links for the weekend: Joe Hisaishi to be composer in residence at Philadelphia Orchestra, Canon Press bid 10 m for Christianity Today, and Mere Orthodoxy runs a piece saying Doug Wilson is not a prophet (duh)

Fan of Miyazaki films that I am, this headline caught my eye. Joe Hisaishi has been named composer in residence at the Philadelphia Orchestra for its 2026-2027 season

https://moto-perpetuo.com/joe-hisaishi-philadelphia-orchestra-composer-in-residence/

Ethan Hein on AI slop and musical creativity, relying on AI can pre-empt the creative processes people take up to crank out a product, the processes are where the joy of music-making has always been

https://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2025/ai-slop-and-musical-creativity/

... I don’t think the product matters all that much in creativity, especially not at the student level. Creativity is a practice, a process, an experience. Prompt-based generation skips the entire process. That’s why it’s so poisonous for education.

...

What Ethan has written is longer and more complex than my headline's paraphrase.  I urge you to go read the whole thing.  My take-away, such as it is, is that Ethan's concern is that when people draw upon artificial intelligence prompts they are using a shortcut to generate a product when musical activity is about the process and the physical and social and cognitive disciplines these processes encourage and refine.  

Robert Morris has pled guilty so why didn't Mark "I see things" Driscoll see those things about his friend? A new context for one of Driscoll's most controversial claims, reviewing how Morris' role in Driscoll''s departure from Mars Hill has vanished in newer accounts

Robert Morris has pled guilty to charges made against him.

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/10/02/robert-morris-texas-megachurch-child-sex-abuse-guilty-plea/86486382007/

...

 

Morris, 64, entered guilty pleas to five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child in an Osage County courtroom. He will serve six months in the Osage County jail and then be on probation for nine years and six months, according to a plea agreement outlined by Oklahoma Attorney General Getner Drummond in a news release.

...

 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/02/us/robert-morris-texas-megachurch-guilty-plea

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/robert-morris-texas-megachurch-pastor-surrender-oklahoma-child-sexual-abuse-charges/

As Robert Morris pleaded guilty to five felony counts of child sexual abuse on Thursday, Clemishire told him, "Even if you never see the truth, the state of Oklahoma does and has finally done what should have been done decades ago — brought you to justice. For that I am deeply grateful."

...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/robert-morris-guilty-child-sexual-abuse-texas-megachurch-pastor-rcna234748

...

After decades of roadblocks, a family friend encouraged Clemishire to go public last year. She shared her story with The Wartburg Watch, a blog focused on exposing stories of abuse in churches.

 

After Morris resigned, the Oklahoma attorney general’s office opened an investigation. In March 2025, a multicounty grand jury indicted him on the five felony counts, charging that he had abused Clemishire from 1982 to 1985. Prosecutors argued that Oklahoma law allowed them to pursue the case despite the passage of decades, pointing to a frontier-era provision that pauses the clock on the statute of limitations when a defendant moves out of state.

 

At his first court appearance in May, Morris pleaded not guilty and was released on a $50,000 bond. Last month, he waived his preliminary hearing, a signal that his defense team and prosecutors were engaged in plea negotiations. Those talks culminated Thursday with Morris’ guilty plea.

...

https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/gateway-church-robert-morris-guilty-child-sex-abuse-cindy-clemishire/

Pawhuska, Oklahoma (AP) — The founder of a Texas megachurch who resigned last year after a woman in Oklahoma accused the pastor of sexually abusing her in the 1980s pleaded guilty Thursday to five counts of lewd and indecent acts with a child, authorities said.

 

Robert Preston Morris, 64, entered the pleas before a judge in Oklahoma’s Osage County as part of a plea agreement, according to the state attorney general’s office.

 

This plea is significant for reasons I will expand upon at length, drawing upon work that I and Warren Throckmorton have done from roughly eleven to ten years ago. It will take some time to chart the trajectory of what Mark Driscoll said about the reasons for his resignation from Mars Hill in 2014 and who was given (and took) credit for conferring with him about the need to step away from Mars Hill.

https://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2015/07/six-available-accounts-of-mark-driscoll.html

 

THE RESIGNATION LETTER ITSELF, ON GODLY MEN AND WOMEN ACROSS THE COUNTRY SOUGHT FOR COUNSEL

https://religionnews.com/2014/10/15/exclusive-mark-driscolls-resignation-letter-to-mars-hill-church/

http://www.religionnews.com/?p=109053

October 14, 2014

Michael Van Skaik

Chairman, Board of Advisors and Accountability

Mars Hill Church

Dear Michael:

By God’s grace I have pastored Mars Hill Church for 18 years. Today, also by God’s grace, and with the full support of my wife Grace, I resign my position as a pastor and elder of Mars Hill. I do so with profound sadness, but also with complete peace.

