travel
I love the way Ephesians opens: “in Ephesus … in Christ Jesus” (1.1). Chapters 1-3 focuses on the ‘in Christ Jesus’, while chapters 4-6 leans across to the ‘in Ephesus’. It is the double identity of the believer—and it makes for some fun sermon series, like “In Invercargill, in Christ” and “In Kyrgyzstan, In Christ”…
READ MORECovid has turned my heart towards the poor once again. Poverty is not just a material issue. It is a choice issue. The wealthy have options, by definition. They can choose to be vaccinated, or not to be — while so many among the poor just keep waiting for a vaccine, a second vaccine and…
READ MOREYesterday, Covid-19 came close to heart and home, with the death of my friend, Pastor Ohm Prakash, in Pune (India). As is the custom, the funeral took place within a few hours, with a livestream on YouTube which I was able to watch. I am always a bit slow to roll out the great…
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I often dream of travelling back in time. I love history and think it would be so cool to pop in, here and there. However, right now, sitting in Auckland’s strictest lockdown yet, it is memories, not dreams, that fill my imagination. I’ve been reflecting on the great privilege of my working life — spending…
READ MOREI’ve never really been a podcast person — until I was introduced to The Rest is History by my friend, Mark. Barby and I no longer drive those long distances, but when we did, I would download a few episodes and we would partake — from the signature tune, to the sparkling rapport between the hosts…
READ MOREIt is 500 days (exactly) since we left Bangalore, with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. What a week that was, back in March 2020. After five months without any international travel for Langham (my longest period out of the skies), I had five complex trips planned in the following three months — and I…
READ MOREMy first brush with Ernest Shackleton did not end happily. I was on one of those long, lonely trips — and feeling so inadequate as a leader. With me to read, I had Shackleton’s Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer. But I felt battered by it. It made things worse. I don’t do heroic…
READ MOREWe departed from Auckland just hours before a lockdown. We returned to Auckland just hours before another lockdown. It was all kinda odd — and yet we were so conscious of how blessed we were to be free to travel, even in that little window of time. After teaching a weeklong intensive course, Preaching and Communication…
READ MOREFifteen years ago, on one summery afternoon in the staff room at Carey Baptist College, Mike Crudge suggested to me that I should start writing a blog. And so it started … with a post entitled, Opening Our Own Document (15 February 2006). And 700 posts later, I guess that is exactly what I’ve continued…
READ MOREIn January each year two lists are published. 1. List One is the Open Doors’ World Watch List (WWL), identifying the countries where it is ‘most dangerous to follow Jesus’. Persecution is ‘any hostility experienced as a result of one’s identification with Christ’. Although people will quibble, the methodology looks pretty sophisticated, with a simple summary here. Every year…
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.