The former primary campus for the multisite Mars Hill is reporting considerable growth in the three years since the Washington State-based church disbanded.

In 2014, Mars Hill’s lead pastor, Mark Driscoll, resigned due to a controversy surrounding his leadership style. Soon after, it was announced that the 15-campus church was going to dissolve by the start of 2015.

Mars Hill Bellevue, located in the Seattle area, was the main campus for the Driscoll-led church. It changed its name to Doxa Church.

Donald Zimmerman, worship and communications pastor at Doxa Church, told The Christian Post via email that over the past three years the campus has experienced considerable growth.

Zimmerman reported that currently Doxa averages between 900 and 1,000 worship attendees. By contrast, in 2015, the average was between 400 and 500.

“Doxa has grown and we are thankful for the incredible ongoing grace God has shown His people along the way, particularly in light of what the church has come out of,” said Zimmerman.

Dissolution

Mars Hill was founded in 1996 and headed by Driscoll, one of its co-founders. At…

The NCAA March Madness basketball tournament begins this week, and the coach of number one seed the University of Virginia says biblical principles have played a major role in getting them to this point.

UVA Cavaliers men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett explained how his faith impacts the way he coaches:

“My faith—that defines me. That’s what gives me my meaning and purpose and how I try to treat people with my life,” he said. “I make so many mistakes. The fact that I know I’m forgiven is probably the greatest joy that I have, but that is significant. That is the bedrock of my life and therefore the foundation of why I coach and how I coach, how I try to treat people and my perspective on this whole thing.”

CBN News notes that Bennet uses five biblically-based pillars to teach his players lessons that will be of help to them both on and off the basketball court.

“They are life lessons and they are very specific to basketball in ways you wouldn’t think,” Bennett said.

“I really am thankful that we have a program that is building things of value that are basketball-oriented but life-oriented and family-oriented and career-oriented,” he continued.

Roger Cheeks , the athletic director at Regent University, told CBN News that Bennett’s team is successful in large part because he teaches them about character before anything else.

“If…

Millennials and Generation Z are some of today’s most effective evangelists because, unlike generations before them, they “believe they can change the world,” the spokesperson for a millennial-led evangelism movement that fills the nation’s largest venues for Jesus said.

“Young people today get a lot of criticism because they look so different from previous generations,” Susan Harris, PULSE director of communications, told The Christian Post. “But it doesn’t mean they’re not motivated. Young people just want something to believe in, they want a cause. They are extremely cause-driven and passionate.”

“Millennials and Gen Z believe that they can change the world, which I think is a fun place to be because a lot of generations see themselves as a small fish in a big pond or think they can’t have impact,” she continued. “Today’s young people want to see a different world and want to make a change and they’re gonna do it. We think if you channel that in the right way, if you give them a cause that’s worthy, if they’re cheering Jesus with their friends and classmates, that’s something they can rally behind.”

Founded in 2006 by then-college student…

The NCAA March Madness basketball tournament begins this week, and the coach of number one seed the University of Virginia says biblical principles have played a major role in getting them to this point.

UVA Cavaliers men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett explained how his faith impacts the way he coaches:

“My faith—that defines me. That’s what gives me my meaning and purpose and how I try to treat people with my life,” he said. “I make so many mistakes. The fact that I know I’m forgiven is probably the greatest joy that I have, but that is significant. That is the bedrock of my life and therefore the foundation of why I coach and how I coach, how I try to treat people and my perspective on this whole thing.”

CBN News notes that Bennet uses five biblically-based pillars to teach his players lessons that will be of help to them both on and off the basketball court.

“They are life lessons and they are very specific to basketball in ways you wouldn’t think,” Bennett said.

“I really am thankful that we have a program that is building things of value that are basketball-oriented but life-oriented and family-oriented and career-oriented,” he continued.

Roger Cheeks , the athletic director at Regent University, told CBN News that Bennett’s team is successful in large part because he teaches them about character before anything else.

“If…

Churches should not have non-Christian musicians involved in worship music bands, a Christian professor insisted.

“It’s an old dilemma: a church music ministry has a need, and a local unbelieving musician is available. But is this a match made in heaven, or a manifestation of … somewhere else?” Matthew Westerholm, assistant professor of music and worship at Bethlehem College & Seminary, wrote on desiringgod.org.

Westerholm argued that churches should avoid using non-Christian musicians for worship. Otherwise, “church leaders confuse evangelism and excellence.”  

“Excellence in music can be a fine value for worship, but it ought not to be a church’s highest value. And it certainly ought not to be smuggled into the church’s practice under the guise of evangelism,” wrote Westerholm.

“Church leaders affirm the profession of another person’s faith when they allow that person to have a public, leading role during the church gathering. And that affirmation is easily misunderstood, especially by unbelievers.”

ADF Church Alliance member, Redemption Community Church, is facing roadblocks to its plan to build a “come one, come all” non-profit coffee shop in the inner city.

The church sold its property and donated some of the proceeds from the sale to other local religious non-profits. The church then moved to Main Street in Laurel, Maryland, to open its Ragamuffins Coffee House, which would serve as a coffee shop and worship center.

Within days of the church’s sale of its property outside the city, the City of Laurel made a law change to bar non-profit businesses from the area. The law then changed again a few weeks later that forced churches to be on lots less than one acre or obtain a “special exception.”

Instead, the church opened a for-profit coffee house and planned to close the shop on Sundays for worship services.

The City, however, reportedly said it would fine the church $250 a day if worship services did not cease.

The church, in turn, has filed a lawsuit with the Alliance Defending Freedom.

“The government can’t discriminate against churches simply because they are religious,” said ADF Legal Counsel Christiana Holcomb. “Despite making every effort to work with the city to comply with its burdensome zoning changes, Redemption Community Church is now being told to either stop holding worship services or pay severe fines. Federal law is clear: The city’s…

Lee Strobel, the atheist-turned-Christian author behind the The Case for Christ book and movie, has noted that Easter this year falls on April’s Fools Day, but said there are four main reasons why people can believe that Jesus Christ did indeed rise from the dead.

“When I was an atheist and legal editor of The Chicago Tribune, I would have smirked at the fact that Easter this year falls on April Fools’ Day. Because back then, I thought that anyone would have to be a fool to believe that Jesus literally rose from the dead,” Strobel admitted in a video uploaded on Vimeo last week.

Strobel, whose faith journey and two-year investigation into the evidence behind the resurrection is featured in The Case for Christ, is coming out with a new book at the end of March titled, The Case for Miracles: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for the Supernatural.

The author touched upon some of his findings in his latest book, by presenting four important pieces of evidence surrounding Christ’s resurrection.

“I found that there is no dispute among scholars that Jesus was dead after being crucified,” he began.

Next, he pointed to early reports of the resurrection.