StretchyChurch

Still no baby… But tomorrow morning (Wednesday) Robin is going to be induced. So, assuming everything goes according to plan, the world will be “one Watson richer” by tomorrow night (as my friend Ryan put it!).

With all this waiting for baby, I think I had what I would have to call an “anxious dad moment” yesterday. I actually bought a CD at the mall!! I haven’t done that for years! I usually buy CD’s from half.com, or download them from iTunes, or, ahem, borrow them from friends… :-/

So here I was at the mall with my buddy D.G. and I had this incredible urge to buy the latest Linkin Park CD, Minutes to Midnight. I really don’t know what came over me except that it was, like I said, an “anxious dad moment.”

But here’s the thing that’s so cool about this CD. This CD (and all the other Linkin Park CDs, for that matter) demonstrate the fact that God is at work in the world even where the church seems to be absent. There’s a song on the CD called “What I’ve Done.” Check out the lyrics and the video below. Can you hear the message of sin and forgiveness in it? That’s the gospel, isn’t it?!

As a church, we have to be willing to respond to and embrace God’s working in the world wherever it is, even if we’d never expect God to be there–just like Paul recognized that God was at work in Athens in their worship of the “unknown god” (Acts 17:16-34).

What I’ve Done - Linkin Park

In this farewell
There’s no Alibi
‘Cause I’ve Drawn Regret
From the truth
Of a Thousand Lies

[Pre-Chorus:]
So let Mercy Come
And Wash Away
What I’ve Done

[Chorus:]
I’ll face myself
To Cross out what I’ve Become
Erase Myself
And let Go of What I’ve done

Put to rest
What you Thought of Me
While I clean this Slate
With the Hands of Uncertainty

[Pre-Chorus]

[Chorus]

For What I’ve Done
I start again
And whatever pain may come
Today this ends
I’m Forgiving What I’ve Done!!!

[Chorus]

What I’ve Done
Forgiving What I’ve Done

Whenever I put Micah (my 2-year-old) to bed, I ask him, “Micah, you want a story?”

And Micah says, “Yeah.”

So I say, “What kind of story.”

And Micah says, “Jesus.”

Tonight we went through that same routine as we were sitting down in the rocking chair. I started to tell the story of twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple and a few sentences into it, Micah turns and looks up at me and says, “Jesus love Micah.”

Man, I’m getting choked up just thinking about that. It’s such an amazing thing to see my little boy taking his first steps in his faith journey. And it starts with simply knowing that “Jesus love Micah.”

So I’m listening to God Has A Dream by Desmond Tutu on CD and he uses this expression that I think is one of the coolest expressions I’ve ever heard! Here’s the phrase:

“terminological inexactitude”

Don’t you love it?! I can completely picture myself using that expression. Here, let’s try it out:

• A: You’re jerk!
• B: I’m a jerk?! That’s such a terminological inexactitude!

• A: Star Wars sucks!
• B: Dude, that’s a huge terminological inexactitude!

• A: Jesus doesn’t really love me…
• B: My friend, don’t think like that. It’s a terminological inexactitude.

Yes, I think this phrase will come in quite handy…

Jim Hagelganz is the pastor who is preaching at Northminster Presbyterian Church this summer until I arrive in October. He’s been preaching a phenomenal series over the past month or so. This past Sunday he preached a really great sermon using the “Pastoral vs. Missional Leadership” table that I posted a couple weeks ago.

• Check out his sermon here. (You can hear all of this summer’s sermons–including my sermon from June 3–here.)
• The handout he’s referring to is here.
• And if you want to follow along with the Scripture, go here.

I know this news isn’t particularly new, but it’s something I’m pretty excited about. I’m talking about the Indiana Jones 4 movie! So, here’s a link to the Indiana Jones website. They’ve got some great video from Comic-con (which just happens to be in San Diego, which just happens to be where I’m moving next month!) as well as from the set.  And I gotta say, it’s really cool seeing Steven Spielberg and George Lucas working on this movie together in some of those videos!

I’m just full of new posts today… Here’s an interview with three pastors on the role of technology in church and preaching.

It’s actually pretty good. It’s more than just a plug to use lots of technology in church. It asks some of the hard questions of how the use of technology affects community, relationship, etc.

Here’s a quote from the article:

Using technology does not mean the church is accommodating or succumbing to the culture. It’s respecting where people are at and where they’re coming from. People come to church from an image and media driven culture. I have to respect and understand that, but I also need to provide something that they don’t get anywhere else. I think that’s part of the draw toward mysticism and even monasticism we are seeing. The desire for a transcendent connection with God is very anti-technology. So that may be part of what the church needs to explore.

Check out the rest of the article here.

In the past two or three weeks, I’ve had a few people ask me why this blog is called StretchyChurch. I just added a permanent page called “Why StretchyChurch?” with a basic explanation of what StretchyChurch refers to. Check it out here.

First of all, still no baby… It’s at that point now where we’re so anxious for the baby to be born that it’s almost frustrating. This past Wednesday was the due date, so she is officially two days late. Micah was four days late. If she’s no later than Micah, she’ll be here Sunday!

But at this point, I’m not holding my breath…

Anyway, a friend of mine sent me this picture. I think it’s pretty hilarious! You think God might say this to us if he did send us a memo? Makes me think of all the ridiculous fighting that goes on in churches…

Still no baby. That’s all I can think about these days…

I know, I know… It’s been over a week since my last post. I’m well aware of it.

First, let me get the baby news out of the way: There’s still no baby. This Wednesday is the due date, so we’re hoping and praying she comes this week!

Now, regarding my lack of posting, you’re probably thinking, “C’mon, Markus! You’re not even working now! You should be posting new content every day!” That may be so, but I gotta tell you–there’s a lot of work involved in trying to sell a house!

We’ve had several showings this week. That’s the good news! And we’ve spent countless hours continuing to work on getting the house ready for sale (or possibly for rent, depending on how things go…).

Today, I spent most of the day reflooring one of our rooms. And while I was doing that Micah had a great afternoon playing with some of his friends from school who just moved in down the street. The great thing for his mom and dad is that when he got home he didn’t last very long….

He sat down with Robin on the couch. A few minutes later he climbed off the couch and laid down on the floor. He said to Robin, “Lie down, Mommy.” So Robin heaved herself off the couch and onto the floor. And after about a minute of rubbing Micah’s head, he looked like this….