Exodus and Leviticus - It Was an Ordinary Working Day
Exodus and Leviticus - It Was an Ordinary Working Day
by SPCK - John Goldingay
It Was an Ordinary Working Day EXODUS 3: 1-10 It was an ordinary working day. My wife, Ann (but she wasn’t my wife then—in fact, we hadn’t even met), left her university residence in London and took the subway to her medical school. She was just a week or two into her preclinical…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - It's Over Even When It's Not Over
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - It's Over Even When It's Not Over
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Importance of a Game Plan JOSHUA 8: 1-21 Three weeks ago I went to my first American football game. It was also my first experience of tailgating in the warm sunshine and of eating breakfast burritos, which (accompanied by mimosas) were perhaps the highlight of the day. I was…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - It Was Just a Coincidence
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - It Was Just a Coincidence
by SPCK - John Goldingay
It was Just a Coincidence 2 Kings 8:1-29 I had a visit yesterday from a student on another campus of our seminary who wanted to talk about postgraduate study. The visit arose out of the fact that she had been on the seminary’s list of Anglican/Episcopal students, a list I had obt…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - It Never Rains in Southern California
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - It Never Rains in Southern California
by SPCK - John Goldingay
It Never Rains in Southern California Deuteronomy 11: 1- 32 “It never rains in southern California,” the song says, though it goes on to comment that they don’t warn you how it pours. It’s raining this morning. It is several months since it rained, and that is no problem to me as…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - On Following Up Your Good Ideas but Not Taking Yourself Too Seriously
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - On Following Up Your Good Ideas but Not Taking Yourself Too Seriously
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Following Up Your Good Ideas but Not Taking Yourself Too Seriously 2 Samuel 5: 1- 25 I am coming to the end of my fortieth year as a professor. On Sunday evening, the day before yet another new quarter started, a friend asked me a question that unintentionally made me feel rat…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - On Giving Up Your Son
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - On Giving Up Your Son
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Giving Up Your Son 1 Samuel 1: 25- 2: 10 As I write, two anniversaries have recently passed. Just over thirty years ago the Shah of Iran was ousted and the Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile to become the “Leader” of Iran, a more powerful position than that of the presiden…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - On Dying outside the Promised Land
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - On Dying outside the Promised Land
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Dying outside the Promised Land Deuteronomy 32: 48- 34: 12 I just read the obituary of a fine trumpet player and singer and even lovelier flugelhorn player, Stacy Rowles, who died after a car accident. My personal memory is of the way she once came to give a CD to my wife, Ann…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - On Getting Your Feet Wet
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - On Getting Your Feet Wet
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Getting Your Feet Wet JOSHUA 3: 1-17 So the people crossed over near Jericho. 17The priests carrying the chest of Yahweh’s covenant stood steady on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan while all Israel was crossing on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing o…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - On Election
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - On Election
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Election Deuteronomy 7: 7-15 In a newsy e-mail, a former student included the following information (I have disguised the material, of course, as usual): “I have developed an embarrassingly silly crush on the postdoctoral fellow who teaches some of the Semitic languages here. …
Psalms for Everyone - On Facing Two Sets of Facts
Psalms for Everyone - On Facing Two Sets of Facts
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Facing Two Sets of Facts Psalm 22: 19-31 Two friends of ours were giving us an amusing account of a difference they had discerned between the way they approach problems in their relationship and in other aspects of life. It was amusing yet also serious and profound. When there…
Isaiah for Everyone - On Dresses, Shawls, and Purses
Isaiah for Everyone - On Dresses, Shawls, and Purses
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Dresses, Shawls, and Purses Isaiah 3: 1-4: 6 When we are going out for the evening, and if the time of year requires it, I will put a sweater on top of whatever I have been wearing all day. It’s a delight to me when, in contrast, my wife disappears into the closet and reappear…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - On Rendering to Caesar and Rendering to God
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - On Rendering to Caesar and Rendering to God
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Rendering to Caesar and Rendering to God 1 Kings 18:1-18 Two friends of mine work in a Middle Eastern country where it is illegal to seek to get people to come to believe in Christ. Their own position is secure because they work in the expatriate church in the capital, and it …
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - On Praying for Sodom
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - On Praying for Sodom
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Praying for Sodom Genesis 18: 21-33 Yesterday we prayed in church, as we usually do, for God to grant peace and goodwill among nations. It is tempting to feel cynical about such prayers. Does God listen to them? Do they make a difference? Would it make a difference if we gave …
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - On Not Following Your Instincts
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - On Not Following Your Instincts
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Not Following Your Instincts Deuteronomy 12: 1- 32 Tomorrow morning I shall go to seminary chapel. Except that it isn’t a chapel. It’s an auditorium. On other occasions, I have lectured there, sung the blues in a concert there, listened to jazz concerts there, and taken part i…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - On Sacred Inefficiency
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - On Sacred Inefficiency
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Sacred Inefficiency Deuteronomy 24: 1-22 Just once in my life I had to give someone the sack because we needed to economize in the seminary and we saw a post we could terminate without too much loss to the enterprise’s efficiency. The person had worked for the seminary for man…
Exodus and Leviticus - On Rendering to Caesar
Exodus and Leviticus - On Rendering to Caesar
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Rendering to Caesar EXODUS 4: 18-23 I have just been talking to a student who is a missionary in Indonesia, and we were discussing the dilemma of the church there. He described the church as postcolonial, but I suggested it is still colonial. The gospel came to Indonesia throu…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - On Not Being Able to Have a Baby
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - On Not Being Able to Have a Baby
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Not Being Able to Have a Baby Genesis 16: 1-4a People who cannot have children may go to huge lengths to fulfill their longing. Yesterday I noticed in the newspaper an advertisement for a free lunch and seminar on how to start a family by surrogacy. It involved going to India,…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Raising the Ceiling of Our Hope