 

On August 24^th I announced to our Mars Hill family of churches that I had requested a leave of absence from the pulpit and the office for a minimum of six weeks while a committee of elders conducted a formal review of charges made against me by various people in recent times. Last week our Board of Overseers met for an extended period of time with Grace and me, thereby concluding the formal review of charges against me. I want to thank you for assuring Grace and me that last Saturday that I had not disqualified myself from ministry.

 

You have shared with us that this committee spent more than 1,000 hours reviewing documents and interviewing some of those who had presented charges against me. You have also shared with me that many of those making charges against me declined to meet with you or participate in the review process at all. Consequently, those conducting the review of charges against me began to interview people who had not even been a party to the charges.

 

I readily acknowledge I am an imperfect messenger of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are many things I have confessed and repented of, privately and publicly, as you are well aware. Specifically, I have confessed to past pride, anger and a domineering spirit. As I shared with our church in August, “God has broken me many times in recent years by showing me where I have fallen short, and while my journey, at age 43, is far from over, I believe He has brought me a long way from some days I am not very proud of, and is making me more like Him every day.”

 

Prior to and during this process there have been no charges of criminal activity, immorality or heresy, any of which could clearly be grounds for disqualification from pastoral ministry. Other issues, such as aspects of my personality and leadership style, have proven to be divisive within the Mars Hill context, and I do not want to be the source of anything that might detract from our church’s mission to lead people to a personal and growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

That is why, after seeking the face and will of God, and seeking godly counsel from men and women across the country, we have concluded it would be best for the health of our family, and for the Mars Hill family, that we step aside from further ministry at the church we helped launch in 1996. I will gladly work with you in the coming days on any details related to our separation. [emphasis added]

 

Recent months have proven unhealthy for our family—even physically unsafe at times—and we believe the time has now come for the elders to choose new pastoral leadership for Mars Hill. Grace and I pledge our full support in this process and will join you in praying for God’s best for this, His church, in the days and years ahead. Grace and I would also covet your prayers for us as we seek God’s will for the next chapter of our lives. Therefore, consider this written notice of my voluntary termination of employment.

Finally, it would be my hope to convey to the wonderful members of the Mars Hill family how deeply my family and I love them, thank them, and point them to their Senior Pastor Jesus Christ who has always been only good to us.

Sincerely,

Pastor Mark Driscoll

 

At the time it was not clear who the godly counsel was, who the men and women across the country were.

 

THE BOARD OF OVERSEERS ACCOUNT

On October 15, 2014 ... Mars Hill issued the following statement.

http://web.archive.org/web/20141016105922/https://marshill.com/2014/10/15/pastor-mark-driscolls-resignation
Pastor Mark Driscoll's Resignation
By: Mars Hill Church
Posted: Oct 15, 2014

On Tuesday, October 14, Pastor Mark Driscoll submitted his resignation as an elder and lead pastor of Mars Hill Church. The Board of Overseers has accepted that resignation [emphasis added] and is moving forward with planning for pastoral transition, recognizing the challenge of such a task in a church that has only known one pastor since its founding. We ask for prayer for the journey ahead.

As is well known, inside and outside of Mars Hill, Pastor Mark has been on a leave of absence for nearly two months while a group of elders investigated a series of formal charges brought against him. This investigation had only recently been concluded, following some 1,000 hours of research, interviewing more than 50 people and preparing 200 pages of information. This process was conducted in accordance with our church Bylaws and with Pastor Mark’s support and cooperation.
While a group of seven elders plus one member of the Board of Overseers was charged with conducting this investigation, the full Board of Overseers is charged with reaching any conclusions and issuing any findings.
...
Finally, Mark Driscoll was not asked to resign; indeed, we were surprised to receive his resignation letter. [emphasis added] While he can speak to his decision as he chooses, we would point to just two things from his letter. He noted that he had concluded “it would be best for the health of our family, and for the Mars Hill family, that we step aside from further ministry at the church.” Secondly, he specifically wanted to convey “to the wonderful members of the Mars Hill family, how deeply my family and I love them, thank them, and point them to their Senior Pastor, Jesus Christ, who has always been only good to us.”

Mars Hill Board of Overseers
Michael Van Skaik
Larry Osborne
Jon Phelps
Matt Rogers

Matt Rogers was, based on the publicly available information, the member of the Board of Overseers who was simultaneously on the Board of Elders. 

