Friday, January 11, 2008

New Discovery: Mark Driscoll & Mars Hill Church

Jared sent me a youtube link to snippets of Mark Driscoll's sermons/rants. I had never heard of the guy, nor Mars Hill Church before, but I was so impressed that I watched every youtube video I could find on the guy.

He seemed to preach Biblically, and with care for his audience. He is charismatic, comedic, and maintains a wonderful connection with his listeners. He is oftentimes offensive, and sometimes crude; oftentimes self-deprecating, and sometimes prideful; but no one can deny that he speaks with genuine concern for the souls of the lost, and the sanctification of the saved.

He preaches on hard topics, and is unapologetic about the Truths of the Bible. He knows Christ is the only way to eternal life, abortion is murder, and that men and women were created equal but have different roles. He preaches in jeans and a t-shirt on a black stage and his points are regularly interrupted with laughter and applause.

So far, the only thing I disagree with him on are some of the worship practices he places in his 'open hand' (non-doctrinal things which are open to change). I believe the songs we sing and the instruments we use *are* outlined in the Bible. However, I would hazard a guess that God is pleased with Mark's work, even if they don't sing the Psalms a cappella, you know? There's just so much substance and meat in the Psalms, I can't imagine worshiping using contemporary praise songs alone... they're just so... repetitive... and the really repeat themselves... a lot. If I'm going to study and memorize songs, I would rather they be God's Words.

Ah well... Nathan seemed to really enjoy the Q&A we watched with Jared, so I'll see if we can watch some of his videos together as a devotional type thingy. It would be really great if we could study God's Word in way that was both edifying and amusing :)

On a side note: I'm really awful at Settlers of Catan... I'm constantly cut off right at the beginning (usually by Nathan). If I believed in luck, I'd think I had a streak of the bad kind, but since I don't, I can only assume that the Lord is trying to teach me something about being a good loser... or something...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"I can't imagine worshiping using contemporary praise songs alone... they're just so... repetitive... and the really repeat themselves... a lot."

Most of the music at Mars Hill is either composed in-house or hymns (many of which are based on Psalms). The presentation is "contemporary," but it's not at all similar to the music you'd find on a pop Christian radio station.