Well, what do you know: despite Harold Camping, we actually made it to the end of 2011. We're pretty excited about that because we're looking forward to, God willing, many many more years of studying, pursuing, and telling people about Jesus. Plus, we hear he has big things for 2012, too. As we get ready to close the book on 2011, we'll first take one retrospective look back on the year and the top posts we had here on the Mars Hill Blog. There's good teaching, urgent pleading, and some good ol' humorous ones. Without further ado …

11. Dad, Thank You for Building a Gospel Legacy

Deacon Steve Sakanashi, June 19

Steve, a deacon at the U-District church, wrote a letter to his father, Mark, who passed away seven years earlier from cancer in what was arguably the most heartstring-tugging, tearjerker post of the year:

It’s been seven years since we had that conversation and I remember everything you said. God has been so gracious, and I’m trying my best to love and follow him like you did. Sometimes I worry about whether I’ll ever be as good a Christian, husband, and dad like you were, but then I am able to rest in peace because you taught me that the Father loves and accepts us regardless of whether we succeed or fail. Thank you for making Jesus and the gospel so easy for me to love and trust, and for building a godly legacy. I love you, I miss you, and I will see you again in heaven.

10. The Time-Lapse Video of Easter at Qwest

The Creative Team, May 11

Our production director built, yes built himself, a moving time-lapse rig and set it up at Qwest Field during the weekend of the Easter Celebration, capturing over 80 hours of set up, service, and teardown in 10,080 frames and a few minutes.

9. It Had to Be Him (or Not) | Dialoguing Wives, #1

Alice and Lily, January 27

This popular series of letters between a new wife and an older wife (a member and deacon, respectively, at the Ballard church) kicked off with Alice asking Lily about how she knew her husband was "the one" (or did she?) and what happened after she got married and there was no turning back?

What I have learned from those beginning years of marriage is that prayer is a gift to my husband and our marriage. I learned that it’s a requirement for me to pray for Gavin’s needs, in spite of how I am feeling or if he’s praying for me or not. Prayer humbles me to a point where I set aside myself so that I can hear God’s voice. "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23–24

8. Heaven and Hell | Luke #68 Sermon Notes

Pastor Mark, March 30

The most popular sermon preached this year at Mars Hill—for very good, plaintive, and urgent reason:

… Let’s talk about you. You’re alive. You have a decision to make. … Don’t change the subject, friend. And I won’t let you because I love you. Let’s talk about you.

Have you received Jesus? Have you trusted in Jesus? Have you turned to Jesus?

If not, you are in the path of the wrath of God. You are headed to the conscious, eternal torments of hell. Let me say it clearly. Let me say it plainly. Let me say it loudly. Let me say it lovingly. Let me say it pleadingly. You are in danger. Yes. Yes. Without Jesus, you go to hell. My job is to tell you the truth, ‘cause I love God and I love you. And I can’t have your blood on my hands and I can’t stand before him and have him say, "Not well done, unfaithful servant." … "What if you’ve never heard about Jesus at all?" Salvation is only through Jesus, but the message of Jesus can be sent out by missionaries, technology, publishing, the Internet, church planting, an angel can show up, God can show up. I don’t know who has heard. I don’t know who hasn’t heard. Here’s what I’m worried about! Are we telling them? If people haven’t heard, then let’s tell ‘em.

Let’s tell ‘em that Jesus is God. Let’s tell ‘em that Jesus lived without sin. Let’s tell them that Jesus died in their place for their sins. Let’s tell ‘em that Jesus rose to conquer Satan, sin, death, hell, the wrath of God. Let’s tell ‘em that he is the way, the truth, and the life. Let’s tell ‘em that there is no salvation apart from him!

My job is to tell you the truth. Your job is to make a decision.

7. Video Games Aren't Sinful, They're Just Stupid

Pastor Mark, March 4

This nugget from Pastor Mark's Luke #63 sermon, "The Cost of Discipleship," struck a cord with many:

Video games are not sinful, they’re just stupid. And they’re stupid in this way: Young, particularly men, and now women are joining it, they want to get on a team, be part of a kingdom, conquer a foe, and win a great, epic battle. So they do it with their thumbs and it doesn’t even count. Nobody’s really liberated. The Taliban is not really conquered. Women are not really freed from oppression. Generations are not really changed. It’s all fake. It doesn’t count. You want to do something? Get off the couch, unplug the electronics, give your life to Jesus, find some other guys, and do something that actually matters. Leave a legacy for women, children, generations, not just the high score on some stupid game. It’s amazing. A whole world filled with guys who want to be on a team, go to a war, defeat an enemy, and save a princess. That’s the story of this book, the Bible. And if you want to be part of that kingdom, you got to get off the couch and follow that King. And you do not quit. You fight differently when you fight for ones you love, a kingdom, and a King. … And some of you would want to say you’re a Christian and not see it through to completion. And let me just say this. All of the slots for hypocrite are already filled. All of those positions are filled. We’re not lacking hypocrites. We’re lacking disciples.