It’s worth revisiting that Mark Driscoll’s resignation was a surprise to the board.  So, whoever counseled Mark and Grace Driscoll as alluded to in the resignation letter of October 14, 2014 those godly men and women were neither on the Board of Advisors and Accountability, no the Board of Overseers, nor the investigating Board of Elders.  In fact, an announcement issued at Mars Hill October 19 seems to indicate that by resigning Mark Driscoll chose to not participate in the restoration plan that was considered necessary for his return to formal ministry at Mars Hill.


THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT DRISCOLL HAD GRIVED THE BoE and BoO BY RESIGNING RATHER THAN SUBMIT TO RESTORATION PLAN

https://wthrockmorton.com/2014/10/19/mars-hill-church-board-of-elders-mark-driscoll-resigned-instead-of-enter-restoration-plan-to-deal/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/2014/10/19/mars-hill-church-board-of-elders-mark-driscoll-resigned-instead-of-enter-restoration-plan-to-deal/
http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/files/2014/10/Alex-Ghioni-Announcement.m4a

starting about 3:45

The investigation of formal charges against Mark Driscoll has revealed patterns of persistent sin in the three areas disclosed in the previous letter by the Board of Overseers. In I Tim 5:20, it requires that an elder be rebuked for persistent sin. Our intention was to do this while providing a plan for his eventual restoration to leadership. The Board of Elders in agreement with the Board of Overseers are grieved, deeply grieved, that any process like that was lost to us when Mark Driscoll resigned in position and left the church. [emphasis added] Now is the time to move on and consider what God is calling us to next as a church as we participate in Jesus’ mission to make disciples in His name. Today begins a new chapter in the history of our church which has proceeded in one direction under one leadership for many years now, but I want you to understand this, God is our Father. That does not change. Jesus is the chief shepherd of the church and that has not changed.

So if it was no one inside of Mars Hill whose counsel prompted Mark and Grace Driscoll to resign in advance of participating in a restoration plan, has anyone got any ideas who DID say something?

According to Robert Morris, `twas he who conferred with Mark Driscoll that it would be wise if he stepped away from ministry.

ROBERT MORRIS EXPLAINS ON 10-20-2014 THAT HE AND MARK DRISCOLL AGREED HE SHOULD STEP DOWN

 

https://wthrockmorton.com/2014/10/20/mark-driscoll-rocks-the-gateway-conference/

https://wthrockmorton.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Transcript-Robert-Morris-Mark-Driscoll.pdf

http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/files/2014/10/Transcript-Robert-Morris-Mark-Driscoll.pdf

Transcript of Robert Morris and Mark Driscoll from the Gateway Leadership + Worship Conference
on the evening of Monday, October 20, 2014, as broadcast live via DayStar Television:
Robert Morris: Uh, it was publicized that we cancelled him; that’s not true, we did not cancel. I’m speaking of Mark Driscoll. We did not cancel him. He and I decided together uh that he was going to step out of ministry for a season and get some healing. [emphasis added]

Robert Morris’ account could not have been clearer. He said that he and Mark Driscoll, together, agreed that Driscoll was going to step out of ministry for a season and get some healing.

 

By 2015 the account had supplemental revelation

THRIVE 2015 PERFORMANCE, MARK DRISCOLL CLAIMS GOD RELEASED HIM AND GRACE DRISCOLL FROM RESPONSIBILITY TO MINISTRY
http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2015/05/courtesy-throckmorton-thrive-transcript.html

https://wthrockmorton.com/2015/05/13/transcript-of-mark-driscolls-speech-at-the-thrive-leadership-conference-2015/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/2015/05/13/transcript-of-mark-driscolls-speech-at-the-thrive-leadership-conference-2015/
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wYBTnRpPHRb8N1nqtgP2FcHcdnBeMIqCYy2SyQCEWBg/edit

 

Transcript | Mark Driscoll | Thrive 2015-05-01
See Links to Timestamps at the end of this doc. [these omitted here]
...

[6:34]
It finally came to the point where God released my wife and I from our responsibility to ministry. He spoke to us audibly. It wasn’t what we were expecting. It wasn’t what we had agreed to. We were both pretty shocked and the announcement was going to come out that week. [emphasis added] And, uh, our server, our e-mail and things apparently were hacked and there was no way to get anything done without it being a public situation. And so the Board, which are good, godly people in authority, which I appreciate -- they released a statement earlier than we were anticipating, so um, but that meant, and I agree with that decision, I’m not critical of it.  But that meant that I hadn’t told my kids that I had resigned and they were in school, taking test, it was a test week, …. we threw some stuff in a bag and ran to school to grab the kids and within minutes it was on TV, I think it was on CNN.  [emphasis added]We pulled the kids out of school, and they already knew because of social media -- media moves so fast.  So we told them they couldn’t go back to the house for a few days so we jumped in the car and went to a hotel and it was just kind of a emotionally wrecked.  We’d served in that city for 20 years.  Founded that church in our living room. And served it for 18 years.  (loud applause) Baptized somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 people. (audible amens from crowd).
[8:13]
So, we’re sitting with the kids explaining to them that dad had resigned and that we were going to continue forward and that God had released us very clearly.  And my middle son -- he is really the pastor’s heart of the family, he’s a shepherd -- his first question, I just lost it, he said “Who’s going to care for the people?” We stayed there for a few days. Drove them into school for their tests. I went home and checked the security footage and yeah, there was a lot of people at our house taking photos.  It was a good thing we weren’t there.  We finally came home.

