Patheos Is Now Hosting Mark Driscoll’s Blog

" There goes the neighborhood…"

Jonathan AignerBlogger at Patheos

https://twitter.com/PastorMark/status/914644861449535488

Mark Driscoll's Twitter (Screen Shot)

Have you heard the S-H-O-C-K-I-N-G news? Patheos has joined forces with Mark Driscoll and is now hosting his blog. Here are Mark and Grace Driscoll sharing the news on the Patheos Evangelical Facebook page.

According to the video, Mark Driscoll has also joined forces with Beliefnet [see our update at the end of the post (ed. 9/5/17)]

Patheos is providing a platform for everything published on Mark Driscoll's blog going all the way back to December 2014. Here is oldest post – his 2014 Merry Christmas post.

As you can probably imagine, not everyone who blogs over at Patheos is pleased with this decision. Our friend Warren Throckmorton chimed in on Monday. We LOVED this statement from Warren's post:

We're now practically neighbors.

Throckmorton presumes that Mark Driscoll also announced the news on Twitter, but he can't be certain since he was blocked by Driscoll several years ago (when he was writing about Mark and his former church Mars Hill [which no longer exists!] )

Another Patheos blogger, Jonathan Aigner (link to bio), published an excellent post yesterday entitled There Goes the Neighborhood: What I Think About Mark Driscoll's Move to Patheos. We wholeheartedly agree with what Jonathan wrote (see screen shot below).

WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE!!!

* * * * * * *

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/ponderanew/2017/10/03/there-goes-the-neighborhood-when-mark-driscoll-moves-in-next-door/

* * * * * * *

And we absolutely LOVE what John Mark N. Reynolds, another Patheos blogger, had to say in his post A Socratic Welcome to Mark Driscoll (see screen shot below):

* * * * * * *

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/eidos/2017/10/socratic-welcome-mark-driscoll/

* * * * * * *

We have covered ALL of these topics in previous TWW posts (in case you're interested you can just search "Mark Driscoll" on our blog).

Then there's a post by Patheos blogger Christian Chiakulas (a progressive Christian) — Patheos Welcomes Plagiarist and Disgraced Pastor Mark Driscoll!

* * * * * * *

 http://www.patheos.com/blogs/radicalchristianmillennial/2017/10/patheos-welcomes-mark-driscoll/

* * * * * * *

Please take the time to read the rest of Christian Chiakulas' post. He definitely hits the nail on the head!

Needless-to-say, the decision by Patheos to provide a platform for Mark Driscoll's blog has gotten A LOT of negative feedback. Commenters are chiming in as well, and one can only imagine what PO$$E$$ED Patheos to bring Driscoll into the fold.

Blogger Christopher Stroop has decided to provide direct feedback to Patheos through social media in a post entitled Patheos Is Giving a Platform to Disgraced Pastor Mark Driscoll. Pushback – Tweet #NoDriscoll at @Patheos

Here is what Chris Stroop has proposed:

The folks at Patheos apparently decided that hosting Mark Driscoll would be a good idea. And so this morning, I suggested that we take to Twitter to tell them why it is not, and that we request that they cancel this very poor decision. If you’re on board, tweet #NoDriscoll at @Patheos, preferably with your reasons why you don’t think this toxic, extremely privileged white man deserves such an easy path to public redemption.

Remember that 1970s jingle "Let your fingers do the walking (through the yellow pages)"? (link) Well, some of us old timers remember it. 🙂 If you click on the link, that gadget they are using is a rotary phone. 😉

Amazingly, in the 21st century we can let our fingers do the talking through social media (blogs, Facebook posts, and Tweets). For those so inclined, have at it!!!


UPDATE: (9/5/17, 8:30 a.m.)

Thanks to one of our astute commenters named 'Tree', we are able to fit together the puzzle pieces in this story.

On April 23, 2013, beliefnet.com revealed its new partnership with Patheos:

Beliefnet Partnering with Patheos to Expand Its Advertising Network

NORFOLK, VA, April 29, 2013 – Beliefnet, a property of BN Media, LLC, announced today that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Patheos.com, a premier online destination engaging visitors in a global dialogue about religion and spirituality, through which Beliefnet is now offering Patheos.com’s advertising inventory to its extensive community. With over 8 million unique visitors, 32 million pageviews each month combined, and both ranked as top 10 Faith and Spirituality websites by comScore, Beliefnet and Patheos are two leading organizations in the growing faith, inspiration and spirituality space. The decision is a win-win for both organizations and a benefit to advertisers targeting the steadily growing faith and spirituality-based communities worldwide.

Then a year ago, BeliefNet made the following announcement: (see screen shot below)

Beliefnet Announces Acquisition Of Patheos

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/beliefnet-announces-acquisition-of-patheos-300323027.html

So there you have it folks. Beliefnet's goal in acquiring Patheos is to boost page views and reach more unique visitors. In other words, it's all about the almighty dollar.


UPDATE #2 (9/5/17, 9:20 a.m.)

Warren Throckmorton's recent post indicates that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Check it out below.

A Citation Error by Fellow Blogger Mark Driscoll Is a Blast From the Past (link)


UPDATE #3 (9/5/17, 10:10 p.m.)

Another excellent post by Warren Throckmorton.

