Mark Dever chats with Jonathan Leeman about America's racial history, and how Christians should learn from brothers and sisters who aren't like them.

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Episode 29: On Sermon Preparation

9Marks — Tue, 28 Nov 2017 05:49:02 -0500

How long should a preacher prep for his sermons? When and how should he consult commentaries? What’s the best way to involve others in the process?

Episode 28: On Seminary & Pastoral Training (with C. J. Mahaney)

9Marks — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 21:05:03 -0500

Almost everyone agrees pastors need to be trained, both practically and theologically. But does this mean they must receive formal theological training from a seminary?

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan interviews both Mark and C. J. Mahaney about how pastors should be trained, and what seminaries have to do with it.

Episode 27: On How to Find a Pastor

9Marks — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 22:00:06 -0500

How should a church find its next pastor? Who makes this decision? A search committee? A group of elders? The pastor all by himself? And once such a search begins, how should it start?

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan interviews Mark about “one of the most important decisions a church makes,” that is, finding its next pastor.

Episode 26: On Multi-Site Churches (with Matt Chandler)

9Marks — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 22:00:05 -0500

Over the past several decades, the multi-site church model has become quite popular. Recently, however, The Village Church, pastored by Matt Chandler, announced it was transitioning all of its sites into independent local churches. In this episode of Pastors' Talk, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman interview Matt to talk about the reasons behind this decision.

Episode 25: On the Mission of the Church

9Marks — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 21:41:42 -0400

What is the mission of the church? Is it to preach the gospel and make disciples—or is that too narrow? What about good works? What about seeking transformation for our neighborhoods—or is that too broad?

Episode 24: On Pastoral Friendships

9Marks — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 07:39:26 -0400

Pastoring can be lonely. But it doesn’t have to be.

Episode 23: On Polity and Discipleship

9Marks — Mon, 16 Oct 2017 22:15:04 -0400

Does church order really have anything to do with discipleship? Isn’t one polity—presbyterian, congregational, etc.—just as good as another?

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan Leeman sits down with Mark Dever to talk about these questions and more.

Episode 22: On the Conscience

9Marks — Mon, 09 Oct 2017 23:05:03 -0400

Evangelicals are always in danger of losing the gospel because they don’t appreciate the role of the conscience and Christian freedom.

The conscience is there to protect Christian freedom—and Christian freedom protects us from legalism. This is important because when legalism is indulged, it can actually threaten the gospel itself.

Episode 21: On Missions

9Marks — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 23:10:04 -0400

Jonathan Leeman sits down with Mark Dever to talk about how local churches can more wisely support overseas work.

Episode 20: On the Reformation

9Marks — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 23:05:04 -0400

In conjunction with the Fall 2017 Journal "The Reformation and Your Church," Jonathan Leeman interviews Mark Dever on the Reformation and its usefulness for Christians today.

Episode 19: On Church Mergers and Plants

9Marks — Mon, 19 Jun 2017 23:20:25 -0400

We just released a Journal on church planting and church mergers. Because neither Mark nor Jonathan wrote an article for it, we devoted this episode of Pastors’ Talk to the topic.

Also: this will be our last Pastors’ Talk until September, though we’ll be recording them all summer, so send us your ideas if you have them!

SHOW NOTES:

— Have you (Mark) ever been a church planter? (2:30)

— Why are the topics of planting and mergers worth thinking through? (4:10)

— Is there a different skill set for the church planter and someone leading a church merger? (8:00)

— What’s some bad advice you often hear for church planters? (9:20)

— Do some of the problems stem from a dependence on agencies as opposed to churches? What are agencies useful for? What should they not do that they tend to do? (11:00)

— What common wisdom do you have to offer those involved in church mergers? (13:10)

— When does the “church plant” become a church? (19:00)

— Who should leave a church to go with a plant? (20:00)

— Do you have elders first, and then members? Or the other way around? (22:20)

Episode 18: On Conversion

9Marks — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 23:20:01 -0400

In a few weeks, we’re releasing a new book, Conversion: How God Creates a People, in which Michael Lawrence makes the case that one’s doctrine of conversion has massive effects on one’s philosophy of ministry. In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Mark and Jonathan talk about this connection.

SHOW NOTES:

– What’s this new book Conversion about? Why is conversion one of the nine marks? (1:55)

– How does conversion affect one’s philosophy of ministry and even preaching style? (5:30)

– Do liberal Christians have a doctrine of conversion? Same-sex affirming churches? (7:10)

– How does Genesis 3 inform our doctrine of conversion? (9:00)

– Is the doctrine of conversion going to become more and more offensive? (14:40)

– Biblically speaking, what is conversion? (15:40)

– Does “belonging before believing” undermine a biblical doctrine of conversion? Open communion? Spontaneous baptisms? (17:20)

– How does a biblical doctrine of conversion affect a pastor’s preaching? (20:00)

– How is church discipline an implication of the doctrine of conversion? (23:00)

Episode 17: On How to Receive and Dismiss Members

9Marks — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 23:10:33 -0400

One of the most important and time-consuming tasks for a church and its pastors involves receiving and releasing members, bringing them in and seeing them out. And yet, it's almost never talked about in books on the church or in seminary.

