My family is now more than half way through our trek down under and it has been so great to escape the icy tundra of Scandinavia for the sub-tropical atmosphere of Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. It has also been a great blessing to have Grandma and Grandpa at arms length to play with the kids and spend time getting to know them better. One of the major challenges has been not to gore food that I have been deprived of for the last four years. I have spent my fair share of time thus far devouring Tim Tams, meat pies, musk sticks, Chico Babies, Fruit Tingles, Solo, Crunchie Bars, and all the other good stuff that Elvis would have eaten if he grew up in Australia. And it's great to eat cuts of meat carved straight off the side of a cow rather than one of those pathetic european sausages full of random animal parts from random animals.Coming back after four years has also helped to give some much needed perspective on how beautiful this part of the world is - and it can all be viewed in a t-shirt for 12 months of the year (even though Denmark has great summers the other eleven months are problematic)! The kids have spent almost the entire first month here in the pool and it has been great to see the bare flesh on their arms and legs once again. Going outside of the house no longer requires the logistical planning equivalent to invading a small country (my wife always points out that I am a man who is highly prone to exaggeration - which is why I said "small country" ok)!
It has been exciting to catch up with many of my old friends and a whole stack of new ones who have tracked me down through my blog and youtube videos. Several preaching invitations have ensued and I have been more than willing to accept those offers (for those of you in Brisbane and South East Queensland who are interested, I will be preaching in Brisbane two times on Sunday May the 8th. Firstly at 9:30am at Hope Christian Church and at 6:00pm at Christian Witness Ministries Fellowship).
Another great thrill during this trip has been the opportunity to go out open air preaching again with my Bullhorn Guy Fraternity friends. And speaking of open air preachers, my arrival has coincided with the departure of my good friend Joshua Williamson from Operation 513. After many years of delivering pizzas so that he could buy tracts and get through Bible college, Josh has now taken up a full time pastoral position at a Reformed Baptist church in the provincial city of Goulburn. We are all going to miss Josh's big voice thundering down the main street of Brisbane but I am so thrilled that he will be able to provide for his young family and devote himself fully to the noble pursuit of preaching. It was great to see you off last weekend Josh. And I was not alone, I know that every lame sissy boy liberal pastor, college lecturer, and Baptist Union appeaser in Brisbane was also thrilled to see you leave town.
Many of the readers have heard about Josh when he has featured on Wretched Radio and TV. In commemoration of Brisbane's loss and Goulburn's gain, here are a couple of great videos from when Josh was featured with Todd Friel on Wretched TV during his last trip to the USA. They feature an open air sermon followed by an interview with Todd:
Miss you already Josh . . .
