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When it comes to TV dramas, nobody does it better than the Brits. Nobody. This is a law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be altered. And so it came to pass, with a nudge from our daughter and a shared Netflix account to help welcome us home, that Barby and I discovered Shetland. It…
READ MOREThere are times when worship can be a bit of a worry. Here is one example that came to mind this week, for reasons I’ll explain later. There are two songs ‘out there’ with the same first line: Jesus, lover of my soul. One, written in 1993, starts like this: Jesus, lover of my soul; Jesus, I…
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Television can provide such a window onto the soul of a nation. Whenever I’m travelling in unfamiliar countries, I like having a TV to watch. The content. The style. The advertisements. The agenda. The people. The popular. It goes on and on… It is a window that fascinates me. Over the past seven years, when…
READ MOREBoarding School?! “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” As a child, it didn’t feel like it could get much worse than saying goodbye to Mum & Dad at the Old Delhi Bus Station, with the prospect of the forthcoming semester at Woodstock School doing its best to simulate an…
READ MOREThe ‘search’ function on this blog is amazing. Within seconds, I can find lost thoughts. Within minutes, I can gather material for a talk. It is like my own ‘illustration file’ which I make available to others who pass by. I love it like that. Another feature of this blog is taking opportunities to bear…
READ MOREEighteen days in self-isolation at Little Huia. What a gift from God to us through our friends, Jan & Murray. We rested, with such a comfy bed and a hot, wet shower. We watched, with the pandemic spreading so rapidly. We worked, with zooms starting to dictate our days and nights. We walked, with…
READ MORENot sure I’ve ever felt so torn. The burden of so much suffering, so much death around the world, in the knowledge that the virus is yet to ‘hit’ many of the most vulnerable people. It takes me back to that 2004 tsunami. And yet as I listen to people, one-by-one, so often I hear…
READ MOREThe name ‘E. Stanley Jones’ will not mean much to most of the people reading this post. But hang in with me here, OK?! You’ll enjoy this one, I promise. E. Stanley Jones was a key figure in the church in India in the early twentieth century. My father’s own heart was drawn to giving his…
READ MOREIt may not have quite the same ring as ‘On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me’ – but on the first day of self-isolation I did read a book about true love. Yes, an entire book. On the first full day of self-isolation. After travelling for almost 24 hours to…
READ MOREWith a seminar to take in Delhi last Saturday, I decided on a (very) early Friday morning flight so that the afternoon could open up for a wander through Old Delhi. After dropping off my bag in Chhatarpur in the far south, I headed for the incomparable Yellow Line on the Metro and made my way…
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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.