Three Star Night

On this blog, I've griped a number of times about how I tried to find a church: I dedicated my time and energy to one church after another, but the church was not able to uphold its side of the deal

As an update, I would like to share the good news that I have finally found a fantastic church!  The "finding" was really a matter of opportunity: 1) Mars Hill Seattle planted a campus in Orange County and 2) God provided a car with which I would be able to drive there.  I have been following Mars Hill for around eight years.  Yes, I am aware of the various criticisms of the church and of Mark Driscoll, but I have confidence in this church and its leadership.  However, I do not follow a man, but Christ.  And while I am in the process of pledging myself to this church, my identity and loyalty is not bound directly to this local church, but to the Church as a whole.

Going through the membership covenant is like reading a giant sermon.  I wanted to share some of the verses from the "Statement of Faith" section in hopes that it confirms and deepens your understanding of the Gospel.  The second reason why I'm sharing is in the hope that someone on THE INTERNET finds that this is a useful list and is able to bookmark it for later.  For a more comprehensive doctrinal statement, Mars Hill's may be found here.

Either way, I felt that these verses were particularly Advent-appropriate.  Take some time and meditate on the basics!

Related topics I want to cover in the future: church-shopping, church membership, mega/ multi-campus churches, celebrity pastors

For your convenience: A list of "one another" verses


The Gospel:

John 3:16-18

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Rom. 3:23-26

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Jesus:
 
Matt. 26:64 (and Mark 14:62)

Jesus said to him, "You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man is seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

 Luke 22:70

So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.”                                                    

John 4:25–26

The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”                         

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Sin, Repentance, Redemption:

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Baptism:

Colossians 2:12

having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

1 Peter 3:21

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

I can't believe I haven't posted all month!  This was due to a variety of factors.  Part of it was being completely sapped of time, energy, and creativity.  Part of it was going through life-stuff that I didn't feel comfortable blogging about in case word got back to the people involved: of course, I don't use the blog as a platform for sinning against another person, but at the same time, if they knew I was writing about them, it would make things rather uncomfortable.

I honestly cannot say what will be the future of the blog.  Even before the longest hiatus in TSN history, I was not blogging very often or keeping to my schedule of two comics per week.  (Everyone says they miss the comics.  No one says they miss my rambling XD).  I doubt that in the future I will be able to go back to a regular schedule.  This has been a fun project that lasted a number of years- longer than I had expected.  At the same time, I don't think I will close the doors for good, simply because I like hearing myself talk too much!

That is to say, expect some changes in the future, which I'm guessing you've already learned to expect given my infrequent and sporadic posting this school year.  At the same time, I always like to challenge myself creatively and spiritually during Advent and Lent, and the fruit of my labor will be posted here as it comes to mind.  So if you're a subscriber, great!  You'll get content as it's posted.  If you're not, please keep checking in at least through Christmas, and by then, I'll figure out what to do with TSN.

Thank you for your support!
Jo

(Neal Dench, flickr, CC2.0)

None of us escape this pain, this fear that if we love something enough
God will take it away from us, as if He is vengeful and plays games with His
children. We trust the object of our expectations and set our expectations too
low when they were meant to be occupied by Him, after all. What good thing
would the Father withhold from us if He has given us His only Son? What
more could capture our hearts than the Savior Himself and the knowledge
that He died bound that we might live free?

- The Village Church advent guide

(rocknroll_guitar of flickr)

Dear squeamish people: aren't you glad I didn't show the actual needle?

(Sxc.hu)


Also: I revamped the tiny post from before. Seems my photo hosting shrunk my picture because I wanted to make a 1-frame comic. You live and learn.

We have sinned and grown old
There's a quote by Chesterton that I just love:

A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again’; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them.

It continues:

It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

Defining Maturity
Sometimes people mature because they pursue maturity.  Sometimes people mature because life matures them.  For me, it was a weird mix of both.  People started telling me I had an "old soul" starting somewhere in Jr. High.  I was always "old" for my age, but now age is catching up with me (as it does with us all).

As a kid, I didn't laugh much.  For one thing, I didn't have a whole lot of reason to.  But for another thing, somehow I equated "maturity" with "solemnity."  I distinctly remember being twelve and forming the thought.  (Yeah, I was a weird kid).  In my pursuit of maturity, my immaturity had caused me to construct the wrong notion of maturity.  It's funny how that happens.


Just as it is important to have at least a working framework for defining manhood, womanhood, or what it means to help someone, I believe it is also important to have at least a general idea of what maturity is.  If we're going to strive for something, it's good to know what we're striving for.  Then again, this may or may not have something to do with the fact that I'm a law student who likes words and definitions.

Missing out
There is something my 10-year-old brain missed: that's there's an incredible amount of joy in life, and it's OK to enjoy it!  That's something that [most] kids understand.  They have an innocence about them that can appreciate the small things.  But somehow, we lose that.  We have been sinned against, and we have sinned, and we have grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

Now, if you run with the Chesterton quote too far, you'll probably end up with some funky theology.  However, it gives a great counter-point to what many conceive as mature, adult living.  We become cogs in a machine.  We wake up, brush our teeth, drive to work, clock in, clock out, drive home, veg on the couch, and go to sleep.  We forgot the excitement in life.  We're missing out.

I believe this is one of a myriad of reasons why we must come to Christ with the faith of a child.  Why we must be reborn.  Why Christ gathers the children to himself and fiercely protects them.  Because there is an appetite in infancy that aligns with the Divine Nature.  Because there is maturity in childishness.