I received a Powerpoint presentation from my brother today.  The first page read:

“An excavator fell in a river in the Amazon while carrying out work on a gas-line for Petrobras. The operator broke the glass to free himself but wounded his hand trying to escape, the blood attracted Piranhas.”

I’m going to post this only to show how savage these little fish can be.  I’ve checked to see if this is a hoax on snopes.com and it doesn’t register with them.  I’m from Australia and we don’t have these crazy fish here.  But if you’re reading this from an area that does, then take note and be very careful.

Click here to view.

As an amateur webmaster of my church’s website - and a self confessed stats geek, I thought I’d check out the stats on our website.  I know, it’s boring but what else do I have to do while stuck in a hotel in Sydney while on a sales training course right?

CityWest Church is a small church plant in Melton, Melbourne, Australia (map).  Currently we have about 70 - 75 people attending each week.  By God’s grace, this number seems to be increasing recently.  We have a website, a Facebook page and a podcast.  But in reality, I wanted to see what kind of reach we have to the rest of the world.

And this exercise proved to be very encouraging to myself as I tend to spend hours each week just keeping the thing updated to a minimum level.  There are heaps of things I would like to add to it, but just simply don’t have the time.  So it’s pretty humbling to see how far and wide we’ve spread throughout the world and it gives me the encouragement to keep on keeping on.

I use Google Analytics to monitor our traffic flow.  Our data begins on 15 June, 2008 to today, 12 November, 2008 - exactly 150 days.  Here are the stats:

Unique visitors: 891
Total visits: 2356
Page views: 7900

Ok so where do these 891 people come from?  Our mission at CityWest is to reach out to the people of Melton, but also to the world at large.  Have we acheived this in our 150 days?

Number of countries: 49

We’ve had visits from people from Sri Lanka to Qatar, Iran to Jamaica and Sweden to Saudi Arabia. But the top 5 countries are:

1. Australia
2. USA
3. Canada
4. UK
5. Turkey

A break down of the top 5 countries show:

Australia

• Visitors from all 8 states and territories
• Including all the major cities

USA

• Visits from 39 out of 51 states
• Top states are Texas, California, Kansas, Florida and Georgia

Canada

• Visits from 19 cities

UK

• Visits from 13 cities

Turkey

• Visits from 5 cities

So what have poeple been checking out?  Here are the top five pages from our website:

1. CityWest Church - our home page
2. Welcome to CityWest Church - a welcome letter from our Pastor
3. Kingdome Come - our expository sermon series on the Sermon On The Mount found in Matthew
4. CityWest News - our weekly news (video bulletins currently on hold)
5. Location, Times & Calendar - a snapshot of what’s going on at church

Like I said, doing this exercise has pumped me to continue doing what I do.  And if you’re in the same boat as me, I’d encourage you to do the same exercise just to see what’s happening with your website.  I know our stats aren’t huge - but neither is our church.  But it’s an awesome feeling to know that our message of Jesus has now been pumped out to 891 people in 49 countries all around the world.  And in some small way, it helps fulfill the great commission given by our King:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Mat 28:18-20

But what strikes me as odd is the non-compulsory nature of voting in the US.  In Australia, voting is compulsory and you’re fined if you don’t rock up on election day - even down to state and local council elections.  So it’s odd for me to think that the country from which one of the most powerful person in the world will be elected, is full of dumb asses too lazy to get out and vote.

And what’s even more stupid is that to motivate these people to get out and vote, celebrities need to endorse the very act of voting!  It’s no secret that the people influenced by such celebrities would probably all vote for Obama anyway.  What a crazy world we live in.

This whole discussion is probably summarised best by the following video. The scariest thing for me is to think that Borat had the most compelling statements - especially his final one!

I just hope Obama can actually deliver on this “so called change.”  He already has asked my country for more troops to Afghanistan.  Wassup with that Obama?

So with this in mind, I thought it’s prudent to share a video by John Piper on his views on the election.  Sit back and relax - this is your 7 minutes of therapy!

And this is where Picasa3 shines.  It’s free. It’s powerful enough for you to create stunning effects on your photo’s.  And you can do it all without scratching a hole in your head while reading instruction manuals.  Below are some of examples of Picasa editing from my recent trip to Istanbul. For more, check out my Flickr slideshow here.

To learn more about Picasa3, check out the following video from Google or simply go nuts right now and download Picasa3 here.

