You can listen to Driscoll's sermon's online. Trust me, he isn't fire and brimstone. He's a cool dude. The salon article is just people trying to understand something that makes no sense in their narrow view of Christianity.
V.Q.
· 3 years ago
Very inciteful post bro. I love the Circle of Hope for the very reasons you mention here. The fact that it's more of a community than a club. That the people there actually love each other, and show it through their actions, not just the normal "I'm praying for you"'s and careless "how are you"'s of mainstream American churches. I don't know to much about Mars Hill, and I am probably a tad more conservative than you, but I think the fundemental underlying point of your post is something that the church in the US could do well to learn from. The largely conservative church has moved away from the love that was central to Jesus. They (we) have forgotten the reason Christ came in the first place. Not because He wanted our money, or to condemn us. But because He loved us.
God bless, Keep up the good posts.
Rod White
· 3 years ago
I look forward to meeting you Mark! You've gained a lot of insight in a small amount of time, it seems. It is good to be building something authentic together. -- Rod White, Broad and Washington
Christopher Puchalsky
· 3 years ago
hi mark, I also look forward to meeting you. Thanks for posting this on the circle of hope dialogue list (listserve). Reading the salon article i had a mixture of feelings - "wow, i like that. God bless them," "yuck, how God-less .", and "hmm, i wonder if the author is distorting mars hill's views and life".
2 things: 1. turning women into baby factories does not seem like a good way to produce a city of christians. i know of no words of jesus, nor anywhere in the bible where this is even suggested. how distrubing for a group who claims to take the bible seriously. taking the great commision to heart and living fearlessly for the gospel will enable your neighbors and city to find salvation in jesus.
2. on the subject of gender roles, mars hill's view of gender roles doesn't seem anymore biblical than radical feminism. i don't like using the bible as an excuse to oppress women and force them into some role that wasn't even present in the new testemant church. nor do i like the false gospel of "freedom" that modern society calls women to, but that looks more like an invitation to destructive selfish behavhior.
it would be great if we at Circle of Hope could really try hard to listen to God to see what is the best roles for men and women in this time and place.
cp (broad and washington)
FTM
· 3 years ago
"mars hill’s view of gender roles doesn’t seem anymore biblical than radical feminism"
The salon article fixates on that issue, like Mark Driscoll wrote the Bible or something. It's church in general they have a problem with, not Driscoll.
joshua
· 3 years ago
i thought i'd at least throw in that i loved your thoughs, mark. this was the most interesting thing on the whole internet today.
at this point in my journey, tearing down stuff is pretty easy for me. building the "archaic" like Christ is leading is hard.
i think i would also rather put the hipster term to bed like the co-opts blog.
Lexie
· 3 years ago
Your church sounds similar to mine--Broad Street Ministry. It's such a joy to find a church that pushes the messages of love, mercy and grace rather than fear and guilt. I'm still not transitioned yet, but I'm a lot happier. Getting deprogrammed from my past experiences is much more difficult than I expected, but once I realized that true Christianity isn't a work-exchange program with God, life got a little less stressful. I'd like to visit your church sometime, too... maybe you can let me know when/where you meet.
Julius Rivera
· 3 years ago
I don't know enough about Mars Hill to "hate on them." But I can speak on the Circle. As I read the article and your post, one of the things that jumped out at me was the word "mega-church." I deeply appreciate the fact that our community is not centralized into one huge location, but spread throughout the city. I'm sure it's cool to go to a cool warehouse space, but I definitely prefer intimate spaces that seat about 200 folks... julius - East
milk
· 3 years ago
Daughter of a minister of church talking here.
Love, tolerance, respect and forgiveness. I was brought up believing in those things by my religious parents. Not all this Ifyoudon'tgotochurcheverySundayyou'llburninHell. They never forced it down my throat and I'll forever love them for that.
It shocks me even today to see how brainwashed many are... I believe the true message was lost somewhere, don't you? When did church going fundamentalists become bullies? What happened to all the respect, love and helping those who truly need help? Why can't we all just get along? Hmmm?
I remember having good discussions about this all with you. About the anger many have and many constantly feeling torn and guilty.
Oh petal, fight those narrow minded, judgemental people that seem to be populating most of this planet. I'm right behind you.
All Comments
I love the Circle of Hope for the very reasons you mention here. The fact that it's more of a community than a club. That the people there actually love each other, and show it through their actions, not just the normal "I'm praying for you"'s and careless "how are you"'s of mainstream American churches.
I don't know to much about Mars Hill, and I am probably a tad more conservative than you, but I think the fundemental underlying point of your post is something that the church in the US could do well to learn from. The largely conservative church has moved away from the love that was central to Jesus. They (we) have forgotten the reason Christ came in the first place. Not because He wanted our money, or to condemn us. But because He loved us.
God bless,
Keep up the good posts.
I also look forward to meeting you. Thanks for posting this on the circle of hope dialogue list (listserve). Reading the salon article i had a mixture of feelings - "wow, i like that. God bless them," "yuck, how God-less .", and "hmm, i wonder if the author is distorting mars hill's views and life".
2 things:
1. turning women into baby factories does not seem like a good way to produce a city of christians. i know of no words of jesus, nor anywhere in the bible where this is even suggested. how distrubing for a group who claims to take the bible seriously. taking the great commision to heart and living fearlessly for the gospel will enable your neighbors and city to find salvation in jesus.
2. on the subject of gender roles, mars hill's view of gender roles doesn't seem anymore biblical than radical feminism. i don't like using the bible as an excuse to oppress women and force them into some role that wasn't even present in the new testemant church. nor do i like the false gospel of "freedom" that modern society calls women to, but that looks more like an invitation to destructive selfish behavhior.
it would be great if we at Circle of Hope could really try hard to listen to God to see what is the best roles for men and women in this time and place.
cp (broad and washington)
The salon article fixates on that issue, like Mark Driscoll wrote the Bible or something. It's church in general they have a problem with, not Driscoll.
at this point in my journey, tearing down stuff is pretty easy for me. building the "archaic" like Christ is leading is hard.
i wrote more here
i think i would also rather put the hipster term to bed like the co-opts blog.
julius - East
Love, tolerance, respect and forgiveness. I was brought up believing in those things by my religious parents. Not all this Ifyoudon'tgotochurcheverySundayyou'llburninHell. They never forced it down my throat and I'll forever love them for that.
It shocks me even today to see how brainwashed many are... I believe the true message was lost somewhere, don't you? When did church going fundamentalists become bullies? What happened to all the respect, love and helping those who truly need help? Why can't we all just get along? Hmmm?
I remember having good discussions about this all with you. About the anger many have and many constantly feeling torn and guilty.
Oh petal, fight those narrow minded, judgemental people that seem to be populating most of this planet. I'm right behind you.