culture
The other day I did something I don’t often do. I purchased a rugby magazine. The cover had themes you might expect for a NZ rugby magazine: ‘world domination … secrets of the All Blacks’ success … why are the All Blacks so good?’ But it was an article tucked inside the back cover that…
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This book shifted me. Maybe I should say that in theory, it is shifting me – but whether anything happens in practice, time will tell. Lets start with a few appetizers: “We are oriented by our longings, directed by our desires” (11). “You are what you love because you live toward what you want” (13). “Our…
READ MOREThe other day I sat behind an older man clutching his ear with his hand during the singing. I picked what was going on. The music was too loud, but he desperately wanted to remain among the worshipping people of God. He wasn’t making a fuss, and clutching his ear seemed to be his best…
READ MORESixty-two. It was an impressive effort. Once I finished William Dalrymple’s White Mughals I turned to the Glossary and gave Barby the test. A bit of Hindustani here. A bit of Urdu and Persian over there. A lot of Koranic-Mosque terminology everywhere. But out of almost 140 words, she got 62 correct. Very impressive, don’t you…
READ MOREWhile this horrid nativism has been sweeping around the world like a stinky tide, I have been finding solace in a book. John Julius Norwich’s The Great Cities of History (and there is a ‘coffee table’ version, which would make a late, great Christmas gift!). 341 pages. 70 cities. That is less than five pages for each city.…
READ MOREIt always used to be one of the wonders of the (democratic) world. Not any more. As Election Day dawns here in India, my mind goes back thirty-five years to when I was a student in Chicago (yes – go, those Cubbies!). In those days I marveled at the way politics worked in the USA.…
READ MOREFor me, 53 days without flying in a plane is a break all of its own – but to be home again in New Zealand, with its beauty of scenery, friends and family has been a delight … even though somewhat exhausting. Best food Cafe Anatolia in Levin (Turkish). Greatest act of grace …
READ MOREWe wanted to do something different. We billed it as ‘a multi-sensory evening of interaction’. We called it Chat with Chaat, as we braided together the eating of street food from Delhi (chaat) and the interaction around cross-cultural conversations (chat) … with some games (one of which is described here). We’ve hosted five of these…
READ MOREOne of the things to love about the Olympics is that it lifts the awareness of the peoples of the world. But a bit like the rainy season, or springtime, the season of the Olympics passes and we all return to the national corners from whence we came. What then? How do we keep alive…
READ MOREIt is eight years since Barby and I shifted our focus from New Zealand to the peoples of the majority world. Back then, in NZ, voices reminded us of the need to be resourcing mission with inspiring stories of relevance. Now, returning to NZ for two months (August-September), I find that our experiences have drawn…
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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.