(Extended Video) Mark Driscoll Kicked Off Stage of Popular Christian Conference After Calling out ‘Jezebel Spirit’ of Performer
Mark Driscoll is trending after being kicked off stage at a popular Christian conference he was invited to speak at, accusing organizers of letting in a “Jezebel Spirit” by allowing a particular artist to perform, resulting in him getting the boot.
For the opening act of the 2024 Stonger Men’s Conference hosted by John Lindell of River City Church, who was recently at the center of the “regrown toes miracle” controversy, the conference invited Alex Magala to perform.
Magala is a stripper and pole dancer who rose to fame on Britain’s Got Talent for a dangerous sword-swallowing routine. During the performance (below), Magela ripped off his shirt, swallowed his sword, and then climbed up pole with the sword still in his mouth and throat before falling back down the pole.
While it received claps and cheers at the time, Driscoll, a speaker at the event who has also spoken there in previous years, was not pleased. Taking to the stage, Driscoll stated that he was not correcting or rebuking anyone but rather making an observation:
Driscoll: Let me do this. I’ve been up since 1 o’clock in the morning. The reason I’m hoarse is I have been praying for you and my heart is very burdened for you. And I want to be very careful with this and it’s not what I want to say, but the Jezebel spirit has already been here. The Jezebel spirit opened our event.
This is a rebuke and a correction of no one. This is an observation.
Before the Word of God was opened, there was a platform. It was a high place. On it was a pole of Asherah. The same thing that’s used in a strip club for women who have the Jezebel spirit to seduce men. In front of that was a man who ripped his shirt off like a woman does in front of a pole at a strip club. That man then ascended.
See, our God is not arrogant. He doesn’t ascend our God is humble he descends. And then-
Lindell interrupts: “Wrong time Mark!”Driscoll: “He swallowed a sword and Jesus cried”
Lindell: “Wrong time Mark!”
Driscoll: “okay, Pastor John, I’ll receive that.”Lindell: You’re Done
Driscoll:”Thank you”
Driscoll then gets off stage
Lindell: Wow. Let me just say this. If Mark wanted to say that, he should have said it to me first. He didn’t. Matthew 18. Matthew 18. If your brother offends you, go to him privately. I talked to Mark for a half hour. There was not one word of that. He’s out of line. If you want to say it, he can say it to me. You may not agree with me. You may not agree with him. But we are brothers in Christ and there’s a right way to handle this.
And I’m telling you. I’m not going to sit back and watch someone do publicly what they should have done privately. And as a pastor and a man of God, I’ll call another man of God out. And I love Mark but he was out of line. And I have a responsibility spiritually for this event. And we saw 530 people come to Christ. And we’ve (unintelligible Jesus) And we’re going to conduct ourselves in a Christian manner and we’re going to go according to the bible, and the bible tells us how that should have been resolved, and it wasn’t-“
While we are pleased to see Driscoll make the correction, one he was right to do, you’d be hard-pressed to convince us there wasn’t a bit of opportunism involved, notably since Lindell revealed he spoke to Driscoll for half an hour before the event and he didn’t say anything about it.
While it’s possible Driscoll was still mulling over what to say or even if to say it, given his history of obstreperous and disqualifying behavior, both ancient and recent*, it would have been more appropriate for a pastor to call out Driscoll speaking at the event, than Driscoll to himself out anyone else.
*We believe Driscoll is a pathological liar, culty control freak, shockingly thinned-skinned, and has long been disqualified from the ministry for many ministerial deeds.
Back in the day, Driscoll favored an edgy, aggressive style marked by prurient sermons laced with cuss words and punk-style worship- he once called women’ penis homes’ and commanded women with unsaved husbands to give their husbands oral sex to convert them. All the edgy aggressiveness boiled over in 2014 when the empire suddenly imploded due to Driscoll’s emotional and spiritual abuse of the flock, plagiarism, and accusations of financial misconduct. Rather than undergo church discipline, he claimed he audibly heard from God that he needed to leave, and he bolted. Later, nearly 40 former Mars Hill elders issued a public statement describing him as ‘unfit’ and ‘unrepentant.’
Not many years later, with the help of his crony James MacDonald, Mark Driscoll wrapped up his own discipline and re-established himself behind a pulpit in Phoenix, Arizona. Here, he set himself up as Pope of his own church, removing any of the limiting factors that previously constrained him, chiefly the presence of elders. Despite having hundreds and hundreds of people attending each week, there are no elders at The Trinity Church, which has resulted in his bullying ways continuing. Think of him as a wayward child who locked his parents in their room and now has the run of the house, terrorizing the dogs and torturing the cats.
Slowly, he rebuilt his empire, even as his theology got squishier. He mocked reformed theology and described Calvinism as “garbage.” He publicly apologized for criticizing Joel Osteen. He started selling copies of his sermon notes online and pushed seeker-sensitive services like “Swimsuit Sunday.” He even defended the Roman Catholic Church, saying they “believe in the essentials.”
Despite resigning in disgrace and possessing a penchant for theological violence, people flocked to him at his new home, and his church has grown immensely in the last few years, slowly edging towards megachurch status.
Driscoll’s new church was purposefully created to have no elders, as after his old ones ousted him from Mars Hill a decade ago and over he vowed that would never happen again, setting up internal structures and hierarchies to give him absolute power and no accountability. Some of his recent actions include:
Mark Driscoll Featured in ‘Demon Slayer Exorcist’ Movie. That Tracks
Nearly 40 Former Mars Hill Elders Issue New Statement: Mark Driscoll is ‘Unfit’ and ‘Unrepentant’
Cultish Bullying! Mark Driscoll Hired 24/7 Surveillance on Congregant + More Abusive Behavior
Mark Driscoll asks for $850,000 in ‘Year End Push’ To Promote Church Influence
Mark Driscoll Lies About Where His Bible Came From
Jordan Peterson’s Daughter Promotes Mark Driscoll’s Church+ Driscoll Plays the Bully
Liar Liar? Mark Driscoll Claims Book Was Banned From Amazon, So Why Is It Still There?
Mark Driscoll Cries and Whines While He Strawmans Cessationists
Mark Driscoll’s New Promo Material for an Upcoming Sex Sermon Series is Something Else
Mark Driscoll Meets Up With Steven Furtick, Thanks Him for ‘Preaching Jesus’
Mark Driscoll Claims Mars Hills Elders Tried to Oust Him From Church Using False Allegations of Adultery
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Driscoll should have gone to the Lindell privately for what he perceived was a very public sinful demonstration, but Lindell can rebuke Mark publicly without going to him privately? Got it.
My thoughts exactly. Plus, the sin was public, the rebuke should be public.
Western pastors are always right. Right?
Yep. His (Lindell) hypocrisy is showing.
“You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Incorrect name of the church
I was there. This performer is not a stripper. He was in a past life and has since been saved. And he did not ” rip his shirt off. “. He is a human who as a new Christian is now on public display being judged and ridiculed by fellow “Christians”.
More importantly…..what no one is talking about is the 30 minutes Mark and John spent together sitting down on stage and talking through this from a biblical perceptive. Mark acknowledged he was out of line. He even thanked John for setting a good example. They had the room on their feet applauding and everyone I spoke with stated it was a beautiful moment to watch.
But again. No one is sharing this side of it.
Why are you here? This is a place for outrage and poorly written copy. Facts don’t matter.
Because it doesn’t generate outrage and contempt, which are Protestia’s two primary exports. Instead of edifying and building the Body of Christ, they prefer to start what basically amounts to juvenile lunchroom food fights.