langham
I have vague memories from school of a chap called Milton writing a poem called Paradise Lost. Well, this is not that Milton. Nor is this that paradise. And this sure ain’t no poem. This is Giles Milton telling the story of the ‘lost paradise’ of Smyrna (Izmir today). Here, watch some of it for…
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It was my very first training seminar with Langham Preaching. April 2009. We were based at the OMF Guest House in Chiangmai, Thailand. As I wandered the property, I came across this striking quotation on one of the walls: So striking, in fact, that I stopped to take its photo! But is it really true?…
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Ten years ago, Ode to Georgetown was my response to being surprised by grief when the only church I had ever pastored closed its doors. Last week brought the news that the theological college which I attended, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS), was to close most of its Chicagoland campus. I have been feeling a…
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Well, this is exciting… After six years we have set our eyes on the cover of our new book. Two Kiwis and two Latinos, have been working together on Zoom across two languages. Geoff has still not met Wilfredo or Esteban! I hope I can be present when it happens. We could have published the…
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I am neither painter nor poet, musician nor actor. With Art and Music and Drama classes at school, I was present in body—but absent in spirit and skill. However, as a teacher, there has been the occasional flare of creativity in the crafting of assignments. One of my favourites is one of my first ones.…
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I’ve been feeling a hymn-shaped gap opening up in my spirituality. No one sings the ones I truly love anymore. I miss their sustaining strength in my life. So, I’ve decided to do something about it. I’ve dug out the old hymnbook from which I selected songs as a pastor. And I am working my…
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Just when I thought that it could not be possible to have another first-hand account of the impact of John Stott’s life (d. 2011), along comes this book by his close friend, John Wyatt. I am always ready to learn more about John Stott, but also about friendship. It fascinates me. It keeps coming up…
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Today is Day 56—and on Day 57 we board a flight for home. There has been so much to absorb as Barby and I have encountered the people of God in different places. el-christo, in bolivia A few days before we left NZ, I discovered that I had five sessions to give in Pakistan. Yikes.…
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There is something pleasing about image and word working in concert together, isn’t there? I was reminded of this again with a visit from my friend—and close colleague in Langham Partnership for more than 15 years—Pieter Kwant. the son, with song Pieter and Elria, who had popped-in for three days the week before, have a…
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It is clever, isn’t it? The enduring inability of foreigners to spell (and pronounce) the name of their country has led to a marketing campaign, with everything from t-shirts to coffee cups, reminding us to get our vowels right. And if that strategy proves to be unsuccessful, there is always the fallback Bart Simpson option:…
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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.