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When we had a little book written on my father’s life, we called it Surprised by Obedience. That title seemed to catch the twists and turns of his life and the way God kept calling him away from areas of proven skill and gifting. [NB: I’ve posted some tributes to my Dad here and here and here].…
READ MORE‘Don’t focus on digging the garden of scripture for them. Give them the tools that can keep them digging the garden for themselves for the rest of their lives.’ This would be one of the first pieces of advice I’d give to theological educators today. Partly because it is what I appreciated so much in…
READ MOREI was looking over the shoulder of my son as he completed a questionnaire the other day. It was for a study on New Zealand attitudes and values. It came from the department of a reputable university. A statement caught my eye. Admittedly, some of the statements have the spark of inflammatory about them –…
READ MOREI am a bit odd. I know it. I don’t complain about Auckland traffic (because compared with much of the world, it is pretty good). I’d welcome a day when an old song is prized above a new song, particularly on Sundays (because the lyrics so often voice a well-worn trail deep into the human…
READ MOREGood preaching engages both the Word and the world. It is about being faithful to a content, but also to a context. In our Langham training I like to develop this in an interactive way. Participants reflect on the big issues in personal/family life, local church life – and then life in their wider society. When…
READ MORESo clear is the memory of my first sighting of the phrase ‘chronological snobbery’ that it took me just 14 seconds to find it again – 25 years later. It comes up in JI Packer’s final chapter in the book edited by Carson & Woodbridge, Scripture and Truth. The phrase originates with CS Lewis and Packer describes…
READ MOREIt has been awhile since a movie has grabbed my theological imagination quite like Ruby Sparks. A sleepy midnight viewing on an airplane was quickly followed by a visit to United Video and a more engaged viewing on terra firma. One synopsis of the movie goes like this: “Calvin is a genius novelist who begins…
READ MOREIt is hard not to like Henri Nouwen, particularly as he expresses himself in words. My favourite books are In the Name of Jesus (which is compulsory reading with anyone I mentor) and The Return of the Prodigal Son with his exquisite exegesis of Rembrandt’s painting of the most famous of parables. So imagine my delight when my…
READ MOREThis week marks the end of my fourth year working with Langham Preaching. My focus has been on the countries of Asia and the Pacific. Our purpose is not just to train preachers, but to train trainers of preachers – so that a movement can spread, like a ‘benevolent virus’ (as Chris Wright describes it).…
READ MOREThey say preaching needs to be both caught and taught. Both are needed and both have been integral to my story in preaching. I have wondered if the British preaching tradition leans me towards being ‘caught’, while the American tradition has been built more around ‘taught’. catching The first preacher to engage me, in my…
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.