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Isaiah for everyone - Gods You Have to Carry and the God Who Carries You
Isaiah for everyone - Gods You Have to Carry and the God Who Carries You
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Gods You Have to Carry and the God Who Carries You We had Mother’s Day dinner yesterday with some Jews and some Roman Catholics and some agnostics. The agnostics thought that if you need the prop of faith in something in order to keep you going, fine, but if you can live your lif…
Isaiah for everyone - God’s Strange Work
Isaiah for everyone - God’s Strange Work
by SPCK - John Goldingay
God’s Strange Work The other Sunday we were singing the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” and I was reflecting wryly that it’s a shame nobody realizes where its basic ideas come from, as is the case with the related chorus “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.” They come …
Isaiah for everyone - Good News for People Who Are Broken and Flickering
Isaiah for everyone - Good News for People Who Are Broken and Flickering
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Good News for People Who Are Broken and Flickering In a movie we recently watched called Stuck between Stations, the protagonists, a man and a woman, tell each other stories that explicate something of who they are. The man is a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan who has watched one of …
Isaiah for Everyone - Grief Brought To An End
Isaiah for Everyone - Grief Brought To An End
by SPCK - John Goldingay
GRIEF BROUGHT TO AN END In a movie called Grace Is Gone, Grace is a sergeant in the army on active service. Her husband, Stan, looks after a supply store back home. One morning the feared and terrifying visit comes from army representatives with the task of telling Stan that Grac…
Isaiah for everyone - High and Holy, but Present with the Crushed and Low in Spirit
Isaiah for everyone - High and Holy, but Present with the Crushed and Low in Spirit
by SPCK - John Goldingay
High and Holy, but Present with the Crushed and Low in Spirit In a recent sermon in our seminary I told students that Jesus isn’t their buddy. I’m told the air went out of the room when I said it. A friend subsequently gave me a “Buddy Christ” statuette, which I could put on my d…
Isaiah for Everyone - How to frighten People into Repentance
Isaiah for Everyone - How to frighten People into Repentance
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to frighten People into Repentance A little while ago I went to preach at a new church that is part of the “emerging church” movement, which started in Australasia and the UK and spread to the United States. Its background is an awareness that the traditional churches are in …
Isaiah for everyone - I SEE HAWKS IN L.A.
Isaiah for everyone - I SEE HAWKS IN L.A.
by SPCK - John Goldingay
I SEE HAWKS IN L.A. One of my favorite bands is called I See Hawks in L.A., which is also the title of one of their early songs. In the song the hawks hover over the city as if they sense it’s about to be destroyed and there will be plenty of provender for them to enjoy. “What if…
Isaiah for Everyone - I'm Fed Up to the Teeth with Your Worship
Isaiah for Everyone - I'm Fed Up to the Teeth with Your Worship
by SPCK - John Goldingay
I’m fed up to the Teeth with Your Worship Isaiah 1: 1-20 We just came home from our Palm Sunday service at church, a great occasion. As usual we began by distributing palm crosses; I can never take for granted that in California we can make our palm crosses from palm branches on …
Isaiah for everyone - If only...
Isaiah for everyone - If only...
by SPCK - John Goldingay
If Only… I was talking this week to a student who told me that his wife had left him. They had been married for five years and she had discovered he was addicted to porn; I don’t know how he had kept it secret for so long. I don’t know, and he doesn’t know, if this is the end of …
Isaiah for Everyone - Meanwhile, back in Jerusalem
Isaiah for Everyone - Meanwhile, back in Jerusalem
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Meanwhile, Back in Jerusalem I have just come off the phone from a conversation with a former student in England who was in tears about failing a degree program. She doesn’t claim that her exam performance was brilliant; she sees herself as a poor examinee. But she doesn’t think …
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…
Isaiah for everyone - On Following God’s Prompting
Isaiah for everyone - On Following God’s Prompting
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Following God’s Prompting We were at a singer-songwriter venue and the singer’s last song was about her mother’s death two or three years ago. The song title referred to the year of her mother’s birth, which was the same birth year of someone who was with us. She later told us…
Isaiah for everyone - On Grieving God’s Holy Spirit, and the Consequences
Isaiah for everyone - On Grieving God’s Holy Spirit, and the Consequences
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Grieving God’s Holy Spirit, and the Consequences The Episcopal Daily Devotions that we use each morning include prayers from Psalm 51 asking God to renew a right spirit within us, to sustain us with his bountiful spirit, and not to take his holy spirit from us. Using that pray…
Isaiah for Everyone - On Mixed Motives
Isaiah for Everyone - On Mixed Motives
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Mixed Motives Next week my wife and are to speak at a retreat for students aimed at helping people maintain a connection with God while they’re studying theology. I’m looking forward to this event because we have the experience of going through seminary and watching generation…
Isaiah for everyone - Our Ideas and Plans, and God’s
Isaiah for everyone - Our Ideas and Plans, and God’s
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Our Ideas and Plans, and God’s This morning we had the last regular seminary chapel of the year, the last regular seminary chapel ever for people who were graduating. The preacher was an eighty-year-old retired professor who told us stories about his experience at that stage of h…
Isaiah for everyone - People Who Won’t Let Yahweh Rest
Isaiah for everyone - People Who Won’t Let Yahweh Rest
by SPCK - John Goldingay
People Who Won’t Let Yahweh Rest I mentioned earlier the work calling that my wife’s daughter and son-in-law have been following for several years to stir up concern for the people of Darfur who are refugees in Chad. The effort is hard work for little effect…
Isaiah for Everyone - Prophet as Crazy Man