Exodus and Leviticus - The Life Is in the Blood
Exodus and Leviticus - The Life Is in the Blood
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Life Is In the Blood LEVITICUS : 17: 1- 18: 30 A month ago a woman came to see me to talk about the general difficulties of her life. Her mother had died some time previously. She was barely on speaking terms with her father. She certainly was not on speaking terms with her m…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - The Lord of The Flies
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - The Lord of The Flies
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Lord of the Flies 2 Kings 1:2-18 There are more positive and less positive understandings of human nature. The word zebub means fly, so the title “Master Zebub” or “Lord Zebub” would mean “Lord Fly” or “Lord of the Fly.” Now Lord of the Flies was a mid-twentieth-century novel by …
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - The Lord Bless You and Keep You
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - The Lord Bless You and Keep You
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Lord Bless You and Keep You NUMBERS 6: 1-27 “Bless you,” we say when someone sneezes. “Blessings,” we put at the end of e-mails. “God bless,” my father would say as we went to bed. “It was a time of blessing,” someone may say at the end of a service. “Bless my soul,” we may s…
Job for Everyone - The Man of Integrity
Job for Everyone - The Man of Integrity
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Man of Integrity Job 1: 1-5 Seminary chapel this morning focused on a devotional study of Psalm 23 that involved our asking which phrase in the psalm especially spoke to us. The phrase that leapt out for me was “my cup runs over.” I have been married for four months, and I lo…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - The Man Who Drives Like a Madman
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - The Man Who Drives Like a Madman
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Man Who Drives Like a Madman 2 Kings 9:1-37 My parents so loved movie star Bette Davis that they named my sister after her. They married in 1938, the year Bette Davis won an Oscar for her central role in the film Jezebel. As “Jezebel” she is Julie Marsden, a powerful, proud, …
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - The Man Who Would be King
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - The Man Who Would be King
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Man Who Would Be King JUDGES 9: 1-57 In connection with Joshua 20, I mentioned a woman in my class who apparently had a brain tumor. In an e-mail a couple of weeks ago, she talked about ways God had been speaking to her through classes she had taken over the summer and fall a…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - The Mark of Cain
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - The Mark of Cain
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Mark of Cain Genesis 4: 14-17 Our church shows up at a local homeless shelter to make dinner for the residents there once a month or so. Homeless “shelter” could give a false impression. Before I went there, I imagined something rather makeshift, almost like the shelters in w…
Exodus and Leviticus - The Migrant Returns
Exodus and Leviticus - The Migrant Returns
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Migrant Returns EXODUS 4: 24-31 The last two people I had helping me care for my disabled wife were from the Philippines. Although both were the wives of students at our seminary, it is no coincidence that both were Filipinas. There are many Filipina caregivers in the United …
Joshua, judges and Ruth for Everyone - The Man Whose Promise Makes the Blood Run Cold
Joshua, judges and Ruth for Everyone - The Man Whose Promise Makes the Blood Run Cold
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The man Whose Promise Makes the Blood Run Cold JUDGES 11:30- 12:15 There was a story in the news recently about a man who was reversing his car in his drive and accidentally ran over his child who was playing there. Another story related how a mother who had apparently been drink…
Exodus and Leviticus - The Magnificent Presence
Exodus and Leviticus - The Magnificent Presence
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Magnificent Presence EXODUS 34: 27- 40: 38 When I sit in my ancient recliner aware that God is there with me, in the way I described in connection with Exodus 32:30– 33:11, I do not have experiences that leave my face radiating in such a way that later in the day students are…
Job for Everyone - The Mysteries of Nature
Job for Everyone - The Mysteries of Nature
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Mysteries of Nature Job 38 39- 39: 30 Often the first thing I hear in the morning is the squawking of a group of parrots who wander around our city, the descendants (says the urban legend) of pet birds that escaped from or were released by their owners. When I sit at my desk,…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - The Mystery of Obedience and Disobedience
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - The Mystery of Obedience and Disobedience
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Mystery of Obedience and Disobedience Deuteronomy 29: 1- 30: 20 My wife and I often used to go for lunch on a Saturday or Sunday to a restaurant hanging over the ocean where you can watch the surf (I have simple tastes), but we would leave in the early afternoon before the pl…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - The Pain of a Family Divided by Miles
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - The Pain of a Family Divided by Miles
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Pain of a Family Divided by Miles Genesis 31:30-54 When my wife and I started dating and then wanted to get engaged, her parents were totally against it. They had some plausible reasons. I was a long-haired lout (it was the 1960s), and they weren’t sure I was the kind of man …
Exodus and Leviticus - The Nine Natural Disasters
Exodus and Leviticus - The Nine Natural Disasters
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Nine Natural Disasters EXODUS 7: 14- 8: 7 As I came out of my office the other day, a little group of students were strolling past and greeted me with the comment, “Oh, it’s the one and only Dr. Goldingay!” I was able to respond, “Actually I’m not the ‘one and only.’ ” My dau…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - The Pain of Motherhood
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - The Pain of Motherhood
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Pain of Motherhood Genesis 3: 14-16a I wrote an e-mail to someone this week and had an astonishing reply which, after the main part of the message, went on, “Oh, by the way. . . .” Actually it didn’t literally say that, but that is how it came across, because the news that fo…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - The Nations
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 …
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - The Personal and The Political
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - The Personal and The Political
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Personal and the Political 1 Kings 17:1-24 I have just deleted an e-mail from a student in whose life I saw something of a miracle a few months ago. She had been diagnosed as having a brain tumor and was hastily scheduled for an emergency operation to try to remove it. The su…
Psalms for Everyone - Who Can I Turn To?