book review
It is more than twenty years ago now. My first effort at a series called ‘Brightening the Post-Christian Blues’ – through 1 Peter. The opportunities this letter creates for intersections of Word and World are striking. I love 1 Peter. It remains my favourite book from which to teach and preach… Then along comes Everyday Church by Tim Chester…
READ MOREWith that title you may be thinking this is one of my occasional posts on cricketing matters. It is not. Nor, quite obviously, is it dealing with matters pertaining to rugby. It is about preaching. I’ve always found it ironic that those who shout the loudest about their high view of preaching can be the…
READ MOREIt has been around for twenty years. I’ve been aware of it, but just never read it. But recently Langham’s Executive Director, Mark Hunt, gave me a copy of Gene Edwards’ A Tale of Three Kings. It tracks with David as he relates to Saul above him and then Absalom below him, giving the reader…
READ MOREYou know how a book can stay on your shelf and remain unread for years? Then you pick it up, get into it and exclaim ‘how come I didn’t read this ages ago?’. Well, let me introduce you to Cornelius Plantinga Jr.’s Beyond Doubt. As always, read on to the subtitle: ‘Faith-Building Devotions on Questions…
READ MORESome conversations are for keeping. Dinner with Conrad… in England. It was a cold wet night in Sheffield. I was perched at the end of a long table in a restaurant on a night set aside to celebrate the contribution of Jonathan & Margaret Lamb to Langham Partnership. Next to me was a new member…
READ MORE‘We do not care about a strange war fought by black people somewhere in the middle of Africa’ (334). So writes Jason Stearns in Dancing in the Glory of Monsters (2012). It is hard to argue with him. Truth be told, I don’t expect many of you to go on and finish this post. Built…
READ MOREI am often asked about books on preaching. My response heads in two directions. The first response is with newcomers to preaching in mind. Where do you start and in what order should you read the books? Then the other response is directed at experienced preachers. Maybe they need to be refreshed, or challenged –…
READ MOREBe it cricket, football, golf, tennis, rugby union, or rugby league – no one seems to be too sure about how they started. This just adds to the fun and the intrigue that comes with trying to tell the story. My friend, Jonathan (Robinson) gave me a copy of Jonathan (Rice’s) Start of Play (Prion,…
READ MOREOver my first two early jet-lagged mornings in our new home in Bangalore, I devoured (choosing my words carefully) Stuart Lange’s A Rising Tide: Evangelical Christianity in New Zealand (1930-1965). When I told him I was going to miss the book launch by a few days, Stuart popped around to our house with a signed…
READ MOREIf Barby and I were able to claim a commission for books we have recommended over the years, the justification for doing so would hover around just two. One would be John Baillie’s Diary of Private Prayer for which Barby has had a standing order in every second hand bookshop in NZ (or, so it would…
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.