Mars Hill Church

Life at Mars Hill: A Photo Essay

Mars Hill Blog — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:00:00 -0800

Worship Up at Mars Hill Everett

The men of Mars Hill Orange County vow to lead

A Mars Hill Portland husband prays with his wife

Praying in West Seattle

A Sammamish dad gives his daughter a better view

The Crowd at Mars Hill Sammamish

Teaching the kids in Shoreline

It’s All about Jesús: Mars Hill Español

Mars Hill Blog — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:00:00 -0800

por Pastor Donovan Medina

Click here to read this post in English.

¡Hola amigas y amigos! Sin reservas a todos nos encantaría ver una iglesia Mars Hill que opera, habla, y ministra en español. Esta realidad se está viendo cerca rápidamente, especialmente en lo que medimos nuestro entorno cultural en Nuevo México, el sur de California, México, América Central y América del Sur.

Visión

La motivación detrás de la Mars Hill Español es simple: Es la adoración a Jesús. Anhelamos el día en que seremos parte de la gran multitud “de todas las naciones, de todas las tribus y pueblos y lenguas, de pie y llorando delante del trono del Cordero, ‘La salvación pertenece a nuestro Dios que está sentado en el trono, y al Cordero!’” Esa imagen es como un hierro que esta marcada en nuestro cerebro. Esta visión da pasión, amor y preocupación por la comunidad hispanohablante. Tenemos temor a Jesús y no podemos dejar de proclamar de su persona y su obra a todas las personas.

Misión

La misión de Mars Hill Español es hacer discípulos y plantar iglesias. Estamos convencidos de que Dios está llevando esta tarea misional al centrarnos en las cuatro prioridades de misión de Mars Hill: Servicios, Liderazgo, comunidad y capacitación.

Servicios

En estos momentos estamos movilizando a nuestros lideres de español y voluntarios a nuestro servicio de las 11:15 a.m. Con el tiempo, cada área de nuestro servicio de cómo servimos tendrá hablantes en español y traductores. Para conseguir un pie en la puerta, estamos usando subtítulos en español para la predicación. Los subtítulos han servido de mucho para llevar el evangelio no importando la barrera del idioma. Pero hay mucho mas que se necesita hacer. Esto incluye los servicios, la predicación, la hospitalidad, la música, la producción, Mars Hill Niños, la ejecución de los sacramentos, la oración, la ofrenda, y los medios de comunicación.

Liderazgo

Estamos en las etapas iniciales de desarrollo de liderazgo para Mars Hill Español. El desarrollo del liderazgo es un proceso que comienza con en el bautismo. El fruto ya está sucediendo. El 11 de diciembre de 2011, mientras que el Pastor Mark estaba predicando en Albuquerque, una familia de Chihuahua fue bautizada. Nuestra oración es que con el tiempo los hombres que hablan español se convertirán en los futuros diáconos, ancianos y plantadores de iglesias de este movimiento.

Comunidad

Pronto nos dimos cuenta de que la comunidad es un elemento fundamental para continuar con la misión de hacer discípulos y plantar iglesias. Comunidad incluye conectar a la gente a la iglesia, la participación en grupos de comunidad, grupos de redención, y orientación bíblica. Hace un año tuvimos que tomar unos pasos hacia atrás en nuestros servicios para establecer mejor los grupos de comunidad en español. Empezamos con dos grupos de comunidad y estamos esperando tener diez grupos después de Semana Santa.

Capacitación

Estamos contentos de decir que nuestros recursos cada vez están creciendo en lo que respecta a la capacitación. Estamos haciendo conexiones en la Red de Acts 29, utilizando the Resurgence, la celebración de seminarios Resurgence mensualmente, y estableciendo el programa de Entrenadores del Evangelio. Tenemos dos interinos, Abiel Díaz y Austin Bagley, que están en las etapas iniciales de la implementación de nuestras metas para Mars Hill Español. Ambos están llenos de pasión y unidad para ver el evangelio y su efecto duradero en la comunidad latina.

Necesidades

Hemos orado y planeado sobre Mars Hill Español, y sean reconocido dos grandes necesidades. En primer lugar, necesitamos líderes que estén dispuestos a dar sus vidas para la proclamación del Evangelio. La obra de un pionero es una aventura que no es fácil, sin embargo, esta es la actitud y la mentalidad necesaria.

En segundo lugar, la necesidad de recursos centrados en el evangelio y con un contenido en español es muy importante. Si usted no lo sabía, “real matrimonio” se imprimió recientemente en español. Necesitamos más libros, predicaciones, artículos, y canciones impresas, grabadas y capturadas en español. El cielo es el límite cuando se trata de nuestros medios de comunicación y producción. Necesitamos invertir en fabricar la cultura.

Todo es acerca de Jesús

Con todo esto dicho, Dios nos ha dado rápidamente una oportunidad increíble para proclamar con valentía a su Hijo a una comunidad que necesita a Jesús. Vamos a seguir viendo y escuchando el nombre de Jesús alabado de los corazones y las bocas de los hispanohablantes de todo el mundo. Todo es acerca de Jesús.

Donovan Medina es un pastor de Mars Hill Albuquerque.

by Pastor Donovan Medina

¡Hola amigas y amigos! Without reservation, we would all love to see a Mars Hill Church that operates, speaks, and minsters in Spanish. This reality is fast approaching, especially as we gauge our cultural surroundings in New Mexico, Southern California, Mexico, and Central and South America.

Vision

The motivation behind Mars Hill Español is simple: It is the worship of Jesus. We long for the day when we will be part of the great multitude, “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb crying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” That image is like a branding iron on our brain. This vision energizes our love and concern for the Latino community. We are in awe of Jesus and cannot help but proclaim his person and work to all people.

Mission

The mission of Mars Hill Español is to make disciples and plant churches. We are convinced that God is leading this missional assignment by having us focus on the four missional priorities of Mars Hill: services, leadership, community, and training.

Services

We are currently mobilizing our Latino leaders and volunteers throughout our 11:15 a.m. service. In time, every area of how we think through our service will have Spanish-speakers and translators. To get our foot in the door, we are using Spanish subtitles for the sermon. The subtitles have served many by getting the gospel out regardless of the language barrier. But there is so much more that needs to be done, including the gatherings, preaching, hospitality, worship, production, Mars Hill Kids, the execution of sacraments, prayer, giving, and media.

Leadership

We are in the beginning stages of leadership development for Mars Hill Español. Development in leadership is a process that begins at baptism. The fruit is already happening. On December 11, 2011, while Pastor Mark was preaching at Mars Hill Albuquerque, a family from Chihuahua, Mexico was baptized. Our prayer is that in time Spanish-speaking men will become the future deacons, elders, and church planters for this movement.

Community

We realized early on that community is a fundamental element to the on going mission to make disciples and plant churches. Community includes connecting people to the church, participation in Community Groups, Redemption Groups, and Biblical Counseling. About a year ago we had to take a few steps back in our services to better establish Spanish-speaking Community Groups. We started with two Community Groups, and we are hoping to have ten groups after Easter.

Training

We are happy to say that our resources our growing when it comes to training. We are making connections in the Acts 29 network, utilizing the Resurgence, hosting Resurgence seminars monthly, and are establishing the Gospel Coaching program. We have two interns, Abiel Diaz and Austin Bailey, who are in the beginning stages of implementing our goals for Mars Hill Español. Both are full of passion and drive to see the gospel have its lasting effect in the Latino community.

Needs

As we have prayed and planned over Mars Hill Español, we have recognized two major needs. First, we need leaders who are willing to empty their lives and become servants for the sake of the spreading of the gospel. The work of an adventurous pioneer is not easy, however, this is the attitude and mindset needed.

Second, the need for gospel-centered resources and content in Spanish is great. If you didn’t know, Real Marriage was recently printed in Spanish. We need more books, sermons, articles, and songs printed, recorded and captured in Spanish. The sky is the limit when it comes to our media and communication output. We need investment from culture makers.

Todo Es Sobre Jesús

With all this said, God has quickly given us an amazing opportunity to boldly proclaim his Son to a community who needs Jesus. May we continue to see and hear the praise of Jesus’ name come from the hearts and mouths of Spanish speakers throughout the world. Vaya con Jesús.

Donovan Medina is the worship pastor at Mars Hill Albuquerque.

Silence and Solitude

Mars Hill Blog — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:00:00 -0800

by Charles Spurgeon

“I will meditate on your precepts.” — Psalm 119:15

There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering spiritual strength for labor in his service through meditation on his Word. We must to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them.

Truth is something like the cluster of the vine: if we would have wine from it, we must bruise it, we must press and squeeze it many times. The bruiser’s feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice will not flow, and they must tread the grapes well, or else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must, by meditation, tread the clusters of truth, if we want to get the wine of consolation out of them.

Our bodies are not supported by merely taking food into the mouth, but the process which really supplies the muscle, and the nerve, and the sinew, and the bone, is the process of digestion. It is by digestion that the outward food becomes assimilated with the inner life. Our souls are not nourished merely by listening awhile to this, and then to that, and then to the other part of divine truth. Hearing, reading, marking, and learning, all require inwardly digesting to complete their usefulness, and the inward digesting of the truth lies for the most part in meditating upon it.

Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, only make slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God’s Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it.

From such folly deliver us, O Lord, and be this our resolve this morning, “I will meditate on your precepts.”

Adapted from Morning and Evening.

When Your Husband Sins against You

Mars Hill Blog — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:00:00 -0800

There are few more heart-revealing moments than when our husbands sin against us. Invariably, each of wives has faced or will face one of these scenarios:

Your husband has just confessed sexual or financial sin.
He pursues his career with passion but leaves you and the kids lonely.
His angry words pierce you to the core.
His bitterness and unbelief toward God leak into his whole life.

We walk a fine line trying to know how to respond. The pain leaves us asking questions that may not have answers: Will he ever change? Can I trust him? How can I guarantee he won’t hurt me again?

Daughter First, Wife Second

Cynicism abounds as we wonder how God could leave us unprotected. Anger, fear, and anxiety leap to the surface as we desperately try to find our footing. We ask ourselves who we can trust to lead us when the supposed “leader” is in sin. If our value is tied to his purity, we will be devastated. If our security is grounded in his affection and attention, we will be shaken. If our faith rides the coattails of his, we will find ourselves drowning in unbelief. If our husband is our rock, we may be crushed by him.

As a Christian woman, while we are “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24) with this man, our lives are also hidden with Christ (Col 3:3) Regardless of which event happened first, the moment you were welcomed into God’s family as a daughter supersedes the day you became wife. The core of the issue is that forgiveness and grace in a marriage finds its hope and source in Jesus alone. We cannot expect perfection from our husbands; we can from Christ.

What to Do

So what does a wife do when her husband is caught in sin?

Pray

You cannot demand, manipulate, plead, or cry your husband into repentance. The Holy Spirit alone grants godly sorrow and places conviction upon the heart. Ask for the Spirit’s help and persevere in prayer.

Humble yourself

While it is tempting to turn up your volume and intensity when your husband sins, remember who you both are: sinners desperately in need of rescue. Examine if you are in sin, too.

Personify grace

A soft heart and a kind response to your husband’s sin leaves him face to face with his God. Trust that God can and will change him more fully than you ever could.

Be honest

After you have prayed through your emotions with God (vent to him first—he can handle it!) be honest with your husband about how his sin impacts you and the repercussions of his sin on your relationship.

Surround yourself with godly influence and counsel

You may not be objective in evaluating your husband’s sin on your own. If he is stuck in a pattern of habitual sin, has hurt or threatened to hurt you or anyone, you need help. Tell another godly man whom you trust (friend’s husband, pastor, other leader) who can confront your husband. We are not asked to submit to a husband whose heart is bent on destruction, but you cannot make that call alone.

Cry out to God

If a wife demands iron-clad guarantees from her husband that he will never sin again, she is expecting a promise that even she cannot deliver. She can, instead, cry out to God. In Psalm 77, the psalmist’s heart is broken and he cries out to God. His soul refuses to be comforted, but in the darkness of his anguish, his spirit makes a diligent search and asks five questions:

Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?
Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?

These questions have answers. The answers to these questions translate into practical comfort for a wife who is facing the pain and hurt of her husbands’ sin, be it emotional, physical, verbal or sexual:

“Oh give thanks to the LORD , for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” 1 Chronicles 16:34
“He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry.” Isaiah 30:19
“For all the promises of God find their Yes in him.” 2 Corinthians 1:20
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:18
“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9

Same answers every time, from thousands of years ago when the psalmist asked to today when the lonely, grief-stricken wife asks.

Some of my scariest moments as a wife have been when my husband has struggled. Those have also been some of my most intimate encounters with Jesus.

God is the rock on which our hope must rest. May we take those uncertain moments to pour out confidence in the grace and certainty of Christ to our husbands. They’re opportunities to to draw near to her rock and Redeemer and show our husbands that the love of Christ can sustain us both.

Jen Smidt is a deacon at the Ballard church.

Respecting God’s Judgment

Mars Hill Blog — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:00:00 -0800

by R.C. Sproul

One of the most poignant episodes of the judgment of God occurred in the Old Testament case of Eli. Eli was a judge and priest over Israel. He was, for the most part, a godly man. But his sons were wicked and profaned the house of God. Eli rebuked them but did not fully restrain them. God revealed to Samuel that he would judge the house of Eli:

Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. (1 Samuel 3:11–13)

When Eli persisted in asking Samuel what God had said, Samuel finally told him. When Eli heard the words, he said: “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him” (v. 18).

What seemed good to God was to punish the house of Eli. Eli recognized the Word of God when he heard it because he understood the character of him whose word it was. A God before whom we need to have no fear is not God but an idol made by our own hands.

