What the world really looks like! It's all a matter of perspective

In my first New Testament lesson of each year at the University I use a simple illustration to help the students understand why we need to study the bible, and particularly why we need to find tools to help us understand the bias with which we read the text.  For example, if I were to ask you, what God's gender is, most people would say 'Male' because the Bible speaks of the first person of the Trinity as 'Father', but if I ask you what race God is, many would say that God is a caucasian (white) person.  However, there is no evidence in scripture that God is 'white', or in fact even male!  The fact that the Biblical writers refer to the first person of the Trinity as Father has much more to do with their culture (and the role and respect accorded to fathers) than it does with God's gender!  Yet, because of the dominance of western perspectives on the text we just assume such approaches, as male dominance, and race bias, uncritically.

So, let me ask you, what is the image below a representation of?  No, it is not a map of the world.  Rather, it is a North American / European view of the world, i.e., it is Eurocentric.  It emphasises the size of Europe and North America, presenting them as larger than Africa and South America.

However, this is what the land mass of the world actually looks like (see the map below)!  Look how small Europe and North America are actually in comparison to Africa and South America (the Peters Projection is a representation of 'actual land mass' of the continents).  Amazingly this map is referred to as a 'distorted map', even though it is a more accurate representation of the land mass of the world...  Even reality does not always change perspectives.

Bias is powerful!  We need to be aware of it, lest we put words into God's mouth.  A few months ago I posted a little guide for exegesis (first written by Tim Attwell, edited by myself):  

Basic principles of Exegesis for preachers and teachers 2007.pdf

Perhaps it will be of some use to you.

Today, however, I found another representation that could change the way we see the world.  It is a map that shows what the world would look like if we viewed it from the perspective of population - so the larger the 'land mass' the larger the population of that area of the world...  It is quite interesting!

Technorati tags: world map, distorted, perspective, Peters Projection, Bible, exegesis

[Pic] It's amazing when you just run into a HUMBLE international sports star... There he was at my daughter's school!

This afternoon I nipped out to fetch my 8 year old daughter from her school here in Pretoria.  When I arrived I parked next to a very nice convertible Audi with the registration LR-05 GP.  There was a huge commotion on the go among the kids... I wondered what was happening, but thought nothing of it... Then suddenly there was Lucas Radebe!

He had come to fetch his niece from school.  Can you imagine the conversation that led to him fetching his niece!?  I'm sure that his grandmother, or mother, was involved somewhere along the lines!  ha ha.  "Lucas, your aunty wants you to fetch your cousin from school on Friday afternoon".  "But, gran, I am a very busy and important person!", "no Lucas, you are my grandson, so be there at 3pm!  Don't be late!"

There is something very humbling about being around one's family!  I often feel that dichotomy in my own life.  In some circles I am treated quite differently to how my mom treats me!  I think we all need a bit of reminding that we should "not think more highly of [ourselves] than we ought to, but in humility consider others better than yourself" (Phil 2:3-5).

Anyway, Lucas Radebe was a nice guy.  He was polite and patient

 with hundreds of kids swarming around him - he even took the time to sign  a piece of paper for my 8 year old daughter.

Now I know why the Leeds band Kaiser Chiefs decided to name their band after his team when he was in the UK.

Technorati tags: Lucas Radebe, Kaiser Chiefs, famous, signature, humble

Was John Wesley "Emergent"? - an interesting thought!

My friend Jenny Sprong posted a link to the following very interesting article to a list for Methodist ministers.

I think the notion has quite a bit of merit... Although, one should always take care in trying to fit contemporary categories to persons, or approaches, from bygone eras!

Andrew Jones writes, “The emerging church might well be a protest (Don Carson) but it might also be a corrective measure to the excesses and imbalances of the reformation and the Enlightenment. Let the Reformation continue.”

Writing in the Advent/Christmas 2007-2008 issue of the Church of the Nazarene’s Preaching Magazine, Hal Knight (no relation), Professor of Wesleyan Studies at St. Paul’s School of Theology in Kansas City, writes about “John Wesley and the Emerging Church.” Keith Drury has helpfully summarized Knight’s points of comparison in this nifty table (HT).

Graduate student and research assistant/reader-grader Kalev Hinrich summarizes Knight’s article: “John Wesley has been turned into a leading Emergent, postmodern theologian who not only endorses Generous Orthodoxy from his grave, but was its leading founder without knowing it.”

