Mark Driscoll Quotes

Corporate worship is to be intelligible.

This world needs more than good works. It needs good news. Good works come out of the good news.

Jesus, could you please rapture the charismaniac lady who brings her tambourine to church?

To make matters worse, seemingly every book I read by Christians on sex and marriage sounded unfair. Nearly every one said the husband had to work very hard to understand his wife, to relate to her.

One of the most astonishing things about Jesus is that as God he actually chose to come into our fallen, sick, twisted, unjust, evil, cruel, painful world and be with us to suffer like us and for us. Meanwhile, we spend most of our time trying to figure out how to avoid the pain and evil of this world while reading dumb books about the rapture just hoping to get out.

I have noticed that people tend to stop maturing when they start self-medicating. Everyone has very tough seasons of life, but by persevering through them we have an opportunity to mature and grow as people. Those who self-medicate ... often thwart maturity as they escape the tough seasons of life rather than face them.

Are you letting culture, not scripture, determine your sexuality, how you date, how you present yourself, how you engage in certain relationships with members of the opposite sex? We need to be very clear that the way we do life is different than the rest of the world.

Now more than ever God's people must be committed to being gospel centered. Jesus can no longer be out there somewhere on the horizon as we look to culture, religion, politics, spirituality, or morality for our true north.

Some will tell you that there are multiple worldviews. The Bible says we have only 2: the Truth and the Lie.

A reporter asked Barth what was the single most important theological discovery he'd made. After stopping to consider his answer carefully, Barth said, "Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so." Indeed, we can never outgrow that one great, majestic, and simple transforming truth.

The problem with criticism today is that is instant, constant, global and permanent.

Truthless times need timeless truths.

The "who" question does not seek answers from God as much as it seeks God himself. The one who asks who seeks to grow in deeper understanding of who God is and who we are, because when we're suffering, what we need more than answers - even helpful, biblical ones - is God and an assurance of our identity in Christ.

Anxiety is not to be managed it is a sin that needs to be repented of

Back in high school, once she suspected that I was probably not a Christian, she did not break up with me as she should have.

We receive suffering when it comes as an opportunity for God to do something good in us and through us. We rejoice not in the pain but rather in what it can accomplish for the gospel so that something as costly as suffering is not wasted but used for God's glory, our joy, and others' good.

Our identity is not in our joy, and our identity is not in our suffering. Our identity is in Christ, whether we have joy or are suffering.

Has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.

God picked a junior high girl [to be Jesus' mother]. Jesus was raised by a woman who today, we wouldn't even let her lead a bible study at a high school. But she could raise God.

No one can remain neutral regarding Jesus' resurrection.
The claim is too staggering,
the event too earthshaking,
the implications too significant
and the matter too serious.
We must either receive it or reject it as truth for us.
To remain indifferent or undecided is to reject it.

Did think you were here to kill time listening to Christian music until you go to heaven? We've got work to do.

Sin is not just action. It's life direction.

There is a pile of dead bodies behind the Mars Hill bus, and by God's grace, it'll be a mountain by the time we're done,

Corporate worship is to be God-centered.

So let me tell you this, when it comes to ... trying to introduce other people to Jesus. Don't get mad at them: it's not because they're stupid. It's because they're blind. Yelling louder, arguing harder, pushing firmer won't make someone who is blind see. Pray for them, speak to them, care for them.

We believe that the local church is a community of regenerated believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord, and that the universal church is all of God's people in all times and places.

Many modern Christians will take the best programs from every church while committing to no church. They even have a name for it: church shopping.

Sometimes we're so focused on our desired blessings that we fail to stop and thank God by remembering the blessings we already have in Christ.

older generation accounts for only 19 percent of the national church, they give 46 percent of the donations.

Every great cause was initiated by someone whose heart was broken.

Moralizing is reading the Bible not to learn about Jesus but only to learn principles for how to live life as a good person by following the good examples of some people and avoiding the bad examples of others. That kind of approach to the Scriptures is not Christian, because it treats the Bible like any other book with moral lessons that are utterly disconnected from faith in and salvation from Jesus.

Everyone has something to teach you if you are humble enough to learn.

What happens if you walk into a church and try to find out what a man looks like?

Study the Bible like a soldier on a mission, not a scholar on a sabbatical.

So I decided to start a church, for three reasons. First, I hated going to church and wanted one I liked, so I thought I would just start my own. Second, God had spoken to me in one of those weird charismatic moments and told me to start a church. Third, I am scared of God and try to do what he says.

Gentleman, it is a terrifying thing for a woman to trust a sinful man.

Fear is vision without hope.

You have to laugh at yourself. Otherwise you'll waste all that great material.

An animal will conquer others. A Spirit-filled man conquers himself – self-discipline, self-control.

