Here and Now - Nativity Play
Here and Now - Nativity Play
by Paul Rand
A 21st century retelling of the Nativity where Mary and Joseph search online for accommodation in Bethlehem and find the only place left is a garage to let. Instead of being visited by shepherds and wisemen, it's online order packers and astrophysicists searching for signs of ext…
THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD - 1 Introduction
THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD - 1 Introduction
by SPCK - N T Wright
Chapter One Introduction The land of Israel is a small country. You can walk its length, north to south, in a few days, and from its central mountains you can see its lateral boundaries, the sea to the west and the river to the east…
Isaiah for everyone - (Un)spiritual Practices
Isaiah for everyone - (Un)spiritual Practices
by SPCK - John Goldingay
(Un)spiritual Practices I was talking with a friend about the way Christians in our culture have got interested in “spiritual practices” such as meditation, silence, and fasting. This development is taking place in a context where Christians don’t have as much sense of God as the…
Jeremiah for everyone - A Complicated Neighbourly and Family Relationship
Jeremiah for everyone - A Complicated Neighbourly and Family Relationship
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Complicated Neighbourly and Family Relationship The London Olympics have just finished. I didn’t watch, but I did check the news each day because I was concerned not with the number of medals that Britain had won (I didn’t expect it to be many, though I was wrong) but with what…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - A Gentle Response Turns Back Wrath
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - A Gentle Response Turns Back Wrath
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Gentle Response Turns Back Wrath Shortly I must attempt a third draft of a reply to a message concerning our congregation’s terminating the employment of our long-time gardener, who is getting elderly and was finding it harder to do the work that needed doing…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Acquire Truth Don't Sell It
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Acquire Truth Don't Sell It
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Acquire Truth Don't Sell It As we were walking toward our car after a concert, we passed a store front where a man was working a Heidelberg letterpress printing machine. It was odd because it was 10 p.m. and because I didn’t think anyone printed that way nowadays and because the …
Jeremiah for everyone - An Ambassador in Chains
Jeremiah for everyone - An Ambassador in Chains
by SPCK - John Goldingay
An Ambassador in Chains When Paul was apparently in prison in Rome, he wrote letters to a number of churches. In church today I was struck by a passage in which he describes himself as an ambassador in chains and asks the Christians in Ephesus to pray for him so that he’d be bold…
Isaiah for everyone - Beautiful Feet
Isaiah for everyone - Beautiful Feet
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Beautiful Feet My feet went all nasty a few years ago in Jerusalem. Visiting Jerusalem was the only occasion when I got to wear sandals continually for two weeks, and the skin on my heels frayed. One result was that it became impossible to keep them clean…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Be Realistic
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Be Realistic
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Be Realistic Reading the line in Ecclesiastes 4 about a triple cord not breaking quickly, I remembered an occasion in seminary when I gave our professor of preaching a hard time for using that line to support the idea that a sermon ought to have three points…
Isaiah for everyone - Blown Over and Anointed
Isaiah for everyone - Blown Over and Anointed
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Blown Over and Anointed This week I’m meeting with a young man considering ordination in the Episcopal Church who wants to “seek my advice regarding my vocation.” There are aspects of the Episcopal Church about which he is uneasy—how will he cope with those? Should he ask his rec…
Isaiah for everyone - Comfort My People