Mark and Grace Driscoll
Pastor Mark Driscoll is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, and is one of the world’s most downloaded and quoted pastors. He and his wife, Grace, co-authored Real Marriage , which became a #1 New York Times best seller. His audience, fans and critics alike, spans the theological and cultural left and right. He was named one of the 25 most influential pastors of the past 25 years by Preaching magazine in 2010, and his audio sermon podcast is regularly #1 on iTunes’ Religion & Spirituality chart and has been among the Top 50 of all podcasts at times. His hour-long sermons received 10 million plays and downloads in 2011, with another 5 million views of his sermon clips on YouTube and other channels.
Born in North Dakota, Pastor Mark grew up in Sea-Tac, the son of a union drywaller. The 1987 valedictorian of Highline High School, he received a scholarship to Washington State University, where he earned a BA in speech communication from the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication. He also holds a master’s degree in exegetical theology from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of 16 books. His 17th book, Who Do You Think You Are? is slated for release in January 2013.
In 1996, at age 25, Pastor Mark and Grace started a small Bible study at their home in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle, which at the time was the least churched city in the U.S. Since that time, the church has exploded with upward of 13,000 people meeting weekly across 14 locations in four states, Washington, Oregon, California, and New Mexico. Mars Hill has been recognized as the third-fastest-growing and 28th-largest church in the country by Outreach magazine in its 2012 survey of churches.
Pastor Mark founded the Resurgence, which services Christian leaders through books, blog posts, conferences, and classes, with theResurgence.com receiving close to 7 million visits annually. He also co-founded the Acts 29 church-planting network, which has planted over 400 churches in the U.S., in addition to 13 other nations. As well, Pastor Mark is a co-founder of Churches Helping Churches with Pastor James MacDonald, which raised over $2.7 million to help rebuild churches in Haiti in the wake of the cataclysmic 2010 earthquake and support Haitian pastors to minister and provide aid to the Haitian community. The organization also delivered over $1.7 million in medical supplies to the devastated country.
With a skillful mix of bold presentation, clear biblical teaching, and compassion for those who are hurting the most—in particular, women who are victims of sexual and physical abuse and assault—Driscoll has taken biblical Christianity into cultural corners previously unexplored by evangelicals. In the same year that he spoke at a Gospel Coalition conference with notable contemporary theologians like John Piper and Tim Keller, he also discussed biblical sexuality as a guest on Loveline with Dr. Drew, The View, Fox & Friends, and Piers Morgan Tonight, was featured on Nightline, and preached for Rick Warren at Saddleback Community Church.
Ashley Driscoll
My name is Ashley Marisa Driscoll, and I was born in Seattle, WA on July 30, 1997. I'm the oldest of five kids.
Ever since I was little, I’ve loved watching cooking shows and reading. Nowadays, I love to watch all sorts of competitions and informative shows on Food Network and HGTV. I use ideas from those shows to make dinner for my family at least a few days a week. Cooking, along with reading, homework, and running track and field, take up most of my time: thankfully I enjoy them all. I try to use all of these God-given abilities to praise God and serve people.
My favorite book of all time is, of course, the Bible, and I have read it a total of almost three times (I will finish again in December), reading the NIV once and the ESV twice. The ESV Study Bible is my favorite version. When I read through the NIV in third grade, I read about four chapters a day for a year without a specific plan. When I read through the ESV study Bible in seventh grade, I read the same way, but with a set plan. I also read more footnotes and dug a little bit deeper into the context and setting of the stories.
Right now, I'm reading anywhere from 2-to- 8 chapters of the Bible a day in chronological order through a plan I have on my phone. I use the Bible app from Life Church. If you don't have an Internet enabled phone, you can use a plan from a website such as Bible-reading.com . I also love to read biographies of faithful Christians, especially missionaries and young movement leaders.
My favorite book of the Bible changes frequently, but right now it’s probably Habakkuk. The book taught me to pray to God as I would talk to my mom or dad. I can complain, grumble, praise, or just share what is going on in my life with God, and he listens.
As far as music goes, I love to listen to mainstream Christian bands like Switchfoot, Abandon, The Fray, Hawk Nelson, Fight the Current, Tenth Avenue North, and Relient K.
Because I love cooking, Julie and Julia was a particularly inspiring movie for me. On the other end of the spectrum, I loved The Blindside. And lately, I have been especially interested in documentaries such as The September Issue and Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
With friends, I love to go shopping, play board games, chat, and do anything creative. And whenever I’m not at school or cooking, I love to travel. Australia is my favorite place so far: the climate is mild, the people are friendly and hospitable, the culture is family-friendly and centered around the waterfront, and Sydney was bustling with exciting things to do. I also enjoyed traveling to Israel, Turkey, and Greece to see the places where the Bible was written and to walk where Jesus walked.
The best part of being a pastor’s daughter is the ability to ask my dad any questions that I have about the Bible whenever I seek answers. One of the hardest things about being a pastor’s daughter is when people make snide comments about what I believe, how I act (sometimes refusing to do something, even if everyone else is doing it), and how I talk (trying to please God with my speech). I know that even if people make ridiculing comments, I should trust that if I am pleasing God in what I do, that is what matters most. I can’t worry about what others think of me.
Something surprising about me is that I collect antique and vintage cookbooks. I also know a lot about baseball and baseball players, thanks to two of my younger brothers. Something not surprising about me—I don’t smoke, play hockey, or cage fight.
