I had some great laughs while in Pakistan:
on the biblical basis for drinking chai (tea)…
“Comfort my people, says your God” (Is 40:1)
becomes
“Come for tea my people, says your God”
on how to make major rupees as a taxi-driver…
on pastors remaining students…
“Just look at a pastor’s bookshelf and discover when they died intellectually (- or became distracted by faddish topical paperbacks).”
on savouring the options at a local restaurant…
on using Greek and Hebrew in your preaching…
“Wear your knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew language like you wear your underwear – it is needed for support, but it is embarassing if you display it publically.”
on the satisfaction of rediscovering Urdu/Hindi…
For years it has been irritating for me that the questions with which I like to commence sermon preparation do not all start with ‘w’: who, what, where, when, why … and how. Why can’t ‘how’ start with a ‘w’? It ruins the symmetry. Crazy English.
And then this past week, listening to the translators, a deep wound in my literary soul was healed as I heard them say: kawn, kya, kahan, kub, kyun … and kaseh. They all start with the ‘k’ sound. That is more like it!
on making sense of how things happen Pakistan…
“You either subscribe to the conspiracy theory or to the chaos theory.” [You tend to last longer if you believe in chaos, rather than conspiracy]
nice chatting
Paul
About Me
the art of unpacking
After a childhood in India, a theological training in the USA and a pastoral ministry in Southland (New Zealand), I spent twenty years in theological education in New Zealand — first at Laidlaw College and then at Carey Baptist College, where I served as principal. In 2009 I began working with Langham Partnership and since 2013 I have been the Programme Director (Langham Preaching). Through it all I've cherished the experience of the 'gracious hand of God upon me' and I've relished the opportunity to 'unpack', or exegete, all that I encounter in my walk through life with Jesus.
Recent Posts
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Having been born in 1959, I don’t remember much about the 1960s. But I have heard a lot. Hippies. Drugs. Rock ‘n Roll. Assassinations. Moon-walking. A quick trip across to ChatGPT informs me immediately that it was ‘a transformative decade across the world’—marked by the civil rights and feminist movements, Cold War tensions, consumerism and…
'who' only starts with a 'w' in written language, not in the spoken language of the sermon, so it's really two of the key questions that start with 'h', not one…
Hi Paul I also think that Isaiah 55 v1 lends itself to being able to put into the cultural context as well
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to me all you who have no money,
Come buy and eat! Come; buy TEA and milk without money and without cost
I also ponder whether there is a freedom of simplicity which comes from living in the environments you have been in over the last few weeks, Richard Foster's book is worth a re-read.
In the affluence we subscribe to and almost come to expect in the West perhaps God is calling us to a place of repentance?
Isaiah 55 vs. 1-2 – Come to me my people
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to me all you who have no money,
Come buy and eat! Come; buy wine and milk without money and without cost
Are you hungry, my word to you is rich, eat of it, it is better than honey
The world in which you live is full of deception, lies, people are desperately lost
They are searching for answers, seeking in wrong places, that is not funny
They search on the web, they buy that has no value, and the rubbish arrives in the post
They desire for more, to keep up with the Jones, they put on a face that is sunny
I say to you forget these things, look to me, I give you far more without cost
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
You face so many options, so many choices, advertisers try to sell you enhanced beauty
I gave my only son that you might not perish but have eternal life, that’s beyond compare
Yet you struggle to understand that it’s a gift for you, come to me is my entreaty
Come, seek my face, my goodness, and as you do my perfect love will cast out all your fear
Mark Maffey July 2007
(NIV)
Pakistan?! The man.
yes, ryan …
I am going to try and post a small photo-album on facebook with each Langham visit so if you want to see more of your beloved Pakistan, go to facebook.com/paulwindsornz and click on 'photos' 🙂 🙂
For the Indian lad that I am I found my heart opening to Pakistan in new ways. It was good!
Hope you are well