Can you make this affirmation from the depths of your heart in difficult times as well as good times?

Passages for Further Study

1 Samuel 3:10
1 Samuel 3:18
Psalm 115:4

Devotion adapted from Ligonier Ministries, the teaching fellowship of R.C. Sproul.

Guided by the Voice of God: Scripture, Part 4

Mars Hill Blog — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:00:00 -0800

by Dr. Gregg R. Allison

To hear the voice of its God, the church is to be centered on the inspired, sufficient, necessary, clear, truthful, authoritative, and powerful Scripture.

As P. T. Forsyth urged, “If we are not going to use our Bible, it is of no use building our Churches.” This has specific reference to the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1–9). The call of God to salvation—the divine, effective summons to repent of one’s sins and believe in Jesus Christ—comes through the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:13–14). By means of “the living and abiding word of God”—“this word is the good news that was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:25)—people experience the new birth (1 Peter 1:23) and thus become a part of the redeemed people of the church. Unsurprisingly, then, the church’s communication of the gospel is absolutely necessary in order for people to be saved and for the church to exist (Romans 10:13–17).

Beyond its responsibility to spread the message of salvation beyond its own confines, the church is to teach Scripture—specifically, sound doctrine—for the advancement of its members. Sound doctrine is connected with maturity in the Christian faith. Indeed, Paul identifies his apostolic work as that of furthering “the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness” (Titus 1:1). He describes “a good servant of Christ Jesus” as one who is “trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:6), who follows “the pattern of the sound words” learned from him and who guards “the good deposit” entrusted to him (2 Timothy 1:13–14).

Negatively, a person who is outside of the Christian faith is described as one who “teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness” (1 Timothy 6:3). Indeed, Paul warns the church: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3–4).

Scripture Confronts and Convicts Us

Of course, the Word of God not only stands against false teachers and their false teachings; it stands over the disobedience, faithlessness, pride, underdevelopment, legalism, selfishness, xenophobia, lethargy, non-contextualization, and other sins of the church and its members. Appropriately, the Bible may be viewed as “our adversary”: it always confronts with existential demands for reformation. As John Webster notes, “Scripture is as much a de-stabilizing feature of the church as it is a factor in its cohesion and continuity.”

Gathered as the community of the Word, the church draws life and sustenance from Scripture in its midst, but it also receives conviction and rebuke from Scripture as it journeys on a pilgrim path that needs constant redirectioning in order for the church to reach its ultimate destination. If it is to arrive safely at that goal, the church does well to minimize the “other voices” and pay attention to the voice of God in Scripture.

See Dr. Allison live at Mars Hill Downtown TODAY, February 4, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm as he gives a lecture entitled, “The Bible: How We Got It and Why You Should Trust It.”

And buy Dr. Allison’s new book, Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine.

Climb

Mars Hill Blog — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:00:00 -0800

by Charles Spurgeon

“Get thee up into the high mountain.” –Isaiah 40:9 (KJV)

Our knowledge of Christ is somewhat like climbing a mountain. When you are at the base you see but little: the mountain itself appears to be but half as high as it really is. Confined in a little valley, you hardly discover anything but the rippling brooks as they descend into the stream at the foot of the mountain. Climb the first rising knoll, and the valley lengthens and widens beneath your feet. Go higher, and you see the country for four or five miles round, and you are delighted with the widening prospect.

Mount still, and the scene enlarges, till at last, when you are on the summit, and look east, west, north, and south, you see almost all the land lying before you. Over there is a forest in some distant county, perhaps 200 miles away, and here the sea, and there a shining river and the smoking chimneys of a manufacturing town, or the masts of the ships in a busy port. All these things please and delight you, and you say, “I could not have imagined that so much could be seen at this elevation.”

Now, the Christian life is of the same order. When we first believe in Christ we see but little of him. The higher we climb the more we discover of his beauties. But who has ever reached the summit? Who has known all the heights and depths of the love of Christ which passes knowledge?

Paul, when grown old, sitting grey-haired, shivering in a dungeon in Rome, could say with greater emphasis than we can, “I know whom I have believed,” for each experience had been like the climbing of a hill, each trial had been like ascending another summit, and his death seemed like gaining the top of the mountain, from which he could see the whole of the faithfulness and the love of him to whom he had committed his soul. Get yourself up, dear friend, into the high mountain.

Adapted from Morning and Evening.

5 Practical Ways to Lead Your Wife

Pastor Tim Gaydos — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:00:00 -0800

1) Lead in repentance.

As men, we have the tendency to be proud, competitive and stubborn. We do not want to “give in” and lose an argument. Real men lead through humility by being the first to acknowledge their own sin, pride and stubbornness (Proverbs 29:23). This will create a healthy, loving conduit for your wife to be led (Ephesians 5:25).

2) Lead by learning to love what she loves.

Often, men expect their wives to always follow them to the game, concert, or rodeo. Ask God to give you a liking for what she likes. Before I got married, I did not like figure skating, but my wife loves figure skating. I started watching it with her, going to competitions with her, and now I can say boldly, there’s nothing like a Scott Hamilton free skate! Learning to appreciate what gets her excited brings us closer together and shows her how much I care for her (Ephesians 5:28).

3) Lead in household management.

Wives, especially those with children, have a very difficult and often stressful job. MSN Money recently reported that based on the job responsibilities of a wife and mother, their annual salary would be $96,000 . My wife, at times, will not ask for help so it’s important for me to discern, pray, and analyze what my wife’s needs are. Because we have two young children, I recently set up a weekly system where trusted gals from the church watch our children for the morning or afternoon so that my wife can get a needed break and get errands done.

4) Lead by pointing to Jesus.

After teaching the marriage class for a number of years, the absolute top desire I’ve heard from every wife in their marriage (and quite frankly the biggest disappointment thus far in their marriage) is to be led to Jesus. Our wives desire to be encouraged in their prayer life, bible reading, taking a Sabbath, silence and solitude (Ephesians 5:26-27).

5) Lead by turning off technology.

The new AT&T commercial of the couple out to dinner where the man is sneaking peeks of the game on his phone is so funny because it’s so true of so many of us. Husbands come home from work and either turn on the TV or pull out their computer. When they go out on dates he’ll excuse himself to go to the restroom so he can check his email. Husbands, close the laptop, stop texting, and be more concerned with your wife’s status than people you barely know. Pursue her, communicate with her, and give her your undivided attention.

*Bonus: Lead with spontaneity.

A couple ideas of ways to surprise her:

• Hire someone to come clean the house while you two take a weekend away
• A love letter, a rose (or more), and you telling her “I’d marry you all over again.”

Tim Gaydos is the lead pastor of Mars Hill Downtown Seattle.

Just As I Am

Mars Hill Blog — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:00:00 -0800

“Carefree Charlotte” was how Charlotte Elliott was known for the first 30 years of her life—she even made part of her living as a comedy writer. But shortly after her 30th birthday, it all changed forever. What Charlotte didn’t know at the time, was she would spend the next 50 years of her life bedridden with constant pain and exhaustion. She hated God and cursed him for making her a prisoner to her own bed.

When her father invited a pastor over, she lashed out at him for talking to her about this God at whom she was so angry. But the pastor immediately saw right through her and said, “You have become tired of yourself and are holding on to hate and anger.” She was immediately broken and convicted by his words, as the pastor said “Come as you are to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Soon after that she began writing hymns about this wonderful love she began to know. We still sing one them today, “Just As I Am,” which was later used as the altar call song for Billy Graham crusades, as well as the title of his autobiography, as well as a Johnny Cash album.

Just how were you when Christ saved you? How are you today?

Just as I am, without one plea,

 But that thy blood was shed for me,

 And that thou bidst me come to thee, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, and waiting not 

To rid my soul of one dark blot, 

To thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,

 O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about 

With many a conflict, many a doubt,

 Fightings and fears within, without, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind; 

Sight, riches, healing of the mind, 

Yea, all I need in thee to find,

 O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, thou wilt receive, 

Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve; 

Because thy promise I believe, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, thy love unknown 

Hath broken every barrier down; 

Now, to be thine, yea, thine alone, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, of that free love

 The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove, 

Here for a season, then above, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

Four Guys in Portland, Talking about Jesus

Mars Hill Blog — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:00:00 -0800

Statistically, males between the ages of 18 to 29 living in the Pacific Northwest (and New England) are the demographics most likely to claim “none” for their religious preference, and it’s not hard to imagine why going to church on a Sunday morning might not be a guy’s natural inclination.

So what about the guys who are going to church? Why are they there? Why are they not rolling out of bed to go get brunch? One Sunday at Mars Hill Portland, staff editor Holly talked with four friends, Ryan (21), Nate (21), Mac (19), and Brad (23). One is a painter at a subfab manufacturing plant, another is an electrical apprentice, a third works with graphite parts, and one is, well, working on finding a job. All four had been going to a church in nearby Gresham that closed its doors last November and have since started attending Mars Hill Portland. Some things in life they feel like they’ve got figured out, but there’s a lot still to go. One thing’s sure though: whatever they’re doing in life, it’s gonna be a life that starts Jesus. Here are their thoughts on church, service, marriage, and mission.

Mars Hill: So what’d you think of your first service?

Mac: I liked it, I enjoyed it, it was cool. It was weird watching like a television for a sermon, but I liked the message and stuff. . . . It kinda had the same feel [of our old church,] more of a smaller, community-based church. The building was way cooler and the pews are really tight, kinda old school.

Have you had a lot of Christian community before this?

Most of my friends are Christian, but they’re not really living like they are. They party a lot. A bunch of my friends live in the same house and they drink every night and they’re all underage. They’re wasted every night. So I’m trying to distance myself from them more and more. . . . They’re just kinda going the wrong direction and I don’t really wanna be around that necessarily.

Why don’t you wanna be around that?

I don’t wanna get sucked into that again. I partied a lot for a couple years [Nate: “We both did.”] It was a couple years of just not really caring about the direction I was going in life at all but still saying I was a Christian, and I’m trying to get out of that rut. So I haven’t drank in a long time and I don’t get high anymore so it’s kinda been like, gonna steer away from everything they’re starting to head towards more and more.

If you’re steering yourself away from them, what are you steering yourself toward?

I don’t know yet, I’m just spinning the wheel right now. I wanna get connected in the church and just go over there [to the CG sign-up area] to see if I can get rooted here.

Why’d you come to Mars Hill?

Brad: It was recommended to us by [a friend]. We weren’t sure where we were gonna go at first. Our friend really recommended it here. . . . It was an opportunity to come here, serve, and get plugged in. For me, it was like, “Alright, I’ll just kinda come here, go for it, see what happens.” And we just got plugged in security, Community Group, and everything.

What’s it like serving?

It’s pretty cool. [The guys I work with] are all awesome. We’re here to help and have something to do, just be part of it.

I just wanna serve, you know, and just contribute to the church and do whatever God is praying for, I guess. I know it sounds kinda vague but it’s just because I don’t really know what it is he wants me to do yet. I have a solid job and everything so I know I can contribute to the church financially, and maybe one day when I get my own house I can offer up the house for Community Groups some day or something like that, so I can contribute that way. But really I’m just here to serve the Lord in what I can, you know, just kinda do what needs to be done.

That’s a lot to give up: time, finances, and home. Why do you want to serve in all those areas?

Well it’s ‘cause you’re always gonna need it. It’s not like you tithe once a month or something and are like, “Oh, I’m good for the year.” I mean, we’re constantly gonna need to grow, and we are growing—Mars Hill’s exploding right now.

And there’s plenty of new believers coming around, and we gotta be able to be prepared for them [and] serve them . . . just be able to grow and expand. So just serving the church as it grows and gets bigger. Yeah, that’s kinda what I got in my head right now.

So how excited are you all to come in as a group of single guys and find out we’re doing a series on marriage for 11 weeks?

Ryan: I like it. It’s like [Pastor Mark] warned us at the beginning of the sermon: just because we’re single doesn’t mean we can just tune out and go off on vacation. No, this is stuff that we’re gonna learn, [so] we might as well learn it now before so we can start seeing the signs ahead of time and can catch ourselves.

Brad: Yeah, I’m stoked to be doing marriage. I mean, I imagine most single guys probably wanna get married, for whatever reason, but you know, it’s cool. It’s kinda like the next step for me personally, so yeah, it’s a big part of life. Marriage is huge in how our relationships are supposed to be with God and everything and so I just want to [apply] that.

Why is marriage huge in your relationship to God?

Because how marriage is supposed to reflect how we’re the bride and how God is the groom and everything. And so like it’s about glorifying God and life, how he wants you to reflect his glory and how like how he loves us and you reflect that and loving your wife or your husband one day and not doing a 50/50 relationship where you do your part, I do mine, but where it’s genuine loving toward each other just because you love them.

Why would a 50/50 relationship not feeling loving?

Because when it’s, “I’ll wash the dishes if you vacuum the carpet,” or something, the relationship is just about, “You do your part, and I’ll do my part.” When you do that, it’s, “Oh, you didn’t do the dishes this week? So I’m just kinda gonna give a little bit less.” But, when it’s, “Only because I love you, I just gotta give everything I got into a relationship,” that’s what God did with us. He didn’t wait for us. It’s not like he was like, “OK, I’ll give you a little bit, now you give me something.” No, he just did it. Even though we were still sinning, his Son died for us. He didn’t wait for us to make the first move.

Ryan: It’s the covenant, not the contract.

What does “covenant, not the contract” mean?

Covenant would be more like a “I’m doing this for you.” Not, “This is a contract where I have to do it and then you do your part, and that’s how we come to our agreement.” Covenant with God was basically that, he was going to [save] us out of grace. Not because we deserve it or not because we did anything to deserve it—just because he loved us.

