Potiphar’s Gaffe, Egypt’s Gain!

Pray For Revival

SCRIPTURE

After Joseph was made the ruler over the house, the Lord blessed the house and everything that Potiphar owned. The Lord also blessed everything that grew in Potiphar’s fields. The Lord did this because of Joseph. So Potiphar allowed Joseph to take responsibility for everything in the house. Potiphar didn’t have to worry about anything except deciding what to eat.

Genesis 39:5-6, ERV

QUOTE

The greatest profanity is to declare a situation hopeless.

~Anonymous

COMMENTARY

We are looking at a 13 year time frame from the time Joseph was kidnapped until he became the Prime Minister of Egypt and 12 years, 11 months and 30 days of that thirteen–Joseph was either a slave or in prison. His first few years was spent in Potiphar’s house where he eventually became is estate manager. He ran the entire shooting match and Potiphar prospered with Joseph in charge. You know the story, Mrs. Potiphar was in hot pursuit of the young and handsome Joseph; when he refused to lie with her, she lied about him. Hell hath no furry like a woman who has been scorned and Mrs. Potiphar felt scorned. Potiphar acts like the typical husband, he takes his wife’s word as fact and doesn’t even listen to Joseph’s side of the story. It appears that Joseph is the loser but that is not the case; Potiphar had made the worse mistake of his life. Joseph was highly gifted as a manager and God was with him. Within hours of Pharaoh’s interview with Joseph, Pharaoh declared Joseph to be the most capable manager in all of Egypt.

A couple of ironies here: Joseph the Prime Minister has authority over Potiphar. Do you reckon Joseph make a house call to the Potiphar’s just to clear the air. That is one visit I would have made. Secondly, do you think Potiphar came to his senses and realized what a fool he had been. He owned the most valuable slave in Egypt and he did not put him on the market but had him throw into prison. Pretty dumb but alas, jealous rage can make a man do stupid things.

One point that I want to make–Joseph went from prison to Prime Minister in less than a day. Who thought that was possible? The answer is not one. Nothing is impossible with God.

EXTRA

• Old Willard is a grass cutting fool; we did six yards yesterday and three of them had not be cut in over a month. It is the first time that I have had to fill up with gas in one day.
• Remember no Deacon’s meeting. Donuts and coffee at 8:45, LCBS at 9:00 and Worship at 10:15 with Picnic at 6:00
• We have a toe guessing contest today. If you guess who these toes belong to, you get to sit on the front row at church Tomorrow morning.

Guess These Toes and win a Rose

Surprise, Surprise!

Prayer For REVIVAL in America

SCRIPTURE

They are false apostles, lying workers. They only pretend to be apostles of Christ. That does not surprise us, because even Satan changes himself to look like an angel of light. So it does not surprise us if Satan’s servants make themselves look like servants who work for what is right.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15, ERV

QUOTE

Satan’s goal is not to be evil–his goal is to oppose God and evil is the only avenue open to achieve his purpose.

~Yaakov

COMMENTARY

In Matthew 13 Jesus tells the story of the wheat and tares… Jesus said, “God’s kingdom is like a man who planted good seed in his field. That night, while everyone was asleep, the man’s enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat and then left.” The devil is a saboteur. His goal is to destroy, damage, or obstruct anything that God is doing. He is not going to be overt about his aim or activities. The devil does not have a preference between good or evil so long as he accomplishes his objective. He will use a drunk or a deacon, a prostitute or a preacher, a crime or a charity, a vile person wearing horns or a virtuous person wearing a halo. Technically, everything he does is evil because everything he does is anti-Christ. His servants do not all dress like pimps and you cannot tell by their appearance who they serve. Some of the biggest devils who have walked the face of this earth wore a priestly garb and hid behind a pulpit. It is hard for you and I to judge because we cannot see a person’s heart or motives but there are some signs to look for:

1. Does this person [spiritual leader] try to control you or lord over you. Do they demand or command your allegiance?
2. Do they parrot the same pious cliché’s over and over such as “May God get the glory”. Margaret Thatcher said, “If you have to remind people that you are the leader, you are not.” When people keep reminding us that they are doing such and such for the glory of God, they are not.
3. Are they being obedient to Christ or do they major of teaching, doctrine and knowledge. Right at 15% of the sermon on the mount is on doing what Christ taught. Many false teachers have used Jesus teachings; they just don’t use them all and none of them are truly obedient to Christ.

