spirituality
One of the definitive Indian experiences is to travel through the dirty and chaotic city of Agra, turn a corner, and be stunned so suddenly by the marble magnificence of the Taj Mahal. This juxtaposition of rubbish and beauty captures so much of India. You see it on any visit to any bazaar. Noise and…
READ MORETwo biographies are on my mind and in my heart. I read the first one this past weekend. DA (Don) Carson’s story of his Dad, Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson (Crossway, 2008). The simple story of an ordinary man. As I read, I was reminded again of how…
READ MOREThis past week I made my first trip back to Carey Baptist College to be interviewed as the weekly community lunch came to a close. The interview covered all sorts of topics. Early the next morning I received an email from someone whose opinion I respect, suggesting that I had been “strident” and “disparaging” in…
READ MOREThis is Part Two of my case for re-introducing some hymns into the playlist of the contemporary church. Outside of a well-worn 3 or 4 (Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, Great is Thy Faithfulness…) – we do not sing hymns any more. Part One – a prayer-full playlist – is here. I trawled the…
READ MOREA recent post revisited this vexed area of what we sing as part of our worship of God. I tried to make a case for re-introducing some hymns into the playlist of the contemporary church. Outside of a well-worn 3 or 4 (Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, Great is Thy Faithfulness…) – we do…
READ MOREWhenever I go to the dentist I think about sin. This is because tooth decay is so similar to sin decay. Little openings which grow worse when simple disciplines are overlooked. [Or, when we allow the wrong things to fill our mouths]. Sow an attitude and you reap a habit, a character, and then a…
READ MOREJohn Stott’s 51st – and final – book has been published. Mark Meynell, a current member of the All Soul’s staff and a fine preacher (and blogger!) himself, has written a wonderful review of The Radical Disciple here. [By the way, “Uncle John” is the loving and respectful way in which those who know him…
READ MOREThere is something of the concentric circles in this trilogy… We shift from the personal character of the leader (vol 1) to the pragmatics of leadership, specially in its use of power (vol 2) and now the politics of leadership as we discover its influence in the broad sweep of large populations of people over…
READ MOREI don’t usually rehash sermons on this blog but on this occasion I have found the four imperatives in 2 Timothy 2.1-7 to be so compelling – particularly as I work away at the interface between the Post-Christian West (P-CW) and Post-Western Christianity (P-WC)… “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2.1)…
READ MOREVolume Two is subtitled “training in the exercise of power” – and that is exactly what the book covers. Volume One was about locating the source of freedom as a leader and Volume Two moves on to articulate what it means to be a leader – and it is about power. Simon Walker opens with…
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.