Thinking Heads

It's been a while since I last wrote anything on this blog. Well, I've been writing on other blogs. But another thing is that getting connected to the net is becoming a bit tricky. My computer is playing hardball. This started with a lightening strike destroying the modem. Another computer decided to shut its screen and there's nothing I could do about it. Now, I'm blogging from my mobile phone. Ag, 'askis' man, I don't mean to complain.

With what do you allay somebody's fear that you are a false prophet or teacher about whom the Bible spoke? And how do you exactly handle that when it is somebody in your cngregation who says so in an open forum? Well, let me give you a bit of background. You see, at our church, we decided to confront the problem of desertion of our cell groups head on. We held a conference the purpose of which was to re-present the vision and mission of the church, achievements and problems encountered and hear what our members experience as challenges that might be responsible for 'low morale'. It was in one of the sessions where group leaders were reporting back on the experiences of their group members that 'a fear of my being a false teacher/prophet' was expressed as one of the contributing factors. How did I respond to that? Well, I told them that I have no way of proving that I am or I am not. I indicated that I know that I love Jesus and desire to always follow him in my time...

Since the demise of apartheid and the beginning of the democratic order in South Africa, the religious scene became open for all players. Whereas before 1994, one hardly knew that there were other faiths such as Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, etc. because where I grew up there were practioners of these faiths, post 1994 introduced voices we hardly knew existed. The first religious faith I heard about and not in a positive light was Islam. Back in 1993, at a Christian conference, one speaker told the crowd that Muslim countries of the Mid East had embarked on a campaign to Islam-ize South Africa through the use of petro dollars. He further stated that there were Muslim missionaries sent into South Africa to accomplish just that. Of Course later, one came to see here and there, even in a remote area such as the place I grew up in, mosques being erected. Word got around that the Muslims erect Mosques without help from the local communities, run feeding schemes from these newly ...

My wife and I enjoy discussing life in its breadth. Topics of discussion touch on matters social, religious, cultural, philosophical, economic, political and personal. Now, she tells me that I talk too much. And yes I do but I enjoy listening to her and being enlightened by her insights. Maloba mona I was telling her about how one of our church welfare sponsors is a Muslim and how this chap and I discussed a lot about getting our people out of poverty through various means. In the course of this discussion, two things came to mind. The first one concerned justification of Christian-Muslim cooperation. The second concerned mental and spiritual liberation. Christian- Muslim Cooperation Ever since I was in seminary, I learnt to enjoy tv sermons by Black Muslims. The reason was that the ones I listened to sought to address the socio-economic situation of people. Their sermons were not heavy on doctrine and polemics but mostly pragmatic. I think it is this pragmatism t...

I am a christian with a basic theological training. This training has widened my scope concerning the christian faith, the development of its doctrines, the differences between different communities and the plethora of theological opinion. Naturally, only wilful disregard of the facts or realities of the faith can allow one to hold tenaciously to the purity and rightness of all their theological method and opinion against the rest. Indeed, it was the learned opinion of some scholar that because of the diversity observable among the followers of Christ, it would be proper to speak of 'christianities'. He thought that this would acknowlegde the fundamental diversity embodied by different theological communities.   Now, what this awareness of the diverse nature of christian theology therefore practice aroused in me was a question regarding Islam. I wondered if Islam is this monolithic movement I hear others talk about. Is there only one way of interpreting the Quran?...

I find that more and more, the question of identity is taking centre stage in my thoughts. And I do not mean ethnic identity but one's identity as a christian. Perhaps one could ask a question regarding the informants of christian identity. And whatever they are, I think that the church (christian community) plays a fundamental role in the formulation of christian identity. Can one be a christian outside and despite of the community of christians? Africans have a saying that 'one is because of others'. This saying is said to be encapsulating the philosophy of ubuntu. Now, to go back to the question I raised earlier; can one be a christian outside and in spite of the community of christians? Answering this question from the ubuntu philosophical perspective would lead one to say 'no, you cannot be a christian outside of the community of christians'. My question is: how true is it that one's self-understanding as christian is tied to the community of c...

