Here at Mars Hill Church, we’re kicking off a major effort to raise funds for a number of local ministry needs and our global effort to see as many churches and disciples of Jesus as possible.

Why? Because God has been generous to us.

As we’ve learned in the beginning of Luke’s Gospel, there’s a biblical pattern of God’s goodness and our response (see Mary’s song in Luke 1:46–55 and Zechariah’s prophecy in Luke 1:67–79):

• Historical – God acts in space and time, and people reflect on what he has done.
• Theological – God’s actions reveal his character to us. As we reflect on what God has done and what he has said about himself, we learn more about him.
• Biographical – What we learn about God changes how we live.
• Doxological – God’s actions, who he is, and how he has changed our lives lead us to respond in worship.

We’ve modeled the Generous Campaign after this pattern, and so as we begin I’d like to reflect on the incredible ways God has blessed Mars Hill Church, Acts 29, and the Resurgence in 2009.

Baptisms

As a church we baptized over 575 people in 2009. We saw fathers baptizing their sons and daughters, husbands baptizing their wives, drug dealers leaving lives of crime for Jesus, victims of abuse finding redemption in Christ, and men abandoning prolonged adolescence in order to follow Jesus.

New Campuses

We launched two new campuses and one new service location in September. With the addition of campuses in Federal Way and Albuquerque, and a new gathering at the University of Washington, what started in a living room with a small group of people has grown to nine campuses in two states.

Free Resources

Pastor Mark’s sermons were downloaded 4.4 million times in the last year. Every day we receive encouraging emails from around the globe—Australia, the UK, Africa, Brazil, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles almost daily. Jesus has used the internet to distribute the Bible preaching we enjoy every Sunday to millions of people worldwide.

New Church Plants

The Acts 29 Church Planting Network is averaging one church plant per week. God has been gracious to bring great men and leaders to the network to further its work. We’ve now planted almost 300 churches around the globe.

Acts 29 Boot Camps

We’ve trained thousands of pastors throughout America and beyond our borders, thanks to the help of Acts 29 and many generous churches within the network. Some of our Mars Hill pastors even got into the mix and helped train pastors in Ecuador.

Re:Train

This year marks the official start to our missional leadership school. An inaugural class of 75 men from around the country have been coming to learn from a top-notch faculty: Bruce Ware, John Piper, Gregg Allison, Bill Clem, Sam Storms, Rick Melson, Ed Stetzer, and Mark Driscoll. Each of the 75 men represents future church planters, pastors, and leaders. The global Church is important to us, and we want to train and raise up as many men as possible for the difficult task ahead.

Re:Lit & Re:Sound

This past year we’ve published a diverse batch of media, including the books Vintage Church and Religion Saves, the e-books Porn-Again Christian and Pastor Dad, and the Rain City Hymnal. God has blessed us with great ministry partners, editors, graphic designers, and musicians that we’re thankful to have at Mars Hill.

All of this is in addition to hundreds of marriages, new babies, restored relationships, and the thousands of little stories that we don’t even hear about.

We serve a hugely generous and wholly gracious God. As I look out over the scope and depth of what God has done and is doing, I can’t help but be completely humbled, thankful, and moved to worship. I hope you are too.

Find Pastor Jamie on Facebook and Twitter.

One way you can be generous to the Resurgence is by doing your Christmas shopping at Amazon through our Recommended Reading page.

Mars Hill Global

Serving the church and spreading the gospel. Help support this effort by giving to the Global Fund. More info at MarsHillGlobal.com.



Not to be dramatic, but a little dramatic. This is the overwhelming feeling I have when I’ve been working all day, had a few hours to connect with my family in the evening, and am now sitting at my desk reading a 480-page pdf document (book) on the church, or slugging away at a 25-page paper till the wee hours. Amazing stuff, but the feeling is a bit overwhelming as the proverbial Re:Train is barreling down the tracks, and I’m stuck in the middle, staring at the oncoming lights and deafened by the blaring horn. How do I escape the wrath?



