Mark Driscoll on Nightline

Mark Driscoll is Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle and founder of the Acts29 Church Planting Network - which I am privileged to be a part of here in Denver.

Before is an interview with Driscoll on Nightline. Enjoy!

Amazing Grace - How Sweet the Sound

- John Newton was born in London July 24, 1725

- He became the servant of a slave trader and was brutally abused

- He became captain of his own ship, and transported slaves

- While he was attempting to steer his ship through a violent storm he exclaimed, “Lord, have mercy upon us.”

- Wrote the following, “Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; ’tis grace has bro’t me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”

Once a man who transported slaves for trade - now a man that God has sovereignly saved. Unreal!

"

My Buying-Coffee-Daily Rant

It's cold...really cold. It's one of those days where I'm actually wondering why we moved here. I'm kidding. I'm very glad that we live in Denver, CO. Although it would be nice to see 70 & sunny at accuweather.com.

Something totally unrelated...I've been reading articles about how Starbucks is going to close down hundreds of stores and laying off about 100 of their staff at their corporate office in Seattle. I'm just wondering how the lines are out the door and a Grande Mocha at $3.40 that Starbucks is not taking over the world.

Right now, I'm at a Starbucks, sipping on my sugar free vanilla double americano that I made from home, observing customer orders. For a few minutes there, I saw a line of customers have orders that exceeded $7.00. That's a lot of money per customer.

I know of friends who attend - notice the word attend - Starbucks daily, even multiple times a day and spend around $4.00 for a cup of coffee - or sweetened coffee.

Now let's add that up for the hardcore coffee drinkers. We'll use a five-day work week to be nice, even though those folks usually buy coffee on the weekend as well.

$4.00 x 5 days = $20.00 per week

$20 x 4 weeks = $80.00 per month

$80 x 12 months = $960 per year

I know some who have spent:

$80 x 52 weeks = $4,160 per year

$4,160 PER YEAR

And that is just for one coffee per day. I knew of a lady who went to Starbucks at least - at least three times a day spending $4.50 each trip for her Venti Carmel Macchiato.

I'm wondering what could be done if that $4,160 could be used differently. Let's just see. I'll cut it by two-thirds and just use $2,773 per year.

- 576 people in Ethiopia, Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Sudan could have clean water to drink thanks to Life Outreach International www.lifetoday.org

- 400 wool blankets can be distributed throughout Downtown Denver every winter so that those who cannot get into shelters can at least have some warmth. Denver's average temp in winter, 17 degrees...brrrr. www.northwestwoolen.com

I think that with Starbucks downsizing it shows that some are wising up and deciding not to get the $5.00 Venti Xtra Carmel, Carmel Frappuccino.

Money is a gift from God - how we spend what God has given us shows us where we put our treasures. I can improve on how to spend my money - but Starbucks seems like such an simple start. A good $300 espresso machine and $5.99/lb espresso (that can make about 80-100 shots of espresso) from Sunflower Market has proven to be a huge money-saver in the end.

Blizzard in Denver

It began to snow this morning when Rebecca and I woke up and hasn't stopped since. After taking Rebecca to work I found myself wondering if I was going to be the next blizzard victim on the side of the road.

Snowfall and the power of weather is a great example of God's great power.

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but g he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?

Matthew 8:23-27

Jesus is able to command even the forces of nature - showing his sovereign control over the natural world. "Marveled" (Gk. thaumazō, “to wonder, be amazed”). The disciples do not fully grasp Jesus' identity and have such a difficult time worshipping the King that is right in front of them.

Below are the snapshot visuals of how great the God we serve really is!

Calling All Perfectionists

by Armando & Rebecca Aguilar

You know who you are: the frantic and determined, the methodical and uncompromising. You run at life full force, never letting up, resolved to get it right, but not just right, perfect. Leaving no stone unturned, no detail unattended, no person off the hook, you are convinced that if managed perfectly, life can turn out just as you planned.

Most of us are not extreme perfectionists, demanding an ultimate utopian existence. It takes a special kind of obsession, perhaps one on speed, to supply the excessive amounts of energy required to attend to every detail of life. Yes, most of us settle for tamer diligence, tempering our control tendencies to a few very specific areas of life: work, relationships, hobbies, religion, etc.

The perfectionist disposition believes: By my own power, intelligence, skills or manipulation, I can perfect all that is under my control.

Whether you are a mild manipulator or a severe compulsionist there is something you need to know: perfection is out of your reach. It is unachievable, not possible, not even feasible. You are ordering an entrée that is not even on the menu!

Only Jesus is perfect. Everything He sets His mind to do, He does with the utmost excellence and satisfaction. From creating this complex universe to living a sinless life to conquering death, He did it all well. He did it all perfectly.

As His followers, having placed our complete faith and trust in his work for us on the cross, we are promised to be like Him someday. One day our transformation will be complete and we will be wholly remade in His image (Romans 8:29). Then, and only then, will we be perfect.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that, (God) has put eternity into mans heart We know that we were made for more than this life. Civilizations throughout history have built traditions and religions on the fear that there is something, someone waiting to meet their spirits after this physical life is over. Unfortunately, perfectionists have lived and died by codes they believed would win them eternity, but really only earned damnation.



Paul poignantly comments, Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect (Philippians 3:12). In humility, Paul admitted that he is a work in progress, pressing toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:14). He knew his dismal condition on this earth fell far short of perfection, but he was not defeated by his state.

God has given mankind an eternal perspective so that we would seek for truth and seek Him. As long as we live according to our fleshly nature in a fallen world, in the midst of a depraved mankind, perfection is impossible. It is only through Christ that we have hope beyond this desperately flawed existence. Death, by God's grace, puts an end to our futile struggle for perfection and finally places utopia within our reach. Instead of attempting to make heaven a place on earth, we should look forward to being released from this confining existence!

Eternity is our only hope. And more than eternity, glorification is our only hope. When Jesus returns for His church, He will make all things right. He will make all things perfect. Gloriously, He will transform the fallen, substandard, and evil into the beautiful, outstanding, and righteous. Heaven will be a place of no tears, no suffering, no dying and no mistakes...but life before heaven will never achieve this heavenly potential. Until we are set free, we must learn to live with less than perfection.

Dear perfectionist, embrace reality. You are not perfect and neither is anyone around you. Let yourself off the hook, and let everyone else off too. Remember Paul's words: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God (II Corinthians 3:5). Transfer your expectation from that which cannot deliver to the only One who can. Know that perfection is waiting for you one day...someday...but not today.