The other day we were talking amongst a group of young christians. I then asked what they thought of some questions raised by atheists. I wanted to find out whether christians (at least those around me) ever entertain the kind of questions atheists raise in their minds and if not why not.   I came to a point of thinking that we who are christian are sometimes afraid to ask difficult questions lest our faith should fail us. But I think that asking these difficult questions can only inspire us to seek knowledge and understanding, to take charge of our intellectual and spiritual development unfettered by superstitious fear of what the answers might be. That way, we who are christian could acknowledge that we are not 'know it alls' and super believers who never experience doubt. We could let the frailty and vulnerability of our humanity show forth for others to see and maybe, just maybe it could be shown that 'this power is contained in earthen vessels'   I l...

Something keeps nagging in my mind around the subject of postmodernism particularly in the (south) African context. I can't seem to wrap my fingers around it yet. I hear and read some commentators particularly church commentators in my own denomination who are broaching the subject and I wonder: how possible is it that what they call postmodern reality with its relativism of varying degrees, has always been part of African religio-cultural reality?   I ask because of my observation that for most commentators and religionists, their backgrounds have been more homogenous religio-culturally. There never was much contestation of ideas save those they classified as non-religious. But the African reality from the early days of colonialism seems to have had western religious traditions imposed (sometimes), imbibed (sometimes), and these co-existing with African traditions in the same villages, clans, etc.

    Powerful prayers If you were to hear somebody talk about 'powerful prayers' what would you say that person is talking about exactly? What questions would cross your mind? And what would your expectations be?   I learnt from a dear man of God, an elderly pastor who came to our retreat last week, that there are 'powerful prayers'. These prayers apparently were either prayed by some missionaries sometime ago or written by one of them. They are calculated to produce the answers for which their pray-ors seek. The elderly gentleman assured us that they really do work- produce results that is. He then issued an invitation for whoever wants to have them send to him by email so that we can on with the task of missions. And as it can now be expected of me, I went into overdrive. Part of me wanted to give my name so that I too could receive this amazing package of results-producing prayers. The other part of me just revolted against the idea. But w...

This week I've had to witness the deterioration of my wife's health which ended up sending her to theater. Looking at her and listening to her burdened sigh amid confessions of 'a broken and dispairing spirit', I found myself wondering: What do I say to her and what should that achieve? I mumbled 'ho tla loka' meaning things shall be ok. But honestly, upon what exactly was I basing that statement? What qualified me to pronounce a word like that? Was this just an insincere drivel of a bewildered husband who knew not what else to say? I found myself thinking: what does it take to have God intervene in my wife's situation therefore mine? A silly question crossed my mind as to how should one pray that might bring relief to my wife. Now I must admit that that is normally counter my view on the matter of prayer and God. From my seminary days I battled to settle who or what to credit in a situation of supernatural providence. Is it our prayers, is it ho...

  From:   MP Rathebe   I was reading the story you sent me, and I must say that pentecostalism has been mistaken for suspicious spirituality. We bring so much accusation against satan, that I now think he has grounds to accuse us for falsely accusing him for things that he has nothing to do with. Secondly, our suspicions have given him too much credit and underserved glory. It's my prayer that God will use us to bring true spirituality back into the Church. A spirituality that can make a difference between discernment and paranoia, where people won't look for satan in everything and miss out on tremendous opportunities of ministering to people.       Have a blessed day.

Last week I attended a funeral service of one of the servants of God I hold in high esteem. The program went well until the time when the preacher took to the stage. After a while, he declared that he felt that something was wrong but did not indicate what exactly. Somebody at the back of the auditorium began to pray and somebody else called unto the senior pastors present to rally around the preacher in order to lay hands and pray. As the pastors rallied around him (the preacher) and began praying, I found myself wondering what on earth was going on. As far as I was concerned the call for prayer was not well articulated in terms of the rationale and the expected outcome. I looked with bewilderment at some of the pastors as they seemed to be casting out satan. I think that there could only be two probable reasons to explain what happened to the preacher. For me, it was that the preacher had very close personal and work relationship with the deceased, that he underesti...