Four Gospels, One Jesus - Preface and Acknowledgements from the First Edition
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Preface and Acknowledgements from the First Edition
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Preface and Acknowledgements from the First Edition ‘I think you should read the gospels,’ my spiritual adviser pronounced, gazing into the roaring log fire as he swirled the golden liquid around his glass. It was a cold Christmas, and we were on retreat at Launde Abbey in the de…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Preface to the Revised Edition
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Preface to the Revised Edition
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Preface to the Revised Edition I am constantly amazed and humbled by the impact which this little book seems to have had over the last ten years since it was first published. It has been reprinted a number of times on both sides of the Atlantic and sells all around the world. The…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Mindfulness, God’s and Ours
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Mindfulness, God’s and Ours
by SPCK - John Goldingay
His Commitment Is Forever Psalm 136 A former student of mine served as an armed forces chaplain in Iraq for two years after graduating from seminary. One week he called me from there. He had felt compelled to preach on the idea of God’s steadfast love. He remembered my explaining…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Be Defiant in Spirit
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Be Defiant in Spirit
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Be Defiant in Spirit Psalm 138 This morning I received a message from a woman who a year ago was attacked and stabbed by a man while she and a friend were hiking in a forest; her friend was killed but she survived because the man mistakenly thought she was dead. She has re…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to End the Day
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to End the Day
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to End the Day Psalm 133-134 When my wife and I got married fifty-one weeks ago, we discovered the Episcopal Prayer Book’s “Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families,” four one-page sets of psalms, Scripture readings, and prayers that you can use when you wake up, at lunch…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Holy Wind
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Holy Wind
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Holy Wind Psalm 135 Two nights ago, we had a huge windstorm in our city, with gusts up to ninety-seven miles per hour. The wind felled hundreds of trees, including century-old oaks and tall palms. Hundreds of thousands of people lost power, and many still lack power. Schools and …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Blessings and Atrocities
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Blessings and Atrocities
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Blessings and Atrocities Psalm 128-129 On the satirical Web site The Onion, one of last week’s headlines proclaimed, “Lack of Media Interest Makes Genocide Cover-Up Unnecessary.” The “story” explained that an African warlord had declared that global disinterest in the wholesale s…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Peaceableness and Peacefulness
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Peaceableness and Peacefulness
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Peaceableness and Peacefulness Psalm 120-121 After a journey that took twenty-four hours, some friends of mine arrived yesterday in the capital of one of the toughest and poorest countries in Africa, which they visit from time to time seeking to help refugees there make their voi…
Praying for Jerusalem, Praying for Grace
Praying for Jerusalem, Praying for Grace
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Praying for Jerusalem, Praying for Grace Psalm 122-123 When people would ask me what I expected to miss about leaving England to move to the United States, I would say that one of the main things was proximity to Israel. From London I could get there in four hours or so, and I us…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Deal with Being Swindled
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Deal with Being Swindled
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Deal with Being Swindled Psalm 109 This weekend we plan to go to a new movie about some of the victims of the financial meltdown in the first decade of this century. They are the staff of a high-end condo block who discover that the occupant of the penthouse has been engag…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - A Question of Power
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - A Question of Power
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Question of Power Psalm 110 My wife keeps going on about power. I don’t take it personally. Actually, it works in my favor, because her fixation lies with the way contemporary Western thinking is preoccupied by questions about who has power and about how power features in the r…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - What to Do When God’s Promises Fail
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - What to Do When God’s Promises Fail
by SPCK - John Goldingay
What to Do When God’s Promises Fail Psalm 108 I was talking the other day with a friend who has been an associate pastor in a flourishing Pentecostal church for a year. He did not have a Pentecostal background, but this fact had not seemed to matter, because nothing very Pentecos…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Yes, Yahweh Has Begun to Reign
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Yes, Yahweh Has Begun to Reign
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Yes, Yahweh Has Begun to Reign Psalm 96 Today’s news includes a report about forces in Yemen firing on people protesting the government and killing some of them. In Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan soldiers have faced sharply increased attacks by insurgents from their base in Pakista…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Will You Just Shut Up and Listen?
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Will You Just Shut Up and Listen?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Will You Just Shut Up and Listen? Psalm 95 One of the most formative experiences of my life was being a chorister in the choir at the cathedral in my home city in England. I learned to sing and to read and write music, and I wouldn’t have become a music freak except for that expe…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Real King of Kings
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Real King of Kings
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Real King of Kings Psalm 97-98 According to news reports, Muammar el-Qaddafi, who had ruled Libya for over forty years, once declared, “I am an international leader, the dean of the Arab rulers, the king of kings of Africa and the imam of Muslims, and my international status …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Sacred Space, Sacred Acts, and Sacred Sound
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Sacred Space, Sacred Acts, and Sacred Sound
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Sacred Space, Sacred Acts, and Sacred Sound Psalm 99-100 Yesterday I received what initially seemed a puzzling invitation to a weekly, early-morning prayer meeting, described as “sacred space for a variety of prayer traditions.” It seemed puzzling because I always thought of s…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - I Have Hope for Zion, but Is There Hope for Me?
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - I Have Hope for Zion, but Is There Hope for Me?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
I Have Hope for Zion, but Is There Hope for Me? Psalm 102 Every morning when we wake up, my wife prays our morning prayers, and almost invariably she thanks God for another wonderful day. An hour later, I sit at my desk thinking about that day’s passage for The Old Testament for …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Leadership Challenge