Pure Church

I remember a couple months back sitting in Mark Dever's study as he was reading the manuscript for a new book, The Trellis and the Vine. I can only think of a couple books that provoked so much enthusiasm from Mark. He doesn't normally do superlatives, as he alludes to in this video. Here's his plug for "the best book on the nature of church ministry," The Trellis and the Vine.



Here are some of the endorsements for the book from the Matthias Media website:


Commendations for 'The Trellis and the Vine'

What Col and Tony have described here is exactly what I've been trying to do in my own life and in our congregation for years. According to this book, Christians are to be disciple-making disciples and pastors are to be trainers. Superb! This book sets out a crucial shift that is needed in the mindset of many pastors. The authors have carefully listened to the Bible. And they've worked on this book. The result is a book that is well-written and well- illustrated, but even more, a book that is full of biblical wisdom and practical advice. This is the best book I've read on the nature of church ministry.
Mark Dever, Senior Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington DC, USA

I am thrilled that this book has been written! What God has done in Sydney over the last few decades is nothing less than supernatural?-and we in South Africa have long been the beneficiaries. The model of ministry presented in this book has left an indelible mark on my own ministry and been of inestimable value to the denomination I belong to. The mindsets put forth in this book have not only impacted many of our churches, but have changed our regional thinking, planning and strategy. We are indebted to Col and Tony for putting into words a culture of ministry that is biblically pragmatic, deeply theological and, above all, passionately concerned for the lost.
Grant Retief, Rector, Christ Church, Umhlanga, South Africa

This is a simple, beautiful book that I plan to have every pastor and elder at The Village Church read. It quietly and calmly beckons us back to biblical, hands-on shepherding and is a book desperately needed among large churches in the West.
Matt Chandler, Lead Pastor, The Village Church, Dallas, Texas, USA

Gospel ministry is about God's glory and God's people! This excellent book takes us right to the heart of authentic Christian ministry. Any church will benefit hugely from studying and acting on it.
William Taylor, Rector, St Helen's Bishopsgate, London, UK

For over twenty years, I have seen the ideas in this excellent book developed, tested and improved in the active ministry of the gospel. They are the kind of counter-intuitive ideas that, once encountered and embraced, make you wonder why you did not always think this way.
Phillip D. Jensen, Dean, St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, Australia

If I could put only one new book into the hands of every person preparing for ministry today, The Trellis and the Vine would be it. Marshall and Payne leverage decades of experience in one of the world's great cities with the hope of stimulating gospel growth around the globe. This book will also refresh every pastor who has ever asked, "What in the world am I supposed to be doing?" I came away energized, strengthened in my core calling and better prepared to bear fruit for Christ. In fact, it's so good that I want every leader and pastoral intern in our church to read it!
David Helm, Pastor, Holy Trinity Church, Chicago, Illinois, USA

It is impossible to read The Trellis and the Vine without having your cherished ministry assumptions profoundly challenged. In your hands is a God-glorifying, scripturally-soaked re-evaluation of Christian ministry. It will untangle the anomaly of being a Christian without a radical missionary heart. It will identify the plethora of ministry structures that owe more to cultural pragmatism than the Bible. And above all, it will inspire us to serve the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
Richard Chin, National Director, Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students, Sydney, Australia

God makes ministers in the midst of his church. It is in the context of the faithful local church that ministers are best taught, shaped and equipped. The Trellis and the Vine is a superb guide to preparing pastors and ministers for Christ's church. It comes from a ministry so deeply committed to the recovery of biblical truth and the cause of the gospel. The wisdom in this little book is invaluable. My advice: Keep a good stack on hand at all times, and put this book to good use.
R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, USA

This book empathizes with the confusion that many pastors have when they allow themselves to lose focus on Jesus' goal for ministry, namely, to make disciple-makers. But it doesn't leave the pastor there in the cloud of desperation; it gives him the courage to trust in his Master's strategy again. And take courage: Jesus' strategy was able to reach countries as far as my own.
Cristóbal Cerón, General Coordinator, Gimnasio (MTS), Chile

