Friday, October 31, 2014

Deadlines

I handed in Parts VI and VII of my New Metaphysics this week. Part VI was explanatory -- an addition to Part V -- while Part VII is pivotal. As one surveys the metaphysics of the past, one discovers two basic approaches to human motivation: the Humean and the Kantian. That is, we are motivated by emotion, or we are motivated by reason. In Part VII, I have laid the basis for an integrated approach, which will be expanded upon in Part VIII. It's a draft, so it will inevitably require further work. OBSERVATION: This post is headlined "Deadlines" since I am working to personal deadlines. I beat the latest deadline by six days.

Word Processing

I didn't know that word processing was possible, until I discovered that Jimmy Carter was writing his memoirs with a word processor in 1981. The prices were exorbitant, until the ZX Spectrum came along in 1982 -- and the Tasword word processor, also in 1982. In 1983 I connected a ZX Spectrum to an Altronics keyboard, and began word processing with Tasword (see the image). This was loaded from an audio cassette player. However, the ZX Spectrum was vulnerable to spikes on the mains, which caused crashes. To print, I used an 8-pin Epson dot matrix printer, and for neater work, a Smith-Corona golf-ball printer. Click on the image, and you'll see exactly the resolution that one had.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Power And Influence

I have said that, in the Congregational Church, "The minister has influence, not power." I remember discussing with someone a decision which the Church had considered in a meeting, and the notion that the minister had special power. OBSERVATION: But perhaps, in a sense, he or she does not even have influence, in a Congregational Church. My own perspective is that, while the minister has influence, it is not something that he or she should generally* seek to bring to bear on the Church. I would see my own influence as being merely a part of every influence in the Church -- and that, too, will go nowhere except through the influence of God. This is incidentally virtually the opposite of what is called Transformational Leadership, which has been summarised: "Leadership is influence."
.
*except to protect the dynamic of the influence of all, where this may be jeopardised. One of the things which has distressed me more than many others in ministry is when the influence of all is compromised.

Tribute To A Pump

This is a tribute to a little pump. I needed to build a house -- which requires a lot of water. But I didn't have a water supply, or electricity. There was a stream about 40 metres / yards distant, or a R20 000 (about $2 000) connection to the local graveyard. I found a ProPump FL35, a 12V self-priming pump, supplied by Rudd Products of Johannesburg, and pumped water from the stream. Amazingly, the pump did put up a whole house, together with a conservancy tank, then it filled my water tanks high up on a stand, and is now on stand-by to keep the tanks topped up (click on the photos to enlarge). OBSERVATION: The pump pumps 3.3 litres per minute, to a height of 24 metres. There is also one available at half the price with a third of the flow -- and there are bigger pumps, too. My pump cost R1 089 (about $100) plus VAT. Rudd's service (Olivia) was exceptional.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Diesel Ignition

I drive what is probably the only primitive diesel on the road in South Africa, the Mahindra Alfa (here being serviced). It only has auxiliary electrics -- a starter motor -- therefore no spark plug or glow plug, and no timing. Alternatively, one may use a rope-start at the back. To start it with the starter motor, one puts it into neutral, raises a decompression lever, cranks the engine with a key, then drops the decompression lever. As soon as there is ignition, one turns off the key (one can even put it in one's pocket -- after this the electrics have done their job). Then one typically waits 20 seconds for the engine to warm -- or longer on cold mornings -- puts it into gear, and releases the clutch in jumps until the throttle engages. Then one is ready to go. To turn the engine off, one changes into neutral, waits 20 seconds for the engine to slow, then raises a stop lever until there is no more rotation (or the engine starts again). OBSERVATION: Mine is probably the only local vehicle which would survive a nuclear blast -- having no integral electrics.

