Podcast appearances and mentions of Joseph Joseph

How does Joseph have any hope? Is it in his own skill? Is it in his influence or position? Spoiler alert: none of it is in himself!

This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston, or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com.Heavenly Father, we thank you that you, the great God of the universe, holy, perfect, you demand absolute perfection and holiness from us. And Lord, we thank you that you offer us grace to do that which you command us to do. You call us to repentance and we can't repent apart from your grace. You call us to faith in Christ, we can't do that either apart from your grace. You call us to live a life of love toward God and toward people from the heart, and Lord, we can't do that apart from you. Lord, today convict us of sin. Reveal any guilt that we are still carrying from our sin. And I pray, Lord, don't just relieve us of that guilt, but remove it from us. Eradicate it from us so we as your children can live lives of good conscience.Lord, bless our time in the holy scriptures today. Holy Spirit, we pray, minister to us, reveal the words to us, reveal the words that you would have for each of us individually. And Lord, magnify your son Jesus Christ through the preaching of your word. Jesus, we thank you that you provided a way for us to be reconciled with the Father, for that sin to be removed, for that guilt to be assuaged. And we thank you that for those who are in Christ now today, there is no condemnation. Zero whatsoever. We believe that. We love that and we receive that word. Bless our time in the holy scriptures. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.We're continuing our study through Genesis 37 through 50. We've entitled it Graduate Level Grace: A Study in the Life of Joseph. Today, we're in Genesis 42 and the title is Grace for the Guilty. Why do we call it Graduate Level Grace? Well, we need grace as much today as we did the very first day that we trusted in Jesus Christ. We need grace to be justified of our sin, but we also need grace to be sanctified then also shaped by God to be ever more useful. In his confessions, Augustine wrote around the year 400 AD, he said, "God, give me the grace to do as you command and command me to do what you will." What he's saying is, God, you can command whatever you want, but unless you give me the power to do it, unless you give me the grace to do it, I can't do it. But if you give me grace, you can command whatever you will of me. Meaning we're incapable of obeying God's commands, of doing God's will unless He grants us the ability to do so.Jesus commanded us, repent and believe. How? By God's grace. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. How? By God's grace. Marry this person, raise these children. Do your job as unto the Lord. How? By God's grace. God's grace is God's unmerited favor, but it's also fuel. Grace saves us and it sanctifies us. It trains us, it hones us, it strengthens, it grows us, and grace graduates us. And we see the same grace, it's on every single page of this narrative of the story of Joseph. This is the supreme lesson which meets us and impresses us at every stage of his history. He was a man of God and he walked in the presence of God knowing that he needed the grace of God. Everything he did, he did under the conscious realization that he's living under the watchful eye of God who loves him and will carry him through no matter what. In seasons of adversity, 13 years in prison, sold by his brothers into slavery, doesn't know a person in Egypt. In adversity, he trusted his God and waited for God's timing.And then last week, we learned that God raised him up. By God's grace, now he's second in command to only Pharaoh. And in prosperity, Joseph did not forget his God. No, he leaned upon his God and found his grace sufficient. His heart wasn't tried by humiliation nor his head turned by exaltation. He didn't let the disappointments of life break his heart, nor did he allow the victories of life go to his head. He's even-keeled, composed knowing that God is sovereign. So before the Lord exalts Joseph to this position of importance, He prepared him with discipline. And this discipline did not feel like grace. But then again, what does grace feel like? If you think about what does grace feel like?Well, what did it take for grace to be procured by God, for grace to be offered to us? Well, grace took a bloody cross, a crucifixion. That's how grace was procured. So sometimes, yes, grace comes as soothing balm to our soul, but sometimes grace comes as surgical tool slicing us open to cut out the rot. In moments which might feed human pride and self-sufficiency, what do we need? We need grace, God's grace to humble us, to keep us simple, to keep us faithful. Because Joseph walked with God in the darkness of prison, he's ready for the spotlight of the palace and that's where we find ourselves. And what kind of man is he when his brothers who sold him into captivity stand before him, bowing down before him. He holds all the power to do whatever