Instead of spending money on toys quickly forgotten or gifts not needed only to save face come December 25, how about collecting this money from family, friends, or a Church and donating it to a cause far greater then our pathetic need for a present come Christmas?

Check out the video below to get a feel of what these guys do and check out Advent Conspiracy for more information.

Like him or lump him.  Consider him a talented teacher or a heretic, you can’t be a Christian for too long and not hear about Rob Bell.  Pastor of “the other Mars Hill Church” (as you all know, I am a huge fan of Mars Hill Church pastored by Mark Driscoll), Bell has recently completed US nationwide tours with shows such as Everything Is Spiritual and The God’s Aren’t Angry.

But perhaps Rob Bell’s most well known ministry is the NOOMA series of short films. Go into any Christian bookstore these days and you’ll find the NOOMA series.  Many churches around the world are using Bell’s material for small group studies.

At the time of writing this post, NOOMA consists of 22 short stories that go for just over 10 minutes each.  Bell likes to use everyday occurrences and connects them to Scripture in an engaging way.

Many people have been blessed by Bell - whom some people call the “next Billy Graham.”  While others have serious concerns about what he teaches.  But having said all that, I believe the NOOMA series is good.  To the seeker, it makes God real and accessable.  To the deeper Christian, these videos make you think and engage you in a way to either learn more about God, or to research a topic you feel Bell totally messes up in his emergent exercise.

And now for your veiwing pleasure, I hope you enjoy the fruit of my labour in searching for all 22 video’s.  With exception of the 22nd video and the missing part 2 of the 16th video, below is the entire collection found online and collected in a VodPod. The videos are all numbered but I am still trying to sort the order out.

Watch them for yourself and decide for yourself how you feel about Rob Bell’s NOOMA series.  And once you decide how you feel, be sure to let me know.

“And they went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God.” Mark 1:21-28

My take home points on these 7 versus are:

· Jesus was ready willing and able to get into teaching. Any disciple of His should have the same mindset and, with His help, ability to do so.

· He had authority in His teaching. He knew how to handle the Word of God (after all, it was His equal in the Trinity, the Holy Spirit who inspired the Word)

· The so called “educated” in Scripture are not the be all and end all. Often they get so caught up in details that their teaching lacks any substance.

· Unclean spirits dwell in the members of our church (in this case it was the synagogue)

· These unclean spirits know more about Jesus then you and I

· These unclean spirits know the scriptures

· When the Word is taught properly, you will get opposition to your teaching

I want to expand on this last point. I can almost say with certainty that when the Word is preached in your church the way it should be, opposition will arise from those inside the church. It may be a full on verbal response as noted above. Or it may take the form of whispers and gossip rising into a wave of disunity and discord as people grumble about how the Word is handled.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes people talk absolute crap in the name of “christianity” – such as the prosperity gospel and they deserve to get bagged till the sun don’t shine.

But when the preaching is centered on the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus as the reason to repent from sins and start afresh and when this is done in a way that is in unison to the whole message of Scripture, if you get opposition to this, you can be sure that there is demonic resistance being stirred in those in your congregation influenced by demons more than the Spirit of God.

In the above passage, the spirits inside this synagogue attendee must have freaked out when they saw Jesus walk in. In the spiritual world, they knew exactly who He was. James says that “even the demons believe – and shudder.” Sometimes I wish I had the mental capacity of a demon. Before you label me as a heretic, it’s only to know and see the awesome reality of Jesus as they see Him. I bet they have a better understanding of Jesus then many of us have. And as soon as I realise this, then I’d switch back into being me. For demons truly suck.

No doubt this demonically possessed Jewish man sat there while Jesus “taught with authority” and inside him, the plural demonic population must have been going nuts as the enemy of their existence taught mankind about the Kingdom coming to shatter their own.

And this made them freak out so much that they manifested within the man and made him shout out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God.”

You see, when the Word is taught properly, the Kingdom of Darkness will always be challenged and those influences will always make their views be known as their kingdom is threatened. So when you see this happening in your church, know two things:

1. The Word is being taught the way it should be

2. You are directly dealing with demonic influence – often within those in your congregation

When this happens, the good advice is to treat it the way Jesus did, “But Jesus rebuked him saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!”” Notice that Jesus rebuked the man but also addressed the demons inside. The man allowed the demonic influence in his life and needed to be rebuked. But the demons were the ones causing the trouble.

