By Mike O’Dea | Mars Hill Theology Response Team

Bonnie and I have been driving over to the Seattle Northgate Mall about 5 out of every 7 days.  The Mall is opened most days at 7:00 (8:30 on Sundays) for those who wish to walk for exercize.  It is exactly 1/2 mile in length so a round trip walk is 1 mile.  It is super to be able to walk on a flat surface without getting rained on or wind blown. 

I began to realize that, during my 20 to 30 minute walk, it would be a great time to pray. I always begin praying for each person in my community group.  We make a list of prayer requests and praises every week and we email the list the following day to all members of our group.  So, it gets easier to remember all the requests.  It dawned on me that almost every person in our group frequently asks for prayer that a friend or relative, especially parents, gets saved and become a member of God’s family (John 1:12). 

The other day as I was praying for Lacey’s mother, my mind began to wander and the thought crossed my mind, “does all this praying for people to get saved do any good?” After all, is it not up to God anyway according to Ephesians 1:5-11?  As soon as that thought crossed my mind I felt somewhat ashamed of it.  I began to think about all the people that were special to me that God has brought into His family.  In each case, they were people that I had prayed for.  In some cases it was just weeks of prayer, in some it was months, and others took several years. There are many that I am still praying for. There must be a tie-in between those that God has chosen (John 15:16) and those His Holy Spirit inspires us to pray for.  I will not dig any deeper theologically, at least in this article, on this subject. It can be a mind bender.

Like most of you, I began praying for others very soon after I became a Christian.  That was almost 30 years ago.  The first one God layed on my heart was my mother.  I presented the Gospel to her but it did not take.  Two years later she got very sick and was prepared for surgery.  I was 400 miles away.  My pastor sent a pastor friend of his to the hospital and that pastor confirmed that my mother accepted Jesus 45 minutes before she died on the operating table. A few years later I began praying for my sister, who lived over 2000 miles away.  She was a practicing Mormon.  We communicated by letter and phone (pre-email days) and eventually she got saved and joined a Southern Baptist church.  Two years later she died of diabetes complications.

Of course, I prayed for my three children.  At one time all three were walking in darkness. I remember kneeling at the foot of my bed with tears in my eyes and I pleaded with God. “Lord, at least give me one of them.”  A short time later my son James went forward at a “Promise Keepers” conference at the King Dome.  I am still praying for the other two.  Another example would be my co-worker friend Lee.  Lee is now an active member of Mars Hill Church.

Perhaps the most miraculous example would be my ex-wife Dorothy.  She and I divorced many years ago before either one of us became Christians.  Bonnie and I began praying for her and she is now a well established follower of Christ and a very good friend of my wife and I.  In fact, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving at her house.  God is so Good!   I have more examples, but I think you get the point. 
 
I just want this article to be an encouragement to anyone who reads this to keep praying for that parent, brother, sister, co-worker, friend, etc.  There is no greater joy than to see someone you have prayed for become a Christian (3rd John 1:4). Maybe that is one reason God inspires us to pray for them.  Do not give up! 

Amen?

Photo courtesy of Katie Tegtmeyer at Flickr.com.

Read the Introduction from Pastor Mark below. Curriculum from the text will be posted weekly here.

From Pastor Mark Driscoll(see trailer here)

Jesus was a rebel, outlaw, renegade, and hardcore, sanctified troublemaker. He never sinned, but He lived His life by a set of rules that His culture did not approve of, especially the stuffed-shirt religious types. Examples include healing on the Sabbath, throwing over tables in the temple, eating with godless sinners, and not washing His hands before eating. Clearly, Jesus was no coward who conformed to social pressure.

Jesus was ultimately murdered in an attempt to stop Him from literally turning the world upside down, which was as effective as blowing on the head of a dandelion to exterminate it. Nonetheless, Jesus endured the cross, as Hebrews 12:2 says, “for the joy that was set before him” and never lost His joy even in the midst of betrayal, poverty, injustice, loneliness, pain, suffering, slander, and even death. Jesus was single-minded in His mission to pursue God’s glory in heaven and our salvation on earth. Jesus lived without those things that we would typically associate with joy, such as health, wealth, sex, and comfort, yet He is the freest and happiest person who has ever lived. Jesus is the most joyful person who has ever lived because He was the most obedient, God-glorifying, humble, sacrificial person who has ever lived. Paradoxically, He had joy despite being a “man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3).