[A contract relationship] causes more stress than anything because you’re more worried about the other person and not yourself and so you’re trying to be someone’s boss over everything . . . and making sure that they’re holding up their end and you’re not focused on you holding up your end. Whereas, if you both keep each other accountable, then, it’s communication.

What have you seen in the relationships in the church?

Brad: Something I’ve seen is all the married dudes, they seem to be really involved in the church in some way, like none of them are being really passive and just attending. Especially in our Community Group, they’re all there, not just to be there, but to grow into leaders, and they want to disciple other leaders. It’s not just a “get comfortable” situation. It’s about stepping forward and growing.

Stay tuned next week to hear from one Mars Hill Portland woman, Alissa, and how God’s turned her life upside down in the last year—in the best ways.

See more photos from Portland here. Follow our Portland church on Facebook and Twitter.

REJOICE

Mars Hill Blog — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:00:00 -0800

by Joe Thorn

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 100

Dear Self,
I know, you see those words and you often ponder them with both longing and frustration. Joy? The way the psalmist describes it often leaves you with the impression that this kind of happiness is not real, but just an amplified expression of what you experience in small, real-life measure. Or you think that it is just a short burst of emotion that arises in a moment of deep worship. But let’s be honest, the reason
you do not experience the joy you read about in Scripture is because your heart is divided, and your interests are spread thin.

Why the call for joy? Why can all of creation sing and serve its Creator with gladness? Because he really is God. “Know that the Lord, he is God!” At times you have found yourself wondering, Is this real? God, the Bible, Jesus, Satan, sin, and salvation—is it all real? You don’t admit that to those around you, but there are times when you question it all. And in his grace God confirms by his Word and Spirit that it is true. He is God! And the reality of your theology gives you joy.

What you believe is not a religious game, or a manmade crutch upon which you lean for a little assistance. Rather, it is the divinely revealed truth that makes you who you are and gives you cause to rejoice. You can rejoice not only because he is God, but because we are his people, and as such he protects us and provides for us in all ways necessary for us to know him more fully, enjoy him more deeply, and make him known more widely.

And you can rejoice because his love remains over you now and always. It never dries up, runs low, or fades out. His love endures forever. Because of all this, and so much more, you can know the joy the psalmists describe in their songs. You just need to return to these truths. You need reminding.

This is an excerpt from Joe Thorn’s Re:Lit book, Note to Self . Re:Lit is the publishing ministry of Mars Hill and the Resurgence.

Men and Marriage | Real Marriage #3 Sermon Notes

Mars Hill Blog — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:00:00 -0800

From the January 29 sermon “Men and Marriage,” preached by Pastor Mark Driscoll:

Marriage is a covenant, not a contract. Every covenant—including the new covenant of salvation—has a head, who is ultimately responsible for the covenant. The husband is the covenant head of a marriage; he is responsible for his marriage, his wife, and his kids. Similarly, Christ took that which was not his fault—our sin—and he made it his responsibility on the cross. He is our covenant head.

The essence of masculinity is the taking of responsibility. It doesn’t matter how much beer you can drink, or how much meat you can eat, or how loud you can belch. That does not make you a man. A monkey can do that. A gorilla can do it even better than you. That doesn’t make you a man.

We live in a day where masculinity is defined by some sort of ridiculous machismo. Ultimately, masculinity is about taking responsibility. You may not be big. You may not be tough. You may not be able to win a thumb-wrestling match, let alone a cage fight. But if you take responsibility, you are a good head, and you are a masculine man.

I’ll give you some of the ways [covenant] is translated in various translations of the Bible. Sometimes it is called covenant love, loving-kindness, mercy, steadfast love, loyal devotion, loyal love, commitment, loyalty, or reliability.

I love how The Jesus Storybook Bible says it. It’s a great kids’ Bible, and it uses this language for hesed to thread the themes of the stories of the Bible together, and it calls covenant love “a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.” I read that to my kids, and I kiss them, and I say, “God loves you like that, and I love you like that.” Never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.

The first thing I need you men to understand is that you are the covenant head. And before we get into headship, I want to unpack covenant. And what this means is that your understanding of marriage has to be covenantal, not contractual. And if I had to break it down in its simplest form, I would articulate it this way. Contract is about me negotiating terms that benefit me. It’s selfish. Covenant is about me giving myself to you for your well-being. It’s servanthood. Covenant is about your benefit; contract is about my benefit.

Ladies, Jesus has to always be the most important man in your life, and your husband is the second most important man, but in this occasion, this woman has put the man above Jesus. And it came down to, “I’m going to obey Jesus or the man. I’m going to serve Jesus or the man. I’m going to draw near to Jesus or the man.” And she chose Jesus—no, she chose the man. And that’s idolatry, and that is turning the man into a lord, something that’s not fit for him.

The Bible says to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto the Lord. So, what we offer our body to is an act of worship. That means that they are pagans, that their bed is a temple, and when they are together, it is a worship act to a demon god. It’s not just an alternative lifestyle. It’s deep. It’s deep sin. It’s deep rebellion.

It Is but a Little Sin . . .

Mars Hill Blog — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:00:00 -0800

by Thomas Brooks

“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” 2 Corinthians 2:11 (KJV )

“Ah!” says Satan, “It is but a little sin—a little pride, a little worldliness, a little lust, etc. You may commit it without any danger to your soul. It is but a little one; you may commit it, and yet your soul shall live.”

Consider, that there is great danger—yes, many times most danger—in the smallest sins. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1 Corinthians 5:6). If the serpent sneaks in his head, he will draw in his whole body after him. Greater sins do sooner startle the soul, and awaken and rouse up the soul to repentance, than lesser sins do.

Little sins often slide into the soul, breed, and work secretly and indiscernibly in the soul, until they come to be so strong, as to trample upon the soul, and to cut the throat of the soul.

Many are eternally killed and betrayed by the “little sins,” as they call them, that are nourished in their own hearts.

A little hole in the ship sinks it.

A small breach in a dam carries away all before it.

A little stab at the heart kills a man.

A little sin, without a great deal of God’s mercy, will condemn a man!

Adapted from Thomas Brooks’ Precious Remedies against Satan’s Devices.

Life at Mars Hill: Photo Essay

Mars Hill Blog — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:00:00 -0800

BRAND NEW MARS HILL KIDS MATERIALS ROLL OUT AT ALL CHURCHES

BAPTISMS AT MARS HILL DOWNTOWN BELLEVUE

COLORING THROUGH THE MH KIDS WORKBOOK

SUNDAY SERVICE AT MARS HILL ORANGE COUNTY

REAL MARRIAGE HITS #1 ON NY TIMES BEST SELLERS LIST

MEN’S TRAINING DAY AT MH DOWNTOWN SEATTLE

Why Is Pastor Bill's Book Beneficial to a New Christian?

Pastor Bill Clem — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:00:00 -0800

If you’re a new Christian, there’s a good chance someone just handed you a Bible—and you have virtually no idea where to start reading or what to get out of it.

In his book, Disciple , Pastor Bill Clem walks you through the different aspects of the life of a disciple of Jesus, and then ends each chapter with verses and passages for you to read as you learn to discover the Scriptures for yourself.

Bill Clem is the lead pastor of the Ballard church.

Now Is the Time for Feats of Faith

Mars Hill Blog — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:00:00 -0800

“ . . . and for my arm they wait.” —Isaiah 51:5

by Charles Spurgeon

In seasons of severe trial, the Christian has nothing on earth that he can trust to, and is therefore compelled to cast himself on his God alone. When his ship is about to capsize, and no human deliverance can avail him, he must simply and entirely trust himself to the providence and care of God.

Happy storm that wrecks a man on such a rock as this!
O blessed hurricane that drives the soul to God and God alone!

There is no getting at our God sometimes because of the multitude of our friends, but when a man is so poor, so friendless, so helpless that he has nowhere else to turn, he flies into his Father’s arms, and is blessedly clasped in them!

When he is burdened with troubles so pressing and so peculiar, that he cannot tell them to anyone but his God, he may be thankful for them, for he will learn more of his Lord then than at any other time.

Oh, tempest-tossed believer, it is a happy trouble that drives you to your Father! Now that you have only your God to trust in, see that you put your full confidence in him.

Do not dishonor your Lord and Master by unworthy doubts and fears, but be strong in faith, giving glory to God. Show the world that your God is worth ten thousand worlds to you. Show rich men how rich you are in poverty when the Lord God is your helper. Show the strongman how strong you are in your weakness when underneath you are the everlasting arms.

Now is the time for feats of faith and valiant exploits. Be strong and very courageous, and the Lord your God shall certainly, as surely as he built the heavens and the earth, glorify himself in your weakness and magnify his might in the midst of your distress. The grandeur of the arch of heaven would be spoiled if the sky were supported by a single visible column, and your faith would lose its glory if it rested on anything discernible by the carnal eye.

May the Holy Spirit give you to rest in Jesus this closing day of the month.

Adapted from Morning and Evening.

Guided by the Voice of God: Scripture, Part 3

Mars Hill Blog — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:00:00 -0800

by Dr. Gregg R. Allison

As the one who speaks does not and cannot lie (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18), Scripture as the Word of God is wholly true in everything that it affirms. Indeed, Jesus echoes prayerfully to the Father, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). The church has always believed that Scripture—all of it—is true, without any error.

Tragically, a growing number of Christians today seem to be abandoning this essential characteristic of the Bible. To take one example: Sojourn Church, at which I am an elder, is preaching through the book of Genesis. A few of our people are questioning the truthfulness of its early chapters because the narratives seem to be full of myths—these stories can’t be true!

But here are four problem with this view: First, a mythological approach does not do justice to the narratives themselves, which seek to locate the characters and events of the stories in space and time (e.g., the location of the Garden of Eden in conjunction with specific rivers, Genesis 2:10–14; the description of the bricks and mortar for the tower of Babel, Genesis 11:1–9), presenting those stories as real space-time historical events in which God is the major player/protagonist.

Second, the mythological approach weakens if not ruins the metanarrative of Scripture—creation, fall, redemption, consummation—by viewing the opening two elements (creation and fall) as symbolic or mythological. This view is hardly a solid foundation for our Christian hope of redemption and consummation.

Third, the mythological approach wreaks havoc with a major biblical theme of the lineage of the Messiah that starts with the promise of Genesis 3:15’s seed of the woman Eve, moves to Seth then Noah then Abraham then Isaac and so forth. By removing or discounting the initial and foundational ancestors, this approach destroys the genealogy of Jesus as Messiah (see Luke 3:23–38).

Fourth, the mythological approach comes under great pressure when examined in light of Jesus’ view of these early narratives, because he references Adam and Eve and God’s creation of them (Matthew 19:3–5), Noah and the flood (Matthew 24:37–39), and Moses’s writing of the Pentateuch (Matthew 19:7; Luke 24:44; John 5:45–47).

Building on the last point, if you are wrestling with this issue, let me challenge you to carefully consider Jesus’ view of Scripture, a wonderful study that underscores its inspiration, truthfulness, clarity, and authority. Then, ask yourself, If I call Jesus “Lord,” why would I not fully embrace my Lord’s view of Scripture? The issue becomes one of Lordship, which is what the issue should be. This is not to discount honest questioning, but you will ultimately need to come to a position of submission to King Jesus on this matter.

Authority to Command and Prohibit

Indeed, with God as its divine author, Scripture as the Word of God possesses divine authority to command what we are to believe, do, and be, and to prohibit what we are to avoid. Certainly, other authorities exist within the realm of human endeavor. Within the spheres of the family, the government, one’s profession, and the church, authorities such as parents, lawmakers and civil laws, employers and professional codes of ethics, and elders enjoy a circumscribed authority. That which Scripture possesses, then, is not sole authority but ultimate authority, and that because it is the Word of God who rules over all. It is to be heeded in all things as unto the Lord himself (1 Thess 4:1–2).

This authoritative Scripture is also powerful, effectively producing the result designed by God. As the Lord through the prophet Isaiah promised,

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10–11).

Take stock in how God’s voice through Scripture has rescued you from eternal condemnation, transformed your character, redirected your purpose in life, remade your marriage and/or friendships, and the like, and be thankful!

See Dr. Allison live at Mars Hill Downtown on February 4
from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm as he gives a lecture entitled, “The Bible: How We Got It and Why You Should Trust It.”

And buy Dr. Allison’s new book, Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine.

The Minor Keys

Mars Hill Blog — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:00:00 -0800

by Anonymous

Would we know that the major chords were sweet,

 If there were no minor key?  

Would the painter’s work be fair to our eyes,  

Without shade on land or sea?

Would we know the meaning of happiness,

 Would we feel that the day was bright,

 If we’d never known what it was to grieve,  

Nor gazed on the dark of night?

“Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties.” – Charles Spurgeon 

Excerpt from the devotional Streams in the Desert

Your Redeemer

Mars Hill Blog — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:00:00 -0800

“ . . . your Redeemer.” – Isaiah 54:5

by Charles Spurgeon

Jesus, the Redeemer, is altogether ours and ours forever. All the offices of Christ are held on our behalf. He is King for us, priest for us, and prophet for us.

Whenever we read a new title of the Redeemer, let us take him as ours under that name as much as under any other. The shepherd’s staff, the father’s rod, the captain’s sword, the priest’s mitre, the prince’s scepter, the prophet’s mantle, all are ours. Jesus has no dignity which he will not employ for our exaltation, and no prerogative which he will not exercise for our defense. His fulness of Godhead is our unfailing, inexhaustible treasurehouse.

His manhood also, which he took upon him for us, is ours in all its perfection. To us our gracious Lord communicates the spotless virtue of a stainless character. To us he gives the meritorious efficacy of a devoted life. On us he bestows the reward procured by obedient submission and incessant service.