Pulpit Shocks

I was just about to step into the pulpit one Sunday (that is, mere seconds before I did) when the Church treasurer said to me: "I don't know where your next salary is coming from!" As it happens, that salary, and hundreds thereafter, were paid on time, every time. However, the point of this post lies elsewhere. That Sunday stays in my mind because on that day I decided how to deal with shocks before entering the pulpit. Such shocks are not uncommon. It was (I think) Charles Spurgeon who said that this is a classic spiritual trial in ministry. I decided that I should keep in mind that I was bringing a spiritual blessing to others, and I should be prepared before doing so for any shock under the sun. I don't think a shock has affected me since.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Christian Conferences

Many years ago, I attended a world conference in the USA. I asked the president what the purpose of the conference was. I expected him to say something about the conference programme -- but he said something like this: "It is the Lord's opportunity. He forges friendships He will use in His Kingdom." Since then, Christian conferences, for me, are not so much about the programme. Also, I now routinely plan time next to conferences -- often not knowing what for -- because it is likely to be God's time more than the conference itself. OBSERVATION: However, I don't agree with author Keith Ferrazzi, that one should select "primary targets" at a conference. I believe one needs to depend on God to make the connections. Through the above conference, incidentally, the president himself became a friend, which had a major bearing on my life in the years that followed.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Mighty Kids Arise

Here's a photo that somehow escaped my blog. I took it last year, at an event of Mighty Kids Arise – a combination of child evangelism and ministry by children, and an aspect of the global focus on the 4/14 Window – that is, children between the ages of 4 and 14.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Congratulations

Congratulations to my cousin-in-law A. on her appointment as primaria (head girl) of Cedar College of Education at the well known Kwasizabantu Mission. Two years ago I dropped her at the bus station, destination Kwasizabantu, with nothing but a suitcase, a one-way bus ticket, and trust in God -- and God provided. A. is here in my three-wheel pickup, in the neon green T-shirt. Spot wife E. You may click on the image to enlarge.

Forging Ahead

This week I handed in Part V of my New Metaphysics, one day past my personal deadline. Society editor and author of the "complete crash-course in philosophical thought", Philosophy for Dummies, comments: "It's looking really good." OBSERVATION: I picked up some conceptual flaws in an earlier essay on the same subject, not serious. The trouble is, that essay has become popular -- errors and all.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Leadership Backlash

"Leadership backlash" is an important ministry concept, which seems, however, to be little known -- better known, however, among long-serving ministers. It is the strange phenomenon of a minister receiving complete and unqualified support in moments of crisis (or a leadership reaching full consensus), only to be followed by severe negative reactions and even the disintegration of a leadership team. I have experienced this in various degrees in ministry. OBSERVATION: Before I studied it at postgraduate level, and the first time I heard of it, an experienced minister warned our leadership that this was about to happen. Two of our leadership were very angry about that -- but shortly after, they fell to leadership backlash. Today, I am able to recognise it and predict it, more or less. It is a slow yet powerful dynamic -- almost unavoidable I think, except perhaps through spiritual warfare. In my experience, it takes about one year for backlash to set in, although this may vary a great deal, and individuals do not succumb to it all at the same time. (One of my past professors describes leadership backlash in a much-cited paper at The Making of a Leader -- see page 6).

Fearing Fear

Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his first inaugural address, said: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Some point out that Sir Francis Bacon said it more than 300 years earlier: "Nothing is terrible except fear itself." Some think Roosevelt's words to be inspirational, others daft. However, it was surely the Bible which said it first: "Do not be afraid of sudden fear" (Proverbs 3:25). The difference between Roosevelt, Bacon, and the Bible, though, is that the Bible grounds the saying in a living relationship with God -- and an "interventionist God", to use a theological term. "Do not be afraid of sudden fear, nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught."

Friday, October 24, 2014

Scary Counselling II

Recently I recalled a scary counselling session. There have not been many in my career, but here is another one. A woman called me, whispering: "I'm in the bedroom, talking into a corner. [My husband] is in the kitchen with a gun, and he's threatening to kill me. I can't get out of the house without passing the kitchen door. Please help!" I went to the house. The front door was open. Her husband was standing at a kitchen counter with a revolver in his hand, shaking. When he saw me, he opened a kitchen cupboard at his knees, and slipped the gun into the cupboard. OBSERVATION: Even though this was "uneventful", I was shaken. The couple made up their differences, and settled down to domestic bliss.