To fill in this gap, Mark and Jonathan devoted this episode of Pastors' Talk to the one topic: receiving and releasing members.

Episode 16: On Corporate Prayer

9Marks — Mon, 29 May 2017 23:10:32 -0400

In many evangelical churches, the public prayers are casual, short, and few. Is that a problem? How does this contemporary situation compare to the history of Protestant churches? How should pastors seek to reinvigorate their churches’ prayer practices?

Jonathan sat down with Mark to discuss all these questions and more.

SHOW NOTES:

– In your experience, what does the public prayer look like in the average evangelical church? How does this compare historically? (:50)

– Without impugning motives, why do churches play so little? (2:50)

– Is there a pattern of corporate prayer in the Bible? (4:00)

– Is a church being disobedient if they’re not giving ample time to corporate prayer? (5:25)

– What does should the public prayer look like? What is a prayer of praise of confession? Should only men pray publicly? (6:30)

– How should a pastor think through his “pastoral prayer” (14:00)?

– This amount of prayer can be tough to get through for those not used to it. It slows people down and causes us to actively participate in a service. (21:00)

– Why pray “we” not “I”? (24:45)

– What about a Sunday evening prayer service? (25:15)

Episode 15: On How Quickly a Pastor Should Make Changes

9Marks — Tue, 23 May 2017 18:17:39 -0400

It’s tempting for a new pastor to show up with a laundry list of problems that need to be fixed. But that approach almost never works, and many have left churches worse off due to their hastiness in implementing change. To help pastors with this, Jonathan sat down with Mark to chat about how quickly a pastor should try to make changes in a church.

SHOW NOTES:

– You’ve said before that young pastors have great acuity, but poor depth perception. Can you explain that? (1:00)

– What kinds of mistakes do young pastors take? (2:40)

– How did you moderate the pace of change at the beginning of your time at CHBC? (5:50)

– Is “change nothing in your first year” good advice? (9:45)

– What should a pastor give himself to in the first year? Why is preaching so crucial? (13:00)

– Should a pastor deliberately set out to build relationships with those who are disagreeable? How much does that help? (15:55)

– Why should some pastors not practice church discipline right away? (18:00)

– How much does handing out books help? (19:50)

– Three areas of things that might change. (23:00)

Episode 14: How the “Senior Pastor” Relates to Other Pastors

9Marks — Mon, 15 May 2017 23:20:25 -0400

Does the senior pastor—or the teaching pastor, or the lead pastor, or whatever title your church gives to the man who preaches most often—have more authority than other pastors, either in the pay of the church or not? Does he have a kind of different authority?

If you’ve served in a church with a plurality of elders, then you’ve felt tension over these questions. In order to help, Mark sat down with Jonathan to discuss the biblical warrant for a “senior” pastor, what his involvement looks in the church when he’s not preaching, and more.

SHOW NOTES:

– First things first: Is “senior pastor” a biblical designation? (1:00)

– What about the “co-pastor” model? (3:30)

– Why is it that the man who preaches most often will almost inevitably accrue the most authority within the congregation? (4:30)

– What is Mark’s involvement in the church, even when he isn’t preaching on Sunday morning? (5:15)

– Does Mark as senior pastor have “more authority” than other pastors, staff or non-staff? (6:15)

– How does a “senior pastor” set the direction for a church, either good or bad? (9:15)

– How does a pastor submit to other pastors? (11:15)

– What counsel do you have for associate pastors who disagree with their senior pastor? (13:25)

– How should he respond to a pastor who’s been heavy-handed? (17:25)

– Any advice for a new pastor with an established elder board? (20:00)

– How do you cultivate unity among elders? (24:00)

Episode 13: On Being a Word-Centered Church

9Marks — Tue, 09 May 2017 08:51:32 -0400

It’s a question countless pastors ask every single day: How can I grow my church?

In his new book WORD-CENTERED CHURCH, Jonathan Leeman offers a biblical answer to that question. In summary, God intends to grow his church through the proclamation of his Word—and once proclaimed, God intends for that Word to reverberate out from the pulpit and into the whole church’s life and ministry. WORD-CENTERED CHURCH encourages pastors and church leaders to resist the temptation of pragmatism and to instead build their churches on a more trustworthy foundation.

For this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Mark chatted with Jonathan about all this and more.

