See, I told you I was sick...

The comedian Spike Milligan is rumoured to have the following inscription on his tombstone, "See, I told I was sick..."

Since reading the blog of a friend in ministry earlier this week I have been thinking about, and praying for, ministers who are under extreme pressure, even facing burnout. I have felt this way in the past. Praise God I am not there now.

Being in ministry can be complex, since one's 'work' is so closely linked to one's faith. One of the common feelings among ministers is that one's work is never done. Long before I was born, and long after I die, there will be people with needs, struggles, and concerns. God's love for people, and longing to be in relationship with people, is always the same. So, there is never a time when one could sign off on ministry, believing that the 'work' is complete.

For those in Churches, please watch for the signs of burnout and exhaustion in the persons who are called to serve you. Love them, listen to their cries for help and assistance, help where you can, and of course pray for them.

Sticks and stones....

The internet is an amazing place! It is truly a postmodern marvel! On the net people think and let think (well at least there is not very much that can be done if someone feels differently to you!)

I have been having some problems accessing my blogger account using the NetFront web browser on my Palm OS Clie. So, I decided to download Eudora Internet Suite 2.1. Imagine my surprise when I saw these words printed at the bottom of the download page:

"You are prohibited from downloading the installers on this page if you are located in Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria." (http://www.eudora.com/products/unsupported/internetsuite/download/ accessed 9 November 2005, 14h20).

I had to read if a few times just to see whether my eyes weren't fooling my brain! Yup, it is true. Can you imagine them trying to enforce this ludicrous statement? I can just picture little plump North American balding men in late middle age with pocket protectors and thick spectacles scanning the IP addresses of every attempted download, zapping every Cuban and Iraqi who tries to download the install file. Heck, I say if an Iraqi or Cuban citizen can afford a Palm after all that America has done to them, they should be rewarded with a free upgrade and unlimited lifetime support!

I am reminded of that saying which was so common on my school playground, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me". Words, nothing but words...

During the darkest days of Apartheid in South Africa we considered it a duty and honour to break the oppressive laws of the Apartheid Regime. We would deliberately dissobey the governments' edict to keep white and black persons separate. We worshiped together, prayed together. I encouraged the members of my congregation not to pay their taxes since their money was keeping fellow Christians enslaved and impoverished. If the law is wrong it cannot, in fact it must not, be obeyed!

If there is anyone from Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria who needs this software you are welcome to email me. I'll be happy to get a copy to you! Oppressive laws are meant to be broken.

The last time I had to apply for a Visa to get into the US it took about 6 hours, long interviews and answering many questions about things I had said and written... Let's see how long it takes next time I have to go! I know you're watching. I don't mind. Anyone, from anywhere, is welcome to download anything from my site.

(Image from www.fodors.com/wire/archives/welcome.gif)

Spirituality podcast 7 - 4 November 2005 - scast7.mp3 (11MB)

This is a sermon that I preached on Stewardship Sunday at Bryanston Methodist Church last week Sunday. It is that one Sunday of the year that just about every minister I know hates! There is nothing quite so difficult as preaching on money! Strangely enough this sermon has very little do do with money. In fact it has much more to do with a life of true devotion to God. In particular it draws some insight from the Levitical principle of offering God our 'first fruits', that which is best and most precious to us. For some that may be money. However, for very many I think it has to do with making time for God and others, service, humility, true intimacy, depth, true change and a real relationship with God, self and the world.

I hope you find something of value in it. Please do keep the feedback coming! Either post a comment here, or send an email to digitaldion@gmail.com.

I got some positive feedback from the last sermon that I posted here. Thank you for that.

It seems that I am not getting much time to set up my podcasting rig in order to record anything that may be of actual spiritual value or academic interest. However, with the request for more sermons I decided to record this sermon on Sunday evening called "First things first".

PS. Please do forgive the fairly poor sound quality. I have not had a chance to do any post production.

Download the MP3 here scast7.mp3

outcomes based education....

William Morris, one of the most famous sons of the City of Oxford, a bicycle repairman, motor-car manufacturer, and later Lord, once commented,

"The value of an education is not what you put into a man, but what you get out of him"

This kind of gives new meaning to the term 'outcomes based education'...

Today I had the singularly disturbing task of having to motivate for the discontinuance of some students who wanted a great deal more than they were prepared to put in to their training. It breaks my heart. God calls, the Church affirms this call, and then in good faith places the money of faithful people on the line to train these called ones. Some of them simply don't understand the sacrifice made by the poor so that they can have the privilege of an education.

Once again I am reminded that with great privilege comes great responsibility. I love this Church, a creation of God, I love its work and hope for the greatest success in its mission, to be used by God to heal and transform society. I love it because God loves it. I love it when it is easy to serve. And, when it is not easy to serve, I am grateful that I love it.

Leading versus simply obeying...

