As I sat with a colleague, his question was, “With everything going on in Ferguson, what is the church’s response? We should be doing something!” It’s a question I’m sure many people who care about humanity have asked. Should we join the protests? Should we advocate for equality by exposing the evil in this racial injustice? How do we do it in a way that is respectful to the victims of this tragedy? How do we do it in an integral way,... Read more
Embattled Pastor Mark Driscoll has announced this morning that he is, in fact, stepping down from the pastorate of the church he founded, Mars Hill Church in Seattle, in light of formal charges of abusive leadership brought by former Mars Hill elders and other former colleagues. Returning from vacation noticeably more tan than usual, Mark began his video announcement to the church with these words: “Howdy, Mars Hill. So yeah, this month has been totally ridic. I’m out, bro. DONE.... Read more
I am a pacifist. What I mean by that is in every conflict I have I make a concerted effort to not respond with violence. What I mean by that is I try to uphold the dignity of the other especially when we are at odds. I understand violence as the most primitive form of dehumanization. When I act violently toward another I not only dehumanize my sense of self (or character) but I also dehumanize the other. This makes... Read more
There are certain people that have a God given magnetism. They have an uncanny ability to draw out the best in people. My wife’s aunt was that kind of person. Cancer took Teri Jean two years ago. Teri was no ordinary soul…she was a puppeteer. Teri could tell the best stories, sing the craziest and bawdiest songs, and laugh louder than anyone I knew. Near the end of her life, Teri chose to go back to school to be a nurse. In... Read more
As August marches quickly toward September, we find ourselves past the apex of daylight in the northern hemisphere, each day becoming slightly shorter than the last. We also find ourselves in the midst of that time in the church year called simply, “Ordinary Time.” Even if you are not part of a particularly liturgical church, you likely are aware of some of her seasons. Advent is the period of time that begins four Sundays before Christmas and during which we anticipate... Read more
Yesterday Mars Hill Church announced that it is canceling its huge annual conference, Resurgence 2014. The conference website has this announcement: The Resurgence Conference has always been born out of our love of Jesus and the church, and the desire to support efforts to grow leaders to grow churches. Unfortunately, we have decided to cancel this year’s conference due to unforeseen changes to our speaker line-up and other challenges we believe would make it difficult to provide the quality of... Read more
Do you want to hear about my recent conversion? It just happened. I mean, you don’t have to believe me or anything. You might be suspicious about this sort of story. Sometimes I am too. See, back when I was a member at that Reformed Baptist church, they talked about conversion constantly. It was an obsession, to the point that most of the people in the church were unsure if they’d been “truly saved.” There were lots of them who... Read more
David Dennis, Jr. wrote a piece on Medium this week making a similar point about the upcoming Exodus: Gods and Kings movie to the one I recently made about Noah – but perhaps making it a bit more plain. Namely, he says this Exodus movie is racist, plain and simple. Here’s an excerpt: Not only are all the main characters White, but the servants, thieves and assassins are played by Africans. Guys. This is racist. Ridley Scott is one of those... Read more
This is the biggest official consequence to come to Mark Driscoll for his years of ministry abuse. Acts 29, the international church planting network that Driscoll co-founded and of which he and Mars Hill were a part up until the present moment, has indicated in a letter to Driscoll that they are officially removing Mark and Mars Hill from the network. The statement cites disqualifying sins and no evidence of repentance as the reason. It also asks Mark to step down from ministry.... Read more
The following is an excerpt from Nish Weiseth’s book SPEAK that released this week. I hope you enjoy the post, follow Nish, and then buy this wonderful, wonderful book! — The argument about women in ministry that had transpired in my kitchen plays out in a multitude of ways every day. On youTube, loud and angry pastors stand in their pulpits and slap other believers and churches with labels like “heretical” and “unbiblical.” They call themselves true, gospel-oriented churches, with the... Read more
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