I Won Driscoll’s Vintage Jesus

Today is starting off great!

I just got this message from my friends at The Vintage Jesus Facebook group (which you should join) :

Congratulations!

You are one of the winners of the Vintage Jesus book give away. Please respond with your mailing address so we can send you your free copy.

Vintage Jesus is the latest release from Mark Driscoll. I can’t wait to read it.

Best News I Heard All Day

There are plenty of people who want to knock Mark Driscoll; they like to get on blogs and call him arrogant and mean-spirited. I think people who do this are lame.

Two of the coolest ministries out there are The Resurgence and the Acts 29 Network. The Resurgence is primarily a web based ministry that hosts all kinds of theological training and materials. The Acts 29 Network is a ministry that provides conferences, workshops, training materials and networking opportunities for church planters and pastors who want to band together and spread the Gospel.

Both of these ministries are headed up by Mark and are underwritten by the people of Mars Hill Church. I am so grateful that Mark is leading ministries that are giving back, often free of charge, to others who wish do grow in their faith and Gospel work.

Here is just another example of how The Resurgence and Acts 29 go over the top.

All main sessions and Q&A at [National Resurgence Conference 2008 Text & Context] will be live-streamed right here at http://www.theResurgence.com! Sessions can be viewed here. And of course, once we get the conference sessions edited, audio and video of all of the sessions will be posted on this site for download or streaming. We wish you could join us in person, but hopefully you will be sufficiently consoled knowing that you can watch at home in the comfort of your jammies and bunny slippers.

Following Around Elephants with a Shovel

Heard a good one from Mark Driscoll in a recent sermon on God’s grace. He said something like…

God’s grace doesn’t mean you get to walk around like an elephant in the circus and God just follows you around with a shovel. (start at 5:00 in the clip below)

It is true that God will always forgive us. However, that truth doesn’t give us the freedom to go around sinning as much as we want, behaving as if sin is not a big deal and that God will always be there to pick up our poop (see Romans 6).

In fact, for the Christian, the one whom Jesus died to save and in whom he now lives, an evidence that you are truly are saved is a decreasing propensity in your live to sin and an increasing desire to glorify God with all your being.

God’s grace not only redeems and saves us, but it also calls and empowers us to live a new kind of life. You can see all the 14 different aspects of grace that Driscoll preached on, along with many more resources on the subject of grace, by clicking here.

Driscoll, Election, My Son, and a Hockey Game

I heard Driscoll give an example demonstrating how the doctrine of election shows God to be a loving Father. While listening to Driscoll I thought of an example from my own life.

A few weeks ago I took my three kids to my little brother’s hockey game. My one year old Andrew loves to run around and explore so while we were at the game it was a constant challenge to watch over him. I wanted him to have fun but I also know the dangers of letting a small child crawl up and down steps, bleachers and railings. More than once I sat Andrew down and told him what I expected from him but he kept getting out of his seat and doing the things that ultimately would wound him.

Andrew knew my expectations but he continued to choose his own way despite the fact that it would bring pain. Sound familiar? More than once I spoke to Andrew and told him to stop, to turn around and to come back to me. That is repentance. I pursued him and called him to repent. But he wouldn’t. Just like God pursues me and I don’t always stop and repent either.

Then, one time when Andrew was running and not looking where he was going, I noticed he was about to fall down a flight of stairs. I ran up behind him, grabbed him by his jacket and yanked him to safety. now, did I violate my child’s free will by yanking him back? Yes I did, but, did I do him harm? No, I saved him. Just like God has reached down and yanked me from certain pain and death because of my sin.

Driscoll Video on Predestination

A friend of mine who had been riding the Armenian/Calvinist fence recently watched this message and sent me a text message that read, “I am a total calvvy now!” Funny stuff. This is a great presentation on the doctrine of predestination. It is about an hour long.

If you have ever wondered exactly what most Calvinist’s believe about how people are saved you should watch this. It is especially convincing when Driscoll talks about the state humans are in because of sin and our inability to choose God because our sinfulness.

Watch the video or down below.

Religions Saves series at Mars Hill Church

I’m really enjoying Mark Driscoll’s current preaching series “Religions Saves and Nine Other Misconceptions.” Mars Hill Church did a a great idea. A few months ago they set up a website where people could ask questions that they wanted Driscoll to preach about. Then other people could vote on which questions they liked best. In December they closed the voting and choose the 9 most popular questions. You can check out the questions here.