he wants with them. What does he do? Well, we see a tender heart. How does his heart remain tender despite the hardness of the obstacles around him? Well, it was God's grace. So God's grace to Joseph made him a gracious leader, ready to forgive those who wanted harm for him.As we walk through the text together in Genesis 42, four points to frame up our time. First, your sin will find you out. Second, the slow burn of a guilty conscience. Third, now there comes a reckoning. And for fourth, the Father who won't sacrifice His beloved son. First, your sin will find you out. It's a biblical principle. Numbers 32:23. "But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord and be sure your sin will find you out." We worship a holy God and God is omniscient. He sees anything and everything and it's against His holy character to allow sin to go unpunished. Your sin will find you out.Luke 8:17, the words of Christ. "For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light", either in this life or when we stand in the judgment before Christ. So this is exactly what happens. Joseph's brothers, 10 of them, they sold him to captivity and in their minds they already think he's dead. That's the lie they told their father, Jacob, that your son was eaten, torn apart by wild animals. And for two decades, they lived with this guilt that they had murdered their brother. Later on, in the same text, twice they say the brother who was no longer with us, the brother who was no more, they thought Joseph was dead. And here, God reveals their sin and makes them reckon with it on a glorious stage. And thanks be to God that He included this narrative in scripture for us to see, for the world to see for time immemorial.Remember, Joseph is out of prison. He's appointed to second in command only to Pharaoh. God has given him incredible wisdom for not just to interpret Pharaoh's dreams but also put a plan in place to capitalize on the abundance of seven years. So he's second in command, he's shaved dressed, married, he's got two sons and he's been busy capitalizing on seven years of bountiful harvest in preparation for the seven years of debilitating famine. So that brings us to Genesis 42. We begin with verses one through five."When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, 'Why do you look at one another?' And he said, 'Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.' So 10 of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with his brothers for he feared that harm might happen to him. Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan."The famine had engulfed all the earth in including Canaan. So God sends of famine in order to awaken the brothers, in order to get them to act and to do something with the guilt that is upon them. Their father looks at them and says, "Why do you look at one another?" And he sounds exactly like my dad, my dad's Slavic. This is exactly how he parented us. Very direct. "Why you look at one another?" That's what Jacob is doing. And what is he saying? He's not just saying, you guys are lazy bums. He's saying, we got to protect our household. We got to provide for our household. You have children and you have wives, you have cattle, you have to provide. Now go and do something or else we're all going to die.Jacob heard that there was grain for sale in Egypt and he has no idea, absolutely no idea how that grain came to be. He has no idea that God had been working behind the scenes for over two decades, 13 years that Joseph was in prison, the seven years of abundance, that's 20. And time has passed with the famine. So God has been using this, overriding the sinful intentions of the brothers, the slave traders, Potiphar and Mrs. Potiphar, the forgetful butler. God was busy turning their evil into good and to shape Joseph and place him in the number two spot. Why were the brothers just sitting around? They too must have heard that there was grain for sale. Everyone heard. No one was prepared for this famine, not one of the countries. How could you be prepared? You'd have to know the future in order to build the infrastructure to farm, to gather, to store, to distribute all the grain and mountains and mountains of grain it was. And in famine that grain was as good as gold.Why were they sitting around knowing this, that if they went to Egypt they could solve all their problems? Well, because even the word of Egypt, the thought of Egypt sent a shutter down their spine and sent a cold sweat down their back. Every time they thought of Egypt, they couldn't but remember the anguished cry of their brother, Joseph, right before they sold him to the Midianites and he was sent to Egypt. Now, imagine their trip to Egypt. Imagine the silence, the deafening silence as they're all thinking the same thing, recalling the events of 20 plus years ago. Now, they're traveling the same path as Joseph did except he was in chains. Jacob, we see, hasn't changed much. His favoritism has only grown as he poured out his love on Benjamin, his youngest son, perhaps overcompensating for having lost Joseph.He wants to protect him