A 25th Anniversary worth remembering

This is a 25th Anniversary that is worth remembering. Did anybody else out there have a Commodore 64? With that clunky tape drive... You would spend hours programming a game in on basic, then come to 'save it to tape' and something would go wrong with your tape recorder... In those days if you wanted to 'pirate' a game you needed a tape to tape recorder .... Ahhhh those where the days.

Here's the story from CNN.

Like a first love or a first car, a first computer can hold a special place in people's hearts. For millions of kids who grew up in the 1980s, that first computer was the Commodore 64. Twenty-five years later, that first brush with computer addiction is as strong as ever.

Millions of Commodore 64s were sold in the 1980s.

more photos »

"There was something magical about the C64," says Andreas Wallstrom of Stockholm, Sweden.

He remembers the day he first laid eyes on his machine back in 1984.

"My father brought it home together with a tape deck, a disk drive, a printer, and a couple of games...I used to sneak home during lunch to play [on it] with my friends." read more here....

PS. I had a Sinclair ZX Spectrum (with the rubber keys) before I had one of these. My dad had a 300baud accoustic coupler modem to dial into his offices belltell network. I used to use it to access the BBS's and 'phreak' the old Telkom (then post office) exchanges to make free phone calls... Yes, we all have a life of crime locked somewhere in a closet.

Technorati tags: Commodore 64, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, phreak, retro gamer

Suicide help line woes... There is hope, make the call (JUST use your own cell phone) [Pic]

I guess this is a sign of our times... Utility is more important than compassion.... So, when you're reading to give up, find the strength to use your cell phone and make that last call...

[Just click on the image to see a larger version]

Technorati tags: Golden gate bridge, suicide help line, Out of Order, Make the call, Use your own phone

Monetizing religion - Jesus and Mary for sale on your Cell Phone

This interesting post comes from Dvorak.org... Of course John Dvorak has his own little pithy take on this story (see the end of his post).

However, I suppose there is some truth in this - when there are people who want or need something that you can provide, our culture will monetize almost anything, including our Religion! Heck Joyce Meyer has done it!

If you are a Catholic looking for a saint in heaven to protect you, you no longer have to carry a small “holy card”. You can get the image sent to your cellphone.

A company in Italy started offering the service…but ran into opposition from some Catholic Church leaders who think the idea is crass and commercial.

“We found a need and filled it,” Barbara Labate, who came up with the idea with her business partner in a cellphone services company based in Milan.

Jesus and the Madonna are also for sale…

And always have been.

Technorati tags: Catholocism, Saints, monetize your religion, John C Dvorak

'God is petty' - Gareth Cliff (5FM radio personality). What happened?

Here's the story of Gareth Cliff's remarks about God being 'petty', and the subsequent story that unfolded. I received the petition and was concerned that he was able to say things like this on air. I don't want to infringe on his right not to believe in God, but it does infringe on my beliefs when he expresses views such as this publicly and without sensitivity or restraint...

From News24:

Cape Town - 5fm DJ Gareth Cliff is in trouble again. The controversial radio presenter has caused a furore by calling God "petty" on his breakfast show.

However, according to Cliff's manager, the incident has been blown out of proportion and taken out of context.

"Cliff has been accused of blasphemy for referring to a news report of the Teddy Teacher Gillian Gibbons who had been arrested in the Sudan for naming a teddy bear Mohammed."

"Blasphemy should not be a crime," Cliff said in an e-mail on Thursday.

"If God is great, why would he be so easily offended by what a mortal man says? If God has such an ego, then he must be petty."

Since the show, numerous e-mails have been circulating on the web with petitions "to get Cliff off air".

News24 has also received numerous complaints of users saying that Cliff "has gone too far".

'God is not petty'

June Jousten, a News24 user from Gauteng, said: "What really gets to me, is that this seems to happen on a daily basis and that the South African Broadcasting Association does little to zero about it."

In the midst of the furore is Gerda-Mari Povey, a 5fm listener from Pretoria, who sent an e-mail of complaint to Cliff on Thursday morning after listening to his show.

Povey forwarded her e-mail correspondence with Gareth Cliff to News24.

