Shout Out to Mars Hill Church-the Unvarnished TRUTH

Thanks to my friend Candace for this life-changing introduction to Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA.  I would never have guessed that anybody could, or was even willing to preach like the pastor of this church, Mark Driscoll.  My husband and I first listened to his series on spiritual warfare.  I was both astonished and encouraged by his transparency and frankness.  This man preaches the Word as it is written, and makes no apologies for the TRUTH...the whole, unvarnished TRUTH.  Immediately after finishing the spiritual warfare series, we began listening to the series called "The Peasant Princess" (the first of which I have linked to) together.  It is a frank and open discussion of the Song of Solomon.  Few resident preachers are willing to approach that book from the pulpit on a week by week basis, let alone address the issues he hammers in this preaching series.  He talks about marriage in all that it involves:  the love, the sex, the sin, the hurt, the healing--the reality.  He openly discusses the fact that people will be offended, that they may even leave the church after hearing what he has to say because they will not want to confront their sin.  This is the kind of preaching we need more of--Preaching that talks directly to the heart of the true believer who desires to be convicted of sin and who longs for the TRUTH to bear fruit in their lives.  I would encourage any married couple to listen to this series together.  It has the power to transform your marriage, or at the very least set you on the path.  I love what I see happening between my husband and me as a result of listening to this series.

I'll be honest...I've been in a place for a long time where I do not feel like I've heard a sermon that satisfies the soul.  I've heard a lot of stories, a lot of references to scripture, but related to what, I couldn't tell you.  It has been up to us as a family to feed on the TRUTH of God's Word from alternative sources than our home church, which has been in tremendous transition for quite a while.  I'm hoping that this will change soon, one way or another.  The good thing is that God has provided this TRUTH from various places, whether it be from Mars Hill Church, or books that we've read, or from working through the Truth Project together as a family (they have a kids' series to go along with the adult series).

I felt compelled to write this blog entry today.  I have gained so much from hearing the TRUTH spoken in love, even from a person whom I have never met, I thought that someone else might be hungering for some of the same...link up...enjoy...if you like to be convicted and changed.