How do you forgive a person who has ruined your life? How do you forgive people who have spent their lives working harm and evil against you? We have a saying, “Time heals all wounds.” I don’t know that “heal” is the right word. Maybe the word “forgets” may be more accurate because once the harm is brought back to mind, the hurt from the wound quickly returns to our minds and hearts. While healing can happen, the scars can still remain. Some of the hurts in my life reach 40 years back now. But they are not gone. They are healing but they are not gone. We have been looking at the life of Joseph ..read more

We are in a series in which we are looking at deconstructing and reconstructing faith. What I mean when I say “deconstruction” is that something happens in your life that causes you to reevaluate your faith and your understanding of Christianity. Then, sometimes that reevaluation leads to a complete abandonment of the faith. The reason for this series is my personal concern of what I have seen of people who have been taught the truth, or grew up in the pews, or were followers of Jesus only to have something happen in their lives to motivate them to walk away. One of the objections that people ..read more

Joseph has revealed himself to his brothers in Egypt. The brothers have changed over the years and now are willing to lay down their lives for the sake of their brother, Benjamin. Joseph has invited his family to move to Egypt where Joseph promises that he can care for them during the famine. Joseph told them that there were five more years of the severe famine to come (Genesis 45:11). So they need to leave everything behind and move to Egypt. So Jacob and his family move to Egypt where there are now 70 people in all… To read more of this lesson click here. The post God Will Provide (Genesis 4 ..read more

We are starting a new series today called Deconstructing and Reconstructing Faith. Right now there are many who have grown up in pews of various Christian denominations and churches who are going through a process that they call “deconstruction.” Brian Zahnd defines deconstruction as “a crisis of Christian faith that leads to either a reevaluation of Christianity or sometimes a total abandonment of Christianity.” This is what I am going to mean by the term “deconstruction” in this series of lessons. But my reason for wanting to do this series is not because there are many of social media who a ..read more

Joseph’s brothers are back in Egypt to buy grain for the family due to the severe famine occurring at that time. Joseph enacts his plan to keep Benjamin with him. He has his silver cup placed in his bag and sends the brothers away, fully expecting the brothers to abandon Benjamin like they did to him. Joseph likely sees himself as trying to rescue Benjamin from his hate-filled brothers. But the brothers surprise Joseph. Rather than abandoning Benjamin to Egypt, they return to Egypt and offer up their lives for Benjamin’s sake. Judah, the one who had sold Joseph into slavery, was the one who wa ..read more

Joseph has experienced a major turn around in his life. What looked like a life ruined by his brothers hatred and jealousy has been dramatically reversed by God. Joseph went from prisoner to prime minister in a matter of moments in Genesis 41. At 30 years old, Joseph is running Egypt and only Pharaoh is greater than him. But there is a subtle reminder in the text that this story is not about Joseph but about what God is working through Joseph to accomplish his plans. You see this reminder in Genesis 41:49. We are told that the grain Joseph stored up was like “the sand of the sea” and it could ..read more

As we return to Matthew 27 we are in the midst of a horrifying scene. Jesus has been crucified and now hangs from the cross, suspended in the air by nails in his hands and feet. He has been crucified between two other criminals. The scene before us is a scene of shame and mockery. People are passing by on their way in and out of the city of Jerusalem. As the people walk by, they are hurling insults and shaking their heads at Jesus. The scribes, elders, and chief priests are also mocking Jesus. I want us to remember that each of these events, and even the very words these insulters are proclaim ..read more

We are looking at where God is in the midst of suffering. We are looking for these answers through lens of the life of Joseph. Joseph now finds himself in a prison but he is innocent. Joseph has done nothing worthy of being imprisoned. Nothing has gone right for Joseph in his life. Joseph did what his father told him to do, yet his brothers hated him and sold him into slavery. Joseph faithfully served his master, Potipher, in all of his house, yet he was false accused of sexual assault and now is in Pharaoh’s prison. But through all of these terrible and painful circumstances, we are told four ..read more

Jesus has been condemned by the crowd. Barabbas has been released to the people and Jesus has been scourged in preparation for his crucifixion. But it will not be as simple as going out to the place of his execution. The Roman soldiers now will take a turn with Jesus. The Roman soldiers bring Jesus inside and gather a whole company of soldiers around him. They strip Jesus of his clothing and then place a red robe on him. Then they take some thorns and twist it together to make a crown out of it. Then they put the crown of thorns on his head. If this is not enough, they put a staff in his hand ..read more

What an unexpected turn of events Joseph has just experienced! Joseph is 17 years old and his older brothers hate him. They hate him so much that they want to kill him. But rather than kill him, they sell him to some passing traders, figuring he will not survive what is in store for him. God had given Joseph dreams that showed that he would have authority over his brothers and over his family. But now he finds himself in Egypt, far from his family, and far from the promised land. We are looking at where God is in the midst of suffering. This is certainly an important question to ask as Joseph ..read more