Pastors Talk - A podcast by 9Marks

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.

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

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?

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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. Join the 9Marks community: GET THE APP: http://9marks.link/app TWITTER: https://www.twitter.com/9Marks FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/9Marks INSTAGRAM: https://www.instragram.com/9Marks

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?

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.

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.

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.

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?

Pastoring can be lonely. But it doesn’t have to be.

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.

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.

Jonathan Leeman sits down with Mark Dever to talk about how local churches can more wisely support overseas work.

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.

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...

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 doe...

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.

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 th...