I’ve been watching Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill/Seattle for a long time now.  I remember hearing a talk that Driscoll did  at a conference called “Soularize.”  It gave me hope for the evangelical church.   Here was a guy who was clearly connected to culture yet held to an orthodox evangelicalism, and both were evident in his speaking.  He knew who Limp Bizkit was, yet he boasted in Christ.  At that time (early 2003), this combination was quite uncommon.  I resonated with his love for the gospel and for people.

Sure, Driscoll would drop the f bomb every once in a while.  I e-mailed him once and said something like “Mark, you’re such a solid preacher and you have a great grasp of doctrine, but I wonder if people ever challenge you on your language.”  He never wrote back, but he did clean up his language soon after, so I guess…