In the Thrive account the board released the resignation letter statement sooner than anticipated.  Driscoll emphasized that the trouble the swift release of the October 14, 2014 resignation letter caused was that Mark and Grace Driscoll had not yet told the Driscoll kids Mark had resigned and the kids were in school. 

 

The fuller nature of the supplemental revelation was clarified in an interview Mark and Grace Driscoll had with Brian Houston of Hillsong.

BRIAN HOUSTON INTERVIEW SUMMER 2015, MARK DRISCOLL CLAIMS HE HEARD "A TRAP HAS BEEN SET", RESIGNS AFTER SAYING HE AGREED TO RESTORATION PLAN
https://wthrockmorton.com/2015/07/29/brian-houston-publishes-interview-with-mark-and-grace-driscoll/

 

https://wthrockmorton.com/2015/06/29/hillsongs-brian-houston-interviewed-mark-and-grace-driscoll-after-all/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/2015/06/29/hillsongs-brian-houston-interviewed-mark-and-grace-driscoll-after-all/
http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/files/2015/06/DriscollHillsong.mp4

on the resignation letter, this is a transcript of the audio, though thanks to coughing people and garbled voices and murmurs it's not always easy to make out every last little syllable. There may be some inaccuracies but the audio link is available.  Transcription is not necessarily one of Wenatchee The Hatchet's great gifts.

39.45
I never got to say good-bye to the church and the people and so what went public was actually the resignation letter that went to the legal governing board that was in authority over me and so, uh, i uh, I know under the circumstances there wasn't a way to do that that would have been, uh, clean or easy. I don't have any criticism of the board. I think that, for the people, that there wasn't closure and I didn't, we didn't get to say anything.

And we didn't expect to resign. I met with the board. There was a whole list of things that were charged by current and former leaders and there was an internal governance struggle and threats of legal action that it got very complicated. And a lot of it was anonymous through the internet so you don't know who is saying or doing what. And so I invited the board to do a full examination, interview anybody, anything, and we woud submit to whatever verdict that they determined.
... When I think about eight weeks we met Friday and Saturday, October 10 and 11. I remember because the 11th was my birthday and so Grace and I were present with the board and they said: "We see in your history of leadership, less in more recent years but particularly in the past, pride, anger and a domineering leadership style." That would be the exact words they used.  "We don't see anything disqualifying. These are areas we want you to grow. We want you to leadership at the
church soon." They wanted to do some clean up internally. "We want you back on January 4 in the pulpit, give you time to heal, things to cool down, and for some changes to be made."

We agreed to that. I sent in a go-forward plan and then we went home to have birthday cake with the kids. I think it was on Monday night. I was in the bedroom. Grace was in the living room. And so we told the board and told the kids, you know, we come back and ["will do"? garbled] preaching and try and love and serve and, and fix what was a struggling church and God had provided a way for us to do that as volunteers. And so our plan was to come back as volunteers.

42:10
And then on that Monday night I was in the bedroom, Grace was in the living room and he spoke to me and he spoke to her in a supernatural way that neither of anticipated or expected. Ah, and so Grace walked in and she said, "I feel like the Lord just spoke to me and said what we're supposed to do." and I said "I feel like the Lord spoke to me and said what we're supposed to do." It's not what we wanted; it's not what we agreed to; it's not what we've planned for. And so I asked her, "Well, what did the Lord say to you?" cuz I didn't wanna influence and she said, uh, she said we're [Grace Driscoll speaks but it's low and indistinct, Driscoll pauses a moment and is urged to continue by Houston] "The Lord revealed to me that , you know, a trap has been set, there's, there's no way, chance we can return to leadership" and I didn't know what that meant or what was going on at the time.  And I'm, I said, [garbled] "We need to resign". So this is not what we anticipated
and a lot of people've thought, you know, "maybe he's another plan" but we didn't. We didn't know what we were doing.

And Grace fell to the floor and she was just sobbing uncontrollably and I'd never seen my wife like that. She was devastated. So we prayed and slept on it and decided we would make sure we got this right. Talked to pastors, those that we trust and sent in our resignation then on, it would have been Tuesday. ...

