preaching
While it needs a bit of a haircut, it still retains its charm. This is often the case with botanical gardens established during the colonial era. Aburi, north of Accra (Ghana), is no exception. Among the many exotic highlights, two trees caught my eye. The first is ‘the strangler tree’. A tiny parasite settles into…
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There is a post that I’ve wanted to write for years. C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity is remarkable for many reasons, but the one I’ve wanted to explore is its illustrations. Dozens and dozens of them. Simple. Obvious. Clear. Mostly finding the spiritually significant in the utterly everyday which is the hallmark of effective illustrating. Laying the familiar…
READ MOREOver the years of writing this blog I have avoided posting links to sermons I’ve preached. It doesn’t suit the genre to which I have been committed – namely, ‘nice chatting’. This blog is about chatting away to myself about things I am ‘unpacking’ around me. I do this for my own benefit, helping to…
READ MOREIt all started with wanting to describe the kind of preacher we wanted to produce, under God’s gracious hand, through Langham Preaching’s ministry. We settled on five descriptions: (a) confident in conviction; (b) faithful to the text; (c) clear in presentation; (d) relevant to the audience; (e) Christlike in character. Then we moved across to…
READ MORE“Imagine the biblical writer sitting in the front row as you preach your sermon from their text. Which way is the head nodding? How would you describe the look on the face?” This is such a useful approach to take in the training of preachers. It always has an impact. A few years ago I…
READ MOREChurch as it is meant to be. That is what I remember from my first visit to Spreydon. Struggling as a pastor of a little church ‘on the south side of the tracks’ in distant Invercargill I, like dozens of other pastors around New Zealand, made my pilgrimage to Spreydon and came away with my…
READ MOREIt has been a conspiracy. This week Dr Seuss and my grandchildren, Micah and Amaliya, have gathered forces to remind me once again of my affection for the letter V. Many years ago I did a series of mission-themed talks over a weekend. On the Saturday morning, over a breakfast, I thought I’d be a…
READ MOREIt had been a long trip. Two overnight flights, including one in United’s impossible economy class. I did arrive, finally, at Bogota’s flash airport at 5am, to be greeted by my friend and colleague, Jorge. It was a quick trip to his home – and a bed – only to be greeted by this confronting…
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This book shifted me. Maybe I should say that in theory, it is shifting me – but whether anything happens in practice, time will tell. Lets start with a few appetizers: “We are oriented by our longings, directed by our desires” (11). “You are what you love because you live toward what you want” (13). “Our…
READ MOREThe other day I sat behind an older man clutching his ear with his hand during the singing. I picked what was going on. The music was too loud, but he desperately wanted to remain among the worshipping people of God. He wasn’t making a fuss, and clutching his ear seemed to be his best…
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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.