Help mend a heart.

This is our little Matthew. His heart was fixed due to the generous giving of many. I invite you to watch the following short clip to meet those who contributed towards his healing. In this clip you will see Dr Kinsley and Dr Mamorare (Surgeons) and Dr Dansky (Cardiologist).

View the clip here.

The team at the Walter Sisulu Paediatric Cardiac Centre for Africa would appreciate any donation. Come on, get your church to direct a part of its tithe to this worthy cause.

Don't you feel like this?

In a letter to Karl Barth, Emil Brunner wrote the following concerning his struggle in faith (the original is in German, therefore the numerous brackets, etc.):

This is my experience: Either I will completely be at the center...: God lives, let God matter. But then I soon find that all I have in my hands are four letters [G-O-T-T]..., an abstract thought, with which I can neither understand nor master my life. I can say, Let God matter. But, in reality, what matters is not God but my thought that "God should matter."... Or, on the other hand, depressed from this experience, I... fall into the other extreme: "God should matter" [becomes] "The Good should matter," [faith mixed up with] a moral-cultural lifestyle, a system of ethics, that, up to a certain point, shines through one's life, but naturally (as little as "the law" in Paul) has no power...I've always had the feeling - and my moral experiences confirm it - that I have still not yet penetrated to God, that my faith has produced nothing.

This quote was taken from the book "For the sake of the world" (see my library in the sidebar).
Barth later responded with the formulation "God is God and God is God". Food for deep thought.

Matt is doing well.

Today Matt went for his six-monthly heart checkup. We have good news to share.

Besides his heart being on the opposite side of his chest, everything looks healthy and normal. The heart-noises have disappeared, meaning that his VSD and ASD have completely healed. Roundabout now he should have had a second operation as the extra parts which they implant usually calcify by now. There is no sign of calcification anywhere!

Doctor Colyn is very impressed with his progress and so are we. Thanks be to God and God's wonderful doctors and nursing staff.

Nathan Daniel (Nataniel for short) is 1!

Hey, our big boy!

You are one today. The first year of your life has passed and you will most probably not remember much of what you have achieved, but that which you did will stand you in good stead for the rest of your life.

We thank God for you. You have added joy, happiness and a greater sense of humour to our family. May God bless you richly and may you be obedient to his grace.

With lots of love,

Pappa, Mamma and Matthew (and Chrissie and Calamity)

Sunday School theology

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE WORDING AND SPELLING. IF YOU ARE EVEN REMOTELY FAMILIAR WITH HOLY SCRIPTURE, YOU'LL FIND THIS HILARIOUS! IT COMES FROM A ROMAN CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEST. KIDS WERE ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS ABOUT THE BIBLE WERE WRITTEN BY CHILDREN. THEY HAVE NOT BEEN RE-TOUCHED OR CORRECTED. INCORRECT SPEL LING HAS BEEN LEFT IN.


1. IN THE FIRST BOOK OF THE BIBLE, GUINESSIS. GOD GOT TIRED OF CREATING THE WORLD SO HE TOOK THE SABBATH OFF.

2. ADAM AND EVE WERE CREATED FROM AN APPLE TREE. NOAH'S WIFE WAS JOAN OF ARK. NOAH BUILT AND ARK AND THE ANIMALS CAME ON IN PEARS.

3. LOTS WIFE WAS A PILLAR OF SALT DURING THE DAY, BUT A BALL OF FIRE DURING THE NIGHT.
4. THE JEWS WERE A PROUD PEOPLE AND THROUGHOUT HISTORY THEY HAD TROUBLE WITH UNSYMPATHETIC GENITALS.

5. SAMPSON WAS A STRONGMAN WHO LET HIM SELF BE LED ASTRAY BY A JEZEBEL LIKE DELILAH.

6. SAMSON SLAYED THE PHILISTINES WITH THE AXE OF THE APOSTLES.

7. MOSES LED THE JEWS TO THE RED SEA WHERE THEY MADE UNLEAVENED BREAD WHICH IS BREAD WITHOUT ANY INGREDIENTS .

8, THE EGYPTIANS WERE ALL DROWNED IN THE DESSERT. AFTER WARDS, MOSES WENT UP TO MOUNT CYANIDE TO GET THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