and fear that harm might happen to him, perhaps because he never trusted the brothers, perhaps because he didn't believe their lies and the story that they told him. And later in the text we see that he did blame them for the death of Joseph. The fact that he kept Benjamin behind must have stung their consciences. It had to have. And we don't know much about Benjamin's character just yet, but Joseph's brother, we know a lot about. They were sinful. They were wicked, violent, lust-driven men. Sons two and three, that's Simeon and Levi, were guilty of premeditated genocide in the slaughter of the unsuspecting Shechemites. Son number one, Rubin, committed incest with his father's concubine in an attempt to secure ascendancy over his father. And next, all 10 of the brothers beat Joseph, stripped him, threw him into a pit with violent rage and then sold him into slavery.Son number four, we read in Genesis 38, was Judah, who impregnated his daughter-in-law, Tamar, who had disguised herself as a Canaanite prostitute. The family was not just dysfunctional, this is a family of egregious sinners and these were the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is supposed to be the family of God, the chosen people of God. God was going to bless all the families of the world through this one family. The Messiah, the promised conquerer of Satan, he was supposed to come from this family. And as you read this narrative, you're like, "What? These people, these wicked sinners?" Well, yes, all of that will come true, but God first has to do spiritual surgery upon them.These men, who are guilty of sin and had attempted to hide it for 20 years, just imagine doing that, all 10 of them maintaining the same story for two decades. These men were guilty and the time of reckoning has come and it's time that they were confronted with their sin, deal with their guilt, repent and seek forgiveness from God, from Joseph, and also from their father, Jacob. They did everything they could to forget their sin, but they couldn't. They tried to live as if nothing had happened, thereby searing their consciences all the more. And now it's time, by God's grace, their consciences are awakened by the light of God's providence.Point two is the slow burn of a guilty conscience. God has given every single one of us a conscience. This is great proof of the existence of God. And the conscience is given to us to guide us between choosing good and evil. The conscience serves as a witness to what we already know about God's law that's written upon our hearts. It's like an independent witness within, examining and passing judgment on one's conduct. Sometimes the conscience is seared through sinful living licentiousness. Sometimes the conscience is seared through legalism where we bring in manmade rules that then inform our conscience, that then sears our conscience from what is true according to God's work. Therefore, it's important, friends, to educate your conscious, to inform your conscious, to make sure your conscious is calibrated to the law of God, the word of God and nothing else.First Timothy 4:1 through five, for example. "Now the spirit expressly says in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer." Romans 2:14 through 16 testifies to the fact that God's law, his commandments are written on our hearts. Verse 14, "For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they're a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus."So the conscious is like an internal sensor that goes off when it senses that we're moving away from God's will. It beeps and then it beeps again. It's like when you're not wearing a seatbelt in your car and it beeps and it beeps and it beeps. After a while, it just stops beeping. And that's how the conscience works. That's the searing of the conscious, burnt to the point where it's not effective anymore. And at that point, the conscience needs to be awakened by the power of the Holy Spirit. It's only the Holy Spirit that can bring a person to a realization that we have sinned. Our conscience is defiled. We need a cleansing. We need the guilt removed. Titus 1:15 through 16, "To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They're detestable, disobedient and unfit for any good work."Joseph's brothers grew up in a Christian family, so to speak, a family of believers. They're supposed to know God, they're supposed to represent God to the world. And maybe that's how they even presented themselves, but their works, their life denied the fact. With their mouth they espouse that they love God, but their hearts are far from him. So Genesis 42, verse three. "So 10 of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt." And it's fascinating that the text does not call them Jacob's sons. The text calls him Joseph's brothers. Why? Because the relationship between Joseph and his brothers is in focus in this chapter. So the brothers make the trek across the Sinai and down to the Nile Valley.Verse six, it says, "Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him and their faces to the ground." Never in their wildest