idle banter

Ashes to Ashes...

2007-01-29T22:31:00.000+02:00

Dust to dust...

Flash poll

2006-12-22T20:51:00.000+02:00

Has the energy on this blog dropped because:

We've grown tired of visiting,
This blog has dropped (really far) down our online reading list,
The conversation has been cyclical and stagnant,
We've given up on idle banter, or
For no real reason

Does anyone still visit here?

2006-12-19T22:25:00.000+02:00

Ariaan Vlok @ Northfield

2006-11-30T22:28:00.000+02:00

Former apartheid-era Minister of Law and Order, Adriaan Vlok, renowned for his drastic measures to reduce unrest in 1980s, will be the guest speaker at Justice Sunday at Northfield, Benoni, this Sunday, 10h00.

In a recent act of contrition, Vlok made news by washing the feet of Rev Frank Chikane who survived a murder attempt under Vlok's watch.

If you're around this part of South Africa, see you there.

Is it helpful?

2006-11-07T10:30:00.000+02:00

If you've been around Northfield recently you would have noticed that the culture of the church has changed a bit. along with the new building and how it impacts the feel of the place, we have welcomed Stephen Holly into the church as the contemporary worship pastor. With heading up that role, he also preaches quite extensively. Stephen is a direct character of the charismatic fold who is bold in his preaching and worship leading. Northfield is not used to this. As a church we're used to just plain nice preaching and worship. Within the YA group I've begun noticing how they don;t come to church when Stephen is around. It's almost a if they would Rather rnot be challenged by him and go where it is a whole lot easier to be a Christan.

But I do think this trend has it's root in the theme of "if it is not helpful, leave it behind". We apply this thinking to so many aspects of our lives. I now wonder if it is useful that we only follow the useful stuff?

Grading people

2006-10-05T16:56:00.000+02:00

Ever wonder why we seemed to have erased from our collective memory the events of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake in which over 73,000 people died, but yet can't get past the 3,000-odd associated with 9-11?

Scott Adams poses a plausible reason why this migth happen here. Could it be that some trgaedies are worse than others based on who was wiped out?

Your story ... part II

2006-10-01T22:10:00.000+02:00

Ok, that was 10 comments more than there should have been on a post. So, I'm now starting a new comment thread here for us to pick up from where we left off, to reorganise our thinking, whateva. But now, I'd like us to get practical:

A little while back in a cell group, I had someone tell the group (when we were discussing hearing God's voice) that they did not have a problem with that. Why? Because God spoke audibly to her. Not just spoke, but met face-to-face with her on a regular basis.

Yep, I can hear it already: the sound of your cynicism hackling up much like a porcupine's quills. Did I hear you say "looney tune"? Stick with me, this is a real example. In such an instance how does one get past, or deal with, or confront, or do what ever you need to do with the instantaneous cynicism we feel when confronted with a story (here I mean both a story told, as above, as well as a meta-Story of one's life) that is so absurd?

Death defying dyslexic spam

2006-09-22T14:28:00.000+02:00

Yep, tis true. Got this mail today:

Dear Sir/Madam
reply back to benfrank10@gamail.co.za
Good day, my name is FRANKLINE BENJAMIN. I just arrival in Johannesburg, South Africa few days ago. I really need your help to invest in South Africa.
I know you will be surprised to receive this mail, considering the fact that we don't know each other, However I got your contact details from the internet network search, before I precedes, I want you to know that I have
$5.8 million DOLLARS (five million eight hundred thousand dollars) with me as I am sending you this email deposited in a private security company as vault. Please don't be surprised.

Of all the celebrity death conspiracies, one has to wonder if Benjamin Franklin's conspiracy ever reached Elvis proportions. Thankfully, Ol Ben is safe and sound in SA desperately trying to find a vault.

This is the last birthday message I'm posting

2006-09-19T15:06:00.000+02:00

Happy birthday Pete ... for yesterday.

For the rest of you, Happy Birthay Wishes for Eternity ya'll

Your story is your story

2006-09-19T10:18:00.000+02:00

I'm a firm believer that your story is your story. As it is rooted in your experience and by virtue, your story is a simple retelling of your experience. It is not then a ventured opinion that is open for debate and scrutiny. When this understanding is in place, it opens room for everyone to learn from the stories they hear and to be touched by the significance of the story. When working with organisations and narrative I affirm this point. But in recent days there has been a news story that has made me question whether such reverence of experience is valid. It is the furore stirred up by Pope Benedict quoting a Byzantine leader who slated the impact Mohammed had on the world in spreading Islam.

