I touched a raw nerve! The flame war has begun! Read about the unhappy critics here.

I have been blogging since June 2005. I have never had GREAT traffic to my site. Simply, I guess, because I am more interested in having fun with the posts, working out my thoughts, soliciting responses, and having a bit of fun.

This last week I posted a link that I found on digg.com it was called "10 degrees that you wouldn't want your child to study towards". It is intended to be fun! First, it is fun because I understand the kind of looks (and thoughts) that people give when they hear I have a doctorate in theology and science (strong what? artificial who?) ha ha! But, it is also fun because I end the post by poking fun at myself (listing a fake copy of a degree that people often regard as more valuable than my ACTUAL doctorate - a JEDI PhD in science from MIT).

However, this post has touched a raw nerve somewhere since I have had two flames in the last few days (the first two EVER!). Take a look at the post and the comments here:

First, there was a lady from one of the Universities mentioned who said that I was disrespectful to the academy (as if it has some holy order or code that forbids criticism) - she concluded with a warning, saying that anyone who dares to be critical (even in a joking way) of fellow academics had better watch out and have huge.... Well you know what I mean. Then, this evening I got notification of a second post from someone who wished me "and my cancers" a happy life! Heck, who would actually write something like that!? Can't folks like this tell that not everything is meant to be taken so seriously!

So, to all those people who are offended by fun... Please don't be! Please! I will try not to take offense at your replies either! I have never deleted a comment from my blog (unless the author has asked me to do so). I won't delete your comments - so if you want to take the time to "flame" me, I will simply say 'thanks for spending a portion of your precious life thinking about me! I value and appreciate your time and your thoughts!' The gift of your time and thoughts are precious. Let the fun continue!!

Theology and life...

"Because what touches His heart is not how much we know, but how much we love. Not how pure we are, but how passionate we are... Maybe that is why when Pharisees were fighting over theology, prostitutes were falling at the Savior's feet and slipping into the kingdom of God on their tears."

- from Ken Gire's book Windows of the Soul.

It's not that theology is bad or useless, but that it must always be subject to the will and purpose of the Saviour and Lord.

Africa has a way of making EVERYTHING look better. It must be the nutrients in the soil - just look at these pictures.

I was looking through some photos in iPhoto this afternoon. My eye was drawn to a photo that was taken of one of my students, Vuyelwa Sebolao, and myself. Vuyi, as she is fondly known, is wearing the traditional orange dress of a married Xhosa woman, I on the other hand am wearing the traditional red doctoral gown of the married nerd person....

The point is this, doesn't Africa have a wonderful way of livening up even ordinary occasions!? I have been to quite a few academic ocassions across the world.... The plain black fur lined hoods and gowns of Cambridge, the three barred tassled gowns of Northwestern University in Chicago and the bright red bath robe that I get to wear!

Wessel (pictured in the back, on the right in his red bath robe... He has a nicer hood than I do - purple, mine is porno gold...) and I often joke and say that the red of our gowns is actually the blood that was squeezed to earn the degree... Ha ha!

Just to prove that everything truly is more beautiful in Africa - here's picture of my wonderful family, taken on our lawn this afternoon. Liam, Megan, and Courtney - aren't they just wonderful?

Here's a photo of little Liam, enjoying the feeling of the African sun, on his African skin, as he sits on green African grass... A good African son!

Who would have thought, 11 months ago, that he would be so healthy, happy and perfect? I tell you it's the nutrients of the African soil!

Technorati tags: family, Liam, Premature, Doctorate, African Tradition

Poetry and mathematics. The world of the serpent or the Cross?

This morning I was invited to attend a service at a local Methodist Church just up the road from a University where I teach, in Brooklyn.

The minister of this Church is truly one of my favourite preachers. His preaching is so good, for me, since it is so different from mine. His preaching is poetic. He is precise in his turn of phrase, his choice of words, symbols and images. Each is crafted with care to communicate the message.

He does not follow points, that's my approach. My approach is mathematical and reasoned. I craft an argument of reason out of points, texts, and common sense. He, however, draws upon the affective. His preaching is beautiful, but not the kind of softening beauty that dulls the senses (like a fine red wine), rather it is the kind of beauty that jars and arrests one's attention; like being drawn by the image of a beautiful person - one cannot help but to look.

He preached on ministry, it was poetic. He asked which world we though ministry took place in - was it the world of the cross that he and I inhabit, or was it the world of the serpent, that his parishioners retreat from on a Sunday?

The answer is NEITHER. Since neither of these worlds exist. Christ is in all, and all of the world is in Christ.

And, the truth is that there is also no difference between poetry and mathematics - they are the same thing. One, however, uses words, the other uses numbers. To different people they have the same wonderful, or off-putting, effects. Some people love numbers and are put to sleep by words. Others love words, but cannot understand numbers.

