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Job for Everyone - THe Way I Have Walked (III)
Job for Everyone - THe Way I Have Walked (III)
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Way I Have Walked (III) Job 31 24-40 A year or two ago, a friend of mine lost his wife after she had been ill for a while, and to my horror I was aware of feeling something like satisfaction at this event because my wife had recently died after being ill for many years. Someh…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - To Be a Blessing
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - To Be a Blessing
by SPCK - John Goldingay
To Be a Blessing Genesis 12: 2b When my grandmother died, she left her legacy to be divided among her grandchildren. Her legacy was about two hundred pounds (about three hundred dollars), and we got about twenty pounds each. I bought two prints with it: one sits behind me as I wr…
Psalms for Everyone - We've Probably All Been Rescued from Death a Few Times
Psalms for Everyone - We've Probably All Been Rescued from Death a Few Times
by SPCK - John Goldingay
We’ve Probably All Been Rescued from Death a Few Times Psalm 18: 1-24 Between us my wife and I have had four or five illnesses that would have left us dead had we lived in most contexts in human history. We have both had appendicitis that might have killed us without medical inte…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - What Game is Genesis Playing?
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - What Game is Genesis Playing?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
What Game Is Genesis Playing? Genesis 42:36-43:34 In the movie The English Patient, Count Laszlo crashes a plane and in order to go to get help has to abandon the only woman he has loved, in an injured state, in a cave in a desert mountain. He is long unable to convince people to…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - What Do You Need to Know?
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - What Do You Need to Know?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
What Do You Need to Know? Genesis 14: 14-18 If you are Abraham, what do you assume about the religious insight of a person like Melchizedek, who is “priest of God Most High” but doesn’t know what you know about God? I have friends who have moved to Turkey, and to Central Asia, an…
Job for Everyone - When Silence is Not Enough
Job for Everyone - When Silence is Not Enough
by SPCK - John Goldingay
When Silence is Not Enough Job 40:1- 24 Over the years during which my first wife had multiple sclerosis, I have concrete memories concerning two or three occasions when I attempted to confront God about it. Distressed at the way the illness affected her, on one such occasion I r…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Which Side Are You On? Neither
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Which Side Are You On? Neither
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Which Side Are You On? Neither JOSHUA 5: 2-15 We were discussing the book of Job in a class this week. I have abandoned giving a set lecture on the book because when students have read it as part of their preparatory homework, they come to class with many questions and issues the…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Where Are You?
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Where Are You?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Where Are You? Genesis 3: 4-13 “I can resist everything except temptation.” I am writing on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States. It’s the greatest shopping day of the year, popularly assumed to be called by that name because it’s when stores hope to get …
Job for Everyone - Why Are Times Not Kept by Shadday?
Job for Everyone - Why Are Times Not Kept by Shadday?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Why Are Times Not Kept By Shadday? Job 24: 1-25 Some time ago I used to follow a set of daily scriptural readings called Daily Light on the Daily Path that included verses on different topics for each morning and evening. The verses were printed on the main body of the page, and …
Job for Everyone - Who Moved?
Job for Everyone - Who Moved?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Who Moved? Job 23: 1-17 A notice that sometimes appears on church bulletin boards says, “If God seems far away, guess who moved?” There’s obviously some truth in the point it makes about our relationship with God, but the notice rather tempts me to deface it. I have known times w…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Who Are the Real Canaanites?
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Who Are the Real Canaanites?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Who Are the Real Canaanites JOSHUA 6: 22- 7: 15 I have tried being confrontational with God, but it doesn’t work very well because God is capable of being confrontational back (as Job found). Once when I was fretting over my wife’s illness, I said to God, “I don’t really trust yo…
Job for Everyone - Will You Just Listen?
Job for Everyone - Will You Just Listen?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Will You Just Listen? Job 13: 1-28 This afternoon I was on the phone with a friend who had moved to another city because he believed he had a call to go and work in a tough area there. He had joined a tiny church and had started a coffee bar that might be a meeting place for peop…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - Yahweh's Good Spirit and Yahweh's Bad Spirit
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - Yahweh's Good Spirit and Yahweh's Bad Spirit
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Yahweh’s Good Spirit and Yahweh’s Bad Spirit 1 Samuel 15: 34- 16: 23 I was recently reading a profile of Clint Eastwood; it was this profile that made me think about his movie Unforgiven in connection with 1 Samuel 13. In that and other later movies he is both actor and director,…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - A New Start
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - A New Start
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A New Start Genesis 4: 23-26 Why does anyone want to have a child? A year or so after the birth of our first son, Ann had a miscarriage, and she was deeply grieved about that, as happens especially to a woman (it is easier for a man—at least it was for this man—to shrug his shoul…
Psalms for Everyone - Answer to Prayer Phase Two
Psalms for Everyone - Answer to Prayer Phase Two
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Answer to Prayer Phase Two Psalm 30 In connection with Psalm 16, I have mentioned how a few months ago I met, fell in love with, and proposed to someone, then discovered I had prostate cancer and arranged to have surgery. We had a very moving prayer time in church, and I knew God…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - And God Shut Him In
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - And God Shut Him In
by SPCK - John Goldingay
And God Shut Him In Genesis 7: 1-24 One of my sons works for the U.K. Environment Agency in the department concerned with flood control, where he oversees projects designed to avoid flooding. In the past there have been occasions when terrible storms have caused the sea to flood …
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Do Not Be Afraid
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Do Not Be Afraid
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Do Not Be Afraid Genesis 15: 1-6a When my mother died, I rode to her funeral with our rector. I say “our rector” though he had arrived at the church only after I was myself ordained, and he reminded me that one of the first services he conducted had been my father’s funeral. Whil…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - How Saul Lost Some Donkeys and Found More Than He Bargained For