....150 to choose from...

I've got about 150 pictures I could post from our Germany trip, but I liked this one...this was the church we used as the backdrop for our downtown Frankfurt outreach with our geschwester gemeinde (sister church)Treffpunkt Leben (meeting point life) at what we called our "Leben ist Schoen" (life is beautiful) festival. All in all, great times & great fun. We learned about the gypsy lifestyle (life is stealing...) and how many weirdos live in Frankfurt, as it makes San Francisco seem like the place to pick your favorite homeless guy or gal and take them home with you :) Just kidding, I know Jesus loves the homeless as much as he loves me. ...He loves me, yes, that's where I was going, cuz I got to sing & play songs, some original, and some covers, including my top three favorite songs of all time, along with the greatest friends anyone could ever ask for in this world. Our team of 18 was amazing, and the Germans were equally super geil volks (very cool people). I've decided to take up German again, as I realized it's the only way to get back what I studied so long ago and progress enough to write good songs auf Deutsch (in German). See, you're learning it too :) In the words of one of my favorite pastors of all time, a man who can both drink you under the table and by the power of the Holy Spirit look into your soul, I quote:

"Wir leben fur Jesus, wir leben fur ein ander, wir leben fur Deutschland, und wir leben fur die Welt."

Good luck with the pronunciation, but here's the translation for you non-speakers-we live for Jesus, we live for each other, we live for Germany, and we live for the world. I'd add Reno/Sparks in there too for our daily lives, but otherwise I feel the same. It may sound funny, or unrealistic, but it's true-Germany has 87 million people & is centrally located in Europe, and in Frankfurt, which happens to be located in the center of the country that heads up the EU, it's a pivotal international business and travel center. I met people from Romania, Poland, Santa Barbara, Florida, Italy, British Columbia, actual Columbia, Armenia, Turkey, Montreal, the Netherlands, and more, just to name a few. Strange, very strange....or isn't that weird? I stayed with a man named Sven & his Columbian wife Diana. We took turns using Spanish, Germany, and English...he told me he went to school at Hamburg with one of the guys who planned the 9/11 attack...as much as I hate to admit it, it turns out Disneyland (not my favorite place on earth, as some of you know...) is right about one thing: it is a small world after all. If Jesus is going to change it, he's going to use us little people and he might just use some of the places we inhabit on a regular basis. Only a God like ours would give an American hillbilly like me a song that turned out to be the theme song for an outreach in a stategic city in Europe....sort of a humbling experience, to be sure. If you want to hear the song, check back soon at www.redxmusic.com for the free download. It's called Psalm 116, better known as Be At Rest, and just needs a little more mixdown before the demo version is complete.

I could go on, but I digress, so I will end with this: If you want to hear more about the trip, just ask one of the 18 who got to experience it first hand, and you'll get some great stories & encouragement. I leave you with two of my favorite germany phrases, just in case this post peaks your interest to get involved if the German team comes our way next year, or for our next trip to Frankfurt. In Germany, you can order "frische fishe" (fresh fish), or Super Suppe (great soup). but I prefer a Hefeweissen hell (light wheat beer in a 1.5 liter glass) and a bratwurst or some schnitzel :)