Mark Driscoll preaches while former Mars Hill Members protest outside of Pastor Dan Kellogg’s Gold Creek Community Church
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Pastor Dan Kellogg of Gold Creek Community Church invited Pastor Mark Driscoll, former pastor of Mars Hill churches, to preach at his Seattle-area church yesterday. There was also a protest outside during the service by about a dozen former Mars Hill church members.
A leaflet distributed by demonstrators was entitled “Mark Driscoll – Unfit for any Pulpit”. It said: “We believe restoration is possible and we pray regularly for Mark. Putting Mark back in the pulpit as a leader in the Church now is not biblical. It is neither loving to him or to those with whom he has not reconciled.” (Source: Christianity Today: Mark Driscoll gets standing ovation from Seattle church, but protesters picket service)
Here is a link to the pdf of the leaftlet which was distributed (special thanks to Warren Throckmorton who has done a stellar job covering the Mark Driscoll saga). Below is a screen shot of the top portion of the leaflet:
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Before the service, Pastor Dan Kellogg released a blog article after he became aware that there would be protestors. Here are some notable quotes:
- I have done my homework. He is a controversial speaker but after talking with his accountability board they said: “There is nothing Mark has done that disqualifies him from ministry”.
- Very soon he will move and begin again in another city. He has learned some valuable lessons. He is a changed man.
- I now know there will be protesters this morning. “Christians that are taking the time on Sunday morning to protest.” He is not their pastor. He has not committed the unforgiveable sin. They are angry and unforgiving. I wish they would take the time to hold signs that protest the Christians killed in Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Nigeria. But, they will focus on Mark.
Before Driscoll took the stage, Pastor Dan Kellogg gave an introduction. I have transcribed it as follows:
Repurpose is really about repurposing your faith – our faith – and our church. When I started preparing for this series, there was a prompting in my spirit to consider inviting Mark Driscoll to come and to kick off this series. [Applause.] That’s cool. Now, there’s no one better to speak on this subject and here’s why. [Because] he’s in the middle of repurposing his life. If you know Mark, he’s in the middle of repurposing his life. Graciously, he’s agreed to speak today.
Before he comes out, though, I want to recognize three types of people that are sitting in the service here today. The first type of people … are people that just clapped that absolutely love Mark, many of them have found Christ in his ministry. And they’re here, they are thankful, they are excited about hearing from Mark again.
There are some who are here that have strong opinions against Mark. And you’re here. Thank you for being here. Many of you have made some of those opinions based on gossip – on somebody else’s … opinion of Mark. That’s not been fair to Mark. I believe he’s been unfairly treated by former staff people and by the media. And I want to support Mark and his family, especially during this time. [Chokes up.]
Some of you don’t know who Mark is. That’s a whole bunch of you – you go, “Who’s Mark? What are we talking about? What’s going on?” We’re glad you’re here. We just want you to have fun. So no matter what your opinion is today, I want you to be open to God’s Spirit today. You don’t have to change your opinion. But you can hear from God today. We’re people of grace. If you don’t know this about us, Gold Creek is full of people of grace. We make room for anyone. We are not for everyone, but we’re for anyone, so I’m asking you to give Mark a warm welcome, a grace-filled welcome to the stage. Mark Driscoll, come up here.
You can hear Kellogg’s introduction and Driscoll’s sermon here:
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Have I missed it? Have we seen where Mark Driscoll has publicly apologized for how he treated his staff and members? Has he taken responsibility for the allegations of plagiarism that were noted in several of his books? Who is holding Mark Driscoll accountable now? Why are the victims dismissed and labeled as gossips? Did Kellogg and his team interview any people who have spoken out publicly to hear their side or see if Driscoll has made amends?
One word about all of this: disturbing.
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Related article: Grading Pastor Dan Kellogg’s Mark Driscoll Homework
Spiritual Sounding Board 
UGH! [banging head against the wall]
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“Many of you have made some of those opinions based on gossip – on somebody else’s … opinion of Mark”
Which is exactly what Mr. Kellogg did too. He just found someone with a favorable opinion.
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My life was nearly destroyed by a small town minister with the same godless traits as MD. I have picked up what pieces were salvageable. From his perspective, he is blameless. I am certain that the people Driscioll trashed on a daily basis do not yet know the full impact of his destruction to their lives. Without apology or regard for thousands of God’s creation, he is manifesting a philosophy that Hitler became famous for. The Germans were blind to his godlessness until it was too late. I traveled to Dachau in the 70’s, saw the ovens, stared in disbelief at the gigantic pictures stationed around the grounds depicting mounds, large hills of naked, emaciated human beings that Hitler killed, not just physically, but emotionally. He ravaged them spiritually.