I'd go home to a wife whom I was not sexually enjoying.

Not all parachurch ministries are bad; in fact, the best ones foster collaboration across churches for important ministry and unity.

Everyone is in a tribe, and the sooner we realize we are not each unique, like a snowflake - a special, one-of-a-kind person, just like Mama said - the sooner we will make sense of ourselves and the spiritual cul-de-sac we call home. You are likely not unique, particularly special,

Apart from Christ you are farther from God than you feared. In Christ you are nearer to God than you hoped. Through faith in the truth about who God is and who he's made you to be, you're reconciled to God in Christ.

The world has enough politicians; it needs more prophets.

Much of spirituality today is an effort to change God to suit us. But he's not going to become more like us, we need to become more like him.

Idols tend to be good things that you have turned into god things, which therefore become bad things

If you can't take a nap, if you can't take a day off, heaven's going to drive you nuts.

Repentance keeps sin from condemning us because Jesus died and scorned the shame.

Because we worship our way into sin, ultimately we need to worship our way out. When Christians commit sin, they do not cease worshiping. Rather, their worship is directed away from the Creator and toward created things. Repentance is the act of turning from sin and returning to God by trusting in Jesus Christ who is the perfect worshiper.

God wants his glory to shine through men. God wants his Kingdom to be made visible through them.

We need to avoid the ditch on the left, where we don't call sin a sin, as well as the ditch on the right, where we are angry culture warriors battling unbelievers instead of evangelizing them.

Forgiveness is both a decision and a process.

You can't meet Jesus and not change. If you haven't changed, you haven't met the real Jesus.

Part of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. Once you get married, however, a good defense is frequency and freedom.

Adultery doesn't come until the seventh commandment, and you won't even get to the seventh commandment if you don't violate the first two commandments. Sex is god, and I worship by having sexual sin.

If we truly believe that God appreciates our service, we can stop boasting and start encouraging. When we boast, we use people for appreciation. When our appreciation comes from God, we can start loving people, sharing the ways both God and we appreciate them. Paul demonstrated this by encouraging others, •

We don't name God; God reveals His name to us. We don't have the right to exercise authority over God. God copyrights, He trademarks, He patents His name.

Who you think you are is what compels you to do what you do!

Spirituality, without the Holy Spirit, is demonic.

Three, Christians who practice repentance should be the only ones allowed into church membership and leadership.

Shame exists where there is sin, and so feeling ashamed, particularly when we sin, is natural and healthy. Therefore, shame is not bad, but unless the underlying sin that causes the shame is properly dealt with through the gospel, then the shame will remain, with devastating implications.

Women will be saved by going back to that role that God has chosen for them. Ladies, if the hair on the back of your neck stands up it is because you are fighting your role in the scripture.

Avoid participating in any religious community where the clear truth-claims of Scripture are ignored while contemplative and mystical practices are favored simply for their spiritual experience. Be careful of any church or ministry wherein acts of mercy and environmental stewardship are devoid of a theology of the cross and wind up being little more than the worship of created people and things. And be careful not to worship a good thing as a god thing for that is a bad thing.

Work like an Arminian, sleep like a Calvinist.

The goal of Christian dating is not to have a boyfriend or girlfriend but to find a spouse. Have that in mind as you get to know one an- other, and if you're not ready to commit to a relationship with the end goal of marriage, it's better not to date but simply to remain friends.

To conquer your biology, stop seeing people sexually and start seeing them as family. In our day, we have really a perverted notion where it's like strangers and potential sexual objects.

I'll preach anywhere. If it's a round trip ticket to preach in hell, I'll take it-as long as it's round trip.

Once we determine in our souls that God's glory is our goal, we then stop taking the path of least resistance and start taking the path of most glory to God

Sometimes prayer moves the hand of God, and sometimes prayer changes the heart of the person who is praying.

There are some women who are a good time and there are some women who are a good legacy.

It's amazing how quickly evangelicals turn into evangellyfish with no spiritual vertebrae when they start to lose money, job security, cultural clout, or public support.

Fear is not always a sin but it always is an opportunity.

You aren't what's been done to you but what Jesus has done for you. You aren't what you do but what Jesus has done. What you do doesn't determine who you are. Rather, who you are in Christ determines what you do.

Corporate worship is to be seeker sensible.

In what ways has God changed you to become more holy because of Jesus' blessing? How is God inviting you to make further changes in your life to live at greater levels of obedience and holiness to reflect Christ more?

If you really want to be a rebel get a job, cut your grass, read your bible, and shut up. Because no one is doing that.

Fear in the mind causes stress in the body.

Faith is not just what we believe internally. It's how we behave externally.

