spirituality
The history of Aotearoa-New Zealand can be retold in a minor key. Every couple of decades a disaster seems to strike which pours a deep sadness into a generation of Kiwis and adds to our self-understanding as a nation. The Pike River mine disaster prompted me to post on this theme a couple of years ago.…
READ MOREFinding ways to engage meaningfully with the Bible in the midst of traversing time zones is one of life’s challenges. In 2012 I decided to focus on one biblical book for the entire year: Revelation. I blogged about the experience here and here. It was so worthwhile I’ve decided to do it all again in 2013.…
READ MOREAs I travel overseas training preachers, there is a Maori word that so often slips from my lips. Before I know it, out it comes – and then I have to explain what I mean. That is when things get complicated. I stumble away and invariably the conversation shifts to another topic, as I am…
READ MOREOver Christmas I spent time getting to know Aung San Suu Kyi. I started with Justin Wintle’s book, Perfect Hostage, picked up at the bookshop in the departure area of Phnom Penh airport. Given the recent developments in the story, it is a bit dated (2007). However I found it valuable to begin my pilgrimage with…
READ MOREAnd so when I come across a you-tube video clip to use in this blog, what do I do? I click on share and then I select embed. The identity of the video clip comes up as a series of letters and numbers. I cut and paste this into my post. I click save, releasing the…
READ MOREBeryl was older than both my parents. I’d known her for more than 40 years – as ‘Auntie Beryl’ in my days as a missionary-kid (MK). Auntie Beryl lingered with us and took an interest in our little MK lives. We loved her. Auntie Beryl died earlier this month. Some years ago she had asked…
READ MOREIt has been a long time coming. The final frontier. Through these 29 years in New Zealand, it is the only part of the country in which we have never holidayed. The East Cape. Not any more. Barby and I – together with our daughter Bethany – have just returned from a week travelling around the…
READ MOREI return to a favourite theme. Has there been a better season for (evangelical) theological education in New Zealand than this current one? I don’t think so (NB: I’ve touched on this topic here and here and here). For example, Carey Baptist College is in full bloom, while Laidlaw College has a compelling vision driving it forward. The two colleges complement…
READ MOREIt is one of the most eloquent of all Christian truths – the imago dei. Human beings are made in the image of God. There is a God-likeness about us which grants every person a dignity. ‘Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness’ (Gen 1.27). Imagine what the world would be…
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.