I was not sure if the article link is available still, so I posted it below so that my last comment can be accessed.  Thanks for the patience!

For His glory!
mlouie

http://mondaymorninginsight.com/index.php/site/comments/john_macarthur_on_vulgarity_and_grunge_christianity/P25/

What is so funny to me is that when I saw this title I thought “ I should check this out to see if he gets a chick slam in there somewhere” and sure enough, he defended the cave man once more.

I gave a friend of mine the article he wrote about Alcohol. it was actually very good, I even put a link to it on my blog, but in true form he started it with the feminisation of the church in the early 1900 as the cause for the anti alcohol slant of Christianity. My friend called me and said, (without me telling her any of his past remarks) “this guy is such a male shovinist”! I snickered out loud and told her I was used to everything I read from him coming through anti-women-in-power glasses.

Her and I continued to talk about all the men we know that are good, God loving guys but their blind spot is their fear of women “Stuff”. They fear what they don’t understand and so they are blind to it. We still love them, think they have things of value to say, so we just have to know that Mark Driscoll may always be a male shovanist but that doesn’t mean he isn’t saying some good life changing stuff also.

Help Him Jesus and help us all.

“Okay, I admit to not being objective about this quote. But in my opinion, Mark Driscoll and this comment rocks! Although this is just one part of the issue, the style of worship music, worship lyrics, how many worship songs, how worship music is presented, what does the worship singer look like, how does the worship leader hold himself, etc. is one of the many reasons that men are bored stiff in church, why men are not challenged in church and why men are turned off and not coming to church. For churches to bury their head in the sand and say, “If men don’t like the music, then tough crap!” is the wrong answer. If we know that when a man comes to church, the family will follow, why aren’t we making churches a place that men feel welcome. I went to a church on Sunday that has made changes to target men. I not only saw a whole lot of strong men. I also saw a whole lot of happy women who love seeing men get excited and passionate about church.

Mike Ellis”

that’s quite a statement there, mike. i am a worship leader, and i do play guitar, and i have long hair, and oh my gosh…i even have earrings! but guess what, mike…about 1100 people come to my church on Sunday morning, and you know what? about 50 percent of those are men! and a lot of the biggest compliments and thank you’s that i recieve on a Sunday morning come from some of the most many men i’ve ever met, so i’m not quite sure where the assumption that churches are dying because “men” don’t like the music comes from, because i sure don’t see it happening.

however, if i could, for one moment, turn your argument around, i would say that this incredibly narrow version of what makes a “man” is part of the reason that so many men’s ministries miss out on attracting a large population of men (who, despite your definition of “man” are artistic, musical, writers, unathletic, and are still men in every sense of the word). why is it that all men’s events and study materials have to feature sports analogies, we have to hear sermons from football coaches, etc? you’re alienating a whole segment of the population, but i bet you don’t think you need to change what you do. you’d rather the church change it’s music to fit your idea of “manly.” what do you suggest we do, dress in flannel and sing “the lumberjack song”?

i know this comes across sounding harsh, but i just think we need to be careful about making assumptions that we know what all men should be like.

by the way, i’ve read “wild at heart”, and it was one of my favorite books, in terms of making me realize my place as a man, but it in no way made me feel like i needed to become a hunter, a sports fan, or a music hater, so where do we get off thinking that this is what a man is “supposed to be?” can someone enlighten me?