She wrote to him: "You know what, Gareth, I love your show, but this morning u shocked me!!!! just wanted to say, God is not petty!!!!!

"I pray that something drastic will happen in your life, that will allow you to experience the loving kindness and mercy of God..."

"As a Christian, I really felt offended," she told News24. "He (Gareth) should have more respect for people's religion. He has offended many of his listeners."

"What if my children had heard his comments. It was very irresponsible of him. I'm normally the kind of person who just keeps quiet, but this time it was just too much."

Hate mail

Cliff's short reply to her e-mail was: "Stop sprouting nonsense. There is no god. There is no tooth fairy and there is no Father Christmas."

Povey said: "I was so upset. I was almost in tears. I forwarded his response to a few of my closest friends, but I never intended this e-mail to be circulated through the entire country."

Povey told News24 she had been receiving a lot of hate mail since Thursday.

"Some people have said to me, how can I know for sure that it has indeed been Gareth Cliff who replied to my e-mail. Well, I sent my initial e-mail to 5fm's mailbox and Cliff replied to my e-mail from his personal e-mail. Who else at 5fm could have written that e-mail?"

"I don't have anything against him personally, he can debate politics etc all he wants, but when it's about religion, he should show more sensitivity."

Tribunal

Cliff's manager told News24: "Gareth has always been opinionated and loves debating. He has responded to Povey by e-mail as a courtesy and has treated her in the same way as he would have treated a friend."

In his follow-up e-mail to Povey, Cliff placed into context what he was trying to say on his show.

"I will never agree with you just as you find my lack of belief so distasteful. The difference is that I concern myself with people, and try to be a good and hopefully moral person.

"I don't need blessings or permissions or prayers. I'm a happy guy."

According to his manager, Cliff was not available for comment until Thursday morning.

"The SABC has called a tribunal at the Broadcasting Complaints Commission in Johannesburg on Thursday morning at 09:00 to discuss the issue. It will be open to the public.

"The SABC has come to his defence and believes his comments have been taken out of context."

And, here is Sarah Britten's commentary,

"If God is great, why would he be so easily offended by what a mortal man says? If God has such an ego, then he must be petty."

Gareth Cliff, commenting on the teddy bear named Mohammed. A listener from Pretoria then wrote to him to complain. Gerda-Mari Povey wrote:

"You know what, Gareth, I love your show, but this morning u shocked me!!!! just wanted to say, God is not petty!!!!! I pray that something drastic will happen in your life, that will allow you to experience the loving kindness and mercy of God…"

He then apparently wrote the following to her:

"Stop sprouting nonsense. There is no god. There is no tooth fairy and there is no Father Christmas."

Povey has subsequently received hate mail, along with questions about whether it was Cliff who actually responded to her. However, Cliff then mailed her again, explaining:

"I will never agree with you just as you find my lack of belief so distasteful. The difference is that I concern myself with people, and try to be a good and hopefully moral person. I don’t need blessings or permissions or prayers. I'm a happy guy."

This means that Gareth Cliff is one of the very few South Africans to emerge from the belief closet and effectively declare himself an atheist. In a country where religious conservatism is more predominant than many of us like to think, that's a brave thing to do.

Brave... Perhaps. Bright, not so sure...

Any person who uses their position of public influence to humiliate others is neither 'moral' nor a 'good person' in my estimation. Quite apart from his 'popular' religious sensibilities, his email shows disdain toward a member of the public....

Not my cup of tea. I am sorry to say that my estimation of Gareth Cliff has been lowered, for what it's worth, not for his views on religion - I am not surprised by uninformed and shallow approaches to a Universe filled with mystery! That happens every day! I am disappointed in the manner in which he dealt with this issue, and the ordinary listener who expressed her opinion in relation to his. Clearly he was dismissive of her, yet he wanted to have the right to have his opinion heard without challenge!

I heard his half hearted explanation (which he assured the listeners was neither an apology, nor an admission of wrongdoing) this morning.... If he was truly brave he could have either stuck to his guns... Or, he could have been brave enough to admit he was not right in the way he treated a member of his audience.