The problem with our churches today is that the lead pastor is some sissy boy who wears cardigan sweaters, has The Carpenters dialed in on his iPod, gets his hair cut at a salon instead of a barber shop, hasn't been to an Ultimate Fighting match, works out on an elliptical machine instead of going to isolated regions of Russia like in Rocky IV in order to harvest lumber with his teeth, and generally swishes around like Jack from Three's Company whenever Mr. Roper was around.

For the husband, the male prostate can only be accessed through the anus. It is called the "male G-spot" as it is reportedly a source of great pleasure when stroked by such things as a wife's finger.

Those who only seek friends without seeking to be a good friend are selfishly needy and demanding. And those who only want to be a good friend but do not wisely seek good friends are bound to be taken advantage of, abused, neglected, and suffer from their foolish friend choices.

Married life can seem as if it's only five days long. The first day you meet, the second day you marry, the third day your raise your children, the fourth day you meet your grandchildren, and the fifth day you die first or bury your spouse to go home alone for the first time in many years.

The church was custom built by Jesus, and we are all works in progress. We do not expect people to get their sin in order before attending church any more than a hospital expects people to get healed before they show up.

All of the modern counseling vernacular is really not dealing with the root issue of idolatry. Someone or something's preeminent rather than God.

Religious people are not fun ... So, Jesus shows up and kids run around Him, want to be with Him. You know why? He's fun ... God's a Father who likes His kids to have fun, so when Jesus shows up, the religious people get jealous because Jesus gets invited to parties and the religious people don't.

Corporate worship is to be unselfish.

We need to pay attention to the questions non-Christians are asking, and the conversations that Christians are having.

I'm frankly sick of all the books and movies trying to predict when Jesus will return and we'll get to start our eternal vacation at his all-inclusive resort called heaven. I'm also sick of the nerd parade of books and conferences that approach the Bible like scholars whose mission is to get their Masters rather than soldiers who are on mission with their Master. We've got work to do. There are lost people to reach, churches to plant, and nations to evangelize. Hell is hot, forever is a long time, and it's our turn to stop making a dent and start making a difference.

Ladies, use a loving voice, use a respectful voice, use a godly voice, but don't lose your voice.

In marriage we have a duty to God, our spuses, the world, and future generations. But we are sinners. A husband and wife need to acknowledge that when the Bible speaks of fools, it is not just speaking about other people, but about them as well. Even the wisest among us has moments of folly. So God gives us spouses to serve as wise friends by praying with and for us, attending church with us, speaking truth, and providing Scripture along with good books and online classes, lectures, and sermons to nourish fruitfulness in our lives.

The key to understnading masculinity is Jesus Christ. Jesus was tough with religious blockheads, false teachers, the proud, and bullies. Jesus was tender with women, children, and those who were suffering or humble. Additionally, Jesus took responsability for Himself. He worked a jon for the first thirty years of His life, swinging a hammer as a carpenter. He also took responsability for us on the cross, where He substituted Himself and died in our place for our sins. My sins are my fault, not Jesus'fault, but Jesus has made them His responsability. This is the essence of the gospel, the "good news". If you understand this, it will change how you view masculinity.

A single woman should only marry a man she can follow: Ladies if you are single, be very, very careful who you date and marry. Don't just date a man who you can put up with, marry a man you can trust, you'll follow his leadership, you'll respect him, he's saved, he's godly. The last thing you want is some guy you don't trust, he's not wise, he doesn't do his homework, he's harsh, he's inconsiderate, he's immature, he's a boy, you're more his mother than you are his mate, Real danger ... real danger ...

The inevitable result of borrowed faith is lost faith. People born into a family anchored in Christendom tend to assume they're right with God, regardless of whether they personally turn from sin and trust in Jesus.

When sins become civil rights, there is a temptation for Christians to keep our mouths shut and turn what is supposed to be a public faith into a private faith, but we are commanded to not be ashamed of the gospel.

The words of Romans 12:18 are important to remember. They instruct us to be at peace with everybody if we are given the chance. People who know how much they have been forgiven are to be willing to forgive everybody who earnestly repents of anything they have done.126

You wanna be counter-culture? You wanna be a total rebel? Get a job! You wanna be counter-culture, totally alternative, radical? Be a virgin until you get married ... to a person of the opposite gender. And then stay married and pump out some kids and pay your taxes and read the Bible, you freak. You'll be just totally a rebel.

Ultimately I think the difference between reading the Bible and studying it is making the connections between who Jesus is and what he's done.

Stop looking for the path of least resistance and start running down the path of greatest glory to God and good to others, because that's what Jesus, the Real Man, did.

Being single is not easy. But neither is being married. They are just difficult in different ways as God uses everything in our life to make us more like Jesus, who happened to live a perfect life while single.

Everything in the service needs to preach - architecture, lighting, songs, prayers, fellowship, the smell - it all preaches. All five senses must be engaged to experience God.