Footnotes Missing from Fellow Blogger Mark Driscoll's Latest Post (link)

Comments

Patheos Is Now Hosting Mark Driscoll’s Blog — 126 Comments

  1. In trying to sort through this (after I picked my jaw up off the floor), I came across this post by a former blogger on the pagan channel of patheos: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-halstead/why-did-over-a-dozen-writers_b_14603506.html

    After reading that, I poked around a tad more on the Internet. And one thing now makes perfectly good sense. As of September 2016, Beliefnet owns Patheos. And things (allegedly) changed at Patheos. Well. There you go, then.

  2. The late, much-missed comedian Caroline Ahearne, as her chat-show-hosting alter-ego Mrs Merton, famously once asked Debbie McGee:

    So, what was it that attracted you to millionaire Paul Daniels?

    (The question was asked in fun, and to be fair, the marriage lasted nearly 30 years until Paul Daniels’ death last year from a brain tumour. But I think you can all $ee what I mean.)

  3. One other GMFS, and then I must get on with setting up a MAMP server on the Mac here (before going off to the market).

    Nothing provides more conclusive evidence of Mr Driskle’s inability to pastor than the collapse of his church (I use the phrase deliberately) after he ran away from it. Everything in it was built for him, and when he left, his church had nothing left to exist for. Had he done any of the three things he claims God called him to – had he preached Christ, not Driskle; trained leaders, not yes-men; taught men, not infants – he might have built something on an unshakeable foundation, that might have survived his leaving. But then, he probably wouldn’t have left in the first place.

  4. Did I read – on Ainger’s post I think – that Driscoll has not enabled comments? Boy if he does…what an avalanche there will surely be. I shall be first in the queue to take this despicable man to task!

  5. I doubt he’ll enable comments. I don’t think he wants a dialogue. He doesn’t want to learn from the community, which includes people more mature and knowledge than him. (I know, that’s practically everyone, but still…)

    But if does want to preach at you and sell you ill-conceived marital advice books, he doesn’t need your comments.

  6. Daisy wrote:

    First!
    The world needs LESS Mark Driscoll, not more.

    Completely agree. Who gave him access to the internet???

    Correct me if I am wrong isn’t Patheos just a blogging tool like WordPress? If so anyone can use it. I have seen various articles on Patheos taking different views on a subject.

  7. I just looked at Patheos website I doubt they care whose blog they host. The website comes across pagan to me. It’s certainly not centered around Christ or “The Good News”

  8. I’ve become convinced that when it comes to these thugs, you won’t stop people from following them.

    Time & time again we see them cheat, lie, steal, abuse. And still come out with a tax free payday.

    But hopefully enough people will speak up so that, if it can’t be stopped then at least Driscoll’s nose will be continually rubbed in the mess that he made.

    He’ll have his core believers but when he goes of the rails again at least those followers won’t have plausible deniability.

    Look on the bright side. Targets don’t get any more easier than Driscoll.

  9. An Attorney wrote:

    Has Patheos become a platform for fake Christians?

    It would appear the answer is yes. Throckmorton also pointed out that the increasingly disgraced K.P. Yohannan now has a blog there, although one of the commenters pointed out that somebody else was certain to be ghostwritten, just like everything else he’s put out.

  10. Proud to say that I was blocked on Twitter by MD yesterday, apparently for using the #NoDriscoll hashtag.

  11. @ GC:

    More precisely, you were probably blocked by one of Driskle’s ghosttweeters. But it still counts…

  12. On a slight tangent – I notice God has left a message for Dee on the cookery page here.

  13. I have been thinking a lot about Holy Spirit anointing vs self-referential and Christian industry anointing and how Christians tend to get the two very confused.

    And how celebrity is usually and often not the result of Holy Spirit anointing. But it tends to be THE identifying “fruit” of the latter anointing system.

  14. Actually *celebrity* would never be the result of Holy Spirit anointing.

    I think I remember an online discussion awhile back about the difference between celebrity and well known by a lot of people.

    Jesus wouldn’t let people do that to him (celebrity-ize him) though he was well known and followed in his region. And that whole thing where he was ultimately scapegoated and killed.

  15. Obviously, those of you objecting to Passe de Marque blogging in his gran’s pyjamas are looking for the perfect church.

    What I would say is, if you ever find the perfect church, don’t join it – you’ll spoil it.

    Yours sincerely,

    Arnold Smartarse

  16. The previous smartarsed comment makes me wonder… how many ways might there be in which to derive a meaningfully authentic spelling for the meaningless “Pastor Mark”?

  17. @ Deb:

    Maybe it takes awhile for those changes appear?

    I have current comments, but the updates still say (9/5/17) and (9/5/16).

  18. Has anyone seen or heard an official sin-confessing, tear-soaked, Psalm 51-type repentance statement from Mark Driscoll pertaining to his assorted sins at Mars Hill and his ungodly influence on a generation of New Calvinist pastors? I can only recall a weak “I’m sorry” sort of response from Driscoll when Mars Hill finally stepped up to the plate and sent him packing.

  19. Daisy wrote:

    The world needs LESS Mark Driscoll, not more.

    We may never hear “He must increase in prominence, but I must decrease” cross Driscoll’s lips. Arrogance is a mean spirit that dies hard; it demands a stage with spotlights on self, not on Christ. Unfortunately, Driscoll influenced a generation of New Calvinist pastors to be just like him … they now occupy pulpits across America. Surely, there is something else he could do to support his family.

