God Meant It For Good

  Jalen Hurts is one of my favorite football players. He is the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, but it was a long path getting there. Jalen began his football career playing for the University of Alabama in his first year leading them to the National Championship. One year later they were in the championship again but this time he was benched and lost the starting job. Things looked rough for him but he stayed another year on the bench. That same year he started in the second half of the SEC Championship game making a great comeback. After all that he transferred to the University of Oklahoma where he was a Heisman finalist. Jalen Hurts was drafted in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft to the Philadelphia Eagles. After a couple of hard years he won the starting job and has now led them to two Super Bowl appearances. 
In the last few chapters of Genesis we find a similar story. A seventeen year old boy called Joseph is the youngest of eleven children and his father’s favorite. As you can imagine, this did not make his brothers too fond of him. We see in Genesis 37:3-4 that after their father gave him a coat of many colors they cannot even speak of him they are so mad. To make matters even worse, Joseph brags to them all about his dream of how they would bow down to him. Then, one day Joseph was sent to check on his brothers in the field. They saw their chance for revenge in Genesis 37:19-22, “Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming!  Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”
 But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.”  And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.”
That is just what they did. But, later on, while Reuben was gone Judah suggested in verse 26, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood. Come and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him for he is our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 
They sold their brother, Joseph, into slavery to the Ishmaelites. He went with them and became a slave in Potiphar’s household and was soon the head slave. Everything was going great for him until Potiphar’s wife tries to lay with him and Joseph, being a righteous man, fled. In Genesis 39 she lies to Potiphar saying Joseph attacked her and Potiphar threw him into prison. It was here that he met and interpreted the dreams of two of the kings servants who were in prison with him.
After having to spend two years in prison, Pharaoh had a dream and his cupbearer had said to call for Joseph because he had interpreted a dream fro him while in prison himself. God through Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream. Pharaoh then puts Joseph in a position of power in charge of all the food. As Joseph’s interpretation of Pharoah’s dream predicts, a famine comes to the land and Joseph’s brothers need food so they come to Egypt. In the end Joseph gives them plenty of food and land but his brothers think, “what if he tries to kill us for what we did to him?” In Genesis 50 verse 18 says, “Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 
God meant it for good. After all the wrong Joseph had done to him, he knew that it was meant for good. Like Jalen Hurts, he went through highs and lows but in the end, it was good.
Sometimes it will be rough, but remember what Romans 8:28 says, that ALL things work together for good to them that love the Lord. It will be very hard to trust God sometimes. You may think you have been benched, but we know that as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:7, we walk by faith and not by sight. 

Not Ashamed of the Gospel

     Some people, including myself, enjoy watching college football.  What do you tend to wear when your team wins? A shirt or a hat maybe? What do you wear when your team loses though? You'll go out of your way to wear your team's colors.  One time my team lost to our biggest rival, and the next day I made sure to wear my team's colors because I'm not ashamed of my team. 

    In Matthew 26, Peter wasn't wearing his team Jesus t-shirt.  In verses 33-35 Jesus predicts that Peter would deny him three times before the rooster crows.  Peter honestly says that he would never do something like that and that even if they were all made to stumble, he would never do something like that.  Jesus says, "Yes.  Yes, you will." 

    Sure enough in verses 69-75, just that happens.  Jesus has been captured to be put to death.  Peter cut a guy's ear off and he's scared of what might happen to him.  When someone asks if he knew him, he said, "No." Again someone says, "surely you're one of his apostles!" He promised he didn't know Jesus.  Later, people asked him saying, "You are one of them!  Your accent betrays you." Peter swore and cursed saying the didn't know him.  Then the rooster crowed. 

    This may seem hopeless for Peter, but this isn't the end of his story.  John 21:15-17 says, "So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep." He got his team Jesus shirt back!  Peter denied Jesus three times, but now he got the chance to confess him three times. You all know what Peter did after that, all the great work he did.

    Why would you be ashamed of the gospel?  Are you afraid of people? Remember Romans 8:31, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Why be afraid of people when God is with us. 

    Do you think you're alone? Romans 12:5 says, "so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another." Just think of all the siblings in Christ you have. You're never alone. 

    Maybe you don't trust God. Romans 14:8 says, "For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s." Whether we trust God or not, our life is in His hands. I would trust Him. 

    I know what I think. Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."  I'm not ashamed of be a Christian. Are you?

How to Build Up

 Build up. Build up the church. Build up each other. Build up yourselves. When I was little in Bible class every Sunday we sang about how the wiseman built his house on the rock, while the foolish man just built his house on the sand. We don’t want to be fools! Just like the wiseman, our foundation needs to be on the rock - Jesus Christ and his teachings.  