He makes the unsullied garment of his life our covering beauty, the glittering virtues of his character our ornaments and jewels, and the superhuman meekness of his death our boast and glory. He leaves us his manger, from which to learn how God came down to man, and his cross to teach us how man may go up to God.

All his thoughts, emotions, actions, utterances, miracles, and intercessions, were for us. He trod the road of sorrow on our behalf, and has made over to us as his heavenly legacy the full results of all the labors of his life. He is now as much ours as up until this time, and he blushes not to acknowledge himself “our Lord Jesus Christ,” though he is the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.

Christ everywhere and every way is our Christ, forever and ever most richly to enjoy. O my soul, by the power of the Holy Spirit, call him this morning, “your Redeemer!”

Adapted from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening devotions.

Do You Understand Your Wife’s Hair?

Pastor Phil Smidt — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:00:00 -0800

1 Peter 3:7 calls husbands to “live with your wives in an understanding way . . . since they are heirs with you of the grace of life.” After 18 years of marriage, God continually surprises me with his grace and commitment to make me look like Jesus.

Once, my wife and I were preparing for a busy week, which included hosting out-of-town guests and dealing with a car in the shop. With an already full plate, Jen was squeezing in an appointment when her hair dresser called to say she had to cancel the appointment.

Jen came to me, overwhelmed and stressed. Seeing her distress, I said, “I understand, Jen.” I gave her a ride to pick up our car and then took care of some things at home for her while she was gone.

Later that afternoon when Jen came home, she said, “Thanks for telling me you understood earlier today. It made me feel loved, and cared for. I don’t think you’ve ever said that to me before.” I had to stop and think about that. She was right.

You Don’t Have to Understand Her to Serve Her

Let me get something straight: I don’t understand my wife’s hair. (I’ve heard her and her friends talk about hair being “fun”; I will never understand that.) But I did understand that my wife needed my support and my compassion. Although her hair contributed to the stress of the situation, it was not the problem.
When Peter tells husbands to “live with your wives in an understanding way,” he is telling them to pursue their wives’ hearts, not to get hung up on the circumstances.

Too often in our marriage, I have made my wife the problem, in essence missing her heart and setting her up to feel alone and misunderstood. In making her the problem, I miss the deeper problem going on in my heart: I like life and marriage to be easy. When that idol gets threatened, it is tempting for me to blame her.

In this case, I could have selfishly responded by wondering why she had to get her hair cut today or why she was so upset, missing a wonderful opportunity to serve and love her. But thankfully, God intervened on my behalf so I could extend her grace and help.

Husbands, remember you and your wife are equal as image bearers and grace recipients, defined and refined by the work of Jesus.

Understanding your wife means you need to set your agenda and insight aside. Are you willing to do that for her good and the glory of God? Seek to engage your spouse and face the trials together with the help of Jesus who is with you and for you. Mature together. Endure together. Don’t quit even if that seems like the only option. God will not quit on you.

Phil Smidt is the marriage and family pastor at Mars Hill Church Ballard.

Guided by the Voice of God: Scripture, Part 2

Mars Hill Blog — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:00:00 -0800

By Dr. Gregg R. Allison

By interpreting properly and following inspired Scripture—obeying its commands, trusting its promises, heeding its warnings, acting on its instructions, following its wisdom—we Christians will be sufficiently prepared to please God in whatever he requires of us.

This sufficiency of Scripture is definitely circumscribed. It is not exhaustive of all matters in life: it doesn’t detail how to get out from underwater with your mortgage and, contrary to popular belief, its numbers don’t contain a secret code for determining when Jesus is going to return.

Rather, its sufficiency is relative to its purpose: to lead non-Christians to faith in Jesus Christ so they may be saved, and to adequately equip Christ followers in the ways of godly living and the church in fruitful ministry. Within these spheres, the Bible is exactly everything that we need—nothing more, nothing less.

Don’t Add or Subtract from Scripture

Accordingly, nothing is to be added to Scripture or subtracted from it. When the Saturday morning door knockers insistently tell you that they possess more divine revelation (like the Book of Mormon) for you to follow so that you can really be saved—don’t listen to them! And your list containing legalistic rules and regulations for you to follow so that you can really be pleasing to God—get rid of it (Colossians 2:20–23)! Add nothing to Scripture.

Don’t subtract anything from Scripture either. Christianity-lite may entice us—we pick and choose among the commands to obey and the sins to avoid, the doctrines to believe and the practices to ignore—but subtracting from the Word of God is as wrong as adding to it. Indeed, because it is profitable to prepare us for every good work, Scripture—all of it—is also necessary.

The necessity of Scripture means that we cannot have what God has designed for us apart from his Word.

In Jesus’ own citation of Scripture to rebuke the devil, he underscored, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). So don’t hole up in a corner of your house chanting your Christian mantra and channeling some esoteric divine knowledge from the spiritual cloud apart from your Bible. Scripture is necessary if we expect to hear the voice of God itself.

Scripture Is a Lamp and a Light

The voice of God in Scripture is not only sufficient and necessary; God has also spoken with clarity in his Word. Appropriately, two metaphors are used for Scripture—it is a lamp and a light (2 Peter 1:19; Psalm 119:105). These imply that Scripture clearly communicates its instructions so that they may be understood and heeded by readers/hearers. The presumption of continued intelligibility characterizes all of Scripture, as the Old Testament foresees its instructions being read and received by future generations in very different socio-economic-political contexts (Deuteronomy 30:11–14; 31:9–13) and the New Testament harkens back to earlier Old Testament Scripture for the benefit of Christians (1 Corinthians 10:6, 11; Romans 4:23–24; 15:4).

Scripture is clear, so we should expect to understand it.

So, at the end of a frenetic day of work and after fixing and eating dinner, when you slouch onto the couch, what do you do when you see your Bible sitting nearby on the coffee table? Typically, you may think to yourself (there’s the voice inside your head!), I know I should pick up my Bible and read it, but you find your bone-wearied body too tired to respond. The clarity of Scripture should encourage you to reach out and begin reading it, because you can approach God’s Word with the expectation that you will indeed understand it—and be blessed by what God’s voice will say to you!

See Dr. Allison live at Mars Hill Downtown on February 4 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm as he gives a lecture entitled, “The Bible: How We Got It and Why You Should Trust It.”

And buy Dr. Allison’s new book, Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine.

"What a Friend We Have in Jesus"

Mars Hill Blog — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:00:00 -0800

by Joseph Scriven

At Mars Hill, we love to worship our God in song, and we sing to him every Sunday. But worship isn’t just singing cheery praise songs and pretending everything is happy. Sometimes our worship is bearing our grief and distress to him, as David does over and over in the Psalms as well as the prophet Jeremiah, and praising God in that grief.

The below was written by the Irish poet Joseph Scriven, who lost two fiancés during his lifetime, but wrote this as an encouragement to his mother who was living a continent away. The poem was later turned into the well-known hymn of the same name.

What’s remarkable is that, while Scriven clearly experienced deep, tragic grief, this isn’t a song of lament. He’s praising God as our sovereign King, our refuge, our comforter, and our strength.

What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful?

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,

Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do your friends despise, forsake you?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In his arms he’ll take and shield you;

You will find a solace there.

May we ever, Lord, be bringing all to you in earnest prayer.

Soon in glory bright unclouded,

Face to face will be our prayer,

Glory, praise and endless worship will be our sweet portion there.

For more, check out these videos from the Rebel’s Guide to Joy sermon series that tell the often painful stories behind other famous hymns and songs.

Counsel to a Youth

Mars Hill Blog — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:00:00 -0800

A Letter to William Livingstone from Samuel Rutherford

13 March 1637

I rejoice to hear that Christ has run away with your young love, and that you are, so early in the morning, matched with such a Lord; for a young man is often a dressed lodging for the devil to dwell in. Be humble and thankful for grace, and judge it not so much by weight, as by its truth. Christ will not cast water on your smoking coal; he never yet put out a dim candle that was light-ed at the Sun of Righteousness.

I recommend to you prayer and watching over the sins of your youth; for I know that missive letters go between the devil and young blood. Satan has a friend at court in the heart of youth; and there pride, luxury, lust, revenge, and forgetfulness of God are hired as his agents. Happy is your soul if Christ man the house, and take the keys himself, and command all (as it suits him full well to rule all wherever he is). Keep and entertain Christ well; cherish his grace; blow upon your own coal, and let him tutor you.

Now, for myself, know that I am fully agreed with my Lord. Christ has put the Father and me in each other’s arms. Many a sweet bargain he made before, and he has made this among the rest. I reign, as king, over my crosses; I will not flatter a temptation, nor give the devil a good word; I defy hell’s iron gates. God has passed over my quarreling against him at my entry here, and now he feeds and feasts with me. Praise, praise with me, and let us exalt his name together.

Church Discipline in the Bible

Pastor Justin Holcomb — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:00:00 -0800

In recent days, there has been some discussion surrounding Mars Hill Church and our process of church discipline. We do not wish to comment on the specific scenario in question, as this is a private matter between church leadership and members, all of whom have voluntarily agreed to this prior to becoming members. We do want to be as clear and forthright as possible in presenting our theology of repentance, forgiveness, and church discipline and make clear that our convictions on this come from our study of Scripture and our deep love for our members and a desire for them to enjoy the freedom that comes from walking by the Spirit in response to Christ’s work on the Cross on our behalf. At the heart of the process is our deep belief that church discipline is about the grace of God, not penance.

The following is from a chapter in Pastor Mark Driscoll’s book, Vintage Church, entitled, “What is Church Discipline?” We offer this to give a full description of our theology and process for church discipline as possible.

Additionally, we encourage you to study more resources at Monergism.com from respected scholars and theologians on church discipline.

—Pastor Justin Holcomb

What is Church Discipline?

“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.” Proverbs 12:1

I was an intern on staff at a large, multicultural, suburban church and will never forget the look of horror on the woman’s face. A seasoned pastor and I were standing in the back of the room during a Sunday service, and she was running out of the building leading her small children by the hand. Tears were flowing down her face, and she was visibly distraught.

The seasoned pastor motioned for me to follow him as he sped off to catch up with the woman. I stood quietly by, hoping to learn from his example, and I was not disappointed.

He kindly and calmly asked the woman to please share what was wrong so that he could lovingly serve her. Nearly hysterical, she explained that she was a Christian who had been attending the church for a while and was in the midst of a painful divorce. She said that her husband, a professing Christian, had been committing adultery with another woman who claimed to be a Christian. He had abandoned his wife and children, filed for divorce, and intended to marry the other woman he was living and sleeping with.

As she was sitting in the church service with their children, her husband to whom she was still legally married sat a few rows in front of her . . . with his adulterous girlfriend. Apparently not noticing his wife and children seated behind him, the man proceeded to enjoy the sermon, nodding his head and responding with the occasional “amen” while snuggling with his girlfriend and giving her the occasional romantic glance and kiss on the lips.

The man’s wife and young children were watching all of this transpire. Obviously confused, the young children began asking their mommy why Daddy was in the church with another woman.

As I listened to the woman’s story, my heart broke for her and the children, and I became furious with her husband. I watched the seasoned pastor to see how he would respond and was impressed. He asked the woman to point out her husband from the back of the room and proceeded to walk up to the man during the sermon, tap him on the shoulder, and motion for him and his girlfriend to follow him out of the auditorium.

They did and were mortified to see the man’s wife and children standing in the foyer, wailing uncontrollably. The pastor asked if the man was guilty of adultery and confirmed the facts of the story as told by his wife.

At first, the husband tried to explain himself, which only dug him a deeper grave with the seasoned pastor. Seeing that things were not going well, his girlfriend spoke up and attempted to defend their relationship. The pastor responded by quoting multiple Scriptures from memory about adultery and rebuked them both for saying they were Christians and living in unrepentant, gross sin.

The pastor kept his cool but was as firm and direct as I had ever seen anyone in such a tense situation. The pastor then asked the wife what she wanted. She said that she wanted her husband to repent of sin, end his adulterous relationship, and meet with her and a pastor to try to save their marriage. The pastor then told the man that he would meet with him and his wife to seek to reconcile their marriage and family, but if the man was unwilling, he was never to set foot in the church again. His reasoning was that although the wife and children had intended to leave the church, they should not have to because they were the victims of gross sin and needed the loving support of the church. On the other hand, the man and his whorish girlfriend would be welcome in the church only if they repented of their sin and lived as Christians. If they did not, they should be the ones to leave.

I do not know what transpired in that family. But I do know that pastoral ministry involves dealing with human sin in the midst of intense emotion. Furthermore, because church leaders love the reputation of Jesus, love the entire church in which they serve, and love the sinner, dealing with sin is an art form that takes great courage, discernment, and wisdom.

All of the individual and corporate shortcomings of God’s perfect intentions for creation, whether intentional or unintentional or through omission or commission, qualify as sin or the effects of sin. Satan committed the first sin. He led a rebellion against God. After Satan and demons were cast out of heaven, Satan tempted our first parents, Adam and Eve, to join his sinful rebellion against God. Adam was the representative and father of humankind, and when he sinned and fell out of favor with God, so did every person who would ever live.

Every person since Adam is a sinner , both by nature and choice. Everyone (except Jesus Christ) is, from conception, sinful by nature and corrupted to the very core of his or her being and therefore incapable of doing anything that pleases God. Thus everyone, except Jesus Christ, sins by breaking God’s holy laws, because they are sinners in their hearts. Therefore, the question is not whether people will sin against one another, but rather how they will deal with that sin. The following process should normally occur when a Christian sins.

Step 1: Conviction

God made us with a conscience to guide our decision making through life and to make us feel convicted when we do wrong. God the Holy Spirit shines the light of grace on our sin, exposing it for what it is, calling us and helping us move to repentance. This is the convicting work the Bible frequently speaks of. He often does his convicting work through other Christians who love us enough to ask about junk they see in our lives.

