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Exodus and Leviticus - Making Reparation
Exodus and Leviticus - Making Reparation
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Making Reparation LEVITICUS 5: 1- 6: 7 When my wife and I knew we were in love and wanted to get married, my wife’s parents opposed the match for various reasons. I was a mere would-be pastor with no career prospects to compare with Ann’s as a physician. I was too informal and no…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Maintaining the Family Name
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Maintaining the Family Name
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Maintaining the Family Name Deuteronomy 25: 1-19 I have just read about a court in Britain sending a woman to prison for killing someone in a car crash that happened while she was texting. The victim’s mother and the prosecution are appealing for a stiffer sentence. The newspaper…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - No, But...
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - No, But...
by SPCK - John Goldingay
No, But… Deuteronomy 1:46- 3: 29 I noted at the beginning of this commentary that my wife, Ann, died just before I started writing it. She had multiple sclerosis for forty-three years. The Sunday after her death, the set Scripture readings included Paul’s account in 2 Corinthians…
Psalms for Everyone - Neither Militarist nor Pacifist
Psalms for Everyone - Neither Militarist nor Pacifist
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Neither Militarist nor Pacifist Psalm 68: 19-35 On the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, I read an article by a Pakistani titled “Why Do They Hate Us So Much?” It picked up a question people in the United States asked after those attacks but reversed it in light of convict…
Job for Everyone - On Learning From the Past
Job for Everyone - On Learning From the Past
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Learning from the Past Job 8: 1-22 The other Saturday we were sitting in a restaurant by the ocean, and a woman came to talk to us who is a student at the seminary. This particular beach is an hour away, so I asked her if she lived nearby. She explained that she came here on S…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - On Missing Garlic
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - On Missing Garlic
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Missing Garlic NUMBERS 11: 1-35 My mother didn’t know about garlic. This is not unreasonable; she had learned to cook in the days when British cooking was boring, before Elizabeth David introduced us to proper cooking (she was our Julia Child) and before immigration from the I…
Isaiah for Everyone - On Mixed Motives
Isaiah for Everyone - On Mixed Motives
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Mixed Motives Next week my wife and are to speak at a retreat for students aimed at helping people maintain a connection with God while they’re studying theology. I’m looking forward to this event because we have the experience of going through seminary and watching generation…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - On Keeping Things Separate
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - On Keeping Things Separate
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Keeping Things Separate Deuteronomy 22: 1-12 A house where we once lived in England had a small back garden with a nice rose patch but no room for growing vegetables (the previous occupant was a big gardener but had an allotment elsewhere for growing huge amounts of things to …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - People Who Are Standing Need to Watch Lest They Fall
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - People Who Are Standing Need to Watch Lest They Fall
by SPCK - John Goldingay
People Who Are Standing Need to Watch Lest They Fall Psalm 78: 38-72 A few months ago one of the members of our church, a lively lady in her nineties who always had something to contribute, suddenly became less consistent in coming to church, and then didn’t appear for two or thr…
Job for Everyone - Pastoral Care That Makes the Sufferer's Position Worse
Job for Everyone - Pastoral Care That Makes the Sufferer's Position Worse
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Pastoral Care That Makes the Sufferer’s Position Worse Job 33 1-33 A woman came to see me a little while ago to talk about an occasion when she had been given pastoral care by some people, and she said the occasion had left her disturbed for years. I knew her to be an intelligent…
Job for Everyone - Perish the Day I Was Born
Job for Everyone - Perish the Day I Was Born
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Perish the Day I was Born Job 3: 1-26 I never knew my Uncle Billy, my mother’s younger brother. The year I was born, he was killed in combat in the Second World War in North Africa. I did know my Uncle Ray, the husband of my mother’s older sister, who was also a combat soldier in…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - One Thing Leads to Another
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - One Thing Leads to Another
by SPCK - John Goldingay
One Thing Leads to Another Genesis 12: 11-20 The movie Spanglish concerns the adventures of a Los Angeles family who hire a Mexican as housekeeper. While she may not be in the same class as Sarah, she is not to be sneezed at, and the head of the household does not sneeze at her. …
Psalms for Everyone - Passion Means Persecution
Psalms for Everyone - Passion Means Persecution
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Passion Means Persecution Psalm 68: 1-18 I dreamed last night that I was being taken to court for preaching. The question “If you were prosecuted for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” is a cliché, but it’s a clever and thought-provoking one. When …
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - The Man Who Has Learned How To Be A Prophet
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - The Man Who Has Learned How To Be A Prophet
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Man Who Has Learned How to Be a Prophet 2 Samuel 12: 1- 15a A pastor once came to talk to me because he had had an affair. He had actually “got away with it.” He thinks his wife never realized, but he knew he had behaved in a way that was both wrong and stupid, and he knew he…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - A Wandering Aramean Has Become a Great Nation
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - A Wandering Aramean Has Become a Great Nation
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Wandering Aramean Has Become a Great Nation Deuteronomy 26: 1-19 Last Friday we had our harvest celebration at the seminary, and a great occasion it was. There was a wide range of food cooked by people of different ethnic backgrounds; there were games for children; there were r…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Dance and Slaughter
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Dance and Slaughter
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Dance and Slaughter Psalm 148-149 As a teenager, I did not learn to dance or to shoot a gun for different reasons. I didn’t learn to dance because my church regarded dancing as “worldly”; it wasn’t appropriate to people who were really committed to God. I didn’t learn to shoot be…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - A Sign of Grace, Commitment and Discipline
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - A Sign of Grace, Commitment and Discipline
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Sign of Grace, Commitment, and Discipline Genesis 17: 9-14 As was once the custom in Britain, my parents had me baptized when I was a baby, even though this was the only involvement they had with the church apart from weddings and funerals. I don’t know exactly what they though…
Fresh Thoughts for Sunday - Fresh Thoughts For Sunday Issue 86 18/10/15