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I read On the Old Testament earlier, and that was my intro to Mark Driscoll’s new series of Re:Lit “Books you’ll actually read.” Like the OT book, On Church Leadership runs about a hundred pages and can be read in about an hour.

A quick look at LibraryThing statistics revealed that, as I suspected, the Leadership book, which deals with the biblical perspective on “elders,” “deacons,” and “pastors,” as well as women leading in the church, is the most widely-owned book in the imprint to date. Makes perfect sense, since this is one of the most widely-debated issues in the church today.

I’ll come right out and say I’m a fan of the Complementarian Driscoll champions, which has strong biblical warrant. Aside from helpful clarity on the women in ministry question—”This chapter should include a wick because it is connected to a powder keg of controversial theological debates”—Driscoll also deals with stuff like elder qualifications, the roles of elders vs. deacons, leadership teams, and something you don’t see in most books on leadership: the essential role of church members as leaders in their spheres.

On Church Leadership features Mark Driscoll’s trademark directness dosed with more stand-up moments than I found in On the Old Testament. (”When the Bible tells us not to kill innocent people it does not mean that God wants us to kill innocent people, even if a “scholar” has more degrees than Fahrenheit, know Greek, and published a book explaining it based upon drawings on the wall of a cave in upper Mesopotamia.”)

I’m not someone who feels ripped off if I smile while reading a theology book, so I enjoyed this one thoroughly and definitely recommend it.

The Pitch has an interesting comparison between KC’s Power & Light District and Westport. The article outlines the differences between the two entertainment districts, but in terms of a general conclusion:

What did we discover? The liquor still flows, the music still plays and the cops are occasionally still necessary. And we figured out that this town seems capable of supporting two rocking entertainment districts at once.

There’s also a good article on Troy Campbell, who pastors New Life, a recent downtown church plant.

In a different way than you think. Read this letter from Mark Driscoll in response to a critical review of his book, Vintage Jesus. Wow. (I also wrote a review of Vintage Jesus.)

HT: Jason Allen.

Some of you might want to read my review of Mark Driscoll’s On the Old Testament.

If you live in or near downtown Kansas City, you know that there’s a ton of development going on. But you may not realize the full extent… Constructor Magazine:

“Kansas City is experiencing a construction boom the relative scope of which we have not seen since the pioneer days,” says Don Greenwell, executive director of AGC Kansas City. In the core city area bounded on the north by the Missouri River, approximately $4.5 billion of construction has been completed or is in various stages of development.

See also Constructor’s piece on the Sprint Center (which I’m hoping will draw NCAA Tourney games in the near future):

At the center of the rebirth sits the bedazzling new Sprint Center, an eye-popping jewel in Kansas City’s newly polished crown. Designed as a see-through building, the $276-million sports and entertainment venue is intended to be viewed from the inside out.

The article states that the Sprint Center “will” host an NBA team. However, to my knowledge that’s not true at this point. Unless the Constructor folks are privy to behind-closed-doors talks with NBA owners…here’s hoping.

Anyway, seems like the ball is rolling as far as downtown Kansas City goes, and may keep rolling for awhile.

HT: Kevin Cawley.