A lovely afternoon in Kalk bay Harbour

Lovely scenery, good company, and a few minutes to relax. Kalk Bay harbour, Cape Town.

Just a gentle little reminder.... Books and more books, and all for a great price!

Yes, I know that this is selfish promotion! But, I'm doing it for the kids... My kids that is! Braces, school fees, food, college fund... ha ha!

Just a gentle little remind that all of my books are for sale! However, they are ALSO for free!! You can download copies of all of my books for FREE here.

But, if you want actual paper copies (aaaahhhh nice to hold, nice to read... ;-) then check out the links below.

My books.

Please click HERE to order my books (or, see the links below). E-Book versions can be purchased at a reduced price from Mobipocket.com (simply follow the link).

Order Methodism in Southern Africa: A celebration of Wesleyan Mission (edited by Dr Wessel Bentley and Dr Dion A Forster) for R140 in South Africa, or for $20 if outside of South Africa.

Order A prayer guide for use during examinations for R20 in South Africa, or from Amazon.com for $4 if outside of South Africa.

Order Christ at the centre - Discovering the Cosmic Christ in the Spirituality of Bede Griffiths for R100 in South Africa, or $20 including postage worldwide from Amazon.com.

Order An uncommon spiritual path - finding Jesus beyond conventional Christianity an E-Book version can be purchased from Mobipocket.com for $10 (simply follow the link). Paper copies will be in print by May 2008 and you'll be able to purchase copies directly from the author, or on Amazon.com.

A rocker is born! Baby superstar with a Mullet second to none!

A rocker is born! Baby superstar!
Originally uploaded by digitaldion

A few years ago when I was in London I went to the Disney shop and bought my daughter, Courtney, a 'High school musical' microphone. It plays two of the songs from the show, and you can sing along.

Liam absolutely LOVES the Mic!!!!

However, don't you absolutely LOVE Liam's Mullet!? I think it is so cool! It scores at least an 8 on http://www.ratemymullet.com

Well done boy! Dad is proud of you!

Getting ready to watch the Boks play the Ausies in a few hours. Then I am taking a visitor from New Zealand for a drive around the Cape peninsula (Simonstown, Cape Point, Table Mountain etc. etc.)

Sunset at Strand beach - a ride on my BMW 650GS

All I can say is that it is great to live in the Cape, and it's great great to be back on my bike. My fast is over... So a Kentucky twister at sunset will be just fine!

Lost enthusiasm... When Methodists used to be called 'enthusiasts'

For the past three years or so I have been doing a little show on Radio Pulpit called 'The ministry and me'. As I've looked back through the topics I've spoken of I am able to see where my own theological leanings are located. I have spoken most frequently of my belief that the core of the Gospel is to establish the Kingdom of God. This was the mission of Jesus Christ (Luke 4:34), and so it should also be the mission of the Church and the response of every sincere Christian disciple. When Jesus speaks of this mission he quotes from the Prophet Isaiah. Jesus himself sees the work of establishing the Kingdom as the work of mercy, justice, generosity, and grace (Luke 4:18-19).

The second most frequently presented topic, which is closely related to the first, is that of passion, enthusiasm, and courage! I have tried my best to encourage ministers and servants of Christ to do their very best to not only do the work of establishing the Kingdom of God, but to do so with passion, excitement, commitment and courage!

My experience is that persons are most frequently persuaded by passion and commitment, rather than learning and facts.

I'm not sure how many know that Methodists were once known as part of a collective called the 'enthusiasts'? In 'A History of Christian Theology: An Introduction' By William Carl Placher I found the little piece of amusing wisdom... Enthusiasts were known for seeing visions, hearing voices and crying out in revival services... Others regarded enthusiasts as those who went to Church too frequently or read their Bibles too often! Ha ha! How the contemporary understanding of the word enthusiasm has changed! In those early years enthusiasm was considered a bad thing....

Today I would venture that the opposite is true... Somehow the contemporary Church lacks a measure of enthusiasm. Contemporary Christians lack enthusiasm for the things that matter... Well, this was just a thought!

"Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed." Isaiah 56:1

Happy birthday Mr President! Nelson Mandela is my 'bag' baby!

Today Nelson Mandela turns 90! Happy birthday Mr President! We thank God for your courage and integrity.

Nelson Mandela is my 'bag' (holder) baby.... This is a picture of Gus and Heather's 'plastic bag holder'. Viva Madiba, viva!

Seeing the Kingdom of God in imperfect form...

I am something of a perfectionist... Well to be honest I am an idealistic perfectionist!  I often don't do things if I don't think they'll work as they should.  I will hold back on decisions or actions if I think that they may not be perfect.

Today I sat with a friend in my office.  He is a minister of a struggling Church here in Cape Town.  He shared with great passion his love for his people, and his commitment to his ministry.  Yet, the truth is that not everything is perfect.  After he left I thought quite a bit about imperfect Churches...  And imperfect Christians (like myself).  

I know that excellence in ministry is a high ideal!  It is to be praised and celebrated where it can be found.  But maybe, just perhaps, God does not need perfection to work!?  Well, that's no maybe!  God can work through imperfection!

This little quite inspired me.

People must not only hear about the kingdom of God, but must see it in actual operation, on a small scale perhaps and in imperfect form, but a real demonstration nevertheless.

- Pandita Ramabai Indian Christian and reformer

I guess the point is that one should strive for perfection, but act anyway, because God may just use imperfection to display God's gracious Kingdom.