We naturally avoid conviction because it hurts to feel the pain of guilt and the shame of our sin. But working through conviction takes us to the motivations behind the behavior, the sinful desires of our flesh , and the corrupt passions that will continue to drive us until we identify them and put them to death. In Jesus we have been delivered from the Adamic heritage and the dominion of darkness so we are no longer under the authority of sin or the power of the devil. Romans 6:6 says, “We know that our old self [our membership in the family of Adam] was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” Conviction is an essential step to exposing sin for what it is so we can be free from enslavement to sin.

Step 2: Confession

As the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and renews our mind, we must then name our sin as God does and accept the truth that we have sinned. Confession means agreeing with God and telling the truth about who we are and what we have done. Confession includes naming our sin to Jesus and anyone else we have sinned against or is directly affected by our sin. James 5:16 teaches us it is best to confess the sin to faithful Christians who will pray for us and help us grow in holiness. We must do this without blaming anyone else for our sin, excusing it, minimizing it, or only partially confessing it. While conviction is a gift God gives to us, confession is our response, which then prepares us for a life of repentance, restitution, and reconciliation.

Step 3: Repentance

The heart of repentance is changing your mind about who is god in your life. When we sin, we are worshiping someone or something else as a false god and functional savior. In repentance we turn from those false gods back to the true and living God of the Bible, who alone loved us enough to die for our sin and freedom. This means that a deep change of values occurs, and we change our mind about what we deem important. Then there will be a heart-sourced change of behavior. We must learn to repent continually by turning our face to Jesus and turning our back on sin. Repentance is not trying to manage our sin, but rather putting it to death before it puts us to death. Colossians 3:5 says it perfectly: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

It is important to note that false repentance takes many forms, none of which can be accepted as true repentance. Some forms of false repentance are explained below.

Mere Confession

When God’s people confess their sins without truly repenting, they are agreeing that they are guilty of evil but are not living lives of repentant transformation. This is what often happens in the psychobabble churches where everyone glories in how broken they are but neglect to live out the Spirit’s power for new life.

Worldly Sorrow

In 2 Corinthians 7:10 we are told, “Worldly grief produces death.” This is because worldly sorrow feels bad for sin but does not understand that Jesus died for sin as our "man of sorrows" and "carried our sorrows" so that we can move from sorrow to salvation, forgiveness, new life, and joy marked by his salvation and not just our sin. People who exhibit mere worldly sorrow are left in the deadening hopelessness of their guilt and shame.

Self-Righteous Repentance

Proud, self-righteous repentance occurs when we confess the sins of other people while neglecting our own manifestations of depravity. It can also happen when people repent of “acceptable sins” to deflect attention from deeper sins. Perhaps the most legendary example of this is spoken of in Luke 18:9–14, where Jesus delineates between the false repentance of the self-righteous Pharisee who confesses the sins of others rather than his own, and the true repentance of the humble tax collector.

Religious Repentance

Religious repentance is the attempt to keep God happy or to get God to bless us. It is going through a ritual of confession but only to manipulate God to like us, not to work change in us. It is feeling sorry for getting caught in sin or feeling sorry for the consequences of sin, but not feeling sorry about the sin itself as a violation against God so severe that Jesus had to die for it.

This one may be the worst of all forms of false repentance. Religious repentance seeks in some way to pay God back by feeling really bad and wallowing in shame, guilt, and condemnation. It is void of the gospel truth that Jesus has taken our shame, guilt, and condemnation so that we are no longer under condemnation. Through the gospel we receive forgiveness, but in religious repentance we grossly seek to earn it by attempting to punish ourselves—often by denying ourselves the pleasure of gifts from God.

Religious repentance falsely believes that if we do not punish ourselves for our sin, God will be angry and punish us. The gospel tells us that Jesus was already punished in our place for our sin and that God is just, so he will not demand further retribution by punishing us. Furthermore, religious repentance is rare because religious people believe their righteousness before God resides in their good works and not solely in the cross of Jesus. As a result, religious repentance is filled with pride whereas the gospel brings humility, telling us that we truly are sinners, and joy, telling us that Jesus loves us and died to forgive our sins and take them away.

True repentance is among the greatest gifts given to us because of Jesus’ work on the cross for our sins. In it we find our humility, joy, forgiveness, hope, redemption, perspective, identity, and future. Instead of going through killing shame or superficial ritual, true repentance looks deep into the new heart to discover the godly desires that are at the core of our being by virtue of regeneration and actively turns away from anything and everything that hinders our deepest regenerated desirestoglorifyGod.If we pause and take time to think and pray, along with other grace-based believers, and do what will make us most deeply happy, then we will almost always do the right thing. From the base of these godly desires, we can enter into battle with the sinful desires that motivate the sin we are confessing and repenting of.

Through true repentance we will see the transformation of our lives, friendships, marriages, children, churches, cities, nations, and future offspring. Subsequently, it is wise for us not only to repent of sin to God when the Spirit prompts us, but also to humbly ask others we have sinned against to forgive us.

Step 4: Restitution

When we sin, we are also stealing from other people. This may include actual property or such things as trust, love, and intimacy. The Bible is clear that our redemption is a gift of grace from Jesus alone to be received by us through personal faith in him. The result of this gift of salvation is a new heart that loves Jesus, is humble, and leads to an ongoing life of good works —not so that Jesus will redeem us, but because he has. These good works will include our seeking to make restitution for all that we have done to damage others. Because we love people at a heart level, we want to restore what we took. Parts of the Bible, such as Exodus 22:1–17 and Numbers 5:5–10, speak of this kind of repayment, and men like the rich people in Nehemiah and Zacchaeus in the New Testament modeled it when they repaid the people they had stolen from. One man I know was physically violent with his daughter until he was converted, and as an act of restitution he has very intentionally pursued a loving relationship with her by frequently calling her, taking her out for meals, serving her, praying over her, and making new, loving memories in place of the love and joy he stole from her as a child.

Step 5: Reconciliation

Once the previous steps have been undertaken, the sin that separated people is forgiven and taken away by Jesus with the hope that they can be brought back together in loving and trusting relationship. No matter what, if we commit ourselves to the lifelong pursuit of the above gospel process, then reconciliation with others is possible in this life. However, trust, friendship, and relationship are restored only upon confession of sin and are the fruit of repentance. Confession and repentance involve (1) real acknowledgment of the offense; (2) remorse (beyond “I’m sorry I got caught”) for the pain it caused; (3) restitution where appropriate; and (4) renewal of character and lifestyle. Trust is always lessened or destroyed when sin is glossed over or “forgotten” without restoration. Such spiritual denial subverts forgiveness and reconciliation.

It almost goes without saying that this is a very difficult process. Even when all parties involved are working hard to ease the impact of sin, the bruising and pain sometimes make restoration impossible. If one or more fail to work through the process in good faith, restoration is impossible. But by God’s grace, even if it does not occur on earth, we have the promise that it will happen in heaven if those involved are Christians.

Sadly, while everyone sins, not everyone deals with it in this kind of manner, and the result is a need for church discipline.

Church Discipline

Church discipline is one of the most misunderstood and yet most desperately needed ministries within the church. We do not believe that it is an optional ministry of the church but one required of us in Scripture.

There are multiple mandates for church discipline to church leaders and churches throughout the New Testament from both Jesus and Paul. Subsequently, it is imperative that unrepentant sin and false teaching by professing Christians be disciplined by the church through its leaders.

Discipline is the responsibility of the church body, which includes Jesus Christ and the elders, deacons, and members of the church. Discipline is intended to bring believers in line with God’s standard for his glory, the progress of his kingdom, and the blessedness of the individual as well.

Sadly, what most people think of when they hear “church discipline” is excommunication, the final stage of the biblical process. Excommunication is what happens when discipline fails to result in repentance and reconciliation. This misunderstanding plagues most discussions and most practices, sabotaging the grace of God that can come through church discipline.

Biblical discipline is, first and foremost, training. Discipline and disciple are from the same root word. Simply, to be a disciple of Jesus means to live a disciplined life and humbly receive discipline as needed. As a result, a wise disciple of Jesus accepts the truth of Proverbs 12:1, which says, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.”

There are two major kinds of biblical discipline: formative and restorative. Formative discipline is primarily positive, instructive, and encouraging. It involves preaching, teaching, prayer, personal Bible study, small-group fellowship, and countless other enjoyable activities that challenge and encourage us to love and serve God more wholeheartedly. Restorative discipline has a corrective purpose. When we forget or disobey what God has taught us, he corrects us. One of the ways he does this when we fall into sin is to call the church to seek after us and lead us back on the right track. This process is likened to a shepherd seeking after a lost sheep. Thus, corrective or restorative discipline is never to be done in a harsh, vengeful, or self-righteous manner. It is always to be carried out in humility and love, with the goal of restoring someone to a closer walk with Christ. When we speak of “church discipline” in this chapter, we are referring particularly to restorative discipline. Though we put our focus on restorative discipline, especially on its more difficult and controversial aspects, it must never be separated from nor substituted for formative discipline, the process of discipleship and spiritual formation.

In the days of Nehemiah, God’s people rebuilt the wall encircling their city with a trowel in one hand and a sword in another. With the trowel they built, and with the sword they defended. The images of the sword and the trowel are incredibly important because they show that anything we build for God (e.g., spiritual life, marriage, children, business, ministry) requires carefully undertaken, painstaking work as typified by the bricklayer’s trowel.

Yet, building alone is insufficient because what is built can and will be destroyed unless it is also defended and protected. Subsequently, the ability to wield a sword in our other hand is a noble and godly skill to be mastered. In keeping with this analogy, formative discipline is trowel work and restorative discipline is sword work.

There are many reasons why the church must wield this sword.

Through church discipline we seek to glorify God by obedience to his instructions in the maintenance of proper church government. God’s Word makes it plain that he intends discipline of various types to be a part of church life. It is always glorifying to God when we obey his Word rather than cater to our own ease and expediency. At every church, the first and foremost concern in all we do is God’s glory.
The value of church discipline is reclaiming offenders. In every type of discipline, whether it is gentle correction, admonition, rebuke, or excommunication, we seek the restoration of the offender. This is in keeping with the mandate to make disciples and present everyone mature in Christ.
Discipline is valuable in that it vindicates the integrity and honor of Christ by exhibiting fidelity to his principles. The church that refuses to exercise discipline can command neither the world’s respect nor the confidence of its own members.
Discipline in the church helps to deter others from sin.
Discipline in the church helps to protect the church from false teachers and wolves that cause heresy and divisiveness.
Church discipline is valuable to prevent giving God cause to set himself against a continually sinful local church.

One goal of all church discipline is reconciliation. In the Bible reconciliation is the word used to refer to the process by which God changes human beings and adjusts them to the standard of his perfect character. God reconciles us to himself through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God does not need to be reconciled to man. That has been accomplished in the propitiatory work of the cross, which is the basis and power for the sinner’s reconciliation. No reconciliation can be accomplished apart from repentance and personal application of the payment of penalty at the cross that was accomplished through Jesus to us.

We are going to hurt others, and we are going to be hurt by others because we are sinners. The gospel provides a means for reconciliation between God and people and between people and other people. Therefore, when a Christian encounters discipline, it is to prompt him or her to live in accordance with the standard of God so that reconciliation with God and others can occur.

Another obvious goal of discipline is to protect the flock from doctrinal error. The apostle Paul warns the elders, "Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears." (Acts 20:28–31)

Lastly, punitive correction is another biblical (though often unpopular) means by which repentance is sought. First Corinthians 5:9–13 talks about punishment for the unrepentant sinner. This correction is not vindictive or joyous punishment. Christians in the Corinthian church were to gather together in order to take action against the offending brother.38 Paul defines this as “punishment by the majority.” As a protective measure, we also find that the whole church in Rome and in Thessalonica were to take action with regard to the unruly and schismatic, not just a few. The goal of these corrective measures is to make every effort for Christians who love their wayward brother or sister to show their overwhelming sorrow and concern in an effort to compel the sinner toward repentance and reconciliation with God and their church.

The Theology of Church Discipline

Through the natural course of a church community, there are invariably times in which sin and error need to be addressed. Therefore, it is imperative for the people of God to know the various means of resolution God has given in his Word for addressing sins and errors. Sadly, very few churches actually practice church discipline with any degree of consistency. The following are nine guiding principles from Scripture on the matter of church discipline.

When sin has come between people, the goal is repentance and reconciliation, along with recompense, if needed.
Church leaders must always pursue the protection of the gospel’s reputation and the well-being of the entire church, not just the interests of individuals who have sinned. This explains why sometimes individuals must be put out of the church.
Such matters in the church are entrusted to Christian leaders who must be careful not to abuse in any way the responsibility to oversee the obedience of its members.
Discipline is unpleasant but, in the end, produces a holy people by distinguishing between the world and the church.
All matters in the church, including church discipline, are to be done in a fitting and orderly manner.
Because the situations leading to church discipline can be incredibly frustrating, it is important that those involved don’t let their anger lead them into sin.
For the truth to emerge, the elders must hear firsthand reports from all sides of a dispute before a decision is reached.
When at all possible, multiple witnesses should be required.
The fellowship of the church is a regular time appointed by God when his people are to be reminded that unrepentant sin and unnecessary division are unacceptable to a holy God. It is a time to look at sin in light of God’s grace and commitment to help us grow.