There is no need greater (in the happy resurgence of robust, gospel-centred churches in the English-speaking world) than for us to think biblically and wisely about how we live and minister together in our congregations. All manner of folk are offering us their opinions as to how we ought to do this in this reforming era (in which some, if not many, rightly see the weaknesses of the ministry and methodology of the last fifty years, but whose prescriptions for remedy fall short of the standards of Scripture and wisdom). Yes, let's rethink what we are to do and be together as the church, but let's do it biblically, and with the wisdom of biblical discernment and pastoral experience. So I announce with joy that I have new conversation partners as I am asking myself, under the authority of God and Scripture, questions about the structure and ministry of my congregation: "Why are we doing what we are doing? Are we focusing on the right things? Is the gospel central? Are we making disciples? Has 'administry' trumped ministry? Is our corporate life and mission biblically shaped?" And more. As I ask these things, I am so deeply helped and heartened and humbled and corrected by the fidelity and wisdom of Colin Marshall and Tony Payne's profound little book that I can't but commend it to you.
Ligon Duncan, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi, USA (Past Moderator, General Assembly, Presbyterian Church in America)

This book is the perfect example of good theology driving practice. Col's many years of experience in recruiting and training pastors shines through on every page. Scattered with helpful personal examples, this book is a crucial read for people seeking to grapple with the biblical principles of gospel growth.
Paul Dale, Senior Pastor, Church by the Bridge, Sydney, Australia

The Trellis and the Vine is a must-read for every minister of the gospel. The principles in this book will revolutionize the way many of us do ministry, and help us to encourage and grow the next generation of gospel workers. So often we are caught up in building and maintaining our 'trellis' (ministry structure), and we forget that Christian ministry is all about the 'vine'?-the people. Thank you for this clear, Bible-centred approach to the most important task in the world.
Ainsley Poulos, Equip Women Ministries, Sydney, Australia

The Trellis and the Vine is a dangerous book to read. It demolishes precious and much-loved idols like these: "If we just have the right vision and mission statement, they will come ... If we just have the right vibe, they will come ... If we just have the right speaker ... the right band ... the right building ..." The Trellis and the Vine reminds the church that Jesus says the exact opposite. Jesus tells us to be great commission-aries and to "Go ... make disciples of all nations". The Trellis and the Vine is the best book I have read about mobilizing all Christians to be great commission-aries. It will turn church-shoppers into servants, consumers into producers, and disciples into disciple-makers.
Ben Pfahlert Director, Ministry Training Strategy (MTS), Sydney, Australia

This stimulating new book on biblical training will challenge some cherished methodologies. Tony and Col, though, are able to unsettle and critique with sympathy and understanding. Their observations are always judicious and never judgemental. Every page pulsates with a desire for the growth of the gospel and the maturing of the church. This is not the work of quick-fix pragmatists or armchair theologians, but the product of thirty years of effective ministry practice and reflection. It deserves to be widely read and discussed by all who are serious about every-person ministry in the church. It will be a set text at BCV!
Michael Raiter Principal, The Bible College of Victoria, Australia

The Buzzard Blog is circling prey again. This time he's giving some good thoughts in "3 Truths That Change Your Life."

Fifteen Years of Faithfulness. It was a great treat to join the saints at CHBC this weekend to celebrate Mark Dever's 15th year at the church and to give God thanks for all He has done there in that time. God in His kindness has sent 27 pastors to at least five countries from CHBC in 15 years. That's not counting all the interns and staff persons who are faithfully serving in other ways. May the Lord greatly magnify Himself with more fruit and make all our ministries as fruitful in their own right. Here's a post and video from one member. (HT: Gospel Coalition)

Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War. A very funny, insightful, and educational look at the Confederate subculture of the South. Also a decent overview of some Civil War facts and fiction. I thought the war was over, but apparently it's still being fought in some quarters. The title suggests the book might be mocking, but it turns out to be a rather warm outsiders (author Tony Horowitz is Jewish) look into what's inside things like Civil War re-enactments, Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy, and other such things. Very good read, including some provocative concluding chapters examining the current state of "race" relations in Civil War and Civil Rights battleground states.

We're almost home, awaiting our fly from the Miami airport. It's been a great trip, refreshing in all the most wonderful ways.

First, we were able to connect with some of my oldest and dearest friends. It was a real treat for me to have time together with Peter Rochelle, a brother I consider my first pastor and first example of faithful exposition, and at the same time to hang out with Mark Dever, a brother I consider my second pastor and most formative mentor when it comes to the life of the church. A real treat.

Then there was catching up with old friends and new. It was fun for me to introduce Bentley, my assistant pastor, and Stephen, new seminarian at Southeastern and former director of youth and missions, to my brother Clyde Alston, perhaps one of the most faithful servants you'll ever meet and a real Barnabas to me. The ribs at Applebee's were great, and the concrete from Goodberry's hit the spot!

