Tag: Mark Driscoll

Frank Viola on the Holy Spirit

Frank Viola (Pagan Christianity) has a great article on the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the latest Next-Wave Ezine.

“To my mind, the Holy Spirit has but one job. It’s to reveal, to make known, to magnify, to glorify, to make central and supreme the Lord Jesus Christ…

If you wish to determine if a person is full of the Holy Spirit, listen to his words and watch his life. As far as his words go, he will have but one obsession. It will be Christ. And his life will match his words. He won’t be perfect by any means. Nor will he be above making mistakes. But he will exhibit a spirit of kindness, honesty, and an inclusive openness to all of God’s children . . . the outstanding marks of Christ’s character.”

Mark Driscoll said recently that Jesus is the example of how we must live and the Holy Spirit is the enabler.

I believe the Holy Spirit also helps us gain our focus on Christ. Its as if we view our life through a Mag Light and as we yield to the Spirit the beam becomes smaller and more focused on the mission God’s given us.

What are your thoughts?

A quote for today

re: Health & Wealth/Prosperity Theology

“…if you simply have enough faith you won’t be like Jesus and be poor and suffer. it is bizarre to say ‘if you have enough faith in Jesus you wouldn’t be like him.”
Mark Driscoll

Related ::
Podcast :: Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in Luke and Acts
Wikipedia :: Prosperity Doctrine

Texting in church

Mars Hill Church in Seattle has begun welcoming Txt messaging during their Sunday morning services as part of a Q&A with pastor Mark Driscoll. This is also something they’ve been doing at several conferences the church has been a part of or hosted.

We’ve discussed txt messaging at encounter but haven’t quite put into effect yet. I love the idea of interaction between the congregation/lay people and the pastor during the service and the interaction between each person in the congregation.

We had a unique experience yesterday at encounter (no video/audio/picture archives were made) where we sat up 3 unique rooms with chairs all facing inward so we were “forced” to look at one another rather than simply stare at a stage or screen where someone talks and sings “to us.”

I loved it. Felt very community like. Fit right in with the taking of the Eucharist or communion (coming together in union). We moved from room to room as Brian spoke about the blood and body of Christ and in the final room we sat gathered around a cross where Brian spoke of Christ freeing us from our bondage. He offered an opportunity for folks to share what this freedom in Christ meant to them.

Usually when we have times for response we get limited numbers of response but something about yesterday really encouraged the interaction. We had people from all sides of the room speaking out and sharing their thoughts. Several even played off one another.

I think this type of interaction is vital to our churches. I hope we can see more of it.

Related ::
HT: Monday Morning Insight
Mars Hill
Mars Hill :: Text Life
Mars Hill :: Live Texting
Twitter at church
SSL :: Social Networking and the church