Mars Hill Church has been one of the largest and fastest growing Christian churches in the Seattle, Washington area. It is listed as one of the top 50 influential churches in the United States. Attendance purportedly exceeds 7,000, with more than 24 pastors on staff. The church meets in six locations (Ballard, Shoreline, West Seattle, Lake City, (formerly called the “Wedgwood” Campus), Bellevue (formerly the Eastside Campus, Downtown) and Olympia) with a total of seventeen services each Sunday.

- Wikipedia entry

Note: I would like to make it abundantly clear that the following post is based upon my own opinions, and does not necessarily reflect the position of the SSU.

With great power comes great responsibility, according to Spiderman. I imagine that he would greatly disapprove of Pastor Mark Driscoll, the big name behind Mars Hill. Driscoll has been known to be no stranger to controversy, and I’ve heard a great deal of hateful quotes attributed to him. Mars Hill is growing to the point that it can no longer be ignored, and has been gaining presence around campus with Driscoll’s Vintage Jesus lectures in Kane Hall. I figured that it was high time I hear the man speak for himself.

Mars Hill offers a podcast of Driscoll’s podcasts. I loaded up the most recent sermon, entitled “Special: Spiritual Warfare Pt. 2″ on my trusty Zune, and went out for a jog.

I had to cut my jog short, however. Bigoted, divisive, and hateful statements came pouring out of my headphones faster than I could make mental notes of them, and I knew that I would have to write them down to keep track. Here, then, is a play by play of the prejudiced pontification. Listen along, if you like.

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