What Is It?

There was a debate, in the hills, as to what my vehicle was. Was it a pickup? A motorbike? A little truck? and so on. After the discussion had gone round and round a few times, an old man took a three-year-old boy by the hand, and led him down a path to my vehicle. He asked: "What is it?" The boy said: "Go!" This was short for "Gogga!" -- the Afrikaans / Khoisan word for "bug". People found it a great joke.

Bureaucratic Meltdown

The bureaucratic meltdown (in parts) in South Africa may not be funny. This morning I discovered, by chance, that a warrant would be issued for my arrest tomorrow -- or had already been issued, by another account. This was not my doing -- it came about because the authorities lost some papers, apparently between a municipal office and a provincial office. But what if I hadn't found it out? Three hours after I discovered it, a municipal official e-mailed me that the papers had been found: "I has given all the information to cancel the warrant". OBSERVATION: If only people would do their job. Even now, I'll need to check that this has really been done. A wasted morning.

Third Article

I have been asking people to pray that I may have the power to write again this year. Yesterday I submitted my third article for the year, to a theological journal. OBSERVATION: It seeks a conceptual basis for the integration of the personal and social dimensions of the gospel. At their extremes, these dimensions have been described as "a purely religious salvation and a purely politico-social liberation". For the person in the pew, it may not be a problem: "The Bible tells me so: Be saved. Do good deeds." For the theologians, however, it is one of the biggest, most awkward issues out there (but they haven't read my article).

Can't All Be Done

My first week back at work this year was close to unremitting pressure, with my time mapped out virtually all the way through -- only to deal with the basics. And as I greeted the congregation at the Church door on Sunday, my programme needed to accommodate considerably more. OBSERVATION: Today is my day off, and I haven't thought about how I'll arrange the week to come. It does not look as though it can all be done. At least the Church isn't dead.

Hillsong Sound Level

My new 2012 hobby is to discover the noisiest Church in town. So I kicked off with Hillsong last night. They are clearly in the championship league. The sound level frequently exceeded 110 decibels, and hit a top reading of 116.6 decibels. But I was seated in the back row -- so looking at the sound sources, and applying the inverse square law, it is safe to say that many congregants were exposed to well over 120 decibels. What does this mean? Firstly, the sound level is staggering. It is (at times) louder than a 747 passenger jet on take-off. Damage to one's hearing may occur within seconds. It is several hundred times the limit in draft provincial legislation PN14. OBSERVATION: My interest here is not a serious one -- it's just a fun new hobby. Let me not discourage anyone from attending Hillsong -- but do take ear-plugs to avoid near-certain damage to your ears. Incidentally I did an IEC 61672 Class 2 measurement with acoustic C-weighting. My calculated maximum for Hillsong is 122.6 decibels. See also Hillsong Cape Town.

Baptisms For The Elderly

This morning I conducted several baptisms for the elderly -- a very special occasion (see photo). Where one is dealing with the elderly, one may not necessarily baptise by full submersion. Then a different mode of baptism is used -- still using water -- as was done today. OBSERVATION: One of the candidates said she would come even if she had to be carried to the front. Still she was too weak to make it.

Legalism vs. Piety

I minister in a multi-cultural Church. With this in mind, I find that congregants of European origin have more of a tendency to legalism, while congregants of African origin have more of a tendency to piety. There is a difference, although I find it hard to put into words. I find also that piety is more often perceived as proof of salvation than legalism is.

African Millipede

For good measure, here's another photo of a Giant African Millipede, again photographed in the Karoo semi-desert. They may grow to be more than a foot long -- and may be kept as pets, although they often excrete an irritant when handled. A common sight, they are fast-moving creatures. You may click on the photo for VGA.

Death And Resurrection

I have wondered whether it needs to be regarded as a spiritual law that one's Church and ministry will be saved from certain death, several times, over the course of one's ministry. OBSERVATION: If this is this case, then one surely needs faith in a God of resurrection power. With anything less, all will seem lost -- if not be lost.

Counselling Sessions

Some time ago I decided to explore what percentage of our congregation I had counselled. I was surprised to find that I had counselled about one-third. Also, the majority of these sessions dealt with life-changing moments. Some sessions were of course just "bouncing things off the minister". OBSERVATION: Therefore I consider that counselling is an important aspect of my ministry, and I give it priority. Perhaps I'll reflect in a future post on the relationship between my training and actually doing it.

Fruit Platter

My friend E. made a marvellous fruit platter for son M.'s homecoming party tonight (he's back from postgraduate studies in England). Her fruit platter was a smash hit. The proof? It's in the photo.

India 1 | Japan 0

I was driving my (Indian) three-wheeler on our Main Road this morning. Suddenly a (Japanese) taxi drove backwards -- to pick up a passenger. We collided. The taxi sustained some damage (see the photo), while my three-wheeler's nose section buckled then bounced back into shape. The taxi driver jumped out and shouted: "Why you no hoot?!" OBSERVATION: In fact I did hoot. Why he no turn his boom-boxes down?

Xhosa Booklet

Our Church recently had an evangelistic booklet translated into Xhosa. Xhosa is an agglutinative language, therefore it tends to have some very long words: angasishukumisa, wawungabalaselanga, obungunaphakade, to give some examples. Not only does this require a lot of hyphenation in our booklet, but even with the hyphenation, justified margins are not practical. OBSERVATION: Personally, I think that when it is ready this will be the best evangelistic booklet available in Xhosa. Xhosa is one of Cape Town's three major languages.

Prince Alfred's Pass

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This is the little known Prince Alfred's Pass -- a panoramic shot that I took between Avontuur and De Vlugt (or Die Vlug) looking south. I hadn't intended to put it on my blog until someone said how impressive it was -- and this isn't the impressive part. You can see somebody else's more hair-raising photo at TravelPod.

The Purpose Of This Blog

I have noted on this blog that it is not intended as a Church blog, although I know that Church members do look in. One of its core purposes -- reflected in the left-hand margin -- is that it "may be an encouragement to other ministers". Feedback confirms that it is. This week I received a message from a minister: "I’m constantly amazed at how your daily posts resonate so soundly with me and the varied challenges I face." OBSERVATION: (And where the blog is not an encouragement, it might serve as a cautionary tale)!