Re:Train has been a significant investment of time and energy, but it’s an investment that has been extremely beneficial and filled with the grace of God. This weekend was another testament to that as Dr. Gregg Allison lectured and answered questions for two days regarding ecclesiology and the missional church.  

An ecclesiological man among boys

His wisdom, humility and love for the church was inspiring. He is a seasoned pastor, well-studied theologian, faithful husband, father and grandfather, elder in an Acts 29 church, and his daughter and son-in-law attend Mars Hill Bellevue. After a few moments with the Allisons, my wife said, “Wow, that’s the type of couple everyone wants in their church. Godly, stable, wise, humble, and encouraging.” As Pastor Tim Smith put it on Twitter, “Gregg Allision is an ecclesiological man among boys.”  Here are a few takeaways that have left me pondering further.



These are a few reflections from Re:Train with Dr. Allison. The full impact of his teaching and friendship will have a long and sustained impact on the church planting taking place through Mars Hill and Acts 29.


1. Ask good questions before you leave your church.


Dr. Allison loves the local church, and he did a good job of distinguishing between true and false churches as well as less pure and more pure churches among those that are true. He had some good words and questions to ask yourself before moving from one true church to another:

1. Have I expended all of my opportunities to effect change in this church?
2. Will continued participation in this church exert a negative impact on my relationship with and worship of God, my ministry for Jesus Christ, the use of my spiritual gifts, etc.?
3. Do I have to compromise too much—essential doctrines and practices, a lifestyle in accordance with biblical values and principles—in order to remain in this church?
4. Do I have a legitimate reason for leaving?  In a culture where church-hopping and shopping is the norm, I felt these were timely words for Christians to ask themselves before leaving their church so that we don’t flippantly move on from a place God may want us to persevere in.

2. Have something in your life you can finish.


Pastors and those in ministry need to have some outlet in their life that allows them to finish something.  Ministry is never finished, and the pile of work continually grows. Paul told Titus to “put what remained into order” (Titus 1:5).  Based on my experience, I don’t think Titus ever finished getting everything in order.  As he appointed elders, it meant more training and leadership; as new people met Jesus, it meant more teaching and discipleship; as the church grew, it meant new systems and structures.  The church is alive and therefore never finished.

This is why Dr. Allison recommended having something you can finish.  It might be writing a book, refinishing your basement, or some other outlet for bringing something to full completion so that you can enjoy the work and rest upon its completion.  He wasn’t legalistic about it, and didn’t attempt to prooftext any verses to support this position--it was just a piece of pastoral advice from a seasoned pastor.


3. Fight for unity.


The church begins at a place of unity.  In Ephesians 4:3, Paul says, “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  Wow, the church is unified because of the Spirit’s work, yet our sins of pride, envy, gossip, jealousy, dissention, and the like are actively working to destroy the unity of the Church.

Dr. Allison pointed out from Ephesians 4:2 that unity is maintained and achieved through the attitudes of gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love.  He challenged all of us to dig deep into the places where we and our churches are not unified and accurately diagnose the root issue, which is nearly always sin of some sort.  One of his closing lines on this topic was profound: “The will to maintain unity can overcome significant differences.”



For more from Dr. Allison, read his posts on Missional Ecclesiology on the Resurgence.



You can follow Pastor Jamie on Twitter at twitter.com/jamiemunson.

Total Church

Tim Chester and Steve Timmis present a vision for churches centered on gospel community. Find out more.

Church leadership is complicated. It must start with deference to Jesus as the Chief Shepherd and ultimate head of the body (Eph 5:23). He’s in charge, and we need to submit our plans and leadership to him.

Human Leadership: Elders

In addition, the Holy Spirit appoints human overseers who must follow Jesus’ leading (Acts 20:28). The highest office of leadership in a church is that of elder (1 Tim 3:1–7).

The elders must fulfill a wide range of responsibilities and address a variety of issues which grow in complexity as a church grows in size. The law of the land, for example, is extraordinarily complicated for large churches, and the elders must ensure that operations remain in compliance (2 Cor 8:20–21).