Hinrich offers a pretty lengthy critique, concluding: “In short, Wesley becomes a gracious liberal theologian … but given the context of [Knight’s] argument, so does the Emergent Church and postmodernism. The grand conclusion: The postmodernism and the Emergent Church are basically new forms of liberal modernity, and nothing could be further from the truth.”

Both the original article and Hinrich’s response are interesting reads.

Please follow the links in the article to get the meat of the post... I think it is quite sound and sensible!

What do you think?

Technorati tags: emergent, John Wesley, Church

One liner of the day - striving to be perfect

This one's from Steven Wright, the sanguine American comedian -

In school they told me practice makes perfect... They also told me nobody's perfect, so I stopped practicing...

Makes sense... A blow to euclidean logic....

Check out these pictures of things found in Jail library books

This post comes from one of my favourite blogs on the web boingboing:

umbled Pile is a volunteer for the Jail Library Group, which provides reading materials to the residents of jails in Dane County, Wisconsin. Occasionally, he comes across notes and sketches placed between the pages of the books. He scans these and posts them to his Flickr site.

Technorati tags: art, prison, jail, found, bizarre

Pre-Order: Discovering the Cosmic Christ in the spirituality of Dom Bede Griffiths

This is an advertisement, so please feel free to skip it.

My new book is available for pre-publication orders. It is currently with the Publishers. I should have a few copies in hand in the next two to three weeks. The pre-publication price is R80 per copy. After that it will be selling for R98. So please your order early to get the discount rate. Simply drop me an email (see the link on the right), or leave a comment.

Here's the blurb for the book:

Karl Rahner wrote that the "...Christian of the future will be a mystic or he will not exist at all". More and more Christians, and Christian theologians, are starting to recognise how important a lived experience of the mystery of Jesus Christ is in finding true life, and in doing sound theology. Bede Griffiths, a Benedictine Monk who was educated at Oxford, but spent most of his life adapting his Christian faith to the culture and philosophy of India, came to embody the depth and riches of mystical spirituality in his life and teaching. His integrated approach to spiritual living has helped many people to discover, and rediscover, the rich experience of being truly and fully alive in Christ. This book examines the elements that made Fr Bede's spirituality so significant by discussing his understanding of the Person, nature, and work of Christ. Fr Bede's Christology is informed by such varied sources as the Catholic Christian tradition, Indian philosophy, Hindu religion, quantum physics, transpersonal psychology, micro-biology, and the perennial philosophy. This book is a valuable resource for persons who seek to deepen their relationship with God and God’s creation. It also has a great deal to offer the more serious theological mind through the discussions on experiential theological methodologies and a challenging new vocabulary that can enrich our understanding of the doctrine of Christ.

PS. Huge props to my friend Monty in Canada who took the photograph of Spray Lakes that is on the cover of the book. To see his photos go to Monty's Flickr page here. And, of course sincere thanks to Manfred Jung who did the post-production for this book! Manfred is a star, and AcadSA are a great publisher for anyone like me who is just starting out... If you have some thoughts, resources, and ideas, why not get them out there. As I say to my students all the time "The difference between those who write and those who don't is that those who write DO..."

I have long since come to discover that what I may consider a simple, plain, boring idea may be quite inspiring and challenging to others!

I would particularly encourage Southern Africans to write! We need to get the thoughts, concepts, ideals, and even failings and struggles, of Africans into print!

There are two more books on the way this year, so watch this space! Yes, insomnia... Do a search on this blog... It will all be much clearer... I write... I'll sleep in the next life...

Amazingly, I am fairly certain that my LACK of sleep (which causes me to write), will HELP OTHERS TO FALL ASLEEP (because of what I've written!) Ha ha!!!

Technorati tags: Bede Griffiths, Christology, Dion Forster, publication, Spiritulity, order

Pictures of me 10 and 20 years ago... BOY, I was young (and reckless)

Steve tagged me with a 10-20-30 meme (Steve, sorry to take so long to do anything about it! It'll be posted here soon).

So, last night I though, rather than just putting up text about what I was doing 10, 20, and 30 years ago I would try to find a few photographs. I couldn't really find any that related specifically to my life in October / November of 1977, 1987, and 1997, but I did find a few photographs from periods inbetween. I thought they may be a bit of a hoot.

Let's go all the way back! This photo was taken around 1986 I was 14 or 15 and already a REAL problem child! My parents had their own parking space at the local police station, I could identify most banned substances by smell, taste or proximity, and... well say no more, except that I was the child you warned your kids about...

