leadership
I love a good political cartoon. The New Testament scholar (at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, where John Stott studied), C. F. D. Moule, once observed that within its original audience, the parable of Jesus had numerous features in common with today’s political cartoon. That was the little spark that helped ignite my interest in the parables,…
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Earlier this month, in the space of 24 hours, two video clips arrived in my in-box. One is nine minutes in length. The other is six minutes. Both were recorded a long time ago and are rather limited, technically. Both feature men who were born in the same decade and then who died in the…
READ MORE20/20 has always been associated with a clarity of vision, one that enables a certainty of purpose and a strength of step. But when 2020 finally arrived among us, it has brought confusion, uncertainty – and sickness. The irony is that those of us who have trumpeted our ‘wisdom, wealth and power’ down the decades,…
READ MOREWhen it comes to TV dramas, nobody does it better than the Brits. Nobody. This is a law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be altered. And so it came to pass, with a nudge from our daughter and a shared Netflix account to help welcome us home, that Barby and I discovered Shetland. It…
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Television can provide such a window onto the soul of a nation. Whenever I’m travelling in unfamiliar countries, I like having a TV to watch. The content. The style. The advertisements. The agenda. The people. The popular. It goes on and on… It is a window that fascinates me. Over the past seven years, when…
READ MOREBoarding School?! “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” As a child, it didn’t feel like it could get much worse than saying goodbye to Mum & Dad at the Old Delhi Bus Station, with the prospect of the forthcoming semester at Woodstock School doing its best to simulate an…
READ MOREThe ‘search’ function on this blog is amazing. Within seconds, I can find lost thoughts. Within minutes, I can gather material for a talk. It is like my own ‘illustration file’ which I make available to others who pass by. I love it like that. Another feature of this blog is taking opportunities to bear…
READ MOREEighteen days in self-isolation at Little Huia. What a gift from God to us through our friends, Jan & Murray. We rested, with such a comfy bed and a hot, wet shower. We watched, with the pandemic spreading so rapidly. We worked, with zooms starting to dictate our days and nights. We walked, with…
READ MOREMesmerizing. This clip was sent to me by a friend in Hyderabad. When I found it online, this was the word used in one of the comments. I can only agree. Mesmerizing. I’ve watched it so many times. I went for a little surf to learn a little more. The guy on the right, Shankar…
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When images like these ones went viral on the internet a year ago, my bucket-list had some serious adjustments made to it. “Some day I just have to go to this place.” It did not take long. On our return to South Asia a few weeks ago, I engineered a right hand turn at Singapore…
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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.