Just my two cents worth!

Technorati tags: God is petty, Gareth Cliff, not so clever, lacks integrity

The Golden Compass... What's all the fuss about!?

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman seems to be ruffling quite a few feathers in the bloggosphere (and in Churches around the world). I can understand why - here's the official trailer:

Steve Hayes has discussed the Pullman books, and the current controversy surrounding them in anticipation of the premiere of The Golden Compass the movie, with great mastery of both a sound theology, and a superb insight into the literary genre and the entertainment value of the books.

His post is detailed, objective, and extremely helpful for the person who is considering whether they will see the movie or not.

I've read two of the three books in the 'His dark materials' series. Sure, they have some scary and challenging stuff, particularly for the young audience they are directed at. As I posted elsewhere, this is Harry Potter with fangs!

However, I am certain that most of our congregants (here I am speaking to pastors and Church leaders) will go and see the movie - even if many of them are afraid to admit it!

Might I suggest two things for any person who is concerned about their children, family, friends, or Church members being negatively effected by this movie?

1. Please READ the book(s)! I get so upset when people make statements about things without informing themselves. If you don't want to enrich the author by purchasing a copy of the book, drop me an email, I can tell you where you can get free copies... I know about the resource because at least one of my books has also been posted there for download.

2. Please READ Steve Hayes' superb post on the movie - it is a good, objective, insightful, and highly articulate take on this subject.

Thanks Steve! Blessings to all for the day - here I go, facing it without more than an hour's sleep. The joy of having Liam home far outweighs the need for sleep! I think, as an aside, that we humans were meant to be sleep deprived between the ages of 20 and 40 anyway. That's the only way to raise your Children and work hard enough to pay the rent (and buy books and see the occasional movie)....

Technorati tags: The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman, controversial, Christian perspective

This could have been the last straw for my blogger account...

Blogger has been very good to me on the whole. However, it does have quite a few quirky and annoying elements too, worst of all is how long it takes to repost my blog if I add blogger tags!

But, then when I tried to add a post from Safari in the iphone and discovered that I could only enter titles and not enter any text in the body of my post, I was getting ready to move across to my wordpress blog completely....

That was until I discovered that You CAN POST to blogger using the web interface in Safari on the iPhone, as long as you select the 'edit HTML' tab in blogger!

So blogger gets to live for another day! But only just...

Technorati tags: posting to blogger from an iphone

I have an UNLOCKED Apple iPhone (running on MTN, everything works) [LOTS of pictures]

Well, as you all know, I am an absolute Mac fanatic!

I love my Macs a great deal....

Well, my Maclust was satisfied this week when I got a 'bricked' iPhone from a friend in Cape Town (bricked means that it WAS unlocked, then some sad soul updated it to the 'new' firmware 1.1.2. and that made it completely unusable - well so we thought!). Because it was bricked and unusable I got it for next to nothing (in fact, as per usual, I picked it up in a trade for a few of my older dispensable gadgets!)

So I stated to do some research on how I can 'unbrick' my new paperweight. I went to this site and followed the instructions to downgrade and unlock my iPhone!

It took two or three attemps (and a move from the Mac to the PC, downgrading iTunes on my wife's PC to be specific), but IT IS UNLOCKED and EVERYTHING works!!!!!! So, I have an Apple iPhone running on the MTN network here in South Africa (by the way, I have tried it with a Vodacom sim card, and Cell C, and it works on all of them).

There are two things that you need to know about this device if you're outside of the UK, US, Germany and France:

1. You need to unlock it (called a jailbreak on the internet) so that you can install third party applications on it (apptapp is the standard package installer that let's you get everything from PDF readers, ebook readers, Instant messaging clients, skins and modifications, voice recorders, drawing programs and every single Gameboy Game ever... Just to mention a few)

2. Once it is unlocked you use a free program called 'anySIM' to allow you to use (as the name suggests) ANY carrier's SIM card in the phone.... anySIM is one of the free downloads that comes on the apptapp application that you use to unlock your iphone.