In a similar way, when these situations arise in your church, it’s a good idea to tackle them head on, publicly, while realising the source of the problem. Trouble makers should be singled out but dealt in a way recognising that the disruption they bring is a direct result of demonic activity and not necessarily their own. Ephesians 6:12 clearly states:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood (the Jewish man), but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.(unclean spirits)” (Italics mine)

The Kingdom of Darkness will always oppose the Kingdom of Light and try to stifle and distract. Dealt with properly and directly, while addressing the root cause, will always rectify the situation. We need to act with Christ’s authority – not our own. And then the Good News will be free to travel. And travel it will - Isaiah 55:10-11 says:

“For as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the things for which I sent it.”

Once the Word of God is set free, it will accomplish great things. And it’s totally humbling and scary indeed to know that God partners with us to make sure the Word that goes forth from His mouth is unhindered and delivered to do its work. And sometimes this means we need to directly tackle the obstacles in its way – not being distracted in political correctness and “niceness” while allowing demons to hinder things along the way. Done properly, we can emulate what Jesus achieved:

“And at once, his fame spreads everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee” Mark 1:28

What an honor it would be to follow Jesus’ example and to have His fame spread throughout the surrounding regions of where we live and worship?

Fortunately, there are some awesome resources available and Ted Tripp is a glowing example. At a recent conference at Mars Hill Church, Tripp held a series of talks based around his book “Shepherding A Child’s Heart.” He says:

“Our temptation as parents is to focus on behavior rather than the heart. We see, we hear our children fighting and arguing. We make a pass at drive-by correction, “You guys, knock it off! I don’t want to hear anymore of that fighting.” Why do we focus on behavior? We know the Bible. We know all behavior reflects the heart.”

Shepherding A Child’s Heart is based on the instruction found in Duet 5:6-9:

“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

To help you implement this into the upbringing of your children, the material at the recent conference is available for free! Below are links to the 5 sessions held where you can listen, watch and download to your hearts content.

Session 1: The Call to Formative Instruction

Download audio |  Watch video

Session 2: Giving Kids a Vision for God’s Glory

Download audio |  Watch video

Session 3: Helping Kids Understand Authority

Download audio |  Watch video

Session 4: Helping Kids Understand the Heart

Download audio |  Watch video

Session 5: Overview of Corrective Discipline

Download audio |  Watch video

Download - Right click and save.

Standing up to the onslaught of questions and attacks on what we believe and why we do the things we do, a “tolerant” society is becoming increasingly intolerant to sound Christian doctrine.  Even some in the “church” seemed to have caved in and have allowed humanistic world views determine what’s right and what’s wrong in the Bible - instead of declaring the Bible perfect and having ultimate authority.

So it’s in this climate that I want to introduce to you, if you are a small percentage of the population that don’t already know about him, Tim Keller from Redeemer Presbyterian Church.  Check out Keller on Wikipedia for some background on the guy. In a nut shell, he is passionate about the Bible, has a brilliant mind and is a goldmine resource for church planting.

I’ve started listening to the guy only recently and have enjoyed the way he engages you in his, what I like to call, “philosophically stylised, yet easily accessible sermons.”  And it’s this style that allows him to do a sermon series on “The Problem With Christianity - Why it’s so hard to believe it.” Listen in below via an audio stream or right click on the “download” and save to your PC.

He takes complex issues and hits them head on in a way that almost makes you feel really dumb if you held onto the issues in the first place.  Fascinating stuff!  These are the themes from his latest book “The Reasons For God.”  Click here to purchase from amazon.com. Hope you enjoy the messages…

Exclusivity: How can there be just one true religion? | Download

Suffering: If God is good, why is there so much evil in the world? | Download

Absolutism: Don’t we all have to find truth for ourselves? | Download

Injustice: Hasn’t Christianity been an instrument for oppression? | Download

Hell: Isn’t the God of Christianity an angry Judge? | Download

Literalism: Isn’t the Bible historically unreliable and regressive? | Download

For more Tim Keller resources - constantly updated, click here and here.

Truth is, porn addiction is in epic proportions in our culture today.  Even if you’re a Christian, you are not immune to it as statistics show that Christians - both male and female - are addicted to porn as much as anyone else on this planet.

To help combat this issue, Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church has made available a free ebook he has written over the years to help combat this issue - especially from a male perspective.  He is releasing chapters over the next few months - in conjunction to the current sermon series at Mars Hill Church called “The Peasant Princess” (website can be found here).  Once fully released, he will make the entire ebook free for download.

The website for the ebook is here and the introduction can be found here.  Be notified of chapters as they are released by subscribing to The Resurgence feed here.