Folks at FBC will be very encouraged at Stephen's start in seminary. He has established some really good routines and is thinking in all the right ways about building fellowship and relationships with others. He's found a really strong church, North Wake Baptist Church. He's enjoying his classes and has some fine teachers. And he says he's probably doing better spiritually than at any point in his life. On a personal level, it was probably most encouraging to get an update on Stephen.

The conference itself was outstanding. In a nutshell, I think the overall unofficial theme that emerged was "God does the work; trust Him." Each of the speakers addressed preaching and pastoral ministry in some way and the Lord instructed us all.

Mark Dever began with an exposition of Mark 4. He unfolded two parables that demonstrate that it's the word that does the work and that the advancement of the kingdom does not depend on us. Listen to this sermon if you're a pastor who has trouble sleeping at night because you worry about anything in your church.

Baptist21 sponsored a lunchtime panel discussion on "Great Commission Churches." Daniel Aiken, Mark Leiderbach, J.D. Greear, Mark Dever and I had a fun but informative time fielding questions on this broad theme. The first few minutes feature a spirited, friendly exchange between J.D. and Mark on multi-site churches.

Dr. Akin addressed us from Ecclesiastes 12:9-14, "The Preacher on Preaching." I found the emphasis on choosing our words carefully very helpful. What a privilege to use the gift of language to communicate about a God who speaks through His word.

My man Mike McKinley, looking very stylish in the new specs, served us from Luke 10 on the centrality of listening to Jesus. Excellent exposition that demonstrated the liberating power of making the word and listening central to our Christian lives.

C.J. Mahaney closed the night with an insightful and encouraging exposition of 2 Tim 4:1-5. If you struggle against impatience and unrealistic expectations as I do, C.J.'s meditation on pastoral discernment and skill and sanctification is pure relief and help.

I had the privilege of addressing the topic, "Will It Preach? Exposition in Non-White Contexts." We considered some objections to expositional preaching arising out of certain cultural assumptions, and then considered Neh. 8 as an example and apologetic of exposition.

There were lively panel discussions following each message. Those exchanges are often some of the most informative.

I assume some audio will be up at some point soon. In the meantime, Andrew Sherwood live-blogged the conference here.

Today we leave for the God Exposed conference at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. I'm looking forward to the trip for a number of reasons:

1. We'll sit under excellent preaching and preachers for a couple days. We should hear addresses from Mark Dever, C.J. Mahaney, Mike McKinley, and Danny Akin, President of Southeastern.

2. It'll be time to catch up with a number of good friends. There's Stephen, a former staff person at FBC recently enrolled at Southeastern. We'll have to find out about this watermelon milkshake thing he's hooked on! There's Bentley, a partner in ministry here at FBC and an elder as of this past Sunday. There's Pete, the man I regard as my first pastor and first model of exposition. There's Clyde, my Barnabas. There's James, fellow laborer in the gospel and new daddy. There's the crew from CHBC. And a whole ton of other people it'll be great to see and interact with.

3. It's Raleigh, where my wife and I met and where we began our family. Always good to visit the ol' stompin' grounds.

4. You can't go to Raleigh without going to Goodberry's. The best frozen custard on the planet.

5. Time probably won't permit actually eating some, but at least I'll be in sniffing distance of some fried fish! Cayman has wonderful restaurants (worth visiting the island just for the eating!), but there's nothing here like some fried fish and shrimp NC-style. (There is no decent barbecue, though. Too far east really.)

6. There's fall. I like the fall season; crisp sweater and jacket weather. It'll be awesome if the leaves are changing colors even the tiniest bit. In Cayman we have two seasons: peak and hurricane. Lots of glorious sunny days year-round, but fall is special. Fall means football, the final cook-outs of the seasons, tail-gating, and soon, Thanksgiving.

Two days of thinking about expositional preaching in one of the loveliest parts of the country with some of the best people you'll ever meet. Should be refreshing!

Colin tips us to an uncharacteristically hilarious sermon introduction from Mark Dever. Worth the 6 minute listen.

Some things I trust have benefitted my soul recently:

Mark Dever on "The Pastor and the Church":
The Pastor
The Church

Don Carson:
The Flow of Thought in 1 Timothy 2
Is the Culture Shaping Us or Are We Shaping the Culture?
HT: Titus2Talk
A Holy Nation: The Church's High Calling

Bob Kauflin:
The Fight for Joy (Psalm 42-43)

J. M. Stiles:
Getting the Big Picture (1 Cor. 9:18-27)

Seems today is a day for video posts. But I thought you all would enjoy this holiday greeting from the folks at 9Marks!

This looks like a wonderful conference, "Commending Christ: The Pastor, the Church, and the Perishing." It's a focus on evangelism, something I've been trying to think about this year and to do more faithfully.