Before I post a few photos, here are my likes and dislikes (I have had it for about two weeks now as my primary phone, diary, and web device - so I have had a change to test it thoroughly in all sorts of conditions. Over the last week it has been an absolute gift as I've had to be out of the office at the hospital with my son. As many others can understand, life still has to go on, people call, meetings need to be set up, emails returned, reports filed etc. and the phone has been a champion):

LIKES:

• It's an Apple iPhone... say no more.
• It sync's with my Mac (contacts, iCal, iTunes etc. etc.) see the screen shots below.
• The interface is typically Apple, smooth, effective and it JUST WORKS!
• The keyboard... As Steve Jobs said "learn to trust the keyboard", once I let go and just typed I can probably get about 30 words a minute on the keyboard! Search this blog for a paper I wrote on IQ, EQ and SQ... This phone's keyboard requires EQ to operate it well. It's like a golf swing, you can't quite understand why it works (and when you try to understand it you loose the plot), but it works.
  
• SAFARI!!! This has to be the very, very, very best mobile browser ever! I have a Treo 650 (palm) a Treo 750 (windows mobile), and a Nokia E90 (Symbian), and none of them can do REAL WORLD browsing with all the bells and whistles.
• iCal - it looks, feels, and works like iCal on my Mac... As you can see from the screenshot of my iCal I am a HEAVY calendar user, and this just works!
• The iPhone interface (scrolling with the roll of a finger, pinching to zoom in and out on the web browser and PDF's)
• Mac OS (this means that it has a version of UNIX underneath... So it is easy to hack. I have installed SSH and AFP with a terminal on my iPhone so I can FTP and connect to it using various UNIX old skewl hacker tricks...)
• Email client... Works great (but I also dislike it, because you can't save attachments, or create folders, and it is SLOW in sending SMTP mail).
• The earbud walk and talk headphones... They are fantastic, look cool, and they have a nifty little square thing that you ust gently touch squeeze to answer a call. If you're listening to a podcast, watching a video, or listening to an MP3 and a phone call comes in it pauses your media, and then starts it up again when you're done talking.
• The incredible display!!! This has to be the best, brightest, and clearest display I have ever seen. It is incredible to watch video on this thing!
• It charges via USB... This is great since I always have a laptop nearby and can just plug it in to charge (I also have a USB ligther adaptor for my car... So no need for weird adaptors, just plug it in and it charges! The battery life is great. I am a heavy user! I check my email in meetings, I check facts on the internet, update my blog, have reminders sounding throughout the day, listen to podcasts and audiobooks while driving, send SMS's Oh, and since this IS a phone... I ALSO make and receive quite a few phone calls... With all of this the iPhone can last me at least three days.)
• Vibrating alert! A must have for a person who is in meetings and classes and needs reminding of when to go to the next appointment or meeting!
  

DISLIKES:

• Edge - in this day and age EVERY cell phone should have 3g... I suppose it does have a great WiFi client. So, I can't complain at the office and at home.
• You can't send MMS! Crazy - apple will HAVE to fix that.
• You can't take Video (I'm sure someone will do an app to do that in the not too distant future - like the apps to record voice notes, read ebooks, read PDF's, modify the skins and appearance... etc. etc. etc.)
  
• No bluetooth keyboard support. I have a great bluetooth keyboard that folds out to touch type in meetings etc. It would be great to use this with the iPhone screen.
  
• Can't do easy internet connection sharing (i.e., use the phone as a bluetooth modem).
• Doesn't show up like an 'external hard drive' (as with the other iPods).
• You can't scroll the timeline within an MP3 (like you can with the scroll wheel on a regular iPod).
• There are no 'native' NIV, NRSV, and Greek Bibles (I am signed up for Laridian.com 's online bible's - so I have all these versions, but I need to have the cell phone switched on and use Safari to access them.... That is not ideal for when I am preaching. So, what I have been doing for the past two weeks is copying the texts that I'll use in the service into an email and emailing them to myself to read from email on the iPhone).
• The Camera is great in good light, but not so good in poor light (my Nokia E90 camera beats this one hands down, but then the iPhone camera is MUCH, MUCH better than either of my Treo camera's).

