Mark Driscoll Calls Out Megachurch over Controversial Sword-Swallowing Performance at Men's Event
- Milton Quintanilla CrosswalkHeadlines Contributor
- Updated Apr 16, 2024
Pastor Mark Driscoll left the stage at a megachurch men’s conference after he criticized an earlier sword-swallowing performance by Alex Megala (America's Got Talent 2013, Britain's Got Talent 2016), which he likened to something that someone might see at a strip club.
"I've been up since 1 o'clock in the morning," Driscoll, the senior and founding pastor of Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, told attendees at the Stronger Men's Conference, which was held April 12 and 13 at the Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Missouri.
"The reason I'm hoarse is I have been praying and my heart is very burdened for you. And I want to be very careful with this and it's not what I want to say, but the Jezebel spirit has already been here."
"The Jezebel Spirit opened our event. This is a rebuke and a correction of no one. This is an observation. Before the word of God was open, there was a platform,” he continued. “It was a high place. On it was a pole, an Asherah, the same thing that's used in a strip club for women who have the Jezebel spirit to seduce men.
"In front of that was a man, who ripped his shirt off like a woman does in front of a pole at a strip club."
According to Newsweek, Driscoll noted that the man “ascended” the pole before “he swallowed a sword and Jesus cried.”
At that moment, John Lindell, lead pastor of the James River Church in Missouri, who organized the Stronger Men's Conference, can be heard calling Driscoll’s name and saying he was “out of line.”
"Okay, Pastor John, I'll receive that," Driscoll said before going off-stage. "Thank you."
As Lindell went up on stage after Driscoll left, attendees started to boo loudly and many could be heard chanting "bring him back!"
"Mark is out of line. If Mark wanted to say that he should have said it to me first. He didn't,” Lindell contended, while the booing and chanting continued.
He then cited Matthew 18, which states:” If your brother offends you, go to him privately."
"I talked to Mark for a half hour. There was not one word of that. He's out of line. If he wants to say it, he can say it to me,” Lindell said. “You may not agree with me, you may not agree with him, but we are brothers in Christ and there's a right way to handle this."
This was not the first time that the conference featured an unusual event. During last year’s conference, a tank can be seen being rolled out and crushing several cars while pyrotechnics went off. Additionally, the song “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins was played by a band on stage.
Photo credit: YouTube.com
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
