cricket
Somewhere along the way I read about a survey of Indians in which Jodhpur was rated to be the most beautiful fort in their country. In a country, and a state, famous for its many forts—that is saying something. Just in passing can I also say that the potential database for such a survey is…
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Many years ago my mother gave me a picture for my birthday. It is a sketch of that quintessential English scene—a towering medieval cathedral overlooking a tree-ringed cricket field. As she gave it to me, she announced, “Your two loves”. I could tell she was very pleased with herself! Church. Cricket. It’s true. They are…
READ MOREOne of the perverse joys in my life is to discover statistics in cricket that nobody else has noticed. I am not sure what you think this means. Maybe put me on a couch and offer some therapy? Maybe keep me in your prayers for a fuller, wider, deeper sanctification? Whatever you think best… For…
READ MORECricket is such an odd sport. “OK, settle down, sceptics and cynics 😀. I hear you, but this is not your moment.” The oddity I am wanting to observe is that when men’s cricket is played on the international stage, there are not one, but three, varieties to the game. What other sport is like…
READ MOREI was on the ferry to Manly, in Sydney. I disembarked. I had a few hours to spare, before the start of a conference for teachers of preaching in nearby Dee Why. My eyes noticed a billboard on a cinema — near the ferry terminal, as I remember it (although Google maps provides no such…
READ MORESomeone, somewhere recommended this book to me. Whoever you are, wherever you are — thank-you! Not only did Alan Kreider’s The Patient Ferment of the Early Church push a few buttons for me, it polished them — four of them, in particular. 1. Patience One of the first impressions for me in returning to New Zealand…
READ MOREAs I write, India and New Zealand are battling it out in a cricket Test match in Christchurch. When this happens, it doesn’t take much to transport me back to my childhood in India and the way it gave me my love for the game. Although we moved to India when I was 3 years…
READ MOREEvery aspiring cricket player, at some point in their career, ends up playing Monopoly with the Australian commentators, hearing them say either ‘Send to Jail’ or ‘Pass Go and Collect $200’, as they survey the player’s talent. In the years of Richie Benaud & Bill Lawry, not only were these guys so informed about the…
READ MOREIt has been awhile since a post on cricket. I am sure you have been disappointed. My therapist, nurturing me through the stages of grief after the shattering World Cup final loss, tells me that this is a good time to write, to reflect and to work-out some of the sadness. I love writing about…
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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.