OK, so are you ready to see a few screen shots of my iPhone? Simply click on the small icons to enlarge each photo. I have scaled them down to make this page load a bit faster for those on dial-up (and of course those who are browsing on the cell phones!)

The iPhone interface

In this photo you can see the main screen. The four icons on the bottom are on a Dock (Phone, eMail, Safari Web Broswer, and iCal). All the other icons 'scroll' up and down as you slide your finger up and down the screen. The more knowledgeable will notice that my main screen looks different from the standard iPhone, that's because I installed 'customize' and 'SMB Prefs' which allow one to change the icons and appearance. To open an application you double tap with your finger. Notice on the top left that it says MTN SA, when you are using the Edge network a little 'E' appears there, now, however, I am using wifi so you can see the wifi symbol with wifi strength indicated. The time is in the centre and the battery on the right.

The Calendar

This is a screen shot of my calendar for today. You can see that it has three views (List, Day (the view seen here) and Month view). Each reminder or appointment appears as a block of time (which one sets either in iCal on the iPhone, or can sync from your Mac's iCal on your computer). If you have overlapping or clashing appointments in day view they stack (much like you see here). One can choose various options in iCal (repeats, all day events, reminders alarms, repeats for repeating events, etc., etc.) Again the interface is great, you simply slide your finger up and down and it slides through the day, or right to left to go to the next day.

Email and SMS.

First, forgive me for blanking out some sections of the emails above... I'm sure you understand! Some people may not wish to have their names of cell phone numbers shared on the internet! So, this is what the basic email list screen looks like. each unread email has a blue dot next to it. As you touch it, it opens and you can scroll it with your finger. So far I've seen that the email client lets you read MS Word, MS Excell, PDF, picture, and a host of other files. It DOESN'T do Powerpoint. And, as I mention above, you cannot create folders (if you're using POP3, of course you can if you're using IMAP - but then who does that with an iPhone!?), and you cannot save attachments.... However, the mail application works like a charm!

This is what SMS messages look like when you open them (they first appear in a list mode, like the email list above, when you click on the email it opens out to this view, which looks a LOT like iChat on the mac). Here you can see an SMS I received from a Pretoria Blockbusters... I replied just to show you what a reply would look like - you can change the colours of the bubbles, it tells you the date and time of your reply, and each SMS received from the same number or contact gets added to the same conversation.... So, it looks like an IM chat. What's missing!? Can you believe that the iPhone doesn't allow you to send a single message to multiple recipients!! CRAZY! But don't fear, there is a third party (FREE) app called weTool that will do that for you. Again you can download that form apptapp.

Once you get used to the keyboard you can REALLY type fast and it can be done with one hand (ask me, I had to reply to quite a few emails and SMS's over the last week while my son was in hospital asleep in my arms, and I was having to deal with work).

Maps (Google Maps).

You can get street level maps for most of the world (for free), and because they were designed specifically for the iPhone they are small and fast (so work great via EDGE). This device DOESN'T have GPS (like my Nokia E90), so it is not going to navigate anywhere, but at least you can check out a map if you are lost.

Notice the 5 icons on the bottom - You can see I have it on map, you can select Satelite view (see the next photo), and list view (if you're in the UK or US you can get directions from one address to another - it will still be a few years before Google implements that feature down South in South Africa!). I haven't got a clue what the car icon is for!? Any ideas???

How COOL is this!? The map above this is a map of the Menlyn area near my house, and this picture above is a Google Maps satelite view of the same area!!! I can see my house from here!! (well, if I scroll up a little and pinch out...)

Ebooks.

OK, so this is what the basic interface for the ebook reader looks like... It will handle any plain text or HTML ebook... Sadly it doesn't do Mobipocket books, so if you've bought any of my books on Mobi, please email me and I will gladly send you the HTML versions for free so you can use them on your iPhone. Again, reading books on this great screen, with the simple 'finger scroll' interface, is GREAT! You can see that I have already added a Bible (although only KJV...) and my two books in HTML format! They all work great.