Concepts Which Confound

One of the most difficult aspects of serious writing, in whatever field, is untangling concepts -- and making it appear that they are untangled. This week I needed to untangle "things" from "facts" -- partly for the reason that well known writers have strewn the words about like confetti. Add to this terms like "ideas", "constructs", "matters", and so on, and one has to do some hard thinking. Here is a simple answer. When a thing is inserted into a statement (and that statement is true), the statement becomes a fact. A pebble is a thing, while "A pebble sinks" is a fact. Not that everyone calls it a "statement". Try "proposition", "declarative", "assertion", and so on. In fact one needs a little courage to bust through the terminology and say something significant.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Sing-Song Wife

I wouldn't know how many wives sing at home. Mine does, and in three languages (or four). It is interesting that often, when she sings in Afrikaans, if one doesn't listen to the words but to the song, one hears Xhosa. She is closer to Xhosa ancestry, yet speaks Afrikaans. OBSERVATION: And she speaks what is called a World English (a regional English, called an "outer circle English"). See this very interesting note on her particular World English by linguists Rajend Mesthrie and Jeanne Hromnik (click on the image to enlarge). She and I have two languages in common, as I have about 100% comprehension of Afrikaans.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Leadership Requirements

Looking back over my ministries, we have always had a few definite leadership requirements. I would think of them as the Biblical requirements distilled, in the interests of focus:  a) A leader must know the Lord, b) they should be well regarded, and c) they should be peaceable. If any of those ingredients is missing, one is likely to regret it. For love of the Church, one needs to adhere to these criteria. OBSERVATION: And one should not overestimate other criteria:  experience, or social status, a good command of English, and so on. There are times when one is tempted to give such things priority, where the "distilled" criteria are not all there. I am glad that we mostly resisted this. Perhaps one  more criterion, although it is difficult to put it into words:  new leaders should preferably reflect where the Spirit is taking the Church.

Noon Gun

This is an intrepid cameraman filming Cape Town's Noon (Day) Gun. I tried this, for the benefit of my blog, but the shock wave nearly knocked the camera out of my hand. This cameraman has the right idea: a tripod. Even so, I doubt that his camera stood still. See also Terror Of Cape Town.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Weaknesses And Strengths

If you have weaknesses, take heart, they may be your greatest strengths. For instance, you may fret over detail, but detail may be your greatest advantage. You may have a soft heart, but a soft heart may be your greatest beauty. Not that one should compliment oneself too easily on one's weaknesses, but they may not be all weakness. OBSERVATION: This is talking more about natural traits. I think when the Bible (2 Corinthians 12:9) speaks of strength in weakness, this is a divine (supernatural) use of weakness.

Putting In Windows

Windows are going into our cottage this week. The brass opener here (in the middle) is called a peg type casement stay. We obtained the windows from an antique window dealer in Cape Town, Wood Strippers. Expect to pay twice as much, for imperfect windows -- however they are very much more sturdy than the typical modern window, and (I think) look good. OBSERVATION: They cost twice as much as bargain basement windows, which is really not bad. Casement windows (such as this one) are the oldest type of opening window in the world.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Hard Writing

My so far "fruitful" metaphysic (it's at A New Metaphysics) is simply written -- however this belies the effort which goes into arranging the concepts. My word processor tells me that there is one revision for every three to four words. To speed the task, I worked out a style in detail before I got started, studying many publications which I chose as exemplars. I am currently writing Part V, which together with Part VI will be pivotal. There has been a special interest in Part III. OBSERVATION: This whole blog, in fact, has been a training in style.

