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Exodus and Leviticus - Ordination and Disaster
Exodus and Leviticus - Ordination and Disaster
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Ordination and Disaster LEVITICUS : 8- 1: 10: 20 There’s a joke that describes the pastor as six days invisible and one day incomprehensible. My first sermon after I was ordained had five points all beginning with the letter p. They were long or tricky words too—the only one I ca…
Psalms for Everyone - Self-Knowledge or Self-Deception
Psalms for Everyone - Self-Knowledge or Self-Deception
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Self-Knowledge or Self-Deception Psalm 18: 25-50 I know some Christians who have had affairs, and I have come closer to doing so than I should have done. When Christians talk about their affairs, the story regularly involves an element of denial and/or self-deception. Maybe the p…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Openness
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Openness
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Openness Psalm 139 My wife carries in her purse a photograph of her prospective grandchild, an image from her daughter’s sonogram. It is extraordinary to have this vivid reminder of the way a baby is steadily developing in the womb. When the prospective mother is sick, as she …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Alternative to a Bulletproof Vest
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Alternative to a Bulletproof Vest
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Alternative to a Bulletproof Vest Psalm 140 Not surprisingly (I recently read in a magazine), the best place to buy a bulletproof vest is Bogotá, Colombia, where two students at the University of the Andes noticed that bodyguards didn’t wear their bulletproof vests because th…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - God of Light and God of Darkness
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - God of Light and God of Darkness
by SPCK - John Goldingay
God of Light and God of Darkness Psalm 104 When my older son got into his midteens, he declared that he was no longer coming to church with his mother and me. Fortunately this was not because he had decided that all church was stupid but that our demure Anglican church wasn’t kee…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The One Day and the Thousand Days
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The One Day and the Thousand Days
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The One Day and the Thousand Days Psalm 84 Each of the churches to which I belonged as a minister in England used to have something like a retreat each year—not a business-focused retreat (the connotation that often attaches to the word retreat in the United States) but a weekend…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - A Servant Leans on His Master
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - A Servant Leans on His Master
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Servant Leans on His Master Psalm 86 The media report that two days ago Christians in Egypt undertook a demonstration related to obstacles put in the way of building a church. The demonstration then became an expression of dissatisfaction with military rule in Egypt, so Muslims…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken, Zion
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken, Zion
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken, Zion Psalm 87 A few weeks ago, we had a visit from friends in London who told us exciting tales about developments in their parish, where they have a rector who is full of ideas for reaching out into the community and a church that is growing. …
Introduction
Introduction
by SPCK - John Goldingay
INTRODUCTION As far as Jesus and the New Testament writers were concerned, the Jewish Scriptures that Christians call the “Old Testament” were the Scriptures. In saying that, I cut corners a bit, as the New Testament never gives us a list of these Scriptures, but the body of writ…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Holy Wind
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Holy Wind
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Holy Wind Psalm 135 Two nights ago, we had a huge windstorm in our city, with gusts up to ninety-seven miles per hour. The wind felled hundreds of trees, including century-old oaks and tall palms. Hundreds of thousands of people lost power, and many still lack power. Schools and …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Blessings and Atrocities
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Blessings and Atrocities
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Blessings and Atrocities Psalm 128-129 On the satirical Web site The Onion, one of last week’s headlines proclaimed, “Lack of Media Interest Makes Genocide Cover-Up Unnecessary.” The “story” explained that an African warlord had declared that global disinterest in the wholesale s…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Deal with Being Swindled
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Deal with Being Swindled
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Deal with Being Swindled Psalm 109 This weekend we plan to go to a new movie about some of the victims of the financial meltdown in the first decade of this century. They are the staff of a high-end condo block who discover that the occupant of the penthouse has been engag…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - A Question of Power
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - A Question of Power
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Question of Power Psalm 110 My wife keeps going on about power. I don’t take it personally. Actually, it works in my favor, because her fixation lies with the way contemporary Western thinking is preoccupied by questions about who has power and about how power features in the r…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Real King of Kings
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Real King of Kings
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Real King of Kings Psalm 97-98 According to news reports, Muammar el-Qaddafi, who had ruled Libya for over forty years, once declared, “I am an international leader, the dean of the Arab rulers, the king of kings of Africa and the imam of Muslims, and my international status …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Leadership Challenge
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Leadership Challenge
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Leadership Challenge Psalm 101 The news yesterday reported that a recent poll indicates that people’s distrust of government in the United States is at its highest level ever, and that people have a deep sense of economic anxiety and doubt about the future. The apparent air o…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Being Open to the Unexpected
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Being Open to the Unexpected
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Being Open to the Unexpected Psalm 113-114 In commenting on Psalm 108, I spoke of a friend’s Pentecostal church that seemed to have no more expectation of God’s acting than evangelical or mainline churches do. But yesterday I sat in the ophthalmologist’s waiting room reading a…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Prosperity Gospel Redefined
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Prosperity Gospel Redefined
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Prosperity Gospel Redefined Psalm 112 My wife used to work for one of the most successful and wealthy people in the United States (this did not mean she brought a wonderful dowry into our marriage). Her job was to help him do something with his money, and the projects she was…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Creation as a Reason for Hope