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I cannot escape the clutches of the question. Be it Islamabad or Jakarta or Delhi – or Sydney, Wellington, Bluffton (Ohio!) or Auckland. The same issue has been filling my ears and my lips. As I’ve watched experienced missionaries in action – Robin and Jenny, John and Rosemary, Steve and Ruth – the question has…
READ MOREThe Hebrew word hebel has intrigued me for years. It is the word identified most closely with Ecclesiastes. I grew up on the KJV’s ‘vanity’ and gradually shifted across to the NIV’s ‘meaningless’. In between there was time for the GNB’s ‘useless’, the NEB’s ’empty’, the Living Bible’s ‘futile’, and now the CEV’s ‘nonsense’. [Hint…
READ MOREThis English cricket team is exceptional. Who could have picked that they would beat the #1 side in the world 4-0 in a four Test series? Remarkable! And as was the case against the Aussies last summer, a number of the victories have been substantial. The rise of English cricket is great for the global…
READ MORENow that I no longer teach a course on movies, my movie-watching has diminished greatly – and often just on planes through sleepy eyes (although I do limit myself to one per flight in order to ensure that I get some reading done!). But not in the last ten days. There have been three movies…
READ MOREAfter a long battle with Parkinson’s, Dad died at home yesterday in the company of his family – with the sun streaming through the window as the Hallelujah Chorus filled the room. If you would like to read the story of Dad’s life, people around the world have been appreciating a little book by Mary…
READ MOREAh yes, one more post to mark my appreciation for John Stott. Here I countdown the ‘top ten’ books (out of the 50+ he has written) that have shaped my life. No easy task – but here we go… at number ten‘The Bible speaks today’ not only names Stott’s deep conviction (“God still speaks through…
READ MOREThis past weekend has been in the diary for months as a family holiday. This book, John Stott: a portrait by his friends, has been targeted as my weekend reading matter for almost as long. The fact that John Stott died just the day before we left added a poignancy to the time in its…
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The Tour de France is entering its final stages. It makes for such compelling viewing. Not just because of the scenery and the competition, but because there is a ‘tour de leadership’ going on as well. Is there another sport which interfaces with leadership so fully as cycling – particularly this particular race? I doubt…
READ MORE[NB: My custom with this blog is to avoid using it as a place to re-preach my sermons and re-speak my talks. I figure once is enough for everyone, including me! But every now and then I make an exception, particularly as this blog has evolved into a personal filing system and I don’t want…
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.