In July 2008, Mark Driscoll traveled to England and preached several sermons. Topics range from outlining the missional movement to a swift kick to the groin of young men.

Sermons

Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in Luke and Acts
On the Missional Church
On Missional Movements (Acts 1)
Driscoll at Jubilee Church, London, on Loving the City (Jeremiah 29)
Preaching in Brighton
Gospel of Grace vs. Religion of Works
Preaching Jesus
Driscoll Unleashed in the UK!
The Missional Church | London 2008
Movements are Messy: Getting and Staying on Mission
Spirit Led Missions: Following the Luke-Acts Paradigm
Be Radical & Plant Radical Churches! | Church Planter
Be Radical & Plant Radical Churches! | Church Leadership
Be Radical & Plant Radical Churches! | Final Thoughts and Q&A

Any recovery of an authentically biblical understanding of men and women must begin in the Garden of Eden. It is there that we learn about the special creation of Adam and Eve. It is there that we read God's mandate to the first male and female. And, perhaps more importantly for this article's purpose, it is there in the garden that we are able to see the effects of sin and grace on the relationship between Adam and Eve. Of these lessons on the relationship between the sexes, it might be the case that the effect of grace on Adam and Eve's sin-broken relationship receives less attention than some other equally valuable biblical truths recorded in the first chapters of Genesis. This article will explore this perhaps neglected lesson on grace in the garden. It will do so by posing two questions: (1) Why does Adam call his wife Eve; and (2) What lessons does this surprise ending to the narrative of the fall teach us? Although this article will focus on Adam's role in acting in accord with the grace that he has received, other equally important considerations regarding Eve's transformation by grace could be developed as well.

When it comes to the subject of leadership in action, one of my favorite Old Testament characters is Nehemiah. In his book we see every facet of leadership lived out. I admire the depth of his prayer life, his love for God, and his sterling character. I admire his courage in the face of crises, his willingness to make tough decisions, his perseverance to stand for what is right, and his candor in dealing with people. He is a man of prayer, a man of faith, a man of vision, a man of courage and a man of action. We find him praying, watching, working and warring. He's my kind of leader.

I have studied my way through Nehemiah with two groups of leaders, and each time was insightful and challenging. It is a book rich in leadership principles. As to lessons we learn from Nehemiah, J. Sidlow Baxter says, "There is no winning without working, no opportunity without opposition, no triumph without trouble, no victory without vigilance."

Influential Bible scholars pour a lot of their intellectual gifts into tearing up the roots of biblical Christianity. This is not new, but in our culture, the effect of "critical" biblical studies is multiplied. A general suspicion of "organized religion" finds confirmation from "the experts."

Such an expert is Elaine Pagels, Professor of Religion at Princeton University, recognized scholar, and author of the award-winning Gnostic Gospels (1979). This book convinced many that the early Gnostic heretics, who introduced pagan spirituality into the Church, represented a genuine Christian alternative, suppressed by a cold, calculating Church institution. In Beyond Belief (New York: Random House, 2003), Pagels expands this message.

Here is the second half of my interview with Don & Ryan Clark from the band Demon Hunter. In this second installment we get into their graphic design work and how they work as a different kind of missionary in the art and design world.

Also, Don and Ryan will be premiering their new, feature length documentary about Demon Hunter called "45 Days" at Mars Hill Church Ballard Campus this Friday, November 21st at 7pm. The evening will include an acoustic performance of some of their songs and is free.

For more information go to the Mars Hill Ballard site.

Contextualization and church planting aren't anything new. These have been practices of the missional church for centuries, and in comparison to what is passed off as contextualization today, our early planting fathers put us to shame. Consider Gregory the Great and his partner Augustine of Canterbury (not St. Augustine of Hippo).

Gregory & Augustine

Gregory the Great (540-604) was the perhaps the most influential bishop of the 6th century. Some have argued he was the first pope, in which case he would not have been the best bishop. All this is debated. Nevertheless, Gregory would have made a great church planter, but instead, he was a kind of church planting coach. Gregory sent missionaries to Britain to “make the Angles into Angels". His choice emissary was Augustine of Canterbury, who, with 40 monks, set up mission base at in England. Like many of his Celtic predecessors, Augustine realized the strategic value of having a mission training and sending center among his target people. I'm willing to bet it was much better than most "church planting residencies" we have today. Why? He had better missiology, better contextualization.

Principles for Better Contextualization

Augustine implemented the great missiology he received from Gregory. That missiology, as Tim Tennent has pointed out, can be summarized with three words: Adaptation, Gradualism, and Exchange.

• Adaptation - Adopting a cultural form for Christian purposes. In Augustine's case, he adopted heathen temples and turned them into church buildings. Gregory wrote to him: "Detach them from the service of the devil and adapt them for the worship of the true God." Many Christian leaders and Christians would frown on using a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall for a church building because their conception of church is so narrowly conceived. Since my first day in Austin, I began praying that God would give us the abandoned male strip joint called La Bare for our church. We are currently meeting in a downtown theatre where we frequently pick up beer bottles off the floor before people arrive. The bathrooms are covered in graffiti and smell terrible, but the aroma of Christ fills the Hideout Theatre every week and is slowly changing that part of the city. Not only have we detached the theatre from less than admirable ends, we have also boosted sales in the adjoining coffee shop, ministered to the homeless outside, and adapted the space for the worship of the true God. Adaptation isn’t about being cool; it’s about adopting cultural forms, creating common cultural space for mission, and using these forms for Christ-honoring purposes.