My friend Graham Power once shared a pearl of wisdom with me. He said that what gets to most leaders is not the busyness or the demands of the work that needs to be done, but the pressure of bearing the responsibility. He said "Just about any person can perform tasks, and do that pretty well. But not everyone can take responsibility for the choices that need to be made". I have found this to be so true.

Being a servant of Christ in ministry is often extremely challenging. I found the following quote quite inspiring as I read it this evening. German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche spoke of the difference between leadership (what he calls 'commanding') and obedience in the following manner.

"Commanding is more difficult than obeying. And not only because the commander bears the burden of all who obey, and that this burden can easily crush him. But in all commanding there appeared to me an experiment and a risk; and the living creature always risks himself when he commands"

Taken from Zohar and Marshall's exceptional book 'Spiritual Capital', (London. Bloomsbury, 2004:142).

humility and the shift from success to significance...

Today I had the joy of meeting with three students that will be coming to John Wesley College next year.

I always find such meetings to be exciting and humbling. Such occasions excite me because I love meeting new people! I have a sense of naivete that always tends to see the best in people, seeing something of their giftedness and the blessing that they will be to our community! These occasions are also incredibly humbling, perhaps for a similar reason. These are such gifted and committed people! They have skills, abilities and passion that could make them so very successful if they should ever choose to follow a secular career path.

They are adept at business, they have a wealth of life experience, they are gifted musicians, and most importantly they are deeply committed and spiritual people! Of course not everyone is like this. I can assure you that I have my fair share of disappointment and struggle with students who are less than scrupulous, lacking what is required to lead persons to heal and transform society.

Those gifted persons who give up so much often tell similar stories. They speak of the realization that success can never compensate for the need to be involved in something significant!

I am also humbled by the fact that these persons come with skill and experience that far outweigh mine! Partnership, sharing and mutual responsibility! These are the things that enrich the community. I hope that my style of leadership is one that seeks to empower, to bring out the best in my colleagues, that allows gifts and abilities to thrive and shine through.

I wonder what it must have been like for the disciples whose feet were washed by Jesus? God humbly blessing the unworthy.

Sometimes it is wonderful to be so young in such a responsible position, many times I just feel unworthy...

Sometimes it's not that easy...

The politics of my skin....

Sometimes you don't need to say or do anything to be judged. Simply being is enough. Millions of South Africans suffered, and still continue to suffer, because of the politics of their skin. The struggle is for both black and white. It can be tough. Particularly so when you believe that it was noticing the colour of a person's
skin that created all the problems in the first place! I wish we lived in a world where skin was not quite so political! I wish we didn't notice it quite as much! I wish we could know who we are and not have to gain our identity by saying who others are not... My young daughter and her friends don't seem to notice the colour of their skin. How I wish we were more like that. I wish we had just one defining identity, identity in Christ.

faith, hope, love and marriage!

I write this on my way back from an amazing weekend with friends in Cape Town!

As an aside it never ceases to amaze me just how incredible technology is! I am writing this post on my Sony UX50 palmtop on a flight somewhere between Cape Town and Johannesburg. Anyway, enough of that, back to what really matters.

As I mentioned I am at the end of a fantastic weekend with some very special friends. Today I was honoured, once again, to officiate at the wedding ceremony of two close friends. This time the two special friends who allowed me the grace of sharing in their special day were Mike and Jane Willis. The day itslef was absolutely perfect in so many ways! The chance to be with friends that I had not been with for almost a year was great. Perfect surroundings! And, the weather was magnificent in Somerset West and Stellenbosch.

The ceremony itself took place in a glorious little chapel in the Stellenbosch vineyards. The little chapel has a wonderful story to it. It was built by the farmer who had hit upon hard times. He did what we all should do in such situations, he came before God in prayer. Apparently, as an act of faith, he promised to build a Chapel for the labourers on his farm to show his devotion and gratitude to God for God's faithfulness. The story ends both with a glorious place in which to worship, and also with a magnificent testimony to God's desire to respond to a call for help with grace and abundance.

In many ways marriage is something like that, in committing to dream in hope of something miraculous and good that is to come. We dig the foundations and commit to the building of something, a place - a sacred space, in which we can encounter the truth of life, the intention of love, and the hope of joy. Marraige is fundamentally a commitment made in faith based on hope, and ultimately realised in love.

The promise itself does not realise the hope, neither does the wonderful act of faith that is reflected in the promise of commitment. What makes the space real, what creates that place of sacred encounter and joyous discovery, is that verb... love. Love is something you build.

Mike and Jane, may you be blessed with the reward you hope for and have faithfully committed to as you build your love in the minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years to come.

"These three remain - faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 3:13)

Geek Post! How to Sync a Sony Clie UX50 with Mac OS 10.4

This is something of a GEEK post. I just recently got a secondhand Sony Clie UX 50. It is a FANTASTIC little handheld (except for the poor battery life)!

My problem was that neither Apple (nor Palm) have supported syncing this device with Mac OS. The only solution seemed to be purchasing the Missing Sync from www.markspace.com. It costs around $30. So, I didn't want to have to spend that kind of money. This meant that I had to try to find a solution for my problem. Here's what I figured out.