The picture below was one with my school friends, Graham, John, myself, and Neil. This was our highschool band, probably taken in 1985 or so. We played at school 'discos', some pubs etc. It was a lot of fun... We got up to some mischief. Look at those skin tight jeans!? Heck, how things have changed!

This picture was taken a few years later. I had come to faith in Christ. I will write more about that in the 10-20-3o post. That even was truly the most significant event in my life. However, in this picture I was an undergraduate student (as you can see by the hair!) Our band was called 'The Rockets' (I think) we had a lot of fun, but we sounded awful!!

This next picture was taken during my stint in the army. My nickname was 'Prophet' because I was always trying to tell people what God's will was for change and transformation.... Nothing much has changed! I ran a campaign called "I'd rather have a shovel" - I tried to convince my fellow troops, and commanding officers, that I could do a lot more good with a shovel than a gun... "Send me into the township with a shovel, and I'll plant trees". They didn't like me much in the army. The security police visited my parents and questioned my brother since I was a member of the United Democratic Front (a grouping of policital parties like the ANC, IFP, and PAC that were banned in South Africa at that stage). If I had the courage I should rather have gone to jail than go to the army... At that stage all white males in South Africa had to do 2 years of military service, if you refused to go you would be jailed for between 4 to 6 years. But I didn't have the courage to match my conviction... Quite sad really. So these kind of antics were my 'small' protest to the apartheid military system... I should have done more.

This picture was taken in my first year in ministry (1991), see if you can spot me... I am the 'little head' in the back row on the right, behind a young and thin Paul Verryn (count 3 heads from the right for Paul, I am the next head along) - I was staying with him in Soweto at that stage. Those were heady times! I learned a lot about society, culture, and justice in those years.

This next one shows me in Carletonville / Fochville in the North West (or is that Gauteng) province? I was invited by the Mayor to do a prayer for a new set of buildings the outgoing town council had erected in an attempt to spend the money from the previous 'white' authority, so that there would be no money left when the multiracial authority took over the following year. They asked me because I was young and English, and so they thought it would placate the new black members of council. In my little talk I asked questions about the money, where it had gone, how it was spent, and whether the community had a say in it. My prayer was a prayer of repentance for injustice. I was not invited back....

Shortly after this I was moved to Grahamstown where I continued my studies doing an Honours and Masters degree before leaving Grahamstown for a post in Cape Town.

I'm sorry for the quality of the photos, some of them are OLD!

[Pic] Bike Helmet Protects Child From Helmet-Inspired Beating...

ha ha! This is hilarious! I love 'the onion', they have quite a wacky outlook on the news!

I had a few beatings in my childhood inspired by clothes, haircuts, and antics, that my family put me up to... How about you?

The headline (and benign picture) in this post come from the onion print edition.

The power of money! What hold does it have on you?

Money is a very powerful thing.  People die, and kill, for it (or the lack of it) each and every day...

Most people are unaware how much hold their money has over them.  We live as if we are truly free, yet for so many of us our decisions and lives are shaped by the decisions we make about money:

- what career will I follow?

- where do I choose to live?

- will I make it to the end of the month before the end of the money?

If you want to see how powerful money is, simply ask someone to tell you how much they earn... If they're silenced by your question, it is likely that they, like most of us, have been overpowered by money.

I am quite skeptical of pastors and churches that 'force' their members to tithe on their income (i.e., give a 10% of their earnings) by promising them that this sacrifice will bring blessing.  However, there is a faith principle contained in this practice...  The principle is not that God will bless you for giving God (the one who has no need for money) 10% of your income...  Sadly most of those Churches and Pastors are not using the money they get for the work of God!

However, the value of the principle of generous giving is that it forces me give away something that has a hold over me, without the hope of receiving anything in return.  Each time I give I find a bit more freedom.

And, of course, anything that has that much power over me must be subjected to the rule and authority of Christ - after all, he is not only my Saviour, he is my Lord!

As a minister I have had to make many choices that would seem counterintuitive in a consumer society... Today I was faced with a choice to earn more money to do something different to what I am doing now...  When my first thoughts turned to what I could get out of it I realised that this choice could not be made without prayer, and careful discernment.  Today I was reminded that I am controlled by money.  I don't want to be - I want only to be controlled by what will help to achieve God's mission of healing and transformation in the world.

Please pray for me.

What Americans think of the South African K53 drivers license test - it's nothing less than insane!

This report was posted by the famed 'cranky geek' journalist John C. Dvorak on his blog.  I have long felt that the K53 test is just over the top... No wonder people choose to buy a FAKE license!

