Bible
As a preacher the other challenge I have given myself in 2008 relates to a series in my home church at Mt Roskill Baptist. Given the prevailing discomfort which people have with the Old Testament, I determined to preach a series in which I used an entire OT book as the text for the sermon.…
READ MOREThis year I’ve been reflecting on preaching in the book of Acts. Here are ten things that I’ve been learning:[NB – I have brought these observations closer to home with the use of ‘Auckland’ as it is my home town. Feel free to make the appropriate substitution!]. 1. As in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Rome, we…
READ MOREWhen I first saw the billboards from the Green Party I thought immediately of worms. Two NZ-elections ago the ‘worm’ was the difference-maker. The leaders of all the political parties participated in debates and the audience responded as they listened and this response took the form of worms crawling across our screens. The main beneficiary…
READ MOREInto the margins of my life I am trying to squeeze assignments for my DMin. My focus at the moment is on the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. I am loving it for all sorts of reasons – not the least being the parallels between it and my favourite story of Jesus on…
READ MOREIn my lifetime I have never experienced a period of time when there has been such a convergence of unspeakable pain among the peoples of the world. Here in NZ – just as we were negotiating our way through the Mangatepopo flash flood tragedy, there came word from Austria of a man who reminded us…
READ MOREWhen the Americans went into Iraq the first time they left the English language with a phrase – “surgical strike”. In this second invasion new significance seems to have been poured into the word “surge”. Well this past week I escaped to an iconic Kiwi bach (cottage) for a writing ‘surge’. Sleeping and writing was…
READ MOREAs a teenager the decisive moment in my life with Jesus was when I decided to make two choices. One was to make the words of hymns my own as I sang them. The other was to read the Bible in my own language (when I was given a JB Phillips paraphrase by a friend).…
READ MORETwenty years ago – as a young pastor – I was captured by the writings of Kenneth Bailey on the parables of Jesus. He wrote a book in 1976 that lay dormant for years. I discovered it in the mid-80s (published in the same cover with a second book) and had it by my side…
READ MOREI note that this morning’s list of ‘Today’s Most Viewed’ news stories on the http://stuff.co.nz/ website goes like this: 1. George Clooney held at gunpoint2. Shakira ‘sex tape’ an April Fool’s Day hoax3. Family claims largest ever Lotto prize4. Croc Hunter hid pain and suffering, father says5. Comedian convicted on drink-drive charge6. Professor calls for…
READ MORERecently I was engrossed in an interview on BBC’s HARDTalk programme with the founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales (04/01/08). Wikipedia is very different from Encyclopedia, isn’t it?How? Then a question dawned on me. When it comes to understanding and intepreting the Bible how is such a process like the way Wikipedia works and how is…
READ MOREAbout 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.