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1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - David on the Run
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - David on the Run
by SPCK - John Goldingay
David on the Run 1 Samuel 22: 1- 23: 24 The other day, a student was discussing his future plans with me. He believed God was telling him that he should stay at the seminary for another year to do further courses to improve his chances of getting into a doctoral program, that he …
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Love Actually
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Love Actually
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Love Actually JUDGES 16:1-21 After the incident a few weeks ago when a man on a plane bound for Detroit tried to blow up himself and the plane as an act of terrorism against the United States and the Western world in general, an extraordinary piece of background to the event emer…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Real Life Is More Complicated
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Real Life Is More Complicated
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Real Life Is More Complicated JUDGES 1:1- 36 This week Barack Obama made what might be the most fateful decision of his young presidency in sending thirty thousand more soldiers into Afghanistan. By the time you read this commentary, we may know whether this produces the desired …
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - The Bird in a Cage
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - The Bird in a Cage
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Bird in a Cage 2 Kings 18:1-37 When my sons were babies, we would play trust exercises with them, though I’m not sure whether we or they realized this was what we were doing. They would leap from some height, such as a wall, knowing that father or mother would catch them. As …
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - The Fog of War
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - The Fog of War
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Fog of War 1 Samuel 13: 23- 14: 52 I recently watched a British movie called In the Loop, a Monty Pythonesque version of how we came to invade Iraq. It was a cynical, fictionalized account of how the implications of intelligence from the Middle East got turned upside down to …
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - The Peak of David's Achievement
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - The Peak of David's Achievement
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Peak of David’s Achievement 2 Samuel 8: 1- 10: 19 I’ve just started reading a social history of Britain since the end of the 1939–1945 war. It thus begins with the celebration of the allies’ victory over Nazi Germany, personalized as Winston Churchill’s victory over Adolf Hit…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - When the King Has to Take Decisive Action
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - When the King Has to Take Decisive Action
by SPCK - John Goldingay
When the King Has to Take Decisive Action 1 Samuel 13: 1- 22 Saul mustered the company of those that were present with him, some six hundred men. 16Saul and his son Jonathan and the company that was present with them were staying at Geba in Benjamin, and the Philistines were camp…
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 (…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - But Samson's Hair Began to Grow Again
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - But Samson's Hair Began to Grow Again
by SPCK - John Goldingay
But Samson’s Hair Began to Grow Again JUDGES 16:22-31 The first time I went to Israel, I took part in an exciting archaeological dig. Just next to a tennis club in the big modern city of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean, where people started playing at 6:00 a.m. because it would be …
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - Everyone Is Against Me
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - Everyone Is Against Me
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Everyone is against Me 1 Samuel 18: 17- 19: 24 Last night I watched a Jordanian Oscar-nominated movie called Captain Abu Raed, whose central figure is an airport janitor at Amman Airport (just up the street from Jabesh-gilead, actually). In a subordinate plot point, he gets to kn…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Entertaining Angels Unawares
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Entertaining Angels Unawares
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Entertaining Angels Unawares JUDGES 13:1- 25 Some friends of mine have just become pregnant. I am not accustomed to using that verb in the first-person plural; when I was young, it was only women who got pregnant, but now it is a joint operation. There is a certain appropriatenes…
David and Goliath
David and Goliath
by Colin Smith
This short reflection/sermon(1550 words) analyses the story of David and Goliath to identify David's responses to the crisis which he faced. The wisdom of his responses are made evident namely i) getting the crisis into perspective, ii) ignoring ill founded criticism and iii) pr…
Jeremiah for everyone - Spiritual Warfare and Shocking Sovereignty
Jeremiah for everyone - Spiritual Warfare and Shocking Sovereignty
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Spiritual Warfare and Shocking Sovereignty There’s one more aspect of the comments about warfare in Ephesians 6 that links with these chapters in Jeremiah. One big reason that Paul wants the church to take its fight seriously is that it’s not fighting mere flesh and blood…
Psalms for Everyone - I Whistle a Happy Tune
Psalms for Everyone - I Whistle a Happy Tune
by SPCK - John Goldingay
I Whistle a Happy Tune Psalm 56 During the past few days people on the East Coast of the United States have been living through Hurricane Irene, which the media report to be among the top ten most costly disasters in U.S. history. As the Rock River rose on Sunday morning in Willi…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - How Are The Mighty Fallen
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - How Are The Mighty Fallen
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How Are the Mighty Fallen 2 Samuel 1: 1- 2: 31 The day before yesterday was Education and Sharing Day in the United States, a day established in honor of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who died in 1994. During his lifetime some of his followers believed him to be the messiah, …
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - On Following Up Your Good Ideas but Not Taking Yourself Too Seriously
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - On Following Up Your Good Ideas but Not Taking Yourself Too Seriously
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Following Up Your Good Ideas but Not Taking Yourself Too Seriously 2 Samuel 5: 1- 25 I am coming to the end of my fortieth year as a professor. On Sunday evening, the day before yet another new quarter started, a friend asked me a question that unintentionally made me feel rat…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - On Giving Up Your Son