Dear Mars Hill Church… Concerns About Pastor Mark Driscoll

July 11, 2011 By Kurt Willems 49 Comments

Many of us have been frustrated with some of the statements Mark Driscoll has been making lately.  One person who was bold enough to stand up, was my blogger friend: Rachel Held Evans.  Prompted by her post “Mark Driscoll is a Bully” and encouragement to email the church directly with our concerns about Pastor Mark’s poor use of social media, I sent the following email to the church.  You can do so as well (if you plan to write in love and not bitterness, by emailing: life@marshillchurch.org ).

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Dear Mars Hill Church,

I’ve attended your Ballard campus and was impressed in many ways.  Although I consider myself an Anabaptist Evangelical and not a Reformer, my impression of your ministry was mostly positive.  You folks care about the Bible, Jesus, and human transformation.  You have dynamic ministries caring for the “least of these” in the city and world.  And although I may have some theological “distinctives” (open-handed issues) that differ [which admittedly have some ramifications for ministry and mission], I can see that your church is making a positive impact in many lives.  Many folks have found Jesus Christ through your church and that is something to rejoice about. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Church Ministry, Community, Culture Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , 49 Comments

I’m Quitting Facebook to Join Faithbook Because My WWJD Bracelet Told Me To

June 20, 2011 By Kurt Willems 23 Comments

The end of the age has come.  No, not the rapture, but the end of Facebook.  There I said it… finished.  As of today, I am shutting down all Facebook communication.

“Why?” you ask.  I’ll gladly answer.

I’m convinced that the God revealed in Jesus desires that Christians avoid becoming convoluted by the world.  We Christians often look more like “world-lians” and today I’m done representing the wrong team.  As evidence of my sincerity, its “goodbye Facebook” and hello “Faithbook.”

I can hear it now.  Some of you are saying… “but Kurt, you have thousands of friends on Mark Z’s dorm room creation.  There’s no way you’re serious!”  Don’t believe me, check out this screenshot from my MacBook (Maybe some good soul will produce GodBook?): [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, Culture, Early Church, Evangelism, Holy Spirit, Kingdom of God, Missional, Nonviolence, Social Justice Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 23 Comments

Internet Integrity Matters: Web 2.0, Accountability, & Congressman Weiner

June 7, 2011 By Kurt Willems 10 Comments

Integrityphoto © 2008 Courtney | more info (via: Wylio)

Integrity.  It’s a word that word in the church that is the outflow of a life defined by Jesus Christ.  He is the one whose own integrity we aim to imitate.  In so many ways, we often fall short.

Integrity.  It’s also a word that Christian guys hear over and over again at camps and retreats.  This is more than appropriate because it’s a word that often fails to find actualization. Men sometimes fail to live up to the purity to which they are called.  Another word, integrity’s nemesis, lust, creeps in.  Another word, accountability, is key for managing temptations that come into our lives.  Without it we allow lust to dictate actions that corrupt our calling as men to live up to a standard worthy of the women in our lives.[1]

Over the past week, the reminder that integrity matters came as we watched Congressman Weiner deny and then confess to inappropriate interactions with 6 women over the past few years via social media.  This revelation serves as no surprise for most of us, because we live in a day where such actions are expected – almost more than they are a shock.  This should sadden us.

What I’ve been thinking about as this story broke is that Internet integrity matters.  [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, Culture, Faith Journey, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , 10 Comments

Quote To Ponder: Menno Simons (on community)

February 1, 2011 By Kurt Willems 3 Comments

Here is the founder of my faith tradition, radical reformer Menno Simons.  I would love to hear your thoughts on this quote which gives a great summary of the Anabatist way:

“We do not teach and practice community of goods but we teach and testify the Word of the Lord, that all true believers in Christ are of one body (I Cor. 12:13), partakers of one bread (I Cor. 10:17), have one God and one Lord (Eph. 4).  Seeing then that they are one, . . . it is Christian and reasonable that they also have divine love among them and that one member cares for another, for both the Scriptures and nature teach this. They show mercy and love, as much as is in them.  They do not suffer a beggar among them. They have pity on the wants of the saints.  They receive the wretched.  They take strangers into their houses.  They comfort the sad.  They lend to the needy.  They clothe the naked. They share their bread with the hungry.  They do not turn their face from the poor nor do they regard their decrepit limbs and flesh (Isa. 58).  This is the kind of brotherhood we teach.”            Menno Simons [Read more...]

Filed Under: (Series) Quote to Ponder, Community 3 Comments
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