And yes, Hitler had followers who would give their lives for him, sell their souls out to him. Hope to be on his payroll some day. Hope to be on staff with him as payoff for their unending support and affirmation of his devious ways.
Sounds a lot like the D Kelloggs of yesterday’s church service.
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Excellent comment, Celeste.
I see that someone at Pastor Kellogg’s Facebook page is removing comments from people who are even slightly challenging the idea of having Driscoll speaking there. I have the last one in a screenshot and will post it publicly if it is removed: https://www.facebook.com/pastordansblog/posts/1418159065172833
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This does not surprise me at all. As I said to someone lately who is opposed to ministry related blogs or social media: serial killers and pedophiles can stand before you year after year and no one is the wiser of their extra curricular activities. In fact when they are caught and are in court neighbors and even the church as a whole will be there defending these guys. You can know just as much or more about people one way or the other, in my opinion. I’m sure there is a wolf tail sticking out of MD’s sheep suit somewhere. I have to wonder where Jesus is on the priority list on MD’s followers.
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“From his perspective, he is blameless.”
I watched the first half or so of his sermon and could take no more.
He sugar coated his resignation from MH as God “transitioning” him out of there. “I transitioned out…” were his words. And now, by faith, he is just relying on God to tell him where to go and what to do. When things are bleak and we don’t know WHY they’re bleak (a reference to his situation-he just doesn’t know why things were/are the way they are/were) we just have to have faith.
Sickening.
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At least Mr. Kellogg has clearly identified himself as one either so blinded, foolish, greedy or stupid that he would think he has the right to judge those protesters as being angry and unforgiving. Lord help him, he’s going to need it.
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By the way, JA, I don’t quite know what a “pastor” is as the NT never quite defines it, and certainly never defines it as a singular church leader, but one thing I know in my heart and based on his utterly reprehensible demeanor here re: the protesters: Mr. Kellogg is NO pastor.
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There was a “prompting in his spirit” to contact Mark Driscoll. The Spirit of God would want Mark Driscoll behind the pulpit again with a pile of battered sheep in his wake?
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“I wish they would take the time to hold signs that protest the Christians killed in Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Nigeria. But, they will focus on Mark.”
Ah, the old fallacy of relative privation. SIGH.
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Did anyone catch the title of Dan Kellogg’s blog post? It is named “Protesting Grace.” With this title, Kellogg (no pastor from me) is trying to reframe the concerns many people have about Mark Driscoll. No one is protesting grace! They are protesting Mark Driscoll being given a platform to speak from. I have no respect for those who give Driscoll a platform at this time in his life.
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This really ticks me off.
Driscoll is obviously unfit to be a preacher or in any sort of position of trust or leadership in a church (or even in places of “secular” employment), yet this guy at this Goldcreek church, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, is giving him a platform and making excuses for him.
It’s clear to anyone who has followed Driscoll’s nonsense the past few years what a blankety-blank the man is.
That this other preacher (and earlier, preacher Robert Morris) gave Driscoll their endorsements and a platform makes it all the more glaring how out of step and abusive so many churches have become. This will, in turn, drive more people away from brick and mortar church buildings and the Christian faith itself. So stellar job there, Rev. Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.
Preachers are protecting and promoting known abusers! Amazing.
I’m not sure if the Goldcreek guy is endorsing Driscoll in a “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” in some kind of fraternity of church preachers, or if he is just maybe really, really super NAIVE.
One of the reasons the child molesting perverts keep doing what they do in churches is because so many Christians are so honking NAIVE or have this “pity the poor guy, we should extend him grace, we are all sinners too” attitude.
Extending grace and holding abusive people accountable are not mutually exclusive propositions, hello.
GoldCreek guy said,
So….
Because Christians are being abused (to the point of death) outside the U.S.A. means Christians abusing Christians within the USA (i.e., spiritual abuse) should just be allowed to get away with it?
Can someone here please type up a Condescending Wonka meme for that and post it here?
