leadership
I owe a lot to John Graham. So when I went to Whitcoulls intent on finding the Steve Jobs’ biography for some light Christmas reading, I was easily distracted by Bill Francis’ Sir John Graham: Sportsman, Master, Mentor – and devoured it in a couple of days. It was 1977. In their wisdom, my parents…
READ MOREThere is plenty of wisdom in Ecclesiastes, nowhere more than in ch7.2: “you’ll learn more at a funeral than at a party” (paraphrase mine). I’ve been going to a few funerals recently and learning lots as I do so. Last week it was Dr John Allen, remembered from my teenage days at Mt Albert Baptist…
READ MOREAh yes, one more post to mark my appreciation for John Stott. Here I countdown the ‘top ten’ books (out of the 50+ he has written) that have shaped my life. No easy task – but here we go… at number ten‘The Bible speaks today’ not only names Stott’s deep conviction (“God still speaks through…
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The Tour de France is entering its final stages. It makes for such compelling viewing. Not just because of the scenery and the competition, but because there is a ‘tour de leadership’ going on as well. Is there another sport which interfaces with leadership so fully as cycling – particularly this particular race? I doubt…
READ MORE[NB: My custom with this blog is to avoid using it as a place to re-preach my sermons and re-speak my talks. I figure once is enough for everyone, including me! But every now and then I make an exception, particularly as this blog has evolved into a personal filing system and I don’t want…
READ MOREI join the multitude of people across the time zones who will this day be thanking God for John Stott on this his 90th birthday. I cannot be as intimate or as profound as many but his impact on my life nonetheless has been enormous. The Apostle Paul once said “follow me, as I follow…
READ MOREWhen it comes to naming the biggest influences on my life, the task is easy. No human beings are more responsible for the shaping of my convictions than John Stott and DA Carson. It is a dead heat – and I am forever grateful. In my impressionable early twenties these two men helped me build…
READ MORE[Apologies – I can use this blog as a personal filing system for things I do not want to lose. This is one such time…] It looks like an ancient manuscript now. For 11+ years it was pinned above my desk as a prayer-full and personal resolution crafted to frame my time as Principal at…
READ MOREI continue to reflect on MP Chris Carter’s self-destruction on TV last week. I am not surprised that he has requested two months off work for health reasons. I do not know what his health issues are – but I remember wondering at the time if this guy was in burn-out mode. I hope Christian…
READ MORE… continued … In sorting through some boxes from my previous life (finally!) I came across some scruffy notes containing some reflections on leadership. With it coming up to the one year anniversary of moving on from a senior leadership role as Principal of Carey Baptist College, I thought to myself … why not? Drawing…
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.