  20. @ Bridget:

    You may have to empty your browser cache to see the changes. How you do that depends on what browser you’re using and whether you’re on Windows or Mac… alternatively, next time you boot up you should see them.

  21. In his introductory piece on Patheos titled “Howdy, We Hope to Be Helpful”, Driscoll lists his goals for future posts. Among them is “Leader Equipping” … that should be of great concern to Christendom! The American church is currently suffering through the last leaders you equipped!

    http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markdriscoll/2017/10/howdy-hope-helpful/

    I’m sorry Mark, but I can’t shout back “Howdy!” to you. “Goodbye” seems more appropriate considering the great harm you have done in the Body of Christ. I do, indeed, wish you well and the best for your family … but it’s time to move out of the Christian spotlight and into another endeavor (sales and marketing, perhaps).

  22. @ Bridget:

    My bad! I was looking for a grammatical problem. I was talking to Dee when adding that second update, and it's obvious that I can't multi-task. 😉

    Always appreciate your eagle eye!

  23. __

    Christ Follower Abuse(tm) : “The religious chaff is God’s business, perhaps?”

    hmmm…

    Jesus IS quite clear on the religious chaff subject, if the guy is proverbially urinating outa da tent, leave um alone.

    (The heavenly jury is in session?)

    huh?

    Respectfully, in the ‘mean’ time, It is my ‘sincere hope’ Mark, that you don’t hurt anyone, yourself or your family.

    What?

    The blind leading the blind?

    SKreeeeeeetch!

    You believe in things you don’t understand, and you suffer, ‘religious suicide’(tm) ain’t the way… (1)

    IMP

    (sadface)

    Sòpy
    ___
    (1) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mo6LRLWUMwU

    🙂
    __

  24. @ Shauna:

    Right. I agree with you.

    Patheos hosts all kinds of bloggers. Their homepage says they include Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Pagan, NonReligious, etc.

    Patheos is an online advertising business. It makes a ton of money, which is why BeliefNet acquired them, as the Deebs reported above: “Beliefnet is now offering Patheos.com’s advertising inventory to its extensive community.”

  25. Julie Anne wrote:

    MD probably loves all the attention. Negative or positive, the spotlight is still on HIM.

    One thing people say about why fallen supposed “Christian” leaders return to the pulpit so quickly is they are narcissists (or that tendency) and love the attention. When they fall and aren’t in the spotlight they don’t get this attention. Thus they return much quicker than they should (if they should ever even return).

    Usually this shows it isn’t about serving the Lord and His interests it is doing this to serve their own interests and needs. C.J. Mahaney is another apparent example.

  26. ishy wrote:

    I am wondering if he paid them off to host a blog there.

    I doubt he paid anyone off. Patheos takes everyone. The are not very discerning.

  27. Well, he doesn’t seem called to Watts or Harlem, just Scottsdale! Let’s hope that he finds it a little hot there – like another place I’ve heard of.
    Maybe we’ll start seeing pictures of him bare-chested riding a horse (a la Putin).

  28. Shauna wrote:

    I just looked at Patheos website I doubt they care whose blog they host. The website comes across pagan to me. It’s certainly not centered around Christ or “The Good News”

    Patheos has an entire pagan section, so your assessment of the website is correct.

  29. @ Steve240:

    The ministry system as is orients and develops people into needing and looking for supply. It will attract certain kinds of people.

    I am waiting for them to realize this or make the connection.

    Meanwhile, I am not waiting. Lol.

    How did Mark Driscoll happen? The answer lies in our evangelical ministry development and values. That will never be addressed willingly by those it needs to be addressed by, because it indicts them.

  30. Janey wrote:

    @ Shauna:

    Patheos hosts all kinds of bloggers. Their homepage says they include Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Pagan, NonReligious, etc.

    An ideological brothel

  31. Steve240 wrote:

    One thing people say about why fallen supposed “Christian” leaders return to the pulpit so quickly is they are narcissists (or that tendency) and love the attention. When they fall and aren’t in the spotlight they don’t get this attention.

    Driscoll wouldn’t have a stage if he didn’t have an audience. American “Christianity” is populated by some of the most gullible folks on the planet who pick their preachers like food items in a buffet line – they choose what they like, not what they need. The old Driscoll was idolized by a multitude of New Calvinist young men who wanted to be just like the potty-mouth from Seattle … you can find them now pastoring at a church near you. It remains to be seen what the new and improved (?) Driscoll will look like. As I noted upstream, arrogance is a spirit that dies hard – narcissistic behavior is an ugly corner of the heart that needs admiration and continues to rise at the applause of men. Driscoll probably won’t tune into TWW to hear any concerns about his comeback – narcissists don’t like even the slightest criticism … that is why he won’t accept comments on posts at Patheos.

  32. MD is jam packed with self-esteem, haughtiness, and self-importance; so much so that he disregards the opinions and feelings of others by showing up in the Christian community dressed inappropriately (lacking clothes of righteousness). What better way to express one’s disdain for others than to simply wear what one wants to wear? He displays the middle finger of narcissism. Dressing well can be an act of self-respect, but it is also respectful of others and of the occasion. There is no contradiction to say that and to say he also has a lack self-respect. Fueling the need for so much bloated haughtiness is a deep insecurity. As with all arrogance it is a mixture of a deep lack of self-worth and delusory self-worship all at once.