_Condescending Wonka meme generator_
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Wow….just wow…talk about audacity…this pastor, who I take it is not a party to any of this…doesn’t see the insanity of personally deciding that mark is “right” and the critics are “wrong”…and people are applauding this?!?! My children could tell you that makes no sense…
JA-is anyone in Christian leadership stepping up here and speaking out, or are the protestors alone? Anyone from the boaa? Tripp? What about the rebranded mars hill churches?
As you’ve said before…you just can’t make this stuff up….wow…
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Regarding the “prompting in his spirit” that JA says Kellogg relied on, I’d just echo C.S. Lewis in Voyage To Venus where he cautions Weston, “There are spirits and then there are spirits, you know.”
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1.)
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For some reason my last comment went into moderation.
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Thank-you for posting this Julie Anne. This is one major reason why “leadership” is so incredibly dangerous within the church systems created by man, where God, the Holy Spirit, is not moving and working. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and those who hear His voice, follow Him. What voices are these poor sheep listening too and where are they placing their trust, in man or in Jesus, the Christ?
On the farm, my Dad used to give our sheep shots to prevent them from over-eating. Without these shots, the blind sheep have a tendency to over indulge in their food, causing excessive bloating, leading to a slow and painful death. And I used to say, “Are you kidding me Dad, how dumb can sheep be?”
Well, now my question has been answered, “sheep and human beings are very similar”, very much alike, indeed. And not to over rule the roost here, but I would NEVER allow my husband to sit under this man’s (Driscoll) preaching/teaching, and most certainly not my children, nor any of my farm animals for that matter.
The wolves in our area love to devour the sheep. LORD, have mercy upon Your people.
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“There was a “prompting in his spirit” to contact Mark Driscoll.”
That’s so we can’t disagree that this whole thing was “of God,” as some like to put it.
And we know it was a “prompting” by God because Kellogg felt it was… and that’s good enough for us all. lol
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For all we know it was a prompting by God. But promptings by God are interesting things, Sometimes there are promptings because He wants us to confront evil, sometimes there are promptings because He wants to use us to do great things, sometimes there are promptings because He wants to set us up to correct us in a very public way, and sometimes there are promptings because He wants to destroy us to make us an example to all. There are examples of all of the above in the Bible.
Mr. (not pastor) Kellogg could possibly be receiving a prompting from God, but it may not be to accomplish what Mr. Kellogg thinks.
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Are you kidding?? Kellogg is thrilled to show compassion to Driscoll because his competition is now resettling to Arizona. Now Kellogg has the potential to gain many of the former Mars Hill members who have not figured out how dangerous Driscoll is. Now Driscoll is giving Kellogg the stamp of approval to all his followers to go to Gold Creek Community Church. And the beat goes on.
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Sure, it could have been a “prompting.” My deal is that he mentioned it publically. Once you do a *thus sayeth the Lord / prompting in my spirit declaration*, it’s a convo stopper (imo and in my experience.) What follows the public declaration of prompting …or I felt led to say/do…is whatever the person wants you to believe.
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There’s a Wonka meme for you.
(Sorry about the double post, JA. I tried posting that link, and it didn’t work out.)
JA note: Got it, thanks! No prob.
Seriously, I’ve never understood why anyone follows Mark Driscoll. He’s a total pervert, and it’s obvious. He almost seems to be God’s judgment on his followers. They got what they asked for–someone to tickle their ears. I can only hope that more of his followers will wake up before he eats even more people spiritually. May God bind their wounds.
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Katy, the reason people slavishly follow MD is simple: (in my opinion) his behaviors are so typical of sociopathy. The glib, superficial charm; the lies and embellished stories that roll off his tongue without missing a beat (caught in a lie? No problem, I’ll just quickly create another reality for you to swallow); NO ownership of any misdeed, just more blah, blah, blah. His only real talent appears to be redirecting every “true story” he tells back to himself in a way that’s actually subtle enough to make him glow like a saint. You have to keep listening but it all becomes apparent. Is it really difficult to envision this man yelling “I am the brand!”?
Celeste, I am sorry for your horrible experience. My small town life was also trashed by the team of elders who claimed they just were watching over my and my son’s souls (and protecting Jesus’ reputation from me). It is only after a business or personal (or religious) relationship that most become aware that they have been dealing with a consciousless sociopath. I hope once you have recovered from your experience, you rediscover the kind God of all hope and healing. After two years of swearing off “church,” I stumbled into a little church and now happily call a young mother “pastor,” and a group of much older, smiling, mostly female saints my “elders.” I don’t plan to become a “member” but nobody cares. I wish a wonderful spiritual home for you, too.