God Everywhere

My late wife Mirjam and I were talking to another minister, who was discouraged. It is a large problem in ministry (for example, more than two-thirds of pastors may be burnt out at any given time: see some statistics at Into Thy Word). I said to Mirjam afterwards: "He's cynical about ministry." She said: “Which you only are if you don’t see God everywhere.” That last line is the secret to avoiding disappointment, and applies above all to ministry.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Liberalism And Leadership

Some years ago, I proposed a seminary paper which would compare Christian leadership literature in North America with Christian leadership literature in Southern Africa. I soon found more than one-thousand titles in North America. I found none in Southern Africa (except for re-packaged North American literature). This was startling, and it put paid to my assignment. I had to redesign it. I mentioned this to a Black seminary lecturer this week. He said: "You are taking a human concept, leadership, and you are casting Scripture in those terms. In Africa, that is liberalism. We don't do it."

Saturday, October 18, 2014

A New Metaphysic

Recently I proposed the development of a new metaphysic. Broader in scope and more fundamental than science, metaphysics seeks to understand the nature of the whole of reality. It is widely assumed that the age of metaphysics is past, and such a project would seem to swim against the biggest tide. However, we live in a changed world, and a changed world gives us hope for a new metaphysic. OBSERVATION: This may be more than a pipe dream. The sister publication of the Philosophical Society of England, Philosophical Investigations, has set aside a special space for me, accessed from its front page menu, to develop my project with capable input. Today I handed in Part IV. The Project is mapped out to Part VIII so far.

Men's Breakfast


I visited my old stomping ground Sea Point this morning to attend a men's breakfast hosted by Point Community Church. Rev. Geoff Gertzen (pictured) gave the address. We ought not to be successful, he said, but significant, above all "in the light of eternity". He made it plain and simple. OBSERVATION: Rev. Gertzen proved to be eminently photographable. You may click on the photo to enlarge to 115k.

Friday, October 17, 2014

High Church Low Church

Recently, in one way or another, I have come across the high Church / low Church debate. This is essentially to what degree clergy should be set apart from laity -- not in dress or in manner, but in function. In a high Church, typically one person presides in a Sunday service -- maybe two. In a low Church -- I'll take the Congregational example -- several people give original spiritual input in each service -- or should. I myself have aimed for five in each Sunday service I have conducted, even if the original spiritual input should amount to a single sentence. OBSERVATION: Traditionally one says that this demands much more of the Body of Christ. Traditionally one has lamented services where one or two people preside. Apart from any Church tenets, people laid down their lives for the low Church way. It is important also, I think, to differentiate between taking part in the Sunday routine (welcoming people, singing in the choir, and so on) and original spiritual input. These are sometimes confused.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

A Visited House

I visited our cottage in the country today (pictured), to attach a trapdoor to the attic, which locks (the rest of the house does not yet lock). I put a car-load of goods in the attic, too. OBSERVATION: The builder suspects that I am not the only visitor to the house, but that it is well visited by villagers when there is no activity there. In fact, one of them left a bottle of wine on the veranda. It is, after all, about the only thing that is happening in the village.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Abducted

A cousin-in-law of mine (she sang at my wedding) was waiting for a bus this week when she was suddenly abducted -- bundled into a car / automobile by three thugs. She escaped when they stopped to buy liquor -- she hid herself, then ran for help. OBSERVATION: This is not an isolated abduction. South Africa is ranked no. 4 in the world for kidnappings.

Baby Shoes


Recently son M. found his baby (toddler) shoes in a cabin on our plot in Tesselaarsdal. You may click on the photo to enlarge to 160k.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Scary Counselling

I have had thousands of counselling sessions. A few of them have been scary. Here's one. I met with a man who controlled 45% of the world markets, and the Arab spring -- he said. He laughed irrepressibly, then suddenly he warned: "I could turn to terrorism -- just like that! I'm at tipping-point!" and he snapped his fingers. It didn't help that he blamed the clergy for the state of the world. I manoeuvred my way out of my office, towards the street, talking all the time. When he realised what I was up to, he tried to jump in front of me, and tried to slam the gate. Too late, I was "home free". OBSERVATION: It was mania -- but even so, I dropped items of spiritual counsel into the conversation. God could use them at the right time.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Free State Children


I took this photo earlier this year in the eastern Orange Free State, on a mission (eleven Churches combined). These children watched from the sidelines as the older children played soccer. The eastern Orange Free State borders on the Kingdom of Lesotho.

