media
Sixty-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 MOREIt is a principle of effective communication. Check out the Economist magazine. It is right there – always there – between the title of the article and the body of the article. A simple, single, summarising sentence. One of the secrets for TED-talk effectiveness is that a given talk can be captured in the length of a tweet.…
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 MORECNN does it. Amanpour and Anderson. Blitzer and Burnett. Cooper and Church. And that is just the ABCs – it keeps going all the way to Zakaria. The BBC does it as well, starting with Alagiah and Amroliwala. And please, please don’t get me started on Fox News… When these channels take a break in…
READ MOREDenzel (Washington) made me do it. The other night he pushed me over the edge. Here I sit, still recovering from the Fast & Furious family saying grace around the table at the end of a movie of excessive violence, destruction and abuse, and now … there sits Denzel. Struggling with alcoholism, there is this touching…
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Corruption. Prosperity teaching. ‘Big Man’ leadership. The evil trio. The devil’s trinity. Everywhere I go in this job, it does not take long for these three to surface in the conversation. I am just home from a visit to Ghana, and the combo was present there, too. It started at the airport, on arrival in…
READ MOREYachting in New Zealand has always turned my mind towards leadership and preaching. Ever since I read that Peter Blake’s secret of success with winning the America’s Cup was ‘spreading leadership throughout the organisation’, and wished that we leaders could adopt this mantra more often. Ever since I listened to Peter Montgomery’s radio and television…
READ MOREA little more from my “New Zealand is the most secular English-speaking country of all, even if I receive disbelieving looks from American, Canadian, British and Australian friends whenever I say so” file. This week I was in Sydney and a friend of mine expressed how he has regular opportunities in local civic contexts to…
READ MORESaying thanks. Building trust. The first principles of leadership. Study them deeply and then do them creatively and repetitively and you will be well on your way in leadership roles, large or small. Take trust, for example. How do you build it? Well, it operates like a bank account. The deposits are made early –…
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.