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You got it. That’s it!! Now it all makes sense. Throw in a little theatrics, standing ovations, and you have a church with open arms to all of the MD followers who don’t want to move to AZ with him.
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This is the comment that was removed from Pastor Kellogg’s Facebook page:
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And all those MD followers will bring their checkbooks and TITHES TITHES TITHES.
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Is this a surprise to clear-headed, thinking people? I don’ t think so. It was only a matter of time before MD would resurface and put himself in the lime-light. After knowing what it’s like to live in the upper socio-economic class from being a popular preacher, why get a job in the real world? Why not instead just pick up from where you left off after a little time has lapsed? I don’t think there’s any surprises for the future either, as long as he continues on the course that he is going. Sadly, it will just be a repeat of Mars Hill.
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‘He has not committed the unforgiveable sin’. So does this mean you can sin against the body of Christ anyway you like just so long as you don’t blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
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It’s all about Mark…!
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Wow, what kind of vile human being (if it be Mr. Kellogg) or obscenely overzealous sycophant (if it be a loyal lieutenant) removes THAT comment from Marcus above? That was so mild as to be kindly towards Kelogg.
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Before social media, we had no idea how wacky some pastors were. Now they announce their bad judgment and lack of discernment to the world.
[Darwin Awards for Pastor Fails]
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It is a shame to see people enabling Mark Driscoll as Dan Kellogg seems to be doing. It is sometimes hard for a person himself to see his own sin and then when you have an enabler like Dan Kellogg claiming what Driscoll did didn’t disqualify Driscoll then it makes it even harder for Driscoll to realize what he did wrong.
I have similar thoughts about those who enabled C.J. Mahaney vs. calling Mahaney on his sin.
Neither men took the required time to exam themselves and see their sin.
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“There is nothing Mark has done that disqualifies him from ministry”.
This is an attempt to reverse the burden of proof. Where He is seeking to regain a position of influence, not to mention power and control over other people’s lives, the burden is on Driscoll and his supporters to establish that he is in fact qualified to minister.
“He has learned some valuable lessons. He is a changed man.”
This, as I am given to understand, is a typical claim made by men who abuse their wives as they seek to escape the consequences of their damnable behavior, and to retain control over the one they think themselves entitled to subjugate. Why should we not think it logical that the use of this same tactic is evidence that a preacher is a spiritual abuser? Further, I submit that it is an admission of guilt to acknowledge that MD needed to learn some valuable lessons and, especially, become a changed man.
And again: “He is a changed man.”
Um, O.K. Words are cheap, but in exactly what way has Driscoll become a changed man? Casting around to find allies, such as “pastor” Kellogg? I’m sorry, but, being a typical tactic of narcissistic personalities, a practice of gathering allies is a big, big red flag. IMO.
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Kellogg and Driscoll sound like peas in a pod.
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Echoing steve240 and Barnabusintraining, it may be noted that wolves are pack animals. Wolves run with wolves. Just as John Piper discredits himself by embracing CJ Mahaney, so also this Kellogg “pastor” discredits himself by his association with Driscoll. The only difference is that, while Piper and Mahaney discredit each other by their mutual association, it is not clear to me that Kellogg has attained sufficient stature to be able to discredit MD. Kellogg, being no more than a wannabe, can only be discredited.
Or so I see it.
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And of course it was not until I was in the process of pressing the Post Comment button that I noticed I had misspelled Barnabasintraining’s name. Apologies.
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“I have done my homework.” Hmmm….that seems to be a common phrase I’ve heard lately from other evangelical/progressive folks.
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Kellogg said he had never met MD before. To me, that says it all. When would a godly shepherd turn over his pulpit to someone who has such a reputation? How does he know MD has been unfairly treated? He doesn’t know MD. Who has he spoken to?
Doug Bursch (a pastor) tweeted this yesterday:
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JA, there is another lone negative comment on that FB discussion, posted 18 hours ago (as of this comment), in case you wanted to get a screenshot before it possibly disappears.
And another comment struck me, where the commenter asked people to ponder what Jesus would do, and that He’d be offering grace and forgiveness…
But I thought that grace and forgiveness was to those who confess their sins (thinking of 1 John). From what I’ve read of MD’s and Kellogg’s words reported from Sunday, it sounds as if MD is confessing that *others* are sinning by their unforgiveness (not himself — he is graciously forgiving everyone, while skillfully shifting all the blame to them).
