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It has been a vintage decade for books that help preachers get started on the journey. My favourites include the ones by Chester & Honeysett (Gospel Centred Preaching); Leeman (Reverberation); Dever & Gilbert (Preach [Theology Meets Practice]); Motyer (Preaching?); Lamb (Preaching Matters); Capill (The Heart is the Target); Bartholomew (Excellent Preaching); Millar & Campbell (Saving…
READ MOREI am almost 60 years of age. Just time for one more job before I retire. What will it be? Easy peasy. What about becoming a travel agent cum tour guide, taking people around India? That’ll do just fine. I started working on my CV this week, by finding all the posts on this blog that…
READ MOREI should have anticipated the resonance that would happen. An old church building. In the mountains. In India. A concrete floor. Curved wooden window frames. Little chrysanthemum flowers in pots near the pulpit. Those woven plastic strips on the chairs. An auditorium filled with young people. A balcony. It just goes on and on… It…
READ MOREI don’t think I’ve ever read a book so slowly… “Well Paul, that is what happens when you stop to locate every place in Googlemaps and cross-reference every person in Wikipedia.” Yes, I know – but it was so captivating. Austria is now deep in my bucket-list and it has nothing to do with The…
READ MOREIn preparing for our youngest son’s wedding last month, I decided to refresh my heart and refocus my vision by reading a couple of books on marriage. I selected Ray Ortlund’s Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel as I was drawn to the author’s goal of developing a biblical theology of marriage. The Table of…
READ MOREI’ve been to France only once and that was for one day. I hopped on the ferry in Portsmouth one Saturday evening, sleeping diagonally on the tiny bed overnight and squeezing vertically into the shower in the early morning. I spent the Sunday near St Malo with my colleagues, Mike and Marie-Laure. Then it was…
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[12/03/23: With Andy returning home yesterday, after 2+ weeks in hospital with severe, unexplainable pain, it was good to remember these happier times—with him & Ines, Ruth & Graham]. Taking friends around Hamara Hindustan (“our India”, as this is where we grew up together) is one of our very favourite things to do. There is…
READ MOREThe first sentence in the ‘Series Preface’ will grab any teacher of preaching. The Artistry of Preaching series gives practical guidance on matters that receive insufficient attention in preaching literature yet are key for preachers who seek greater creative expression in their preaching (vii). The sentence grabbed me. I bought the series. One of my…
READ MORERoad trips in the US of A. One of my favourite things to do, although they are not as much fun on my own, as I was this time. After meetings in Miami, I took a flight to Charlotte, rented a car and drove off to visit some of the people under my watch. 1068…
READ MOREWhen you go walking in India, there is always so much to see. This week, after a trip of 40+ hours, Barby and I walked around a large block of Kammanahalli, here in Bangalore. It was India in microcosm. At one point, this sign outside an auto-mechanic’s shop caught my eye. I had a little…
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.