Pastor Dude's Mega-Church Draws Crowds

Mark Driscoll, 38, is the pastor and figurehead of Seattle's Mars Hill Church -- nearly 8,000 strong and among the fastest-growing in America.

(ABC)

'People Are Really Going to Hell'

The facilities may be cutting edge and the topics might appear liberal but Driscoll points out that his beliefs are strict. He is a Calvinist, and believes that people's fates are predetermined.

"I believe that Jesus is God, I believe the Bible is true, I believe people are really going to hell," he said. "Those things in our culture are seen as crazy.

"If you are not a Christian then you do not have eternal life," he implored in a sermon, although it's not all fire and brimstone.

From his home office, filled with an impressive library, he showed some of his most cherished possessions, including a game-used Reggie Jackson baseball bat and a hand-written letter from Charles Haddon Spurgeon in 1873.

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"He's kind of one of my heroes," Driscoll said of the influential British Reformed Baptist preacher known as the "Prince of Preachers."

"He had the first mega-church in the history of the world. Five thousand people."

Whether it's the message or the messenger, what's clear is that today, this punk rock preacher's church has taken off. Driscoll acknowledged that he has to work to keep his ego in check.

"I think, to be honest with you, humility is something that, by God's grace, I'm learning," he said. "I would not pretend to be an expert in humility."

Like him or not, Mark Driscoll knows how to draw a crowd, and he knows how to sell a message. A message he hopes to spread, to a neighborhood church near you.