 

So, how can we build up the church? Matthew 28:19 commands, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” If we do this, we are building the church. We can build up the church through sending missionaries to other countries and backing up the work with prayer and support. 

 

There was once a new Christian who was in East Africa who was eager to serve. He and his friend started a church under a tree in his own back yard. The church there grew and now there are hundreds of Christians in that part of East Africa. More than a dozen churches have been established all because one man shared the gospel with his neighbors. Through the love of God this man started a strong church that is still growing. I want to build up a church like that.  

 

A weak church will struggle to evangelize and build up other congregations. So we should work to build each other up. Hebrews 3:13 tells us, “but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Encourage one another. Help each other to constantly stand up to sin. 

 

In recent years covid-19 struck. When the church did video worship it led to some not returning to worship at all. Our work is to build those people back up. We fail them when we choose not to reach out to them. We can avoid such failures by praying for them, talking with them, and even taking them to lunch to chat. We must put in the effort to build each other up. 

 

How do we build ourselves up? We can’t build up the church if we aren’t building up ourselves. Jude 1:20 says, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most Holy faith, praying in the Holy spirit.” We can build ourselves up by praying, reading the Bible, taking communion, singing, and learning more about God.  

 

I know that I always feel much better focused on spiritual things when I go to Christian gatherings, like devotionals or Bible studies. I also love going to the FHU lectures, Polishing the Pulpit, and Lads to Leaders convention where I can be around lots of other people who love God too.

 

Whether we’re talking about the church, each other, or ourselves, building up takes action. Nehemiah took action to build a wall for Jerusalem. Zerubbabel took action to rebuild the temple. We too must take action to rise up and build!  It may seem like a big task, but as Philippians 4:13 states, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” 

Adoption

Hello! This is the boy king and I would like to talk about adoption. Several years ago my family considered adoption. At first I was a little scared, as well as exited. When we finally got her I had a mix of emotions. She ate whatever you gave her, and wanted to eat ALL the time. She had had a broken leg just before coming home and when she fell or got hurt at home she didn't cry. She would just freeze. She hit herself a lot and couldn't hear in one ear. She has a lot of special needs. At first I was confused about her. She didn't act like a typical 3 year old. Then she became a part of the family. After 3 years she is now just like the rest of us with some speech issues. Our whole family LOVES her. Love sure can change everything!


While I have my opinion of adoption, our golden standard of truth should be the Bible. What does the Bible say about adoption? James 1:27 reads, "religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world." Also john 14:18, "I will not leave you as orphans I will come to you." I am thankful God chose me as His child and we chose Gracie as ours.

Gingerbread Jo

God cares for us, loves us, and is still working on us to make us like He wants.  Have you ever made a gingerbread man? I have. You know how you have the image in your head for how it will turn out? That's kind of like what God has in His head; He has an image for who we will be, and what we will achieve. 

Just remember to be open to what God wants. Like the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50, nothing ever seemed to go right for him. First, his brothers tried to kill him and sold him into slavery, then he was good for awhile. However, soon, he was sent to prison. Later he got out of prison and became very important in Egypt and with his status saved his people. We see how God used Joseph. Imagine what he could make us into.

Against the Darkseid

        Have you ever seen a super hero movie or read a superhero book? They are all so different but one thing tends to be the same; the epic battle between good and evil. Did you know that it's the same way in real life? No,  I'm not saying that you are going to have to fight Thanos, Darkseid, Or Darth Vader, but you WILL have to fight something much more real and much more scary. Sin. Sin is the most deadly thing known to man or even in comics. All those people I just mentioned didn't their sin catch up with them? In any scenario the result of sin is Death.

Luckily for us there are forces of good too. In comics it may have been The Avengers, The Justice League, Or The Rebellion. It doesn't matter what universe or galaxy you may be in, there is always good. If Sin and Satan are the bad guys in real life then who are the good guys? In our case, our Avengers are the God Head; the Father,  Son, and Holy Spirit. How can we join the fight against evil? We may not have a magic ring or hammer, But we DO have a sword. It is the most powerful sword ever. It is stronger than the force or the infinity stones. It is called the Bible. So next time you see sin on the horizon, unsheath your sword. You'll put sin on the run.

BAPTISM AND WHAT TO DO AFTER

         Hello this is The Boy King. Last Saturday Tennessee beat Alabama 52 to 49. You celebrated, tore down a goal post, and likely did a victory dance while we cried and died. Both teams made good plays but only one team won. 

         Now this is just a game but with baptism you also have to make the right plays, otherwise you lose. This isn't a game you can lose 'cause if you lose this game you lose for eternity. So how do you make the right plays?

Hear, Believe, Repent, Confess, Be Baptized, and live how God wants you to . How do you live how God wants you to? By following the acts of worship witch are Sing, Pray, Teach, Comune, and Give. Those are the plays to make to win the game.