Some of you may have noticed that I have not been posting to this blog for some months…
This is because I was granted three months sabbatical leave and, after taking some advice, I decided to use the time to pull some of these posts together into a book. I spent 2025 working through all the 800+ posts on this blog—and settled on 80-100 with which to play a bit more. I have revised them (a little), gathered them under nine headings/chapters, and then added an introductory page to each chapter as a way to help build the cohesion and momentum in the project.
I have neither a title, nor a clear thesis/’big idea’, at this stage—which is a worry! And, I hasten to add, no one who knows anything about publishing has commented on the project yet—and so I realise that it might not see the light of day. However, the other day the person who said to me twenty years ago, in February 2006—”Paul, you should try blogging. I think you’d enjoy it”—invited AI to have a read of my blog. It came back with this summary:
The tone is warm, personal, intellectually curious, and deeply rooted in Christian faith — true to its title, “unpacking” life and ideas with care. The blog is essentially a long-form journal of a thoughtful global Christian leader, written for a wide audience of friends, students, and fellow travellers.
That is pretty encouraging, don’t you think? It’ll certainly keep me going for a wee bit longer…
As a sneak preview for those of you have stayed engaged with the blog over the years, here are the chapter headings with which I am working as I near the point of a full, final draft of the manuscript.
A Grace that Persists: the grace is amazing, not just at conversion—but all the way home (8 posts).
A Foundation that Secures: the Bible (and theology) needs to be articulated, rather than assumed (7).
A Conversation that Provokes: the church in ‘the West’ needs goading, especially from the church in the Majority World (7).
A Life that Intrigues: the richer, deeper texture that marks our partnership with God in his mission (7).
A Listening that Thinks: the celebration of a compulsive habit—’double listening’, from different places and in different ways (12).
A Heart that Grows: the peoples of the world can be added to our lives and loves, like children being added to the family (13).
A Privilege that Delights: reflections on the journey into preaching, especially the training of preachers, as the ‘grace given me’ in my vocation (8).
A Reluctance that Softens: reflections on the journey into leadership, especially the surprising calls along the way, in a life seeking to be obedient to God (7).
An Aspiration that Nurtures: the people, particularly a specific Christlike quality in their lives, who have beckoned me, unknowingly, to ‘follow me, as I follow Christ’ (10).
So, there it is—in a skeletal form! If you are a pray-er, I’d value your prayers as I try to pull this project together, under God’s good hand and in his name, in the coming months. Thank-you.
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.
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