Yesterday, we found ourselves pulling up to Alki on Friday (9/14) looking for a parking spot, yet being torn – to park on Alki or not to park on Alki? Where is my heart at? Has the Gospel taken root in my heart in such a way that it influences all that I do, including how I drive and where I park? For the full story, check out yesterday’s post here. If you took road 1-4, proceed to ending A. If you took road 5, proceed to ending B.

[Ending A]
You find yourself cruising Alki as you determine what the best course of action will be. “Do I park here,” you ask yourself, “agh, I don’t know. I’m late, I’m lazy, no one knows me here, I’m really important, and I have a secret spot that is out of the way”, you think to yourself. Suddenly a spot opens up across from the Alki Bakery. “God must want me to park here”, you think, “wait, maybe Jesus is testing me. If I don’t take it, someone else will.” You pull in and park. You’re feeling pretty good about yourself. You and your buddies are sporting your Mars Hill Church t-shirts. Suddenly a gigantic bolt of lightening comes out of the clear blue sky and fries your car, melting the windows and doors shut. You can’t get out. Meanwhile, the Mars Hill shuttle bus pulls up and unloads. Everyone looks at you and your friends, wondering “why did they park there?” At the same time, all of the other folks who are just hanging out on Alki see you inside your car and think, “I thought Mars Hill was about loving the city, and here are these yahoo’s parking on Alki. Jesus save us from your followers.” You suddenly realize you made a wrong decision and have taken a spot that someone who does not yet know Jesus could have parked in. The story ends with you stuck in the car with your smelly buddies.

[Ending B]
You find yourself cruising Alki as you determine what the best course of action will be. “Do I park here,” you ask yourself, “agh, I don’t know”. Suddenly a spot opens up across from the Alki Bakery. “God must want me to park here”, you think. “If I don’t take it, someone else will. Actually, that’s OK. I’d prefer someone who doesn’t know Jesus take it.” You circle back around, drive up to West Seattle high school, park and hop on the bus just as it is leaving. You see many of your friends and make new ones on the bus. The trip is quick and you realize you’re stress free because you don’t have to worry about parking on Alki and you have a clean conscience. You hop out of the bus and immediately see a car full of guys. Oddly, the car is partially melted with its doors and windows sealed as though with a welding torch. They sit still as if they hope no one sees them, but its hard not to notice a car with foggy windows full of guys wearing Mars Hill t-shirts. “I’m sure they can take care of themselves. Either they decided not to love their neighbors or are some sort of modern art”, you think and excitedly head to the beach where the baptism event is about to start.

Note: Mars Hill Church is having an all-campus baptism event on Friday, September 14th on Alki Beach. The event begins at 6:30PM. Parking and shuttle buses are available from West Seattle High School in the Admiral District. Shuttle buses will run from 5:00PM to 9:00PM. We ask that you carpool, arrive early, bring a picnic and plan to take the shuttle out of love for this community. See you there!