In one of my favourite movies "The good shepherd", a story of the CIA, there is a wonderful quote. It is:

... fine poetry is the music of mathematics - numbers, singing. You have to look behind the words to understand their meaning

If this doesn't make sense, don't worry, it's not meant to...

Technorati tags: CIA, Poetry, Mathematics, Preaching

I'm impatient, slow to pray, and often lack hope... But there's something even worse!

I have a reminder that is set in my iCal appointments each week for a Monday morning at 9am (iCal is like Outlook, except, because it is an Apple Mac application it actually works ;-).

It is set for 9am on a Monday morning because that is directly after the Monday morning worship service at the Seminary where I serve. It sounds just as I arrive to the barrage of calls, people, tasks, meetings, and concerns from my staff, students, and the ministers and Bishops of the Methodist churches throughout the 6 nations of Southern Africa that our seminary serves.

The reminder is necessary! It helps me to keep in mind that I do this work because I have the joy of being called into it by God. It reminds me that others are as sinful and incomplete as I am, so be patient, approach them, their need, and concerns with joy, and live in the hope that even though I seldom get everything sorted out in a single meeting, a single report, or even that single day, there is the hope of knowing that I have done my best for the God who loves me, and my best for those whom God loves... And, that leads me to the infomercial 'but wait there's more moment...'

While verse 12, of Romans 12, is my weekly reminder, I have seldom taken the time to heed the command of verses 11 and 13.

Here's what the passage (Romans 12:11-13) says:

'Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be
joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's
people who are in need. Practice hospitality'.

Amazing isn't it? Zeal, fervor, service of Christ, joy, hope, patience, faith, sharing and lastly hospitality!

This last week my bi-weekly radio show on Radio Pulpit (first broadcast is always at 9am on a Wednesday, then rebroadcast throughout the week) dealt with that last injunction 'Be hospitable'. It has unleashed a great deal of criticism from more conservative quarters. We're happy to TALK about values (zeal, joy, hope, etc.) but when it comes down to doing something (welcoming people into Christ's fellowship) it becomes a battle ground!

So from this week I have added an extra reminder to continue to serve the Lord with fervor and zeal, and another to care for God's people in need and be constantly hospitable (to the outsider, the disregarded, the misunderstood, the rejected, the poor, the rich, the American, and the African, straight, and the gay, the liberal and the conservative). What I like most about this passage is that is places God, in Christ, at the centre of all of these actions. Love and zeal and service of Christ, prayer to God in Christ, care for the people that God loves, and welcome, on behalf of God, to all the people that God loves!

It also struck me that since BGod is the centre of all life, it is not my right to exclude anyone that God loves! I am the steward, God is the truly hospitable householder.

Dion, blogging while braaing (an offering of thanks for our victory last night!), Megie putting Liam to sleep, and Courtney is playing.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!! Well done Boks! [Picture]

Well done to the Springboks for a fantastic game! We truly won this one on defense and good tactical play! A well deserved win!!! 15-6 to South Africa.

Technorati tags: South Africa, World cup rugby, champions

God's Mechanics: Vatican Astronomer reconciles religion and science

This very interesting commentary comes from Boingboing.net (see the link at the end of the post):

God's Mechanics: How Scientists and Engineers Make Sense of Religion" is the new book from Brother Guy Consolmagno, who is, in no particular order, a scientist, a Jesuit, a science fiction geek, an MIT alum and a Vatican Astronomer. Obviously, religion is a central part of Brother Guy's life, but so is technology, rationalism and science.

God's Mechanics is a relgionist's explanation of his faith, in terms aimed at showing techies how one of their own can simultaneously believe in supernatural phenomena and practice rigorous, materialistic science. The most interesting part of the book is an amateur ethnography of geek faithful, in which Brother Guy schleps up and down Rte 101 between San Francisco and San Jose, interviewing engineers, scientists and programmers about their practice of faith. Their answers surprise Guy (and they surprised me, too) with their variety and distinctiveness. There doesn't seem to be a single way, or even a small cluster of ways that technologists square up their religion with their science.

For my part, I'm a second-generation atheist. I think that our experience of the numinous is both undeniable and entirely biological: the state of spiritual peace is the result of tickling some evolved center of our brain, a bit of neurology that conferred a survival advantage on our ancestors whose numinous hallucinations of a higher order in the universe drove them to catch more antelopes, eat better, and have more babies. I have no need of, nor interest in a supernatural god or a supernatural universe.

But I'm not so blinkered that I believe all religionists to be deluded fools. There's clearly some serious value that smart, ethical people derive from participation in spiritualism and even organized religion. Brother Guy's exegesis on faith as a systematic way of organizing and exploring the human experience of the numinous was fascinating to me. It is is a thoroughgoing, charming, quick-paced trip through a wide variety of personal experiences of spirituality and religion.

