A typical Saturday for most pastors usually includes sermon prep. Maybe some downtime with the fam. Submission wrestling tournaments are usually not on the agenda…unless you’re Jesse Winkler.

Pastor Jesse not only leads the Bellevue campus, he’s also an aspiring MMA fighter—along with a few other Mars Hill dudes on the Eastside. At his first competition a couple weekends ago, Pastor Jesse wrestled four times and took second place.

He went out in style during his only loss of the day. If you’ve never seen a pastor get choked out, you can watch the video, along with footage of Jesse’s more dominant fights.

For more about the spiritual implications of ultimate fighting, check out Scott Knight’s blog on The Resurgence.

The “Changed by Jesus” series features stories about how Jesus is working through the ministry of Mars Hill Church to change lives. If God has used Mars Hill to transform your life, please consider emailing your account to testimony[at]marshillchurch.org.

This week our Changed by Jesus testimony comes from Tara, who attends our Ballard campus.

Light in the Darkness — Changed by Jesus #15

I was raised in a United Pentacostal Church. It was a legalistic, charismatic, fundamentalist church that taught that I must speak in tongues to be saved, and that if I cut my hair or watched TV I was going to go to hell.

When I was twelve, my parents moved me cross country twice to loosen the grip of the church on our lives, and in hopes that we be able to live in a more “conventional” society. After my parents left the United Pentacostal Church, I attended a non-denominational church for two years until my pastor died suddenly of cancer. Shortly thereafter, due to years of extenuating circumstances, my parents divorced. I was fifteen, in a strange city, with a sense of uninhibited freedom coupled with the notion that everything I was taught to believe as a child may or may not be true. I made a conscience decision to rebel and turn my back on God.

The following years were nothing but miserable. I experimented with alcohol, sexual immorality, and garden variety drugs, prescription and illegal. I lived my life the way I thought I wanted to, without shame, regret, or humility, pillaging my body and treating others with no regard. I won’t go into gory detail, but I have hurt God, myself, and many, many people for no reason but my own selfish desires and stubborn ways.

I woke up one morning, hungover, realizing that I couldn’t remember the last time I had been sober in the past six years. I knew that I needed to make some big changes in my lifestyle to avoid inadvertently killing myself or someone else. I spent the next eighteen months trying to control my sin, always stumbling back into the same devastating patterns.

Easter 2006, my roommate asked me to come to church with her and her boyfriend. I quickly obliged, yearning to feel the unconditional love of Jesus. We attended the evening service at Mars Hill Church and my life has been forever changed. I realized that I had long since forgotten the sacrifice that Jesus made for me though I did nothing to deserve it. On that Easter Sunday, I was so ashamed of the pain that I had caused so many. That was the day that I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins, to renew my heart, and to transform my life into what was accepting and holy to God. Since that day he has continued to convict me of my sin, disciplining me and pruning the dead parts of my old life away.

Although it continues to be a painful and sometimes unclear process, I am forever thankful. I know that through the grace and mercy of God, the willingness of Jesus’ sacrifice, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I have been redeemed. The joy that knowledge brings is overwhelming; it brings me to tears just thinking of it. It is my prayer that my story can be a sliver of hope, a light of the power of Jesus, shining for those who are still lost and searching in the dark.

Mars Hill Church celebrates its anniversary on the first Sunday in October. In 1996, we began with twelve people meeting in Pastor Mark and Grace Driscoll’s rental house.

Twelve years later we’re still a growing congregation, now of almost 8,000. Only by God’s miraculous grace does 12 x 12 = 8,000. And Jesus is changing each of those lives—one person at a time and altogether at once, as the active and loving God that he is.

The plan for next year, Lord willing: more growth, more expansion, so that more lives can be changed. God has entrusted us with much, and in order to steward it well we must walk faithfully on mission with Jesus. Perseverance, Mars Hill. After twelve amazing years, a lifetime is still ahead, and even more after that.

The “Changed by Jesus” series features stories about how Jesus is working through the ministry of Mars Hill Church to change lives. If God has used Mars Hill to transform your life, please consider emailing your account to testimony[at]marshillchurch.org.

Mars Hill has a great team of men and women who keep the church running smoothly. Kyle is one of those men, and this is his story.

The Glow — Changed by Jesus #14

I grew up in a Christian home, and after many conversations with my mother I very soberly, at the age of twelve, made her pull over to the side of the road because I was ready to ask Jesus into my heart. I had her pull over just incase I started glowing; I didn’t want her to crash into anything. As you can probably guess, I didn’t start glowing. I honestly didn’t really feel much different. I knew that I was a Christian, but I didn’t really understand what it meant to walk with God.