This whole exercise will prove to be controversial to say the least. Human sexuality strikes us to the core of who we are and the way we practice our sexual desires impacts us greatly.  So to directly tackle this issue in a Driscoll style will raise a few eyebrows.  And he anticipates this as he has said:

“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.”

You just got to admire the way Driscoll approaches this issue.  Anyway I hope you enjoy reading this free ebook and are edified and built up in this area of struggle for so many people.

I’ve posted earlier on the ESV Study Bible here.  I can’t wait for this little beauty to come out.  Almost everyday, there are updates to the ESV Study Bible blog showcasing the features and endorsements for this awesome resource.

But one resource that really got me excited is a video of the online version of the ESV Study Bible.  This resource is available for free to those who purchase a copy of the ESV Study Bible.  What an asset! Check out the video below:

If you’re a Bible geek like me, you should be jumping up and down by now!  What these guys have done in redefining what a study Bible should be in print form, they have also replicated online - and it’s free to those who ordered a copy!

Well I’ve ordered mine.  Click here to order yours through Amazon - the most cost effective way to order.

Firefox is an awesome browser - heaps faster then Internet Explorer and with the added benefit of an awesome amount of add-ons to enhance your browsing experience.  Click here for a free download and check out the add-ons here.

The new kid on the block is Google’s own, Google Chrome.  It’s been said that Google Chrome is up to 9 times faster then Internet Explorer.  All I can say that this little beauty is a speed demon. Although it doesn’t include the plugins available for Firefox, this little baby is fast and minimal.  Click here for a free download.

It’s been said that ancient Jewish Rabi’s weren’t allowed to study the Song of Songs until they were 30 years old as it contains explicit sexual material.  So listening to Driscoll spend 10 weeks on it should be fun indeed.

Mars Hill have a dedicated website to this series found here. In addition, they have produced a PDF outlining what they hope to acheive with this series.  To prepare us for the adventure, they have also released the following video promo to wet our appetites.

You can just tell that this will drive attendance to Mars Hill Church and hopefully this sex crazed world will get a better understanding of the way Scripture views intamacy.

But I’ve seen this video being bantered about from SNL and I thought I needed to share it.  Hope you enjoy!

Many people I know have been on tender hooks waiting for the passing of this test to see if the world lives beyond this event - especially as there seems to have been valid safety concerns.  And it seems that the anxiety of the whole thing has taken it’s toll in an ugly way.

A 16 year old girl was so freaked out by the event that she drank pesticide and committed suicide thinking that the world would end.  My heart goes out to this little girl as she faced her fears during the last days of her life.

How I wished she knew the God of the Bible and realised that mankind, as dumb as it can be sometimes, will never be in a position to alter the destiny of the world as outlined in Scripture. Only God knows the beginning and the end of everything.  Anyone grounded in Scripture shouldn’t have skipped a heartbeat about this experiment causing the world to end.  God says:

“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose” Isa 46:8-10

Before this planet was around, God knew the beginning and end of it.  Think of it in this way.  If you were on the side of the road watching a parade go by, you would see the beginning, the middle and eventually the end of it as time passed by.

But God is not like you or me.  His vantage point would be like in the sky where He looks down and sees the start of the parade as well as the end - right before Him.  He can confidently say that 20 minutes into the parade, a float looking like a monkey will pass you.  Sitting at street level at the start of the parade and hearing God say this to you, you would need to accept this as faith - even though you can’t see the monkey float.

In a similar way, He has mapped out the history of the planet - from beginning to the end.  And He has taken the time to document this and publish it - it’s called the Bible.  And the Bible has the audacity of being the only “religious” document in the whole world of including vast amounts of prophecy.  Some of which has been fulfilled, some of which is being fulfilled and some of which will be fulfilled.

Mankind is sitting at street level and watching history parade itself in a linear fashion.  God has declared what will happen in the past, present and future - as only He is beyond time and can see the beginning and end in one glance.

And nowhere in scripture is a reference to mankind destroying the world before God accomplishes His purpose.  I wish this little girl knew of this before she downed the pesticide that took her life. I wish her parents were grounded in scripture.  I wish her parents knew Jesus - the ultimate accomplishment of God.

But they didn’t and she’s dead.

God is in control.  Not man.

When I first heard about his deception, I was outraged.  Mainly because of the pathetic testimony his life has on the Kingdom of Jesus on earth.  An unbelieving world doesn’t need much to condemn what we believe in as crap.  And his lies made us all look like a bunch of fools.