    To be clothed with righteousness gives the self its true measure of worth – to be “in Christ.” The self has no need to go to these extremes listed above – it is at rest! The self has found “balance.” It has also not looked to created things for validation, but has truly focused itself on God Who is above all created things (Shema), yet has made us partakers of the Divine nature.

    MD is inappropriately dressed for the occasion. Either he has not a clue how to dress appropriately, or his narcissism tells him that he and he alone can determine what is appropriate. In any case, his filthy rags are seen by all discerning tastes.

  33. Max wrote:

    Steve240 wrote:
    One thing people say about why fallen supposed “Christian” leaders return to the pulpit so quickly is they are narcissists (or that tendency) and love the attention. When they fall and aren’t in the spotlight they don’t get this attention.
    Driscoll wouldn’t have a stage if he didn’t have an audience. American “Christianity” is populated by some of the most gullible folks on the planet who pick their preachers like food items in a buffet line – they choose what they like, not what they need.

    Even the bigger celebrity non-Cal pastors that are more universally respected and who don’t have many scandals avoid talking about pride or greed like the plague. It’s a pretense of spirituality, but they end up caving to the bottom line. A few others I can think of are really obsessed with their salvation/baptism numbers, but nobody ever grows once they do join and many end up wandering away because they were planted on rocky soil.

  34. ishy wrote:

    A few others I can think of are really obsessed with their salvation/baptism numbers, but nobody ever grows once they do join and many end up wandering away because they were planted on rocky soil.

    Amen! From my 60+ years in SBC life, I can attest that Southern Baptists have done a poor job discipling believers. Most SBC churches only fulfill half of the Great Commission: they may baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, but do a miserable job teaching them to observe everything that Jesus commanded. SBC would die on the hill of Biblical inerrancy, but the average Southern Baptist doesn’t read the Word much nor grow into Christlikeness (at least the bunch I’ve been around for six decades) … that’s why the denomination has been easy pickins’ for New Calvinism.

  35. @ Jack:
    Actually, it’s about new meat. The thinking goes there is a new market for certain niche every 5 years and one appeals to them in a new venue. There is always a new crop. And they will figure out how to appeal to them.

  36. Well, it’s a really nice full moon in Scotland. (Just rising oo’ ae wur bedroom windy.)

  37. Max wrote:

    American “Christianity”

    1. Freedom of Religion allows “It”
    2. Freedom of Choice pans “It”
    3. Freedom of Speech outs “It”
    4. Freedom of the Press documents “It”

    In a society with a government that prohibits the Bible, the Faithful, the Elect, there is a cleaner Christianity. Therein appears the Remnant, dying for their Faith, for Truth. Hebrews 11.

  38. JYJames wrote:

    In a society with a government that prohibits the Bible, the Faithful, the Elect, there is a cleaner Christianity. Therein appears the Remnant, dying for their Faith, for Truth. Hebrews 11.

    Christianity is at its best – in its truest form – where it is persecuted.

  39. Max wrote:

    We may never hear “He must increase in prominence, but I must decrease” cross Driscoll’s lips

    He had some hysterical self-description along the lines of ‘I’m just a nobody trying to help other nobodies find Somebody’ or something similar. Anyone know the exact quote from Passed Our Mark?

  40. ishy wrote:

    It’s a pretense of spirituality, but they end up caving to the bottom line.

    That’s close to: “The form of godliness, but denying the power.”

  41. Jack wrote:

    I’ve become convinced that when it comes to these thugs, you won’t stop people from following them…He’ll have his core believers but when he goes of the rails again at least those followers won’t have plausible deniability.

    Twenty years ago, before my present career in academia, I was in B2B tech sales, the type of sales with high dollar equipment that typically required the building of relationships over years before you landed the business. There were some corporate buyers I called upon who simply would not do business with anyone who told them the truth, who had a shred of honesty in them. These buyers were invariably easy marks for the sociopaths who carved out livings in sales, the types who’d tell you whatever you wanted to hear, without regard for the truth, the shysters who gave the rest of us bad names.

    Learned that it was useless to build relationships with these easy mark buyers, you’d work with them over the course of a couple years of regular calls, educating them on the marketplace and the technology, listening to their needs, coming up with a solution for their company—and then they’d take all that info you’d given them and buy from the sales rep with the absolute worst reputation in the metro area, because he/she was willing to tell them outrageous lies to sign on the dotted line, then burn them down the road. Some of these buyers would come and go, they’d burn bridges with their own company because they’d put them in a bind by believing the lies of crooks. Others stayed on at their companies, usually the ones with poor internal controls, and they’d keep making the same pattern of mistakes, keep getting suckered. Again, you learned in time to ignore them, because unless you were willing to tell a sweet lie, promise the impossible, they wouldn’t buy a thing from you.

    Came to the conclusion that some people just will not believe you unless you lie to them. Therefore, from the world of sales, I learned why people like Mark Driscoll, C.J. Mahaney, John Piper, John MacArthur, and the devil himself will always have people there to follow them, no matter what level of abuse they suffer at their hands.