9. THE FIRST COMMANDMENTS WAS WHEN EVE TOLD ADAM TO EAT THE APPLE.

10. THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT IS THOU SHALT NOT ADMIT ADULTERY.

11. MOSES DIED BEFORE HE EVER REACHED CANADA .. THEN JOSHUA LED THE HEBREWS IN THE BATTLE OF GERITOL ..

12. THE GREATEST MIRICLE IN THE BIBLE IS WHEN JOSHUA TOLD HIS SON TO STAND STILL AND HE OBEYED HIM.

13. DAVID WAS A HEBREW KING WHO WAS SKILLED AT PLAYING THE LIAR. HE FOUGHT THE FINKELSTEINS, A RACE OF PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN BIBLICAL TIMES.

14. SOLOMON, ONE OF DAVIDS SONS, HAD 300 WIVES AND 700 PORCUPINES.

15. WHEN MARY HEARD SHE WAS THE MOTHER OF JESUS, SHE SANG THE MAGNA CARTA.

16. WHEN THE THREE WISE GUYS FROM THE EAST SIDE ARRIVED THEY FOUND JESUS IN THE MANAGER.

17. JESUS WAS BORN BECAUSE MARY HAD AN IMMACULATE CONTRAPTION.

18. ST. JOHN THE BLACKSMITH DUMPED WATER ON HIS HEAD.

19. JESUS ENUNCIATED THE GOLDEN RULE, WHICH SAYS TO DO UNTO OTHERS BE FORE THEY DO ONE TO YOU. HE ALSO EXPLAINED A MAN DOTH NOT LIVE BY SWEAT ALONE..

20. IT WAS A MIRICLE WHEN JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD AND MANAGED TO GET THE TOMBSTONE OFF THE ENTRANCE.

21. THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED THE LORD WERE CALLED THE 12 DECIBELS.

22. THE EPISTELS WERE THE WIVES OF THE A POSTLES.

23. ONE OF THE OPPOSSUMS WAS ST. MATTHEW WHO WAS ALSO A TAXIMAN.


24. ST. PAUL CAVORTED TO CHRISTIANITY, HE PREACHED HOLY ACRIMONY WHICH IS ANOTHER NAME FOR MARRAIGE.

25. CHRISTIANS HAVE ONLY ONE SPOUSE . THIS IS CALLED MONOTONY

One small hurdle

By the way, this is my 150th post on this blog.

My eyes are burning, my hand is cramping, my handwriting is becoming more and more illegible, I don't sleep much and when I do, I dream about neural pathways in the brain, optical illusions, the workings of memory, reasoning and problem solving. Today I am writing my last exam for the year - Cognitive Psychology (III). This is the last exam that will allow me entry into the Honours programme. This year I have achieved a lot. I finished my Ph.D. , studied Social Psych, Abnormal Psych, Psych research, Interpersonal skills and Cognitive Psych. I have written 3 articles which will all be published this year, taken over the administration of our church, lectured, enjoyed my family and started practicing for Midmar. It has been a full year, but now I am tired. One paper to go, then we will go to the Spur for supper, have a good sleep, and then start working on my Vespa (and write an article for TEEC, and edit our book, and write a chapter for Dion's book...).

Yes, I'm a Facebook addict.

Here's a cross-post from Dion's blog:

NEWS

Please don't see this as self-promotion. I am posting this out of excitement, so, use it-don't use it. I just got news that the electronic copy of my thesis is published through the University of Pretoria. The title is "The notion of mission in Karl Barth's ecclesiology".

If you are interested, you can download it from: http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10162007-151230

Regards.

The quest for meaning.

In 2005 I met Prof. Wessel Stoker. He is a Systematic Theology professor at the Vrije Universiteit van Amsterdam. I had the privilege of presenting a paper on a chapter from his book "Is the quest for meaning the quest for God?" (See my booklist to the right) with him sitting in. The feedback was very positive, but that's beside the point.

I started reading this book again, mainly because my sense of connection to God is increasingly leading me down a path which recognizes that the church does not own God, neither does it exist as the sole custodian of God's ability to reveal Godself. So much for Sola Ecclesia. Let me say this, I am not even sure why I am entering this as a blog, nor do I actually know what I want to achieve with this post, but here it is: raw and unsolicited.