How to sync a Clie UX50 with Palm Desktop 4.2.1

1. Install Palm Desktop 4.2.1 (as normal)
2. Go to: http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59837&page=1&pp=15
3. Download "PDiQue for TJ27.app.zip"
4. Unzip it and install the file "PDiQue for TJ27"
5. Now set up a Bluetooth partnership FROM the Mac to the UX50 (use Mac Bluetooth setup)
6. Restart the Powerbook
7. When restarted Open the Palm Desktop Hotsync Manager (in Applications/Palm)
8. From there select "Connections settings"
9. Select "Bluetooth PDA sync"
10. Set up the Conduit Manager on the UX50 to Sync via Bluetooth to the Powerbook.
11. Once that is done, simply select the Bluetooth Sync option, make sure the Hotsync Manager is open on the Mac, Bluetooth is enabled on both devices, press the Hotsync Button on the UX50! Viola you are now syncing with Palm Desktop

To set it up further to use iSync, make sure you have the latest iSync installed (go to http://www.apple.com/isync).

Open it, your UX50 username should appear in iSync.

1. Go to "Devices" and choose the option "Enable Palm OS Syncing".
2. Next go to Applications/Palm and open the Hotsync Manager. From the Menu Bar choose "Hotsync" and then "Conduit Settings"
3. Choose "iSync Conduit" and press the "Conduit settings" button.
4. Select "Enable Hotsync for this Palm Device"
5. Press OK
6. Now all that you need to do is go back to "Hotsync" on the UX 50. Make sure you have selected the Bluetooth connection to your Powerbook. Ensure that Bluetooth is switched on on both devices. Press Hotsync and VIOLA! It will sync iCall and Adress with your UX50.

WARNING! It is SLOW syncing via Bluetooth! So, make sure you have a fully charged UX50 and LOTS of time.

Drop me a line and let me know if this worked for you!

Spirituality podcast 6 - 21 August 2005 - scast6.mp3 (8MB)

I have not put any sermons on this website before. I am still not sure whether this is an appropriate format for such content. However, I have had a few requests to post some sermons. Since I have been struggling to find the time to record any other content I thought I would give it a try. I would appreciate feedback and comments!

This sermon is the last sermon in a series on the 7 Churches of Revelation 2 and 3. The title of the sermon is "Not fit for consumption". It was preached at Bryanston Methodist Church in South Africa on the 21st of August 2005.

I have included the text for the sermon in MS Word format.

Church 7 not fit for comsumption srmn.doc

Download the audio here: scast6.mp3

Please post comments to: digitaldion@gmail.com

Thanks! Please drop me a line and let me know if you're listening!

A great blog to take a look at

I like the fact that you check out my blog from time to time! Well done! Ha Ha!

However, here is a blog from a truly enlightened friend, Peter Woods, called Restless Rock.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Hospital, time, temperature, Tillich and Podcasts

You may be wondering what these words have in common? They are all connected in some way with the Spirituality podcast. One of the great things about being a person of faith is that one has to find ways to truly live one's faith in the midst of real life and all of the wonderful joys and challenges that brings! So, time has been something of a problem for the last few days. Hence, no recent updates! Sorry.

The first bit of GREAT news is that my daughter is out of hospital. She fell quite desperately ill with a severe infection caused by tonsilitis (of all things!). She spent two days in hospital where the capable nursing staff and doctors helped to get the infection and her fever under control. She will probably return to have her tonsils out in the next week or two. As any parent will tell you it takes a great deal of time and emotion to see a child, particularly a young one, through such an ordeal.

Further good news is that I have three hour-long lectures that I will be posting to the site as soon as I manage to edit them! The lectures were delivered by Dr Tom Cunningham (a minister of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, former lecturer at Rhodes University South Africa, and United Theological Seminary in Dayton Ohio - a graduate of Chicago University and the University of Southern Africa). The three lectures are an introduction to the theology of Paul Tillich, Dietriech Bonhoeffer and Jurgen Moltmann. So, watch this space for more!

I hope to be able to record a further podcast this weekend. So please do check back on Monday if you are interested in that. I want to take some time to discuss one or two elements of African Spirituality and the Christian faith. I hope it will be of interest to some of you.

Lastly, I am still struggling with hosting problems and bandwidth. Can you believe that there are now close to 70 people who download the podcast via iTunes, and a few more who do so via their web browser!? This however, means that I use up quite a bit of bandwidth (and it also requires quite a bit of web space to host all the MP3 files). So, if there is anyone who is able, and willing, to assist me with this (either by providing space for me to FTP the files to, or to help donate a few Rand to upgrade my bandwidth and FTP space) please contact me! I would love to hear from you! As always, you can either leave a comment on the website, or send an email to: digitaldion@gmail.com

By the way, thank you to everyone who voted for me on podcastalley.com! 5 votes! It all helps!

Many blessings,

Dion