  42. Shauna wrote:

    I just looked at Patheos website I doubt they care whose blog they host. The website comes across pagan to me. It’s certainly not centered around Christ or “The Good News”

    The fact that Patheos has someone as morally compromised as Mark Driscoll says volumes. I’m less worried about the atheists, pagans and progressive Christians than I am about Driscoll getting a bully pulpit to burnish his tarnished reputation.

  43. Law Prof wrote:

    people like Mark Driscoll, C.J. Mahaney, John Piper, John MacArthur, and the devil himself will always have people there to follow them

    Perhaps it there is some sort of spiritual junk food appeal to these guys, a quick fix, a leap ahead to a level of false spirituality without depth and growth? Purchase power of putting money in the plate and leaping into lay leadership, too?

  44. Law Prof wrote:

    the devil himself will always have people there to follow them

    What did the devil himself promise Jesus Himself, …, “‘If you bow down and worship me,’ he said, ‘I will give you all this,’” Matt. 4:9ff, Luke 4:7ff?

    Partner with the devil and you can have it all? – here on Earth, not in Heaven?

  45. JYJames wrote:

    In a society with a government that prohibits the Bible, the Faithful, the Elect, there is a cleaner Christianity. Therein appears the Remnant, dying for their Faith, for Truth. Hebrews 11.

    Our society doesn’t prohibit the Bible, the Faithful and the Elect. Instead, it says that these three (and other religious talismans) have to exist alongside other religions. I prefer it this way. I have lived the last 23 years of my life in the Jell-O belt and I do like that the majority (or majority-minority) religion does not have overwhelming political authority to unilaterally push its beliefs and practices on the rest of us.

    (Although I will probably never stop giggling over the idea that a Starbuck’s is as morally dubious as a bar. Seriously.)

  46. @ JYJames:
    It’s coming but with a double standard. Already happening in a few schools. Not all scriptures are politically incorrect.

  47. It seems like it could turn out to be important to watch whether anything happens regarding the newest issues of reported citation failure/plagiarism with Mr. Driscoll’s recent Patheos post. Section C.xi of the Terms of Use at Patheos may be one that proves relevant:

    C. You agree not to use any part of the Patheos Site to: […] xi. upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Member Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party;

    http://www.patheos.com/terms-of-use.aspx?p=3

  48. JYJames wrote:

    In a society with a government that prohibits the Bible, the Faithful, the Elect, there is a cleaner Christianity. Therein appears the Remnant, dying for their Faith, for Truth. Hebrews 11.

    Like all those Persecution-Refined Uber-Christians from the USSR and Warsaw Pact who after the Second Russian Revolution were going to come over here and show all us Spoiled Rotten Baby Fat Lukewarm Americans what REAL Christians were like?

  49. With the recent re-emergence of Driscoll and T. Tchividjian, one of the best comments I saw on another site came from someone who called them “carnival barkers” who were like “whack-a-mole”. That’s the best description of these two to date.

  50. Max wrote:

    Has anyone seen or heard an official sin-confessing, tear-soaked, Psalm 51-type repentance statement from Mark Driscoll pertaining to his assorted sins at Mars Hill and his ungodly influence on a generation of New Calvinist pastors?

    I think you’re more likely to see a Sasquatch, unicorn and jackalope walk into a bar…

  51. Sad news… Scotland are heading out of the world cup.

    🙁

    Beakerj wrote:

    I’m just a nobody trying to help other nobodies find Somebody’ or something similar. Anyone know the exact quote from Passed Our Mark?

    I believe it was: A nobody trying to tell everybody about Somebody.

    The “Somebody” was a tubby guy from Seattle.

  52. Jack wrote:

    I think you’re more likely to see a Sasquatch, unicorn and jackalope walk into a bar…

    “Sorry”, said the barman, “We don’t serve undocumented particles in here”.

    Three tachyons walked into a bar.

  53. Three builders walked into a bar. Being wise, they drank responsibly, left while they were still civilly-spoken and (as they all lived nearby) walked home.

    The above story isn’t funny. But the fact that you all wanted it to be funny, and I disappointed you, gave me a strangely thrilling sense of power. And it serves you all right.

    You’re all rubbish.

    Up Yours,

    Roger Bombast

  54. Beakerj wrote:

    Anyone know the exact quote

    From Driscoll’s new website: “He’s grateful to be a nobody trying to tell everybody about Somebody.” https://markdriscoll.org/about/

    He most likely borrowed/paraphrased that from the late Adrian Rogers who often said: “I’m a nobody telling everybody about Somebody who can save anybody.”

    Sort of like plagiarism, I guess (something Driscoll is familiar with). Of course, preachers borrow lines from each other all the time. Young New Calvinist preachers depend on Piper Points, Mohler Moments, Mahaney Malarkey, and Driscol Drivel for sermon material. Finding a preacher who comes out of a prayer closet with a fresh word from the Lord is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

  55. Roger Bombast wrote:

    Three builders walked into a bar. Being wise, they drank responsibly, left while they were still civilly-spoken and (as they all lived nearby) walked home.
    The above story isn’t funny. But the fact that you all wanted it to be funny, and I disappointed you, gave me a strangely thrilling sense of power. And it serves you all right.

    Roger, you jolly old elf, I laugh when I read you in spite of myself….

  56. BREAKING NEWS

    Scotland get a late winner!

    Not through yet, by any means. But at least we’re not out yet either. If we beat Slovenia in our final game, we’ll be in the play-offs.

