As of tomorrow, I am on furlough. Actually, I accumulated so much furlough over the years that it was scary, so the Church and I “did a deal” which means that, as of this year, I will have an additional month off every winter, until 2013. That was part of the deal -- some of the furlough was paid out, too. So this is my first winter furlough, and I am to spend much of it in the Great Karoo, writing an academic paper (or trying to). In my absence, I will be posting some of my favourite photos on this blog, twice-weekly -- starting tomorrow night.
Recently I began my Sunday sermon: “The title of my sermon this morning is ...” Suddenly I realised I had forgotten the title! I said to the congregation: “Apologies, I don’t remember the title,” and I searched for it in the pulpit. There was laughter across the congregation. OBSERVATION: It does help to have the basics in place! (actually, I print out my whole sermon -- just the title of this one went astray).
Someone confided in me last week that, many years ago, he had done serious wrong. Now the Holy Spirit had convicted him of it. But to confess to that wrong today, and to seek to set it right, would ruin him. What should he do? OBSERVATION: I suggested an answer to him, but I’ll let you guess what I might have said. In fact this kind of situation is not too uncommon.
I went to see someone tonight who had experienced a sudden, serious crisis with his health. This had plunged him into mental confusion. Personally, I felt that the signs were good, even if he couldn’t see it. God was doing a work in his life that seemed a “classic”. OBSERVATION: The questions he had in his confusion were too many even to begin to answer. I said, “All these questions, questions, questions are the spirit of control. And with the spirit of control walks the spirit of fear.” He said that I was right. I encouraged an attitude of trust in God.
This year, I am officially a “supervisor”. Here’s a write-up that our intern gives me on his blog: “I am continually thankful for ... a supervisor who is always challenging me to try and succeed in different aspects of ministry. Truly I feel I will be a better minister because of this year and his efforts with me.” OBSERVATION: I sometimes suspect that he must have had quite enough of me challenging him! However, he gets “recovery time”, too.
I should have received my final Master's thesis back from the examiners this week. At least, so thought the Registrar. I tell my friends that they must be breaking chairs over it. Perhaps the conversation between examiners runs something like this: External examiner: "I refuse to pass this student!" Internal Examiner: "What? After all the grief we had trying to get him through?" Internal Examiner: "You'll ruin our seminary's reputation if you don't pass him!" External Examiner: "I'll ruin your seminary's reputation if I do!" OBSERVATION: Postgraduate institutions have external examiners. My seminary's Academic Head has commented that this is "always a little scary".
Recently I shared two stories with one of our Church groups -- about my unpreparedness for ministry as a young man. The first story appears below. The other was about the first time I ever made a proposal as a minister. I felt that the Church needed a photocopier. We had the money for it. It was a vital piece of equipment. I even quoted a book that said so. Yet our leadership turned down my proposal unanimously! It might not seem important now, but I was traumatised at the time. Someone said that I should lobby in future. Now there was a new word that I duly looked up. OBSERVATION: But I still don't lobby. In fact, I hardly ever make proposals.
In Africa, I find, literalism (a literal approach to the Bible) is a different kind of being as it is in the West. In my experience, it tends to be a quiet, good-natured power in people’s lives: “The Bible tells me to rejoice, so I shall rejoice. The Bible says that God is sovereign, so I shall trust Him. The Bible tells me that God created the world, so I shall be enchanted with it.” OBSERVATION: Where literalism in the West may be about right and wrong, or true and false, in Africa it tends to be a response of faith and trust. It’s not a weapon in one’s hand, but something tender in one’s heart. Literalism is strong in my Church. It’s not of my making. It’s bigger than me.
Last night, our attorney told us that her affluent Church in suburbia had suffered a 50% decline in income during the past year. Needless to say, this was serious. It was attributable to the economic climate. Tonight, at our leadership meeting, our financial statements revealed a 6% surplus. Nonetheless, our treasurer (who couldn’t be there) e-mailed me before the meeting: “Let’s continue to be vigilant re expenditure!” OBSERVATION: I commented in the meeting that our Church may in fact be blessed to be 50% poor in an economic slump. It is the poor who are devout, and generous. A poor deacon commented, “It’s the rich folks who have their stocks crashing.”
The moral issues came thick and fast at our leadership meeting tonight. Here are some of the current issues we discussed, which involve faithful congregants: bigamy, common law marriage, homosexuality, and AIDS. OBSERVATION: The commonness of such issues in our Church means, I think, that we have a fairly “matter of fact” approach to them. The aim is restoration, and I think we have done fairly well on that score lately. We love the people concerned, and share in their struggles.
