preaching
The recent decade has seen a steady stream of books on preaching aimed at the beginner. Not only did this alter a worrying trend, it also provided me with plenty of inspiration for my primary calling – namely, the training of preachers in indigenous, grassroots settings in the majority world. But in this season of…
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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 MOREI have a friend called Fred. Over these next four weeks, Fred is hosting his own Art Exhibition, in Nelson (New Zealand), around the theme, Memories, A Nelson Childhood. I feel this exuberant delight for him. He’s going home to Nelson, with his family, to exhibit his art for the public. It is wonderful. Under…
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,…
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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 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 MOREOne of the best and most basic models for training preachers is The Five Looks, devised by Andrew Reid: Look Up (in prayer and faith); Look Down (in exegesis); Look Back and Forward (with biblical theology); and Look Here (in application). In our Langham training this model is often used to help develop sermons which target three criteria:…
READ MOREIt happens every now and then. Some jolly person bounces up to me and exclaims, ‘I was in your class thirty years ago.’ It is nice, even humbling. Deeper down, however, in a silent space, there is a shudder going on: ‘Ugh, I wonder what that course was like way back then?’. This is because I…
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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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.