  57. I liked Patheos for its diversity of opinions. Even if the views were far from my own. Basically, I got to see what was going on in other parts of Christianity. I don’t know if that will continue under the new ownership. And I knew it was basically commercial. Also I don’t read everyone. I think they were publishing Bristol Palin for a time. I wouldn’t read Driscoll unless it was for work and I was getting paid.

  58. I can write a lot on this. But I will just say what cranks me up every time:

    Holy Spirit filled BJ

  59. Scotland manager Gordon Strachan:

    Their goalkeeper was outstanding. The crossbar wasn’t too bad either.

  60. DEW wrote:

    I liked Patheos for its diversity of opinions. Even if the views were far from my own. Basically, I got to see what was going on in other parts of Christianity.

    There is a lot to be said for this.

    BTW – never heard of Bristol Palin. Is she Sarah Palin’s evil twin?

  61. @ ishy:

    Makes you think, though. If Sarah Palin had been
     More sociopathically dishonest, and
     Less female

  62. Although that said, perhaps there were already enough people ready to vote for a woman per se.

  63. @ Nick Bulbeck:
    As was already reported Sarah’s daughter. I guess even Sarah Palin’s daughter could write something worthwhile but in fact her column is/ was pretty bad. It’s what you would expect.
    Speaking of families and sinners and saints,yesterday in the Catholic Church was the feast day of St Francis Borgia, third Superior General of the Jesuits and from accounts pretty saintly. He was the great-grandson of Alexander VI, pretty much universally recognized as one of the most corrupt popes in history. So if Borgias can produce a saint I guess the Palins can. But Bristol needs to learn to write better.

  64. @ Headless Unicorn Guy:
    One of them is a friend of mine who came here after Wall fell when there was a small window of open application for visa. Her story was sobering to me. No big drama just what it was like. It was a lot like our political correctness with “you must be mentally unbalanced” thrown in. You certainly were not going anywhere careerwise if you were outwardly about it.

  65. Nick Bulbeck wrote:

    The late, much-missed comedian Caroline Ahearne, as her chat-show-hosting alter-ego Mrs Merton, famously once asked Debbie McGee:
    So, what was it that attracted you to millionaire Paul Daniels?
    (The question was asked in fun, and to be fair, the marriage lasted nearly 30 years until Paul Daniels’ death last year from a brain tumour. But I think you can all $ee what I mean.)

    Carolina Ahearne IS greatly missed, as is Victoria Wood, two women, who touched hearts and minds around the world, whose deaths were a loss for the world. They were two women who transcended comedy to speak to the human condition, and uplifted the common man and woman.

    Meanwhile, Marc Driscoll, whom no one has missed since the Mars Hill explosion, speaks but instead of uplifting the common man and woman, he drags those who listen to him to the gutter.

  66. Max wrote:

    Young New Calvinist preachers depend on Piper Points, Mohler Moments, Mahaney Malarkey, and Driscol Drivel for sermon material.

    Classic line. It made me laugh and so true…I often referred to two of them as the Piped Piper and Mark Drivel.

  67. Muslin fka Deana Holmes wrote:

    I’m less worried about the atheists, pagans and progressive Christians than I am about Driscoll getting a bully pulpit to burnish his tarnished reputation.

    I agree. What worries me is that so many of the people in my former church thought Driscoll and Piper were the best thing since sliced bread. I even sent some of them quotes from them as evidence of their abuse. Why do they not have a problem with this rubbish?

  68. As far as I can add up and I could be wrong, Driscoll made around 1 million bucks a year when he was at Mars Hill, he was able to sell a house and buy another one in Arizona he got another one. At my current rate of pay it would take me 20+ years to even come close to that for his one year salary. First of all from my past experience as a Christian that makes Driscoll far more spiritual and even human than something like me. Again that was made very clear to me on many occasions. I got some news today that has just devastated me about a family I care deeply about, but I lack the economic resources to help as much as I want to. I will be able to help some but not like I wish. That is all very secondary because my emotions mean very little but my lack of ability really is frustrating.

    Im not sure what to do about it but it comes up a lot in my line of work, I have been able to swing some fairly expensive projects for folks, especially electric wheelchairs which can be as much as 60 grand and some medical care that exceeded six figures. From faith-based and non-faith-based organizations. Mainly the government for the big-ticket items but a lot of help from Christians of all stripes many have been conservative Evangelical lay people. I mean there really are very generous folks out there. The problem is this is a really big expense and it may mean committing for the long haul, which given my health I may not be able to do. It is also just very sad, this is such a wonderful family, never hurt and only helped others. This guy gets on Pathos and in just a few days seems to get caught up in more press and awareness than this family will ever get. Anyway I just feel sick and I am so ticked at myself for not having money to help.

  69. emily honey wrote:

    I have been thinking a lot about Holy Spirit anointing vs self-referential and Christian industry anointing and how Christians tend to get the two very confused.

    You just identified one of the most basic issues, that is never discussed, with regard to how The Church functions. We have distorted the role of pastor so that most people fit for the job would not be able to do the job in good conscience. Most people with the title are unwilling and unfit to do the real job. Discernment in in this area is almost nonexistent.

  70. Just a thought…

    Someone with Blog Superpowers (say, a Blog Queen with a royal prerogative) could replace the fotie at the top of the post with a fotie of, say, the giant marshmallow monster from ghostbusters.

