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1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - When the King Isn't Tough Enough
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - When the King Isn't Tough Enough
by SPCK - John Goldingay
When the King Isn’t Tough Enough 1 Samuel 15: 1- 33 According to news reports, at U.S. bases in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba in the first decade of the twenty-first century we were engaged in the torture of people suspected of terrorist acts. This involved keeping people in constrained…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Where to Find Isaac a Wife
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Where to Find Isaac a Wife
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Where To Find Isaac a Wife Genesis 24: 1-20 When you make your short list of the things that you pray most concerning your children, their being able to marry the “right” person (and keep that marriage going) is near the top of the list. Our sons married beautiful, strong women w…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - When You Need an Expert
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - When You Need an Expert
by SPCK - John Goldingay
When You Need an Expert Genesis 40:9-41:24 Three months ago, I had a routine medical procedure (I will spare you the clinical details). A few weeks before it was due, I happened to read a report of research on this particular procedure that suggested it might not be as useful as …
Exodus and Leviticus - Whose Service is Perfect Freedom
Exodus and Leviticus - Whose Service is Perfect Freedom
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Whose Service is Perfect Freedom EXODUS 5:1- 6:1 Tomorrow I shall preside at a “service” in church. In what sense do we “serve” God by singing hymns and so on? Indeed, is it God that we are serving? Yesterday, one of my colleagues on the seminary’s chapel committee asked me what …
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Who Will Entice Ahab?
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Who Will Entice Ahab?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Who Will Entice Ahab? 1 Kings 22:1-23 I’ve recently started rewatching the television drama series The West Wing from the beginning, and last night I saw a couple of episodes about the Democrat-run White House offering a job to a lawyer who is a totally convinced Republican who h…
Isaiah for Everyone - Who Would Want to be a Superpower?
Isaiah for Everyone - Who Would Want to be a Superpower?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Who Would Want to Be a Superpower? Two days ago the news reported that for every soldier who dies on the battlefield in Afghanistan, twenty-five veterans commit suicide at home. It’s such an unbelievable statistic I have just checked it again. Yesterday the news reported that the…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Wives and Adversaries
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Wives and Adversaries
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Wives and Adversaries 1 Kings 11:1-43 When my sister was abandoned by her husband just after the birth of their son, she moved back to live with our parents for a while to find a way of getting her life back together, and eventually met a nice young man (also called John, as is h…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Will God Really Dwell on Earth?
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Will God Really Dwell on Earth?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Will God Really Dwell on Earth? 1 Kings 8:10-30 An hour or two ago I was sitting not at my desk, as I am now, but in my recliner chair, where I start off the day with my coffee, reading the Bible just for my own benefit and praying for people, and I sometimes picture God sitting …
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Why Were They So Stupid?
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Why Were They So Stupid?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Why Were They So Stupid? JOSHUA 11:16- 12:24 The night before last I ate dinner early, drank a glass or two of wine, didn’t eat dessert, and then had a cup of coffee later. This pattern works if I want to sleep well, so I try to stick to it. Last night I ate late, and the server …
Exodus and Leviticus - You Are What You Eat
Exodus and Leviticus - You Are What You Eat
by SPCK - John Goldingay
You Are What You Eat LEVITICUS : 11 1- 12: 8 We had squirrels in our garden in England and on our patio in California, and in both places I have threatened to make squirrel casserole. Ann protested because she likes the squirrels; other people protest because they are repelled by…
Exodus and Leviticus - You Know the Feelings of an Alien
Exodus and Leviticus - You Know the Feelings of an Alien
by SPCK - John Goldingay
You Know the Feelings of an Alien EXODUS 22: 15- 23: 19 There are aliens who freely choose to live in a foreign country, and there are aliens who felt they were driven to do so (and then there are the aliens who come on spaceships). I am an alien and that occasionally causes me a…
Psalms for Everyone - You Have a Choice
Psalms for Everyone - You Have a Choice
by SPCK - John Goldingay
You Have a Choice Psalm 1 It’s Independence Day today in the United States, and our visiting preacher on Sunday more than once referred to our freedom to make choices as a reason for rejoicing. I imagine that as well as the freedom not to have one’s destiny shaped by guys the oth…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - You Don't Deserve It
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - You Don't Deserve It
by SPCK - John Goldingay
You Don’t Deserve It Deuteronomy 9: 4- 10: 22 I spotted an advertisement for a “You Deserve It!” event, “a quality day for women to relax, have fun, learn some new things, and spend time with other wonderful women.” The last phrase is a giveaway. In inviting everyone to see thems…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - You Can't Mess with the Covenant Chest
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - You Can't Mess with the Covenant Chest
by SPCK - John Goldingay
You Can’t Mess with the Covenant Chest 1 Samuel 5: 1- 7: 1 When I used to read Bible stories to my young sons, they would sometimes ask, “Did that really happen?” As far as I remember, they did not ask that question about big events like the Israelites’ crossing of the Reed Sea (…
John for Everyone part 2 - The Spirit and the World
John for Everyone part 2 - The Spirit and the World
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Spirit and the World John 16.1-11 I once saw a film based on one of Charles Dickens’s novels. The film was about poverty and the degrading effect it has on people. One of the most depressing scenes was in a lawyer’s office, as the relatives of a man imprisoned for debt were d…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Citizens of Heaven
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Citizens of Heaven
by SPCK - N T Wright
Citizens of Heaven Philippians 3.17-4.1 The word ‘colony’ today is not exactly popular. It rings of the old days of imperialism, when several European countries were expanding their influence in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and were vying with each other to see who could grab …
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - Commending Phoebe, Greeting Friends
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - Commending Phoebe, Greeting Friends
by SPCK - N T Wright
Commending Phoebe, Greeting Friends ROMANS 16.1-16 A farmer in the English Midlands was ploughing a field when the plough struck a solid object. Thinking it was a large rock, he stopped to move it. But it wasn’t a rock. It was an ancient chest, dating (so the museum told him when…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Children of the Light