After getting engaged last year, I started listening to an audio book on marriage preparation. The primary author of the book was a prominent American evangelical pastor. While it contained many good things, I was shocked by the chapter on sex. I was not blushing at the subject matter, but at the fact that the authors had turned the book Song of Songs in the Bible into a how-to guide for sex: virtually a Christian version of the Kama Sutra. Suddenly, I found myself doubting the credibility of the authors as teachers. Read more …

2019—what a year! I am sure that many people will agree that the past year has been something spectacular: whether spectacularly glorious or terrible. Mostly I have heard people sound beaten, having suffered hardships and heartache this past year. Read more …

The following article is a guest post by my wife, Margaux.

Insecurity plagues the heart. It plagues my heart in whispering inadequacy, unworthiness, unloveliness and shame on a daily basis. It affirms distrust of the world and others. More than this it affirms distrust in God, my life origin. Read more …

“I'm glad I learned about parallelograms in high school math instead of how to do my taxes. It comes in so handy during parallelogram season.”

This is one of many variations of a clever jab at the education system and how it does not equip children with the necessary life skills needed after school. I have lamented this myself, thinking that it is unfair to expect a person (who has just been recognised as an adult) to live in a country with complex laws without preparing them to do so. For example, when we install software, then when we agree to a software EULA, we are engaging with a complex legal document—possibly across legal jurisdictions—which is beyond the comprehension of many ordinary people1. It seems like discontent towards the current schooling system is increasing. Yet I have been finding myself now increasingly defending the traditional schooling subjects. In this article, I want to explore and explain these thoughts, and how they relate to the Christian life. Read more …

This post will be a brief discussion of what the short (and long) term future has in store for me, and how that will affect this blog. Read more …

South Africans will soon be heading to the polls again for a national election. With a great deal of uncertainty about the future and the reliability of political parties, perhaps now more than ever before voters are critically thinking about how to exercise their vote.

When an established Christian political party published a comparison of their values compared to those of other competing political parties, they were met with a large degree of scorn and derision. Some complained about the outmoded values which they uphold; others feared that the party wants to institute a theocracy; and others stated that religion should be kept out of politics.

This article will discuss the role (if any) of religion in politics. Read more …

The poem "Ozymandias" is about the remains of a statue of the pharaoh "Ozymandias" found in the desert. The inscription on the statue boasts of the pharoah's great achievements and his splendour. The irony is that this statue—which embodies his grandeur—is dug up from the desert sand, which had swallowed the memory of this great pharaoh as well as his legacy long ago. The lesson of this poem is that we should not boast or think too highly of our achievements, as they likely will not withstand the persistent wearing away by the forces of time and nature. Read more …

The bus comes to a stop and the doors open. Slowly, the passengers disembark. Some are sleepy, some are groggy from not having had enough coffee that morning, some are simply tired. We had been touring Israel for a week now, and programme has been jam packed, with little time for rest. But suddenly everyone perks up and is astonished at the sight before them: Jerusalem bathed in the golden light of sunrise. Read more …

This year I have been thinking much about love. It is difficult enough to love one person as we ought to, let alone everyoe else we like, know, and everyone. It is simply beyond our capability and ability as human beings. Read more …