I'll be in Austin at the SXSW Interactive Festival this week to learn from some of the most talented web, design, and marketing folks on the planet.

I'll be with a few guys from Desiring God and the Gospel Coalition.

We are there to meet people, learn, and work together to help each others ministries. So please, if you're there and you see me come say 'hi'—I love to meet Resurgence folks whenever I can. (I'm the guy in the picture)

Please pray that God would use the wisdom, knowledge, and experience of these people so that the Resurgence will be able to train more missional leaders.

Remember—if you see me come say hi.

Mike's Social Networks:

• Facebook
• Twitter

Crossway is ordering t-shirts for everyone that pre-orders Doctrine through their site up tonight at 11:59pm—Wednesday, March 3rd. Plus when you order from Crossway you'll get a PDF version of the book immediately.

You can also get the book for less money at Amazon, but remember—no pdf or t-shirt.

Preorder now:
Crossway—Free t-shirt & pdf
Amazon

Matt Chandler was recently interviewed in a cover story by Towers, the news service of Southern Seminary. You can read the story here.

He also answered a couple questions in these video clips:

What is the mission of the church?

What advice do you have for a young church planter?

Click through to the Resurgence if you can't see the video.

Re:Sound

The musical arm of the Resurgence offers music that is theologically unified, stylistically diverse, and musically excellent. Find out more.

Crossway is ordering t-shirts for everyone that pre-orders Doctrine through their site up until 11:59pm this Wednesday, March 3rd. Plus when you order from Crossway you'll get a PDF version of the book immediately.

You can also get the book for less money at Amazon, but remember—no pdf or t-shirt.

Preorder now:
Crossway—Free t-shirt & pdf
Amazon

Click through to the Resurgence if you can’t see the video.

Cam Huxford from the Mars Hill Downtown Seattle campus created this beautiful video to tell of his idolotry. It's amazing to see how each of the Mars Hill campuses are growing in maturity, in skill, and in the gospel. I'm thankful to be a part of this movement.

How Jesus Made Disciples

Resurgence Director Mike Anderson shares reflections from the book of John on How Jesus Made Disciples.

It’s good to see that Publishers Weekly understands the goals behind Doctrine. You should take their advice in their recent review of the book and consider how Doctrine "could be used in universities, churches, or seminaries for systematic teaching of this particular strain of Christianity; it makes the most plainspoken and comprehensive case for the new Reformed Protestant Christianity today."

Here’s what Publishers Weekly says about the book:

Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. Crossway, $22.99 (464p) ISBN 978-0-4335-0625-3

From the authors of Vintage Jesus comes a tome elaborating the 13 teachings they say every Christian should believe. Driscoll, a controversial pastor for his often brash teaching, and Breshears, professor of theology at Western Seminary, combine for this book that describes the heart of Christian truth claims or doctrines. The pair attempt—and accomplish—vigorous interaction with biblical texts, systematic doctrine, culture, and flawed thinking; they directly address the reader, urging repentance and faith. Drawing on orthodox Reformed and Protestant theology, the book moves from God, stays on God, and ends with God. The book is organized around the actions of God: God is, speaks, makes, loves, judges, pursues, comes, dies, saves, sends, transforms, gives, reigns. The book could be used in universities, churches, or seminaries for systematic teaching of this particular strain of Christianity; it makes the most plainspoken and comprehensive case for the new Reformed Protestant Christianity today. (Mar. 31)

Preorder Doctrine now and get a free Resurgence t-shirt!

Resurgence Literature

We think that God uses good books to change lives. Re:Lit publishes a growing line of books to fuel the Resurgence. Find out more.

At the Resurgence we only publish books that we believe in. These three books will be coming out in the next two months, and each is worth taking a look at.

