a few months ago i wrote this post describing a new book that was going to be coming out, written by Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. as i said in the previous post, i was somewhat excited to get around to reading this book, and i was even more excited at receiving the news that i would be receiving a free copy of the book when it released in May.

i received the book a few weeks ago and have put off reading it until now because of some buzz that was going on when the book first came out. some who had read the book and reviewed it had severely questioned some of the things that Driscoll had recounted in his Confessions. Driscoll has long had the reputation of being brash and outrageous at times, and many have particularly been critical of the fact that he sometimes (at least in the past) cusses while he is preaching. he even received published recognition of this fact in the popular book Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. while the language and words that Driscoll uses may be questionable in some respects, the slander and libel that he is receiving are even moreso. for this reason, i have chosen not to speak at length about some of the more provocative passages for the following reasons:

1. they have already been discussed ad nauseum throughout the blogosphere.

2. many of those that have been most outspoken against the book and against Driscoll have, as they admit, nor, again per their words, do they have any intent of doing so.

3. having read the book, it is clear that the criticism is largely unwarranted, especially when the passages are taken in context with the chapters they are in and in the overall flow of the book.

so if you’re looking for another blog review that slams a brother in Christ for using words that don’t fit inside a whitewashed tomb, then you should probably move on.

Confessions of a Reformission Rev. is written as a confessional history of the life of Mars Hill Church. it chronicles the church from its inception, with a handful of couples, to its present state, with about 4,000 members. as with any lasting church, Mars Hill’s has experienced times of great blessing and growth, and also extreme lows and several points of certain death. like the church, Driscoll too experienced times of great joy and blessing in his ministry, but also times of questioning and severe hardship. in recounting both trials and periods of fruitfulness Driscoll speaks with candid honesty. this honesty was one of the things that struck me about the book. it is not often that pastors will speak as openly about their ministry mistakes and failures as they do about their successes. what i found most impressive was the humility he displayed at both extremes, always acknowledging that “the Lord gives and the Lord takes away,” viewing the trials as times of pruning and growth in faith, and the times of blessing as confirmation of God’s love and the ministry that He had given Driscoll.

another point of interest in the book was Driscoll’s telling of the early days of the Emergent movement, his involvement in the early days, and the fact that he is currently distancing himself from those who have taken Emergent into what it is today. he outlines the disagreements he has with many of the Emergent leaders and continually affirms that he is committed to biblical doctrines and understandings of the faith, and that he is not ashamed of the true Gospel as revealed in the record of redemptive history that God has given us. despite what many pro-postmodern leaders would have us believe, Driscoll’s ministry and church is a profound testimony to the fact that the biblical message of the Gospel of God’s grace–that we are all sinners who are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ who humbled Himself to take upon the sins of those that are His, paying the penalty for them as a sacrificial lamb in order to purchase redemption, newness of life, and eternal blessedness for those whom God adopts as children–is still “relevant” to and capable of making sense to the so-called postmodern generation. Driscoll does not shy away from presenting a “bloody” Gospel (as some refer to the biblical message and refuse to preach because they cannot reconcile it with the way they think it should be) because he believes that to be God’s truth. and rightly so.

one of the only issues i have with Driscoll’s philosophy of ministry (i have a few, but most of them are largely preferential, rather than any kind of clear right/wrong dichotomy) is his ambition to grow his church to over 10,000 members. he does mention that the church has been planting churches around Seattle and elsewhere, and that is definitely commendable. however, i wonder what kind of toll that will take on Driscoll to pastor a church that large. thankfully, he has chosen a church model that allows him, as he says, to be a pastor of a 70-100 member “church” with those numbers representing the number of elders in the church. Driscoll spends time getting to know the elders and trains them for ministry, and then lets them pastor the various ministries that they have been placed in leadership over, allowing Driscoll the time to prepare sermons, study, and write so that all of his time is not taken up making hospital visits and doing counseling sessions. i would be interested to see what kind of impact that has on the average church member. i’m curious as to how they would view Driscoll. just a face at the front of the stage (or on the screen)? the designated speaker of the church? or do they sincerely consider him to be their pastor. my concerns aside, it is obvious that this model works for Mars Hill and that God is greatly blessing the efforts of all involved.

at the end of the day, this book has had a great impact on me. from Driscoll’s zeal for the lost and his city, to his humble honesty in telling of his successes and failures, to his dramatic transformation from a cussing, sarcastic youth leader to a godly and loving pastor, there is no doubt that God has been and is at work in him and in his ministry in Seattle. i would strongly encourage all Christians, especially those training for pastoral ministry to read this book and glean the wisdom that Driscoll carefully and graciously shares. i hope the book will be as much of an encouragement to all who read it as it was to me.

if you make your way over to the blog of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale, be sure to pay attention to the entry aptly titled “Competition Results.” i had the wonderful opportunity of participating in the alpha phase of testing the new Jonathan Edwards Archive that will be fully launched later this year. the folks at the JEC in New Haven have been tirelessly working to digitially publish over 60,000 pages of Edwards’ writing, seeking to become the place for Edwards’ scholars to do research.

so i’d like to thank them for giving me the opportunity to help them out with the testing of their new site and especially for sending me prizes!