The only place where this book lacks is in its exploration of atheism as an alternative to religion. Brother Guy delves deeply into the reason for faith, but skims lightly over the reason for its absence. At times, it seems like he's addressing straw men from my side, not our strongest argument. This is the beginning of a discussion, but it's not the whole discussion.

From Boing Boing.

Cross post - Does religion improve society? Here's what I think.

Richard, who has the blog memoirs of an ex-Christian (which is a sensitive, well reasoned, and challenging read!) posed this question:

Does religion improve a nation’s well-being?

Here's my response to his question... A little scattered, I confess, but it should give some idea of where I stand:

Hi Kevin,

I have often considered this same point myself... I am of the mind that whilst all religion does have some moral effect [on society] it does not, in and of itself, bring about positive change.

Hitler, after all, used the church in Germany, as did the South African apartheid government here in SA (as you point out). Then of course there are more strongly moral orientations in faiths such as Islam with Islamic law. I would certainly not consider some of the human rights abuses perpetrated in the name of Sharia law, or Christian fundamentalism, as [being] for the good of society, of even within the will of God.

To my mind, though, whilst I don't think that religion should get mixed up with 'party politics', any religious ideal is fundamentally political in that it seeks to address the manner in which people relate to one another, structure their lives, and interact to form community.

I had the good fortune of being a white Christian minister who lived and ministered in a black South African township before 1994. So much of what I did could be considered 'political' in nature - in fact many of the people in the small (wealthy) white Church that I also served in the area left because they thought I was confusing politics with religion. However, if you read my blog you will find that I still attempt to be as critical and prophetic of the new regime as I was of the old... It is not the party that I am wishing to address, but rather, that I have fundamental religious conviction that the world should be structured in such a manner that no one has too much, while no one has too little. That all persons, regardless of race, gender, age, economic, or health status, sexual orientation, or faith conviction, should have the joy of living life in peace, harmony and blessing.

Personally, I believe that these are the values of the Gospel of Christ's Kingdom - these are radical values that scare many who only live for individual gain, and hedonistic fulfillment. Heck, the even scare me!

So, would I vote for a Christian political party - no, I would not. Then again, I also wouldn't vote for a Muslim, Hindu, or any other overtly religious party.

Sadly though, I have double standards. I have voted, many times now, for the ANC who consider themselves to be engaged in 'secular spirituality' (i.e., finding and creating transcendent meaning by secular means...) Do a search for Cedric Mason, himself a Methodist Minister, who heads up the ANC's religious desk.

Thanks for another incredibly thought provoking post!

Regards,

Dion

Technorati tags: religion, politics, ANC, Kingdom of God

Theology and fun, what's worth reading at the moment?

I get asked every now and then to recommend one or two things that are worth reading... Here's what I'm busy with at the moment:

Serious theology:

1. Milbank, J. 1995. Theology and social theory: Beyond secular reason. Oxford. Blackwell Publishers. I am enjoying reading this - whilst it is quite dense, I have found Milbank's return to 'radical orthodoxy' and the 'post liberal' approach quite and eye opener. Oh, and my friend Sifiso is having to read this for his Masters coursework at Duke Divinity school, so I am reading with him

2. Rieger, J. 2001. God and the excluded: Visions and blindspots in contemporary theology. Minneapolis. Fortress Press. I love Joerg's approach to justice and mercy! His theology is well reasoned, very clearly argued, and it speaks to my conscience!

Reading to keep me 'grounded' in my context:

1. Denis, P. (ed) 2005. Never too small to remember: Memory work and resilience in times of AIDS. Pietermaritzburg. Cluster Publications. This truly is one of the most remark I have ever read. It gives an account of a project in KwaZulu Natal that helps children whose parents have died of AIDS to remember their parents, and create a positive history that will give them resilience as they grow up (some of them being HIV+ themselves). It is well written, challenging, and a truly Christian response of compassion.
For devotion:

1. Reuben, PJ & Shawchuck, N. 1983. A guide to prayer for all God's people. Nashville. Upper Room Publications. This is my standard devotional book - I also have the 'blue one' which is called A guide to prayer for all God's servants. It follows the common lectionary, has superbly written prayers, reflections, and of course gives sizeable chunks of Scripture to read.

2. AND OF COURSE, the shameless plug... Forster, D. 2007. A guide to prayer for use during examinations. Kempton Park. AcadSA Publishers. Yup, my little book... It's selling quite well on Amazon. But, just a reminder, if you're in South Africa, please order from me directly (it is both quicker and cheaper that way!).

Reading for Fun!

