Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Hoerikwaggo Trail

 
Wife E. and I walked the little known Hoerikwaggo Trail earlier this evening, above the Platteklip Wash Houses. The trail is a short distance from our home in the city. The Camissa (Sweet Water) River flows on the right of the photo. It is a beautiful walk. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

Monday, December 30, 2013

Self-Forgiveness

I counselled a woman who was burdened -- bound -- by guilt over something she had done. She said it was making her sick. I said: “Ask God to forgive you.” She said: “No! I have to forgive myself!” I said: “If God forgives you, there’ll be no need for you to forgive yourself.” She wouldn't have it -- but I had planted the seed.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

How Far The Voice Carries

Some of our locals are capable of communicating at great distances. It is not seldom that they communicate with each other at opposite sides of the street, to the amusement of tourists. I myself once measured out the distance at which two local women fully communicated at 600 metres, or more than 650 yards -- an impressive distance. OBSERVATION: I have read that the preaching of George Whitfield could be understood a mile away. Wikipedia says that it could be heard five miles away.

Dassies' Kitchen

I took this photo yesterday of the wood-fired kitchen at Dassiesfontein -- about 100km / 60mi east of Cape Town. Their pies are said to be worth the drive out to Dassiesfontein. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

Saturday, December 28, 2013

PIR Alarm System

I went looking for a 12V PIR alarm system yesterday (one which detects motion). As was to be expected, I found a 12V PIR unit (a common item), and a 12V piezo Sound Bomb (also a common item) -- but to bring the two together was expensive. So I designed a crude interface myself (see the diagram) for about $5 / R50. "Crude" means approximate timing, and no hysteresis -- but it works. The internal switch of a PIR is normally closed. Points A and B in this diagram are wired to this normally closed switch (S1). The PIR unit, together with this circuit, are wired to a 12V power supply -- this could be a 12V battery. The power MOSFET may be virtually any one -- say an IRF510 or BUZ10. VR1 limits current consumption of this circuit to about a milliamp on standby. A value of 1M for R1 switches the Sound Bomb on for two or three minutes. Adjust VR1 to see what it does, but not turning it fully clockwise or anticlockwise -- note that at some settings the Sound Bomb will always be on. OBSERVATION: In some situations, one needs two PIR units to monitor each other. In this case, wire up two of these circuits separately, with two PIR units, but wire the same Sound Bomb to both circuits. One could wire a concealed switch in series with the Sound Bomb, to switch the alarm on and off. This small system may not only be used for home security, but for vehicle security too. Note that a hooter may draw too much power to replace the Sound Bomb.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Mahindra Key

Recently I bent the key of my three-wheeler. Today I went to a locksmith, to cut me a new one. My three-wheeler is a made-in-India Mahindra, so I doubted whether the locksmith could cut me a key. However, he immediately identified it as ... a BMW key.

God In The Picture

One of the major objectives of Christian counselling is simply to bring God into the picture. One counselee came back to me after counselling and said: "You were a great help, and I want to tell you why. You brought God into the picture, and quite honestly, I hadn't thought of Him before that." OBSERVATION: One can look to God for temporal things, and one can look to God for eternal things. The need may be either, or both, and one needs to distinguish which.

Suurbraak Cottage

At the foot of the Tradouw Pass lies the mission village of Suurbraak. I took this photo of a typical cottage there on Saturday, on the main road. The village was established by the London Missionary Society in 1812 -- of which my father was one of the last Chief Missionaries.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Lost Windows

Life in the village of Tesselaarsdal has been somewhat absurd of late. I met our neighbour-but-one today (see Tesselaarsdal Flood). I said: "We found your windows by our plot." He said: "I know, I found them too! I'll be fetching them, one of these days." Here's a photo of his windows, caught in our fence. (Two dams burst above the village).

Quintessential Church

Our Church in the Karoo must surely be the quintessential South African design. I know of no other. Its steeple (pictured) doubles as a braai / barbecue chimney (braais being the South African national pastime). So, that steeple that one sees in the photo has a braai grid at the bottom of it.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

The Drupkelder

It was a pleasure to have son M. join me for the first Christmas in years -- travelling with E. and me to the Karoo where we ministered. I took this photo of him at the Drupkelder (the dripping cave) on the Tradouw Pass -- a gateway to the semi-desert. Since he explores caves as "his job", this was an obligatory stop.

