Pictures as Promised

Here is a picture of me holding a Luther bible from 1543. It has comments on the inside cover from Luther he comments on Proverbs 8, something from John, and ends his comments with "Zach here's your bible I hope you enjoy it."

Here's me at the door where Luther may have posted his 95 Theses at the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

Here's me in the cell at the Wartburg Castle where Luther translated the bible into German.

Here's a picture of the baptismal font at St. Anne's Church in Eisleben (where Luther was born).

Finally, to see a lot more of my pictures go here.

I am no Matt Keadle.

I must now admit that compared to the great blogger Matt Keadle, I come up way short. I am back and pictures will follow shortly.

So, I'm kind of a big deal...

Well, it looks like pictures may not happen on the blog real soon. But I'll get on that.
So we were at the first protestant library in the world in Halle and we were looking at all of their old books. And the head librarian starts flipping through the pages, showing us stuff. He then proceeds to pick up the Luther bible and gives it to me to see how heavy it is. Fortunately, we were able to snap a picture of me holding the bible open to the page where Luther wrote in it and signed it in 1543. So, be looking forward to that picture.

Before that we were hanging out in Eisleben. We went to a morning bible study on Easter Monday with one of the congregations in that city. Going to all of these Easter services, I have learned some German; "Jesus bringt leben! Alleluia" = Jesus brings life, Alleluia.

In Eisleben, we were able to visit the birth house, the place of Luther's supposed baptism, and the death house. We also took a quick trip over to Mansfeld, where Luther lived for a while. There we saw this sweet castle that is now a hostel. (So, in case Hannah is reading: If we come back that's a hostel in a castle and the oldest protestant library in the world.)

We then stopped in Halle on the way to Erfurt, where I am now. In Halle we got a tour and an organ concert from the organ that Hendel learned to play on, and then stopped in at the library.

We are now staying at the monastery where Luther was and saw the place from the Luther movie where he was lazing on the ground. It is very exciting to be here and I hope to figure out how to get ya'll pictures. I'm glad folks are reading. Feel free to ask questions like my friend from the blogosphere, Matt, has.

So Matt, the weather is about like it is in Chicago, around 40, windy, and occasional snow. The food is great. Different than Nebraska but great. The fortunate, err, unfortunate thing is that the beer is less expensive than water. So, economic forces have dictated that I have beer more often than water with my meals.

I'll leave you with the crazy keys on this keyboard: öäß
Peace,
Zach

Busy, Busy, Busy

Sorry for the lack of posting. But I will give you guys a quick rundown of all that I've been doing: We flew into Berlin and went straight to Wittenberg on Friday. On Saturday we took a tour of the town of Wittenberg; the town church, the castle church, and the house where Luther lived while in Wittenberg. Wittenberg was where the university was where Luther taught. The castle church was home to the door where Luther supposedly nailed his 95 theses. The town church is where Luther did most of his preaching.

We went to an Easter vigil on Saturday night at the town church that included the local Roman Catholic community. We started outside of the church with a giant bon fire. The RC priest lit the Christ candle of the Protestant church and the Protestant pastor lit the Christ candle of the RC church. We then each proceeded to the town church (St. Mary's) for the rest of the vigil. It was really spectacular.

Early on Easter morning we rose and went to the cemetery outside of town in Wittenberg for an early morning Easter service in the chapel of the cemetery. We then worshiped later in the day at the Wittenberg castle church.

I have now made my way to Eisleben (home of the birth, death, and (maybe) the place where Luther was baptized).

I promise to be a more regular blogger from here on out, perhaps pictures soon.

Happy Easter!!
Christ is Risen!!
-Zach

I'm Leaving on Jet Plane, Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again

Just kidding, I'll be back next Sunday. But today I depart on my trip. All I've got is lunch with Hannah and a few hours of basketball between me and the airport. I've also got some exciting and ironic news. Hannah often gets bored at work and enters lots of contests online. This week she won two 3rd row bulls tickets for when I get back from Germany. She also won two tickets to the NCAA tournament regional finals in Detroit, the site where Clemson would play if they were to make the sweet sixteen. Unfortunately, I'll still be in Germany then. So while I'm checking out stuff in Germany, Hannah will be taking in some pretty sweet basketball at Ford Field over in Detroit. I'm also preparing mentally for not seeing the majority of the tournament while I'm in Germany. But for now, I'm leaving on a jetplane...

Welcome

I'd like to welcome everyone, and especially my readers from St. Paul's, to my Germany blog. It is now t-minus 8 days until I leave. I plan to post almost daily during my travels so keep checking back. I hope to use this blog to show folks what I'm seeing and to help me to stay in touch and contact with folks from my ministry in context church, St. Paul's in Evanston. Make sure to bookmark me and check back soon!
God's Peace,
Zach