Fear is a major problem in ministry. There are many things to fear: fear of counselling boldly, fear of numerical decline, fear of opposition, and so on. But fear seriously stunts ministry. It is self-defeating. I asked our intern P. to summarise a paper on fear in ministry (by Dr. George N. Malek). He wrote: “Fear ... dislocates the centre of life, it falsifies information, it develops knowledge for the need to control, it covers up, it hides the nature and function of grace, it shuns nakedness, and dulls the voice of God who calls us out of bondage.” The alternative is “the religion of love which is not aware of the dangers of the world, but rather than avoiding out of fear, confronts these dangers out of love. Self-preservation is forgotten, and the Word is carried forward out of faith, trust, and love.” See also I'm Back (Almost).
I called in on one of our Church groups tonight. They wanted to know how long one studies for the ministry. I said one can do it in three years (I did it in five), then there’s typically a year of probation. “That’s not enough!” they said with conviction. OBSERVATION: I told them a story of my first year of ministry. I said, “I was asked to see a woman who had cancer. The cancer had metastasised -- it had spread all over -- and she was struggling to breathe. I was so upset. I left her bedside and I never went back. Now, I would hold her hand, and talk to her, and pray with her.” I told them another story, but -- there’s only so much space on a blog!
I met with our attorney and our accountant this evening, to discuss the sudden (first ever) taxation of our Church (see Tax Shock). Our attorney said, “It’s a new tax directive. They issue these directives as interpretations of the law.” It was agreed that the Receiver of Revenue had made a mistake. But how much of a mistake? OBSERVATION: We already obtained advice in dealing with this year's (massive) tax -- no answer from the Receiver yet. This meeting was now about rearranging our affairs to avoid future tax, if possible.
A multi-millionaire businessman approached me aggressively at a function: “So who says you’re right? Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew. Why should you have it all?” The aggression was too strong for me. What should I say? Why should I get into a fight? I sipped my drink, and I was silent. When he kept waiting for an answer, I said, “Other religions seek to reach God” (and I referred to various Scriptures -- he knew what I was saying). I said, “But in Christianity, God seeks to reach you. You have nothing to offer, no place to start.” I said, “That doesn’t directly answer your question, but maybe it helps.” OBSERVATION: It helped the relationship. He relaxed, and it unfolded into an interesting conversation.
I once went to see an old man, the day before he died. He said to me, “I have wasted my life. I have only realised it now!” OBSERVATION: This week, a young man came to the Church to claim a reward. I thanked him warmly, and asked him whether he would like a Bible, too. “Yes,” he said. We walked down the long aisle in the Church to fetch a Bible. Suddenly he said, “I must change my life!” I know nothing about his life, but I said, “You must! You heard what you just said.”
Intern P. and I went to visit an elderly couple tonight, and P. conducted a private Communion for them. They were childhood sweethearts. She suffered a massive stroke under tragic circumstances, which left her partially paralysed, partially blind, partially deaf. Her husband has done everything he can to keep them together at home. As we left, this is what she said to us: “We have been so blessed through this. We have grown closer to each other, and we have grown closer to God. God has been wonderful.”
One of the friends of the dead man was in Church this morning (see "Shock Death", earlier today). His mother said to him, in my presence, “Don’t THINK of doing the things he did! You young people think it’s a joke! Next thing, you’re dead! How often have I warned you? You need morals! morals!” I said to the young man afterwards, “Your mother is speaking out of fear. Our Youth leaders continually preached morals to your generation. You know about that. But did it work? It’s about a personal relationship with the Lord.” OBSERVATION: Another young man of that generation is at the moment gravely ill.
Our secretary has been on leave. I didn’t know I’d miss her this much. One of the reasons I’m missing her is that I have an aversion to telephoning people. She always does that on my behalf. I don’t mind breezing into a room and meeting with people in person, after she has set it up -- that’s no problem, it comes naturally to me. But telephone calls are my “Moses”. I have an aversion to them. Don’t ask me why. OBSERVATION: Proof again that we need each other in the Church.
There was shock in our Church this week when one of our young men (about 22) died of a fever. A deaconess said this morning, in front of our leadership: “He had been unwell for a while.” I said, “[A member] told me it was the Big Sickness.” Our deaconess said, “Let’s not talk about that.”
I married a couple in our Church. Some time after the wedding, she came to see me and said, “Did you know how it started?” I said, “No.” She said, “He invited me over to his mother’s house. The moment I was inside the front door, he locked it. The house was empty. He threw me against the wall, and raped me. He said, 'Now you are mine.'" OBSERVATION: I think she was saying it had all been a mistake.
The job of (Christian) domestic servant might seem a lowly position, but it sometimes is a critical one. Domestic servants witness many of the most serious crises that families go through, whether chronic illness, divorce, depression, or legal battles. Sometimes the servant may crumble, or the family may turn on the servant (for knowing too much), but often enough, the servant is the one stable pole in the home. Suddenly someone turns to her and asks, “Well, what do YOU think?” If she has the wisdom that some of our Church’s domestic workers have, she may cast a completely different light on things. OBSERVATION: For a Biblical example, see 2 Kgs 5:2. See also Morning Service.