 

While this is not an attempt to provide a comprehensive list of citations of accounts about the resignation I am trying to be thorough.  This next account references a pastor but doesn’t name them.

 

https://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2023/01/an-apparent-account-of-mark-driscolls.html

 

Pray Like Jesus: Learn to Pray to God as Father

Mark Driscoll and Ashley Chase

Copyright © 2021 by Mark Driscoll and Ashley Chase

Charisma House

ISBN 978-1-62999-926-5

ISBN 978-1-62999-927-2 (ebook)

 

Before I (Mark) married Grace, I prayed a lot. She did the same. We also asked our Christian friends and family to join us. Since we were young, we did not want simply to ask God to bless our plan, but we wanted to ask God to give us His plan. Are you getting married? Sort that out with God first. Whom you marry is the second-most important decision you will ever make after whom you will worship. The same is true of any major life decision. One of our pastors, who has taught us a lot, walked with us through the biggest decision-making season of our life as a married couple. We took months to pray and asked others to pray with us and for us. We wanted God to tell us whether we should stay in a ministry, home, and city that we’d been serving for a few decades or if we should transition into a completely unknown future in faith.

 

After months of prayer God spoke to us both audibly at the same time. Grace was in the kitchen, and I was in the bed-room on the opposite end of our home. Grace came running in the bedroom to tell me that God had spoken to her, and stunned, I told her that at the same moment He spoke to her, he also spoke to me. He told us both we were “released”.

 

This word from the Lord led to the biggest faith step of our lives as we did not know what was next but knew that a season of our life had ended and we needed to step out together, in faith. In submission to the pastoral authority over us, we asked our overseers whether they agreed this was a word from God. They confirmed what God said.

 

Without months of praying together and God supernaturally answering this prayer, we would have been divided, and, as Jesus taught, our household would have fallen apart. Thankfully, because of prayer, we were united and able to lead our five kids through an incredibly painful and difficult time. We are now in the holiest, happiest, and healthiest season of our lives, doing ministry together because God heard and answered our prayers.   Pages 50-51

 

Based on previous accounts the most that can be said of the pastor is that Robert Morris could have been one of any number of possibilities.  Just because Morris took credit for the idea of Mark Driscoll’s resignation in conference with him doesn’t mean Driscoll and his wife weren’t getting advice from others. 

 

Still, of note regarding Pray Like Jesus is who wrote endorsement blurbs.  The first three were written by Jimmy Evans, Robert Morris, and Larry Osborne.  The Morris endorsement reads as follows:

 

Prayer is one of the most crucial elements to us, as children of God, walking in an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father. And Jesus is our ultimate example of what real prayer looks like and how it brings us closer to the Father. That’s why I’m so excited about Pray Like Jesus, a new book written by my good friend Mark Driscoll and his daughter Ashley Chase. Coming from different upbringings, they each offer their own unique perspective on prayer and how it’s a simple, yet powerful, way to talk and connect with God.

Robert Morris

Senior Pastor, Gateway Church

Best-selling author of, The Blessed Life, Beyond Blessed, and Take the Day Off

 

Robert Morris wrote an endorsement blurb with Debbie Morris for

 

Win Your War: Fight in the Realm You Don't See for Freedom in the One You Do 
Mark and Grace Driscoll 
Charisma House (2019) 
ISBNs 9781629996257 and  9781629996264

 

We’re in an all-our war with an enemy who wants to destroy us. Whenever we’re being attacked, it’s important to remember that we don’t wage war against flesh and blood—we’re in a spiritual battle. That’s why we’re so glad our dear friends Mark and Grace Driscoll have written Win Your War, a book that looks at spiritual warfare through the eyes of a married couple. In it they help you see the practical and biblical nature of spiritual warfare in your relationship with God, self, others, and the church. If you want to better understand how to access the power of the Holy Spirit to defeat the enemy, we encourage you to read this book.

Robert and Debbie Morris

Founding Lead Senior Pastor and Executive Women’s Pastor, Gateway Church

Best-selling author, The Blessed Life, Frequency, and Beyond Blessed

 

And a Foreward for the 2018 book

 

Spirit-Filled Jesus

Mark Driscoll

Published by Charisma House

Copyright © 2018 by Mark Driscoll

ISBN 9781629995229 (hardcover)

ISBN 9781629995236 (ebook)

LCCN 2018029899 (print)

LCCN 2018034467 (ebook)

 

On page xvii Morris explained:

Five years ago I received a phone call from Mark. He called to tell me about some of the pastors from his church who had just attended Gateway Conference, our church’s annual conference for pastors and ministry leaders. …

 

Some months later my wife, Debbie, and I had the privilege of meeting Mark and his wife, Grace, and getting to know them. I already thought highly of Mark from our phone conversations, but now that he and Grace were in our home, sitting down and talking with us, I was even more impressed. It was evident they were the real deal. Now, years later, Debbie and I consider them to be close personal friends, and we love them dearly.

