Apprising Ministries had long covered the false teaching of former icon of the Emerging Church, and now TV producer, Rob Bell. You might recall a little over a year ago he openly revealed his Love Wins mythology.

Not long after that Bell would depart from Mars Hill Bible Church. He would be replaced by his good friend, and fellow heretic, Shane Hipps. Today in Dear Mars Hill Hipps announces he will be leaving as well:

I’ve wrestled mightily with God over my identity.  The fuel for my fight was my love for the Mars Hill community.  Of course, fighting against God is ultimately a losing proposition.   In the end, God gave me a new name, a new calling,…

I’ve been at Mars Hill a little over two years now and I love this church… First some context about how the church makes decisions.  The Elders are a body of fifteen volunteers who have been elected by the congregation to be the ordained decision makers on the most important issues in the church…

Not long after Rob left, the Elders determined it was in the best interest of the church to restructure the role of the Teaching Pastor to be a full time teacher, which means approximately 40 Sundays a year.  In addition, that teacher would report to the Executive Director who would be responsible for the overall leadership of the church.

The original calling I accepted was to teach 25 Sundays a year, continue serving the broader church through speaking and writing, report directly to the Elders, and play a major role in casting vision. They acknowledged that the new role was significantly different than the one I originally accepted, but expressed a hope that I would consider applying for it.  I respected their decision and was grateful for their invitation to apply…

If I accepted the new role, I would have to dramatically reduce my service to the broader church which is an integral part of my sense of call… I felt the maximum number of Sundays I could do was 30 and still serve to my optimum capacity.  However, the Elders felt strongly that was not sufficient for the needs of the community…

Shane, what are you being called to?

Well, I’ve just finished my next book which releases in October called Selling Water by the River:  A book about the Life Jesus Promised and the Religion that Gets in the Way (Jericho). I’m very excited about it, and I wrote it with the Mars Hill Community in mind.  So I’m looking forward to getting the word out about that.  A year after that, a second book called Cats Don’t Bark: How to Find Your Purpose will launch.

In addition to those books and my speaking, I am also in the very early stages of creating a leadership development company.  I’ve spent time over the years working to unlock the inner life of leaders, artists, entrepreneurs, and activists by helping catalyze their creativity, align people with their deep purpose, and enact their highest potential in the world.  I’m deeply energized by the work I’ve been doing here already and feel a strong sense that I need to pursue it more intentionally. (source)

HT: Do Not Be Surprised…

See also:

SHANE HIPPS TEACHES A “SPIRIT OF REALITY” AT WILLOW CREEK

SHANE HIPPS AND ROB BELL TEACHING HERESY

ROB BELL AND SHANE HIPPS TEACHING MYSTICISM