SHOW NOTES:

– What’s necessary for a church? Does it require a dependence on the Bible? (:30)

– If a church is built on the Word, what room does that leave for good deeds? (4:30)

– What’s the role of preaching? Why “Word-centered church” and not “Christ-centered church”? (6:20)

– When people think about worship, should they associate it strictly with music? (9:30)

– How does the Word reverberate throughout the church and its church’s life? (11:30)

– What do you say to the pastor who doesn’t spend time to study the Word? (13:15)

– In a church with a lot of nominal Christians, how should preaching being prioritized? (16:30)

– What’s Word-Centered Church all about, and how does it differ from Reverberation? (18:00)

Episode 12: On Small Groups

9Marks — Tue, 02 May 2017 07:06:37 -0400

These days, small groups are quite common. But are they enough for community and accountability? What’s the best way to do small groups such that they don’t interfere with the regular Sunday gathering?

Mark and Jonathan discuss these questions and more in the latest episode of Pastors’ Talk.

SHOW NOTES:

– Does Acts 2 describe small groups? (0:45)

– Is there a biblical precedent for small groups? (1:25)

– Is it new that churches build in their pastoring through small groups? (3:40)

– How much guidance should you give small groups? (6:40)

– What should small groups do? (10:40)

– Who should lead a small group? (12:00)

– Should non-members be in small groups? (13:30)

– Should small groups take the Lord’s Supper? (14:45)

– What do you say to the member who doesn’t really come to the Sunday gathering, but is very committed to their small group? (15:45)

Episode 11: On Being “Called” to Ministry

9Marks — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 07:21:34 -0400

Being “called” to ministry isn’t entirely personal, internal, and subjective. It involves both the individual and a church, an internal desire and external confirmation.

In this Pastors’ Talk episode, Jonathan asked Mark about common misconceptions of pastoral calling, how pastors can cultivate an environment where callings get tested, and the role of the church throughout.

SHOW NOTES:

– What does it mean that calling is both internal and external? (:30)

– Why would you slow a guy down who says, “I know I’m called to ministry”? (2:20)

– What do you say to someone who responds to your hesitation with, “But pastor, the Lord is leading me?” (5:00)

– What are some common errors churches make in discerning one’s sense of calling? (8:50)

– What’s a proper biblical understanding of calling in Scripture? How does it relate to vocation? (10:50)

– Who confirms a pastor? When you leave your church, are you still a pastor? (15:20)

– How does a man’s wife play into his calling as a pastor/elder? (16:40)

– How can a pastor cultivate a healthy environment to test young men and their calling to ministry? (19:05)

– Any general advice for those experiencing the call to ministry? (20:10)

– Is there a special calling for overseas missions? (23:50)

Episode 10: Should A Church Reflect Its Surrounding Community?

9Marks — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 23:10:05 -0400

Does your congregation look like the people who live around it? If not, does it matter? How important is it that a church reflects its surrounding community?

For the latest Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan Leeman sat down with Mark Dever to chat about these questions and more.

SHOW NOTES:

– How hard should a pastor and a church work to reach different kinds of people? Changing music? Changing the way we preach or what we wear? (1:30)

– What about who’s up front? Who gets hired? For example, should white churches seek to hire non-white pastors in order to reach non-whites? (6:00)

– What counsel do you have for the pastor who leads a church that doesn’t look like its surrounding community? (10:15)

– In being deliberate about these things, isn’t there a risk of “inauthenticity”? (12:15)

– What’s the importance of a culture of discipling and evangelism, where members are consistently learning to love people across differences? (14:10)

– How should pastors be careful about the ways they speak publicly on these matters? (17:25)

Episode 9: On the Use and Abuse of Authority

9Marks — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 23:20:11 -0400

Authority is God’s good and dangerous gift. Therefore, it’s of the utmost importance for pastors and church leaders to exercise their authority well, and in doing so image God.

SHOW NOTES:

– Why is authority such an under-talked about topic? (:45)

– Has authority been especially villainized in our current culture? (2:10)

– Are evangelicals any different in their views of the authority? (6:10)

– What is authority? (9:05)

– Why do you think a passage like 2 Samuel 23:3–4 is so important as we think about authority? What can they teach pastors today? (11:00)

– How does a pastor wield his authority well? (14:30)

– What’s the difference between authority and authoritarianism? (15:00)

– How can a pastor be pro-authority while also being anti-authoritarian? (17:05)

– Why is the abuse of authority so heinous? What does it look like for someone to abuse their authority, or to use it too aggressively? (19:45)

– How do you pastor those Christians who have only know the abuse of authority? (23:30)

Episode 8: What Makes a Good Pastor?

9Marks — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 09:22:13 -0400

How do we know what makes a good pastor? Do we learn this exclusively from the Bible? From the latest business books? Jonathan chats with Mark about what a pastor is, and what it means to take a pastoral approach to Christian ministry.