6. Poor Pablo | Parenting Daughters, Part #7

Pastor Dave, March 29

Pastor Dave is truly one of the nicest, most gracious men you'll meet—unless you're taking one of his four daughters to the dance, as one poor Albuquerque young man found out:

I gathered myself and went to work on Pablo. I explained to him that I played three roles as Lisa’s dad: I was her pastor, her protector, and her provider. And if he was willing to accept a mission for this night only, I would deputize him to protect her. I made it clear I would gladly die to guard her from harm and expected him to do the same. His eyes widened while hers fell to the floor as she blushed. He nervously accepted my terms now aware of the seriousness of his responsibility. I prayed for them, and then, with an intentional vagueness warned him that, if he didn’t keep his word, "things won’t go well for you, Pablo." I thought my closing statement was most impressive. Kara thought it was over the top. But when Lisa returned home safely later that evening, she threw her arms around me, told me she loved me, and confirmed I had nailed my part.

Pastor Mark and Gideon

5. Five Godly Ways to Be a Good Dad

Pastor Mark, June 18

Pray for your great-great-grandchildren, gentlemen:

5. Create a legacy for your kids. While fools are consumed with the present, wisdom looks to the future. Proverbs 17:6 leans us into the future, saying, "Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers." The point God is teaching here is that young men should be thinking about what kind of grandfather they aspire to be before they even take a wife, because they have a lot of work to do to get there. Godly men aspire to be both good fathers and good grandfathers, like Jonathan Edwards, America’s greatest theologian, who prayed each day for five generations of his offspring in hopes of being a patriarch like Abraham. Wisdom enables a father to see that the way he lives affects the kind of children he raises, which affects the kind of children they raise, and so on.

4. Pastor Jamie Retires from Church Staff

Pastor Jamie and Pastor Mark, September 6

After over a decade on staff, Pastor Jamie announced he was going off of staff—but hardly leaving Mars Hill:

Mars Hill Church is the thing that ties all of these stories and relationships together. I’ve enjoyed a front row seat for every moment as we’ve grown from 100 to 10,000 people. I know I’m biased, but I believe this is the best church anyone could be a part of. … I still plan and hope to be a part of the church for a long, long time. My family and I will continue to worship at Mars Hill, and I’ll still be a pastor, serving on the Board of Directors in an unpaid role. … My time on staff at Mars Hill Church has come to an end, but the Munson family is not going anywhere, and we’re so excited to see what Jesus does in the next fifteen years. If it’s anything like the last fifteen, we’re all in for a great ride and grace beyond our expectations. I love you, Mars Hill.

3. No More "Campuses"

Pastor Jamie Munson, August 8

We ditched the academic term and went with what we knew: Scripture.

The word campus is not in the Bible. Not that it has to be. You won’t find podcast or MacBook in your concordance either (or Trinity, for that matter); that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop using these critical tools for ministry. But the Bible does give us a word to describe a body of believers gathered together on mission for Jesus: church. In addition to being more biblical, it’s also more natural to describe our locations as churches (the term campus usually refers to academic institutions or offices) and more accurate, because every location is a church.

2. Pastor Dave on Guys, Sex, and Sexual Sin

Pastor Dave Bruskas, January 31

Pastor Dave did a two-part radio interview with a couple of DJs down in Albuquerque, in which he hammers everything from porn to King David, and even boldly calls pastors to lead in repentance:

… Usually what will happen is guys will come to me, Christian guys, broken down, saying, "Slept with somebody I shouldn’t [have]," or "I downloaded porn on the internet and masturbated, and, you know, I feel guilty about that," and then they’ll go, again, to religion: "So here’s what I’m gonna do: I’m gonna read the Bible ten times a day, and I’m gonna go to every church service I can find in town. I’m gonna put an internet filter on, and I’m gonna not ever look at another woman the rest of my life." And, although those are helpful things, apart from Jesus, they really won’t make a difference. So when they tell me that, I’m almost like, "Let’s go set up the next appointment, because I’m gonna give you three days and then you’re gonna be right back here crying." … Who hasn’t been [that guy]? Really, honestly? And I tell guys that, you know what, this is a universal struggle, and it’s OK to be open about it. It’s OK not to be OK. It’s not OK to stay there, but it’s OK not to be OK.

1. Westboro Baptist Church, This False Prophet and His Blind Lemmings Welcome You to Our Whore House for God’s Grace and Free Donuts

Pastor Mark, June 16

Because really, who doesn't love a post about free donuts?? Right?

… Jesus Christ also said we should "love our neighbors" and even "love our enemies." So, Fred and WBC, on Jesus’s behalf, this false prophet and the blind lemmings at our "Whore House" welcome you in love. The sermon next Sunday will be from Luke’s Gospel on how God saved a really bad man named Zacchaeus and how the self-righteous, holier-than-thou religious folks who saw Jesus lovingly befriend him stood around complaining and grumbling—or basically picketing the love of God. In the providence of God, we call that a funny coincidence. If you make it, we’ll also give you free copies of my book, Doctrine, so you can learn what the Bible says about who God actually is, and we’ll also provide fresh donuts and free coffee, along with smiles and chuckles. …

Thank you all for reading. We're grateful and humbled to get to be growing in discipleship in Christ and on his mission with all of you. We'll see you next year.