Paul’s defence before King Agrippa is described in Acts chapter 26. Paul tells of his upbringing and early life as a strict Pharisee, of his opposition to the followers of Jesus, and of his journey to Damascus with the intention of persecuting Christians. He then tells of his heavenly vision and encounter with Jesus, and how in the vision Paul was given the mission of being a witness for Jesus to many people.

It is interesting to observe the effect of what Paul said on his listeners. Governor Festus said, “Paul, you are crazy! Too much studying is driving you insane!” King Agrippa said, “Are you trying to make me a Christian so quickly?” The responses indicated that both listeners were feeling the magnetic pull of what Paul was saying. Something about the passion with which Paul spoke and the way the Holy Spirit was working through him made the listeners contemplate the possibility that what he said might be true.

There is always a similar moment of spiritual magnetism when someone first encounters Jesus. Evangelism is never solely an intellectual exercise in presenting the logical reasons for the existence of God. We like to rationalise our decisions as if they were made based solely on the facts, but a decision to believe that God really does exist and that Jesus is who he claims to be is an emotional and spiritual decision as well as a rational decision.

Malcolm Gladwell is often invited to speak at large Christian conferences because his writings demonstrate an unusually perceptive view of the human condition. His latest book, What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures, is a collection of articles which Gladwell wrote for the New Yorker between 1996 and 2008. Each article approaches its story from an interesting angle. Gladwell has an ability to find and bring to life an interesting story out of seemingly mundane circumstances.

The Pitchman tells the story of a man who makes successful infomercials. The Ketchup Connection attempts to explain why there are many varieties of mustard but only one successful variety of tomato sauce. Blowing Up describes a financial trader with a contrarian investment strategy. True Colors tells the story behind hair dye. John Rock’s Error describes some of the history of the birth control pill’s inventor. What the Dog Saw explains how a dog whisperer controls bad-tempered dogs.

Unlike Gladwell’s previous books The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers, this book does not relate to a single theme. If you read it you will undoubtedly end up being better informed about a number of topics, and the book is helpful if you want to study how to tell a story in an engaging manner, but its strength lies primarily in its entertainment value rather than in the usefulness of the information it contains.

A video review of this book is now available on my new site, Businesslessons.org.

Television has become a revolutionary force for good in the majority world, according to World Bank development economist Charles Kenny. The data covering numerous countries over an extended period of time suggests that the availability and consumption of television content leads is positively correlated with literacy, school enrolment, health, birth control, reduced drug use, reduced corruption, and increased prosperity.

Given that the Internet is available to less than 3% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa and less than 15% of the population in the developing world, Kenny argues that the positive influence of television is a much greater force for good in the battle against poverty than that of the Internet. From my own observations in East Africa, I would agree that the influence of television is far greater than that of the Internet.

However, the influence of mobile phones is greater still. I have never been able to work out how people who are unable to afford sufficient food are able to afford to use mobile phones. They seem to be almost as ubiquitous in Africa as they are in Australia, and the ability to send inexpensive SMS messages to radio and television stations responsive to programming gives some of the interactivity provided by the Internet.

The European Union has been a remarkable achievement. Numerous different countries with differing cultures and languages have managed to overcome their traditional rivalries and petty squabbles and come together to achieve a high level of co-operation. The co-operation between European countries has been driven not by altruism but by the enormous economic benefits which have been gained.

East Africa is going through a similar process of trying to form a common market with a single currency. The financial benefits which each country stands to gain are large, but the inter-country rivalries and distrust – often well founded – need to be overcome before the proposals can advance. Countries are currently expressing their reluctance about sharing their confidential financial details with other countries.

One of the big risks of an East African monetary union is that significant financial problems in any one member state will expose all of the other members states to financial shocks. The protectionist monetary policies currently used by the countries will no longer be available. The target date for the single currency is currently 2015, although advisers from the European Union predict that it will take a little longer.

Yoweri Museveni became president of Uganda 24 years ago today. The past 24 years have been peaceful for the country by comparison with the preceding presidencies of Idi Amin, Milton Obote and others during which hundreds of thousands of Ugandans were slaughtered, but Northern Uganda has faced continuing insecurity at the hands of the Lord’s Resistance Army throughout that period.

Uganda is a desperately poor country. It has never recovered from the destructive policies of Idi Amin in the 1970s. When Uganda’s economy is compared to those of its neighbours, it is a little bit weaker than Kenya and Tanzania, perhaps a little stronger than Rwanda (although Rwanda is gaining fast) and definitely stronger than Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo (which is the poorest country in the world).

Uganda is not located in a good neighbourhood, economically speaking, and Museveni’s government over the past 24 years has not delivered prosperity. However, there are no strongly-placed challengers at the forthcoming elections, and it looks as if Museveni will be voted in again for a fourth term. In view of Uganda’s troubled history, the citizens probably prefer to vote for the relative security of the government they know, rather than to take a chance on something different.