Piper's invitation letter deserved copying in full:

Dear friends in ministry,

As I preached my way through a series on the new birth recently, I was gripped in a new way with the place of gospel-telling in the way people are born again. The key text was 1 Peter 1:23–25: “You have been born again . . . through the living and abiding word of God. . . . And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”

The implications of this are massive. People are born again through hearing the gospel. The God-wrought, sovereign miracle that no human can bring about does not happen where the gospel is not heard and known.

And what is the gospel? Basically this: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel. . . . that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:1–4).

Telling this old story is the means God has ordained for people to be born again. This strikes me as simply amazing. Words coming out of our mouths about events in history are the way God brings about the stupendous, supernatural miracle of the new birth.

So I have set my heart on thinking and praying and dreaming about the implications of these things with you at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors. What does this imply for our lives, our prayers, our priorities, our families, our church structures, our staffing, our worship services, our hearts?

We will gather this year under the theme Commending Christ: The Pastor, the Church, and the Perishing. The focus is on evangelism—telling the gospel.

I did not have to think long about who I wanted most to lead us in this thinking, namely, Mark Dever, Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, in Washington, D. C. Mark inspires me with his personal engagement with unbelievers.

His new book The Gospel and Personal Evangelism puts his vision in writing. Just this morning, this book jolted me again (pp. 72–73): Telling my story (“testimony”) is not the same as telling Christ’s story. My story is not the gospel. Telling it is not evangelism. I am deeply thankful Mark will give the three keynote messages.

Meanwhile, I was listening (online) to Matt Chandler preach about the challenges of evangelizing church members who think they are saved but aren’t. I was moved by the insight and courage of what he said. Matt is the Lead Pastor at The Village Church in Highland Village, Texas. He has agreed to come and help us think about that issue in our churches—saving those who think they are saved.

Michael Oh is the president of Christ Bible Seminary and Institute in Nagoya, Japan. He has agreed to be bring global breadth to our theme from his strategic perspective in Japan, with its fewer than .25% Christians. When Don Carson heard that Michael was coming he wrote to me and said, “I'm so glad to hear that you have invited Michael Oh. . . . He is a remarkable young man, being used by God in ways that are wisely breaking all kinds of molds in Japan.”

In keeping with the theme of evangelism, I plan to do my biography this time on one of the most fruitful evangelists of all time, George Whitefield. Whitefield is long overdue for this kind of attention, and I am eager to immerse myself in his life and mind for my own soul and ministry. I pray that the overflow will be useful for you.

This conference is not mainly about technique or method. It is about becoming a certain kind of God-besotted lover of lost people. So I am eager to be together with you and to worship and pray and think and discuss these great matters. I hope you will come. The Great Room at the Minneapolis Convention center sounds like a mighty waterfall when 1400 pastors sing with all their hearts to the Savior they love.

The bookstore will be amazing. Conversation and prayer will be rich. Connecting with lovers of Truth strengthens the heart. We all be reminded that we plant and water, but God gives the growth (1 Cor. 3:6). And nothing done in his name is in vain (1 Cor. 15:58).

With affection and joy,


I would commend the conference and Piper's new book on the new birth, Finally Alive, when it's released.

A few from the Gospel Coalition describe it and dissect it in brief:

Ed Stetzer interview Mark Dever at Whiteboard.

I've been enjoying the following sermons:

John Piper:
Body Pains: Feelings of Uselessness

Body Pains: Feelings of Self-Sufficiency

Mark Dever
Overview of 1 Corinthians

From Mark Dever's Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, p. 214-215:
"A healthy church has a pervasive concern with church growth--not simply growing in numbers but growing members. A church full of growing Christians is the kind of church growth I want as a pastor. Some today seem to think that one can be a "baby Christian" for a whole lifetime. Growth is seen to be an optional extra for particularly zealous disciples. But be very careful about taking that line of thought. Growth is a sign of life. Growing trees are living trees, and growing animals are living animals. When something stops growing it dies.

I've been working on expressing gratitude more effectively. It's been up and down quite frankly. I'm having to cultivate the habit. It's not natural to me and a good start doesn't ensure continued success. So there have been fits and starts, lulls and jumps. On the whole, I'm learning two things. First, I'm bent whether through sinful disposition or habit toward noticing the soft underbelly, poking it, and commenting on it. In other words, I'm critical. Second, people seem genuinely awkward with specific comments of praise or gratitude. Flattery they can take, but an accurate and meaningful comment leaves people a bit surprised. They're like deer in headlights. "Uhh. He said something personal and warm. Stand real still he might forget you're standing here."