At Mars Hill Church the issue of church discipline is so important that we have included a statement about it in our membership covenant (see Appendix). Members of Mars Hill Church and all other professing Christians who regularly attend or fellowship there who err in doctrine, or who unrepentantly engage in conduct that violates Scripture as determined by an elder team (e.g., campus, departmental, ad hoc, executive, all-elder council), are subject to church discipline. Church discipline is exercised in cases such as the following, examples of which are found in Scripture:

When a Christian sins against another Christian, and it cannot be overlooked in love.

When a Christian who professes faith lives in sin without repentance.

When a Christian continually blasphemes God.

When someone encourages or promotes false doctrine.

When a Christian is a habitual doctrine debater.

When a Christian will heed only false teachers.

When a Christian is sincere but deceived.

When a teacher is in moral sin or doctrinal error.

When an elder is in moral sin or doctrinal error.

When a Christian appoints himself or herself to leadership.

When a Christian is divisive.

When a Christian is an idle busybody.

When a Christian promotes legalism.

When a Christian refuses to obey civil laws.

When an alleged offended Christian seeks legal recourse.

When a Christian has repeatedly rejected counsel by a church elder.

When a Christian is not consistently in community.

When a Christian leaves the church to pursue sin or heresy.

Perhaps church discipline is so under-practiced because it is so under-taught. It seems reasonable to expect that if Christians understood how to undertake church discipline practically, they would do so.

To that end, the following five steps are offered.

Step 1: Weigh the Offense

The first thing those who have been sinned against should consider is whether they should simply forgive the person(s) involved, overlook the sin, and let it go. Sometimes the issue is so minor and the sin so out of character, or there are extenuating circumstances such that granting some mercy is required. A woman I know, who was generally very respectful and loving toward her husband, became irritable and spoke harshly to him for a few days after the death of her father. He knew she was grieving, stressed out, and sleep deprived, so he continually prayed for her silently and showered her with loving affection. Within a few days she apologized to him for how she had treated him and was back to her old self. Indeed, God himself models “kindness [that] is meant to lead you to repentance." Furthermore, Proverbs 19:11 says, “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” People are not perfect. As sinners we need to be gracious, patient, and merciful with one another just as God is with us, or the church will spend all of its time doing nothing but having church discipline trials.

It is worth stressing, however, that we cannot simply overlook an offense if doing so is motivated by our cowardice, fear of conflict, and/or lack of concern for someone and their sanctification. In the end, it is the glory of God, the reputation of Jesus, the well-being of the church, and the holiness of the individual that must outweigh any personal desires for a life of ease that avoids dealing with sin biblically. Sometimes God in his providential love for us allows us to be involved in dealing with another’s sin as part of our sanctification and growth. It is good for us and for the sinner, the church, and the reputation of the gospel if we respond willingly to the task God has set before us.

Step 2: Consider the Crime

Sometimes the offense or sin is also a criminal act. In such cases we need to call the police so that we are obeying the governing authorities and their laws as Scripture states. State governments specifically require churches to report any abuse against minors and seniors. Tragically, some Christians and churches rebel, believing they are exempt from government authority. They take the law into their own hands, trying to substitute church discipline for legal process and allow crimes to go unpunished.

Hanging on the wall in my church office is an old black-and-white photo of many young children posing together in front of their church building. I found the picture in a church building many years later, after the church had died and closed. Curious as to what had happened to all the children and why none had remained in the church when they became adults, I interviewed an elderly woman who had attended the church for nearly all of her life. She said that the pastor’s brother had allegedly sexually abused some of the children in the church basement, but no one had contacted the police. He was not brought to justice in this life and the families left the church, thereby leading to its death. As a daddy to five children, I fight back tears every time I look at the faces of the kids in that picture and wish someone had called the police to investigate. There is simply no excuse for a church to cover up a crime by seeking to handle it internally rather than notifying the proper authorities. When this happens, it is often women and children who live in harm’s way without legal protection and justice, which is a sin.

In addition to contacting the police and allowing them to investigate, a church can and should also do its own investigation and render its own verdict regarding the guilt or innocence of an alleged sinner and then impose its own consequences. Still, church discipline must never be done in isolation when a crime has possibly been committed because not only is the sinner part of the church, but they are also part of greater society and are subject to courts in both realms.

One issue that can complicate the ability of a church leader to notify the authorities if and when a crime has been committed is confidentiality. There is a widespread misunderstanding that the so-called sanctity of the confessional exempts churches from the laws regarding reporting crimes. In fact, failure to report is a crime. While all pastors and counselors must respect people’s confidentiality, they must also remember that there are limits to confidentiality. Specifically, it ends where crime begins. We are in no position to give legal counsel in criminal matters, but we encourage church leaders to hire reputable attorneys and have them check the law for specifics. After doing so, the church leaders may choose to include something on the issue in their church bylaws for legal protection. Ours state:

Members of Mars Hill Church are not guaranteed confidentiality regarding issues of church discipline, and understand that in submitting themselves to the authority of the church, issues of a sensitive or personal nature may become known to others. This includes, but is not limited to, notification of the authorities if a crime has been committed or if a real threat of someone being endangered exists, as well as other violations of scripture that may not result in physical danger.

Furthermore, we do not conduct biblical counseling with someone unless they sign a waiver relinquishing their right to confidentiality. If we refer people to an outside counselor, we likewise have them and their counselor sign a confidentiality waiver so that if we need to know about something, or if we need to notify the police, we can without legal recourse. Without this kind of foresight, sinners corner church leaders between a proverbial rock and a hard place, like the guy who early in my pastoral ministry told me he had cheated on his wife repeatedly and feared he had a venereal disease but did not want to tell her and expected me to cover for him under the guise of confidentiality. I just laughed loudly as I picked up my phone to call his wife while he threatened to sue me.

Paul also has some things to say regarding the involvement of secular courts in disputes between Christians. Ours is an incredibly litigious society. Things were not much different in Paul’s day. Greece, home of the world’s first democracy, had a bustling court system. Paul seeks to address how a Christian should relate to the secular court.

Paul says that disputes between believers should be decided within the church by appointed impartial people who love God and his justice. This refers to what we call civil law. Criminal matters, which cover such things as treason and murder, are not issues in which believers sue each other but are offenses against the law. Christians are welcome to pursue justice on civil matters if they believe they have been wronged and are to do so within the church if at all possible. A few clarifying points need to be made on this matter, as 1 Corinthians 6:1–11 has been subject to widespread misuse:

Paul is referring to disputes between believers, not to crimes.
Paul understands that some things needing judgment are not even considered improper outside of the church (e.g., fornication, adultery, gossip) because they are sins, not crimes.
Paul is not forbidding Christians and churches from disclosing a crime
to secular authorities.
Paul is not forbidding a Christian from filing a suit against a non-Christian.
Paul is not saying that a Christian can never sue another Christian but rather that an effort must be made to resolve it outside of secular court.

Any Christian considering bringing a charge against another Christian must be careful not to harm the reputation of the gospel in the eyes of non-Christians. In some instances it may be preferable to suffer loss than to publicly harm the reputation of Jesus. In addition, Christians must never seek to use litigation as a way to accumulate wealth or power, although it can be used for the just collection of stolen wealth.

While justice is to be pursued in this life, the sad truth is that ultimate and perfect justice will not come until the day of judgment by Jesus at the end of time. On that day those who habitually practice sin will be exposed for what they are—unbelieving non-Christians who got their rewards on earth only to spend their eternity in hell locked outside of God’s kingdom.

Because of Jesus we do not need to accept ourselves for who we are; rather, we can be transformed into someone else. Subsequently, true Christians are former perverts, homosexuals, adulterers, thieves, addicts, swindlers, and liars. Because of Jesus and the power of the Spirit, Christians can be so transformed that they do not need constant judgment from Christian and secular courts because they do not live a life of habitual sin.

Step 3: Admonish

If a sin seems too serious to overlook, we are to go to our brothers or sisters in private, discover the truth, and, if sin is present, appeal to them with a spirit of reconciliation to repent. In this we are trusting God the Holy Spirit to be faithful to convict their conscience of sin. In this step, those who have been offended must be careful not to ascribe guilt to others without faithfully seeking the truth about what was done or said. Hearsay and secondhand reports from one person do not qualify as a credible charge.

Step 4: Reprove

If the one we have confronted does not respond to our repeated appeals, we are to go back again to the erring one with one or two other believers, so that they too can urge the sinning believer to turn back to God and serve as witnesses that we are making every effort to lovingly bring the sinner to repentance.

Philippians 4:2–3 gives a practical illustration of two people who have a personal dispute. There is no hint of immoral sin or doctrinal heresy. For some reason, they just do not get along and are causing tension in the church because of their differences. The apostle Paul deals with this by setting up a mediator to cause them to agree in the Lord and expects them to submit to the mediator. Sometimes there is sin that needs formal discipline, and sometimes there are hurt feelings and strained relationships that need mediation.

If the Christian persists in sin, we may seek the formal involvement of the church, initially from the elders, and, if necessary, the elders may inform and invite the prayers and assistance of the entire congregation. As a general rule, the lead pastor appoints a team to adjudicate each discipline case. At this point the member is formally placed under church discipline. At the discretion of the elders, the fact that a member is under discipline may be brought to the attention of the entire church or campus, and the member under discipline may be removed from any leadership roles and fellowship opportunities. To ensure there is no confusion or miscommunication, the member under discipline should be notified in writing of the disciplinary status and any applicable consequences. Furthermore, specific elders must be appointed to investigate the situation and work for repentance and reconciliation.

Mediation and arbitration may be used at this time to help reconcile two opposing parties. Mediation means bringing another person along to help resolve conflict and explore solutions if the conflict cannot be resolved through private peacemaking. Arbitrators can also be appointed to listen to both sides and render a binding decision about substantive issues. In all of this, it is imperative that both sides of the dispute agree to submit to the findings of the mediator or arbitrator if the process is to be a worthwhile use of time and energy.

Step 5: Separate

If these efforts do not bring a believer to repentance and reconciliation, or if a person refuses to be reconciled, Jesus commands us to treat that one as “a Gentile and a tax collector." This means we no longer have normal, casual fellowship with the believer but instead use any encounters to bring the gospel of reconciliation to him and lovingly urge him to repent and turn back in obedience to God.

Not only must a church have biblically qualified leaders holding biblical offices, there must also be a clear understanding of various courts of leaders that make various decisions so as to avoid confusion and conflict. The offices represent the individual people and their roles, while the courts represent decision-making teams with a defined authority and responsibility. This point is incredibly important when it comes to the matter of church discipline. The elders and pastors in the church need to define who is officially on the court overseeing the investigation of a church member.

In the early days of our church when we had fewer people and fewer elders, the entire council of elders acted together as a court on all cases of formal church discipline. In time, as the number of church members and the number of elders grew, it became impractical to continue doing so. Today we have thirty-two elders scattered among seven campuses, and the amount of work involved to bring them all up to speed on every discipline case among our 2,200 church members would require them to neglect all of their other pastoral duties. So, for our purposes, we have decided that a church discipline court is defined as two or more elders who follow the process articulated in this chapter. The reason we have chosen two elders is that the Bible uses that number as the minimum requirement for establishing the facts regarding church discipline cases. Practically, having at least two elders also ensures that one elder cannot wield too much power.

In convening a court, the elders involved first meet to confess their sins to one another, seeking to walk together in holiness before God. They also spend considerable time fasting, praying, and studying Scripture alone and together to make every effort to have their hearts and minds open to the leading of God the Holy Spirit. Together they discuss how they will practically work out the details laid forth in this chapter, including the distribution of the workload and a time line. The distribution of work includes but is not limited to determining which questions the elder court will ask the person being investigated, who else will be brought in as a witness, what documents (if any) will be allowed in as evidence, and what Scriptures most clearly speak to the sin being investigated. Once the process is laid out, the elders overseeing the investigation then proceed to follow the steps in this chapter.

If members of our church or those who regularly participate in church activities are found guilty, they may be dismissed from the church by the agreement of the elder court. The dismissal of a church member may be made known to all church members. If the offense is a publicly known matter, the executive elders (our senior team of elders) have the discretion to determine if the member’s discipline should be made known to the entire church. The Bible does not support an appeal process by the one being removed from fellowship unless true repentance is demonstrated, and so we do not practice it, in general. To do so could allow an unrepentant sinner to take months or even years of various elders’ time and wreak absolute havoc in the church by continually fighting for a different verdict.

An offense may be serious enough to warrant the temporary, immediate removal of a member from the church body for the well-being of the church until a thorough investigation can be completed. Removal does not equate to guilt but allows an opportunity to investigate before other members are affected. If someone is accused of rape, for example, he will be removed from fellowship for the well-being of others in the church until his guilt or innocence can be determined.

Members who resign their membership while under discipline do not terminate the discipline process. It is expected that a member under discipline and the elders will walk together toward repentance until full reconciliation takes place. Until it does, the member may be notified that he or she is not to be present at church-sponsored functions for such a period of time as is deemed necessary for the safety and well-being of others. If someone under discipline begins attending another church, we notify the leaders of that church that they are unrepentant and have been removed from fellowship in our church. We ask that they also deny that person fellowship in their church so that we can continue working to bring the sinning one to repentance in a holy fashion. Admittedly, this is not always the result, but we make every effort to work for repentance and reconciliation so that our conscience is clear before God, and so we can tell our people that we earnestly did all that we could.

Treatment of an Unrepentant Believer

Jesus instructed us to treat one who will not repent as “a Gentile and a tax collector. ” Although rejection and disassociation may seem harsh, these responses are simply a means by which the individual in question may come to an acknowledgment of his or her sin and repent. The idea is not that we stop caring for them but that when they sin and refuse to repent, we treat them as if they were enemies of the gospel. We find this sort of response in 1 Timothy 1:20, Titus 3:10, and 1 Corinthians 5:1–7.

