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Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - I'm Not the Hero; the Hero Is God
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - I'm Not the Hero; the Hero Is God
by SPCK - John Goldingay
I’m Not the Hero; the Hero is God JUDGES 8: 1-35 One of my fond memories of our sons’ childhood is of reading Bible stories to them at bedtime, stories that had been rewritten and illustrated for children; I have now passed on the set of books to the son who has children of his o…
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…
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. …
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 …
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…
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
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Raising the Ceiling of Our Hope
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Teach Me Psalm 119: 49-72 I’m grading student papers, and one effect that has on me (alongside making me want to commit suicide) is to make me puzzle over what it is that enables people to learn. There are people who have read the Scriptures with fresh eyes, seen things they had …
2 Corinthians - The Messiah's Love Makes Us Press On
2 Corinthians - The Messiah's Love Makes Us Press On
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Messiah’s Love Makes Us Press On 2 CORINTHIANS 5.11-15 ‘What on earth made you do that?’ The newspaper reporter was incredulous. A young woman had just won a competition. The first prize was a three-week trip around the world. The chance of a lifetime. And she had given it up…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Don't Make the Same Mistake Again!
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Don't Make the Same Mistake Again!
by SPCK - N T Wright
Don’t Make the Same the Mistake Again! 1 Corinthians 10.6-13 We got on a bus in a strange city the other day, and to our horror it started to go in quite the wrong direction. Since we don’t speak much of the language it was difficult to ask other passengers, still less the driver…
The Pastoral Letters - Don't Be Ashamed
The Pastoral Letters - Don't Be Ashamed
by SPCK - N T Wright
Don’t Be Ashamed! 2Timothy 1.8-14 My grandfather was a clergyman, and like many of us who have to stand up and do things in front of other people he had a recurring nightmare. In his dream, he would find himself standing in the pulpit getting ready to preach a sermon, and look do…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Do Everything to God's Glory
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Do Everything to God's Glory
by SPCK - N T Wright
Do Everything to God’s Glory 1 Corinthians 10.23-11.1 Some birds seem to spend all day in tiny, small-scale activities. They busy themselves with making nests, grubbing for food, and squawking to each other within a small space. They seem to be severely practical: everything they…
2 Corinthians - Don't Be Mis-Matched
2 Corinthians - Don't Be Mis-Matched
by SPCK - N T Wright
Don’t Be Mis-Matched 2 CORINTHIANS 6.14-7.1 Every time a new Bible translation comes out, it seems, one of the questions people ask about it is whether the language is ‘inclusive’. When it mentions men, does it mention women as well? Does it imply that all Christians are basicall…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Don't Be Deceived
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Don't Be Deceived
by SPCK - N T Wright
Don’t Be Deceived 2 John 7-13 I was going to quote a Beatles song, but then I remembered that you have to pay a lot of money even to quote a single line. But the song is well enough known, declaring that the only thing one might need is love. It’s ironic, of course, that you have…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Do Not Worry
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Do Not Worry
by SPCK - N T Wright
Do Not Worry Matthew 6.25-34 Has it ever struck you what a basically happy person Jesus was? Oh yes, we know that, according to the prophecies, he was ‘a man of sorrow, and acquainted with grief ’. We know that the darkness and sadness of all the world descended on him as he went…
Luke for Everyone - David's Son and the Widow's Mite
Luke for Everyone - David's Son and the Widow's Mite
by SPCK - N T Wright
David’s Son and the Widow’s Mite Luke 20.41-21.4 ‘Can you get this balloon into that box?’ I asked the little children at the party. The balloon was big, and the box was small. They tried squeezing it in but it wouldn’t fit. It kept oozing out through their fingers. One little bo…
Hebrews for Everyone - Faith and the Future: The Great Crowd