dreams or in their worst nightmares, would they imagine that they would meet Joseph again. They thought, and just in all probability, that he was dead. And if he was alive, most likely is just an obscure slave. But meet Joseph, they certainly did. And when they met him, they didn't recognize him. He was virtually unrecognizable, beardless, clean-shaven, likely dressed in flowing white linen, decorated with gold, speaking Egyptian. And so they did what all the foreigners were doing. They bowed themselves before this man, to the ground, faces to the ground. It was a sign of subordination, of course, and the only means of surviving the famine.I think this is a scene that Joseph had visualized in his mind a thousand times plus over the course of the last 20 years. Why? Because he had been given a prophetic dream years before that he had shared with them and with their father. This is the dream that kicked off the narrative in Genesis 37:5. "Now, Joseph had a dream and when he told it his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, 'Hear this dream that I have dreamed. Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.' His brothers said to him, 'Are you indeed to reign over us or are you indeed to rule over us?' So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words."So the first dream had come to pass and Joseph knew it was from God the whole time, that dream actually sustained him through his darkest years. Now, the prophetic dream was happening in reality in real time. His brothers come here looking for grain and they, like the sheaves of grain in the dream, bow down before Joseph's sheaf. He is indeed reigning and ruling over them however much they hated him for it. Genesis 42:7. "Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. 'Where do you come from?' he said. They said, 'From the land of Canaan to buy food.' And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him."He recognized them immediately. How could he not? He had seen their faces emblazoned on his mind and his heart and nightmares for years. He remembers them. And then there's 10 bearded brothers speaking Hebrew. How often do you see that? Time had left its mark on them as on him, but he still recognized them. Joseph didn't show any outward emotion, goes about his job with stoic precision and all the power is absolutely in his hands. He has all the leverage to do whatever he wants. If he says, "Dance", they're going to dance. If he says, "Jump", they say, "How high, sir?" Not only does he have the power to withhold grain from them, he has the power to take their freedom and even their very lives. So he begins to interrogate them, speaking roughly as the strangers, verse nine."And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, 'You are spies. You have come to see the nakedness of the land.' They said to him, 'No, my Lord, your servants have come to buy food. We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.'" It says that Joseph remembered the dreams, plural. There was a first dream, but there was also a second dream. And in the second dream, his dad was included, meaning that his whole family would come down, bow down before him. So he knows that this isn't the full revelation of God just yet. In Genesis 37:9 through 11, the second dream, "Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, 'Behold, I've dreamed another dream. Behold the sun, the moon, and 11 stars were bowing down to me.' But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, 'What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?' And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind."So this part of the interrogation, Joseph knows the whole story, it has not been completed. He interrogates them, accuses them of espionage, on mission to find weak points in the defense in Egypt. And by the way, this was a legitimate concern. Egypt had all the grain in the world of that time. Obviously, there were threats to them. So he accuses them of this. They try to remove doubt and in doing so they divulge more information than they should have. In Genesis 42:11, they say, "We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies." And the irony, of course, isn't lost on us. These men were not honest, although they claim to be so. And here you got to pause and say, what is Joseph doing here? Why is he testing? Why is he speaking to them as strangers harshly? Why this tone, Joseph?Well, it's because he's testing them to see if they have changed, to see if their hearts have been awakened by the spirit of God. Were they the same lying, conniving, callous, jealous, murdering sinners that they still hate him? And he's wise in doing this because of his position of influence and also he's figuring out how much am I going to help this family? He could have just said, okay, I don't trust you guys. I'm going to send grain to you and to your households and that's it. That could have been the end of the story, but it's not. He understands there's more. Genesis 42:12, "He said to them, 'No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.' And they said, 'We, your