Sound Doctrine: How a Church Grows in the Love and Holiness of God (9marks: Building Healthy Churches)

Bobby Jamieson has done a fantastic job in this book. He has clearly debunked the myth that doctrine kills churches. Not only does he debunk that myth - he also demonstrates the health and vitality that solid biblical doctrine brings to the church. Well worth reading.

Sound Doctrine, by Bobby Jamieson, takes an honest look at what the Bible says on the subject of doctrine and theology.Is theology necessary? Is it important to the Christian life and the church? Jamieson generally uses terms such as “sound doctrine” (right teaching from the Bible), instead of “theology,” because theology is often misunderstood and people think it's bad before you even explain what it is. The reality is that more Christians need to understand what theology/sound doctrine is and how it relates to the Christian life. Too often people today say "theology is bad," or "it will ruin my love for The Lord." Jamieson gives an honest look at what the Bible says about sound doctrine so that Christians might understand that your love for The Lord can only grow if you understand who God is and what His Word says better.Jamieson starts with two theses' in the introduction: 1) sound doctrine is practical, and 2) "sound doctrine produces lives that are shaped like a healthy local church." In other words, sound doctrine isn't just arbitrary facts, but sound doctrine results in something. He backs up these theses' in chapter 1, explaining what sound doctrine is, why it's important, and how it shapes the church. In chapter 2, he tells us where we get this sound doctrine; namely, from the Bible.After Jamieson tells us what sound doctrine is, why it's important, and how to get it, the next 6 chapters are devoted to the subject of the results sound doctrine. Theology is not an end in itself; it is not arbitrary knowledge, but rather it results in something. Jamieson adequately defends his claims from scripture that sound doctrine results in holiness in life, love for God and others, unity with Christ and the church, the worship God in an appropriate way, the ability to witness to unbelievers, and joy in knowing all that God has done for us. While that may be an oversimplification of all of his arguments, you'll have to read the book to get to the real meat.My only critique of this book would be that it left me wanting more on the subject! After I finished reading it, I needed another book that really went into the subject more. For someone new to the subject, or someone who needs just a small push to start studying theology, this is an excellent book that is not too complicated to understand.Highly recommended! Grateful for Jamieson's wisdom, and I seriously hope more Christians would read more books on this subject, as theology is so fundamental to growth as a Christian. If you want to know and love Jesus more, start here.

People are often turned off the word doctrine for they think that is doesn't apply to real life or it is an abstract subject only for ministers. This is not true and Jamieson's book makes that case very well. I liked his analogy of doctrine being like a map which gives us the big picture of what the Bible teaches about something that is both sound and applicable to our lives as Christians and in turn beneficial to the health of a church.His focus is knowing and applying biblical doctrine for teaching & reading the Bible, for holiness, for love, for church unity, for congregational worship and for the church's witness. The only thing that I had wished for was a longer book which would have included this important areas but would have put that within an applicable overarching ecclesiology about how doctrine is for seeing ourselves as the body of Christ, for what it means that Jesus is the head of the church, for understanding the role of the Holy Spirit in the church's life and ministry, etc.It is a very well and easy to understand book as well as rather short. It is among only 5 books that I know of that address church health from a theological and/or biblical point of view. Not enough people are writing about this or asking what does the Bible and sound doctrine have to do with being a healthy church. One would think this would be a no-brainer, but from looking at the vast market of books on church health, this subject is grossly overlooked.

Very fast delivery. Very satisfied with book.

We are family you know, as believers in Christ,This book is a must to your library, I recommend it to be in the hands of your pastor.Every pastor needs to be armed strongly with the word of God. This is a small book but, is pack with Power.