•some “mythical” things EXIST! (children’s picture books coming alive in Europe; stories & experiences of prophecies & “whacky” wonders) – then so do counterfeits & unclean spirits’ use of these.

•impressive “churches” (cf a garden animal on a walk)

•architecture using size, beauty, symbols to aid a time of focused worship (I can’t think that any technique is wrong in & of itself – what can I appreciate & learn?)

•the need to still acknowledge “strultures”, & their place; at times to use them & sometimes to ignore them. (castles, soldiers/archers gear & positions, dungeons, gallows, dunking machines\cages, cf a painting of the tower of Babel by Paul Someone?) {Honour God & the king my son! You don’t know the trouble they can cause you if you don’t. Proverbs}

•God at work to further his kingdom through the ordinary stuff of spritually alert people, in active community, committed to understanding reality, growing gratefulness, discipleship (parenting), & resourcing/empowering others (eg in interactions with Wolfgang, Jacob’s neighbours, Simone, Larry & Ann-Lydie, Jean, Simon)

•seeing the presence & value of some Australian traits: inventiveness & a willingness to interpret rules sanely, & have a go at adventurous novel things. (eg on the highest mountain in Europe… amongst the placards telling people to keep on the snow-plowed path, the two groups of Aussies started up two activities which drew others into them: 1. some Aussies started sliding down a hill on a plastic shopping bag (I think our kids had a go) &  2. some Aussies started builing an igloo (Sam & Paul) and the rest of the family & some Japanese tourists walking by & joined in and we finished it & took pictures etc)

•the difference between covering your own backside from litigation, & training & fostering the ongoing responsible use of some resource. (the trotti bikes, another traveller’s story of scuba diving in America & Australia)

• times & places for blessing & suffering (& maybe blending the 2 through self-discipline) we experienced great blessing & being looked after; while reading together “the heavenly man” about great suffering for Christ.)

•informality – not as an excuse for ineptness or inactivity, but as a way of overcoming them (fostering an informal school of … art, evangelism, gratefulness, languages, parenting, music, song, & games. etc)

•the destruction of many beautiful social/spiritual things (commited friendships, real fathering & mothering), at the same time the enduring quality of godliness & its answer to a great need for permanence & reality (cf. virtuality) in the world of people today.

•taking & giving (& how gratefulness blends the 2 in the right way – the return journey with China Airlines)

Allthough I couldn’t find any via Google in Australia, Wolf-gang Simson just told me that he recently found about 1/2 dozen sites that still have (i think free) downloads of his book “Houses that change the World”. If anyone finds some let me know & i’ll put them up here.

29October2007 I just found one (it gives a word version of it, while at least 2 others give an online PDF version), this may help those who don’t have the cash to buy it but are keen to read it:

http://lead.sabda.org/?title=change_theworld

It has still got me thinking, very excited, acting, we’ll see what God does. And whether it does change this part of the world for the better. There are some thoughtfull critiques of the book Houses that change the world, and some critiques by people if they have actually read the book don’t know how to read a book & hear what an author is saying. I’m reading some at the moment. Any of your thoughtful critiques after you’ve read it, (or while you’re reading it) I’d love to hear.

We want our households to be seed-beds from which to spread the infection of the kingdom of God. “God, please make us more infective with your giving, loving life! We want to live out the rich & full Life that Jesus Christ gives us & to spread that good infection to others. You, dear Father are really Really GREAT, and we are glad to come to you though Jesus your Messiah (and ours)”

 The new book something like “Starfish manifesto” is just about done. I am reading a synopsis of it at the moment – plenty of food for thought! (& I hope action too!) The plan is for it to be shortly available for down-load from the web. We might not even be able to pay for it, the idea is to “paying it forward” if you like it.

This is our second day in germany. Wow, what a full day yesterday was. It’s prelude was a 9hr trip to Taipai, in which we snoozed & snacked etc; then there was a 3hr stop-over in the airport in Taipai (capital of Taiwan- which still calls itself “China”) . We tried some chinese buscuits/cakes, drank water from the little water dispensers in… little.. paper.. “cups”(bags) which you fill with water, gingerly hold, & drink/spill from. Katrina finished a book by Tim Winton, Sam, Annabelle & I played some “learn to speak German games” in a computer program called World Traveller on the screens on the back of the seats in front; untill breaky arrived at 3:15 am (Frankfurt time) then we watched “The flying Scottsman” simultaneously (..& with constant “screen freezes” on our individual screens; What a story! It made me think of how driven we can be to prove ourselves worthwhile; & what suffering that can cause.. What a gift to be looked in the eye by someone of the calibre of Jesus, & to be told “Come & follow me!” & for him & his followers to share life with us. What a redemptive person was “Baxter”; how wise as a serpent, & as harmless as a dove. I wonder what else they shared that didn’t get into the movie. A good movie I reckon.
The chinese hostesses came up with some beauties!
Prease fasten your seat-belts..
We appologize for the delay. … Thank you for your passion & understanding…
Put your seat in praise. (before landing).
They got me thinking..,
Landing at 6:15am.

This is my first blog site. I’ll try it now a week before we leave Australia for Germany & Switzerland. Wow.. life is rich. I’ve just spent 3 days with a bunch of fair-dinkum Aussie men, Men of God… One of those convinced me that blogging could be a good habit to get into. Well, I’ll try it. A max of 30min per day. Here goes!