Automatic Lights

Tonight I designed and built two automatic lights. One of them switches a light on and off at regular intervals (a slow clock generator), another switches them on and off with an element of randomness (two slow clock generators and a logic gate). This is to give the impression of movement in a house -- one of the cheapest and simplest ways to deter burglars (one hopes). OBSERVATION: Both circuits failed when I first tested them. The problem lay in a crocodile clip, not in my work. I have often said, it is more important to know what went wrong than what went right.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Saved Or Improved

There is a difference between being saved and being improved. There is a saying to the effect that people can only be saved, not improved. It depends how it is meant, but I think that in the most important sense it is absolutely true. It is the foundation of good preaching, and effective counselling, and sound spirituality in the Church. One cannot begin with people where they are, but only from the level of (Spirit-given) abnegation. Otherwise one's input is likely wasted.

Every Cloud ...

If you ever wondered whether every cloud does have a silver lining ... here is a photo of our plot near Caledon after it was hit last year by the worst flood in living memory. This week someone estimated that the value of the (braai / barbecue) wood is R36 000 / $3 200. I'd be ready to let it go for much less, if anyone will cut it up and take it. One way to contact me is to leave a comment on this blog.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Levers And Pedals

I have driven my diesel vehicle less often lately than my petrol / gas vehicle. This gets me more confused at the diesel controls than usual. To control my petrol / gas vehicle (a Volkswagen) one has:
. . . three pedals
. . . one lever
. . . a gear-stick
. . . a steering-wheel
To control my diesel vehicle (a Mahindra, pictured) one has:
. . . one pedal
. . . five levers
. . . two twist-grips
. . . handle-bars
OBSERVATION: I joke that the Mahindra is thief-proof, because no thief would know how to drive it away. The photo was taken at the northern limit of Lambert's Bay.

Healthy Perspective

A lay minister of another Church said to me: “I want to share with you an insight that I had. I was invited to hear a prominent minister, and I found myself finding fault with him in all kinds of things. Then suddenly it occurred to me that I should see what God is doing through his ministry. God only does good things.” I said: “You’ve got it. You’ve understood something very important.”

Friday, October 10, 2014

Attic Movie II

One would not guess, I think, which was far and away my most popular blog post during the last month. It was Attic Movie. For attic junkies, therefore, here is a video of our new attic with the floor now screwed down. One of our best moves in building was to change a small attic for storage into a liveable space. The cost of doing this was 3% of the total cost. (It still needs a door).

Education And Salvation

A woman came to see me, and told me a story which was classic for its simplicity and clarity: "I decided to give my daughter a good education. I made sacrifices to give her a good education. And now, she's in jail for drug-dealing." We agreed together, now looking back, that education is not all that guarantees a daughter's future. It is far more important to teach your child about the Lord -- to introduce her to the Lord -- when you sit at home, says the Bible, and when you walk along the road, and when you lie down and when you get up (Deuteronomy 11:19).

Thursday, October 9, 2014

A Walk-Through

Here's a walk-through of our cottage (nearly complete) in Tesselaarsdal -- a mere 3 metres / yards wide and 10 metres / yards long. It begins with the back steps and landing (a tool shed under the landing), a custom kitchen door, into a combined kitchen-lounge, with a view of the front door (which is closed), into the bedroom (the bathroom in the background), back into the kitchen-lounge, then a view up the ladder into the attic. The foundations are unusually high, to accommodate slope and possible floods.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Anger Or Sorrow?