But if we think that we are immune to such depravity for a single second, we are deceiving ourselves.  As people who have decided to follow Jesus, we also inherit an enemy hell bent to destroy our salvation and joy in our King.

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

Mike was snared into this trap because of his addiction to porn.  Something I was a vulnerable to for a long time.  And the enemy of his soul pounced on this opportunity and kept him in bondage and deception for over two years.

I can only imagine the inner turmoil Mike felt as he fronted up to large gatherings and spoke of his battle with his “fake cancer.”  The demons he endured during this time is beyond me to comprehend. But God in His mercy, wanted to free Mike from this battle and made him pay the ultimate consequence and inspired him to come clean.  In doing so, He shattered Mike to his core.

Now instead of outrage, I am humbled by the discipline our Father dishes out to His children.  I’m a dad and sometimes I need to be cruel to be kind.  This shatters my heart as I see my kids crumble under an authority they have no capacity to understand - nor understand why.

But as a father, I have the “bigger picture” in mind and am willing to endure the hardship of hurting my kids feelings in order to teach them valuable life lessons.  In a much bigger way, our Father does this to us in order to bring out the best in us:

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives…

…but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Heb 12:5b-6, 12:10-11

Right now, Mike is feeling the discipline of his Father.  Because he was such a public figure, his discipline is being played out in a public way.  And this must cut him to the core.

But in the end, it will yeild the “peacful fruit of righteousness” - Mike’s torment will end - eventually.  So in the mean time, who am I to judge him?  God’s Kingdom is way too big to be thwarted by the actions of a son in discipline.  And what discipline it is!  Check out this video to see his lies confessed to all…

Like I said, my heart feels for the guy. He knows how massively he has screwed up - and he is paying the consequences right now and is being crushed by the discipline of his Father.  As I think about these things, I can only hope that I don’t find myself in a situation where I am also disciplined by my Father.

It’s times like this where the words of Paul ring true:

“..work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Phil 12:12b-13

I feel a kinship to Mike as I, and you, are equally as vulnerable to our enemy’s attack.  I pray that Mike repents and is restored.  And I pray that I and you don’t ever find ourselves in his shoes.  And my “outrage” has been subdued by the fact that the Kingdom will easily absorb this event.  Jesus is in control.

When I “think” about things, it’s very much a “given this,” “then that,” “in spite of” and “because of” - all rolled into a single line of thought. But try communicating this in a 1D sentence, and much of what you are trying to communicate is lost on your listeners.

That’s why I take my hat off to master story tellers who are able to articulate the thinking behind a sentence and do it in a way which captivates the attention of the listener. For those of you that know me, you know that I’m talking about Mark Driscoll as a prime example.

I love this guys preaching style. Not only is he a crack up, but he holds onto a very strict interpretation of Scripture and upholds the integrity of it rather then wanting to rip it apart. But he does all this in a way that grabs your attention and leaves you wanting for more. Perhaps this is the reason why the Church he Pastors is accustomed to listening to him speak for more then an hour as the norm.

For those who haven’t heard him speak, below is a 2 minute grab from one of his recent sermons. I overlayed it on some music to give it a bit of effect. But have a listen to how this guy tells the story. And remember that this little snippet was just part of an introduction - very mild compared to what he says later on.

Have a listen and tell me what you think…

To say that he was funny is the understatement of the year.  He had the crowd in tears on several occasions with his take on Australian, and particularly Sydney, culture.  Curiously I did see some people walk out early in the piece - most probably thinking that Driscoll was all comedy and no substance.  Their loss!

And as you can see from the photo, I did get to shake the man’s hand after the event as he stayed back and had a chat and prayer with anyone keen to meet up with him.  I’m the tall guy on the left and my mate and Pastor is on the right.  When we told him we drove up from Melbourne, he was blown away by how far we’d driven - he has done his homework on Australia!

Not since Billy Graham back in 1975 have 10,000 people packed the arena to talk about Jesus!  Driscoll has been likened by some to be the modern day Spurgeon and now he seems to be on par on what Billy G was able to achieve!

But instead of elevating him to superstar status and worship him as an idol (and heaven knows how hard some can fall - check out this story on Mike Guglielmuci), I simply take my hat off to a guy sold out on the message of Jesus and the advancement of His Kingdom.

