travel
After ‘making a mess in the kitchen, it is time to put a meal on the table’ – a meal that is nutritious, attractive and ordered. That is how my Pakistani friends describe the journey from text to sermon. I love it. Engaging the biblical passage, using skills of observation and exegesis, does make a…
READ MOREThe Health & Safety folks in New Zealand would have a stroke on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Fences are few and far between. Books have been written to make those Health & Safety faces nod up and down knowingly: Over the Edge: Gripping Accounts of All Known Fatal Mishaps in the Most Famous of…
READ MOREI am trying to do it more often. On those occasions when Barby is able to travel with me, we are stealing a few days and going off together to enjoy the sights a bit. Earlier this week, after arriving in Phoenix, we headed up to Flagstaff (‘up’ is the operative word – 7230 feet…
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 MOREWe wanted to do something different. We billed it as ‘a multi-sensory evening of interaction’. We called it Chat with Chaat, as we braided together the eating of street food from Delhi (chaat) and the interaction around cross-cultural conversations (chat) … with some games (one of which is described here). We’ve hosted five of these…
READ MOREOne of the things to love about the Olympics is that it lifts the awareness of the peoples of the world. But a bit like the rainy season, or springtime, the season of the Olympics passes and we all return to the national corners from whence we came. What then? How do we keep alive…
READ MOREIt is eight years since Barby and I shifted our focus from New Zealand to the peoples of the majority world. Back then, in NZ, voices reminded us of the need to be resourcing mission with inspiring stories of relevance. Now, returning to NZ for two months (August-September), I find that our experiences have drawn…
READ MOREMake it yellow. That is my advice. If you have just a day in this historic city with so many sights, then spend it on the Yellow Metro line. Check into the simple, central and adequate YMCA accommodation in Jai Singh Rd. Get a good sleep. Breakfast at 7am – and out the door at…
READ MOREI settled into my seat. Some sleep on the overnight plane meant that some sleep on the midday bus was not going to happen. So I leaned back and zoned-out before the upcoming conference captured me. But gradually three conversations, from further back in the bus, began to come into focus. I listened. In each…
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.