Paul admonished church members in 2 Thessalonians 3:6 and 14 to withdraw from the brother that walks disobediently and to have nothing to do with him. First Corinthians 5:9–11 is the strongest of all these biblical admonitions, commanding us not to associate or share a meal with believers who are guilty of sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, revilement, drunkenness, or swindling. Because sharing a meal is symbolic of hospitable and cordial fellowship, it is not to be allowed under the circumstances. When you put a person out of the church, you don’t have him over for a meal. You don’t treat him like a brother. You don’t treat him as an unbeliever. You treat him like an outcast.

Even though we don’t have fellowship with unrepentant Christians, we do not regard them as personal enemies but as enemies of the gospel. When we see them, we warn them as brothers that they are acting like enemies. Until they repent, we cannot pretend to be in fellowship with them.

There is a sense in which you never really let the unrepentant sinner go. Though you don’t associate with him, you keep calling him back. He is put out for the purity of the church but is always admonished to come back. Practically speaking, it is fine for you to see an unrepentant brother as long as your speech or actions do not dismiss the gravity of the sin or imply that reconciliation has been completed when he has not yet repented. He is a brother, but because of his persistence in sin, he is separating himself from the body.

In closing, the words of Romans 12:18 are important to remember. They instruct us to be at peace with everybody if we are given the chance. We are to be willing to forgive everybody of everything. As soon as the individual repents, we should welcome him or her back into the body of Christ with open arms as a demonstration of the gospel truth that where sin abounds, the grace of God much more abounds!

Guided by the Voice of God: Scripture

Mars Hill Blog — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:00:00 -0800

by Dr. Gregg R. Allison

Every day my life is bombarded by voices: TV news commentators, op-ed pieces in the paper, colleagues, tweets, students, radio broadcasts, blog posts, Monday morning quarterbacks, emails, the advice I tell myself, family discussion around the dinner table, podcasts, and much, much more.

Does one of these voices stand out among all the others? Should one?

For us Christians, the voice of God heard in Scripture takes precedence over all other voices. This is so because Scripture is the very Word of God, his revelation of himself and his mighty acts on behalf of us sinful people.

The Nature of the Voice of God

Over the course of the next few blog posts, I want to address Scripture according to its many excellent characteristics, so that we can know more about the nature of the voice of God to us today. Specifically, I will focus on these characteristics of Scripture: inspiration, sufficiency, necessity, clarity, truthfulness (or inerrancy), authority, and power.

Speaking to his disciple, Timothy, about “the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus,” Paul explained that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:15–17). That is, Scripture is inspired (suck in that air deeply) or, better, expired (let that air out): “breathed out by God.”

The Bible is the product of the creative work of God. Specifically, we can affirm the inspiration of Scripture because of the Holy Spirit’s superintendence of the biblical authors as they personally composed their writings. This link between the Word and Spirit of God is made in 2 Peter 1:21, where Peter explains, “For no prophecy [his reference is to our Old Testament] was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along [think of wind gusting into the sails of a ship] by the Holy Spirit.”

Thus, the writing of Scripture was a cooperative process involving both the human authors, who constructed their narratives, psalms, letters, Gospels, and other writings using their grammatical abilities, choices of literary genre, and theological perspectives, and the Holy Spirit’s particular guidance of them and their work.

The Word in Action

The outcome of this Spirit-superintended, human writing process was the actual inspired words of God that provide great benefit for us Christians: Scripture is profitable for teaching, or the communication of authoritative and wisdom-fostering theological truth; reproof, or the highlighting of sinful attitudes and actions from which we must turn; correction, or the pointing out of the correct road for us to pursue; and training in righteousness, or our preparation as mature Christ followers.

Do you believe that for every good work that God calls you engage in—communicating the gospel to your neighbor, leading a Community Group, comforting a work colleague who has just suffered a tragedy, submitting to someone in authority over you—he prepares you through the Bible to do that work?

Rely on his inspired Word—and go to the action!

See Dr. Allison live at Mars Hill Downtown on February 4 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm as he gives a lecture entitled, “The Bible: How We Got It and Why You Should Trust It.”

And buy Dr. Allison’s new book, Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine.

We Promise You've Never Heard 'How Great Thou Art' Like This Before

Mars Hill Blog — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:00:00 -0800

“We’re not here to be diversified just to be diversified. That’s what the world wants. But the difference between the world and us is that we want to be multi-ethnic and multi-cultural because Jesus has a heart for that.” –Deacon Danny Chi

Rainier Valley has one of the highest rates of diversity in the country, this we know. But within the city of Seattle, it’s leading in a few other categories, too: highest crime rate, highest high school drop out rate, and highest rate of single-parent homes. We believe everyone needs Jesus; in places like this, that need is made all the more obvious.

In the above clip, Mars Hill Rainier Valley deacons Danny and Willie talk about why we’ve come to this neighborhood and the mission … and the worship band gives one of the most legit breakdowns of “How Great Thou Art” you’ll ever hear in your life.

“Only the gospel can bring all these people groups, all these generations, from pale white to dark black, and everything in between under one common purpose, and that’s to serve the King of kings and Lord of lords.” –Deacon Willie

Don't Forget God's Benefits

Mars Hill Blog — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:00:00 -0800

“Forget not all his benefits.”- Psalm 103:2

It is a delightful and profitable occupation to mark the hand of God in the lives of ancient saints, and to observe his goodness in delivering them, his mercy in pardoning them, and his faithfulness in keeping his covenant with them. But would it not be even more interesting and profitable for us to remark the hand of God in our own lives? Should we not to look upon our own history as being at least as full of God, as full of his goodness and of his truth, as much a proof of his faithfulness and veracity, as the lives of any of the saints who have gone before?

We do our Lord an injustice when we think that he wrought all his mighty acts and showed himself strong for those in the early time, but does not perform wonders or lay bare his arm for the saints who are now upon the earth. Let us review our own lives. Surely in these we may discover some happy incidents, refreshing to ourselves and glorifying to our God.

Have you had no deliverances? Have you passed through no rivers, supported by the divine presence? Have you walked through no fires unharmed? Have you had no manifestations? Have you had no choice favors? The God who gave Solomon the desire of his heart, has he never listened to you and answered your requests? That God of lavish bounty of whom David sang, “Who satisfies your mouth with good things,” has he never satiated you with fatness? Have you never been made to lie down in green pastures? Have you never been led by the still waters?

Surely the goodness of God has been the same to us as to the saints of old. Let us, then, weave his mercies into a song. Let us take the pure gold of thankfulness, and the jewels of praise and make them into another crown for the head of Jesus. Let our souls give forth music as sweet and as exhilarating as came from David’s harp, while we praise the Lord whose mercy endures forever.

Adapted from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening devotionals.

Friend with Benefits | Real Marriage #2 Sermon Notes

Mars Hill Blog — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:00:00 -0800

From the January 22 sermon “Friend with Benefits,” preached by Pastor Mark Driscoll:

God the Trinity is a friend and has friends, and he made us in his image and likeness for friendship with him and one another. Marriage is about friendship. Your spouse is to be your “lover and friend” (Song 5:16); in other words, your friend with benefits. Marital friendship is to be: Fruitful, Reciprocal, Intimate, Enjoyable, Needed, Devoted, Sanctifying. How’s your friendship with Jesus? With your spouse?

Some of you will say, “Well, I just don’t have love for them. We’ve fallen out of love.” First John 4 says repeatedly, quote, “God is love.” You know what that means? Love doesn’t begin with us. It begins with him. Love doesn’t emanate from us. It emanates from him.

The love that we can have for our spouse is a divine love. It’s a supernatural love. It’s a grace-oriented love from God, because, though sinners, God loves us. And even if our spouse is in sin, or we’re in sin, God has love for them through us, and God has love for us through them, and it’s the love of God through us.

What happened to Martin Luther is that what started out as, ‘We’re not really friends. We don’t really like each other. I’m not really interested in her, but I kind of need to marry her, because I did jailbreak her out of a convent,’ turned out to be one of the most glorious marriages, outside of the Bible, in the history of the world. I would go so far as to say that their marriage is the most important marriage, the most influential marriage in the history of the world, outside of the Bible, because now the view of Christian maturity was a husband and wife loving one another, and they had a friendship in a day when marriage was primarily functional.

. . . And here is a statement that he gives a little later in his life about his wife: ‘There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage.’

I think probably a first step is repenting of that to your husband and saying, ‘I’ve been difficult to lead. What are some ways that would be helpful for me to step back a bit and be a humble learner?’ And have him pray about that maybe before he speaks into that. Give him an opportunity to have a patient response.

I think, for me, repentance was always the key first; and if I repented, then the Lord was able to open my heart to see new ways of responding. Usually, if you are hard to lead, it’s because there’s fears in there somewhere or maybe lies. So, asking the Lord to show you where your fears are, why you don’t—maybe if you don’t trust your husband to lead, or if you want to control a situation, asking where that fear is and asking your husband to help pray over you, through that fear. Those can be some helpful ways to kind of get into reasons why—reasons behind why you’re struggling with that.

Jesus Just Stepped On the Gas

Mars Hill Church — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:00:00 -0800

by Pastor Sutton Turner

Dear Mars Hill,

We have 14,876 reasons to celebrate. God exploded our church over the weekend with the biggest Sunday we’ve ever had (not including that one time we rented a football stadium). To give you some perspective:

• We have grown by 50% (5,000 people) since this time last year.
• We have grown by 12% (1,500 people) since this time last week alone.
• This past Sunday, six of our churches had more than 1,000 people in attendance: Ballard, Shoreline, West Seattle, Bellevue (almost 2,000!), Downtown Seattle, and Albuquerque.
• All this despite the fact that two of our churches, Olympia and Federal Way, had to meet in temporary buildings on Sunday due to power outages.
• Church-wide, we’re at 82% capacity and have 36 weekend services at 14 churches.
• Downtown Seattle is now larger than it was before it sent a few hundred people out to launch the Rainier Valley church.
• The total number of Community Groups is now up to 551. We’ve added 60 new groups since the end of 2011.

Praise God! It’s incredible to see what Jesus is doing at Mars Hill. What an amazing miracle we get to be a part of! We have a ton of momentum heading toward Easter, and I can’t wait to see what God has in store next.

Where We’re Going

Now that we’re on the cusp of 15,000 people, we’ve got our sights on 20,000. We always want our church to grow because as the church grows, the gospel will spread. As the gospel spreads, more people will meet Jesus and be saved.

How Will You Bless Others?

Our church cannot continue to grow if we do not grow in maturity as its people. There are a lot of new folks around Mars Hill these days, which means the rest of us need to think more about how we can bless others in the same way the we have been blessed. Here are some simple ideas:

• Show up to church with a servant mentality (looking for needs you can meet) rather than a consumer mentality (looking for your needs to be met).
• Join a Community Group—and participate: talk to people, bring some food to share.
• Give.
• Attend the first or last service of the day to make room during prime time for newcomers.
• Attend one service and volunteer at a second.
• Be friendly. Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly.” Introduce yourself to somebody this Sunday. Invite them to your Community Group.

We serve an amazing God who has blessed us with an incredible church. Let’s enjoy it and make the most of it so that more people can meet Jesus!

Sutton Turner is the executive pastor of Mars Hill Church.

Practical Friendship

Pastor Justin Holcomb — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:00:00 -0800

How does the gospel change the way you love someone?

Augustine, perhaps better than any other theologian, captures the essence of friendship in a practical, everyday manner in his work, Confessions :

To make conversation, to share a joke, to perform mutual acts of kindness, to read together well-written books, to share in trifling and in serious matters, to disagree though without animosity—just as a person debates with himself—and in the very rarity of disagreement to find the salt of normal harmony, to teach each other something or to learn from one another, to long with impatience for those absent, to welcome them with gladness on their arrival.

For Augustine, loving friendship isn’t just a feeling, but leads to concrete expressions of love: “These and other signs come from the heart of those who love and are loved and are expressed through the mouth, through the tongue, through the eyes, and a thousand gestures of delight, acting as fuel to set our minds on fire.” He recognizes the virtues of friendship to create unity as well: “Human friendship is also a nest of love and gentleness because of the unity it brings about between many souls.”

Who can you be a friend to today?

How can you express God’s love to someone near to you?

7 Ways to Enjoy Friendship with Your Husband

Deacon Jen Smidt — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:00:00 -0800

I must have watched too much Sesame Street when I was a kid. Every time I think about writing, teaching, or list making, words that begin with the same letter flood my brain. I am an alliteration junkie.

As I thought and prayed about the friendship that has developed over the last 18 years between Phil and me, a smile came across my face as I realized that he is my best friend—and that all I have learned about friendship with him begins with the letter L.

1. Love your man, but love God more.

Ladies, you are the one whom God has called to love and befriend your man more than any other. You have a unique and beautiful glimpse into the heart and life of your man and can offer love to him in personal and intimate ways. But that love is finite, and it has an end. The love of Christ for you and in you will fuel love through you. Your husband will be most greatly loved as you secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

2. Look for opportunities to serve and surprise.

C.J. Mahaney makes an important distinction between these two acts. It is a godly blessing to selflessly serve your spouse, carrying out needed tasks that make life run more smoothly. If you have been married for any length of time, these can become a bit stale, albeit necessary. That is where the element of surprise comes in. Do something unexpected. Knock his socks off with an out-of-the-ordinary adventure.

3. Listen for his heart under the facts.

Nudge him beyond “Just the facts, ma’am.” Men often communicate in and feel most comfortable sticking to the quantifiable bottom line of any situation. Become skilled at listening for emotion, fears, thrills, dreams, and disappointments under the facts. These can often be detected in tone of voice, frequency of bringing up a topic or merely hinted at. Listen well to get glimpses into his heart.

