» Deadline 3 for the Church
05/07/25 13:56 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
Attorneys took on my old city Church regarding three issues. Here is now the third. Early this year, I obtained a letter from the Legal Practice Council, that confirmed the existence of a report about me, apparently held by the Church, "...
» Senile Senior?
04/07/25 19:21 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
A nearby suburb is curiously painted with many arrows on the pavements, or sidewalks. These all seem to be pointing to some destination -- although I haven't followed them to the end. My best guess is that the arrows were put there by so...
» Chaotic Ministry
04/07/25 16:08 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
I consider that ministry is guided by God as much as it is by any personal intentions (Proverbs 16:9). Years ago, I recorded how one typical morning went. It was a "classic". "I was doing some administrative work as planned. In the...
» How I pray
04/07/25 11:42 from Living In Grace
I am not sure what went through your mind when you saw the title of today's post? Sadly, I am not going to give you a special prayer formula or even tell you how I pray. Instead, I am going to pass on these words from Thomas Merton, as I...
» No. 1 Annual Philosophy Lecture
03/07/25 17:48 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
On 20 March 2025, I delivered the Annual Philosophy Lecture of the Philosophy Sharing Foundation of Malta -- a member of the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie. As is usual, it was a modest audience of about 50, at the...
» The greatest cause of atheism in the world today ...
03/07/25 16:52 from Living In Grace
"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." - Brennan...
» Pension: Where Is It?
03/07/25 11:47 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
I asked attorneys to investigate some issues and write up their findings. One of the issues: that my old city Church failed to pay me R2.3 million pension. My attorneys reported, yes: "The contents of this letter [a letter of "the member...
» Elders Rule?
02/07/25 19:43 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
There may be some uncertainty in some Churches as to how "members rule" vs. "elders rule". Congregationalism (my denomination) says that members rule -- and one always adds: under Christ . Yet the Bible shows us: members and elders ...
» When you know the one who is leading you.
02/07/25 13:11 from Living In Grace
"Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading." - Oswald Chambers David firmly believed that God was leading him into the best path for his life. He wrote: "You guide me with your counsel, ...
» 30-Day Deadline for the Church
01/07/25 18:09 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
Earlier this year, I hired attorneys to investigate three issues in connection with my old city Church -- then to report in writing the facts that they found. Last week, they completed the report. In one important finding, they wrote tha...
» Bibles in Church
01/07/25 17:33 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
In two major Churches, we filled the Church with Bibles in the pews. This was not a small undertaking, in the early stages of Churches' development under my ministries. While the prices of Bibles vary greatly, a hard-cover Bible might (t...
» The Iron Spine
01/07/25 12:13 from Living In Grace
"I wish I had a gentle mind, and a spine made up of iron." - Saint Vincent There is something intriguing in wishing for a spine made of iron. The meaning is clear - St. Vincent realised that he needed to have a strong backbon...
» Coffee Humour
30/06/25 17:48 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
This is a humorous sign that I photographed on a street in the city of Valletta, Malta, back in March. The narrow streets and gallariji (small, enclosed, wooden balconies) are typical of Maltese cities.
» Who or What to Go For
30/06/25 17:20 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
Returning to Friday's post, I now have several letters in hand: 1. Letters of my old city Church, fairly recently obtained 2. A fact-finding report from attorneys, radically contradicting the letters of the Church As I (nearly) always do...
» Hope’s Relentless Whisper
30/06/25 13:38 from An African's Reflections.
The other day, a very pessimistic thought came to mind: If it seems that leadership in the world mostly goes hand in hand with negative traits, why do we make such an effort to empower especially young people to practice leadership with ...
» Cancel Culture
29/06/25 21:24 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
xAI provided me with this interesting pop-up on X: "Thomas O. Scarborough, a minister and metaphysician from South Africa, crafts holistic philosophies blending faith and reason, aiming to unify diverse traditions while lecturing g...
» 10% of One Million
29/06/25 10:51 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
It seemed to happen in no time -- my blog added another 10% of one million views -- to display more than 1.1 million page-views on the stat counter yesterday. Yesterday alone, there were more than 3,000 views in the day. OBSERVATION: Aga...
» Surfaced Letters
28/06/25 22:33 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
Recently, there were two major events in connection with my old city ministry. 1. My Letter of Appointment turned up. There were people who swore that this letter was either lost or non-existent. It sets out the Church's obligations to m...
» Africa Time
28/06/25 18:50 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
I made the mistake today of driving across town, to arrive at an African funeral at 11:00 for 11:00. I found the whole Church under lock and key (shown). I left again at about 11:20, thinking that I had made some fundamental mistake. OBS...
» Reinventing Myself
27/06/25 20:39 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
Having been appointed to the faculty of a major seminary -- if anything is major in Cape Town -- I today had my first survey of what my first course encompasses. In theory, I would need to produce about 60,000 words per session -- if eac...
» ‘Aii Uncle Thomas’
26/06/25 18:28 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
I have my doubts that I have posted this photo before on my blog. The young lady reposted it today on Facebook, with the comment "Aii Uncle Thomas and his camera." The comment reflects an ambivalence about my photos, but I know that many...
» Imitating God by doing this one thing...
26/06/25 15:30 from Living In Grace
There are many books published on how we should imitate the ways of God. These can include things like, obeying the Commandments; or knowing the Beatitudes, or something similar. However, I came across this thought from the ...
» Dion Forster appointed as URC Professor of Public Theology and Ethics
26/06/25 10:08 from An uncommon path
» Holding my eyelids open
25/06/25 15:30 from Living In Grace
Have you ever been so tired that you started searching for matchsticks to try and keep your eyelids open? Well, then you can relate to the words of Asaph in Psalm 77. He speaks to the Lord, suggesting: "You don’t let me sleep. I am too d...
» Building in Bequests
25/06/25 09:52 from Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged
I was in city ministry for about twenty years. My last financial year (April to March) -- although it was a turbulent year -- was the most prosperous of all my years in city ministry. One of the reasons for that was that for perhaps 10-1...