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Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - A Strange Prohibition and a Surprising Experiment
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - A Strange Prohibition and a Surprising Experiment
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Strange Prohibition and a Surprising Experiment Genesis 2: 15-20 One of our friends has been looking and hoping for years to find the girl of his dreams, but he is getting older, and it looks less and less likely that this will ever happen. So he recently acquired a dog. At lea…
Exodus and Leviticus - Be Holy as I am Holy
Exodus and Leviticus - Be Holy as I am Holy
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Be Holy as I am Holy LEVITICUS : 19: 1- 18 Today’s newspaper reports on the release from a detention center in Iraq of a twenty-seven-year-old man, after eighteen months there. He was given a letter to say that his case had been concluded and the occupation authorities had decide…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Babylon Becomes Babble-on
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Babylon Becomes Babble-on
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Babylon Becomes Babble-on Genesis 11: 8- 30 In England I had an Egyptian colleague whose first language was Arabic. When we were going to Morocco for a holiday, I asked him to teach me a few phrases of Arabic so I could at least say, “Good morning” and “Thank you” to people, but …
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Do People Change?
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Do People Change?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Do People Change? Genesis 35:1-29 We used to meet each week for dinner with a group of friends, including a pastor or two, a therapist or two, and a missiologist or two, and one of the topics we used to come back to was transformation. Mission is concerned with it; ministry is co…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Don't Look Back
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Don't Look Back
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Don’t Look Back Genesis 19: 15-38 The English make jokes about the Irish and use the word Irish as a term of opprobrium; it is a way of saying something is stupid. Other ethnic groups behave in similar ways; Portuguese people and Brazilians make jokes about each other. The Irish …
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Honey, We Solved the Riddle
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Honey, We Solved the Riddle
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Honey, We Solved the Riddle JUDGES 14:1- 15:20 Only trivial things went wrong at our wedding. Admittedly, for Ann and me it was a narrow escape. At one stage her father said he would not come; that was the degree to which he disapproved of me. I had long hair, like Samson (being …
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Grace Found Noah
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Grace Found Noah
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Grace Found Noah Genesis 6: 5-8 Early in our marriage, we adopted the mantra that the most destructive phrase in the English language was “you should have,” as in “You should have done this or that,” or “You shouldn’t have done this or that.” The phrase “you should,” as in “You s…
Psalms for Everyone - How to Dwell with God
Psalms for Everyone - How to Dwell with God
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Dwell with God Psalms for Everyone Part 1 Psalms 1-72 Psalm 15 A composition. David’s. 1 Yahweh, who may stay in your tent, who may dwell on your holy mountain? 2 The person who walks with integrity, and acts with faithfulness, and speaks the truth in his heart. 3 He has n…
Exodus and Leviticus - How to build a Church II
Exodus and Leviticus - How to build a Church II
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Build a Church 2 EXODUS 26: 31- 27: 21 When I was a toddler in the latter part of the Second World War, family lore says that I used to watch the “fireworks” and the “bonfires” from my second-floor bedroom. These were actually bombs falling on the RAF airstrip that is now …
Isaiah for Everyone - How to frighten People into Repentance
Isaiah for Everyone - How to frighten People into Repentance
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to frighten People into Repentance A little while ago I went to preach at a new church that is part of the “emerging church” movement, which started in Australasia and the UK and spread to the United States. Its background is an awareness that the traditional churches are in …
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - How to Be a Peacemaker
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - How to Be a Peacemaker
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Be a Peacemaker Genesis 13: 1-13 When people need to divide up possessions, it can turn out to be difficult for one reason or another. I write in a context where there has been a collapse in house prices, with the odd result that some couples have had to give up getting di…
Job for Everyone - I Hate the People Who Hate You
Job for Everyone - I Hate the People Who Hate You
by SPCK - John Goldingay
I Hate the People Who Hate You Job 27: 1-23 When I have taken part in “quiet days” for reflection and prayer, three favorite Old Testament texts have been the one about the still, small voice that I mentioned in connection with Job 25–26, the “Be still and know that I am God” of …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Is Anything Stable?
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Is Anything Stable?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Is Anything Stable? Psalm 89: 1-37 My wife once lived in a house on the side of a canyon in California that seemed capable of tumbling into the ocean if there was an earthquake, and after one worrying quake not far away she took to checking the weekly earthquake reports. Apparent…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Looking Forward and Backward
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Looking Forward and Backward
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Looking Forward and Backward JOSHUA 4: 1- 5: 1 Yesterday I was comparing notes with a woman who lost her father the same month I lost my wife. She mentioned that her mother wasn’t prepared to look forward, to imagine what the future would be like, and was only prepared to look ba…
Job for Everyone - On Accepting Your Ignorance
Job for Everyone - On Accepting Your Ignorance
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Accepting Your Ignorance Job 38 16-38 In my seminary in England we once produced a dramatic version of the story of Job; I was the screenwriter, and one of my colleagues was the director. She wanted to have God appearing on stage during the dialogues between Job and his friend…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - On Watching Your Son Die
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - On Watching Your Son Die
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Watching Your Son Die Genesis 21: 15-32 Today I read about the death of the young son of the leader of the opposition party in the U.K. parliament. The boy had been born with cerebral palsy and a severe form of epilepsy, and in a sense his parents had been watching him die all…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - One Fatal Mistake
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - One Fatal Mistake
by SPCK - John Goldingay
One Fatal Mistake NUMBERS 20: 1-13 A few years ago a bright young church leader in England whom I knew slightly made one mistake, and his ministry was finished. It must have been devastating for him; it was devastating for people who had set their hopes on him as a symbol of some…
Job for Everyone - Sovereignty without Principle?