Paul Tillich was a chaplain during WWI. One evening, a night-attack took place which left most of his friends either injured or dead. Reflecting on this event, he states that in that moment he felt a disconnection between himself and the God of religion. He was aware of God's presence, but in a different capacity (I am quoting from memory, but if someone would like the reference, I'll be happy to look it up).

Paul, in his letter to the Romans (which I am busy writing a Bible study on), is clear about the obstacle which caused the Jewish lack of recognition of who God is - not a God owned by institution, religious acts or the law - but a God of love and compassion who called Israel to be a witness. A witness. A witness to who, a witness to the world! Why should they then be upset if gentiles responded to the Gospel? This was the aim!

Let me not even start on Barth!

So, yes, there it is. Fragmented thinking, once again, but I think you catch my drift. I wonder if the ultimate ecclesiology is not one of creatio in nihilum - that the church should work itself out of an institution. What if the church became a witness, which would not get anxious if those who do not "look" like orthodox christians respond to the Gospel. What if the whole world is "saved"? Would the church still exist, or does it exist purely because it is an alternative to something else?

Think, think, think...crawl, crawl, crawl.

Nathan crawled today!

Our son has already achieved something which I didn't do. He crawled. It may not seem like a biggy, but I have come to understand the importance of this milestone. Crawling is one of the essential activities which facilitate cross-lateral neural pathway development. Crawling further helps visual guidance (the use of eyes to guide movement of the hands and other parts of the body - like reaching for and grabbing glowing objects in a dark room), depth perception (ability to perceive objects and surfaces in three dimensions) and visual cliff (the ability to assess depth), not to mention hand-eye coordination.

This is a biggy! Congratulations Nathan! He must have got this from his mother, as I said, I never crawled and now have to count the steps whether I'm going up or down a flight of stairs. Failure to do so leaves me in a prostate position with a hugely damaged ego.

Then for the one thing he got from me - the ability to quickly calculate less complicated alternatives: the first thing he crawled to was his walking ring. Well done Nathan!

The human brain

I'm busy studying Cognitive Psychology and found the following diagrams quite interesting:-)

Barry Hilton on Stupidity

People should have to wear signs that just say, I'M DOF." That way you wouldn't rely on them, would you?
You wouldn't ask them anything. It would be like, "Excuse me... oops, nevermind. Didn't see your sign."

It's like before my boeta and I moved.. Our house was full of boxes and there was a Pickfords truck in our driveway.
My neighbor comes over and choons, "Hey, you moving?"
"Noooit bru. We just pack our stuff up once or twice a week to see how many boxes it takes. Here's your sign!"

A couple of months ago I went fishing with a mate of mine, we pulled his boat into the ramp, I lifted up this big whiting and this idiot on the ramp goes, "Hey, you catch all those fish?" "Nooit cuzzi. Talked 'em into giving up. Here's your sign."

I was watching one of those animal shows on the Discovery Channel. There was a guy inventing a shark bite suit. And there's only one way to test it. "Alright Jimmy, you got that shark suit on, it looks good... They want you to jump into this pool of sharks, and you tell us if it hurts when they bite you." "Well, alright, but hold my sign. I don't wanna lose it."

Last time I had a flat tyre, I pulled my car into a petrol station. The 'pomp jockey' walks out, looks at my car, looks at me, and I SWEAR he choons, "Tyre go flat?" I couldn't resist. I said, "Nooit Baba. I was driving around and those other three just swelled up on me. Here's your sign."

I was trying to sell my 'jammie' about a year ago. A guy came over to the house and drove the car around for about 45 minutes. We get back to the house, he gets out of the car, reaches down and grabs the exhaust pipe, then says, "Jislaaik, that's hot!"
See? If he'd been wearing his sign, I could have stopped him!

I learned to drive a 18 wheeler in my days in the 'mag'. Wouldn't you know I misjudged the height of a bridge. The truck got stuck and I couldn't get it out no matter how I tried. I radioed in for help and eventually a local cop shows up to take the report. He went through his basic questioning... ok.. no problem. I thought sure he was clear of needing a sign...until he asked "so..is your truck stuck?" I couldn't help myself. I looked at him, looked back at the rig and then back at him took my sign off and chooned, "No. I'm delivering a bridge. Here's your sign."

I stayed late at work one night and a co-worker looked at me and chooned, "Are you still here?" I replied, "No. I left about 10 minutes ago. Here's your sign."