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Exodus and Leviticus - Anticipatory Celebration
Exodus and Leviticus - Anticipatory Celebration
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Anticipatory Celebration EXODUS 12: 1-27 I am sometimes asked, “What do you miss about England?” One of my joke replies is that I miss a magnificent chocolate-and- cream pastry called an “elephant’s foot” that they sell at a bakery where we often had Saturday lunch. Another reply…
Psalms for Everyone - Another Interim Closing Act of Praise
Psalms for Everyone - Another Interim Closing Act of Praise
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Another Interim Closing Act of Praise Psalm 72: 18-20 As the last verse of Psalm 41 is actually the close of Book One of the Psalter, the closing verses of Psalm 72 are not part of this psalm but are an act of worship at the end of Book Two of the Psalter, a little like the “Glor…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - But the Thing David Had Done Was Displeasing in Yahweh's Eyes
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - But the Thing David Had Done Was Displeasing in Yahweh's Eyes
by SPCK - John Goldingay
But the Thing David Had Done Was Displeasing in Yahweh’s Eyes 2 Samuel 11: 1- 27 There is a news item today about a state governor who had to resign because of a sex scandal a couple of years ago but is now trying to rehabilitate himself in the eye of the public. As governor, one…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - But Samson's Hair Began to Grow Again
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - But Samson's Hair Began to Grow Again
by SPCK - John Goldingay
But Samson’s Hair Began to Grow Again JUDGES 16:22-31 The first time I went to Israel, I took part in an exciting archaeological dig. Just next to a tennis club in the big modern city of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean, where people started playing at 6:00 a.m. because it would be …
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Call No One Happy until They Are Dead
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Call No One Happy until They Are Dead
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Call No One Happy Until They are Dead Genesis 46:1-34 Introducing Genesis 44 I referred to one incident in the life of a man and a woman; then, introducing Genesis 45, I referred to an aspect of my wife’s and my life. In different ways, both stories show how at the time something…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Desires and Choices
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Desires and Choices
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Desires and Choices 1 Kings 9:1-28 In connection with 1 Kings 7 I mentioned the work Joe is doing on my bathroom. Yesterday he finished the work. The fixtures look as if they were designed in the twenty-first century rather than somewhat before; the rusty cupboards are gone; the …
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Deathbed Promises and Predictions
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Deathbed Promises and Predictions
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Deathbed Promises and Predictions Genesis 49:1-28 When you know you are going to die soon, it may concentrate the mind. You may see things more clearly. The poet Jason Shinder found his voice as a poet through the cancer that brought his death in middle age. His friends saw him a…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Dealing with Ambition
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Dealing with Ambition
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Dealing with Ambition NUMBERS 16: 1-17: 13 I am amazed that anyone seeks a position of leadership. We once had a new principal come to the seminary where I taught in England who unveiled his detailed and carefully thought-out vision for its future. The faculty took one look and s…
Exodus and Leviticus - Distinguishing Life from Death
Exodus and Leviticus - Distinguishing Life from Death
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Distinguishing Life from Death LEVITICUS : 13 1- 14: 57 The first funeral I did in the United States was for a friend in his thirties whose wedding I had conducted. We buried him within about a year, after he died of a brain tumor. I admire the way U.S. funerals commonly have the…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - Everyone Is Against Me
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - Everyone Is Against Me
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Everyone is against Me 1 Samuel 18: 17- 19: 24 Last night I watched a Jordanian Oscar-nominated movie called Captain Abu Raed, whose central figure is an airport janitor at Amman Airport (just up the street from Jabesh-gilead, actually). In a subordinate plot point, he gets to kn…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Everyone Under Their Vines and Their Fig Trees
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Everyone Under Their Vines and Their Fig Trees
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Everyone under Their Vines and Their Fig Trees 1 Kings 4:20-5:18 A few weeks ago my son and his family were visiting, and we spent some great times sitting out in the shade eating bread and cheese and drinking wine while the children played in the pool. The eruption of a volcano …
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Everything Came True
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Everything Came True
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Everything Came True JOSHUA 20:1- 21:43 Less than three weeks ago I received one of those standard e-mails from a student: she did not think she would be able to finish her coursework by the deadline. Except that it was not the standard e-mail. She had been told that she had a br…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - God's Flexibility
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - God's Flexibility
by SPCK - John Goldingay
God’s Flexibility NUMBERS 8: 5-9: 14 A woman came to talk to me after church two weeks ago. In the sermon I had described the way the Psalms invite us in prayer to appeal to God’s compassion, grace, and steadfast love, especially when we know we are in the wrong in relation to Go…
Psalms for Everyone - God Laughs on His People's Behalf
Psalms for Everyone - God Laughs on His People's Behalf
by SPCK - John Goldingay
God Laughs on His People’s Behalf Psalm 2 We watched Independence Day fireworks last night, and I recalled how people sometimes ask me, “Do you celebrate Independence Day in Britain?” I say, “Yes, of course: parents are glad when their kids grow up and take control of their own l…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - God's Claim on Levi
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - God's Claim on Levi
by SPCK - John Goldingay
God’s Claim on Levi NUMBERS 3: 1-5: 4 Last night I was watching the “Extras” on the DVD of a movie called The Soloist, whose background is Skid Row in Los Angeles, ten minutes away from where I sit. It noted the contribution made by volunteers (of the kind I could be) to the need…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - God Doesn't Go Back on a Promise
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - God Doesn't Go Back on a Promise
by SPCK - John Goldingay
God Doesn’t Go Back on a Promise NUMBERS 22: 1- 23:4 People in traditional societies know there can be a strange power about blessing and cursing. A Nigerian told me about the way in his society people know that their enemies can use curses to cause harm to them, and the traditio…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - How to be a Dysfunctional Royal Family
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - How to be a Dysfunctional Royal Family
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Be a Dysfunctional Royal family 1 Samuel 17: 55- 18: 16 Queen Elizabeth II declared 1992 her annus horribilis, her “horrible year.” The phrase is a riff on the expression annus mirabilis, “miracle year,” the phrase devised by the poet John Dryden to describe 1666, the year…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - How Not to Leave the Initiative to the Man