There are signs to look for, you just have to know what they are. Ladies, did you mother warn you to observe how your husband to be treated his mother? A man who will disrespect his mother will eventually disrespect his wife. The thing to remember is that you do not go by appearance, it means absolutely nothing. The devil has servants who pretend to be angels: just keep that in mind. When you give it thought, it is really no surprise.

EXTRA

• Senior Adult Fellowship went well and we glad to have Blondie and Roylene back but we were still down: we had 13 not counting workers. We really miss Mrs. Stephenson. She loved coming and she was faithful.
• LCBS this Sunday but no Deacon’s Meeting. Worship Celebration at 10:15 and picnic Sunday night at 6:00 [Halsey Hamburgers, Kroger Hot Dogs plus I am going to make a couple of freezers of Cream. One Banana Split and one Snickers Bar. I think the kids are going to play volley ball and we have that horse shoe bag game.
• Six days of sunshine and some ditches are still too wet to cut.

Mrs. Mildred Stephenson

synonyms:

vandalize, wreck, damage, destroy, impair

Malice

Pray for MY HOPE

SCRIPTURE

His brothers bore him malice, but his father kept mind of what he had said.

Genesis 37:11, Moffatt

QUOTE

Lust makes men brutish; malice makes them devilish – it is mental murder.

~Thomas Watson

COMMENTARY

I love the Moffatt bible. I think I’m on my 19th version and I have not found one yet that I don’t like. In Genesis 37 we have the story of Joseph’s teenage years. The scripture says in verse three…Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons…and as the brothers saw that their father loved him better than all the others, they hated him and could not say a civil word to him…Joseph had a dream and they hated him more…Joseph shared his dream with them and they hated him worse than ever…He had another dream that they disliked and…His brothers bore him malice. The word malice here is translated envy in the AV. It literally means jealous anger. Moffatt may have considered the context and the brother’s ill will toward Joseph. Malice is the desire to harm others or to see others suffer; it is extreme ill will or spite. The ten brothers certainly acted maliciously toward Joseph by putting him in the pit, selling him to the Ishmaelite’s and then separating him from his father. To make maters worse, they acted in deceit. There malice not only hurt Joseph whom they hated but it hurt Israel their father whom they loved. What I want you to notice is that hate is not static, it grows and grows until it becomes malice and malice leads to hateful acts. However, it is a story with a happy ending. When the book of Genesis closes, the brothers no longer hate Joseph.

Several years ago I got to know a man who had done prison time for killing a Montgomery Police officer. At the time, the man was a member of the Black Muslims. He met some Christians in prison and was converted. As a Black Muslim, he had been motivated by hate but when he met Jesus, his hate was transformed into love. Only Jesus could do something of this nature. Joseph is a O.T. type of Christ: his love over powered his brother’s hate.

EXTRA

• How many times have I told you…You never know what you are going to miss at DBC. Last night, our praise and worship was led by a youth choir, our youth…all youth on the stage except Brian. Thank God for Brian and Brent, it was their idea. We didn’t know it was going to happen but it happened. Luke Duke just took the lead and did a great job. We are exuding in talent. I have not seen a choir filled with youth since JD and Joshua were teenagers.
• SENIOR ADULT LUNCHEON today at 11:30…fried chicken, tators, okra, squash, pintos, slaw and corn bread, plus home made ice cream and your desserts. Last Summer luncheon.
• Five days of sunshine, I may be able to cut the ditches this weekend.

The Heart Of The Matter

Prayer For REVIVAL in America

SCRIPTURE

“You make yourselves look good in front of people. But God knows what is really in your hearts. What people think is important is worth nothing to God.”

Luke 16:15, ERV

QUOTE

The condition of an enlightened mind is a surrendered heart.

~Alan Redpath

COMMENTARY

Jesus was an amazing teacher, obviously the greatest teacher this world has known. Dallas Willard makes this statement in the Divine Conspiracy [p.112], “The aim of a popular teacher in Jesus’ time was not to impart information, but to make a significant change in the lives of the hearers.” Today we think of teachers as ‘jugs’ and learners as ‘mugs’; thus the teaching process is merely pouring information from jug to mug. The result is  we have produced a generation that knows a lot but does very little. Knowledge without practical application produces pride and self-righteousness which is counter to our cause. Today’s teaching methods produces ‘parrots’ instead of ‘practitioners’.

Jesus taught through parables or stories because they touch the heart. What touches the heart will remain in the head. Information that does not touch the heart will render little change in the way we live and it will soon be forgotten. Do you remember were your were on September 11, 2001? I am betting that you do because the events of the day touched our hearts and in so many cases, changed our lives.

