Mark Driscoll Quotes

You have to laugh at yourself. Otherwise you'll waste all that great material.

Jesus and Paul were serious dudes. They had teeth missing. Jesus was a carpenter, Paul was in prison. These guys didn’t eat tofu dogs and bean sprouts. They didn’t play tennis. If there were trucks back in their times, they would have been doing driveway lube jobs on a Saturday afternoon. Same thing with King David. Yeah, he might have played a lyre, but he slaughtered thousands of guys.

Fear is not always a sin but it always is an opportunity.

The inevitable result of borrowed faith is lost faith. People born into a family anchored in Christendom tend to assume they're right with God, regardless of whether they personally turn from sin and trust in Jesus.

We don't name God; God reveals His name to us. We don't have the right to exercise authority over God. God copyrights, He trademarks, He patents His name.

The goal of Christian dating is not to have a boyfriend or girlfriend but to find a spouse. Have that in mind as you get to know one an- other, and if you’re not ready to commit to a relationship with the end goal of marriage, it’s better not to date but simply to remain friends.

The problem with criticism today is that is instant, constant, global and permanent.

Gentleman, it is a terrifying thing for a woman to trust a sinful man.

The cross is the great jewel of the Christian faith and like every great jewel it has many precious facets that are each worthy of examining for their brilliance and beauty.

I am not ashamed of the Gospel.

Faith is not just what we believe internally. It's how we behave externally.

I have noticed that people tend to stop maturing when they start self-medicating. Everyone has very tough seasons of life, but by persevering through them we have an opportunity to mature and grow as people. Those who self-medicate...often thwart maturity as they escape the tough seasons of life rather than face them.

An animal will conquer others. A Spirit-filled man conquers himself - self-discipline , self-control.

While it only takes one spouse to be friendly, it takes both spouses to be friends. When both spouses are unfriendly, the marriage is marked by conflict and coldness. When one spouse is friendly and the other is unfriendly, the marriage is marked by selfishness and sadness. But when both spouses each make a deep, heartfelt covenant with God to continually seek to become a better friend, increasing love and laughter mark the marriage.

Sin is not just action. It's life direction.

Ladies, use a loving voice, use a respectful voice, use a godly voice, but don't lose your voice.

Jesus, could you please rapture the charismaniac lady who brings her tambourine to church?

It is imperative that Christians be like Jesus, by living freely within the culture as missionaries who are as faithful to the Father and His gospel as Jesus was in His own time and place.

You can't meet Jesus and not change. If you haven't changed, you haven't met the real Jesus.

Don't cohabitate. Don't fornicate. Don't look at pornography. Don't create a standard of beauty. Have your spouse be your standard of beauty. This is one of the great devastating effects of pornography: you lust after people and compare your spouse to them. It's impossible to be satisfied in your marriage if you don't have a standard that is biblical; that standard is always your spouse.

Fear is vision without hope.

Marriage includes a spouse, and often children. But the goal, center, and purpose of marriage is not self, spouse, or children. The ultimate goal of marriage and family is the glory of God. Only when marriage and family exist for God's glory - and not to serve as replacement idols - are we able to truly love and be loved. Remember, neither your child nor your husband (or wife) should be who you worship, but instead who you worship with.

Women will be saved by going back to that role that God has chosen for them. Ladies, if the hair on the back of your neck stands up it is because you are fighting your role in the scripture.

Stop looking for the path of least resistance and start running down the path of greatest glory to God and good to others, because that's what Jesus, the Real Man, did.

So let me tell you this, when it comes to...trying to introduce other people to Jesus. Don't get mad at them: it's not because they're stupid. It's because they're blind. Yelling louder, arguing harder, pushing firmer won't make someone who is blind see. Pray for them, speak to them, care for them.

Fathers need to be tough and tender...you be tough for your family, be tender with your family. You protect them, and you be a safe place.

Are you letting culture, not scripture, determine your sexuality, how you date, how you present yourself, how you engage in certain relationships with members of the opposite sex? We need to be very clear that the way we do life is different than the rest of the world.

Who you think you are is what compels you to do what you do!

Sometimes prayer moves the hand of God, and sometimes prayer changes the heart of the person who is praying.

Even a cursory reading of the book of Ecclesiastes shows that culture is a stationary bike that each generation climbs on in hopes of getting somewhere only to die and fall off so that the new young stud can take his turn peddling and, like a fool, make pronouncements about his progress. We would be wise to see postmodernity as simply the new guy on the old bike and not mistake cultural change for kingdom progress.

It is not uncommon to meet pastors' wives who really let themselves go; they sometimes feel that because their husband is a pastor, he is therefore trapped into fidelity, which gives them cause for laziness.

Our identity is not in our joy, and our identity is not in our suffering. Our identity is in Christ, whether we have joy or are suffering.

Those who only seek friends without seeking to be a good friend are selfishly needy and demanding. And those who only want to be a good friend but do not wisely seek good friends are bound to be taken advantage of, abused, neglected, and suffer from their foolish friend choices.

Ultimately I think the difference between reading the Bible and studying it is making the connections between who Jesus is and what he's done.

Much of spirituality today is an effort to change God to suit us. But he's not going to become more like us, we need to become more like him.

Worship is living our life individually and corporately as continuous living sacrifices to the glory of a person or thing.

Don't believe false teaching that says you won't suffer if you really love Jesus. Jesus will end all suffering eventually, but on earth he suffered more than anyone.

A single woman should only marry a man she can follow: Ladies if you are single, be very, very careful who you date and marry. Don't just date a man who you can put up with, marry a man you can trust, you'll follow his leadership, you'll respect him, he's saved, he's godly. The last thing you want is some guy you don't trust, he's not wise, he doesn't do his homework, he's harsh, he's inconsiderate, he's immature, he's a boy, you're more his mother than you are his mate, Real danger...real danger...

Spirituality, without the Holy Spirit, is demonic.

The truths of Christianity are constant, unchanging, and meant for all people, times, and places. But the methods by which truth is articulated and practiced must be culturally appropriated, and therefore constantly translated. If doctrine is constant and practice is constantly changing, the result is living orthodoxy.

Truthless times need timeless truths.

Anxiety is not to be managed it is a sin that needs to be repented of

The Bible is not a book of principles to live by but rather a Person to live for.

I’m frankly sick of all the books and movies trying to predict when Jesus will return and we’ll get to start our eternal vacation at his all-inclusive resort called heaven. I’m also sick of the nerd parade of books and conferences that approach the Bible like scholars whose mission is to get their Masters rather than soldiers who are on mission with their Master. We've got work to do. There are lost people to reach, churches to plant, and nations to evangelize. Hell is hot, forever is a long time, and it’s our turn to stop making a dent and start making a difference.

My desire as a Christian pastor is to see churches raised up as communities of grace ruled by Jesus and led by his gloriously masculine men who work their jobs, eat their meat, drink their beer, romance their wives, study their Bible, and raise their kids in glory and joy

There are some women who are a good time and there are some women who are a good legacy.

You aren't what's been done to you but what Jesus has done for you. You aren't what you do but what Jesus has done. What you do doesn't determine who you are. Rather, who you are in Christ determines what you do.

There is a pile of dead bodies behind the Mars Hill bus, and by God's grace, it'll be a mountain by the time we're done.