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Leadership is within the range of a lot more people than we realise. For someone taking their first steps into leadership I’d urge the following “first eleven” to be read – in this order… #1 NehemiahThe secret of this book is the way every characteristic of Nehemiah’s leadership (and there are so many!) can be…
READ MOREThis intermittent ‘first eleven’ series is, of course, a tribute to the greatest show on earth (in what will be the greatest sport in heaven) … the World Cup Cricket tournament in the Caribbean. I could never ever try to rank my 11 most favourite cricket memories but… What about cycling across Delhi to the…
READ MORENZ Soccer has started a new magazine. It is called Goal! It is pitched at girls and boys. 12 glossy pages. Plenty of colour and images. No more than a few lines of words at any one time. Cartoon characters Zac and Lisa adorn almost every page. There are interactive quizzes and crosswords and ‘spot…
READ MOREI remember dates. I just do… Today is exactly 40 years since I knelt beside the bed of my afflicted-with-hepatitus sister in the city of Chandigarh (India) and gave my life to Jesus. 5th March 1967. I was seven years old. While it sounds like a decisive moment (and it was decisive enough for me…
READ MOREOh yes, master changing techniques – most definitely!BUT first be mastered by unchanging convictions. Oh yes, learn to unpack the biblical text – most definitely!BUT also learn to unpack your listeners, your world, and your self. Oh yes, long for the Spirit’s anointing on your preaching – most definitely!BUT also acknowledge his inspiring of the…
READ MOREThere was a moment in Blood Diamond when I almost stood up and screamed “No!” at the screen. It crossed my mind to do so at the time. It really did. I was ticked off… At various times in the movie people shrug their shoulders at the mess they see around them and simply say…
READ MOREThe essence of mission is being salt and light at the same time. Salt is about mixing in and participating in society. Light is about standing apart and being distinctive from the flow of society. Participating without being distinctive is not very missional. But neither is standing apart without mixing in… Here in New Zealand…
READ MOREAfter an extended summer break in the South Island it is time to get stuck into another year. When on holiday I love exploring new places. This holiday was no exception. We walked the Abel Tasman Track. Seeing is believing! Bark Bay and Te Puketea Bay will be part of the family vernacular forever. We…
READ MOREThe lesses and mores on the subject of leadership continue…It involves less strategic thinking than I expectedThose five year ‘blueprints’ of the future in which goals and objectives are endlessly described with dotted ‘i’s and crossed ‘t’s haven’t featured as much as I thought they would. Sure, there are Business Plans, Staffing Plans etc that…
READ MOREThe summer break is just days away. I am reading heaps of stuff on leadership in preparation for a DMin course on Leadership in March. And I am about to step into my 10th year as Principal of Carey Baptist College. So I find myself in a pensive, reflective mode just at the moment. I…
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.