 

I am honored to walk with Mark as a friend and a co-laborer in the kingdom. I also have the privilege of serving as one of the overseers of The Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he is the founding pastor. …

asfasf

 

From about 2022 onward Mark Driscoll’s books tended to be self-published and he no longer sought endorsements. Morris was conspicuously endorsing the Charisma House era publications of Mark (and Grace) Driscoll. As the years rolled on the account of Mark Driscoll’s departure from Mars Hill became more schematic and frontloaded how eagerly supportive the board was of his decision to leave even though Driscoll himself began to describe the decision as abrupt and even, implicitly, impulsive more than as the result of months of prayer.

 

By 2023 the account of Mark Driscoll and family leaving Mars Hill had been transformed into “a series of nodal events” in a 21-day family systems journey, overtly invoking the work of Murray Bowen:

Leave & Cleave: A 21-Day Family Systems Journey

Mark Driscoll

(c) 2023 by Mark Driscoll

ISBN: 979-8-9894167-1-4 (paperback)

ISBN: 979-8-9894167-2-1 (ebook)

 

As high school graduation approached for our oldest daughter, Ashley, our family endured a series of nodal events that caused us to leave our church home, schools, sports teams, friends, and extended family to move half-way across the country to start over in every way without any job, house, church, family, or close friends. Ashley was an outstanding student and leader but did not know where she should apply to college because we had not yet decided where we would be moving. She and I both (along with my wife) fasted and prayed, and the Lord burdened her to go out of country in Costa Rica for half a year to heal up, spend time in the Word and with the Lord, and wait to see where we moved and possibly attend college nearby.  The thought of sending our daughter to another country where we could not have regular access to her through technology, to a place we had never been, with people we had never met, was stressful. However, Grace and I believed she heard from the Lord and agreed to fund and support her decision. Dropping her off at the airport, and sitting in the car to pray through tears, it was a clear moment of differentiation and one of the greatest seasons of her life. Her deep faith only deepened, and she was able to get offline, out of the crazy media drama our family was enduring, enjoy traveling, study the Bible, pray a lot, and work on her Spanish. I deeply wanted to over parent and not send my daughter to another country. My fear was that she might fall in love, marry, and never return. Had we opposed that season of differentiation, it is quite possible she would have cut us off altogether. Instead, she's happily married and has our cute grandson we love holding, especially at church.

page 41

 

Here in 2025 Mark Driscoll has, finally, mentioned Mars Hill Church by name in a preface to his recent self-published book Everything is Meaningless: Life Lessons from Ecclesiastes (RealFaith Ministries, 2025)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0FJGHV3L8/

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0FJGHV3L8

https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Meaningless-Life-Lessons-Ecclesiastes/dp/196622320X/

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 196622320X

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1966223207Publication Date 09/01/2025

Page 1

PREFACE ABOUT THE SUMMER OF 2015

In the summer of 2015, my wife and our five kids moved from Seattle, Washington to Phoenix, Arizona. After years of prolonged battles in ministry, God spoke audibly to my wife and me in different ends of our home at the same time in the fall of 2014. Grace came running into the bedroom and looked overwhelmed. She blurted out something like, "God spoke to me!" I said something like, "He just spoke to me as well. What did He tell you?" She said, "Released ... He said we are released! I told her something like, "He said to me a trap has been set, you are released and you need to resign immediately!"

I get this kind of word from the Lord on occasion, but for Grace this was a very rare experience. To be honest, the entire scene had us in shock, and so it's a bit of a blur, but the word "released" was clear. Grace fell to the floor weeping so hard she could not breathe, and I raised my hands and started singing as I felt the Holy Spirit fall on me. He gave me assurance I would not die a young man but live to enjoy my grandkids one day, which is a wonderful reality today as I am now "Bop-Bop" to the grandkids.  I always assumed someone would kill me, or I would die an early death from stress and work. Suddenly a massive oppression lifted, and the Spirit of God flooded my soul with relief at not being in the intense battle for the rest of my life.

After preaching in America's least-churched city for nearly two decades and years of prolonged attack, we had taken a break and invited the legal governing board over us to investigate anything and everything, at my request. They did, and found out the truth--that we were always qualified for ministry--and asked us to continue in the ministry we had been leading as the senior pastor. We agreed and panned on re-entering what felt like a never-ending war. Then, a few days after agreeing to return, God spoke to us, and we had to tell the board that we had changed our minds, were obeying God, and were resigning. They kindly asked what our plan was, and I told them I had no plan other than to obey what God had spoken to Grace and me. In my mind, this was a leap of faith with a blind-fold off a cliff.

