Two. Weeks. And three days. Wow.
That's the longest I've ever gone without posting a single word on this blog in its one year and five month history, and I am happy to announce that I am ready to return from this short hiatus. We will begin by getting back to basics, starting with the seventy-second installment of Bible Verse Sunday. This week's verse is Luke 18:16:
"But Jesus called them to him, saying, 'Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God."
This verse illustrates Jesus' innate compassion, especially for the younger generation. Jesus, knowing the scriptures, such as Proverbs 22:6, understood that training up the next generation of believers was a top priority. He knew that instilling a godly foundation into children was important to their development into faithful, godly adults. He also appreciated the innocence of little children, which is what he meant when he said that the kingdom of God belongs to such. That is, he meant that the kingdom of God belongs to the innocent. Or rather, it belongs to those who are made innocent through their acceptance of his sacrifice.
In church today, the Pastor continued in his series on the book of Romans (feels like it's been going on forever). In it, we discussed Romans 7, in which we learned that sin isn't the problem; we are the problem. Unfortunately, people are often reluctant to admit this, which leads to the truism that "You can't legislate morality," the flipside being, naturally, that you shouldn't be able to legislate immorality either, i.e. gay marriage. The key question to ask in this instance is, "What in my life do I need to change?"
In the High School service, the youth pastor talked about John 8:12-30, in which Jesus declared that he was "the light." The Pharisees, needless to say, didn't get it. The main point of this story is that Jesus, being the light of the world, gives us light. This means that even when we feel like we're all alone, with no hope, this is not the case. Jesus is always there for us. We are never alone.
During my absence, several momentous occasions came and went. For example, Easter 2014. For that blessed occasion, we invited several of our relatives over for dinner after church, having a good time filled with uplifting and intelligent conversation. Christ was indeed with us, in our very presence.
The following weekend brought us the Bible Quizzing Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament 2014, in which I froze repeatedly and our Novice team emerged victorious as undefeated champions in their bracket. My sister Rebekah's birthday was over that particular weekend, and we celebrated by bringing a homemade chocolate cake to the snack table. Unfortunately, we had neither knives, forks, nor plates, forcing us to cut the cake with a folded up paper cup and to eat it with our hands out of other paper cups. But all in all, I'm glad to have met some new people and to have spent some time outdoors. It is my last Regional as a quizzer, and I look forward to acquitting myself and my team well at the upcoming National competition.
Yesterday brought us Free Comic Book Day, a happy event which was held at my local comic book store, the Comic Hut. I picked up the Avatar: The Last Airbender issue that Dark Horse put out for the occasion and the awfully depressingly Future's End #0 that DC produced. I reviewed them both for Primary Ignition, and hope to see them up and ready soon. I also picked up Azrael Vol. 1 issues #7 and 8. Not the best comic, but hey, I love Jean-Paul Valley and will fervently hope that the creators at DC will bring him back with a talented, up-and-coming writer like Scott Snyder of James T. Tynion IV or somebody. Who knows? Maybe he's show up in this Batman: Eternal miniseries they're running right now. I just bought issue #4 on Comixology, and I'd say that it would be the perfect place to do that. Failing that, I'll get a job at DC and write him in myself. But anyway, I'm rambling. I spent Free Comic Book Day working, going to the comic book store, getting pelted by rain, and helping my mom man a booth at this business expo thing down in Renton.
Finally, today is Star Wars Day, or May the Fourth be With You. This holiday celebrates the Star Wars saga, and I although I am saddened that I'll have to miss my church's film viewing party of Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope (doubling as a "Cinco de May Eve" party) in order to attend my sister's belated birthday dinner, I am happy to do so on her account. In the meantime, I do look forward to watching The Empire Strikes Back tonight, a fitting follow up to last year's viewing of A New Hope. Thusly, I say unto ye all, happy Star Wars Day, and may the fourth be with you!
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