The Islam community has lashed out at his speech and the inference regarding his belielfs on Islam. Their response, understood as a story, has been characterised by pain and hurt. As a Christian African Westerner (sho, a mouthfull) I have found myself believing that the Muslim world has just misinterpreted the quote and not seen it in the grander picture of what Benedict is trying to achieve: greater tolerance and acceptance. But then, in listening to an interview with a Muslim cleric on TV this morning about the issue, I wonder if I have fallen into the trap of subjugating the "story" the Muslims are telling us? For the Muslims, from what I can understand, the issue here is that Bendict did not distance himself and his personal stance from the content of the quote. By virtue of this not happening, his has covertly stated he is anti-Muslim. But, I do not know if I am right on this.

How do we really open ourselves to the messages and lessons behind stories? How do we open ourselves to another's story, no matter how different and imcomprehensible it seems to us?

Happy Birthday Sid

2006-09-10T20:19:00.000+02:00

26 today!

Scientology

2006-09-04T15:44:00.000+02:00

Have any of you read or delved into Scientology? The recent extravaganza surrounding Tom Cruise and his rumoured placenta-eating exercise with Kate prompted me to check it out.

Some resources:

Wikipedia - Scientology
The Church of Scientology
A site dedicated to Tom (a real goodie)

So, my question is this: as a philosophy, can Scientology be considered morally neutral and defensible?

I've tried to be neutral on this issue, but could not resist including this awesome pic of L. Ron Hubbard (the founder dude).

Pseudo tolerance

2006-09-04T15:33:00.000+02:00

While watching the first episode of Survivor South Africa last night, Sam and I wondered how the series would differ from the US version and whether we'd see a distinctly South African flavour come out of the tried and tested Survivor script and screenplay. At first we reckoned that we'd see how much more tolerant South Africans are of our fellow earth-inhabitants than those of our American compatriots.

I wonder?

One might suggest that because of our legacy as a country and the role prejudice has played post-94, we've developed a sincere and genuine acceptance and tolerance of each other as South Africans. Pre-94, aggression and open conflict with one another was pretty much rewarded by the system (regime) and of late the system change no longer rewards that behaviour. So, is the tolerance we see around us genuine or perhaps a pseudo form of tolerance to simply please the reputation(delusion) we have of oruselves as a forgiving and reconciliatory nation? In fact, I wodner if we as South Africans even know how to handle conflict?

Your thoughts please.

Legendary Croc Hunter dies

2006-09-04T15:22:00.000+02:00

Everyone once in a while someone walks on this earth and does things that the staunchest East Rand boytjies (not sure what the global equivalent is?) would never do ... stick their head into a crocodiles mouth ... for fun ... as a career!? Steve Irwin, the legendary Croc Hunter died today after being stung by a stringray while filming an underwater documentary.

Kudos to Steve.

Read the reports here at The Australia Zoo and CNN.

Northfield Young Adult/ iChurch devotionals

2006-08-01T07:11:00.000+02:00

Chris Dawson runs a site called iChurch that has news and links to various resources for churches, mostly in Gauteng. Among the many resources available on the site, I want to point out the devotionals in particular. Kiera Wilkinson and her team at Northfield have been working on these daily devotionals for a few months now. Each month's devotionals follow a theme- starting today, the theme is truth, with the focus being the Apostle's Creed. The devotionals are available on paper from Northfield (at the 6:30 service), on iChurch here and also by e-mail if you fill in the form on the iChurch page.

Some pics from our engagement hols

2006-07-06T21:32:00.000+02:00

Cape St Francis Lighthouse & Sardinia Bay

Windswept Sam and I - Dube & Mole

Dube's Mini-Me - Pezula

so it seems

2006-07-05T18:55:00.000+02:00

that without a hint of the spectacular or the unusual, we lose interest and conversation dries up...

why are we so slow to recognise the benefits of the slow, steady, plodding kind of method to growth?

i've actually posted this quote before...

The essential thing in 'heaven and earth' is that there should be a long obedience in the same direction; there results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living." -Friedrich Nietzsche

blog bible study

2006-06-13T14:18:00.000+02:00

IN the light of recent discussion on this blog, I would like to invite Herc to share with me in some bible study. WE have been wrestling with issues like healing, theology, simple faith, postmodernism etc.
Herc, perhaps we could find some common ground if we focus our different "approaches" on a passage of scripture and consider how we each interpret the passage.