Monday, December 23, 2013

Christmas Cactus

This cactus flowers outside our lounge window, for a few days at Christmas -- producing about fifteen large flowers on one plant. Unusually, the flowers open at night, and close in the day. This photo was taken at about 8:00 pm.

Christmas Message

I shall be ministering over Christmas, and am looking forward to it, in our very special parish -- in the semi-desert in the mid-summer's heat. I have chosen to focus on some simple statements of Christ -- his own reasons as to why He came. One of the most important of these is: "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matt 20:28).

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Jumping Spider

I invented the Jumping Spider. The electronic version, that is. This was copyrighted seven years ago by Wimborne Publishing. This month I happened upon the video of my first working prototype -- here it is for all to see. After this, I used a bigger spider which more or less concealed the mechanism. OBSERVATION: There were many (attempted) prototypes before this. After this video, though, I came up against a wall with further engineering. It was beyond what a hobbyist could do. The Chinese took off the tether (seen in this video), and a feebly jumping spider is now available worldwide. But I think that this defeats the "scare" objective. I would now suggest a portable plug-in charge unit, and a method of triggering a jump, built into the spider. A clever engineer can do it.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

What Has Changed?

Isaac Watts was a great Congregational hymn-writer. He wrote, among other hymns: Joy to the world! The inscription on his tombstone reads, abridged: "Isaac Watts DD ... after 50 years of feeble labours in the Gospel, interrupted by 4 years of tiresome sickness, was at last dismissed to rest ..." Apart from this reflecting a "feeble" Isaac Watts, it reveals a different attitude to ministry in his day -- and in fact to Church membership. If one were to read today: "Ministerial candidate: Isaac. In a word: Feeble" one would be very unlikely to call the man to ministry, or to keep him. So what has changed? That would need a post of its own.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Kommt Zeit, Kommt Rat

There is a saying in German: "Kommt Zeit, kommt Rat." It means something like: "Comes the moment, comes the certainty." This, I think, is a Biblical principle. The Bible says: "Be bold, be strong, and act, for the Lord your God is with you." A popular chorus omits "and act" -- and the Bible in fact says something like: "seize the moment". The moral is, don't worry your head too much about not knowing what to do. It is part of the process. If you are looking to God, God will show you when the moment has come. OBSERVATION: One of the most famous moments in the Bible was when Saul chopped up a yoke of oxen (1 Sam 11:7).

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

The Impossible Possible

This is another post that falls in my category People/Friends. Z. was an adherent of our Church -- now a Licensed Probationer (minister in training) in the Presbyterian Church. Her story is a very special one, as it seemed impossible that she would achieve this. I said to her that if God was calling, then the impossible would become possible. It was a pleasure to witness "the impossible" this past Sunday (see the photo).

Monday, December 16, 2013

Past Youth Leader

Wife E. and I met tonight with a past Youth Leader of the Church P. (pictured). She was a "cracking good" Youth Leader, in a tough urban environment. She had love, she had a firm hand, she had a sense of fun, she had commitment, and she had a clear spiritual vision.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

9 Lessons And Carols

Today I attended (and took part in) the service of Nine Lessons and Carols at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Cape Town (pictured). The St. George's Singers impressed. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

Including Everyone

One of the unseen cultural accommodations which needed to be made at the Mandela funeral was the limited guest list. In Xhosa culture, there are no such limits for "the milestones of life". At E.'s and my wedding, we got around this by having a European reception first, then a more traditional reception the next day. But then, the whole country was warmly included in the days of mourning for Mandela, before the funeral.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Counselling Technique

I was counselling together with another minister this morning. One of my "base techniques", before one speaks about the content of counselling, is to "freeze words" in my mind as they pass by on the ticker-tape. Then return to them, to find out what they are about. OBSERVATION: Sometimes, a counsellee may not want one to know what they were about -- I then typically let it be. There is enough to work on anyway.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Penthouse View

I took this photo this morning from a penthouse in central Cape Town -- one of the best bird's eye views. The photo surveys almost 180 degrees. One sees the "big three" mountains of Cape Town -- from left: Devil's Peak, Table Mountain, and Lion's Head -- with Signal Hill on the right, and the penthouse far right. Not a beautiful photo, but an uncommon one.