I spent the next fourteen years doing my own thing and drifting along. When I turned twenty-six, I felt Jesus really telling me that it was time to pay attention to him. I started reading my Bible and occasionally attended Churches here and there. All the churches that I tried out did not pass my extensive two-prong test: did the pastor preach from the Bible, and did I fall asleep.

When I was twenty-seven, I met Kathleen, my now wife. She asked what church I went to and I said that there weren’t any good churches in Seattle. Her pastor from California recommended MHC. Kathleen and I first attended in June of 2000. We went into a small theater called the Paradox in the U district. When we left, I felt something new and different; it was called conviction of sin. I immediately started serving and volunteering. I discovered what it meant to have my identity in Christ Jesus and have my life be an act of worship.

Over the years I have been amazed at the growth that Jesus has spurred through the Biblical teaching at Mars Hill Church. I have grown from being a consumer interested in what I got out of life, to a realization that I am nothing outside of Jesus’ grace and forgiveness. That glow that I was worried about when I asked Jesus into my heart, I now realize is Jesus.

Mars Hill Church has partnered with Missions Fest Seattle since it began in 2006. This year’s event starts Friday and features guest speakers, exhibits, and seminars—all related to Christian missions efforts here in Seattle and around the globe. It’s absolutely free, which makes it a great opportunity to learn more about how to live the Great Commission.

Visit the Missions Fest Seattle website for more information.

There is growing international interest in the ministry of Mars Hill, particularly in the UK and Australia. Pastor Mark was recently featured in the magazine of Newfrontiers, a Christian ministry based in the UK. Check out the full article here.

I became a Christian at the age of nineteen, started doing ministry as a Bible study leader almost immediately, and planted Mars Hill Church in the fall of 1996 at the age of twenty-five. Prior to my conversion, I had been sexually active and looked at porn. These were the first sins I remember being deeply convicted of as a new Christian and by God’s grace I have been able to walk away from those sins and to Jesus.

Over the years, much of my ministry has been to men in general, and young, single men in particular. The least likely person to go to church in virtually every nation, including my own, is a single man between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four. These guys are a priority for me. As our church began growing, I started pulling these guys together for “boot camps” to speak to them off the record with plain speech about real issues of being men. The guys were responsive and very few had a dad, let alone a Christian dad, and they were clueless about why God made men.

What started as a handful of guys has now grown to a large church that is half single and half married, half male and half female. We have thousands of single men ages eighteen to thirty-four who call Mars Hill home, which is a miracle since we are in one of the least churched cities in our nation and statistically the least likely city in the nation where these guys would attend church. Most of them are new Christians who meet Jesus while in sexual sin of every sort and are fighting to get dominion over their pants.

To help these guys, some years ago I sat down and in one day wrote a small booklet about male sexuality that we published in-house. Since then we have gone through thousands of copies and literally cannot keep it in stock. I asked some Christian publishers if they wanted it, and they said it was too hot to handle and so they declined.

So, I decided to just put it online and give it away for free. The book has had a small amount of editing and rewriting since its original version. We’ll give it away at the Resurgence a bit at a time in conjunction with the Song of Songs series I am preaching titled “The Peasant Princess.” Once the entire book has been put online, it will then be posted as a file that guys around the world can download and read on their computer, forward to their friends, or print copies of to hand out as they like.

I hope this thing goes nuts and hundreds of thousands of guys read it.

In closing, I want to say two things. One, a lot of folks will not like the content or tone of this book and I love them and wish them well. You get what you pay for and this is free. Two, a lot of young guys (and some older guys too) tell me they have been helped by this content and if God uses it to help some guys I would be overjoyed with that. So, let the critics fire away and I’ll gladly take the shots for the guys who are walking wounded in an effort to help them get their shield up and sword sharpened.

Until we see Jesus,
Pastor Mark Driscoll

Porn Again Christian e-Book

While I was in London and Brighton, England, this past summer with Pastor Mark, the Spirit impressed on me with the phrase, “For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:9).

I had not read that passage for eighteen months, and yet the Apostle Paul’s statement burned in my spirit and continues to burn. I had been told that the UK was not receptive to the gospel, but I was terribly misinformed. In addition to Pastor Mark’s numerous speaking engagements, we held a church-planting boot camp where planters from twelve different countries attended. Between each session, the men asked pressing questions and begged us to start planting churches in their respective countries.

A wide door for effective work has opened to us, and we are asking the Holy Spirit to help us walk through this door into areas of the world where the church has diminished the gospel. Many young people in the UK want a message and mission similar to that of Mars Hill Church and the Acts 29 Network. Not only is there receptiveness to the gospel in the UK, but also there are several vibrant ministries and strong leaders working faithfully in Jesus’ name.

