This is the best podcast I’ve ever listened to. Now, granted, I have only listened to a handful in my life; but the depth of thought this put me into every single episode is going to be hard for any future one I listen to rival. Thank you Mike.

As a former employee of Mars Hill in 2014, this was very healing to listen to. After the gaslighting of 2014, it was so validating to finally hear the truth spoken out loud.

As a religious studies and psychology double major who has studied the intersection of high control groups and organized religion for decades, I am stunned that there isn’t a single episode featuring (or even including) insights from an expert in the field of high control groups, such as Dr. Steven Hassan and Dr. Janja Lalich. I sense in the reporting a strong reluctance—if not outright refusal—to acknowledge that Mars Hill (and other churches like it) fit the technical definition of a high control cult. While the podcast does a good job of exposing the horrors of Mars Hill, it does a disservice to not only all Mars Hills survivors but also to all those who feel trapped within the widespread misogyny, authoritarianism, and spiritual abuse of white evangelical Christianity in America today. Mars Hill was not an anomaly. Rather it was the beginning template for creating a cult of personality around a megachurch pastor. And that template has groomed white evangelical Christians to accept, and often outright endorse, the rise of authoritarianism in America because Donald Trump looks and acts no different from the pastors they have dutifully followed for years.

Exceptional reporting, storytelling, and production.

If you do read these reviews Mike, I’d like to say Thank You. The thoughtful, meticulous and well researched reporting for this podcast series blesses me every time I listen to it. I’m excited to start Devil in The Deep Blue Sea. May the Lord richly bless you, your family and your work all the days of your life.

A thorough review of a church and pastor that was a prominent figure in the faith.

The podcast has a slant but definitely presents all sides. I enjoyed the length.

This podcast ends with the a couple elders getting fired and then a random Josh Harris interview. How did Mars Hill fall? Are you just supposed to somehow know how this story ends? If so, that is a wildly overblown view of how important this story is. Two stars because they didn’t finish the story and all the corporate ads from better help.

Mark Driscoll first came to my attention when his videos on family relations and boundaries started to come up on my social media. My initial impression of him was that I thought he was biblical, honest, and direct. I found his teachings to be extremely refreshing and relevant to the challenges my husband and I are currently facing but have been struggling to find biblical and reputable resources on. When I went to go see if Mark had a podcast I could listen to, I instead found THIS podcast. Much to my surprise, I had no idea that Mark was actually a fairly well known pastor who had helped in leading a large church. I was even more surprised to find that there was so much controversy behind Mark and his teachings. I immediately became skeptical, considering the fact that he was just some random guy who came up on my Facebook feed and I really had no idea who he was. We all know how easy it is to portray oneself as something we’re not on social media. I decided I wanted to learn more about Mark and this controversy that supposedly was “bad” enough to motivate a group of people to create a 22+ part series on the events that unfolded during the time of Marsh Hill. After listening to the podcast, I have confidently come to the conclusion that Mark Driscoll is a man of God who loves the Lord, loves the word of God, and desires to lead others to know, and love the Lord as well. Does he preach biblically founded messages? Yes and he references the Bible and passages that he’s pulling from in all of his messages. Is he direct? Absolutely. Mark’s intention is not to tell you what you want to hear or tell you things that make you “feel good.” His purpose is to share the word of God, as it is written without being tainted by the worlds notions or his own. He is exactly what we need in a pastor where most churches and leaders water down biblical truth to make everyone in a room feel more comfortable. That is not what we are called to do as believers. If you are skeptical of Mark Driscoll like I was prior to hearing this garbage podcast, I would encourage you to listen through an unbiased lens and come to your own conclusions. Listen to the audio clips of Marks teachings and ask yourself if what he is sharing is Biblically sound - regardless of how it makes you feel or whether you like it or not.

Originally I thought it was helpful as I had made my departure from an A29 church and less but similar issues. 1. There are some valid points and I did appreciate it as a whole. 2. The “Things we do to Women” episode may be partially true but is filled with problems. First, the women interviewed are all far left leaning and even non-Christians with a clear motive. Second, as a person that did follow Driscoll for some time, even if there were experiences that were contrary, his repeated teaching was fundamentally contrary to what is presented. It is possible that he was a total hypocrite, but my experience was he was very hard on men in sermons but quite soft on women. 3. I always felt uneasy about how things ended with Mars Hill. There is some possibility in my mind with “a trap laid”. Leading up to his end, Driscoll was making moves of being less tribal and seemed to have a more tempered view. I’m sure the ultra-Calvinists in A29 didn’t appreciate this. Everyone knew for years how brutal Mark was. I can assure you as someone in A29 that was never a bug, but from this point all those people changed their tune. I know people who used to worship Driscoll and parrot him but now act like they never knew any of this stuff. In my opinion Chandler kicked Mars Hill out for self-protection. None of the scandal info was news to A29, for all of us around it was common knowledge he was abusive to men. 4. Is also ironic the hypocrisy. By the end CT admits their own issues in their organization. But for me it’s not just that but the credibility of the organization. CT is a far left woke feminist organization and them going on a demon hunt after a differing group means there is zero possibility of objectivity. And that’s mostly what you get out of this.