servants, are 12 brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. And behold, the youngest is this day with our father and one is no more.' But Joseph said to them, 'It is as I said to you, you are spies.'"I think here Joseph's cool, icy persona, complexion, projection I think here begins to melt a little bit. They don't just say there's 10 of us. They don't just say there's 11 of us, 10 living and one still at home, Benjamin. No, they say 12. And I wonder how Joseph felt when he heard the number 12, that they considered that the family was still intact, not withstanding their brother's death. Perhaps it's a hint here of an improvement in their spiritual condition. And then they say one is no more. Are their consciences becoming awake, unseared, coming back to life? They give Joseph more information about their family to establish credibility. And Joseph continues to accuse them like a seasoned interrogator. When the accusation doesn't stick, he just progressively repeats it louder and more emphatically till the person cracks. It is as I said, you are spies.And I think Joseph here is having a little fun because he remembers back in the day, the brothers, what do they accuse him of? What do they call him? They called him a spy. "'Did you come here again to spy on us, to bring a bad report of us to our father?" And here Joseph turns the tables. Genesis 42:15. "By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there's truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.' And he put them all together in custody for three days." He puts them in prison, in the pit, in the dungeon. I wonder if it's the same prison that he was in just to give them a taste of their medicine. He does enslave them for three days, but he's not doing it to enslave them. He's giving them time to think. He's giving them time to think about their guilt, to experience the guilty conscience.And three days in an Egyptian prison would've been plenty of time to come to their senses, think things through and talk things over. What were they talking over? Which of us is going back home to Canaan to tell dad that we had lied for two decades? Who's going to go back and tell him that, no, Joseph is actually alive, he wasn't torn by wild animals. He was sold into captivity by wild animals, the brothers themselves. And not only that, they would have to convince Jacob to let Benjamin go to Joseph. Who's doing that? They would've probably all preferred to stay in prison to the thought of that task.And this is point three. Now there comes a reckoning. Verse 18. "On the third day, Joseph said to them, 'Do this and you will live, for I fear God. If you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households and bring your youngest brother to me so your words will be verified and you shall not die.' And they did." So Joseph proposes a new plan, probably because he understood how emotionally daunting and painful the first one would be. Plus, Joseph did care for them. And here we see Joseph's heart toward them, his real heart toward them.He knew that if one of them goes back with a sack of grain or as much as he could carry, that's not going to hold the family over for much time. So he comes up with a new plan, leave one brother here, the nine of you can go back. Just make sure you come back here with Benjamin. Though they don't deserve this grace, Joseph says, "I fear God." This Egyptian standing before them proclaims the name of God and that he doesn't just worship God, he fears God. God had extended grace toward Joseph. Now Joseph is extending grace toward the brothers.The way in which God is associated with the life of Joseph is paramount to the narrative. At every single most important juncture in Joseph's life, he brings in the name of God. Why? It shows us that he was a God-centered man and that he knew that everything in this world is controlled by God. And if he is to make the right decision, he has to lean upon God. For example, when Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Joseph, he said, "How can I do this great wickedness?" Against whom? Not Potiphar, God. "Do not interpretations belong to God?", he said to the cup bearer and to the baker in prison. When he stands before Pharaoh, he says the same. And he says, "God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. God will shortly bring it to pass." And when he has a son and he remembers God and he remembers the pain of his past, he says, "God has made me forget the pain of my father's household."Everything in Joseph's life was guided and controlled by the thought of God. Not one of the brothers has thus far mentioned God, but this Egyptian seemingly is talking about God. One brother was supposed to remain and here's the big test. Was the talk of the 12 brothers just that? Was it talk, or would they really come back for their brother, Simeon? The thought of their brother remaining in prison breaks their heart. They understand the pain and anguish that their father would feel hearing that Simeon was left in prison. And hear these words that erupts from a broken heart, these