An incorruptible seed - some Kenyan wisdom

Jesus sowed his seed in our hearts, then off he went.... He knew things would not be ideal. There were the birds and the droughts, the weeds and the insects, the parasites and the blights. But there was also the power of the seed itself.

- Joseph G. Donders teacher and chaplain at the University of Nairobi, Kenya

A view of the Helderberg Mountain from my daughter's school

As the title says.... Heck I love living in Somerset West! Another winter's day.

Have a great one!

Rethinking Asimov's 3 laws of robotics - clever machines in a not so clever world.

I love science fiction! I particularly love it when it bears some close semblance to reality (or a possible reality). Isaac Asimov's 3 laws of robotics have been the basis for much contemporary entertainment (the Matrix, I Robot, and HAL 2000 and AI are but a few of the movies that have draw upon his superb thesis on robotics and sentience).

The original laws stated:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Sensible stuff... Well, here's something that is quite hilarious! If one watches just one or two episodes of Stark Trek you can see why there was a need to update Asimov's laws! Clearly no self respecting robot would be seen dead (or alive) acting in accordance with the 3 original simplistic laws!

Huh, looks like Isaac Asimov's 3 laws of robotics have been expanded tenfold by the thoughtful Something Awful guys:

# A robot must tip its hat in the presence of a lady human being, except where such a display would be construed as a come-on by a jealous male human being, who then might pose a difficulty to the Third Law.

# A robot may not act in such a fashion as would make dogs obsolete, because dogs are less expensive than robots, and robots should be reserved for science things.

# A robot, when given contradictory orders by two human beings, and assuming those orders do not violate the First Law, must decide which order to follow based on which human being has a deeper voice.

# A robot, specifically a big, wide robot, may not pretend to be a refrigerator and then make a scary noise when a human being opens it.

Asimov's 30 Laws of Robotics [ somethingawful.com, thanks Coop ] from boingboing.net

The science of becoming batman - how to become a superhero without any superpowers.

I would venture a guess (without wanting to offend any of my friends and readers) that most of us fall into the same 'mediocre' level of natural human development. Other than Angus, Wessel, and Gus I don't know any superheroes.... And then, Gus is only special because he has a supernatural love, Pete is a superhero because he's kind, caring and courageous, and Wessel... Well, he was first in line when they gave out brains.

As for me... well, no superpower that I can detect (although my daughter does thing I am great! In spite of the fact that I 'walk funny' - perhaps it is my 'bionic leg' that makes me special!? For more about that simply search this site for 'motorbike' and 'accident')...

But, here's the kicker! Did you know that you could (possibly) become a superhero just by doing a few special exercises!? Well, that's what the author of this new books suggests.

If I were to be a superhero I would ask that I get a costume that was not too tight (otherwise I would have to stay in shape just to wear it), Oh, and I would ask that I can wear my underpants under my pants (i.e., UNDER pants... ) not like Superman, Batman and a host of other so called 'super' heros... Not so super when you can't figure out how to wear your underpants, now are you!?

E. Paul Zehr has a book coming out in October called Becoming Batman: The Possibility of A Superhero, about the physical and mental training one would need to become a superhero without any supernatural powers. Zehr, a professor of kinesiology and neuroscience at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, is also a karate expert. Over at Scientific American, JR Minkel interviews Zehr about how one might train as the Dark Knight. From SciAm:

What's most plausible about portrayals of Batman's skills?You could train somebody to be a tremendous athlete and to have a significant martial arts background, and also to use some of the gear that he has, which requires a lot of physical prowess. Most of what you see there is feasible to the extent that somebody could be trained to that extreme. We're seeing that kind of thing in less than a month in the Olympics.

What's less realistic?A great example is in the movies where Batman is fighting multiple opponents and all of a sudden he's taking on 10 people. If you just estimate how fast somebody could punch and kick, and how many times you could hit one person in a second, you wind up with numbers like five or six. This doesn't mean you could fight four or five people. But it's also hard for four or five people to simultaneously attack somebody, because they get in each other's way. More realistic is a couple of attackers.

Batman and science (Scientific American), Pre-order Becoming Batman (Amazon)

The launch of CVC media - A fresh approach to Christian Media

Today I had the incredible joy of attending the launch of CVC media in Durbanville (UPDATE, Roger - the link I found is for 1Africa.tv, and the CVC staff picked up on my post and sent me the link to CVC Media's main page).

I was impressed by their HUGE vision (to reach 1 billion people with the Gospel through new media)! They're already a long way towards that goal. Moreover, their fresh approach, and attention to excellence was magnificent to see. These people get it!

In order to effectively share the gospel one needs to add value (so, here in Africa they have schools, farms, clinics etc.) and have a broad based approach (short wave radio, internet streaming, satellite audio and video, and FM stations). Their content is also fantastic, aiming at a younger demographic through care, excellence, and relational follow up through email, text messages and social networking. They have thought of everything. Their approach seems to be more than just a 'hit and run' media venture.

I am impressed! I can see them making a huge impact across the world (they have stations on every continent). Speaking in this picture is Bob Edmundson (not sure of the spelling), a Christian businessman from the UK - his speach was energetic and challenging. He is the primary funder.

I have the joy of knowing Oliver Raper who is the manager for Southern Africa, and Jonathan Haller who was my Program Director at RadioPulpit in Pretoria and is now the program director at CVC / 1Africa. Keep your eyes on these folks! They are going to do great things!