church
2021 is a big year. It is 100 years since Barby’s father was born and 10 years since my father died—but also 100 years since John Stott was born and 10 years since John Stott died. These three have been the most influential men in my life. Here I’d like to focus on John Stott…
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“What do you bring back with you from the global church?” This was a question asked of me six months ago. I’ve been thinking about the answers ever since. What follows is a personal and a general response. I am not trying to defend a thesis, nor am I trying to gather all the exceptions. This is simply how…
READ MOREI love a good political cartoon. The New Testament scholar (at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, where John Stott studied), C. F. D. Moule, once observed that within its original audience, the parable of Jesus had numerous features in common with today’s political cartoon. That was the little spark that helped ignite my interest in the parables,…
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We arrived a little late to the party, but it was worth the wait. The Blessing Aotearoa New Zealand is exquisite as an expression of worship. Beautiful though it is as worship, I was even more stirred by its possibilities for mission. Not only was I stunned to see it on the news at the…
READ MOREIt is good to be home again in New Zealand. I enjoy being able to pop across to my mother’s home on Sunday evenings and watch the BBC’s Songs of Praise with her. But not today, as we are in covidian lockdown – again! With Songs of Praise I am not so keen on the choirs, the organs and…
READ MORE20/20 has always been associated with a clarity of vision, one that enables a certainty of purpose and a strength of step. But when 2020 finally arrived among us, it has brought confusion, uncertainty – and sickness. The irony is that those of us who have trumpeted our ‘wisdom, wealth and power’ down the decades,…
READ MOREEighteen days in self-isolation at Little Huia. What a gift from God to us through our friends, Jan & Murray. We rested, with such a comfy bed and a hot, wet shower. We watched, with the pandemic spreading so rapidly. We worked, with zooms starting to dictate our days and nights. We walked, with…
READ MOREWith a seminar to take in Delhi last Saturday, I decided on a (very) early Friday morning flight so that the afternoon could open up for a wander through Old Delhi. After dropping off my bag in Chhatarpur in the far south, I headed for the incomparable Yellow Line on the Metro and made my way…
READ MOREThe transition from train to plane can be tricky in India. Trains usually run late, often by some hours. So when I saw that our train was due to arrive in Kolkata at 0600 hours, I booked our onward flight to Bangalore for 3.20pm. Nine hours. That should be ample time methinks. The train pulled…
READ MORE‘An explosion of protest, a howl of rage’ was the headline catching my eye this week, especially when in concert with this photo. The Guardian, through word and image, was capturing what is happening in the world today. Hong Kong may well have been the ignition, but the protests have been spreading to Iraq and…
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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.