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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - And a Time for War
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - And a Time for War
by SPCK - John Goldingay
And a Time for War Genesis 14: 1-13 On the first Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration after I came to the United States, his daughter Bernice King preached in the seminary chapel. As I walked to chapel that morning, I remember wondering whether she would be the kind of person who…
Job for Everyone - Can a Mortal Be in the Right in God's Eyes?
Job for Everyone - Can a Mortal Be in the Right in God's Eyes?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Can a Mortal Be in the Right in God’s Eyes? Job 4: 1-21 In the heyday of the charismatic movement in Britain, like many people I used to receive short messages from God from time to time for passing on to other people, and sometimes I used to be given such messages by other peopl…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Brothers United and Divided
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Brothers United and Divided
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Brothers United and Divided Genesis 25: 7- 22 Not so many years ago, my wife and I were part of a regulation three-generation family. My mother, our only surviving parent, was at the top. We were in the middle. Our sons and their wives were at the bottom. Then, within two years, …
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - But God Remembered Noah
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - But God Remembered Noah
by SPCK - John Goldingay
But God Remembered Noah Genesis 8: 1-22a There are several restaurants and clubs where I take my wife in her wheelchair and where they invariably both remember us and are mindful of us. When I call to make a reservation, they remember us (it’s partly the odd accent), and when we …
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - But What about Ishmael
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - But What about Ishmael
by SPCK - John Goldingay
But What about Ishmael? Genesis 17: 20-27 When my sister and I were young children, our parents had a hard time making ends meet on my father’s wages as a factory worker. My father was not keen on my mother going out to work while we were small, and eventually they decided to sel…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Desperate Dan
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Desperate Dan
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Desperate Dan JUDGES 18:1-31 When we were in the midst of agreeing to come to California for me to teach here, one of our students at my seminary in England sensed God saying to her one day in chapel, “Tell John, ‘Judges 18:6.’” “I don’t know what it says,” she replied. “Never mi…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Excluded but Not Forgotten
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Excluded but Not Forgotten
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Excluded but Not Forgotten Genesis 36:1- 37:4 Some years ago I decided to try to discover what I could about the Goldingays of the past. It’s probably easier for most British people to investigate their ancestors than for most people in the United States, whose families came from…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - God Struggles
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - God Struggles
by SPCK - John Goldingay
God Struggles Genesis 32:24b-33:17 Every Sunday on the way to church we drive past a particular bus shelter with a huge advertising placard, and for some while this placard proclaimed, “You can never have enough money.” I can’t remember what it was advertising (which shows that a…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - God was with Joseph
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - God was with Joseph
by SPCK - John Goldingay
God Was with Jesus Genesis 39:1-40:8 I previously referred to a man who used to come to talk with me when he had an affair and was inclined to blame the women for throwing themselves at him. But I have known women who were tempted to do that. Sometimes their men were totally preo…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How Our Faithlessness Magnifies God’s Faithfulness
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How Our Faithlessness Magnifies God’s Faithfulness
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How Our Faithlessness Magnifies God’s Faithfulness Psalm 106: 1-47 From six thousand miles’ distance I have been astonished to follow the London equivalent to Occupy Wall Street, which has involved protesters camping out at St. Paul’s Cathedral, where I was ordained, near the Lon…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - How Stupid Parents Can Be
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - How Stupid Parents Can Be
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How Stupid Can Parents Be Genesis 26:34- 27:33 It’s amazing how foolish we can be as parents. A little while ago my wife and I were having dinner with some friends, and I made some remark about how people are always talking about intimacy and the importance of being relational bu…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - How to Be a Mixed-up Person
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - How to Be a Mixed-up Person
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Be a Mixed-up Person JUDGES 6:25- 40 This week I asked a group of students what impressions their Christian background had given them about prayer. One of the recurrent themes was that we need to be a bit careful how we talk to God. You don’t complain to God, question God,…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - How Not to Save the Situation
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - How Not to Save the Situation
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How Not to Save the Situation JUDGES 21:1-25 The story goes that in 1941, on the eve of the U.S. entry into the 1939–1945 war, two teenage ham radio operators who had joined the U.S. National Guard were enrolled into the army and were trained in “scrambling” messages to try to av…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - How to Recycle Your Killer Instinct
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - How to Recycle Your Killer Instinct
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Recycle Your Killer Instinct 1 Samuel 17: 1- 54 It was the Oscars last weekend (I went to a great jazz concert two blocks away, though I was nearly late because of the road closures in Hollywood), and against the odds, The Hurt Locker beat Avatar (which grossed fifty times…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Say a Lot in a Few Words
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Say a Lot in a Few Words
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Say a Lot in a Few Words Psalm 117 & 118 I joined the faculty of my seminary in England at the time when it moved to a new campus in a different city, so the beginning of my first year was a big moment for the seminary, not just for me. As I walked onto the campus on that …
Exodus and Leviticus - How to Start and End the Day
Exodus and Leviticus - How to Start and End the Day
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Start and End the Day EXODUS 29: 38- 30: 37 When my wife died, we “celebrated” her life and marked her death at a memorial service where we burnt lots of incense, not something we regularly do in our church. One striking aspect of the burning of incense is the smell, which…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - If Only...
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - If Only...
by SPCK - John Goldingay
If Only… Deuteronomy 5: 16-33 Yesterday we had the service to which I referred in connection with Deuteronomy 1, when the Episcopal Church in Los Angeles expressed its contrition for the racism that has characterized it in encouraging segregation and condoning discrimination with…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Miriam the Prophet, Aaron the Priest, Moses the Teacher