Vision is central to several major models of Church leadership. George Barna considers: “A person who attempts to lead others without vision is simply playing a dangerous, arrogant game.” I don’t think so. I consider that there are three questions one may ask with regard to vision (in the context of the Church): 1. What is the vision that I should promote? or 2. How should I facilitate a vision? or 3. How has God created a vision we didn’t see? OBSERVATION: I tend towards the third approach, which really is “backward looking”. The assumption is that there is no need for promotion or facilitation. For a real example on this blog, see No Plan; and on another blog, see Two Tough Weeks.
I met an ex-congregant in the street, a Xhosa woman. She stood in front of me and held my hands. She said, “Reverend Thomas, you’ve put on weight.” I said, “I suspected that, but you’re the first person to confirm it.” She broke into merry laughter -- which had me laughing, too -- still holding hands. Then I saw a businessman I know, observing us from behind his shop window. OBSERVATION: It must have been an interesting sight -- particularly as he couldn’t hear what was said.
Surrounding our recent election of elders, I received several questions as to what an elder is. On Sunday, I explained to the congregation that an elder gives attention to the Church’s spiritual well-being, while a deacon gives attention to its material well-being. It is, however, crucial that deacons should be deeply spiritual people, too, and there is much overlap. Apart from this, I said that elders tend to deal with issues where the personal life of members intersects with the whole Church. For instance, where there are reservations over a nominee for Church office, or where a personal problem affects the Church. OBSERVATION: This is a very simple description of elders of course -- Scripture would add a lot more.
Ministers are not supposed to take legal action, or so it is said (see 1 Cor 6). Yet a prominent minister with whom I graduated famously took legal action for defamation. I am really in two minds about it. If the Church were single-minded in its application of Scripture -- not entertaining offhanded accusations, taking resolute action where required, and so on -- many situations would be quickly resolved. In practice, however, a Church may not be that principled in dealing with such issues. People are only human, they often find it difficult to act in principled ways, and may be easily swayed. OBSERVATION: But a major concern of mine is the trauma caused to the Church. I suffered defamation last year, and the issue dragged on for months, in a very difficult way, until the person concerned repented in tears. I wonder whether legal action would not have nipped it in the bud. Ever since then, I have not in principle ruled out legal action as I did before.
Since my teens, I have from time to time gone down with rheumatic fever (inflammation of the body’s organ systems). In my teens, it was bad enough, now it can be really serious (see ICU). A small section of the population is predisposed to rheumatic fever, and it is sore throats which typically transmute into the illness (but also cuts, visits to the dentist, and so on). So when I fall ill as I did this week, it’s taken seriously, in case the illness turns rogue. OBSERVATION: There is an unusually high incidence of rheumatic fever in Cape Town.
Here’s how to speak with-it Afrikaans. 1. Make copious use of the Afrikaans “nothing-words” such as eintlik, darem, maar. 2. Use the new Afrikaans vowel-shift. For instance, don’t say waar, say woor. Don’t say pla, say plo. 3. Mix it liberally with English, as in “lekker reversed,” or “Ek het issues”. 4. Be uncommonly intimate. For instance (translated), “I feel so vulnerable,” or “That’s just a piece of my doubt.” And 5. Delete a few personal pronouns, even verbs, such as “Ek staan. Bid,” or “Ons probeer. Resultaat?” OBSERVATION: That’s Lesson 1. There’s more (though perhaps not on this blog).
During my ministry in this Church, there have been at least six mass mailings (malicious ones) -- either to our whole membership, or to a section of the membership. The first time one encounters this, one is dismayed -- yet such mailings are usually less damaging than imagined. The last time this happened was many years ago. We then set a policy in place that no one other than our elders, deacons, and office secretary could access our address list (before that, it was available on request to members). OBSERVATION: Recently a Church office-bearer asked us for an address list. We said we’d need to refer this to our leadership first. I imagine our office-bearer might feel a bit hurt. But this is an important policy that should be deviated from only with great care.
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I’ve been re-reading a university course I did long ago, in Communication. This included the various media techniques ... including the composition or framing of photos. I took two of my photos of a protest last week (elsewhere on this blog), and tried different frames. This is the result.
I attended a birthday party -- a lavish party. A wealthy businessman asked me, “What does a minister actually do?” I told him about the services, the Church groups, the administration. Then I got to visitation and counselling. When he heard about this -- about the sick and the dying, and people in crisis and depressed, he said, “That sounds very discouraging to me. I don’t think I could do that.” I said, “It’s not a discouragement to me -- and there’s only one reason for that. I see God at work. I see what the Holy Spirit does through suffering. I see the power of God in seemingly impossible situations. I see the life and growth of a whole congregation, which is the work of God.”