On this day 39 years ago, military tanks rumbled into Uganda’s capital city, Kampala, and at 3.45pm an announcement was made on Radio Uganda that President Obote had been deposed by the armed forces of Uganda. Obote was at a Commonwealth meeting in Singapore at the time, and General Idi Amin took the opportunity to seize power and declare himself the new president. Obote was unpopular, and Amin’s coup was met with wild celebrations.

Military coups almost invariably have unpleasant consequences, and it was not long before Amin started slaughtering members of the armed forces who were from the Acholi and Langi tribes, on the ground that they were suspected Obote supporters. Asians were expelled from the country and their businesses were seized, creating a sharp economic decline from which the country has still not recovered. Anyone suspected of opposing Amin was imprisoned and tortured.

Amin’s reign of terror lasted for eight years, during which time more than 300,000 people are thought to have been killed. In the end Amin was forced out of power when he tried to invade part of Tanzania, and the Tanzanian army retaliated, marching all the way to Kampala and capturing the city. Amin escaped to Libya and then lived the rest of his life in exile in Saudi Arabia.

After the apostle Paul was arrested in Jerusalem, he was held in prison for a long time. Governor Felix did not know quite what to do with him. Felix wanted to stay on the good side of the Jewish leaders who wanted Paul to be condemned, but at the same time he could not identify anything that Paul had done wrong. He was also hoping for a bribe. Felix was succeeded by Festus, and Acts chapter 25 describes what happened with Festus.

Just a few days after Festus arrived in the province, the Jewish leaders put their case against Paul to him in Jerusalem, and a week or so later he convened a tribunal at Caesarea. As was the case when Felix had tried the matter, the outcome was inconclusive. The serious allegations against Paul were unproved, and it was impossible to make a decision which would please everyone. Festus wanted to re-hear the matter in Jerusalem, and to avoid this outcome Paul indicated that he was appealing to Caesar.

So Festus now had a new dilemma: what exactly was the charge against Paul, and what decision was Paul appealing against? Some local celebrities, King Agrippa and Queen Bernice, came to visit, so he used the occasion to entertain them with an audience with Paul, while hoping that they would help him fill out the charge sheet that was to be sent with Paul to Caesar.

A lot of time and effort goes into designing a building for a church, but how often is comparable effort spent in designing the structure of the church itself (that is, the people, not the building)? Linda Bergquist and Allan Karr consider the church design process in their book Church Turned Inside Out: A Guide for Designers, Refiners and Re-aligners. The book draws from the fields of design, ecology, philosophy, organisational theory and many others in its discussion of church design.

Chapter 9 describes the characteristics of attractional, relational and legacy churches. It does not say that one model is right and another is wrong, although it does highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each. All sorts of churches are needed, and it is better to be deliberate about the style of church you are adopting, rather than falling into it by default. Chapter 10 discusses the organising principles, distinctives and challenges for numerous different models of church.

I found the book to be fairly heavy going, and the chapters of most interest to me were near the end. This was far from the most engaging book I have read in the past year. Nevertheless it was worth reading because it contains helpful information which is not available elsewhere. The book raises interesting questions which need to be addressed by church planters and should also be considered from time to time by leaders of established churches.

In order for a country to rise out of poverty, it is necessary to replace the country’s economic system with a system which encourages a thriving business sector, according to Glenn Hubbard and William Duggan in a new Strategy+Business article. There is a direct relationship between prosperity and how business-friendly a country is. The poorer countries have regulatory systems which make it very difficult to start a business, get a licence, employ workers, register property, get credit, protect investors, pay taxes, trade across borders, enforce contracts and close a business.

Countries that have failed to create business-friendly environments often have competing systems such as a government which uses a system of patronage to entrench its own power. In Africa, Rwanda is taking the lead in creating a business-friendly environment, and the initial results are positive. But individuals cannot change government policies by themselves, so what can one person do to make a difference?

Hubbard and Duggan encourage private citizens to find pro-business projects to help, particularly projects related to microfinance and business training. They say that charity money should go only to refugee, medical or emergency relief, with economic development money going to support the business sector. I am not sure that their prescription is a complete cure for poverty, but it has some attractive elements.

Australia’s ageing population could produce a significant drag on the country’s growth rate, according to prime minister Kevin Rudd. In an Australia Day speech Mr Rudd has warned that the current productivity growth rate of 1.4% is insufficient to meet the major challenges facing Australia’s economy.  He wants the rate to move back towards the 2% which was achieved during the 1990s.

It is anticipated that the proportion of Australia’s population aged over 65 will increase from 14% to 23% over the next 40 years, and there will be one retiree for every 2.7 workers, compared with the current rate of one retiree for every 5 workers. This is likely to lead either to unsustainable budget deficits or a reduction in government services including health services. Another possibility is that retirement age could be increased.

It is interesting to observe how developed nations have come to depend on economic growth for their continued well-being. Although it is possible to increase productivity in the short term by getting workers to work harder, in the longer term productivity increases are entirely dependent on technological improvements, which are in turn dependent on inventions.