By the Word itself, there is neither Jesus’ grace nor Jesus’ forgiveness for MD, so long as he continues to harden his heart and remain stiff-necked.
(And, in pondering the question as to how Jesus would respond to MD? Well, I don’t claim to know what He would do in every circumstance. But I remember reading his response to the Pharisees. “Whitewashed tombs…” “Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?”)
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Exactly, refugee, he is blaming the protestors, the victims, anyone who is challenging the idea of Driscoll being on the stage again. Where is the grace extended to those who have been harmed, if they are such a grace-filled church? What about grace extended to those who have differing opinions? They seem to be picking and choosing when to extend “grace.” Frankly, the so-called grace they are offering is not grace, but a free pass.
And when you think about it, it makes all the sense in the world why you give MD a free pass if it means that thousands of former Mars Hill members who are still drinking MD koolaid will find safe haven with Kellogg, and thus, their tithes. It was a brilliant business plan to secure a financial future.
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He may have never met MD before, but he certainly knows him. He’s probably heard him at conferences and read his books. It’s not uncommon for mega churches to invite others to speak at the pulpit – whether they can endorse them as a friend or not, it doesn’t matter. It’s all about image – which runs both ways.
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Picking up on refugee’s comment, shamelessly shaming, guilt tripping, and generally attacking their targets for lack of forgiveness is another favorite tactic of abusive husbands. The tactic has the advantage, when it works, of permitting the husband to continue his abuse of, and power over, his wife/target. If one wishes to understand spiritual abuse, the literature on domestic abuse would seem to be a good place to start.
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it may be noted that wolves are pack animals. Wolves run with wolves.
Ah. Good point, Gary.
I noticed I had misspelled Barnabasintraining’s name. Apologies.
‘Salright. 🙂
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And another comment struck me, where the commenter asked people to ponder what Jesus would do, and that He’d be offering grace and forgiveness…
Being that abusers generally abuse everything, it’s no surprise that they would abuse grace too.
And I had the same thought as you about whitewashed tombs.
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Same thought as refugee…
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Gary W said,
That also describes my sister. She has been verbally abusive of me for many years.
When I recently started calling her out on it (last year), she plays the victim, and/or she gets even more angry and screams even more.
She plays the victim but then yells at me that I play the victim – well, yeah, she victimized me for many years.
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P.S. I forgot to add this. My sister wants to verbally abuse me until the end of time, but she wants me to feel sorry for her and keep forgiving her every time she abuses me, because she feels her life is so tough and stressful.
No. I’ve read too many books that discuss the dynamics of abuse to know better. Nothing I do, or nothing that happens in her life, gives her the right to keep screaming at me, running me down, etc.
If I keep forgiving her each and every time she is verbally abusive – which means to her that she gets to keep abusing me, I do not and should not (in her view) call her out on it and hold her accountable for her abuse – she will never, ever change. She just wants the cycle to continue.
One book I read said that is it exactly. The verbal abuser who is also an anger addict wants a free pass to keep exploding at the people around them. They get really ticked off when or if you start calling them out on it, because they don’t want to stop.
They don’t want to correct their behavior because it is their chosen method for releasing pent up stress when they are angry at life or their boss or whatever. That is definitely my sister.
She gets angry at her boss or her boyfriend, and she takes it out on me and says some very cruel things. I refuse to play that game anymore.
I see similar dynamics with some of these bully preachers or verbally abusive church members.
They feel they have a right to keep screaming at you, and you should just sit there and take it and feel sorry for them, and keep forgiving them (where “forgiveness” means you never, ever hold them accountable, they don’t have to suffer negative consequences for their abuse).
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Well folks, this is going to sound a bit stern, but I wouldn’t even consider Gold Creek a church. What it is I have no idea. Perhaps a variety entertainment show. Therefore, MD getting up on *stage* to talk is quite apropos. Entertainment at its worst.
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“And let it here be noted that men are either to be kindly treated, or utterly crushed, since they can revenge lighter injuries, but not graver.” From “The Prince,” by Niccolò Machiavelli.
From what I have read, it appears that Mark Driscoll, during his tenure as the de facto prince of Mars Hill, was a consummate practitioner of this maxim. Dan Kellogg, pastor/prince of Gold Creek, is promoting Driscoll, protecting him from criticism, and doing what he can to discredit his detractors. Kellogg should not be surprised to learn that Driscoll is playing him as as useful idiot, and as a disposable commodity.
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