preaching before dawn

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to contribute by skype into a UK seminar. The topic was Evangelistic Preaching and it was organised by Roger Carswell.

[For those of you in New Zealand, Roger is the father of Ben Carswell who pastors Hutt City Baptist Church and is on the staff of Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship … and a great mate of mine. Then it was Jonathan, Ben’s brother, who interviewed me. He is Managing Director of 10ofThose, an innovative Christian book distributor. Well worth a look].

The interview was conducted at 4.30am (Indian time).
[I selected the time, by the way]

It appeared on youtube and when I watched it, I realised that the 30 minutes contained a lot of the stuff that is important to me in training preachers – and so I thought I’d post it on my blog.

nice chatting

Paul

Archive

Receive new posts to your inbox

I’d love to keep you updated with my latest news and posts.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

About Me

paul06.16

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.

Posted in

5 Comments

  1. Ben Carswell on March 28, 2014 at 9:21 pm

    You're too kind Paul…I'm glad you've put allowed this video to be made public. It's gold from the house of Windsor.

  2. the art of unpacking on April 1, 2014 at 2:42 pm

    I really enjoyed this opportunity to chat away with Jonathan. Always a little reluctant to post this kind of material. Personally, I like to be one step further back from the posts. But when I watched it, I realised how many of my convictions did cram their way into this 30 minutes.

    All the best. I think and pray for you often. I look forward to the day when I see the pastor-evangelist-teacher in action.

    From Hong Kong – where I've been marooned for a few days :).

  3. Josh Irving on April 12, 2014 at 12:36 pm

    Thanks, Paul. You packed a lot in there! Lots of it overflowing to my suitcase too.

  4. Andrew Butcher on April 30, 2014 at 2:51 pm

    Superb. I watched it once intently. I will watch it again and take notes. And I have sent it on to our preaching team as well.

  5. Unknown on August 25, 2015 at 2:39 am

    There is lot to learn in this subject. I like the way Paul questioned, What is the gospel? The total biblical story is the gospel. The four parts he explained Good, Bad, New and Perfect was really good. I am glad that I am part of DMin to hear all this from you. Praise God.

Leave a Comment





This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

true, but not true enough

February 5, 2025

“What is a Christian?” A ‘follower of Jesus’ is the standard response. And it is true, but it is not true enough. Let’s think about this for a minute. So I have this encounter with Jesus. Maybe at a camp of some kind. In the singing and the speaking he becomes so real. It is…

yay! it’s you

January 27, 2025

We had been on holiday in Queenstown. Barby had to come back early to go to work. I stayed on for a couple more days with our daughter, Alyssa, and her family. When I did fly back, Barby had the car and so the easiest thing for me was to get an Uber home—and so…

expect an exception

January 24, 2025

I know I’ve mentioned this one before, but I am not really a flag-in-church kinda guy. All those years ago, as a student in the USA, it was a shock to see the flag up there in the same neighbourhood as the pulpit, the Lord’s Table and the baptistry. “What is going on?” “Have I…

transforming friendship

January 15, 2025

Just when I thought that it could not be possible to have another first-hand account of the impact of John Stott’s life (d. 2011), along comes this book by his close friend, John Wyatt. I am always ready to learn more about John Stott, but also about friendship. It fascinates me. It keeps coming up…

handa leads the way

December 29, 2024

Reading stories to grandchildren over Christmas reminded me again of how powerful they can be. They are so compact and simple in presentation, and yet so clever in construction. There are just so many features at work in an effective story. It is some years since I taught narrative preaching, but when I did I’d…

elchristo, elmina—and beyond

December 19, 2024

Today is Day 56—and on Day 57 we board a flight for home. There has been so much to absorb as Barby and I have encountered the people of God in different places. el-christo, in bolivia A few days before we left NZ, I discovered that I had five sessions to give in Pakistan. Yikes.…

cadeca art

November 20, 2024

The little chapel at Cadeca Casa del Catequista, a retreat centre on the fringes of Cochabamba (Bolivia), caught my eye on an earlier visit in 2017. Lots of photos… I was thrilled to learn that there would be a return visit, this time with Barby—and with lots of video. Enjoy. A 360 view Some Old…

the emus

October 19, 2024

Apart from the eight years in which we were based overseas, Barby has been working at the Refugee Resettlement Center in Auckland since 2002. This year she is a ‘release teacher’, spending one day each week in three different classrooms, with three different age groups. Impressive—and demanding. One day is spent with 11-13 year olds—from…