So, in my mid-40s, cancelled by false accusations, unemployed, and without access to my personal social media to defend myself (I was locked out by former staff), we moved our family to Arizona after our oldest daughter graduated high school with her friends. God told me that was His plan for her, which she had asked the Lord to tell me because she did not want to make that request herself. The Lord honored her request and spoke to me directly on her behalf. During our final months before the move, Grace and I met with a Christian counselor to process, learn, repent, and heal, which was a great blessing. I spent every Sunday before our big move weeping in the shower so the family could not see or hear me, heartbroken that we did not get to say goodbye to the church family and help give those dear people clarity and closure. An event was planned for us to do so but got cancelled when a very real concern for a riot emerged.  For the next few years, I could not say the name of Mars Hill Church without weeping, as it felt like we had lost a child we loved.  Until our move, we met as a family on Sundays at home, having church together, which paved the way for later planting a church together, at the kids' request, in Arizona.  

…

What stands out in this new account are all the things that were omitted. There’s no reference to months of the Driscolls being in prayer; there’s no reference to seeking wise counsel from godly men and women across the country; and last but surely not least there is no mention of Robert Morris. The further away Mark Driscoll is from the events of his resignation the more God seems to have beamed into his head all the details of what was to come. The Mars Hill board went along with the divine directive Mark Driscoll said he got … although that’s the 2025 account and back in 2014 there was no word from anyone in Mars Hill leadership to the effect that “Mark Driscoll just quit because God said he could and we totally believe him”.  In fact, Christianity Today reported back in 2021 that “More than 40 elders who served with Mark Driscoll during the final years of Mars Hill Church are publicly calling for him to step down from his current pastoral position and seek reconciliation with those he has hurt.”

 

Having reviewed all that I come back to this memorable and controversial claim Mark Driscoll made to Mars Hill leaders back in 2008.

https://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2014/12/2-5-2008-spiritual-warfare-part-3-part_73.html

Spiritual Warfare
February 5, 2008
Pastor Mark Driscoll
Christus Victor (Part 3)

[you can find a video version of the presentation here]

19:19

On occasion I see things. I see things. Like I was meeting with one person, and they didn't know this but they were abused when they were a child and I said, "When you were a child, you were abused. This person did this to you, physically touched you this way." They said, "How do you know?" I said, "I don't know, it's like I got a TV right here and I'm seeing it." They said, "No, that never happened." I said, "Go ask them. Go ask if they actually did what I think they did and I see that they did."  They went and asked this person, "When I was a little kid did you do this?" and the person said, "Yeah [slowly], but you were only like a year or two old. How do you remember that?" They said, "Well, Pastor Mark told me." I'm not a guru. I'm not a freak. I don't talk about this. If I did talk about it everybody'd want to meet with me and I'd end up like one of those guys on TV, but some of you have this visual ability to see things.

20:13
There was one woman I dealt with, she never told her husband that she had committed adultery on him early in the relationship. I said:

"You know (she was sitting there with her husband), you know I think the root of all this is Satan has a foothold in your life because you never told your husband about that really tall blond guy that you met at the bar. And then you went back to the hotel, and you laid on your back, and you undressed yourself, and he climbed on top of you, and you had sex with him, and snuggled up with him for a while, and deep down in your heart (even though you had just met him) you desired him because (secretly) he is the fantasy body type."

I said:
"You remember that place, it was that cheap hotel with that certain colored bedspread. You did it--you had sex with the light on because you weren't ashamed and you wanted him to see you and you wanted to see him."

She's just looking at me, like ...

I said, "You know, it was about ten years ago." I see everything.
She looks at her husband.  He says, "Is that true?" She says, "Yeah. He was 6'2", blonde hair, blue eyes. Yeah."

Some of you, when you're counseling, you will see things. You will literally get the discernment to see things. I can't even explain it. It doesn't happen all the time.

Sometimes your counselee, they will see things. I found this with people, I'm, okay,-like, "I'm gonna ask the demon questions, you tell me what they say."  They don't say anything. I say, "What do you hear?" and they say, "Nothing, but I'm seeing stuff."
"What, oh, oh. What's that?"
"I'm seeing, you know, when I was little, my grandpa molested me. I didn't know that."

I said, "Well, let's not assume it's true. Go ask your grandpa." Grandpa says, "Yeah [slowly], when you were little I molested you." Grandpa was assuming they'd be too young to remember so he'd only molest grandkids up until a certain age. But they saw it. Supernatural. It's a whole other realm. It's like the Matrix. You can take the blue pill. You can take the red pill.  You can go into this whole other world and that's the way it works.

