On Monday, I pointed out that Mars Hill Spokesman Justin Dean claimed a role in helping Mark Driscoll’s book Real Marriage get to #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list. Dean’s bio on a website called Innovate4Jesus touted the accomplishment even though it is now known that the book was guaranteed an appearance on the NYT list due to the work of consulting firm Result Source. Result Source used subterfuge to purchase books in order to lift Real Marriage to the top spot on the list. Earlier today, Innovate4Jesus scrubbed Dean’s bio of reference to the bestseller campaign. On Monday, Dean’s bio appeared as follows:
Now it looks like this:
No explanation given.
Innovate4Jesus appears to have a cozy relationship with Mars Hill Church. Mark Driscoll has several videos embedded on the site and there is a Mars Hill channel. While this probably won’t last long, Driscoll’s bio on the site also touts the NYT Bestseller status of Real Marriage.
Month: July 2014
Michael Peroutka Schedules Press Conference for Tomorrow
This came to several members of the press today:
Michael Anthony Peroutka, the Republican candidate for Anne Arundel County District 5 will be giving a press conference on Wednesday, July 30th to address the recent controversy about allegations made against him by Carl Snowden [as organizer of the Caucus of African-American Leaders].
There will be a question and answer session after a short statement is made.
Press conference will start at 10:30am. Doors open at 10:00am.
The press conference will be at:
Hampton Inn Glen Burnie
6617 Ritchie Hwy., Glen Burnie, Maryland, 21061
Please contact Phil Reeder at peroutka2014@gmail.com or call 410-946-2910 for any questions
Carl Snowden’s charges can be found in this Baltimore Sun article.
“The Republican Party has been advocating that they want to attract African-Americans and Latinos to their cause,” Snowden said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon. “We believe the candidacy of Mr. Peroutka will have a disastrous effect on this outreach effort.”
Maybe I’ll mosey on over…
Mark Driscoll in 2000: “We Live in a Completely Pussified Nation”
I have been writing about Mars Hill Church since late November 2013. In the process, I have met many people who once attended Mars and some who still do (over 100 I think). In these conversations, especially with ex-members who were around from the early days, similar stories come up. One familiar story I have not written about is Mark Driscoll’s proclamation that we “live in a completely pussified nation.” Apparently this material was deleted from the Mars Hill website and is not now available anywhere. According to my sources, some Mars Hill pastors have asked former members to destroy any copies of the thread they had printed out. It has now become available again and I think it may be of some benefit to understand the historical development of Mars Hill Church and the controversies surrounding Mark Driscoll’s preaching and commentary on gender.
In 2006, Driscoll commented favorably on his William Wallace II remarks in his book Confessions of a Reformission Rev (see below). To my knowledge, he has not refuted or distanced himself from these sentiments since then. I do offer the observation that the thread is 14 years old and may not represent how he would communicate to his church today.
The image below is of the first paragraph of what turned out to be a thread of over 100 pages of material on the Mars Hill Church unmoderated forum called Midrash.
To read some history behind Midrash and this thread go to Wenatchee the Hatchet’s site.
Driscoll referred to this thread and his alias as William Wallace II in his 2006 book Confessions of a Reformission Rev:
So because Driscoll believed the men in his church were soft and feminine, he attacked them anonymously. His opening salvo as William Wallace II, while clever in its machismo, was quickly challenged by another person who wondered if Jesus was pussified. Driscoll, as you will see if you read the whole thing, dismissed the poster’s concerns. In the excerpts below,
Driscoll belittled those who disagreed with him.
To read the entire 100+ page thread, go here.
Driscoll echos the mom-bashers of the WWII and post-war era. Philip Wylie (“momism“) and Ed Strecker are two I have written about previously. The jacket cover of Strecker’s 1946 book, Their Mothers’ Sons, proclaimed:
This is a book about Mother, the great American “Mom,” and what she is doing to the young men of America. In its pages a world-famous psychiatrist describes in unforgettable terms a new American tragedy – the millions of young men in this country today who live in confusion and emotional chaos, condemned by millions of well-meaning and unthinking “Moms” who will not cut the apron strings between them and their sons.