Newfrontiers is a UK-based ministry that understands the gospel. It’s a church-planting movement that has started 200 churches in the UK, and over 500 churches in 52 countries around the world. Pastor Mark preached to 5,000 leaders at their annual conference and made a huge impact on them. The leader of Newfrontiers, Terry Virgo, is a dear man who is full of the Holy Spirit and an embodiment of an elder above reproach. He and Mark spent a great amount of time together talking about the future of Newfrontiers. Mark was in awe of Terry’s character, but was able to help him think through the next ten years for their continued impact. This week, Terry wrote about some of the highlights from Mark’s summer visit to Newfrontiers.

About eighteen months ago, I received a manuscript from an author I was not familiar with–another minister in England. He asked me to review it and give him some feedback. The manuscript was entitled Total Church and was written for a British audience. I was busy at the time, but dutifully read the chapter on church planting. I was greatly impressed so I read the chapter on missions. I wrote the author, Steve Timmis, back and asked him if he wanted suggestions, endorsement, or a review. He wanted it all! I printed the manuscript out and placed it in a three-ring binder and carried it with me everywhere I went for a week. I read it at half-time at basketball games, at stop lights, and during boring meetings (is there any other kind?). I made over 200 comments in the manuscript—mostly translating UK terms to English…uh, I mean American. It was a labor of love.

As a result, Steve Timmis and I struck up a friendship. I invited Steve to speak at the Seattle Acts 29 Boot Camp at Mars Hill Church. We taught together this summer at the Dwell:London church-planting conference. I introduced Steve to several key Acts 29 pastors who were immediately drawn to the gospel-centrality of this book. I submitted the book to Mark Driscoll and asked if it could be published through Re:Lit. Crossway Books approved the manuscript and the book is scheduled for release this month. In anticipation, Desiring God posted an interview this week with the book’s co-author, Tim Chester.

Mars Hill Church’s mission is more than Mars Hill Church. We love Seattle, but we also want to see the gospel take root and grow throughout the world. And so we start new campuses, start new churches, publish books and other resources in order to participate in Jesus’ global movement of redemption.

The “Changed by Jesus” series features stories about how Jesus is working through the ministry of Mars Hill Church to change lives. If God has used Mars Hill to transform your life, please consider emailing your account to testimony[at]marshillchurch.org.

Today’s story is from Amy, a woman whose life was changed by an encounter with the truth of God’s word at Mars Hill Church.

The Truth — Changed by Jesus #13

I grew up with a Christian father but never really took his beliefs seriously. I dabbled in Christianity when I was younger but walked away from my faith when I was still quite young. I got involved with drugs and alcohol when I was fourteen and basically functioned as an alcoholic up until the age of thirty. My life became completely unmanageable, so I joined AA and sobered up. In the program you are encouraged to find your version of a higher power and again I turned to Jesus. I went to church a few times and started reading the Bible.

Although I was sober my life was still unmanageable and I began seeing a counselor who specializes in recovery. She challenged me on many of my Christian beliefs and encouraged me to be open to all faiths. I began attending the Center for Spiritual Living, a New Age church that blends all religions and follows Religious Science, founded by Ernest Holmes. I attended every Sunday for two years and loved it at the time. They teach people to take control and think their way into a better life. They reject the idea of the devil, like all New Age religions, and call evil fear the opposite of love. I don’t know what changed in me, but after awhile I started getting a weird feeling when I would attend services. It all seemed so self serving and I remember thinking, You guys are making this up as you go along.

I had read some reviews about Mars Hill on Yelp and got angry and wanted to check it out for myself. I went expecting to get pissed off but instead I was blown away! It was so refreshing to hear a sermon from the Bible without man’s spin on it. I have not been back to my old “church” and have attended Mars Hill ever since. I read my Bible and have a personal relationship with Jesus. I have never felt better. I truly believe that, though I walked away from him, he stayed by me and brought me back home. I am so blessed I am just amazed at times. I am the LAST person I ever thought would become a Christian, but the Lord has changed my heart and made me a new person.

I had the opportunity to preach a few times this past summer, and I found that God uses preaching to draw me closer to him through greater faith and repentance. There are two particular passages that help to guide my prayers before and after preaching.

Before

John 14:26 — “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

I spend a lot of time studying and preparing to preach, and at some point during the 24 hours before my talk, a moment of panic inevitably sets in. I don’t know what I’m going to say or how I will remember everything I want to say but John 14:26 has brought me much comfort in those times.

After

1 Corinthians 9:24–27 — “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

Everytime I read this verse, I get one of those fear-of-God moments that, for me, intensifies the importance of not only preaching the Bible but also living what I preach. Sober reflection is always required to ensure that my words and my life are aligned with the word of God.