John Goldingay

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - I Don't Sweat

by SPCK - John Goldingay

I Don’t Sweat Genesis 15: 6b-7 On the day before his inauguration as president, someone asked Barack Obama whether he was sweating. “Nah, I don’t sweat,” he replied. “You ever see me sweat?” Not yet, but it’s early, a news report commented. When I was about to move to the United …

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Do Not Be Afraid

by SPCK - John Goldingay

Do Not Be Afraid Genesis 15: 1-6a When my mother died, I rode to her funeral with our rector. I say “our rector” though he had arrived at the church only after I was myself ordained, and he reminded me that one of the first services he conducted had been my father’s funeral. Whil…

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Blessing and Tithing

by SPCK - John Goldingay

Blessing and Tithing Genesis 14: 19-24 In the nondenominational church where my parents sent my sister and me to Sunday school, tithing was an important part of Christian commitment. But as a teenager I also became involved with my Church of England parish church. In those days i…

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - What Do You Need to Know?

by SPCK - John Goldingay

What Do You Need to Know? Genesis 14: 14-18 If you are Abraham, what do you assume about the religious insight of a person like Melchizedek, who is “priest of God Most High” but doesn’t know what you know about God? I have friends who have moved to Turkey, and to Central Asia, an…

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - And a Time for War

by SPCK - John Goldingay

And a Time for War Genesis 14: 1-13 On the first Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration after I came to the United States, his daughter Bernice King preached in the seminary chapel. As I walked to chapel that morning, I remember wondering whether she would be the kind of person who…

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - An Implausible Promise

by SPCK - John Goldingay

An Implausible Promise Genesis 13: 14-18 I can recall two promises God made to me that seemed unlikely to be fulfilled. Both date from about the time I became principal of a theological college in England, which in U.S. terms is a cross between being a seminary president, provost…

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - How to Be a Peacemaker

by SPCK - John Goldingay

How to Be a Peacemaker Genesis 13: 1-13 When people need to divide up possessions, it can turn out to be difficult for one reason or another. I write in a context where there has been a collapse in house prices, with the odd result that some couples have had to give up getting di…

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - One Thing Leads to Another

by SPCK - John Goldingay

One Thing Leads to Another Genesis 12: 11-20 The movie Spanglish concerns the adventures of a Los Angeles family who hire a Mexican as housekeeper. While she may not be in the same class as Sarah, she is not to be sneezed at, and the head of the household does not sneeze at her. …

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Stuff Happens

by SPCK - John Goldingay

Stuff Happens Genesis 12: 6b-10 Three or four years ago, a friend of mine got a job as a youth pastor on the East Coast. It meant his wife had to give up her job in California, but she had originally come from the East Coast, and she was entirely happy to make the move. They foun…

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - So Abraham Went

by SPCK - John Goldingay

So Abraham Went Genesis 12: 3-6a I first visited the Middle East six years after Israel occupied the West Bank. We were based mostly in Tel Aviv, but we had not been there long before we drove up into the West Bank and went to Nablus, one of its three most important towns. The na…

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - To Be a Blessing

by SPCK - John Goldingay

To Be a Blessing Genesis 12: 2b When my grandmother died, she left her legacy to be divided among her grandchildren. Her legacy was about two hundred pounds (about three hundred dollars), and we got about twenty pounds each. I bought two prints with it: one sits behind me as I wr…

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Get Yourself Outta Here

by SPCK - John Goldingay

Get Yourself Outta Here Genesis 11: 31- 12: 2a I just had a phone call from a graduate of our seminary who is about to leave the United States to join some people seeking to establish a Christian presence in a country where there is little such witness. She knows that when my wif…

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Babylon Becomes Babble-on

by SPCK - John Goldingay

Babylon Becomes Babble-on Genesis 11: 8- 30 In England I had an Egyptian colleague whose first language was Arabic. When we were going to Morocco for a holiday, I asked him to teach me a few phrases of Arabic so I could at least say, “Good morning” and “Thank you” to people, but …

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - The God Who Intervenes

by SPCK - John Goldingay

The God Who Intervenes Genesis 11: 3- 7 I was talking to a young man training to be a counselor. The program involves undertaking a chaplaincy in a trauma unit and working with people with brain or spinal cord injuries as a result of a sporting accident, car crash, gunshot wound,…

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - A Journey and a Settlement

by SPCK - John Goldingay

A Journey and a Settlement Genesis 10: 21- 11: 2 A decade ago, we moved from Britain to the United States, and an Indonesian joined us to share in caring for my wife, Ann, with her disability. When she and her husband went home, a Kenyan took her place. When she and her husband w…

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - The Nations

by SPCK - John Goldingay

The Nations Genesis 9: 26- 10: 20 There is a movie called Antonia’s Line set in a village in the Netherlands at the end of the Second World War. A garrison of Nazi troops is stationed in the village; the village’s own men are all missing, fighting in the Allied Armies or working …

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - I Trace the Rainbow through the Rain

by SPCK - John Goldingay

I Trace the Rainbow through the Rain Genesis 9: 14- 25 Nineteenth-century Scottish theologian and pastor George Matheson lost his sight when he was a student. That led his fiancée to break off their engagement because she could not face life with a blind man. He never married; hi…

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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - A Life for a Life

by SPCK - John Goldingay

A Life for a Life Genesis 9: 5- 13 I was once asked to visit a man in prison who had come to trust in Christ and was now taking online courses on Christian faith; he hoped to be ordained one day. He was a man about my age and build; indeed, his name was also John. As we sat on ei…

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