anguished words pouring from a guilty conscience beginning in verse 21."Then they said to one another, 'In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.' And Reuben answered them, 'Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen, so now there comes a reckoning for his blood." In truth, we are guilty concerning our brother, they say. Not the dreamer, not Joseph. No, this is our brother. Time does not blot out the guilt of sin, nor does time have any power over the conscience. And God, in His great providence, brings these men face to face with their sin and its due punishment. And isn't it fascinating how God does this, how God forces them to face the reality, to reckon with their sin?God brings them to Egypt on the same path that the Midianite merchants walked with Joseph. They were together in a strange land. They were in the power of a stranger whose force was infinitely greater than their own, which in turn may have had the effect of reminding them. Oh, remember that time when Joseph was defenseless, when we had all the power over him? And how do we use that power, used that power to harm him even though we heard the anguish of his soul. We see the elements of true repentance here. They say, "In truth, we are guilty." We are guilty. There's no question that we're guilty. Guilty for what? Guilty for the sin of attempting to murder our brother. We saw the distress of his soul. They remember that moment and they say, "This is why this distress has come upon us."Joseph learned here that Reuben had not consented to the sale and Joseph also learned that they had been haunted for years by his cries. And they knew that they were guilty, deserving of death. God had written this law on their hearts, on each of our hearts. Thou shall not murder. That's written on every single one of our hearts. We can all agree upon that. If you murder, an image bearer of God, you deserve the condemnation of God. We all know that. Thankfully, not many of us are murderers here in the room, but Jesus did say in Matthew five, in the Sermon on the Mount, "Whoever hates a brother in his heart, whoever hates another human being in his heart has already committed murder." Hatred in our hearts toward another human being is commensurate to murder. Genesis 9:6, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image." So God has them reckoned with their guilt in this moment of honesty and true guilt is grace when it brings us to repentance.And Joseph's brothers here are wracked with guilt and they are now prepared for repentance. In verse 23, "They did not know that Joseph understood them for there was an interpreter between them. Then he turned away from them and wept. He returned to them and spoke to them and he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes." Joseph sees that they've been anguished by their guilt, they've acknowledged their sin. "Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy?" They've sinned against him. He hears their acknowledgement that he hears that they know they deserve a reckoning. They know they deserve to pay for their sins. And Joseph's so moved by this confession, this is all he wanted to see. He's been begging for this moment where these brothers finally understand the egregious sin that they committed against him.He's so moved by their confession that he goes into a side room and he weeps. He couldn't contain his emotion anymore. He weeps. Although they did not weep the moment that they sold him, they sold him to captivity. They put him in that pit before they sold him to captivity. And as he's crying out in that pit, "Brothers, don't do this to me, don't kill me." They sat down for a meal. They sat down to enjoy a meal that he had brought them from Jacob. Incredible callousness, just indifference. At that moment, they were dead to God. God was dead to them. God's law to not murder my ... No, no. Their jealousy and their hatred were God at that moment. And now, these same men, two decades later, are repenting, seemingly remorseful. Joseph weeps here and there would be more tears when he first saw Benjamin in chapter 43. And when Judah offers to take Benjamin's place, in chapter 45, and finally when he meets his father in chapter 46, he weeps on his father's neck.The first great revelation of his tears here was that Joseph knew that these brothers were changing. The last thing that they see, what they see before they leave, they see Simeon bound before them probably in chains. Why? This is all part of the test. Is their repentance over having sold Joseph into slavery true? Will they come back for Simeon? Will they come back for their brother? Will they show him sympathy? Genesis 42:25. "And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to replace every man's money in his sack and gave them provisions for the journey. And this was done for them." And this here is an indication of his true feelings toward them. He had all the reason the world to bring down vengeance upon them, to have revenge upon them, just like he could have brought revenge upon Potiphar or Mrs. Potiphar or even the cup