A Trinity of Complexity

The complexity must be dealt with in order to ensure a healthy and fruitful church. Therefore, the elders must organize in order to properly govern, manage, and shepherd the church as an organization and as a people. Every church needs these three functions to develop in concert:

• Govern: An overseeing body must ensure that proper systems and controls are in place to promote wise stewardship of all the resources entrusted to the organization’s care. Resources include the mission, leaders, finances, and people.
• Manage: Delegated leadership is responsible for day-to-day decision-making and operations oversight.
• Shepherd: Pastoral care includes preaching, teaching, counseling, and discipling the people of the church.

Case in Point

Here is how this plays out at Mars Hill: our Board of Directors is responsible for the governance of the church; our executive elders, department heads, and campus pastors are responsible for the management of different components of the church; and our shepherding is led by the campus pastors and their elder teams.

Specialized

As a church organization grows, leaders become more and more specialized. Each elder at Mars Hill has a general obligation to govern, manage, and shepherd, but typically specializes in one of these three areas (Rom 12:4).

Our aim as church leaders is to build an organization under the authority of Jesus and his Word, governed diligently, managed faithfully, and shepherded with great care for its people.

Jamie Munson is Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church. Find him on Twitter and Facebook:

• twitter.com/jamiemunson
• facebook.com/jamiemunson

Re:Train

We are launching The Resurgence Training Center (Re:Train) to prepare leaders for ministry locally and around the world. Additional details and downloadable application form here.

I was born again in the Disneyland of churches.

It hasn’t been all roller coasters, cotton candy, and laughter, but I feel like I’ve experienced a lifetime of grace in the 12 years since I became a Christian at Mars Hill. This church is where I was baptized, where I met my wife, where we’re raising our four kids, and where I’ve served on staff for ten years (read my story on the Mars Hill Blog).

My Job: Lead Pastor

Today, I serve as the Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church. That may not seem readily apparent to those of you that follow our church and the ministry of Mark Driscoll, so allow me to explain.

Two years ago, after working on staff for many years, I took on the responsibility of leading Mars Hill: day-to-day operations, staff oversight, casting vision, organizational strategy, etc. This change allowed Pastor Mark to focus the majority of his time using his leadership and communication gifts that we all benefit from.

Obviously, Mark still serves as a significant influencer of Mars Hill—and Acts 29 and The Resurgence. One of the things I admire most about Mark is that he really isn’t motivated by titles and positions but rather using his influence to glorify Jesus for as much Gospel fruit as possible.

5 Men, 3 Movements

I love my job. I get to work with some of the best men I’ve ever met: the Mars Hill Executive Elders. Together, the five of us lead, oversee, and shepherd everything we’re doing:

• Mark Driscoll
• Scott Thomas, Acts 29 Network Director
• Rick Melson, MHC Campus Network Director & Re:Train Director
• Tim Beltz, Executive Pastor

The Executive Elder team is where the leadership of three unique yet related movements converge:

• Mars Hill Church: Starting new campuses, providing free resources, and serving as the local church.
• Acts 29 Network: Starting new churches and providing brotherhood for pastors around the world.
• The Resurgence: Training leaders, providing resources and events, and publishing books and music for the benefit of the greater church.

Mars Hill Global

Each of these entities is a work of God in its own right, and each has a unique, bold vision. So how does Mars Hill Global fit in?

We unveiled Mars Hill Global on Easter Sunday this year, and the new website features the logos of Mars Hill Church, Acts 29, and Resurgence.

Mars Hill Global is a platform to serve these three movements by sharing stories of Jesus' work and generating support to build and continue the collective effort. We want to use the influence and favor that God has given us to bless as many others as possible.

Pride Must Die

Our pride would like to take credit for the fruit we enjoy, but we don’t deserve any acclaim. Jesus is the head of the church (1 Peter 5:4), Jesus changes lives (Eph. 2:8), and Jesus causes the church to grow (Matt. 16:18). “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16).

This is Jesus’ work, and we gladly share in it with the rest of his body.

Find Pastor Jamie on Facebook and Twitter.