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1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - The Struggle for Power
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - The Struggle for Power
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Struggle for Power 2 Samuel 3: 1- 4: 12 One of my colleagues holds a Bible study at his house for men he got to know through an organization that seeks to provide accommodation for homeless people in our city; they are typically people who have prison records and/or who have …
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - The Story Reaches Its Lowest Point (II)
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - The Story Reaches Its Lowest Point (II)
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Story Reaches Its Lowest Point (II) JUDGES 20:1-48 For some years now there has been ongoing tension between Russia and Georgia. Sometimes it seems open to being characterized as a little comical; Russia banned the import of Georgian wine on the grounds that it did not meet p…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - The Tale of Two Women
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - The Tale of Two Women
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Tale of Two Women 2 Kings 4:1-44 Among my friends are a number of young couples who have been hoping to have children, and it has never happened. They then go in for medical examinations of various kinds and for treatment of various kinds. One couple had eggs implanted, but the…
Job for Everyone - The Way I Have Walked (II)
Job for Everyone - The Way I Have Walked (II)
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Way I Have Walked (II) Job 31 13-23 On Sunday we had a meeting to discuss our church’s ministry to homeless people; many live in our area, and we are next door to a community center. They know that Sunday morning is an obvious time to drop by to see if we have food, and we tr…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - The Ultimate Sacrifice
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - The Ultimate Sacrifice
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Ultimate Sacrifice 2 Kings 3:4-27 The writer of a letter in today’s newspaper, in the aftermath of the U.S. president’s firing of his top commander in Afghanistan, asks whether “we must continue to sacrifice our brave men and women” there. By the time you read this, we will p…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Three Strong Women and Three Feeble Men (I)
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Three Strong Women and Three Feeble Men (I)
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Three Strong Woman and Three Feeble Men(I) JUDGES 4:1- 24 Men can have mixed feelings about strong women, though for me strong women are not as worrying as strong men. Before my wife became disabled, she was quite capable of standing up to me; in my head I can still hear her sayi…
Exodus and Leviticus - Two Kinds of Preparation for Meeting God
Exodus and Leviticus - Two Kinds of Preparation for Meeting God
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Two Kinds of Preparation for Meeting God EXODUS 19: 1- 25 When the Israelites arrived at Sinai, they first had a morally challenging experience—or perhaps one should call it a relationally challenging one. It marks a new stage in the covenant relationship between God and Israel. …
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Two Mothers, One Baby
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Two Mothers, One Baby
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Two Mothers One Baby 1 Kings 3:16- 4:19 Yesterday was Mother’s Day, and I was reading a newspaper story about two mothers with one baby. Its birth mother had got pregnant while she was a single student, and she had decided she didn’t want to keep the baby but that she would not h…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Two Unusual Covenants
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Two Unusual Covenants
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Two Unusual Covenants 2 Kings 11:1-21 The idea of covenant has been very important in the history of the United States and in the development of American democracy as a way of understanding relationships in the human community. Etymologically, the word covenant includes the idea …
Psalms for Everyone - Trusting God with Your Anger
Psalms for Everyone - Trusting God with Your Anger
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Trusting God with Your Anger Psalm 68: 19-35 In a day or two I am to lecture on the Psalms and our spirituality, and I shall talk about the way psalms are designed to feed and shape our praise, prayer, and thanksgiving. Last night as I was finalizing the lecture, I realized I had…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Unfinished Business
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Unfinished Business
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Unfinished Business NUMBERS 31:1- 34 Two or three years ago, out of the blue, I received a phone call from a Jewish lawyer in Los Angeles. He had self-published a book called Twenty-six Reasons Why Jews Don’t Believe in Jesus, and he wanted me to make sure that his statements abo…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Two Weeks, Three Kings in Ephraim
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Two Weeks, Three Kings in Ephraim
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Two Weeks, Three Kings in Ephraim 1 Kings 15:25-16:34 Yesterday, as usual, we began our faculty meeting by sharing topics for prayer, and then as it happened I had to try to pray a prayer that covered them all. The sharing referred to someone’s health needs, to someone who had lo…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Two Very Different Attitudes to War
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Two Very Different Attitudes to War
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Two Very Different Attitudes to War NUMBERS 20: 14- 21:3 I write at what we hope is near the end of a war in Iraq but in the midst of a war in Afghanistan whose likely outcome no one can predict; both these wars relate to the attack on the United States of September 11, 2001. Bef…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Welcome to the Wild Wild West
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Welcome to the Wild Wild West
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Welcome to the Wild Wild West Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone JOSHUA 10: 28- 43 28That day Joshua took Makkedah and struck it down, it and its king, with the edge of the sword. He devoted them, along with every person there. He did not let any survivor remain. So he dealt wi…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - What Game is Joseph Playing?
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - What Game is Joseph Playing?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
What Game Is Joseph Playing? Genesis 42:1-35 I arrived home late one evening, picked up the mail, and checked messages. When I was in charge of a seminary, I used to avoid reading messages just before bedtime in case it gave me things to worry about that kept me from sleeping, bu…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - When the Apostate King's Son Gets Sick
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - When the Apostate King's Son Gets Sick
by SPCK - John Goldingay
When the Apostate King’s Son Gets Sick 1 Kings 13:33-14:20 Last night a friend of mine was blowing a fuse concerning the sermon at her church a couple of Sundays ago. The preacher was talking about Jesus’ healing of the man who had been lying sick by the Pool of Siloam for thirty…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - When Minister's Indulge Themselves
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - When Minister's Indulge Themselves
by SPCK - John Goldingay
When Ministers Indulge Themselves 1 Samuel 2: 11- 36 Lent has just begun. Just beforehand, over dinner, the members of our Bible study group were wondering what Lenten discipline they might take on. I argued that discipline was better understood as a matter of doing something pos…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - When the King Has to Take Decisive Action