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This was my third visit to Cochabamba, in Bolivia. On this occasion we gathered for the annual meeting of our Global Leadership Team (GLT). We like to rotate around the ‘home-places’ of our team members, giving each one the opportunity to offer hospitality. We had planned to go in March 2020, but first visa troubles…
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This month I started my 16th year working with Langham Preaching. It still feels like a “pinch me” reality, as my brother described this work for me this past week. Or, in the words of the Apostle Paul, it has been “a grace given me”… In recent times each year’s highlight has remained unchanged and…
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Cuddy is the affectionate name given to St Cuthbert, patron saint of Northumbria, “the birthplace of Christianity in England” (305). Cuddy tells the story of the ‘life’ of his dead body because “his death is far from the end of the story” (122). He was a shepherd-lad from Melrose who was called by God to…
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While the start of the first day wasn’t great (with my suitcase not arriving with me!), the next few days in Cairo were filled with things to enjoy and to remember—as always seems to be the case. [NB: in my ‘Featured’ posts on this blog’s home page are memories of earlier visits to Egypt]. a…
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A curious thing happens in our society today. A person who asserts that death is the end and that there is no heaven can still be heard longing that a loved one be ‘looking down from above’. For those with ears to hear, this kind of thing happens quite a lot. What is going on?…
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Today is the day when New Zealanders give special attention to Te Tiriti O Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi), the text on which our nation is founded—and signed 184 years ago. But how is it that old texts convey meaning in today’s world? This is a question that is never too far away for interpreters…
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It is sickening. In recent years there have been these waves of stories about spiritual abuse in pastoral leaders. Yes, it is like a wave—building out there in the ocean over many years and then crashing down onto the beach, one after the other. The bigger waves (the ones we hear about) have tended to…
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I’ve been a big admirer of the Centre for Lifelong Learning at Carey Baptist College for some years. It is not too surprising because the pioneering energy for the Centre was provided by Mike Crudge, who was on the staff at Carey back in my time—and everything he did, he did with excellence. Over the…
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Yeah, you’re right. That doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, when compared with Peaches & Herbs singing, “Reunited and it feels so good”. Nevertheless it did feel so good, while on holiday near Whakatāne last week, to recreate a photo of my mother—from something like 40 years ago. She died last year, on…
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The author was new to me. The title didn’t grab me. It was first published 15 years ago without ever catching my eye. In the end I didn’t even buy the book. It arrived in my mailbox a couple of years ago, as a gift. Is it any wonder that it just sat on my…
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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.