I’ve been listening to Driscoll for 2 years to the day of the event and have seen him grow in maturity,  influence and impact as he follows his calling as founding Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle.  Additionally his work in the church planting movement Acts29 and ministry in The Resurgence and various high profile connections with some of the leading theologians of our time, has elevated Driscoll to monumental “influential” status in Christianity and indeed the world - being recently included in Seattle’s Top 25 most influential people (and this in the city of Microsoft, Starbucks and Kurt Cobain!)

But push all that stuff aside and you have a guy sold out to his hero - Jesus Christ.  The “Burn Your Plastic Jesus” event was designed to destroy the false views of Jesus held by Sydneysiders (a bunch of Australians inferior to Melbournians) and to replace it with a biblically accurate rendition of what Jesus said and did.

Thanks to Dave Miers, here are the 7 plastic Jesus perceptions Driscoll addressed:

1. Religious Jesus
2. Bling Jesus
3. Moral Jesus
4. Aussie Jesus
5. Country Jesus
6. Spiritual Jesus
7. Pensioner Card Jesus

It’s my personal opinion that Driscoll held back on his assessment on many of these areas - in particular the Bling Jesus - which stands for “prosperity gospel.” He did mention that Sydney has a likening to “Bling Jesus” in particular referring to a 11% increase in “Bling Jesus” denominations.  Anyone who knows Driscoll knows that he can’t stand the “prosperity gospel” and undoubtedly he was referring to Hillsong and like minded denominations.  But as a guest to our shores - he held back.  Which was kind of strange for him.

But his pictures of the various “jesus” stereotypes and his explanations had everyone laughing - except for those who held onto these views.  I was blown away at how much he understood our culture as he went through these stereotypes.

He then took a few mobile phone Q & A’s before nailing what Jesus said and did.  In particular, he addressed the following areas:

1. Jesus said he came down from heaven (John 6)
2. Jesus performed miracles
3. Jesus said he was God (Mark 14:61-64 + John 10:30-35)
4. Jesus said he was without sin (John 8:46)
5. Jesus forgave sin (Mark 2)
6. Jesus is the way, truth and life and no-one comes to the Father but through him (John 14:6)

These are taken out of his book Vintage Jesus and in his explanations, he trashed the plastic views.  Personally I felt as if he rushed this area a little and would have loved to see him rip into the Revelation 19 rendition on the reality of our Glorified King - as was printed on our booklets. His teaching in this area is some of the best bible teaching I have ever heard!

But by this stage, he had been talking for a good 1.5 hours and to an unaccustomed crowd to long teaching, this may have been a little tiring.  Additionally like a good guest, I think Driscoll didn’t want to come across too strong in his views as this was his first visit here.

Having a chat with him after the event, he mentioned that he plans to hold an Acts29 bootcamp in 16-18 months time and is meeting up with John Piper and Matt Chandler next month to convince them to come down for the event.  Now that would be cool indeed!

Overall an awesome night!  Jesus was glorified, Driscoll was funny and the venue was packed!  Check out the five minute clip below of some of his teaching including a dig on the Bryon Bay dopers!  Like I said, in his 3 weeks here, he nailed our culture to the bone!  Truly a missional mindset!

Way too often we are unaware of our need for redemption and for a fresh start in life. Is it possible? Is there a way to delve into the deepest and darkest secrets of our soul?

Is there a way to face our reality in a truly honest way - acknowledge our condition - and find deliverance?

Welcome to the heart of Jesus.

Instead of being a victim 2000 years ago, Jesus stands for redemption. He pays the price for all our mistakes, hurts and pain. He is in the business of restoring a broken mankind to what it can truly be - forgiven and redeemed.

But to understand the power of Jesus’ transforming nature, we need to understand what He is. Not just a “nice guy” or a “good teacher.” In Him, the will of God is revealed to mankind. And what’s His will?

“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:40

You may be going through really tough times right now. Deliverance is assured in Jesus. If not right away, certainly on the “last day” - if you believe in Him.

But I believe that this process can be sped up if we have a proper understanding of Jesus’ redemptive nature. And that’s why I invite you to check out this short video on the latest book by Mark Driscoll:

Is this resonating with you? Are you in one of those dark areas? Are you at that point where you just need deliverance and a helping hand? I know at times I am. I can’t wait to get my hands on this book to get to know my King’s heart for me.
In the mean time, here is chapter one. Hope you find hope in the story of Kate’s tragedy. And to my King, I say thank You for your passion towards those who believe in You.

Purchase the book @ amazon.com: Death by Love: Letters from the Cross (RE: Lit: Vintage Jesus)