Here's the post:

Cullen is a South African driving instructor. You would drink, too. His job is to teach people how to pass the driver’s-license examination, a trial of the country’s famed K-53 Method of defensive driving. Herein lies a problem, for the K-53 Method resembles normal driving about as much as Eminem resembles the late Perry Como.

Securing a driver’s license here is not as simple as passing the K-53, which is not simple at all. It also requires that one apply for the license, a bureaucratic process so daunting that it literally triggered riots this year. It necessitates eye examinations before applying for a license and before the road test - and all over again, should one fail. It often demands that one game the driving examiner, who may wish to flunk the hapless applicant in order to meet the day’s failure quota.

It is helpful to learn South Africa’s extensive and sometimes charming traffic code, which rates children from ages 6 to 13 as one-third of a passenger and includes a road sign that depicts a stick-figure man astride an ostrich.

Based on Britain’s national driving exam, the K-53 effectively requires an applicant to imagine that he is driving a live Claymore mine under assault by guerrillas in bumper cars. The handbrake must be silently engaged at all stops (ratchet-clicking is strictly forbidden) and all mirrors must be checked every seven seconds. Points are deducted for glancing at the gearshift, driving too slow, failing to ensure that headlamps and tail lamps are securely attached, failing to check the pressure on the clutch pedal, failing to look beneath the car for leaks and several dozen other sins.

Technorati tags: South Africa, License, test, crazy

Exclusive video! Ninja parade slips through town (unnoticed) again... Maybe we'll see them next year.

Here's an exclusive video showing a Ninja parade slipping through town again...  This was shot in Modesta California.  Watch carefully!

Ninja Parade Slips Through Town Unnoticed Once Again

Miss it!? Amazing aren't they!!? Well, maybe next year....

Technoratti tags: ninja, parade, unseen

Losing my religion... More and more people are doing the same.

If you were old enough to listen to contemporary music in the 1990's you'll remember the REM song "losing my religion".  The phrase actually comes from the American South where it is used to refer to being at the end of one's wits (usually it is associated with having lost the love of a significant person).

However, it would seem that all of America is starting to loose it's religion.  Recent research has shown that around 12% of Americans now consider themselves without any faith at all, that is up from 8% ten years ago.

The image in this post shows the changes in statistics... However, if you would notice they key points out '*Percent atheists, agnostic, or no religion'.  I am not sure that this accurately describes and emergent generations approach to faith. 

First, I think that there are many sincere Christ followers (in America in particular) who would rather have nothing to do with a religion held by it's President who sanctions war in its name, exploits the poor, plunders the environment, yet prays on Sunday.  Sadly George W Bush is a Methodist - if it were not for saintly America Methodists (among them Stanely Hauerwas), I would long have given up on United Methodism!  Sadly, the same can be said for almost every single denomination throughout the world (mine included!)  Heck, I am part of the problem!

Second, however, I think that statistics such as this do show us that we need to find news ways to SERVE people with the faith that we all need!  I think that as society changes we need to be ahead of that change, finding ways of taking ministry to where people have needs, not JUST asking people to bring their needs to where we can offer ministry!

Can you see the paradigm shift I am talking about?  One says "where do you have need, let us bring wholeness to you there".  The other says "we have wholeness here, bring your needs to us."  

Third, I think that measuring the effectiveness of any faith by numbers is dangerous business!  Just consider this for a moment - would you say that 12 people are less effective than billions today?  Well, if it was not for the effectiveness of the One (Jesus) and his remaining eleven disciples the billions would not be here today!  Churches that measure their effectiveness by seating capacity are measuring the wrong thing!  We should be measuring our depth, not our breadth.  We should be seeing what difference we are making to this world, not how many people are entertained in our services!

Last, I don't mind if people loose their religion, myself included.  In fact I quite often pray that God would release me from religion and free me to live a life of faith!  I don't want structures that bind, symbols that mislead, and communities that more concerned about sustaining themselves and their image in society!  I want to be part of something that is alive, flexible, life giving, life changing...

So, perhaps we need to embrace the loss of religion and find ways to discover and embrace faith.

Just by the way, we must not think that this will not happen in South Africa!  It has already begun.  Those of you who have children or grandchildren in primary school, just ask how many of your child or grandchild's peers go to Church...  Not many....  That means that their parents (even if they are people of faith) have lost their religion...  These will grow up thinking that Church is something strange and antiquated...

Technorati tags: religion, secularism, faith, spirituality, South Africa