Something I have come across occasionally in ministry -- and among people I know -- is a father's refusal ever again to speak the name (or to hear it) of a son or daughter (or family member) who died. It's as if they never existed. This is often interpreted as anger towards the person who died. Yet in my experience, it was mostly such deep sorrow that it was the only way that the father knew how to deal with it -- which is a very different motive, although it might look much the same.

"I Have Wasted My Life"

I have visited many people on their deathbeds, more than a hundred.  I think that they have all stayed with me -- but a few more than others.  I went to see an old man.  He said to me: “I have wasted my life. I have only realised it now!”  He died the next day.  I shared this with his wife.  She said nonsense, he didn't know what he was talking about.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Review Article

I recently co-wrote a review article on Peter Hubral with British philosopher Martin Cohen -- for The Philosopher, the journal of the Philosophical Society of England. The thrust of Hubral's work is that we may think we have understood the ancient Greeks -- but have we? Can we get into their minds, from the early 21st Century? There are signs that we haven't understood them -- that we have misinterpreted them -- that their thought was more distant from ours than we imagine. This is a review article, so that the views are ones which the reviewers pass on.

Thank You

For many of my years in ministry, I have had the privilege of having one member or another stand up at a Church Meeting to thank me for my ministry. Someone reminded me recently of a particularly exuberant thank you I received. It is a lovely tradition -- which is kept in many Churches -- if not in the Church Meeting then at other opportune times. More formally, it is called a "vote of thanks".

Monday, October 6, 2014

Graveyard

This is the old graveyard in the village Tesselaarsdal -- population 2 000 -- some 140km/90mi east of Cape Town. Villagers found some rusted slave shackles here. For me, it is also the closest water-point to my new house -- in monetary terms R20 000 ($2000) distant. I decided instead to pump water from a nearby stream, to fill my own tanks.

Statutory Body

Earlier this year, I reported an attorney to a certain statutory body, whose function it is (quote) "to investigate alleged misconduct on the part of the attorney". They wouldn't investigate, and they should have. I asked to see the statute which said they shouldn't. First they sent me irrelevant documents, then several times they balked. Last month I reported the body to the Human Rights Commission. The reason: a citizen should be permitted to see the statutes of a statutory body. A day later, knowing about the Commission, the statutory body issued a functus officio decree, a kind of vow not to continue. OBSERVATION: The issue could be vitally important. Citizens need to know on what statutory basis statutory bodies function. If a statutory body balks at that, one should be worried for the country. The Human Rights Commission subsequently judged it to be "corruption", and referred the matter to the Office of the Public Protector.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Post-Modernism

It is crucial, today, to understand post-modernism. However, explanations of post-modernism would most of them seem to be as obscure as post-modernism itself: "a tissue of confusions", someone said. But here is a really illuminating essay that I read today, on a seminal Derrida paper, by Dr. Mary Klages. It is the best that I have read to date -- however you'd need to have a fairly good academic grounding to understand it. (I used deconstructionist techniques for one of my Master's degrees).

Trouble In Lesotho

A Lesotho pastor, on a flying visit to Cape Town, said to me this morning: "You have caused trouble in Lesotho!" I said: "Oh? What's up?" He said: "That solar system that you built! Everybody wants it!" I said: "It's working?" He said: "It's working!" OBSERVATION: I built it (and designed it) for a school. The system having worked this long -- nearly half a year -- it should go on for several years. In fact till 2029, if conditions are ideal. It was a small system, a mere 2.8 Amp-hours at its heart, delivering (theoretically) 160 candlepower for 11 hours 12 minutes on a full charge, and able to recharge small electronic devices. The photo shows me busy designing and building a system. See also African Solar. And, read my book.

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Paint-Ball

Earlier today, someone shot at me with a paint-ball gun. They hit my car / automobile, however missed me (I was driving with the windows open). Several years ago, I blogged about a youngster who shot at me with a BB gun with plastic round shot, while I was driving my three-wheeler. Full marks to him for hitting the target (me) from one moving vehicle to another -- but that one was not funny.