EXTRA

• Great weather, just what our farmers need and it’s not bad for the lawn cutters either.
• New Schedule begins tonight: Supper at 5:30, AWANA at 6:15 and Everyone else gathers at 6:30 in the worship center. We will have a short praise and worship time and then break into groups.
• Joe David is planning a picnic for this Sunday Night at 6:00: probably burgers, dogs and homemade Ice cream. We had a gang out last Sunday and another gang planning to be gone this Sunday but we will have LCBS at 9:00 and Worship Celebration at 10:15. We have a little surprise, we are probably going to do something different. What a shock!
• I bet the video link did not work and I could not find the “Enjoy Your Flight” on YouTube.

Revival Never Deserved

Prayer For REVIVAL in America

SCRIPTURE

For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

~Isaiah 57:15, NKJV

QUOTE

Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late – and how little revival has resulted? I believe the problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work.

~A.W. Tozer

COMMENTARY

Only God can give revival and there are no formulas that work. Bro. Inman always said, “Revivals can’t be worked up, they have to be prayed down.” I do not suppose that any revival is history was deserved but came by an act of sovereign grace. We do not deserve and outpouring of God’s Spirit but we desperately need it. I do agree with Tozer that prayer is not a substitute for obedience but I see no indication that we have a burden to pray. Matthew Henry once said, “You know God is up to something when men get a burden to pray.” Charles Spurgeon said, “The devil does not beat a dead horse.” I think the devil is fighting MY HOPE by using psychological warfare. I do not remember a time in my life when he oppressed me more with the spirit of fear and doubt. I was very encouraged to get an email from Teddy. He showed the most recent MY HOPE video and they had one profession of faith and 54 families to say they would consider being MATTHEWS. If I hear a few more reports like that, I will have revival in spite of the devil. There is a link to the video on last Wednesday’s blog.

EXTRA

• I took a day of personal leave yesterday because the only uncle I have on the Bailey side was in Athens for a few hours and I had not visited my sister who is in the hospital. I made some other visits while I was there including my Aunt Cora who is 98.
• Click on this link and you should see a very enjoyable video…maybe, I hope Enjoy Your Flight
• Chick-Fil-A tomorrow night…order by 10:00 am Wednesday.

My Aunt Cora

Uncle Floyd and Aunt Lucille

In The Furnace Of Affliction

Prayer For REVIVAL in America

SCRIPTURE

“Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”  “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

Daniel 3:24-25, NKJV

QUOTE

Affliction comes to its height and its complete measure, when the sinner is made sensible of his own weakness, and doth see there is no help for him, save in God alone.

~David Dickson

COMMENTARY

I love the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. Their courage, fidelity and loyalty to Yahweh is off the charts. They defied the great Nebuchadnezzar which few men dared do. He was furious when he discovered that they refused to bow to his image and to add insult to injury, they made not the slightest attempt to please him when given a second chance. He had them bound in their clothes and thrown into the furnace but the fire only burned away the ropes. When Nebuchadnezzar looked in, he saw four rather than three. God was in the furnace with them. God is with us always but sometimes in takes affliction for the unbelieving world to see Him with us.

EXTRA

• We had another good day PTL and once again it seems that the pm service is even better than the am. We had 104 last night and for us that is good. Children were down slightly but Youth were up. We had 283 yesterday morning. We seem to be stuck in the 280’s. September is Pencil Box month. We collected over 30 yesterday.
• SENIOR ADULT LUNCHEON THIS THURSDAY at 11:30…Hoping to get to play bingo but my prize lady has not come through. Gregg has a lot of influence with her, maybe he can help.
• If anyone is near Mobile, I need a favor, that is if you are coming home before Thursday.
• Can you believe it, LABOR DAY weekend coming up…Unbelievable!
• The Quote below is in honor of Ken Blackwood, an Auburn graduate.

The Real Crown Prince

Prayer For REVIVAL in America

SCRIPTURE

In your majesty, ride out to victory, defending truth, humility, and justice. Go forth to perform awe-inspiring deeds!

~Psalms 45:4

QUOTE

You can sing all you want about how you love Jesus, you can have crocodile tears in your eyes, but the consecration that doesn’t reach your purse has not reached your heart.