• Gradualism - Implementing Christian ideals slowly, recognizing that individuals are undergoing an entire worldview shift. Don't expect radical holiness from your new converts. If they have embraced Christ but still smoke pot or occasionally drink too much, don't beat them up for their behaviors. Instead, shepherd their hearts, lead them into the gospel, and allow their inner joy to transform their outer joys. Gregory wrote: "If we allow them these outward joys, then we are more likely to find their way to the true inner joy... It is doubtless impossible to cut off all abuses at once from rough hearts, just as a man who sets out to climb a high mountain does not advance by leaps and bounds, but goes upward step by step and pace by pace." Allow for the gradual transformation of the gospel, especially in post-Christian contexts. What you think is normative holiness, probably isn’t the norm. It’s not about leaps and bounds, but steady advance in grace.




• Exchange - Creating an entirely new cultural form in exchange for an existing idolatrous one. It is one thing to use pagan temples for church buildings, it is quite another to participate in pagan sacrifices. For example, if your people consistently go to happy hours to get wasted and have a social life, create a more God-honoring context for socializing. Gregory wrote: "People must learn to slay their cattle not in honour of the devil, but in honour of God and for their own food..." Acts 29 and The Resurgence have done a really good job of stimulating community through media. Just consider The City, Mars Hill Church's networking site, and The Resurgence’s videos and blogs. Create new cultural forms and exchange them for sinful ones for the sake of the gospel.

If you look at porn, have looked at porn, or know someone that looks at porn—download this book, print it out, and read it.

This book is now available to download and print as many copies as you like. It's short and should be cheap to print. We'll be making the book available for purchase soon.

A Few Ideas

• Get a few friends together and deal honestly with each other about the subjects of each chapter.
• Once you're done reading, pass it on to a friend.
• Give it to the counseling pastor at your church as a resource.

Continued from Part 2

Questions for Reflection

Where is my first entry point in the grocery store? Do I frequent the prepared food section, the chips section, the beverage section, or packaged food sections? On average how often do I cook for myself? Do I eat on the run or do I take time to enjoy my meal? Do I shove large chunks of food (not chewing your food) in my face not giving time to enjoy the food eaten? Do I at least sit down for a meal or are you standing while eating always in a rush?

Discovery: When it is not refrigerated, iced, watered and cared for as a perishable food it is dead food. Humans cannot live on potato chips, Stouffer’s lasagna, pizza, beer and microwave cuisine and stay healthy.

Microwaving (nuking your food) kills natural enzymes and nutrients in foods and if this is your mainstream diet you are heading for trouble. I am not saying that you have to toss your microwave. However, if you are using it all of the time you are in a serious rut and may have to toss it.

Oh, I often hear “I eat peanut butter and protein nutrition bars, they are healthy aren't they?” Not if you are engorging yourself with peanut butter and protein bars alone it’s not. If you are obsessive over any food to the exclusion of other foods you are cutting yourself short of nutrition and will suffer depletion of vital nutrients to keep your cells and systems healthy. If you deplete your body of these vital nutrients, oh by the way
pure water included, (at least 2 liters per day check out the link) you will become a shriveled prune and your chicken gizzards (those things that hang from your neck) will begin to form real early. I would advise nurturing foods and plenty of water to keep you from this petrified state.

Drinking 1 cup of coffee can set you to lose ½ cup of water. With every serving of alcohol you can deplete your body of 4 cups of water and can cause liver and nutrition impairment. Tobacco use causes unfavorable skin, hair, nails changes, lung disease and other health associated health risks.

Chewy but Creamy

If you do not chew your food appropriately you will experience an increased burden on digestion because the large chunks of food cannot be broken down in the stomach. If you are not chewing you are truly not enjoying your food. One of my professors of nutrition in medical school mentioned a hilarious way to slow down a fast eater. He said tie the forks together with the slowest eater in the house. The fast eater cannot take a bite of food until the slow eater takes a bite. A good old tug on the fork does it every time. Of course, the best teacher is when the digestion can no longer handle the poorly chewed food resulting in indigestion, reflux, cramping and other undesirable symptoms. Good chewing liquefies the food and produces a creamy consistency when swallowing as opposed to chunky hard to swallow blob.

Organic Foods or Not?

—Should I stick with organic foods? Absolutely! I believe that pesticide residues, herbicides, depleted soils, poor irrigated and nutrient deprived farming are contributing factors for so many existing cancers and chronic health breakdown. Keep feeding on live foods and your cell life increases exponentially. Here are helpful links on organic foods, Journal of Food Science study of organic foods and a Consumer Report on organic foods and better choices in selecting organic foods. I recommend you consider prioritizing your food types and that you stay with more alkalinizing foods. Simply, eat more of green leafy veggies and root foods (radish, carrot, turnips, etc), fresh fruits in variety and color, wild fish and organic low fat meats in this order. A good resource to consult is the Alkaline Way approach to eating. This is a good basic reference to get you started in understanding acid / alkaline forming foods.

Food to Chew On

—Enter in at the fruit, vegetable and live food section for this is the narrow way that leads to health and longevity. Wide is the aisle of potato chips, quick and greasy foods which leads to increased risk of free radical damage, heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes and cancer. Your choice!

Jesus gives us clear direction: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4 ESV)

Next…..Wrong Tree Wrong Food! Why do we need “bread” from heaven?