Episode 7: How to Leave Your Church Well

9Marks — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 23:05:07 -0400

Jonathan chats with Mark about good and bad reasons to leave a church, and offers principles for leaving well once the decision has been made.

Episode 6: On Pastoring Singles

9Marks — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 16:18:08 -0400

We just released a Journal with close to 20 articles on Pastoring Singles. Because the Journal was Mark’s idea, Jonathan sat down with him to ask questions on the topic.

SHOW NOTES:

– Why a Journal on singles? (0:40)

– What are the biggest challenges and benefits of pastoring singles (1:30)

– How do you simultaneously affirm marriage while not undermining God’s distinct purposes for singles? (3:20)

– When do you encourage someone to remain single? How do you encourage them to make the most of their singleness? (8:10)

– How can singles be integrated into a congregation? (12:15)

– What about single elders/pastors? (14:00)

– For the single who feels left out, what should a church do? (15:55)

– What do you do when you inherit a church with a robust singles program? (18:10)

– Why “your sex life is your identity” is a satanic lie. (20:45)

Episode 5: On Political Disagreements in the Church

9Marks — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 22:55:51 -0400

We live in politically contentious times. Jonathan Leeman sat down with Mark Dever to chat about how to pastor people faithfully amidst political disagreement.

SHOW NOTES:

– March us through how you pastored through the most contentious election in recent memory. (0:40)

– How preaching builds unity amidst political disagreement. (6:00)

– On the importance of upholding Christian liberty amidst personal, political disagreement (7:45)

– How can we discern “straight-line” issues from “jagged-line” issues? How do we know when to stay silent in order not to improperly bind consciences? (13:00)

– Can we sin by not addressing injustice when we should? (17:30)

– Do you address politically contentious members directly? (22:00)

– Lightning round of questions on the topic. (22:45)

Episode 4: On Receiving Criticism as a Pastor

9Marks — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 08:28:19 -0500

If you’re a pastor, you’re used to being criticized—both fairly and unfairly. In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan sits down with Mark to chat about receiving criticism well, the dangers of avoiding criticism altogether, and how to build into a church structures that cultivate a culture of giving and receiving godly criticism.

SHOW NOTES:

– What do you do when you’re criticized after church when you just preached your guts out? (1:15)

– How do you prepare yourself to hear what you know you need to hear, even if it’s something that your flesh will grate against? (4:40)

– Why not defending yourself amidst criticism is sometimes a good idea. (5:50)

– True or false: the more you fear God and the less you fear man, the better you will hear criticism. (9:40)

– What about the wisdom in using others—wife, other elders, etc.—to process current criticisms? (11:15)

– Do you have any words for the pastors who have cloistered themselves so that they never hear criticism? (12:35)

– What structures have you put in place to cultivate a culture of healthy criticism and encouragement? (14:40)

– Any encouragement for pastor who’s beaten up from consistent criticism? (16:00)

Episode 3: On Sermon Application

9Marks — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 23:09:30 -0500

If a preacher is doing his job well, then he's not only explaining what a text means, but also applying that meaning to the lives of his hearers. In this episode of Pastors' Talk, Jonathan Leeman sits down with Mark Dever to talk about the difficult task of sermon application.

Episode 2: On Pastoring in the Age of Social Media

9Marks — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 10:10:51 -0500

A mere ten years ago, social media didn’t exist. Now it’s everywhere. Jonathan Leeman sits down with Mark Dever to chat about the difficulties of pastoring in the age of social media.

SHOW NOTES:

– What are some of the dangers you see intrinsic to social media? (2:45)

– How social media can tempt Christians to add to the gospel (4:30).

– The necessity of humility in our opinions and our discourse (5:30).

– How Christians can become good self-editors? 12 diagnostic questions to continually ask ourselves. (8:00)

Episode 1: On Gospel Growth Beyond Your Church

9Marks — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 05:32:18 -0500

In the inaugural episode of our new podcast Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan Leeman sits down with Mark Dever to talk about seeing the gospel grow in your city, not just your church.

SHOW NOTES:

– What do you do when the revival you’ve been praying for breaks out . . . at the church down the street? (1:08)

– Is it always carnal to desire your own church to grow? (3:02)

– What are some of the signs of a wrongful “turfiness” that pastors should watch out for in their own hearts and ministries? (4:38)

– Why do you pray for other churches by name in CHBC’s services? (6:25)

– Explain how you can structure a staff and budget to help other churches. (8:35)

– What role might ministerial fellowships play in local gospel growth? (12:24)

– Are multi-site and multi-service churches necessarily “turfy”? (14:30)

– What about church planting and revitalizing? (18:49)

– Any last lessons for promoting gospel growth locally? (24:30)