~Adrian Rogers

COMMENTARY

When I began reading through the Psalms in the Knox bible, I made it a point to look for Jesus in each Psalm. Psalm 45 speaks of Jesus the Prince and the coming KING. There is more in Christ to engage our love, than there is or can be in any creature. This world and its charms are ready to draw away our hearts from Christ but how much more worthy of our adoration is Christ than this world. All who have seen His glory and tasted His grace, rejoice to see Him face to face and to our knees we will gladly fall and see Him crowned LORD of all.

While the Holy Spirit leads Christ’s people to look to His cross, He teaches them to see the evil of sin and the beauty of His holiness; so that none of them can feel encouragement to continue in sin.  God the Father has given to Him the Holy Spirit without measure. Thus anointed to be a Prophet, Priest, and King, Christ has pre-eminence in the gladdening gifts and graces of the spirit, He is the fullness of the Godhead revealed in human form. If the salvation of sinners is joy to the angels, much more to the Son who purchased our salvation with His own blood.

The church formed of true believers, is here compared to the bride [queen], whom, by an everlasting covenant, the Lord Jesus has betrothed to Himself. This is the bride, the Lamb’s wife, and she is dressed in a beautiful white robe with all the accessories  provided by the Father of the Groom. The queens desire is to please her King. She is to forget all carnal attachments. All idols must be thrown away that she may devote herself completely to her Sovereign.

Dr. Adrian Rogers, the greatest pulpiteer of our time, said, “My greatest love is Jesus Christ and my greatest need is to love Him more.” Oh for grace to love Him more.

EXTRA

• Deacons meeting at 8:00, LCBS 9:00 and worship at 10:15 and 6:00.
• Pray for MY HOPE
• Pray for me! Preaching on “Blind Faith” this morning and tonight, “Seeing People The Way Jesus Sees Them.”

I

Under Attack

Pray For Revival

SCRIPTURE

He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest.
    He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.

~Proverbs 2:7

QUOTE

If you take care of yourself and walk with integrity, you may be confident that God will deal with those who sin against you.

~Warren W. Wiersbe

COMMENTARY

The thing that made Moses, Joshua, Samuel and David such good leaders was their integrity. John MacArthur said, “According to Scripture, virtually everything that truly qualifies a person for leadership is directly related to character. It’s not about style, status, personal charisma, clout, or worldly measurements of success. Integrity is the main issue that makes the difference between a good leader and a bad one.” Moses, Joshua, Samuel and David were good leaders and strong in the face of opposition. The key to standing strong when under attack is integrity. Matthew Henry gives us five pointers related to integrity.

1. When under attack, you must have integrity in order to stand; without it, you will eventually crumble.
2. The best man in the world holds his integrity no longer than God allows. Only Jesus had perfect Integrity. Everyone else has a crack in the armor somewhere.
3. A part of integrity is knowing our weakness or vulnerability. We have to be honest with God and our self.
4. It is His marvelous grace that upholds us. Never, can a man of true integrity brag.
5. Those whom God upholds are blessed because of His mercy and Grace.

EXTRA

• It happens, I get in a hurry, I hit a button but I don’t wait to see if the Post is posted. That is what I did yesterday morning. The Twitter window was open, but I either did not hit the Tweet button or something malfunctioned. Fairly certain, it was me.
• Tomorrow is normal PTL. We will have Deacons meeting at 8:00, LCBS 9:00 and Worship Celebration at 10:15 and 6:00. We had a sweet lady get excited about the Wednesday service. I have had one person ask me about it. This doesn’t happen often. I can’t remember the last time if ever. I think God is up to something.
• Pray for me, I am going visiting today: pray that I get to share the gospel with someone.
• My sister June Daphney is in the hospital in Athens. She suffered a series of light strokes. There is a possibility that she will have to go to Huntsville but we have to wait and see how the test from yesterday turn out.
• We have a few readers in Grand Bay and I want to thank them one more time for being such a blessing to June and I. It is a great church and we had a wonderful week.
• Ty called me last night about 9:00. The kid is honest, he tells all. He was confessing sins for everyone in his house. I said, “Son, you are as bad as your granddaddy, if you killed someone, you would tell it before dark.” He said, “I am worse than you granddaddy, I am like Whitey.” I said, “Son, Whitey was all right and he could jump over the moon, but you are a slob like granddaddy.” He said, “Granddaddy, you are not a slob, you are crazy.” [Out of the mouth of babes, He has perfected truth]
• On the gator shot below, Chloe is giving Aunt T the take a hike look cause she thinks she coming to get her. I had never noticed but looking at the picture, she favors me. Notice the tilt of the head. Miss Chloe has an attitude.

