family
Before I move on from my eleven week sojourn in India, here are some of the memories which will linger: As foreign missionary numbers have declined the growth in the number of Indians moving cross-culturally within India is staggering. We kept bumping into some of the 50,000 Indians who have heard this call of God…
READ MOREYears ago I remember my father-in-law expressing a reluctance to offer seminars on parenting. I think I am beginning to understand his reasons… There is just something about parenting. You never feel like an expert. There is no clear pattern of ’cause and effect’ because nothing seems to guarantee anything. Great parents can have such…
READ MOREThis week I received a photo from India of my brother, Mark, with Savitri. When we were children in India, Savitri used to help my mother around the home. In Hindi we called her our “aiyah”. She was part of the family. We loved her and she loved us. Over the intervening forty years we…
READ MOREDuring a recent ‘tour of service’ with Langham Preaching in Vanuatu I was impacted by families – four families, to be precise. from england and germany to new zealand The Shudall family. I like to think of them as missionaries to New Zealand where Andy works as Head of Training for TSCF (the IFES-affiliate) –…
READ MORETwo biographies are on my mind and in my heart. I read the first one this past weekend. DA (Don) Carson’s story of his Dad, Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson (Crossway, 2008). The simple story of an ordinary man. As I read, I was reminded again of how…
READ MOREThis past week I made my first trip back to Carey Baptist College to be interviewed as the weekly community lunch came to a close. The interview covered all sorts of topics. Early the next morning I received an email from someone whose opinion I respect, suggesting that I had been “strident” and “disparaging” in…
READ MOREToday is ANZAC Day in New Zealand. It is when we remember those who have died in wars – with a particular focus on Gallipoli (Turkey) in World War 1. My mother’s Uncle Edgar is one of those who died in Gallipoli. Today I heard my mum read a poem written by Edgar’s mother Maria…
READ MOREI am so loving this new picture of my son Stephen. I just had to post it with a few comments… Stephen finished his BA/LLB(Hons) and immediately headed off to Uganda to work as a Volunteer with the Refugee Law Project at Makerere University in Kampala. It will be twelve months in a couple of…
READ MOREI like this word “noughty”. It keeps popping up as a description of the years from 2000-2009. I had to use it in a post! So here are my top ten unforgettable moments from the Noughties (roughly in chronological order): #1 standing at a gravesideThis had always been our dream. Travelling up and around and…
READ MORELater today I head off for my first ever visit to Papua New Guinea where we will be launching the work of Langham Preaching. More than 100 pastors and leaders will be gathering from around the country… This follows visits to Thailand (2x), Solomon Islands, Pakistan, China, Uganda, India, Singapore, and Cambodia. What a year…
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.