Mars Hill is using technology in some neat ways. Besides posting sermons on MySpace and YouTube they are now allowing people to text message question during the late Sunday service. Then, after the service, Driscoll spends about 20 minutes answering the questions off the cuff. This is a great way to involve the people in the congregation to interact with the content of the sermon.

From Mars Hill (WA & MI)

Mars Hill Church in Seattle has a new look to their website that I love. Check it out.

Also, here is a short article on Mars Hill and there ability to reach young men in Seattle: Mars Hill makes faith cool for 20-somethings (HT: Steve McCoy)

What’s up with Rob Bell inviting Doug Pagitt to speak at his church? Bummer. Why bummer? Listen to the audio linked in this post.

Christianity Today Article Featuring Mark Driscoll

Christianity Today has a new article online about Mark Driscoll. It is a good article highlighting some of the work God is doing and Mars Hill, and addressing some of the controversy that surrounds Driscoll. Some highlights:

On how he became Calvinist…

Preaching through Exodus early in his career, Driscoll was struck by God’s sovereignty over Pharaoh. He saw how God acted to deliver his people. The Book of Romans eliminated any remaining doubt about Reformed theology, which he summarizes this way: “People suck, and God saves us from ourselves.”

On women…

“If I could change one part of the Bible,” Driscoll told The Seattle Times about Paul’s writings on gender roles, “that would be the part, just so I could be left alone.”

On fundamentalism…

“Fundamentalism is really losing the war, and I think it is in part responsible for the rise of what we know as the more liberal end of the emerging church,” Driscoll says. “Because a lot of what is fueling the left end of the emerging church is fatigue with hardcore fundamentalism that throws rocks at culture. But culture is the house that people live in, and it just seems really mean to keep throwing rocks at somebody’s house.”

On balancing theology and outreach…

“I also did not explain in written form that we were theologically conservative and culturally liberal, which caused great confusion because half of the church was angry that the other half was smoking, while the other half was angry that I taught from the Bible,” Driscoll writes in Confessions of a Reformission Rev.

Book Review: Peppermint-Filled Piñatas: Breaking Through Tolerance and Embracing Love

My sister spent two months this summer working at Mosaic church in Los Angeles. One of the things she enjoyed was meeting Eric Bryant, who oversees the leadership team there, and from what I can tell, keeps the Mosaic ship going while Erwin McManus is traveling and speaking around the country.

I had the pleasure of meeting Eric last summer and running off some copies of the Mosaic Constitution while I was an Executive Assistant at Bethel Seminary. Seemed like a really great guy; very humble, down to earth and friendly.

My sister brought me back an autographed copy of Eric’s first book: Peppermint-Filled Piñatas: Breaking Through Tolerance and Embracing Love. It is a great book that focuses on encouraging Christians to step out of holy huddles and embrace the people around them, in love, for the sake of the Gospel. The book is filled with stories from Eric’s own life and reads quickly and easily.

Some things that struck me…

• all of us recognize the value of people similar to us more readily than the value of those who are different (9)
• More and more people see Christianity as part of their past rather than as a guiding force for their future (18)
• The most effective apologetic is love (32)
• We must go to great lengths to serve and to meet the needs of friends – even to the point of being willing to pick them up and carry them if that’s what it takes (40)
• Where we live provides natural opportunities to engage with others (53)
• We lie away from the world physically, but out behavior matches that of the world (54)
• To move out of our rut and routine, we should look to connect with others through a cause, hobby or area of passion (73)
• For Jesus, serving the Father meant getting involved in the lives of others (74)
• Those who are most mature in Christ need ti be willing to make the greatest sacrifices (93)
• “If you want to become a diverse church you need to have friends from diverse backgrounds.” (Erwin McManus, 123)
• We should see beyond someone’s skin color so that we get to know the person, but to truly get to know a person we need to find out what being black, brown, beige, or what is really like (125)
• “As Christians we are to take responsibility for the irresponsibility of others” (Mark Driscoll, 146)
• Our allegiance belongs first and foremost to God’s kingdom. Our heavenly citizenship should always guide how we live our lives and how we treat others as citizens of our country and of our world. (162)
• The existence of strip clubs, pornography, and promiscuous relationships reveals a brokenness within our hearts, which we try to fix with these dangerous and destructive adventures (176)
• religion does not work because religion is humanity’s attempt to earn God’s favor (198)

The Gospel Coalition

If you are into..

– growing spiritually
– engaging in great conversations
– developing your doctrine
– Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, and other Christian leaders
– reformed theology
– connecting the Gospel to the culture

Check out this new site: The Gospel Coalition