bearer for forgetting Joseph.But you see none of that, you see no desire for vengeance or revenge in his actions in his heart. And yet he still does probe them. He does test. He puts the money in their sacks. Why? Because he wants to know, will they be happy with the money instead of Simeon? Not only did he return one of them individually, but he returned all of their money. Will they be fine keeping the money and leaving their brother? Verse 26, "Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed as one of them opened his sack and gave his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of the sack. Then he said to his brothers, 'My money has been put back. Here it is in the mouth of the sack.' At this, their hearts failed them. They turned trembling to one another saying, 'What is this that God has done to us?'" Not what is this that the second in command in Egypt has done? No, they understand that it's God in control of every single detail that has transpired in this narrative.They understand that God's arresting hand is upon them. For the first time in the narrative, they mention God. Their guilt leads them to God. That's the goal. Their awareness of God and their awareness of his holiness, their awareness that they've sinned against the holy God, that is what is awakened in them. They have a terrifying awareness of the divine and they're reading providence correctly. Yes, we are guilty before God. Initially, they realized they had sinned against Joseph. Now, they realize they've sinned against the living holy God of the universe.If you fear God over the penalty that your sin deserves, which you should, well, friend, the very second you begin to feel that fear of God, that I am guilty, not just guilt, I'm guilty because I've transgressed the law of God. I've sinned against God. The very moment you begin to feel that, that is God's grace. God does not give that to every single human being. To awaken you from your spiritual death, to give you spiritual life, and we were dead in our sins and trespasses, He made us alive. That's a miracle of the Holy Spirit. Godly fear and godly grief over our sin should lead us to repentance before God.Second Corinthians 7:8 through 13. St. Paul writes, "For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it, for I see that the letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment. At every point, you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it's not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. Therefore, we are comforted."Friends, perhaps you're in a situation, circumstances in your life where you clearly feel the arresting hand of God's spirit convicting you of sin, where things begin to happen in your life where you say, yes, I deserve this. I deserve this for the sins I have committed. Well friend, that's God's gift. And let this awesome awareness lead you to repentance. That's the whole goal. God wants to you to come to Him in contrition of heart, beg for forgiveness, and ask for grace. Fear alone, like guilt alone is of little use. In fact, it can be debilitating. But godly fear is a fear that God blesses, for He comes to those who fear Him. To understand that you deserve eternal condemnation for your sins, for having transgressed the perfect law of a holy God. And when you feel that fear, friend, that's grace.We sing this in the great hymn, Amazing Grace by John Newton. It goes like this, "Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed." Look, Joseph Joseph could have forgiven his brothers the very second they showed up. He could have said, "Fellas, it's been too long. Come on in. Let's enjoy, party, grain. Forget the grain. We're going to have cows, fat, sumptuous, pleasant looking cows." No, he allows them to feel to awaken their consciences so that they repent. It's God's gift. A lot of people, they want the grace to relieve the guilt before you've actually experienced the grace that leads us to fear God and tremble at His holiness. Grace teaches us to fear and grace relieves that guilt.Point four is the Father who won't sacrifice His beloved son. Genesis 42:29, "When they came to Jacob, their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them saying, 'The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. But we said to him, 'We are honest men. We have never been spies. We are 12 brothers, sons of our father. One is no more and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. Then the man, the lord of the land said to us, 'By this, I shall know that you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households and go your way and bring your youngest brother to me then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men and I will deliver your brother to you and you shall trade in the land.'