My Health

A few people have asked after my health -- after a brief post several months ago. I am in really good health. But I had trouble with one foot. The specialist said: But have you noticed also ... ? and tentatively diagnosed a mild form of motor neurone disease -- something that a local rugby player has, named Joost. But it is a mild form. The specialist said it would kill me only after my death. I thought that put it rather well.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Son Matthew

Son Matthew features prominently in his old school's annual newsletter this year -- under the heading: "What Are Our Alumni Doing These Days?" You may click on the image to enlarge. He rather surprised us back in 2005 with four A's on the Higher Grade.

Electronics Book

I received a mock-up today of my new electronics book -- nearly 200 pages -- a large format nearly 0.4 metres wide when opened up. I consider that it is ... I like the Afrikaans word "geslaagd" ("succeed-ed"). It is ready for sale as it is -- in fact it is already on sale -- yet I shall be making minor adjustments before making a fanfare and opening up more distribution channels. OBSERVATION: I have done this before, where the mock-up was not "geslaagd". This book contains more than 150 projects that "really do something" with six components or less.
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NOTE: The book in its final version is now available here: 6 or less. The reason for the massive discount through this channel (R100 off) is that it is a small retailers' discount. 30% off would be too little for retailers, 50% off would reduce royalties to nil. The cover price is $24.95.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Transformed By Christ

In a diverse or multi-cultural Church, one needs to set Christ above rigid forms, cultural norms, correct speech, appropriate dress, protocol, and so on. Take, as an example, what could (and does) happen if, say, someone from a country village leads the prayers on a Sunday morning. Judge them by rigid forms (et cetera), and their prayer may well be a "fail". How could they dress like Haile Selassie? How could they omit the prayers of intercession? How could they pray like the local bus driver? Did one detect dispensationalism? and so on. Yet judge them by whether they saw Christ in their prayer, and one might have witnessed something magnificent. The whole spirit of the event may be transformed.

A New Language Paradigm

I submitted a major article tonight. I said to wife E.: "It's the kind of article that makes you famous or a fool." "A famous fool," was her remark. It's an invited article -- but so vast in scope that I felt a few times that it was too much for one man to aspire to. For that reason, it could do with a kindly, trained eye. I condensed about a hundred pages of notes into six pages of article. See A New Language Paradigm.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

My Three-Wheeler

This is in celebration of a vehicle I bought three years ago, and have used almost daily since then. I have driven it 300 miles north and 400 miles east, over all kinds of terrain, sometimes carrying half a ton. During that time, a few light-bulbs fused, a latch disintegrated on a fearful pass, and its Indian battery died too soon -- and that is the sum total of the troubles. I consider it an engineering marvel.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Chicken Chef

This is an aunt on my wife's side. She cooked all this chicken on an open fire, how's that? She is a "scream". What I particularly enjoy about her is the way that she scares children with her disciplinarian ways, then laughs her head off. OBSERVATION: One finds this often in non-Western culture: humour and authoritarianism combined.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Stating The Obvious

This post would seem to be stating the obvious. As a Church leader, one typically does not need to make decisions for the Church. One seeks to make decisions with the Church. If one permits pooled wisdom, pooled wisdom usually yields more than one had thought. Or from a spiritual point of view, one hears the Spirit through the Body. OBSERVATION: My own Plan B -- if the above should ever seem inadequate -- is typically to argue a point, though not to "argue to win". In my experience, any Plan C is very seldom necessary. In keeping with the above, I have seldom made proposals in my career.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

The Chamaeleon Noun

I wrote and submitted a short, tentative piece for Philosophical Investigations (sister publication of The Philosopher) this evening, which goes by the above title. As the peer review is public, one may view the essay in all its incompleteness on the Internet. It proposes that the noun is an anaphora of sorts. Since anaphoras are "free variables", this rejects the view that the noun is a fixed form with a fixed meaning (à la The Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics). OBSERVATION: I noted that this piece could do with a challenge (which I think it should withstand).

NOTE: There has been a high interest in this post, so here is the link: The Chamaeleon Noun.

Not Big In The West

It is interesting that, no matter which set of statistics one looks at, this blog is not big in the West -- although different statistics may show different reasons for that. I note this morning that, according to Google, Russia is no. 3 on my all-time list of readers. Спасибо и да благословит вас Бог. See also Blog Readers.