Following his conversion, Paul patterned his life after Jesus and also lived as a rebel, outlaw, renegade, and hardcore, sanctified troublemaker. He too was single, broke, often homeless, and so hated that he got run out of more than a few towns after taking a good beating. Paul writes Philippians while he is sitting on the floor of a filthy Roman jail (Philippians 1:1317)-a brutal place and nothing like the Paris Hilton Camp Cupcake Clubhouses that we see today. Alone in his jail cell, flat broke, tired, hungry, sick, abandoned, and facing the prospect of a brutal death, Paul sat down to write a letter to his friends in Philippi, who enjoyed one of the few churches written to in the New Testament that did not sound like it had been taken over by drunk carnival workers.

Founded by Paul in roughly 50 AD, the church at Philippi was the first church in Europe. The church began when the team of Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke met with some Jewish women at their place of prayer in Acts 16. Their first converts were a wealthy upper class Asian businesswoman, Lydia, and her family; a demon-possessed lower class Greek slave girl; and a middle class Roman jailer and his family. Despite racial, economic, gender, and political differences, the church grew to be very healthy and filled with joy as they grew together in their love for and service of Jesus Christ.

(more…)

By Mark Bergin

I enjoy community. I enjoy deep belly laughs from my ample midsection and running out of dining-room-table leaves and come-from-behind bocce ball victories. Being known is helpful, too a critical piece in pushing me to do Christianity for real, i.e., exposure, humility, repentance, etc.

But as is always the case in this cursed world, even good things can lead to ill in the hands of broken people. Community is no exception a painful reality made squarely evident in my life two weekends ago. There I was, vacationing on Anderson Island with my community group for our second annual summer getaway; temporarily relieved of parenting duties; surrounded by people I love, trust and am charged to shepherd; continually aware that a pile of meat lay marinating in a nearby refrigerator; and yet in grave danger of losing the rudder on my apparently not-so-sanctified ship.

The trouble started slowly, even innocently: a couple of beers here, a course joke there. The environment just felt so comfortable, so laissez-faire, so raw. And my tongue got loose. My standards relaxed. Nothing earth-shattering here, just an abuse of Christian liberty, an occasion for the flesh you know, the kind Saul of Tarsus expressly forbids.

Somehow, I’d managed to leave the more tender elements of my conscience behind on the mainland. Of course, they eagerly rejoined me upon my return, piling on conviction and shame as I drove off the Steilacoom ferry toward home. Pastor Scott Thomas didn’t help things that evening when he preached from Titus 3 on the admonition to not only do good but be good, leaving behind a life when “we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.”

The thing is, it hadn’t felt like slavery in the moment; it had felt like freedom. And that’s the trouble with Christian liberty, especially among brothers. It’s in that rapture of mutual affection and earnest community that distinctions between the permissible and the beneficial are most easily blurred. Using up the dining-room table leaves may create space for belly laughs and marinated meat, but be on guard lest a roaring lion find room to pull up a chair.

By Pam Shavey 

You know, I love going to Starbucks for my favorite iced mocha!  I like to stroll on in and not make a scene and just get my mocha and go.

When I was pregnant with my 2nd son there was a gal Liz who worked at “my local Starbucks” (well, one of my local Starbucks) who introduced herself because she was also pregnant.  So we were both pregnant with our 2nd boys and both due within a week of each other!  Crazy, huh?  We started a friendship 3 ½ years ago and now I make a point to try to go into our local mocha shop when I know she will be working.

Conversations have not gone deep quickly but they are getting there.  I have been pondering the idea in a book, Finding Common Ground, about the lost art of sowing.  In the book, Tim Downs talks of the importance of finding common things to talk with people about - to sow into their lives.  That we need to sow before we can harvest.  That this is not a time of simple harvesting but of the hard labor of spring plowing, of backs bent from pruning, of calluses from hard work.

