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Isaiah for everyone - An Ambiguous "Because"
Isaiah for everyone - An Ambiguous "Because"
by SPCK - John Goldingay
An Ambiguous “Because” At Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, is a room dedicated to the million and a half children who were murdered in the Holocaust. It’s a hollowed out cavern with some candles whose light is reflected on the ceiling by hundreds of mirrors so tha…
Jeremiah for everyone - The Prophet Who’s Forbidden to Pray (1)
Jeremiah for everyone - The Prophet Who’s Forbidden to Pray (1)
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Prophet Who’s Forbidden to Pray My first Old Testament mentor once told us about his first visit to the new cathedral in Coventry in the center of England. The old cathedral, like much of the city, was devastated by bombing in the Second World War…
Jeremiah for everyone - Uncircumcised Ears
Jeremiah for everyone - Uncircumcised Ears
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Uncircumcised Ears I had an odd experience yesterday. My wife initiated a quite ordinary and reasonable conversation about moving around some of the furniture and repainting the walls and replacing the dining furniture that’s falling apart…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 41:1, 6
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 41:1, 6
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 41:1, 6 The causes of poverty are the enemies of God. In a world of great complexity it is not always easy to identify them, nor is it simple to find the remedies. The causes range from trading tariffs to the changing climate, from war to corruption and exploitation. Those …
Reflection: Responsibility
Reflection: Responsibility
by Marjorie Dobson
Reflection: Responsibility We are not the original believers in Christ. Generations have passed since those first disciples took on the task of spreading the message. We are many years down that line. Yet, in each generation there have been those who have picked up the message, b…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The First Sunday of Advent Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The First Sunday of Advent Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The First Sunday of Advent Luke 21.25-36 Gaze on all the climate change nightmares we read about – mountains sliding into rivers, icebergs breaking off from the Antarctic mass; rising sea levels and waves breaching sea defences, and winds that upend ancient oaks. Is this the fina…
Body - Chapter 2 - Keeping body and soul together (part 2)
Body - Chapter 2 - Keeping body and soul together (part 2)
by SPCK - Paula Gooder
Keeping body and soul together (part 2) Death and the soul in the Old Testament A fascinating illustration of the importance of the body to the nephesh is the use of the word to refer to someone who has died recently. Numbers 6.6 forbids a Nazirite from going near a nephesh met (…
Jeremiah for everyone - Bad News or Good News?
Jeremiah for everyone - Bad News or Good News?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Bad News or Good News? It’s possible to be pretty gloomy about the future. Today’s news includes a white gunman killing six Sikh worshipers in a temple in Milwaukee, which other worshipers took as a hate crime reflecting the assumption that people dressed in Sikh fashion were Mus…
The Monastery Of The Heart - 8 Mutuality
The Monastery Of The Heart - 8 Mutuality
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Mutuality “We intend to establish a school for God’s service. We hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome.” Community is a matter of the heart and the mind. It cannot be created by place alone, and it cannot be destroyed by distance alone… Taken from The Monastery Of Th…
Arthur's Call - Through the wilderness years
Arthur's Call - Through the wilderness years
by SPCK - Frances Young
2 Through the wilderness years In the Bible the wilderness is a place of testing and doubt, but also a privileged place where God confronts and calls his people. In this chapter I retell my own version of this paradoxical experience…
Psalms for Everyone - On Telling God What to Do
Psalms for Everyone - On Telling God What to Do
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Telling God What to Do Psalm 70 As usual, this Sunday morning in church we prayed that the church might be one, that it might faithfully preach the gospel to the ends of the earth, that there might be justice and peace on the earth, and that the world might be freed from pover…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 149:4
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 149:4
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 149:4 What a glorious place to end! The thought that God takes pleasure in us supplants all those other false notions of God being rather fed up with us. The problem with low self-esteem, which afflicts so many of us, is that we project this on to how God must see us. When …
Monologue/Reflection: A year to remember
Monologue/Reflection: A year to remember
by Marjorie Dobson
Monologue/Reflection: A year to remember It was a year to remember. The fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. Roman rule and very unpopular. That man Pontius Pilate was in charge of us. Nobody trusted him and he probably didn’t trust himself. It’s rumoured that his wife…
Psalms for Everyone - How to Pray for the Government
Psalms for Everyone - How to Pray for the Government
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Pray for the Government Psalm 72: 1-17 The phrase “It’s the economy, stupid,” played a key role in Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. Most people are not really interested in foreign policy or other such important issues but in whether they are feeling financially …
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Meanwhile, in the Whorehouse
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Meanwhile, in the Whorehouse
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Meanwhile, in the Whorehouse JOSHUA 2: 1-24 In this commentary, Joshua 2 is the only chapter for which I will not attempt to provide an opening story in accordance with the usual format of The Old Testament for Everyone series. How could I compete with this actual story about the…
How God Became King - 5b The Biblical Story of God