Chloe And Gator

Out of Egypt

Prayer For REVIVAL in America

SCRIPTURE

That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”

QUOTE

 The biggest problem with Islamic theology is that it kills the soul.

~Al Mohler

COMMENTARY

The reason Al Mohler’s quote is correct is that Islam was founded on hate. It is a religion that fosters, nurtures, teaches and practices hate and hate will destroy the soul. I don’t classify Muslims as peaceful or violent, they are all in the dark and I have never heard any of the so-called peaceful Muslims denounce what the radical and violent are doing. Egypt is a perfect example. They do not want peace, they want absolute control. This is exactly what got Mohamed Morsi removed from office by General Abdul Fatah al-Sisi. He had no respect for the Egyptian majority, he was going to force every one to come under Sharia law. What most people either do not know or have forgotten is that Egypt has many Christians that go back to Mark who founded the Christian church in Africa and Egypt. Alexandria became a center for Christian teaching. Three prominent Christian theologians came from Alexandria: Athanasius, Clement and Origen. I’m almost certain that Augustine went there for his education but I could not verify it on short notice. The church in Egypt that goes back to Mark is called the Coptic Church and they are referred to as Coptic Christians. These are the Christians that are being killed by the Muslims and of course Obama is doing nothing. Do we get any help from the media? Of course not, they are siding with the Muslim Brotherhood. I heard one commentator say, “It’s not the Muslim Brotherhood that is doing the killing, it is their supporters.” Yeah, right! They are killing Christians and burning churches just like they did in Russia, Africa and everywhere else. Muslims hate Christians and Jews. They getting by with murder and the world simply turns its head and looks the other way.

One other note for the so-called “Christians” that voted for Obama…they will have some more blood on their hands because the U.S. could stop or at least discourage the persecution of Christians in Egypt if we had the right Commander-in-Chief. Obama doesn’t sympathize with Christians: his sympathy is with Muslims.

EXTRA

• I pasted a great article by Thomas Sowel on the SOAPBOX…it is a great read for conservatives. Liberals don’t read, they watch CNN.
• I enjoyed my lunch with the Blackwood Brothers…Ken and I could have talked all day but Keith had to go to work.
• Hard to make hay in this weather and it is hard to keep the crab grass cut. Crab grass will not dry until 2:00 p.m. on a sunny day and lately it been like the British Isles here: a couple of hours of sun a day is all we get. Hey, I love the cool tempts and I will take what we have over a drought but I am battling grass and it is winning. I am talking about the grass you cut, not what you smoke.
• Folks it is hard to believe that football and Labor Day are practically here.

Tears

Prayer For REVIVAL in America

SCRIPTURE

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.

~Psalms 56:8, NLT

QUOTE

The tears of Christ are the pity of God.

~Alexander Maclaren

COMMENTARY

Lacey Sturm

I had not heard of Lacey Sturm until yesterday morning when I watched a video from the Graham Association. Lacey was the lead singer in a rock band called Flyleaf. She quit the group in 2012 and has been touring with Franklin Graham. I don’t know the entire story but in Lacey’s testimony she mentioned that she never had a father. I don’t understand all that was going on in her life but she said that she cried her self to sleep every night since we was 12 years old. She hated church and despised the name of Jesus. She reached such a point of desperation that she was determined to take her own life and her grandmother made her promise to go to church first. Long story short, she went to church and was converted. She is now singing Christian Rock and touring with Franklin Graham. I will link the video if you want to watch. It is very good.

The part of her testimony that struck me was her tears. She cried her self to sleep every night. I cry every now and then, not as much as I once did and I cry about the wrong things. Sad movies make me cry but I can’t imagine crying from endless loneliness, depression, rejection, despair or even sorrow. I have had some sorrow but crying myself to sleep every night just blows my mind. It has me wondering, how many Lacey Sturms are out there? Are there any in Danville?

Rock Band Flyleaf

EXTRA

• I couldn’t figure out how to link Graham video to blog. I have lunch with Ken Blackwood today and maybe he can show me.  Someone call me at 11:00 am and remind me that I have a dinner date.

• Big Mama surgery went great. She will be throwing those glasses away soon.

• Great service again last night. I got three thumbs up and no land the plane. I can’t remember the last time I got three compliments in one service at Danville. I think it means the LORD was present.

• The AWANA kick off went great!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Scott Ellis and Allison are having their 3rd baby today.