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England starts its 1000th cricket Test match later today. Imagine all the joy and despair wrapped up in that unadorned statistic. The media is awash with the experts picking their best ever English Test matches and the fans picking their best ever English team. I remember many of the former but, as one might expect…
READ MOREOver this past weekend my (working) life has flashed before my eyes. Barby and I arrived in Penang (Malaysia) on Saturday evening for a little holiday. The legacy of being a former British colony can be seen everywhere, like in the name of the main city – George Town. On arrival we went for a…
READ MORE45 degrees outside. The electricity was failing regularly. Even when the air-conditioning was succeeding, it was struggling to pull the temperature below 35 degrees inside. It was so hot. Next stop? The UK. We stepped into a season of glorious weather. Mid-high 20s. Bright, blue sunny skies. The breeze was so cool, it felt like…
READ MOREEclectic. Always liked that word. Pop across to the on-line dictionary and it means ‘deriving ideas, style, or tastes from a broad and diverse range of sources’. I like being eclectic when it comes to reading books on preaching. Here are four which I’ve enjoyed so far in 2018. Two of the first volumes in The…
READ MOREI don’t often have the opportunity to wander through a pentecostal megachurch, but I did so yesterday. I was arrested by this bold, beautiful affirmation of biblical truth adorning different walls within the sprawling church buildings. So compelling. I’ve been here before on this blog, twelve years ago (with such helpful additional comments from others), discussing the…
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After holding our annual leadership team meetings in Lima (Peru), Antalya (Turkey), and Bogor (Indonesia) – this year it was the turn of Barcelona (Spain). Seven full days. So it is good to get away from all the work and have some fun together. On the Monday morning, we walked to the Basilica of the…
READ MOREWhen I am invited to speak somewhere, I find that if a topic, or approach, fills the imagination quickly, then this is usually God graciously at work in me. He plants an idea in my mind and by doing so confirms to me the rightness of saying ‘yes’. When I say ‘no’, it is often…
READ MOREJust at the moment it might be better if you didn’t talk to me about how God’s timing is perfect. My much-loved father-in-law (hitherto known as ‘Dad’, as that is who he was for me) died on the first day of this week, the biggest week of the year in my Langham work. As today…
READ MOREI love sports. In recent years, with the Spirit’s help, I’ve become less obsessive (and less idolatrous) with that ‘love’ and a whole lot less nationalistic as well. Rather sadly, with my current nomadic life, I am rarely able to watch live-sports much anymore. But then there is the internet. It allows you to follow…
READ MOREIrby. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that surname before. Have you?! Maybe I move in the wrong circles… When I discovered that a ‘Miss Irby’ was an early missionary to Bosnia, it took me awhile to get the name clear in my mind. A visit to her graveside in Sarajevo helped me. What a…
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.