The view above is of the PDF list. You can see that I have some personal PDF's in there (i.e., Word Documents that I have saved in PDF format) and some other books (I am currently reading ALL of Phililip Pullman's books in anticipation of the brewing storm with the realease of 'The Golden Compass' - I have already had about 40 emails about these. My advice to parents and pastors is BE INFORMED!!! Don't rely on others to tell you about this).

This picture shows what a PDF looks like when it is 'touched' to open it. This is the copyright page of my new book. You can see that it lists how many pages are in the PDF, and don't worry for those who don't have perfect eyesight you can 'pinch' the document to zoom in and out... And, your finger can scroll through the document.

Some other COOL apps (Weather, stocks etc.)

The iPhone, in true Apple style, also has a few 'widget' like apps. The picture above is the weather app. You can put a whole lot of cities in there and it will update the weather via Edge or WiFi (you can see I have 5 dots at the bottom... Each of them represents a City. I have Pretoria, Cape Town, Oxford, Chicago, and Kaula Lumpur in there).... The Clock application is also GREAT and does the same (add cities etc.). The information is downloaded from Yahoo.

Photos.

This is a picture of the 'photo' app. You can sync photos from iPhoto (so you can see I have a Liam album, a family album (in which I see the first photo is actually of two of my OLD macs... HA HA!). You can view the photos as a slideshow on the GREAT iPhone screen, and you can also also show them on a TV or Dataprojector with RCA cables!

By the way, the I haven't included any pictures of the iPod (Music, or Video) interface here... It is exactly the same as the new iPod Touch... It has the new 'Cover Flow' view... Let me know if you want to see screen shots of that and I will upload a few.

And... The best for last - Safari Web Browser.

This is the standard view in Safari. Notice a few things. First, this is my friend Sivin Kit's web page (www.sivinkit.net). Second, you'll notice a few icons: Top, the + adds the current site as a Safari bookmark, the other one on the top reloads the site. The bottom icons are a back and forward navigation icon. The book is to go to you bookmarks (and, it Syncs all your bookmarks from Safari on your Mac!), then, you'll notice a little '4' on the bottom right - that is to show that I have 4 windows open. If you touch the four it shows you a 'Cover Flow' of the four windows so that you can scroll between them, close them, or open a new one.

One of the incredible hardware features on the iPhone is that it has a motion sensor. If you turn the iPod sideways (into landscape mode) it will rotate the screen in certain apps (like Safari, or the Camera). This is great because it let's you view a whole Web page's width. This screenshot shows my friend Emily's website (christchurch.typepad.com).

The moment you touch any box on he web page where you enter text a keyboard pops up. This is the keyboard in Landscape mode.

Here's a picture of my website in Portrait mode. You can see that unlike other mobile web browsers it literally loads the WHOLE page! It is incredible. It will load the graphics etc. But, it does not do YouTube in the web browser (there is a seperate iPhone app to do that). But, it handles Java very well. I can do my secure banking, and browse every single site I can on my Mac. There are a few sites that are specifically recreated for the iPhone (like Facebook and google), they are great and have been well designed to capitalise on both the browser and the hardware and interface of the iphone.

By they way, don't worry, if your eyes are not that good, you can also 'pinch' to zoom in on a web page (see the image below. You can also pinch and rotate - no, that is not some innuendo - to see more of a page). Sadly, the browser doesn't allow downloads by default (but, as with many other shortcomings, there is a free apptapp app that let's you do that!)

In this picture you can see that I have 'pinched' it to scroll to have a very large font. Of course you simply slide your finger over the screen and the page moves around so that you can read it and see it.

Conclusion.

So, what is my conclusion with the iPhone? Well, I wish it that Apple would release the iPhone in South Africa, however, it is very unlikely.... So for those of us who have the guts (and the know how) the only thing we can do is jailbreak and unlock it...

I score the iPhone as 8 / 10 (and the remaining 2 points seem to be capable of being fixed up by clever people who know good code and can develop the apps and features that Apple should have included in the first place).

By the way, did I mention that all of the above features can be added to the new iPod touch (with the exception of the Phone features of course... But you can unlock your phone and install a whole host of applications on your iPhone as well).

