I have been part of the church family at Lincoln Rd Bible Chapel in West Auckland since the mid 2000s, and in 2024 joined the leadership team of the church. Currently, I also serve in a small part-time role as the local mission pastor, and support the school of theology at Laidlaw College as an honorary research fellow.
I am married to Rachael and we have four young children. From 2012-2019 I served as the youth pastor in a near fulltime position. While in that role, I was encouraged to write short “pastoral passages” for the church newsletter, and these eventually prompted the idea of sharing these via a blog. Since then, other and longer written posts have also been added.
In 2024 I completed doctoral studies through the Auckland University of Technology and Laidlaw College. My research examined the history of interpretation of Hebrews 6:4-6 within the Reformed exegetical tradition and the impact of the 17th century theologian John Owen within that tradition.
As a secondary job I am a self employed beekeeper, with hives in the West Auckland and Far North regions. In this profession I produce and sell potted honey, beeswax, and live bee hives. Beekeeping is tough but satisfying work.
I was brought to faith in Christ from a non-Christian background in my later teenage years. The momentum of the shift from atheism to theism to personal dedication to Jesus saw me eagerly reading and studying the Bible and involved in Christian service from the beginning.
Within Christian ministry, my calling and natural inclinations have always tended towards study, teaching, preaching and discipleship. Two years after my conversion I began a degree in applied theology at the Bible College of New Zealand so that I could learn how to better understand and teach the message that had so impacted me.
In addition to this I have studied and trained to teach history and classics as a secondary school teacher, and completed a masters degree in theology which included a thesis on Colossians 1:15-20.
I am an “evangelical” Christian with theologically Reformed leanings. Some of the authors who have been larger influences on me include John Bunyan, John Owen, Charles Spurgeon, John Stott, J. I. Packer, John Piper, and Tim Keller. I enjoy studying the Bible, have a strong value for the perspectives given by history, and am wary of culture unduly influencing Christian formation and doctrine. Multi-day hiking is one of my favorite activities.
My largest goal in ministry has been to help Christians to develop deep roots for their faith so that they can stand strong and take wise action in the secular climate we find ourselves in, and ultimately be found pleasing and faithful to the Lord Jesus.
Posts on this blog are categorized into three broad categories. There are short “Pastoral Passages” which are around 400 words in length and more practical or reflective in nature (most of these were originally written for the church newsletter). “Book Summaries” are summaries of books I want to share because I think they might be useful or interesting to a general Christian readership and are usually 1000-2000 words, although some are much longer (I trust that interest will sustain readers for these longer ones). “Articles” are more sustained pieces of writing that may be between three or eight thousand words – some of these were originally written for publication elsewhere.
To contact me or comment on specific posts, I can be emailed at CSNorthcott@gmail.com
Chris Northcott 