    Or, better, with a nice fotie – a close-up of Saturn, say, as taken by Cassini. I just think it would improve the setting a bit.

  71. So: about to drive into Glasgow. It could be OK… the AA (er – Automobile Association, not Alcoholics Anonymous) website isn’t showing any major traffic bother between here and there at the moment.

  72. Jack wrote:

    Max wrote:
    Has anyone seen or heard an official sin-confessing, tear-soaked, Psalm 51-type repentance statement from Mark Driscoll pertaining to his assorted sins at Mars Hill and his ungodly influence on a generation of New Calvinist pastors?
    I think you’re more likely to see a Sasquatch, unicorn and jackalope walk into a bar…

    Jack, brilliant response! Thanks for the great laugh this morning. Made my whole day.

  73. Law Prof wrote:

    Came to the conclusion that some people just will not believe you unless you lie to them. Therefore, from the world of sales, I learned why people like Mark Driscoll, C.J. Mahaney, John Piper, John MacArthur, and the devil himself will always have people there to follow them, no matter what level of abuse they suffer at their hands.

    Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcjpags7JT8

  74. emily honey wrote:

    Holy Spirit anointing vs self-referential and Christian industry anointing … celebrity is usually and often not the result of Holy Spirit anointing

    American Christianity is more entertainment than Gospel-preaching. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a Holy Spirit-anointed preacher, while self-appointed celebrity pulpiteers abound. The spiritual health and maturity of church folks depend on which minister they sit under: the anointed or the appointed. Israel demanded a king to rule over them, rather than God … so God gave them what they wanted and they lost touch with their Creator.

  75. TEDSgrad wrote:

    Maybe we’ll start seeing pictures of him bare-chested riding a horse (a la Putin).

    Ugh, please! I just ate!

  76. brian wrote:

    As far as I can add up and I could be wrong, Driscoll made around 1 million bucks a year when he was at Mars Hill, he was able to sell a house and buy another one in Arizona he got another one.

    There is some discrepancy about where the Mars Hill money went. It’s probably how Mark was able to fund this new church plant. But I would doubt that he’s still pulling in the big bucks in Arizona. Like CJ, who’s been living on old SGM money while he tries to get the Louisville church going, there’s a point where the old money runs out.

  77. Law Prof wrote:

    Jack wrote:
    I’ve become convinced that when it comes to these thugs, you won’t stop people from following them…He’ll have his core believers but when he goes of the rails again at least those followers won’t have plausible deniability.
    Twenty years ago, before my present career in academia, I was in B2B tech sales, the type of sales with high dollar equipment that typically required the building of relationships over years before you landed the business. There were some corporate buyers I called upon who simply would not do business with anyone who told them the truth, who had a shred of honesty in them. These buyers were invariably easy marks for the sociopaths who carved out livings in sales, the types who’d tell you whatever you wanted to hear, without regard for the truth, the shysters who gave the rest of us bad names.
    Learned that it was useless to build relationships with these easy mark buyers, you’d work with them over the course of a couple years of regular calls, educating them on the marketplace and the technology, listening to their needs, coming up with a solution for their company—and then they’d take all that info you’d given them and buy from the sales rep with the absolute worst reputation in the metro area, because he/she was willing to tell them outrageous lies to sign on the dotted line, then burn them down the road. Some of these buyers would come and go, they’d burn bridges with their own company because they’d put them in a bind by believing the lies of crooks. Others stayed on at their companies, usually the ones with poor internal controls, and they’d keep making the same pattern of mistakes, keep getting suckered. Again, you learned in time to ignore them, because unless you were willing to tell a sweet lie, promise the impossible, they wouldn’t buy a thing from you.
    Came to the conclusion that some people just will not believe you unless you lie to them. Therefore, from the world of sales, I learned why people like Mark Driscoll, C.J. Mahaney, John Piper, John MacArthur, and the devil himself will always have people there to follow them, no matter what level of abuse they suffer at their hands.

    Unfortunately, this same type of thinking is creeping into academia…. the better the BS’er, the better your idea is accepted… there was a time that ideas/theories stood or failed based on its “soundness”… now, bad ideas still eventually fail… truth has a way to eventually cut through the c*&$, but now much more money and effort is wasted..

  78. MD is nothing more than a professional 501(c)3 religion peddler. During an lengthy examination of his past record, he presents himself as a type of false shepherd that the Bible clearly warns us about. He is become like proverbial chaff which the wind of the Holy Spirit must drive away. Pray for it. Prepare for it. In the mean time avoidance of this individual is strongly advised.

  79. Max wrote:

    Driscoll wouldn’t have a stage if he didn’t have an audience. American “Christianity” is populated by some of the most gullible folks on the planet who pick their preachers like food items in a buffet line – they choose what they like, not what they need.

    Very good point. Driscoll and others like him (C.J. Mahaney is one example) only exist due to people tolerating them. If people would stop supporting them they would go away.

  80. Wasn’t Driscoll also the same person who described Esther’s behavior as “sinful” and compared Xerxes’ search for a queen to an episode of The Bachelor?

  81. Tina wrote:

    Wasn’t Driscoll also the same person who described Esther’s behavior as “sinful” and compared Xerxes’ search for a queen to an episode of The Bachelor?

    Yes. He was also the same person as did a lot of other things that were no better…

    But his “doctrine” ticks boxes and brings in money.

