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Just as it is a parent’s job to discipline his or her children, so it is your job, Christian, to participate in the discipline of your church. Did you know that? This is as basic to being a Christian and a church member as it is for a parent to discipline a child. It is part and parcel of following Jesus: “If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. (Matt. 18:15).The purpose of this Journal is to help you grab hold of this job responsibility of yours, whether you are a church leader or member. The practice can be abused. Move very slowly. Take every case on its own. Be sure to only act in love. Err toward grace. But move forward in obedience, knowing that all the ways of the Lord are righteous and good.

Evangelicals are good and maybe getting better at talking about the Christian mind, the Christian heart, even the Christian hands and feet. We want to think, feel, and act as Christians. But what about the skeleton? No one really talks about that. If a skeleton holds things together, what is the structure that holds the Christian life together and gives it its shape?That brings us to this episode of the 9Marks’ “Polity is Kool Show.” Today we turn to the theme of church membership. And, boy, do we have a show for you. Several brothers give us a biblical, historical, and sociological look. Several more of us consider the importance of membership. And then a few more offer wise pastoral advice on implementing membership in your church.

9Marks is deeply interested in the doctrine of conversion (it’s the fourth mark) because it’s tightly tied to the doctrine of the church. If the church is a house, conversion is the timber. The timber you use will dramatically affect the kind of house you get. Will you include the timber of divine sovereignty? Human responsibility? Repentance? Faith? Start with Jared Wilson’s reflections on the beauty of the doctrine and Owen Strachan’s historical observations. Thomas Schreiner and Steve Wellum also help us to get our doctrine right. This is critical, friends. Owen’s piece especially will help you to see why, as will Bobby Jamieson’s instructive book review on Revival and Revivalism. Once you’ve got the doctrine right, you need to think about how it connects to the life of the church. For that purpose we’ve called in Jeramie Rinne, Michael Lawrence, Mike Mckinley, and Shai Linne. Zach Schlegel’s review of Finally Alive might also surprise you with its pastoral insight.There is underestimated power in the doctrine of conversion, but only if we get it right. Have you? Have your people? Does it show up in the habits, practices, and structures of your church’s life together?

Evangelism is a church activity and an individual activity. Churches might or might not use evangelistic programs, but they certainly should cultivate cultures of evangelism by giving their members tools. And the life of our churches should be attractive to outsiders, but they should primarily be attractive through the holy and loving nature of our shared lives.In this issue of the 9Marks Journal, I get the ball rolling by painting the big picture of how the church and evangelism relate in the Scriptures and might relate in practice. Mike McKinley then swings in with practical help on cultivating an evangelistic culture, as do several other brothers from other churches in the forum on evangelism training.Tim Beougher offers pastors help for encouraging those members who don’t think evangelism is their responsibility. Matt Merker offers pastors advice for their own evangelism. And then McKinley and Kevin McKay talk about the obstacles to evangelism in a church.Finally, we try to serve our readers by pointing to both the good and bad of several evangelism tools that are popular in churches. - Jonathan Leeman

Biblical theology is not just about reading the Bible rightly, though it begins there. It serves to guard and guide the local church. It maintains the right message, defines the task of the messenger, identifies impostors, tells us what we do when we gather, and sets the trajectory of our mission. It answers the question, Who are we, as the church in the world?Those are some of the topics this issue of the Journal will explore. The goal here is not so much to trace out the Bible’s storyline, but to show how knowing that storyline locates the identity and work of the church in the grand sweep of history.

It’s the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, and right now there’s no shortage of material being published on the topic. Why might this 9Marks Journal possibly add to the pile? We asked our contributors to consider the Reformation’s relevance specifically to the local church and the pastor. Why should pastors care?

In this twentieth anniversary edition, we've compiled some of the most essential articles-sev-eral for each of the nine marks. Read it yourself, and then hand it out to your fellow church leaders.