Featured Posts
Recent Posts
For a millennium, the Hagia Sophia was the largest cathedral in the world. It reaches all the way back to the worlds of Chrysostom and Constantine. When Istanbul was conquered by the Ottomans, it was turned into a mosque – and now it is a museum. The history is amazing – and so also is…
READ MOREIt is always great to be back in Delhi. On this visit I decided to make a different pilgrimage. When we first moved here in 1970, Delhi Bible Fellowship (later to be pastored by my future father-in-law, Charles Warren) was just getting started. There were different congregations around the city and then a combined service…
READ MOREA billboard caught my eye last week. The driver kindly stopped so that I could take a photo – although I could tell that he wondered what I was doing. He was insistent on stopping in front of the neighbouring billboard – but, no, this is the one I wanted: It is the conflictual relationship…
READ MOREGazing out the window thinking about God. That is what I’ve been doing this week. Situated at Siloam, on the fringe of Barapani (literally, ‘big water’) near Shillong in Northeast India, Barby and I have had a room that looks out across the lake to some rolling hills. As the light and the weather changes,…
READ MORETalking about religion can be a bit like talking about the traffic. Everywhere you go, people lament about how hard it is – and yet, in reality, it is all relative. While Bangaloreans and Aucklanders may both complain, driving in Bangalore is definitely more difficult than driving in Auckland. So it is with the religious…
READ MOREIf I was ever to paint a painting, my only option would be to paint by numbers. The entire endeavour is beyond me. However, if I was ever to write a book on preaching – something I think about periodically … but briefly – the latest option to come to mind is how to preach…
READ MOREThis hymn nourished me as a child. It still challenges me as an adult. The first two lines go like this: Take my life and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee. Then the lyrics go on a tour, covering my moments/days, my hands, feet, voice, lips, silver/gold, intellect, will, heart and love. Each time…
READ MOREAs a child August was kinda bland with a pinch of boring. Indian Independence Day came along, bang in the middle (15th), and after an early flag-raising anthem-singing service, the rest of the day was a holiday. Excellent. But that was pretty much it for August. Not much for a sentimental chap like me. But…
READ MOREI used to play a little football – or, soccer, as my American friends refer to it. Here the word ‘little’ refers both to time and talent. I didn’t play for long and I didn’t play very well. One of the challenges for me was that as I approached a position where I could shoot…
READ MORE
When my friend Pieter showed me this video of the maiden speech in the British parliament of the 20 year old Scot, Mhairi Black, my mind and imagination hatched a little plan. A bit like coming to a biblical text for the first time, with a view to preaching it. I set myself to look…
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.