One of my publishers recently selected two books of mine, as part of a pilot project, to list on amazon.com. Now one of these books happens to be pseudonymous -- unlike the rest of my books. So don’t go googling “book by Thomas”, as you will not find it! (it is a theological book). I’ll tell you which of my books are not pseudonymous. I have four electronics books out there -- one of them now listed. They have been selling nicely, though they’re no bestsellers. OBSERVATION: The electronics book which has been listed (Electronics Scrapbook) is good value for money. In this case, I obtained special permission to re-publish a heap of my circuits, most of them published specifically for their innovation. If I were an electronics hobbyist, I'd want it!
A young man stopped me in the street yesterday. He said, “Remember me, Father?” I said, “Where do I know you from?” He said, “I’m the man with one eye!” I said, “What happened to the other eye?’ He said, “When I was a youngster, Father, I was cutting a rope. I pulled on the rope like this, see, and I was holding the knife like this ...” At that moment, a young woman I have counselled stepped directly between us. She said: “Your prayers were answered, Father. I love you, Father.” I said, “Hey, I’m listening to this young man.” She said, “No, Father, you must listen to me!” The young man said, “I was talking to Father. I want to finish my story.” The young woman said, “Listen to me, Father.” I said, “I’ll talk to you both another time.”
We decided to ask our Church caretaker to cut down a huge ivy on our grounds. But since he has a record of resisting such tasks, our leadership asked the minister (me) to put it to him -- “on high authority”. Surprisingly, he responded “No problem! Hard work is good for one’s physique! I’ll get started this week.” On Day 1, he worked hard. On Day 2, he hired a vagrant to take over. On Day 3, he obtained a donation to cover the vagrant. On Day 4, one of our tenants paid the City Council to finish the job. On Day 5, another caretaker cleaned up the rest. OBSERVATION: It would seem impossible that all this happened without some co-ordination! Full marks to our caretaker for his resourcefulness, but an F for compliance.
When I started this blog, its purpose went beyond the blog. One purpose was to be an encouragement to the wider Church -- to open a “window” on a different way of ministry -- common in some parts of the world, yet virtually unknown in others. Another was to train myself in writing (in spite of writing already for several magazines). The famous mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell did a similar thing. He wrote: “I formed the habit ... of turning a sentence over and over ... Brevity, especially, I always greatly desired.” He writes that “after that [age 30], I felt that my style was formed”. OBSERVATION: I found that, as my postgraduate studies progressed, my practice with blog writing noticeably improved my academic work. Every time I revised an academic draft, I had learnt something from my blog writing.
I referred earlier today to the confessions that a minister hears. I was wondering how this might affect his or her outlook on life. I suspect that it makes one query people’s motives. One deals with so much intrigue and deception that it becomes a mindset to anticipate it: "What is really motivating this person?" But then again, there are incidents in between where one is reminded, “Hey, this person is genuine!” OBSERVATION: Another consequence of hearing stunning confessions is the perspective: “The heart is desperately wicked” (Jer 17:9). (Perhaps Jeremiah had just been listening to confessions)!
In my Bible study this week, we came across the much-debated topic of Christians confessing their sins to one another. One member of the group said, “I would have to confess to some unkind thoughts.” Then she said to me: “But you probably hear different [more serious] confessions.” OBSERVATION: I certainly do. And I wonder how normal it is for someone to hear all those things -- and how it affects one.
A leading urban ministry blogger, last month, suddenly vanished off the Internet (he was ranked among the world’s Top 10). I spent most of an hour trying to track him down in cyberspace last week -- it took that long because he was nowhere to be found. Then I found him. He wrote to me: “I have been going through a dark night, and God has been instructing me to decrease.” OBSERVATION: I told him that it was a dark night with a direction. His writing never seemed to make more sense than it did during the final months before he vanished.
Evangelicalism is frequently viewed in the West as being something “one-dimensional”. “ABC Christianity” is a term I have encountered: “Admit, Believe, Confess” -- yet the “D” for “Do” is missing. With this in mind, I recently gave our intern an assignment, essentially to discover what shape our own Church’s evangelicalism takes. He discovered that “the respondents indicated that they believed in ultimate justification through faith, but were also insistent that works were very important”. In fact, the respondents repeatedly used such auxiliary verbs as “should”, “have to”, “must” in relation to good works. OBSERVATION: While the assignment did not define "good works", from my experience of our congregation, this very much includes "public" good works. This is common in African evangelicalism.
A man asked for prayer at the front of the Church yesterday, at the end of the service, having complained of being tormented by demons. Usually, I am not the one who prays with people like this, but members who feel called to do so. While he was being prayed over, the man screamed and wailed uncontrollably. Then with a shriek he fell down on the floor as dead. Not everyone had left the Church yet, and people seemed stunned by this. For a related post, see Fleeing Demons.