So, not only do I have to cultivate gratitude in my own cold, sinful heart but I also have to do my part in setting a context where such expressions are normal.

I don't know why I shared that preamble accept to say I'm still working on it. And this morning, I want to express my gratitude to God for Mark Dever, a man I love and respect deeply. The post would be too long to try a format like some of the others. So, I'm opting for a list of reasons here. Let me tell you why I love Mark Dever.


1. I love him because he is Christ's. Christ is in Him, and He loves the Savior. That makes Mark a lovely man (I'm sure he doesn't hear that enough!).

2. I am grateful for the tons and tons he has taught me about the local church and about Christ, her Head. I'm most grateful for the ways he taught me to love the Savior and His body.

3. I am grateful for the example of generosity that he is. It's frequently "Christmas in Grand Cayman" because I'm regularly going to the post office and finding there a surprise package of music or books from Mark. And that's just a more mundane expression of his generosity.

4. I am grateful to God for Mark because of how He has used Mark to enrich my friendships. Without question, I've made more friends through Mark Dever than perhaps any other man I know. He's unusually gifted in giving friends away and I'm thankful for the blessing that habit of heart has been to me.

5. I am grateful for how Mark has shaped my preaching. Now, he shouldn't be blamed for all the poverty in my preaching! That's on me. But, specifically, he's helped me think about precision and application in preaching more than anyone else. Several years under his preaching has shaped me tremendously and I'm still discovering ways in which that's true.

6. I am thankful for the example of tenderness that Mark is. A lot of people feel intimidated around Mark. He's a big man with a big brain. But at heart he is a teddy bear. And he is tender with the sheep. I can't count the number of times I've heard him exhort us with, "Feed the sheep, don't beat the sheep." He has a large pastor's heart. He's a caring man.

7. I praise God for Mark's energetic zeal in discipling young men. Not only am I a beneficiary of that zeal, but it's been a model of what I should be doing with young men as a pastor.

8. I thank God for Mark's example of leadership. Three things in particular have stuck with me, particularly since becoming a pastor. First, Mark is relentless in keeping his eyes on the main thing and disdaining distractions. I've at times misunderstood that as "not listening" or something of that sort. On this side of the pastor's desk, I'm now quite aware of how necessary it is to keep pointing the sheep toward the Chief Shepherd, not waivering at all the bleating going on around you. Second, it's really important to have your "convictions" be biblical and few. I think Mark is exceptional at this. And learning to do this in leadership it seems to me is one of the key ways you keep yourself and the people from the tyranny of "preference" masquerading as biblical mandate. And that's good leadership. Third, the brother is a real team player. He'd rather do most things in a team. And I think that's made both his ministry and the ministries of many other men that much more effective.

9. I praise God for the fruit He is bearing through Mark's writing and 9Marks Ministries. There's an ever-increasing amount of stuff out there on pastoral ministry and the local church--from the bizarre to the brilliant. I appreciate that the stuff that comes from 9Marks and the team there is of sound quality and preeminently useful. I'm no prophet, but I think there's a quiet ecclessiological revival happening in churches and 9Marks has played a definite and critical role in that, by God's grace.

10. I thank God for Mark's impact on my prayer life. This was subtle at first. But at some point I realized that much of my prayer life is patterned on things I learned at CHBC. From praying through the church directory, to the amount of time devoted to prayer in the Sunday service, to the range of things I now pray for with some specificity... the Lord has used Mark to encourage and strengthen me in all of these things.

11. I am grateful for Mark's example of humility. I could note this in a few ways. But one way that sticks out to me now is his self-effacing attitude in conversation and preaching. He's often the butt of his own jokes and the "failure" in his anecdotes. Not to draw attention to himself in a false humility, but so as not to present himself as some superman, to war against pride. He's willing to laugh at himself and to have others laugh at and with him as well. It's a great quality--especially combined with that teddy bear quality I mentioned earlier.

12. I am very, very thankful for Mark's encouragement and support of me. It's been personal, it's been specific, it's been consistent, and it's been effective. Nearly from the day we met, he has taken me aside and given specific counsel and encouragement. I'm not sure I would have finished the couple of books now published or being published, and I may not be anywhere near pastoral ministry right now if it weren't for the Lord's grace, my wife's constant support, and Mark's encouragement.


Well... I could go on and on with reasons I'm grateful for Mark. But in the words of a classic... "these are a few of my favorite things." The Lord has been good to me and to His church in giving Mark Dever to us.