1. Pullman, P. His dark materials trilogy. This is like Harry Potter, but for grown ups... It is quite intriguing and scary stuff. I am reading it mainly because, well truth be told it is a good read, BUT, the first book has just been made into a movie called The Golden Compass. It is going to be huge! And, as usual, I know that there are going to be all sorts of questions and rants about it from more conservative quarters. I would just like to be informed before that happens.

2. van de Ruit, J. 2007. Spud the madness continues. Johannesburg. Penguin SA. This series has to be the funniest set of books that I have every read! They are SO uniquely South African!!! For anyone who has ever been in boarding school, in the army, or on 'veldschool', so much of this book will ring true and bring back wonderful memories!

So, that's about it. I am always reading two or three books at a time. I love reading - it often gets me through the late night or early morning when I can't sleep. Once again, one of the gifts of being an insomniac.... The days are longer so you can do, and learn, more!

Technorati tags: books, reading, Philip Pullman, Spud

Viral Video of the moment: A hilarious parody of those lame informercials - buy Gabe and Max's 'internet'

Gabe and Max are REAL geniuses! They have changed my life!! They taught me all about the intrawebs on a CD-ROM near you... They upgraded my computer to MS DOS 5 and set my world on fire! Just today I received a whole email in the post, it was printed on good quality paper and everything! All of your internets are pwned by my l33t sErva$!

Ha ha! Watch this hilarious video by Gabe and Max! It is a parody of those lame 'Change your life now, start a business from home, and impress all the ladies [or gents, as the case may be] in 423 steps'

technorati tags: viral video, Max and Gabe, Intraweb

The funniest video of George W Bush!

This has to be one of the funniest comedy clips about George W Bush!

Sorry GW! If it makes you feel any better, I know that there are people who poke fun at me!

Technorati tags: Bush, funny, video, George Bush

Sad... What do Christians do about Lucky Dube's death?

Please notice I'm not asking how we feel about the sad murder of Lucky Dube... I know how I feel about it.

I am asking what do we do about it?

Megan and I had only been living in Pretoria for about 3 months when we were involved in an attempted hijacking - thankfully we got away with our lives, but it was a traumatic experience for Megan, Courtney (who was asleep on the back seat of the car) and I. We still don't stop at that set of traffic lights at night. Sadly, about a year later, Megan was a victim of a 'smash and grab' incident at the same busy intersection. In broad daylight a man simply walked up to her car window smashed the glass and grabbed her handbag and ran away... So, now that intersection, and many others, have signs that say "hijacking hotspot" and "be aware for your own safety".

We live across the road from 'The Scorpions' headquarters in Pretoria (for those from outside of South Africa, the Scorpions are South Africa's version of the FBI, their real name is the NPA (National Prosecution Authority), but they are called the Scorpions). They have surveillance cameras that monitor their perimeter fence, and also cover the entrance to our complex's gate. Yet, one of our neighbours was held up at gunpoint and robbed of all his money (after being followed home from the Airport). We have also had numerous break-ins with radios and other valuables being stolen form the cars... When the NPA were asked to help to supply surveillance evidence to make the arrests the police were told that they would have to get a judge to issue a injunction to release the surveillance tapes!

You know we are so accustomed to crime that our language has even begun to reflect it. On the news the hijacking was described as a 'hijacking gone wrong'... Sound strange? Well maybe not at first, because we hear about 'robberies gone wrong' where people are shot... BUT, this language begs the question, then WHAT IS A SUCCESSFUL HIJACKING!? Crazy! There is NO such thing as a successful hijacking, or robbery, or crime.

I am sad and shocked that a nation as beautiful as ours should struggle with such violence and crime... Of course I understand why it takes place - the gap between those who have, and those who have not, is still huge! The damage done by Apartheid will be felt for many years to come...

What made me so sad about Lucky Dube's death today is that he was shot in front of his teenage son and daughter while three men tried to hijack his car... Then the police officials in the Johannesburg area report that they will not just put 'any' policemen on this case, rather, they have appointed a 'crack team' to solve this crime. Isn't it sad that you have to be famous to get good service from the police? What do people who are not famous do?

There was a very cynical article in the Business Times Careers section this past Sunday (October 14, 2007, p.1), it was by David Bullard in his column "Out to Lunch" - the title of the article is Are those killed by crime seen by Mbeki as dispensable? In the article he questions whether the high crime figures, and the lack of resolve to do anything about crime, is in fact some kind of ploy. I think it is a little wacky, and in fact smacks of conspiracy - however, Bullard himself was shot, and almost killed, in a violent incident just a short while ago.

So, the question is what do we do? What do Christians do?

My friend Gus has a wonderful (and much less negative and not just a 'rant' like mine). You will find Gus' post here, it is entitled "The value of life".

Technorati tags: Lucky Dube, crime, South Africa, hijack, murder