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When it comes to the ‘word’ Jesus told a foundational parable. The writers of the Gospels considered it to be so important that it appears in Matthew (ch13), Mark (ch4), and Luke (ch8). The same parable told three times is unusual. It is commonly known as the Parable of the Sower. It is a story…
READ MOREAs a preacher the other challenge I have given myself in 2008 relates to a series in my home church at Mt Roskill Baptist. Given the prevailing discomfort which people have with the Old Testament, I determined to preach a series in which I used an entire OT book as the text for the sermon.…
READ MOREThis year I’ve been reflecting on preaching in the book of Acts. Here are ten things that I’ve been learning:[NB – I have brought these observations closer to home with the use of ‘Auckland’ as it is my home town. Feel free to make the appropriate substitution!]. 1. As in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Rome, we…
READ MOREI never knew that reading a newspaper could be so exhilarating. So it has proved to be today with NZ’s leading newspaper, the New Zealand Herald. First they choose to name Tony McLean and Austin Hemmings as their NZers of the year. What an inspired choice! And what compelling evidence of the impact on this…
READ MOREI am enjoying my longest stay in the USA since I was a student here 25+ years ago. I have been speaking at the annual missions’ conference of a church set in the cornfields of NW Ohio – where my father-in-law is pastor emeritus. The church has been supporting Barby’s family in India for 95…
READ MOREAfter 24 years of hanging-out with NZ Baptists I was farewelled as Principal of Carey Baptist College at last week’s Baptist Assembly. Me ol’ mate Andrew Picard was one who gave a speech using various cricketing jargon to get his point across. A fellow cricket fan, Andrew had even contacted the Black Caps (the NZ…
READ MOREI’ve been reflecting on the ministry of John the Baptist. Not so long ago I preached on the passage about him in Luke 3. I highlighted the way John demanded a fruitfulness from his listeners and modeled a humility in the way he sign-posted people towards Jesus … and then how this combination of fruitfulness…
READ MOREWhen I first saw the billboards from the Green Party I thought immediately of worms. Two NZ-elections ago the ‘worm’ was the difference-maker. The leaders of all the political parties participated in debates and the audience responded as they listened and this response took the form of worms crawling across our screens. The main beneficiary…
READ MOREThe children have given me the permission to re-post this link. They had been watching a TV preacher go on about fatherhood and then digress to speak about how God wants us to own multiple houses … and so on a lazy afternoon on Waipu Beach with too much time on their hands, they decided…
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.