Leaders Who Last
Dave Kraft has almost 50 years in ministry experience, most of it training leaders. He has been Mark Driscoll's personal coach, and the insights that he has will help leaders at every level to finish well.
Pre-order on Amazon

Scandalous
Dr. Don Carson is certifiably brilliant. And in this book he uses his brilliance to bring us into the scandalous story of Christ on the cross.
Pre-order on Amazon

Doctrine
Mark Driscoll has called this the most important thing he's ever written. Next week we'll be telling you more and announcing a pre-ordering promotion that will make ordering Doctrine well worth it for most of you.
Hold off on pre-ordering until next week, it'll be worth it

In Matthew 28, Jesus told his disciples to make disciples of all nations, and his methods of teaching gave them incredibly powerful tools to execute the vision. This series of reflections based on the book of John shows that Jesus is the model for our own discipling and we should look to him, learn from him, and seek to be like him in our ministry.

Posts in this series:

1. Hospitality
2. Mission
3. Emotion
4. Monologue & Dialogue
5. Stupid Questions
6. The Heart
7. Testing
8. Object Lessons
9. Discomfort
10. Sending & Praying
11. Pointing to the Father
12. Pointing to the Spirit
13. Dying
14. Jesus Equips
15. Jesus’ Teaching Methods

Vintage Church

In this book, Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears discuss the essentials of what it means to be a biblical church. Find out more.

We're excited to announce the first Resurgence conference in Southern California—Exchange: The Truth & The Lie. This is going to be a completely different conference than we've ever done—excellent for pastors, but so practical that you can bring the whole church congregation.

What will it be about?

According to Romans chapter 1, we've all exchanged the truth for the lie and we worship created things instead of the Creator, God. This conference will look at a dozen areas of life and how we've accepted the lie. You and your church will be challenged, taught, and encouraged to live a life worshiping Jesus and turning away from the idols that you may not even know you serve.

Speakers include:

Mark Driscoll
Peter Jones
Francis Chan
Kevin DeYoung
and many more session speakers...

Street team members needed (Free swag involved)

We need several dozen volunteers in Southern California to sign up to let churches in the area know about this conference. Fill out the below form, and we'll send you everything you need (and possibly some bonus goodies).

John Piper at Mars Hill

John Piper is coming to Mars Hill Church's Ballard campus on Feb. 26th. Register now.

How Jesus Made Disciples series: Click | View Series

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. (Matt. 16:13–20)

In this Scripture, Jesus uses his rhetorical style to lead Peter to understand his role. Jesus doesn't ask questions because he needs to know the answer; he asks questions to cause the subject to think.

Observational Question

Jesus asks the disciples a question that has concrete observable answer. They answer it correctly, giving the several categories of Jesus' identity.

Follow-up Question

After receiving an accurate answer, Jesus drills down to the point: "Who do YOU say I am?" At this point Jesus knows they've identified what the crowds think, and he knows they've thought about it. Now he calls on them personally to take a risk and tell him what they really think.

Confirmation and Affirmation

When Peter answers the question correctly Jesus exclaims that he is correct, giving him both confirmation and affirmation on what he just said. He will likely not forget that the teacher was so pleased with his answer.

Explanation

Jesus could have ended with a confirmation, but he didn't. It would have likely gone to Peter's head. Jesus takes this as a teaching time so that they learn that faith isn't by deductive reasoning, inductive hypothesis, or emotional experience--it's the active work of the Father in heaven.

Empowerment

Finally, Jesus used the lessons that the disciples learned through this interaction to empower them to use the knowledge. Jesus paints the picture of a quite extraordinary circumstance. This fisherman was not only going to go to heaven, but have the keys--how could this be? He was going to somehow assault the gates of hell with more power and authority than all of the demons that hold them in place?

Knowing that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God has enough authority to give sinners a seat in heaven and the power to stare down the gates of hell and all of its demons and be unafraid, because of the unlimited power of God the Father.

Porn Again Christian

Pastor Mark Driscoll's frank discussion on pornography and masturbation is now available from Amazon. Find out more.