4. Don’t lie.

As your friendship develops, if you have been dishonest in any way with him in your dating, engaged or early married life, you will reap the pain. On your first date, you may have gushed about monster trucks when he surprised you with tickets but if you truly hate them, tell him. He can handle it and you may be missing opportunities to find activities that you both enjoy. See #2 for the guiding principle here though – you are called to serve your man. An occasional automotive event won’t kill you but do seek to find similar ground and enjoy activities together that you both love.

5. Laugh with him, at him and for him.

Do not take yourselves too seriously. Laughing together will build trust, create memories and add enjoyment to life. Friendship is built in intimate moments, many of which will involve humor. Never joke at his expense. Bless him with moments of fun-loving levity.

6. Lavish praise, encouragement and truth upon him.

Be your husband’s biggest fan. Speak, write, sing, rent a billboard if you must—continually communicate your love and respect for your man. Be specific about telling him what you appreciate about his character, his body, his mind. Be confident in your knowledge of Scripture to speak truth to him when he needs it.

7. Lounge around together more.

This may not be a problem for some couples but with the frenetic pace of life, Phil and I grow closer as friends when we have plenty of down time together at home. Turn off your TV, pry the smartphones out of each other’s hands and just be together for an hour or better yet, a weekend. Lounge around together to the glory of God!

Friendship with our husbands takes work, but I can assure you, it’s enjoyable work when we realize we are building depth in our marriages that will stand the tests of time and trial.

Jen Smidt is a deacon at the Ballard church, where her husband, Phil, is a pastor.

The Launch of Mars Hill Orange County—in Video

Mars Hill Blog — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:00:00 -0800

Last week, our Orange County church launched along with churches in Sammamish, Portland, and Rainier Valley. It was a big day: not only did they have the biggest of the four launches with 769 people, but it was the first Sunday they went to two services, too.

Here’s a video OC volunteers made that captures the day, including words from Lead Pastor Nick Bogardus and other attenders.

For more from the Orange County church, visit oc.marshill.com.

Christian Spouse Swap

Pastor Dave Bruskas — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:00:00 -0800

There is nothing Christian about swapping spouses, right? Right! Jesus made it clear that marriage is for life between one man and one woman living together as one flesh. There isn’t room for another person in this equation. Nor is there an option for trading up.

But there is the absolute necessity for the same old husband and the same old wife to become two different people together (2 Corinthians 5:17) for the glory of God. And swapping the old person each spouse used to be for the new one in this sense is very Christian.

Swapping Adam for Jesus

Adam’s sin cursed marriage for everyone everywhere. God pronounces the curse on marriage to Eve in Genesis 3:16, “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” The consequence of Adam’s sin is that his nature would be to “rule over” Eve, his wife. He would be domineering and harsh. And he would be negligently indifferent to her needs. He would be a passive coward. And so it continues with the sons of Adams today. But Jesus’ obedience redeems marriage for all who trust in him.

Jesus blesses marriage by changing the sons of Adam as husbands. Ephesians 5:22–33 paints the new picture. Husbands, in the role of Jesus, are to love their wives, who are in the role of the Jesus’ bride, the church. And instead of selfish domination we now see a husband loving, serving and cherishing his wife. We see that Adam has been swapped for Jesus.

Swapping Eve for the Bride of Jesus

Eve wasn’t without a flawed nature either as she was evicted from the garden. God told Eve, “your desire will be for your husband.” This may sound innocent and sweet, but it is a very dark and bitter pronouncement.

This same term, “desire” is also found in Genesis 4:7. There, it describes sin’s intention for an angry young man named Cain. “Desire” most accurately means “control.” The consequence of Eve’s sin for the future of marriage would be the innate tendency for a wife to control her husband. She would be fearful, distrusting, demanding, and manipulative. And so it continues with the daughters of Eve today.

But, again, Jesus’ righteousness changes everything. He redeems marriage by transforming the daughters of Eve. Selfish manipulation is gone. It is replaced by respect for and submission to her husband. A wife lives under the loving and sacrificial leadership of her husband just as the church does for her Savior. We see that Eve has been swapped for the bride of Jesus, the church.

The Truth about New Spouses

There is very good news about new identities. They don’t result from doing more and trying harder. New identities are realized by faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ. A new identity is a gift from God. It is to be received not achieved. 2 Corinthians 5:17–18 states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold; the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ, reconciled us to himself.”

The foundation of a Jesus-centered marriage isn’t first about doing. It is first about being. And you don’t have to find a new partner to have a good marriage. You need to be a new person in Christ by faith. And you need to love and accept the same spouse in his or her new identity. You can both enjoy a new marriage with the same spouse by embracing your new identities together in Jesus. Goodbye, Adam. Goodbye, Eve. Hello to Jesus and his bride.

Dave Bruskas is the network pastor for Mars Hill Church. Follow Pastor Dave on Twitter.

A Friend of God

Mars Hill Blog — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:00:00 -0800

by R.C. Sproul

Friendship with God belongs to all who follow Jesus (John 15:12–17). If we trust in Christ, we are his friends and can know His thoughts more deeply the longer we walk with Him. Friendship with God belongs to all who follow Jesus (John 15:12–17). If we trust in Christ, we are his friends and can know his thoughts more deeply the longer we walk with him.

As Matthew Henry reminds us, “Those who by faith live a life of communion with God cannot but know more of his mind than other people. They have a better insight than others into what is present, and a better foresight of what is to come.”

Divine grace establishes and completes this friendship. Our responsibility to that friendship is not thereby abolished. We are declared just through faith alone, but the sign that our faith is real is our devotion to Christ (James 2:14–26). John Calvin comments, “For although the grace of God alone begins and completes our salvation; yet, since by obeying the call of God, we fulfill our course, we are said, also in this manner, to obtain the salvation promised by God.”

Hear the words of Jesus in John 15:14–15: “You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

If you are in Christ, God is your friend, and, like any friend, he desires fellowship with you. Reflect on this truth and talk with him as you go about your day’s work.

Passages for Further Study

Ex. 33:11a

 Ps. 25:14

 Prov. 18:24

 Amos 3:7

 1 John 1:1–7

Devotion adapted from Ligonier Ministries, the teaching fellowship of R.C. Sproul.

The Porn Again Event: Photo Essay

Mars Hill Blog — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:00:00 -0800

Despite the snow and ice, over 430 college students showed up for the Porn Again event, where Pastor Mark, Grace, and Crissy Moran, a former porn star, talked about pornography at the Neptune Theatre in Seattle’s University District.

Pastor Matt Jensen from Mars Hill U-District welcomes the crowd.

Mars Hill band King’s Kaleidoscope opened the event with worship.

“Porn makes someone other than your spouse your standard of beauty. . . . The goal is not to stop looking at porn. The goal is to start worshiping Jesus.” —Pastor Mark

“All pornography exists for is adultery of the heart. . . . Porn breaks the heart of God.”
—Pastor Mark

Pastor Mark and Grace interview Crissy about her experiences in the adult film industry and how Jesus saved her. Read more about Crissy’s story at IAmaTreasure.com

Grace Driscoll closed the evening praying for Crissy and for the men and women enslaved and affected by pornography.

If you missed the event, no worries: footage from the night will make up the eighth sermon, “The Porn Path,” in the Real Marriage sermon series, to be shown at Mars Hill churches March 4.

Download Pastor Mark’s free ebook, Porn-Again Christian, here.

You Are Christ's

Mars Hill Blog — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:00:00 -0800

“You are Christ’s …” - 1 Corinthians 3:23

by Charles Spurgeon

You are Christ’s.

You are his by donation, for the Father gave you to the Son,
His by his bloody purchase, for he counted down the price for your redemption,
His by dedication, for you have consecrated yourself to him,
His by relation, for you are named by his name, and made one of his brethren and joint-heirs.

Labor practically to show the world that you are the servant, the friend, the bride of Jesus. When tempted to sin, reply, “I cannot do this great wickedness, for I am Christ’s.”

Immortal principles forbid the friend of Christ to sin. When wealth is before you to be won by sin, say that you are Christ’s, and touch it not. Are you exposed to difficulties and dangers? Stand fast in the evil day, remembering that you are Christ’s. Are you placed where others are sitting down idly, doing nothing?

Rise to the work with all your powers, and when the sweat stands upon your brow, and you are tempted to loiter, cry, “No, I cannot stop, for I am Christ’s. If I were not purchased by blood, I might be like Issachar, crouching between two burdens; but I am Christ’s, and cannot loiter.”

When the siren song of pleasure would tempt you from the path of right, reply, “Your music cannot charm me—I am Christ’s.”

When the cause of God invites you, give your goods and yourself away, for you are Christ’s.

Never belie your profession. Be ever one of those whose manners are Christian, whose speech is like the Nazarene, whose conduct and conversation are so redolent of heaven, that all who see you may know that you are the Savior’s, recognizing in you his features of love and his countenance of holiness.

“I am a Roman!” was of old a reason for integrity. Far more, then, let it be your argument for holiness, “I am Christ’s!”

Adapted from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening devotionals.

Are You and Your Spouse Roommates or Soulmates?

Pastor Mark Driscoll — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 11:00:00 -0800

In the early days of our marriage, Grace and I had a relationship that was functional but not much fun.

We were planting Mars Hill Church, and I was working a lot as the only paid staff member. Grace was working full-time, and then after having our first child, stayed at home to take care of the home and our family.

We worked on most everything else first, and tried to work on our marriage in the cracks of life—late at night, catching a few minutes to talk here and there. The lines between home and work, family and church got blurred.

Outwardly, everything looked good in our marriage, but truthfully, we were drifting apart, had a lackluster sex life, and were in a very difficult spot due to some very trying times, which we share in our book, Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship, & Life Together. By a miracle of God’s grace, we stayed faithful to each other in our marriage, without infidelity of any kind.

We really did love each other and wanted to connect, but often did not. We kept date night every week and checked the dutiful boxes of a decent respectable Christian marriage that would not disqualify us from ministry. We were together but both very lonely.

For us, a big revelation was that, though we were once great friends, we were no longer soulmates and instead roommates working together to fulfill the duties of marriage without experiencing the joys of marriage.

In order to save our marriage, we had to repent of much of our sin toward each other, rediscover our friendship, and move from roommates to soulmates again.

Three Types of Marriages

For us, a helpful matrix to accomplish this was to think of marriage in one of three ways: back-to-back, shoulder-to-shoulder, and face-to-face.

A back-to-back marriage is one in which the couple has turned their backs on each other. As a result, they live separately and do not work together (shoulder-to-shoulder) or draw each other out in friendship (face-to-face). In such marriages, the partners range from strangers to enemies, but are not friends.

Though Grace and I were not always back-to-back in our marriage, there were times when this was true, especially in some of the worst moments. The result was a growing emotional separation that poisoned our relationship and destroyed our friendship.

A shoulder-to-shoulder marriage is one in which the couple works together on tasks and projects, such as keeping the home, raising the kids, growing the business, and serving the church.

For the most part, Grace and I were in a shoulder-to-shoulder relationship. I was working on our growing church and helping with the house and kids, and Grace was tending to the home, caring for our children, and serving in the church in many ways. Everything looked fine on the outside, but if the projects we worked on went away and we were left with just each other, the marriage would have declined as there was not sufficient depth to our intimacy and friendship.

A face-to-face marriage is one in which, in addition to the shoulder-to-shoulder work, the couple gets a lot of face-to-face time for conversation, friendship, and intimacy.By God’s grace, we realized our need to become friends again and not be glorified roommates. We began working hard on our marriage and our friendship and got our priorities straight. In the process, we learned valuable lessons about how men and women relate.

The Differences between Men and Women

As a general rule, men commonly have shoulder-to-shoulder friendships around shared activity. Most men recall boys they played with on a sports team and guys they worked with on a job. But they often know very little about these guys they called friends, because their tasks consumed their time and conversation, as they talked about the task in front of them rather than the emotion between them.

Conversely, women’s friendships tend to be face-to-face and built around intimate conversation. This explains why women do the sorts of things with other women that most men do not do with other men, such as going out to lunch or coffee just to talk, sharing deep intimate feelings while looking each other in the face without a task bringing them together.

How to Move from Roommates to Soulmates

In order to move from being roommates to soulmates, a husband and wife must work hard to relate to one another in a way that is both shoulder-to-shoulder and face-to-face. This takes stepping into each other’s world to enjoy each other and enjoy a variety of things that each person enjoys.

Wives, to be a good friend, learn to spend some time with your husband in shared activity. If he’s watching a sporting event, sit down and share it with him. If he’s working on a project, hang out nearby to help or at least ask questions and be a companion if nothing else. For a wife to build a friendship with her husband requires shoulder-to-shoulder time alongside him.

Husbands, to be a good friend to your wife, learn to have deeper and more intimate conversations. Open up, tell your wife how you’re doing and ask her how she is doing. Listen without being distracted by technology or a task (put your cell phone away), but instead focus on her, looking her in the eye for extended periods of time. Draw her out emotionally, and allow her to draw you out emotionally. Keep your advice to a minimum and learn to listen, empathize, comfort, encourage, and in so doing resist the constant urge to find a problem and try and fix it. For a husband to build a friendship with his wife requires him to grow in face-to-face skills.

By God’s grace, engaging each other on shoulder-to-shoulder and face-to-face levels changed our marriage and saved our friendship. I can honestly say that today, Grace and I are best friends. It’s our prayer that those whose marriage is more like glorified roommates will rediscover your friendship by doing the same and once again become soulmates.

Real Marriage Sermon Series This is not your average sermon series on marriage. We won’t give you five steps to happiness. We won’t talk about sex in code. We won’t talk about how you can fix your marriage. No, this is a sermon series about Jesus—and what he has to say about marriage through the Bible.
Watch the sermons.