culture
One thing life has shown me is that ‘post-romantic’ works better as a descriptor for music, than it does for marriage. While I have little background, and less ability, in music [NB: I find it hard to clap and sing at the same time], my soul seems to recognise a post-romantic composer when it hears…
READ MORE“Oops!… I did it again.” Yep — reading a book while pursuing every imaginable Wikipedia, Google Maps and YouTube distraction. Why is the story so compelling? It’s been called the ‘Stalingrad of the East’. ‘Britain’s Thermopylae’. More significantly, ‘in 2013, it was voted as Britain’s greatest battle after a debate at the National Army…
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Over the years I have enjoyed taking two pilgrimages. One is to Rangihoua Bay, about 200km north of Auckland — and Marsden Cross, the site of the first preaching of the gospel here in Aotearoa New Zealand, in 1814. On one occasion, as a way to celebrate my 50th birthday, 30 friends joined me in…
READ MORENot so long ago I failed an online Intercultural Competency quiz. Yikes. That does not sound so good for someone in my line of work. It is embarassing. I resolved to broaden my reading and have set a summer goal of reading books originating from different continents. This past summer it was Africa. I made…
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Last Monday was World Mother-Language Day. Al Jazeera celebrated the day on their Interactives page by collecting 25 proverbs from 25 different languages, recited by speakers of that language. If you scroll down this page, you’ll discover it. It is very cool. This comes a couple of days after I came across Hinemoa Elder’s AROHA:…
READ MOREIt took me a bit by surprise, but there has been just the whiff of exile about living back in Aotearoa New Zealand. ‘Exile’ is a rich biblical metaphor and I’ve been helped by leaning into it. It seems to capture many of my reflections, attitudes and emotions. How do you live well in…
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The name ‘Barby’ comes up frequently in this blog. In all likelihood, Barby and I first encountered each other in a church creche in the Himalayan foothills of India. We did a lot of schooling together, especially the high school years in boarding school, during which time we became good friends. It started in a…
READ MORECovid has turned my heart towards the poor once again. Poverty is not just a material issue. It is a choice issue. The wealthy have options, by definition. They can choose to be vaccinated, or not to be — while so many among the poor just keep waiting for a vaccine, a second vaccine and…
READ MOREI hear the word often enough, but I haven’t known what it means. To this uncertainty is added confusion because the only time I’ve used the word in the past, it is has been as a theological description — rather than a cultural one. So when Rodney Clapp’s Naming Neoliberalism: Exposing the Spirit of the…
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.