In his post You Will Never Guess Who Is Really Responsible For The Softening of Males In The Church, Mark Sayers shifts the blame for the current “sea of passivity” in modern males from feminism to men like John Newton.
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Douglas Wilson and Mark Driscoll whip up a feast for critical bloggers… great stuff.
Doug Wilson Interviews Mark Driscoll | Part II – Spiritual Gifts & Cessationism from Canon Wired on Vimeo.
“But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing…” Matthew 6:3
When it comes to doctrine, Mark Driscoll defines all issues as either closed-handed or open-handed. The non-negotiable fundamentals are held with a closed hand. In the open hand are issues that can be debated without shafting a church’s faithfulness to the apostles’ doctrine.
Mark Driscoll used a combination of conservative doctrine and cultural liberalism to build his church. Some snippets from Mark Driscoll’s book The Radical Reformission:
Reformission evangelism, patterned after the example of Jesus, is particularly appropriate for our current economy, in which people live much of their lives pursuing experiences… Reformission evangelism to our growing experience economy will require Christians and churches to steep the gospel in the culture with increasing creativity, hospitality, and authenticity. This is necessary because lost people living in an experience-based economy are willing to immerse themselves in the life of a Christian community to experience it for themselves and to see firsthand the experiences of people Jesus has transformed.
Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church by Mark Driscoll
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was expecting to be shocked by this book, but perhaps we’re all Driscoll-desensitized now. Sounds like Mark was just what Seattle needed. Lots of wisdom from hard knocks, teachability, but above all, persistence for Jesus. Continue reading
Grace Agenda Conference Trailer from Canon Wired on Vimeo.
This looks like good medicine. Guess I will have to settle for the MP3s again. You know Doug and Mark. Ben preaches at Doug’s church and his messages are simple yet profound. They really stick with you. I’ve read Nate Wilson but not heard him speak. I hear he’s also very good.
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Spreadsheets and Shackles by G. Tyler Fischer (mp3)
This sermon continues our emphasis during the Lenten season on spiritual discipline. Last week’s sermon by Mr. Miller focused us on helpful images that call us to our battle with the world, the flesh and the Devil, this text takes us toward one of great trenches of our daily warfare—the battle of our desires for things, for control of people and for cultural dominion. None of these items are evil in and of themselves—in fact they are good—but they can become idols and so enslave us.
The intro doesn’t do it justice. Like many others, Fischer puts his finger on a big reason for the church’s failure in the west. But he tackles it in a big picture context.
Marriage and Men by Mark Driscoll (video, also available as podcast)
Jesus is the only perfect man to ever live. Because most men fail to look to Him as our example, there exist two extremes in men: chauvinism and cowardice. Pastor Mark Driscoll preaches to men about being real men who love God and serve their family well in this sermon from Trial.
This one is a tough listen. You’ll come out bleeding, but better.
The solution is to get more men in church. Mark Driscoll’s strategy of specifically targeting men is the way to go.
“A study from Hartford Seminary found that the presence of involved men was statistically correlated with church growth, health, and harmony. Meanwhile, a lack of male participation is strongly associated with congregational decline.”*
On the one hand, loud-mouthed, offensive Christians might not make unbelievers think, “Gee, I want to be like you.” But on the other, are Christians to woo the world using only the vocab of a Rick Warren calendar? When is it OK to be offensive?
Bible Matrix blog