Technorati tags: Apple iPhone, unlocked iPhone, jailbreak, iPhone on MTN, iPhone on Vodacom, South Africa iPhone, Bricked iPhone, apptapp

Liam is HOME! And, out of jail [pic]...

Praise God, little Liam is home! The doctor was very happy with his lungs, he hasn't had a fever for two days, and so he was happy for us to bring him home.

He did come home with a 'truck load' of medicine! However, I'm happy to play nurse maid!

So, Liam the great has broken free from the bars of his little jail!

Once again, sorry for quality of this picture, it was taken on my phone (which doesn't handle low light too well!)

Thanks so much to everyone for your prayers and care! We feel truly loved.

Liam looking better each day...

Little Liam is looking better each day. Yesterday the doctor upped his medication and the effects are tangible. Liam is already doing better. He doesn't like the physio at all though.

Last night Liam was much more settled. He went to sleep quite nicely. Here's a picture of the big guy in his little crib. He likes standing in it when the sides are up... It looks like he is in jail!

Well, we are truly hoping and praying that he will be out of hospital by tomorrow or Saturday. However, we would rather have him get better properly than come out too soon and have to go back.

Yesterday I could not spend too much time at the hospital because of work commitments. Today is Megie's turn. Both of us are very blessed that we can take a little extra time off (particularly at this time of the year) to be at the hospital.

With a baby of this size it is necessary to have someone there almost all of the time. The hospital is full of sick little kiddies and babies, and the three sisters who are on duty don't have enough hands to take care of all of them. So, when we can be there it settles Liam, but also helps them out a great deal - of course it also mends our hearts! As you can see in this picture, dad's heart is glad when his little guy is resting!

Of course times like these affect our productivity.... but, we have a whole life to be productive. So, I have missed a few deadlines, and had to shift a few appointments. But, Liam is far more important!

Blessings for the day!

Sacredise - a superb Christian resource site! Check it out for Christmas and Advent resources!

South Africa is blessed with many gifted and talented Christian leaders! This site is maintained by one of those gifted persons - John van de laar.

John is a gifted speaker, worship leader, and a creative and inspirational facilitator of change and renewal in many congregations. I have known John for many years and have been deeply challenged and blessed by his approach to spirituality and worship. I do believe that he is among the finest in the world, and certainly in South Africa.

He has just launched his new website: www.sacredise.com. This is a site you need to bookmark! It will come in handy!

The site is well designed, offering easy access to both resources and inspiration with just a click or two. Among other things you'll find downloadable music, worship resources, liturgies, creative and engaging sermons, and articles on various aspects of Christian life and ministry.

John's site was one of the very first pages that I added to my blogroll (see the right of my main page). I have found his ideas and resources useful and challenging in my own ministry and spiritual life - I've often dipped into his previous blog and site to get a few ideas, or a liturgy or poem to spice up a service!

In fact, we use his book 'Food for the road' as one of the recommended texts with our seminary students when we teach all about creative liturgy, communion, and new and engaging ways to bring people into worship. The link above will let you download the first chapter to get an idea of what you can learn and gain from it.

Below is a snapshot of the resources section of his site. You'll see that you can download prayers, poetry, liturgies, music, images, drama scripts, and a whole host of seasonal resources.

The Advent and Christmas season is already active with prayers and drama scripts to download! So click away and start preparing for Christmas!

If you're looking for creative, home grown, Christian resources to enliven and renew your worship this site is the place to go. Let me know if you have any feedback, comments, or further suggestions.

Technorati tags: Great Christmas resources, Advent, John van de Laar, sacredise

A magnificent resource for small group leaders - Scot Mcknight on 'the whole Gospel'

I regularly check by the 'emergent village' website. I also subscribe to their podcast (downloaded onto my ipod as soon as it is updated... like a real emergent 'mac' user!)

I was catching up on some podcasts at the hospital today when I came upon this fantastic podcast of a talk that Professor Scot Mcknight gave entitled 'the whole Gospel'. It was given to a group of small group leaders and it is amazing!

Amongst other things he charts how small groups (that exist quite apart from 'regular' churches) are springing up all over the world! In fact research suggests that there are 125 million people across the world who belong to a small group, but not to a Church! How incredible is that?