Sleep On It

There is the saying: "Sleep on it." There will be new thoughts in the morning. Not only may one sleep on it. Some of the most brilliant ideas came to people while in the shower, or walking up steps, or in the case of the computer genius Seymour Cray, while digging tunnels. In short, when the mind was out of gear. In the case of sermons, I have for many years had the custom first to do the reading and the research, but not the writing -- then sleep on it, and write the next day.

Friday, October 3, 2014

Springbok Radio Hits

During the apartheid years, the South African hit parade tended in different directions to that of the rest of the world. There were some great songs that never had much of a profile overseas. For example, Heaven is my Woman's Love spent seven weeks at no. 1 in South Africa, yet only reached no. 102 in the United States. One can find these old hits by searching for Springbok Radio hits on YouTube.

Writing Style

There are a large number of issues which need to be decided when it comes to writing style.  And when one surveys great writers, it is interesting that they hold a lot of these points in common.  Here are some questions of style, in no particular order:
Will my writing be dense, or readable?
Will I zoom in on detail, or paint with a large brush?
Shall I move from the general to the particular?
How long will my paragraphs be?
Shall I use bridging techniques?
Shall I use sub-headings?
Should sub-headings accurately reflect content?
Will there be bulleted sections?
Will there be boxes?
Shall I anticipate content to come?
Shall I explain what I am writing, or just write it?
Will my writing have pace, or will it plod?
Shall I use the authorial we, or I?
Shall I address the reader with you?
Shall I quote sources?
Shall I reference them?
How shall I deal with existing debate on issues?
Shall I resort to metaphors, analogies, anecdotes?
Shall I use simple language, or expert terminology?
Shall I give examples of concepts?
Will I use introductory quotations?
Will there be illustrations?
Shall I establish authorial authority?
Should I confess authorial limitations?
Should I begin with consensus writing?
Will my writing give hope?
Should I seek to make the work timeless?
Should I reshuffle the chapter?

Oak Of A Project

I remarked this week that I see small signs of God's grace on my writing. This week I embarked on a major project which I have envisaged -- planned -- for many years. It would represent a magnum opus. I put the introduction out for Society comment. An editor responded: "Keep going! This young project may yet become a mighty oak."  I am to be granted, too, a space on the web to develop it, with expert input.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Understanding One Another

Even before we were engaged, wife E. and I reached an understanding that we would not understand one another. We were both of us a) coming into a marriage late, and b) from very different cultural backgrounds. This understanding is in fact a great help. We love each other, but we don't need to understand each other. At the same time, understand each other we do. OBSERVATION: Not seldom, young couples want to understand each other inside out.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Christendom

The subject 'Christendom' is large in contemporary theological debate. Nearly always, it is lamented. I think that, in South Africa, Christendom is still strong. That is, many people associate with the Church (to whatever degree) for appearance's sake: for reason of the cultural, social, or political context (this is my own definition of 'Christendom', but it won't be far off). Supposing, however, that Christendom were a part of God's gracious plan? In terms of such a plan, it would be precisely the pretenders whom God gathers together to hear the gospel. OBSERVATION: An ex lecturer of mine makes some interesting remarks on the upside of Christendom here: Comments about declining church attendance in Europe. Scroll two-thirds down the page.

Churchgoing And Dreams

I once noted the curious statistic, that I could trace nearly 10% of Church attendance to dreams that either the dreamer had, or one of their family members -- bearing in mind that this is Africa. Some might look at this askance. I don't seek to explain it, simply to register the fact. Here are some examples. A young man forsook the Church for many years. Then his late grandfather appeared to him in a dream, and asked him: "Why have you forsaken the Church?" A young woman descended into alcoholism. Then her late parents appeared to her in a dream, and said: "Take up your cross." OBSERVATION: Strangely, I am aware of only one study about the significance of dreams to the Church -- in this case the relationship of dreams to Muslim conversion.