Strecker, a military psychiatrist, believed that doting mothers were often at fault when their soldier sons developed psychiatric disorders. Both Wylie and Strecker thought men of the day were unable to achieve maturity because mothers prevented their full development. Driscoll would have been right at home with Wylie and Strecker, proud members of the “He Man Woman Haters Club.”
For the sake of context, here is the entire first post from Driscoll:
More excerpts:
Mars Hill Church Spokesman Touts Result Source Aided Real Marriage NYT Bestseller Campaign as Accomplishment
In his bio at a website called “Innovate4Jesus,” Mars Hill Church Spokesman Justin Dean touts his experience helping to get Mark Driscoll’s book Real Marriage to #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List:
On the Innovate4Jesus website, “#1 New York Time Bestseller” links to the January 22, 2012 NYT list for “Hard Cover Advice” books on which the Driscolls’ book Real Marriage placed at #1 for one week. See below for the text copied as it is now on the I4J website.
ABOUT JUSTIN DEAN
With over thirteen years of experience, Justin has been recognized as an innovative, entrepreneurial, results-focused leader in the marketing, advertising and public relations industry. He has held senior management roles for some of the most revolutionary start-ups, as well as larger organizations such as Cox Enterprises, Home Depot Supply, and Autotrader.com.
Marketing projects led by Justin include several best-selling books including a #1 New York Times Bestseller, award winning advertising campaigns, and web tools used by millions of users every day.
Justin currently leads the communications and social media teams for one of the largest, fastest-growing, and most innovative churches in the country. He enjoys technology, design and connecting people to new things. You can find him in Seattle, WA where he lives with his wife and three kids.
Connect with Justin at justindean.com, on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or email him.
In a tweet earlier this afternoon, Becky Garrison asked Mr. Dean to elaborate on his role in the marketing campaign. I am also curious about how Mars Hill staff (was it just Mr. Dean or were others involved?) were included in the marketing campaign. The relevance here is that paid church staff were apparently involved in promoting the Real Marriage campaign. As has been widely reported (e.g., here and here), Mars Hill Church contracted with Result Source to purchase books valued at over $200,000. In the contract with Mars Hill Church, Result Source guaranteed that their method of gaming the New York Times Bestseller list would result in Real Marriage hitting #1 on the Bestseller list or else the additional $25,000 fee would be refunded.
Dean’s bio raises questions about who actually implemented the campaign. Dean seems to imply in his bio that he was in charge. I am also curious about how much time paid Mars Hill staff put into assisting Result Source or in other ways helped get Driscolls’ book to the status guaranteed by the contract. If staff assisted in gathering names and addresses for use by Result Source, or assisted in other functions related to the campaign, then it is likely that the real cost of the Real Marriage campaign greatly exceeded the $210,000-250,000 figures frequently reported and which are based simply on the Result Source contract.
Dean may have been involved in other ways such as developing ads or promotional material and those materials may have been very good. However, since it is now known that the Result Source campaign guaranteed #1 status, taking credit for the result seems to be a hollow accomplishment to tout.
After the many mixed signals Mars Hill Church has sent about the Result Source-Real Marriage campaign, it is surprising that anyone associated with Mars Hill Church leadership would extol it.
Baltimore City Paper on Michael Peroutka: "Extremist Dressed Up for Mainstream Appeal"
Out today, the Baltimore City Paper has a well-written summary of Michael Peroutka’s rise to notoriety.
Writer Van Smith notes that Peroutka is well positioned to win the Anne Arundel Council seat because he is similar to the mostly white, well-educated and well-to-do population in the 5th District of the county. From there Smith outlines his claim that Peroutka is an extremist trying to look mainstream. I’ve saying that for over a year; Smith does a good job of documenting the claim.
About Peroutka’s Institute on the Constitution, Smith accurately writes:
Similarly, the name of Peroutka’s Institute on the Constitution (IOC) fails to communicate its actual mission: creating theocratic governance based on both testaments of the Bible, similar to how extremist Muslims would like to establish states based on sharia law derived from the Quran.
Smith outlines a few facts about Peroutka’s personal life that I knew but chose not to write about. I suppose such details are more relevant now that he is running for office. Smith ends his article by saying about Peroutka, “He is what he is: an extremist dressed up for mainstream appeal.”
In all, the article is a good introduction to why Michael Peroutka’s IOTC should not be trusted by churches (or anyone) and why I hope he does not win the county election.