  82. ION:

    I understand that TWW does not do party politics, and I applaud this stance – there is a time and a place for party politics, and it's not a no-go area for God, but it would also be a distraction from what TWW is properly about.

    And yet…

    If men got pregnant, would free birth control be such a contentious issue?

  83. @ dee:
    Some insurance plans cover Viagra and some don’t. It used to be the same for birth control before it became mandated besides which the two are really not the same. Not getting free bc doesn’t stop sex all together – bc can be very cheap. Viagra is treating an inability. But again depending on your insurance plan some things are covered, some not at all, and some have deductibles/co-pays etc. Your insurance coverage is part of your compensation that you can negotiate – not all company’s provide gold plated plans or even silver plans so that should be considered when negotiating salary.

    And does it need to be said that NOTHING is free – the costs just gets pushed over to another place – in the case of BC and the other ‘free’ goodies of Obamacare the cost got pushed over to higher deductibles/premiums.

  84. Nick Bulbeck wrote:

    The previous smartarsed comment makes me wonder… how many ways might there be in which to derive a meaningfully authentic spelling for the meaningless “Pastor Mark”?

    Marquis de Sad.

  85. @ Bridget:
    Your are correct that it’s off topic but since others have been allowed their brief opinions I thought the readers would be open to a differing opinion. To say it’s not needed because it’s different goes against what this website is supposed to be about. I could have simply agreed and that would have been acceptable it seems. The topic simply isn’t that simple.

    But the correction about the thread jacking is accepted.

  86. Steve240 wrote:

    Driscoll and others like him (C.J. Mahaney is one example) only exist due to people tolerating them.

    The really disturbing thing is that fans of such leaders are not following them because they tolerate them, but because they desire such purveyors of the gospel (which is not the Gospel). They like preachers who are not any more Christlike than they are – it makes them feel better about their own depravity if their pastors are fleshly and potty-mouth, too.

  87. Annoymous wrote:

    To say it’s not needed because it’s different

    I didn’t say that, though. I just said it’s not needed. I didn’t say “because it is different.” It’s not needed because it can’t be fully discussed. You wouldn’t really know if your opinion was different than anyone elses because we have not discussed the topic. I wouldn’t consider a word or one sentence about a topic someone’s entire opinion on a subject. It’s not that simple 🙂

  88. Max wrote:

    fans of such leaders, … , desire such purveyors of the gospel (which is not the Gospel)

    With the standards of moral integrity so low (or even absent) among some clergy…
    – pedophiles get a pass
    – domestic abuse
    – gambling of tithes
    – misuse of “non-profit” funds
    – hazing unreported
    – serial adultery
    – shunning elderly church members
    – etc.
    … it is not surprising that the moral integrity of the entire culture is weak or questionable.

  89. JYJames wrote:

    With the standards of moral integrity so low (or even absent) among some clergy … it is not surprising that the moral integrity of the entire culture is weak or questionable

    As the church goes, so goes the nation. When judgment comes, it will begin at the House of God first.

  90. JYJames wrote:

    – pedophiles get a pass
    – domestic abuse
    – gambling of tithes
    – misuse of “non-profit” funds
    – hazing unreported
    – serial adultery
    – shunning elderly church members
    – etc.

    Let a woman in the pulpit to deliver a message and see what happens.

  91. JYJames wrote:

    Max wrote:
    fans of such leaders, … , desire such purveyors of the gospel (which is not the Gospel)
    With the standards of moral integrity so low (or even absent) among some clergy…
    – pedophiles get a pass
    – domestic abuse
    – gambling of tithes
    – misuse of “non-profit” funds
    – hazing unreported
    – serial adultery
    – shunning elderly church members
    – etc.
    … it is not surprising that the moral integrity of the entire culture is weak or questionable.

    This is why so many people have stopped going to the institutional church.

  92. Max wrote:

    Has anyone seen or heard an official sin-confessing, tear-soaked, Psalm 51-type repentance statement from Mark Driscoll pertaining to his assorted sins at Mars Hill and his ungodly influence on a generation of New Calvinist pastors?

    Max, IIRC, no one has ever heard a coherent Biblically based testimony of salvation from Driscoll either, so let’s not get the cart before the horse. He is incapable of both seeing and articulating his sin-filled-ness, his past sin, his present sin, and his future sin in the same way that he is incapable of both seeing & articulating God’s solution. If ever there was a celebrity that will hear “I never knew you”, it is him. “You will know them by their fruit” was never more appropriate in this case.

  93. Driscoll’s mishandling of The Song of Songs was the first thing that clued me into the sick inner workings of his mind.

    He wasn’t just a bull in a china shop. That comparison doesn’t scratch the surface. He used The Songs to verbally abuse and coerce women concerning the marital bed. He taught the men of his church to do the same. And he did it all to promote himself.

    His attention-seeking behavior was then, and still is now, psychotic.

  94. I thought for sure he’d be on the non-religious channel, Driscoll and his apologists are the best argument for leaving the faith there is.

  95. Mara wrote:

    Driscoll’s mishandling of The Song of Songs was the first thing that clued me into the sick inner workings of his mind.

    And why I started referring to him as “Deep Throat Driscoll”.

    Then he showed us another peek into his sexual fantasies re the OTHER end of the alimentary canal…