So, take a listen to this fantastic talk... I hope it offers some insights and challenge.

the whole Gospel - Scot Mcknight [MP3, 61 Minutes]
PS. as mentioned yesterday we hope to set something up with Scot when he is here in South Africa next year. So, keep your eyes and ears open (it is likely to be in the Pretoria area).

Oh, and also please keep in mind that Joerg Reiger from Southern Methodist University (a prophet second to none! Search my blog for his two magnificent books! They are a must read for any serious Christ follower) is going to be with us in Pretoria in January (probably in the week of the 21st of January). That is also something to look forward to!

PS. Liam is doing so much better this evening! We thank God for how he is recovering. The doctor upped the dosage of his medication and it is showing real results. He still has physio every day... You can imagine that he doesn't like that one bit! However, he is getting stronger each day.

Technorati tags: emergent, small group resources, Scot Mcknight, Christian, Podcast

Days like these... They're part of 'real' life...

Today has been a 'real' day... What does that mean? Well, when I was a young (er) man I put my hands (and mind) to many things. Among those things was a brief stint of experimentation with acid (LSD to some). I was wild, my friends were wild, and my parents were scared stiff and worried most of the time. You can imagine!

My friends and I would go camping and take 'cuts' of the little squares of blotting paper and then just walk around experiencing the altered reality created by the chemicals in our brains. Colours, sounds, smells, and sensations. They were vivid and engaging...

At the end of our acid trip we talked about our experiences and commonly spoke of them as being 'real' (of course they were the LEAST real experiences we were having, it would have been better to say that these times and experiences we UN-real). Reality is much more engaging...

Since finding Christ, and the love that Christ has for me and all of creation, I have come to discover a whole new reality. Life in Christ is REAL for me. It is the most vivid reality, since Christ helps me to face struggle, and not just to avoid it, or blot it out.

This morning I awoke still feeling tired. We had left the hospital last night in tears! After Liam's lung collapsing, the physio, and just his generally poor condition we were exhausted. I got into bed knowing that I would wake up this morning and go into a meeting in which we would have to make some very tough choices about the lives of people just like me - they are people who have given their lives in service of Christ, they have children, a spouse, and the pressures of ministry. Yet, some of them do 'not have competent abillity to do our work' [that's a phrase that comes from the question asked of Methodist clergy at SYNOD each year, "Has Dion got competent abillity to do our work?" Because of this lack of ability, some of them would be facing the prospect of being released from ministry...

Decisions such as these always break me, they are real decisions, about real people, with real consequinces. There is a significant tension here. One feels empathy for the persons involved, but one also has to protect the integrity of the Church, and the members of Churches. For example if someone has to be released on moral grounds (e.g., the person who has stolen Church money, or has had an affair), one must do so to protect the Church and its members, but that means that a minister will face discipline and loose their ministry and income.

It is never an easy meeting... You can imagine! That's why the meeting has many wiser, and more experienced, members than I.

So, when I woke up I prayed that God would give me grace and wisdom, as well as a measure of courage to do what is right (both for Christ, the Church, and the individuals concerned). This is the reality of responsible Christian living...

In this age of hedonism, where pleasure is king, and the avoidance of pain and struggle is a preoccupation, very few people want to live REAL lives with real choices. But, God expects real living. Just read Micah 6:8... Listen to this:

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

I think that there are many of us who like to walk humbly with God, but how many of us LOVE mercy (in an age of revenge?), and how many of us ACT justly (in a world of injustice - I mean just think about this simple little fact... I have 16 taps in my house! Between two bathrooms and the kitchen I have more taps in my house than some communities have in their whole area! I need to learn to love mercy and act justly in order to walk humbly with my God!)

So, the meeting went off as well as can be expected... Each decision was taken with great care, deliberation, and of course prayer. Some decisions will not be well received. But that is 'real' life, it is not UN-real life.

I don't want to go through life like those drug dulled weekends! I want to be truly alive! alive to God, alive to the reality of my own life, and the lives of others. I want to have the courage to do what is right, even if it is not popular.

I guess real living takes real faith. I pray for more of it in my life...