Acts 3:1-11 records a dramatic incident of healing in the New Testament. I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts on the significance of this passage for us today. I also have some thoughts to offer...

How about we share our various views and interpretations of this passage in conversation and see where that leads? Would you like to start or should I?

to look or not to look

2006-06-08T12:03:00.000+02:00

yesterday i was parking at the Spar and a women caught my eye. she wasn't young, but she was dressed nicely. actually she was looking quite sexy for a woman older than myself. I had a second glance. and she noticed me looking.

I wasn't gawking. just galncing. but she noticed nevertheless. she looked down. carried on walking past the front of my car. looking a little self conscious.

I didn't mean to cause her to feel self-conscious, and yet I felt a little guilty. Should I be "looking" at women in that way?

And then as I drove out of the parking lot, I thought to myself, "but what she was wearing wasn't designed to hide her body. She was wearing clothes that clearly highlighted her appearance!" So then, should I feel guilty that I noticed her. Isn't that exactly what nice clothes are designed to do?

How do we balance these two values: I want to be a respectful person who doesn't embarass people by focussing on their body at the expense of what they have to say/contribute etc. I also sense that our bodies are sexual, beautiful etc... and we want them to express something attractive? I want to affirm a person who looks attractive without embarrassing them...

any thoughts?

Left Behind: the game

2006-05-30T15:27:00.000+02:00

There are some pretty strange things on the net. Some good, some bad, and some just plain weird. Falling into the last category is this game- LEFT BEHIND : Eternal Forces.

Wage a war of apocalyptic proportions in LEFT BEHIND: Eternal Forces - a real-time strategy game based upon the best-selling LEFT BEHIND book series created by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Join the ultimate fight of Good against Evil, commanding Tribulation Forces or the Global Community Peacekeepers, and uncover the truth about the worldwide disappearances!
...
· Conduct physical & spiritual warfare : using the power of prayer to strengthen your troops in combat and wield modern military weaponry throughout the game world.

· Recover ancient scriptures and witness spectacular Angelic and Demonic activity as a direct consequence of your choices.

So, a Christian-themed game that they are hoping might get a 'T'rating (suitable for those older than 13) where, amongst other things, you get to shoot unbelievers and the 'lukewarm'.

An LA Times article has this to say:

One of the series' authors, Tim LaHaye, said the game had the potential to communicate ideas such as salvation to people who might not think of themselves as particularly interested.

"We hope teenagers like the game," LaHaye said. "Our real goal is to have no one left behind."

Thoughts?
(I'll throw my 2 cents in a little later)

relatively speaking

2006-05-30T00:57:00.000+02:00

I remember once using the analogy of aircraft navigation: the electronic navigation systems used to refer to one or more beacons (whose positions were known) in order to calculate position, speed, direction etc. Modern technology probably uses GPS to determine these things, although the analogy holds: it's the certainty of a reference point that enables a calculation of your relative position.

is the analogy true of our lives? what is your "reference point" in the journey of life?

dating system awry

2006-05-05T07:37:00.000+02:00

I hear a lot of people blaming global warming for how late the rainy season has come/stayed this year. I reckon global wamring is a farce. Instead, it is due to a faulty Roman dating calendar system. They buggered up when postulating that a year's cycle had 365 days in it. So, I reckon they're at least 1 days short, which explains why our seasons are awry ... after a couple thousand years, summer will seem later and winter later as well.

Still no change .. .except the bill

2006-05-02T17:57:00.000+02:00

At R123 a day, I'd estimate this genius is in for a parking bill of R14760.

Turner & Hooch, Cast Away, Gump, Green Mile ... makeup

2006-04-28T08:31:00.000+02:00

It is a rare occasion when one gets to witness the intellect behind the face of a Hollywood actor. Tom Hanks has written a brilliant article in the New York Times that journeys the 17 movies and 20 years that he and his make-up artist, Danny Striepeke, walked together. Having now worked together for the last time on The Da Vinci Code, Hanks pays tribute to the man who constructed his Gump, Cast Away and Turner & Hooch personas.

Read it here (simple, free registration required)

Technorati : danny+striepeke, new+york+times, tom+hanks

Rev Fun

2006-04-27T09:50:00.000+02:00