And so, my hard work is to go to Starbucks to get mochas :)  Yea, thanks Jesus for the treat in the midst of sowing.  The hard part is to talk with Liz in the moments we have and to keep the 3 kids occupied and to think of ways to open up possible spiritual conversations.  And, to pray she has a moment to talk.

In the last 6 months I have found out that she has been involved in Alcoholics Anonymous and that she goes to a small Lutheran church.  She has also asked for my phone number and has asked questions about Mars Hill. I feel that I am beginning to see the fruit of labor.  I pray that one day this summer we can go to a park together I have asked in the past and nothing has come to fruition.  I also pray that one day she will hear the whole gospel!

I was once told that evangelism is like a tennis game.  How?  Well, I hit the ball over to Liz with a question, idea, thought and then wait for her to hit the ball back over to me.  For instance, when I have hit the ball over to her about going to a park, she has not responded with an “oh yea, let’s go” so I have waited.  But, when she asked for my phone number I hit the ball back by giving her my number.  It causes me to check the soil, to see what God is doing in her heart and to not go out there like a hunter waiting for something to conquer.

So yesterday my husband Gary and I both had an opportunity to sow with a couple on our block.  Gary and the husband, Billy, went to the Phinney Neighborhood Summer Beer Fest; it was an opportunity to sow with Billy and to see other guys from the neighborhood.  When the guys left, Billy’s wife Jessica walked down to chat with me.  We talked for an hour on our porch!

Since then I have doubted my words, doubted most everything about our conversation but I pray the Lord would continue to build a friendship between our 2 families.  I want to ask her some more questions, begin thinking of the tennis match when I am talking with her and not just desire to talk about myself.

I pray that as I go to Starbucks and sit out on the porch that I would be able to “play tennis” in conversation with those God has put in my path.  I pray I would not give up in the hard long season of laboring in the fields.waiting for the harvest.

By Mark Bergin

For the past few years, several Mars Hill members namely Alex Kim, Kristian Ellefsen and me have made regular trips to Pioneer Square to fill the pulpit at the Bread of Life Mission’s nightly chapel service. We have opened the scriptures and preached the gospel to an audience of homeless and often substance-abusing men. Some of those men have since met Jesus and become members of our church and fixtures in our community.

But many others remain unchanged, some passionately resistant to repentance, others simply callous to a message they’ve heard hundreds of times before. Tragically, a third segment of this unregenerate contingent struggles to separate truth from the twisted theological perversions of misguided teachers and preachers. Frequently after delivering a sermon, I am approached with challenges to the plain reading of scripture. These alternate interpretations typically align with the prevailing evangelical heresies of our day self-esteem, health and wealth, open theism.

Where is Seattle’s most hope-starved population hearing this junk? From myriad pastors and church leaders more enamored with the man-centered cultural orthodoxy of our day than the timeless and God-centered word of life. The solution, of course, is more Bible-teaching, Jesus-exalting churches and by extension more Bible-teaching, Jesus-exalting preachers.

So I write this post as both an admonition and an invitation to any God-fearing man at Mars Hill who’s ever watched Pastor Mark on a given Sunday and secretly wondered, “Could I do that?” Here’s your chance: Both the Bread of Life Mission and the Union Gospel Mission open their pulpits daily for teams of industrious evangelical church folk to sign up and run a service. Between our 100-plus community group leaders and countless more apprentices and Bible-loving dudes, I figure we could flood those slots with gospel preachers and crowd out any pretenders.

I’m looking to coordinate a regular circuit of preachers who will learn from watching each other, read books together on preaching and ultimately see more hope-starved men redeemed by our great King. If you’re interested, shoot me an email at mjbergin52@msn.com. I’d also love to hear from any musicians willing and able to lead in song.

Who knows where this might lead, what gifts you might discover, what vision you might catch. I happen to know of a large and rapidly expanding Seattle church always on the lookout for future campus pastors and church planters. Maybe that’s you.

