Featured Posts
Recent Posts
The author was new to me. The title didn’t grab me. It was first published 15 years ago without ever catching my eye. In the end I didn’t even buy the book. It arrived in my mailbox a couple of years ago, as a gift. Is it any wonder that it just sat on my…
READ MORE
Somewhere along the way I read about a survey of Indians in which Jodhpur was rated to be the most beautiful fort in their country. In a country, and a state, famous for its many forts—that is saying something. Just in passing can I also say that the potential database for such a survey is…
READ MORE
Barby and I are making our first visit back to India since our rushed departure with the arrival of the pandemic in March 2020, almost four years ago. A Church We were keen to linger long enough in Bangalore to make it possible to visit the church we attended. We had loved our routine. Being…
READ MORE
The news came as a bit of a shock. We had just travelled for 24+ hours—from Thessaloniki, in Greece, to Malang, in Indonesia. After one night’s sleep, we were informed that the trip to Mt Bromo would begin at 12.15am the next morning so that we could catch the sunrise over one of Indonesia’s active…
READ MORE
I’m never too sure whether being in transit at an airport constitutes a visit to a country? What do you think? I guess Tom Hanks of Terminal (2004) fame might have an opinion on the matter… On one occasion I had a transit that settled a key transition in my life. It was on a…
READ MORE
Many years ago my mother gave me a picture for my birthday. It is a sketch of that quintessential English scene—a towering medieval cathedral overlooking a tree-ringed cricket field. As she gave it to me, she announced, “Your two loves”. I could tell she was very pleased with herself! Church. Cricket. It’s true. They are…
READ MORE
As you can see, I am blogging again, after a four month break—but now using a new platform, with a fresh address/URL. This platform has new features, including the facility to sign-up to receive posts directly into your in-box, as well as the opportunity to feature three posts on the home page. My first set…
READ MOREIn my recent post about Mekdes Haddis’ book, A Just Mission: Laying Down Power and Embracing Mutuality, I promised to add a further post with her wisdom regarding short-term mission. She offers five questions and seven practices… Five Questions On her website she expands on these questions a little bit more. Seven Practices nice chatting…
READ MORE
In these pages Mekdes Haddis addresses “a broken mission system … (where) we hurt culture” (x). It is her conviction that “by laying down power we will gain the ability to embrace mutuality. It is not easy, yet it’s the necessary work we must do as Western Christians” (109). It is a confronting book. I…
READ MORE
This is a biography, but not as we’ve known them. While it is about Keller, it is told through the “story of his spiritual and theological influences” (xii). So it felt like being drawn into the footnotes of his life, not just the main text, or even the headlines. It was refreshing. It became this…
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.