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Last week I sat in a cathedral thinking about mission… It was Holy Trinity Cathedral, in Auckland. We were there for the ordination into the priesthood of a close friend. It is a newer building, but still a cavernous space, providing a place where people gather. Down the sides are all these glass doors, enabling…
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 MOREI struggle to think of anything in the mission of God in the world today that enthuses me more than the work of Langham Literature. That day when my Africa Bible Commentary (ABC) arrived remains a vivid memory. I was in a seminar in the dining room at Carey Baptist College (Auckland) and Rachel, with…
READ MOREIn our church’s worship service last Sunday, our pastor observed that this had been the most divisive period of church life that he can remember. The issues around public worship and re-gathering together, when there are both vaccinated and unvaccinated people present, have been difficult. This division, even polarization in some settings, follows on…
READ MOREOne of the perverse joys in my life is to discover statistics in cricket that nobody else has noticed. I am not sure what you think this means. Maybe put me on a couch and offer some therapy? Maybe keep me in your prayers for a fuller, wider, deeper sanctification? Whatever you think best… For…
READ MOREIf you are attentive to the news, there is a lot of pain to feel in the world today. Income Gaps. Loneliness. Housing Affordability. Health Care Availability. Unemployment. Child Poverty. Gross Domestic Product. Tax Rates. Youth Suicide. Refugees. Homelessness. Fossil Fuels. Vaccination Rates. Broadband Speed. Mathematics Literacy. It goes on and on. The data is…
READ MOREI hear the word often enough, but I haven’t known what it means. To this uncertainty is added confusion because the only time I’ve used the word in the past, it is has been as a theological description — rather than a cultural one. So when Rodney Clapp’s Naming Neoliberalism: Exposing the Spirit of the…
READ MOREOne of the gracious privileges of my life was to be able to head off, as a 21 year old, to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS, near Chicago) to complete an MDiv degree. It shaped me, sandwiched as it was between the other profound ‘shapers’ — growing up in a culture-not-my-own (in India) and pastoring…
READ MOREAfter creating ‘lyrics for living’ to be the occasional equivalent of an archaeological dig into the world of ancient hymnody, for the second time in two months, I am reaching for a song written in 2021. What is happening to my world? Is lockdown getting to me? This time last week I was expanding my…
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…
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.