"Discovering what it means to repent and believe today," it's an interesting phrase but what exactly does it mean?

I would liken my vision for this site to a man sitting on a bench in the midst of a cool and foggy morning in early Spring. The trees are still bare, the surroundings are unclear, and there's an uncomfortable dampness in the air. Yet, at the same time, there's an awareness that, at some point in time, the sun is going to break through the clouds and burn away the fog. Moreover, it's Spring and new life is on the verge of bursting forth from both the ground and the trees that are rooted in it. Over the course of the morning, others join him on the bench for a bit of conversation and reflection. They debate what will appear when the fog clears, the kinds of flowers that will spring up from the ground, and the kinds of animals that will make their home in the trees once the leaves provide them a dense covering. They want to know what will emerge so they can, at least in their minds, begin to live as if they're already there.

When Jesus appeared on the preaching circuit in Judea almost 2000 years ago, he announced that the time had come for something new to appear, a new kingdom, a new rule, a new reign that transformed everything. But while the new has already come, it isn't clear yet because the fog of the old ways are obstructing our view, and will continue to do so until that day when the Son appears and burns away the fog, prompting the new heavens and new earth to spring forth with life.

In the meantime, those of us who have heard the voice of Jesus calling are invited to peer through the fog and envision what God has in store for us once it lifts, not only to sharpen our hope in what is to come, but to begin living today, as much as we can, as if the fog were already gone.

The pages of Scripture, pages that, from beginning to end tell the story of Jesus, will serve as our guide as we sit at the bench and discuss what we see through the fog.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)