Ministers And Ministry

It has been said that Satan's major strategies against the Church are a) to undermine the Word of God, and b) to undermine ministry. But where the Word of God is perfect, ministers are not. Therefore the Word places much emphasis on ministry, not ministers. A better known Bible verse is: "Esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake" (1 Thes 5:13). That is, not for their own sake. OBSERVATION: I have the sense that there is more works-based theology around in our generation, whether it be of the theologians or of the people, and this leads to a (devastating) loss of understanding for what ministry is.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Solar Update

The reason I haven't mentioned solar for some time is that all the systems I built are simply humming -- or is that shining. I did fall short of one goal, however. I wanted to light up our lounge and kitchen plus power my office off a system I designed. I failed with the office, because my six-year-old computer chewed up much more power than anticipated. I could only power my office for, say, an afternoon before my system went "flat". But my wife's far more efficient one-year-old computer would do fine. OBSERVATION: With solar, one can figure out various things only through experimentation, not calculation. For instance, solar is dependent on the weather, and who can calculate the weather.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Farewell Gift

When I "retired" from ten years of ministry in my first pastorate (or third, depending how one counts), I was presented with this painting as a thank you. Mostly, it represents the Church that we built. I recognise most congregants in the painting -- even by the backs of their heads. A much younger me is portrayed top right. Bottom centre is my original design for a Garden of Remembrance, which was however changed in the building of it. Many details here have significance. I remember how we chose the wood, the carpets, the organ, and so on.

Stray Mail

People might be mortified to know what mail sometimes reaches unintended recipients. During the past month, several e-mails reached me which were probably not intended to reach me -- and two or three reached me which were certainly not intended to reach me -- namely e-mails about myself. OBSERVATION: I couldn't quite decide why they got to me, as they popped up in my Inbox without explanation. Personally, I feel it is good that they did.

Dynamic Discussion

Picking up on a recent post, the "Congregational spirit" means that there will be dynamic discussion in meetings -- particularly spiritual discussion -- and a freedom and openness there. In practice, one may find that this suddenly goes dead when one or two people walk in the door -- or, decisions start to be made on a "ja-skaap" basis (Afrikaans for aye, aye, aye) -- or, people talk about walking on eggs. OBSERVATION: These are things that go far deeper than mere procedure or the "letter of the law" -- deeper even than any apparent domination of a meeting by an individual or individuals -- but they are important.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Kouga River

It has been a tiring day, and so I shall note only that this is a photo that I took of the secluded Kouga River -- one could say that it is on the plateau above the Langkloof: southernmost Africa, inland. The Kouga is a treacherous river, as once in a while it comes down in flood.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Congregational Spirit

In a Congregational Church, a Congregational dynamic is a precious and sensitive thing. A true Congregational spirit can be quashed easier than one may think -- and this will always be through individuals who do not act in a Congregational spirit -- rather than merely abiding by the rules, which in themselves cannot preserve the spirit. In such a case, it is usually the Elders who seek to restore the balance -- and they may themselves then be suspected of acting un-Congregationally. However, if they do not act, Congregationalism may be lost. OBSERVATION: These are not merely personal thoughts, but Congregational polity. Perhaps more on the "Congregational spirit" in a future post.

Course Comments

I happened to come across a 2011 assignment today that I wrote for Fuller, for an MA. It had the following comments attached: "This is a fantastic critique - clear, cogent, and precise execution. You went straight to central themes of Moltmann and explicated them in view of your introductory work. It was so over the top in fact, I took the liberty of giving you an extra .1 on your grade." OBSERVATION: And so I scored 101%. I took the course under Prof. Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen. I am no fan of Moltmann, however (whom I briefly met once).

Monday, December 2, 2013

Village Changes

I asked a village dominee in the Karoo how his ministry had changed since he started there more than thirty years ago. He said: "Thirty years ago, there was one Church in the village, and people's lives revolved around the Church. Today, there are forty Churches in the village, and people's lives revolve around everything."

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Seweweekspoort

Wife E. and I, after ministering this weekend in the Karoo, passed through the Seweweekspoort -- an imposing pass between Zoar and Laingsburg (pictured). The winding dirt road crosses the Seweweekspoort River many times. You may click on the image to enlarge to VGA. (Wife E. claims that my photo "doesn't do it justice").