Am Samstag Abend haben wir Ostern im Wald gefeiert, zusammen mit Bekannte aus der Region. Wir haben gegrillt, gesungen und zum Abschluss gebetet, bevor wir uns mit Fackeln auf dem Weg nach Hause gemacht haben. Unser Fackel hat dem Wind nicht standhalten können – er hat aber zum Glück gebrannt, bis wir aus dem Wald waren. Wir hatten keine Taschenlampe dabei…
Am Sonntag war dann Osterbrunch in der Regiogemeinde in Allschwil – nochmals gutes Essen, Gespräche und spontane Kurzpredigten. Spannend und schön.
Category: Tagebuch
Ilanz
Andrea, one of our best friends, moved from Basel to Ilanz in eastern Switzerland late last year. We visited her for a few days in early February, and had a great time talking and going for walks in the beautiful surroundings. This is one of my favourite photos of our time there.
Lunar Eclipse
Yesterday’s lunar eclipse was apparently poorly visible in Switzerland because of cloud cover. Here, the sky was mostly clear, and I took a lot of photos. I haven’t had time to look at them properly yet, but on a quick scan through, this one looked about the best.
(Sorry, gallery integration has stopped working again since I upgraded WordPress. I’ll look into it soon.)
Great photos of a Great Tit
We went for a walk in the woods nearby this afternoon, enjoying the sun after the past few stormy and cloudy days. I’ve been trying to get some good bird photos ever since buying my camera, and finally had my chance this afternoon:
Prophetic Intelligence for Apostolic Architecture
I’ve just finished proof-reading Wolfgang Simson’s coming book “Prophetic Intelligence for Apostolic Architecture”. True to form, Wolfgang is critical of many things happening in today’s churches, but also provides perspective, challenges us to think, listen to God, and act.
Wolfgang is still working on it, so I won’t jump the gun by reviewing it in detail or publishing quotes… OK, just one quote:
We don’t need a ninth prophetic and a tenth apostolic floor in a building that has a teacher’s foundation and eight consecutive evangelistic floors.
(And no, he doesn’t write that as a criticism of teachers and evangelists.)
I think it’s his best book yet (particularly since I proof-read it ;-)), and look forward to seeing others’ reactions. It has the potential to stir things up, as did Houses that change the world.
Global warming
The weather here is crazy. It’s mid-November, and still mostly around 15°C. There was a short cold spell a few weeks ago, and the renewed mild temperatures are playing havoc with plants. To show how crazy it is, I first wanted to show the new growth on our roses. Next to them, the lavender is blossoming again. But then I saw our neighbours’ tree.
At least some trees are keeping to the normal rhythm, even if somewhat later than normal:
No moon, but late Autumn colours
The moon is hiding behind cloud, so my lunar series will have to wait. In the meantime, I’ve been photographing the trees changing colour very late this year. My favourite photo so far:
In memory of Jim Montgomery
Jim Montgomery, the founder of Dawn Ministries, died recently. Others knew him better, and are more qualified to write about the effects of his life and works, so I won’t comment on that here. I met him briefly in the Dawn offices in Colorado Springs in 2004, and was touched by his friendliness and humility. “To live is Christ, to die is gain”
, as Paul writes. He has gained, we have lost.
What the eye does not see
I’m working on a series of photos of the moon, one each day for a complete cycle. Last Saturday, I was surprised by the difficulty I had in taking a sharp photo; I could see the moon clearly, and everything looked sharp in the camera viewfinder, but the photos were all blurred. I tried manual and automatic focus, turning image stabilisation on and off, different apertures and shutter speeds, but nothing made any difference. I’ve posted the clearest photo in the gallery, but the contrast to the other photos is clear. Something in the atmosphere, perhaps high cloud or ice crystals, was apparently obscuring the moon just enough to make the photos unsharp, but not enough to be visible to the naked eye. That reminded me of the words in 1 Corinthians 2:9 (even if their meaning is the reverse of what I experienced):
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him– but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit
Moon photos
I’ve just taken some photos of the moon which turned out very well. I had to use manual exposure, because even with spot metering, the moon was overexposed.