By Tim Zion 

I recently was at a friend’s church. As we left the parking lot there was a sign that read, “You are now entering the mission field.” My mind took that simple sign I had seen countless times and ran with it. Where is the mission field? Is it really only outside the church? If the mission field is only “out there”, what does that say about me? Well, I am the one driving by the sign so that must mean that I am not part of the mission field. It’s those other people I meet outside the church who REALLY need Jesus.

Even as I write this, I laugh at myself. Not because I am so funny, but because these thoughts are real. Somewhere in my sinful heart I actually believed this. I actually had those thoughts; poor sinners out there in the world who need Jesus. How ridiculous is that? I am sure as you are reading this blog you are thinking, man I’m glad I don’t think like that. But how often are we like that? How often do we think the sin outside of us is way worse then the sin inside of us? Most the time we are like the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14 thanking God we aren’t like everyone else.

Truth is we are. The difference is we don’t have to be. We are free in Christ. If every Sunday you hear the word, are convicted of sin, yet find yourself repeating the same sins over and over through out the week. You need help. We all need help. We need to be in a community of believers who love each other enough to call us on our sin, yet humble enough to know they are no better. That is what community groups are all about. It’s where you can give support to others and receive it yourself.

So, is the mission field only outside the church? Oh no! There is a whole different kind right here inside the body. My own heart is the biggest. I find that the hardest thing about being a Christian is actually having to care about others. I mean, really care. Phone calls late at night, uncomfortable conversations, disrupting “your” life care. That is what we are called to. That is what should be happening in our community groups. If you aren’t involved in a community group, get involved. If you are, welcome to ministry. It’s not for people who have it all together or those with all the answers. It’s for those who are willing to humbly come along side others, help them transform and be transformed. All by the grace of God, for his glory alone.

As a reminder, I think at every community group we should have a sign that says “You are now entering the mission field.” But, if no one else thinks that’s a good idea. I guess changed lives will work too.

At the Transformation Series conference about three weeks ago Paul Trip did some work out Hebrews chapter 10 that I have been noodling on since that weekend.

[(nōōd'ling) to contemplate, meditate, think about.]

The concept is not new, and most of us are quick to pay it lip service.

The concept: Christianity is meant to be lived out in community.

Ground breaking I know. Probably not the first time you’ve heard this proposition, but have you ever noodled on it?

We are created in the image of the Trinitarian God who exist in community. “Yes, yes” we nod our heads in agreement. yet few of us willing seek out encouraging, rebuking, exciting, fun, painfully authentic community in our church. I am convinced that the majority of Christian hear this proposition say that you could, may, might benefit from, living out your faith in community. The reality however is that this is not a suggestion. There is an expectation in this text that we live in community (Heb. 10:22-25). In fact, verse 25 is a rebuke to those that think they don’t need to be apart of it. As Mr. Tripp indicated, this is not a call to attend a church service, but to live life together in a meaningful way that exposes our sins, encourages us in faith and draws us closer to Christ.

As I sat in my office this week I was posed the all too familiar question: Why do you think people avoid community? If I had a nickel .

Just to give you background, we currently have approximately 1/3 of our Sunday attendees in Community Groups including ½ of our members.* Respectable numbers by church statistical standards, but far from the expectation of Scripture and to what I believe God is calling us. *This does not include other legitimate forms of community.

So why DO people avoid community?

One reason, and I believe the most significant, is that in authentic community our sin is exposed. We can keep up appearances at work, a family function, or a barbecue. but if we are in a community of believers who take scriptures like Hebrews 3:13 seriously, we cannot hide for long. We all sin, and as John 3:20 outs us, we “will not come into the light for fear that [our] deeds will be exposed.” We fear light like a 32 year old actress fears HDTV. In reality, however, it is this exposure that gives us life. “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7)

Unfortunately too many of us have believed the lie that darkness is better then light. In the deepest parts of our regenerate hearts we want communion with God and fellowship with each other… but we have been deceived by the promise of comfort that does not bring peace. My challenge is to live in the light believing the promise of my faithful God that the shame of being exposed will be worth the joy of glorifying Jesus.

So let us live life together, willing to be pruned by God through His Word and His people for the purpose of glorifying Jesus… and don’t forget to bring your sunglasses.