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Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - A Gentle Response Turns Back Wrath
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - A Gentle Response Turns Back Wrath
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Gentle Response Turns Back Wrath Shortly I must attempt a third draft of a reply to a message concerning our congregation’s terminating the employment of our long-time gardener, who is getting elderly and was finding it harder to do the work that needed doing…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - I'm Just a Weary Sojourner, but I Have Some Words from God
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - I'm Just a Weary Sojourner, but I Have Some Words from God
by SPCK - John Goldingay
I'm Just a Weary Sojourner, but I Have Some Words from God My wife sits at the desk next to mine working harder than me at a course that is part of her degree program. There’s some kind of incompatibility between the subject and/or the teacher’s method of teaching that is driving…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Does God Have a Wonderful Plan for Your Life?
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Does God Have a Wonderful Plan for Your Life?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Does God Have a Wonderful Plan for Your Life? Students who would like to find their way into teaching sometimes ask how I came to be a professor, so as to make plans for their career trajectory. My answer is that I drifted into where I am now…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - For Lenten Thought
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - For Lenten Thought
by SPCK - John Goldingay
For Lenten Thought It’s the third week in Lent, and we have the third of our Lent Study Groups this evening. The group is studying the Psalms, and I’ve been excited at the way people have been finding this a means of discovering new resources for their praying, as they have been …
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Rich and Poor Meet
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Rich and Poor Meet
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Rich and Poor Meet Getting dressed this morning, I noticed there was no change in my pocket. I remembered giving my change to someone in the street and wondering whether I was helping him get a meal or just get another drink…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - The Mouth of the Faithful Person is Fruitful
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - The Mouth of the Faithful Person is Fruitful
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Mouth of the Faithful Person is Fruitful I rode to my mother’s funeral with our rector, who told me a funny, poignant story about her. Being a mother, she had an exaggerated sense of her son’s significance…
Jeremiah for everyone - The Wicked Play on Words in a King's Name
Jeremiah for everyone - The Wicked Play on Words in a King's Name
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Wicked Play on Words in a King's Name Names often matter. When we married eighteen months ago, I encouraged my wife to keep her name as it was so that in seminary and church circles it signalled that she continued to be a person in her own right and not simply my wife…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - You Could Suddenly Break, and There Could Be No Healing
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - You Could Suddenly Break, and There Could Be No Healing
by SPCK - John Goldingay
You Could Suddenly Break, and There Could Be No Healing The news is full of the story of a soldier in the U.S. army who ran amok and killed sixteen people in Afghanistan. When we discussed it at our Lent group last night as we prayed a psalm for him and for his victims, one of th…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Even in Laughter a Heart May Hurt
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Even in Laughter a Heart May Hurt
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Even in Laughter a Heart May Hurt A friend of mine told me last week about a dinner he and his wife had had with another couple. The other wife was my friend’s ex, but both couples are happily married so it seemed that this piece of history would not be a problem, and the couples…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - If You Build It, He Will Come
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - If You Build It, He Will Come
by SPCK - John Goldingay
If You Build It, He Will Come Psalm 132 In an hour’s time, I am off to our diocesan convention, where clergy and laypeople will make decisions about policies and initiatives for the coming year. We will begin by asking for God’s guidance and wisdom in connection with our discussi…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - An Implausible Promise
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - An Implausible Promise
by SPCK - John Goldingay
An Implausible Promise Genesis 13: 14-18 I can recall two promises God made to me that seemed unlikely to be fulfilled. Both date from about the time I became principal of a theological college in England, which in U.S. terms is a cross between being a seminary president, provost…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - How to Find Isaac a Wife
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - How to Find Isaac a Wife
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How To Find Isaac A Wife Genesis 24: 21-48 The first of the “Four Spiritual Laws” that have been the starting point for many people coming to faith in Christ is that “God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.” The law is supported by scriptural verses affirming God…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - On the Unimportance of Spiritual Insight
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - On the Unimportance of Spiritual Insight
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On the Unimportance of Spiritual Insight JUDGES 5:31b- 6: 24 I have just been talking to a couple I have not seen for a year or two, exchanging news about our children and their marriages and their families. This other couple has several daughters. The last of these was almost th…
Isaiah for Everyone - Second-Degree Manslaughter
Isaiah for Everyone - Second-Degree Manslaughter
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Second-Degree Manslaughter Isaiah 1: 21-2: 5 The other Sunday, halfway on our five-minute drive to church there was a huge police presence off to the left of our street, with police cars and barriers and police officers apparently searching waste land and dumpsters. Some aspects …
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - How to Swallow Your Pride
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - How to Swallow Your Pride
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Swallow Your Pride JOSHUA 9: 22- 10: 11 In the church where I was a young assistant pastor, I shared a house with an older man called Charles who in U.S.-speak would be called the janitor but in Brit-speak was called the caretaker. I don’t remember how he had been appointe…
Jeremiah for everyone - A Complicated Neighbourly and Family Relationship