So I say tell me everything you hear, tell me everything you see and sometimes I see things, too. I see things, too.  I've seen women raped.

I've seen children molested. I've seen people abused. I've seen people beaten. I've seen horrible things done. Horrible things done.

I've seen children dedicated in occult groups, and demons come upon them as an infant by invitation and I wasn't present for any of it but I've seen it, visibly. [emphasis added]

Upon occasion when I get up to preach I see, just like a [makes "whif" sound] screen in front of me, I'll see somebody get raped or abused and I'll track `em down and say, "Look, I had this vision, let me tell you about it." All true.  One I had, I was sitting in my office at the old Earl building.  This gal walks by, nice gal, member of the church. This was when the church was small.  And there just like a TV was there and I saw the night before her husband threw her up against the wall, had her by the throat, was physically violent with her and she said, "That's it. I'm telling the pastor." And he said, "If you do, I'll kill you." He was a very physically abusive man. She was walking by and I just saw it. Just like a TV.  I said, "Hey! come here for a sec. ... Last night did your husband throw you against the wall and have you by the throat, physically assault you and tell you if you told anyone he would kill you?" She just starts bawling. She says, "How did you know?" I said, "Jesus told me." I call the guy on the phone, "Hey, I need you to come to the office." Didn't give him any clue. [He] comes in. I said, "What did you do to your wife last night?  Why'd you this? Why'd you throw her against the wall?" And he gets very angry, they're sitting on the couch, he says, "Why did you tell him?"  I said, "She didn't, Jesus did." Jesus did. 

There are people who are hyper-spiritual total freaks. They make stuff up.  They hear from demons. They pretend to have insight and discernment and there are some people who have real gift of discernment, and I'm not saying I'm 100% always right with it, but some of you are gonna have gift of discernment and you need to, you need to grow to learn in the use of that gift. Sometimes people will hear things. Sometimes people will see things.

 

Why did Mark “I see things” Driscoll not see the acts his friend Robert Morris just pled guilty to?  

UPDATE 10-3-2025 5:39pm

from June 6, 2025 at The Roys Report

https://julieroys.com/documents-jimmy-evans-new-life-elders-knew-robert-morris-abused-12-year-old-decades-ago/

When the news broke a year ago that a famous Dallas pastor had sexually abused a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s, church leaders across several states swore they knew nothing about it.
 
Now it turns out they did.
 
Just-released court documents show that Bible teacher Jimmy Evans and leaders at a Colorado megachurch knew all along that Gateway Church founder Robert Morris had sexually abused Cindy Clemishire.
 
Despite this, Evans said in a statement last year that he was “shocked and devastated” by recent revelations of Clemishire’s abuse.  

...

This compounds the failure of "sight" a bit more.

The article includes, among other things, an image of Mark and Grace Driscoll with Jimmy Evans and Robert Morris from early 2020.

https://www.facebook.com/pastormark/photos/thank-you-to-our-pastors-who-care-for-our-family-serve-as-overseers-at-the-trini/10157894145106912/

Mark Driscoll

January 28, 2020

 

Thank you to our pastors who care for our family & serve as overseers at The Trinity Church 🙏. Great vision meeting today for an exciting future during the best season of our lives.

The Roys Report identified the people in the photograph as 

Mark Driscoll center with Grace and from left to right

Randal Taylor

Jimmy Evans

Robert Morris

If it turned out Evans knew it makes Driscoll's failure of "sight" even more awkward.  If Evans knew what Morris did then "i see things" seems to have far more blinkered vision than previously advertised. 

Joseph F Lamb's "American Beauty" Rag with score (Rifkin performance)

Now I have loved Scott Joplin's music for decades but there's obviously a whole lot more about and within ragtime as a style than the King of Ragtime.  Joseph Lamb was an acquaintance of Joplin's via John Stark, and Lamb wrote some great rags, too.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9p7WgM_5Rg

Give me a few strains from Joplin and Lamb and I could give you a couple of guitar sonatas.  They're works are public domain in the United States, after all, so ... a couple of guitar sonatas based on their best ideas sounds like a fun undertaking.  

They'd be tough to play, though. 

German Dzhapardize Prelude and Fugue in G sharp minor performed by Esteban Colucci

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMfblalVDy4

I keep saying this but to the best of my knowledge Dzhaparidze's cycle of 24 Preludes and Fugues for solo guitar remains unpublished and I would like someone to remedy that problem.

Duo Palissandre performs Mish Mash by Atanas Ourkouzounov (score - Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q15nY_q0-cY