.As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. And Jacob, their father, said to them, 'You have bereaved me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more. And now, you would take Benjamin, all this has come against me.' Then Reuben said to his father, 'Kill my sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands and I will bring him back to you.' But he said, 'My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he's the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.'"The gray hairs are an indication of the toll that Jacob's grief and sorrow had taken upon him at the loss of Joseph. And he says that if Benjamin dies, that's it. I'm dead. And here we also see that Jacob has blamed the brothers for the death of Joseph. "You have bereaved me of my children. You are responsible for Joseph's death as much as Simeon's imprisonment." Did he believe their story over these decades? No, he did not. He watched them. He listened to them. No, he knew exactly what happened. You did it. You sinful, wicked men. You killed my son. And here, the oldest, Reuben, felt his father's pain and made an absurd promise. "Kill my sons if I don't bring your son back." But nothing could lessen the pain of losing a son. Jacob says, 'All this has come against me." Jacob is wracked with sorrow and he's so wracked with sorrow, he's become self-centered.He suffers from main character syndrome, as it's known, where everything that's happening around him, he says, how is it impacting me? And everything going wrong in the world is going wrong against me. He's stuck in his selfish pity party. And he couldn't even imagine that, God, yes, despite the suffering, he has been working behind the scenes to provide salvation for the family. And finally he says, "My son shall not go down with you." Jacob had loved his son, Joseph, above all the others. And then with Joseph gone, most likely he just poured out all of that love on his son, Benjamin. Would he risk the life of his beloved son, Benjamin, in order to save Simeon, in order to save the other nine? Would he give up his son to save the family? For whom? Who's asking this? The wicked, sinful brothers, selfish, proud, self-absorbed, violent murderer, sexually deviant.You want me to give up Benjamin for one of you? Of course, he wouldn't. As he looked at them, "Judah, would I give up my son, Benjamin, for you? Reuben, would I give up my son, Benjamin, for you? No, of course not. I love him more than I love any of you." Of course, he wouldn't. They don't deserve it. They're sinners. They're wicked sinners. And then, friends, this is what makes the gospel so powerful. It makes the gospel so awesome, so amazing, so shocking, so provocative, so scandalous that the God of the universe, the perfect loving Father, there's never been a greater father than Him. He gave up His perfect son, beloved son, who had never sinned. He said, "You go, I'm not just going to protect you from them, I'm going give you up." And that's what happened on the cross. On the cross, whose wrath is Jesus Christ bearing? The son of God, in whom the Father delights.Well, at that moment, Jesus Christ was bearing our sin, our guilt, our condemnation was upon Him. That's all the Father saw as He was pouring out His wrath upon the son. Romans 8:31 through 32. "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He now also with Him graciously give us all things?" Not only did God the Father, not spare God the Son, but it says that He gave him up for us all. God the Father gave up God the Son, to save us from our sins and to cleanse our guilty conscience. So this is why grace is to teach us to fear. Because when you see the cross and you say, "Oh, this is what it takes for my sin to be forgiven, this is what it takes for my guilty conscience to be cleansed." It takes the death of the beloved Son of the Father. And the Father did that for us.So friends, this is the great news. If you're not a believer, if you're new to the faith, you don't know where you stand before God, this is the great news. Whatever guilt you feel right now, that's God's grace. Whatever conviction you feel, that's God's grace for whatever sins you've ever committed. And if you are a believer and you're still carrying around your guilt of past sins, today, receive grace. Let that grace not just relieve you of the guilt, but let that grace completely remove it. Look to the cross of Jesus Christ today. See the love of God the Father for you, and see the hatred, the wrath of God for sin. And thank God that He had made a way for us to be saved.A lot of people ask, well, how do I pray? How do I receive Christ? How do I become a Christian? And usually, people come up with some kind of manmade prayer, pray this. Jesus, I repent of my sins, forgive me, et cetera, et cetera. I think one of the greatest prayers of repentance in all of scripture is Psalm 51. In Psalm 51, we see the psalm of a man who knew God's will. It was a man after God's own heart. It was a man who actually committed murder to cover up the adultery that he had committed. And then he was brought to reckon with his sin when the prophet Nathan comes to him and calls him out. And by God's grace, David does repent. He bears the consequences of his sin, but he does repent. And this is his prayer of repentance. And if you're not a believer, even if you are, meditate on this text and pray often.And I'll close with this Psalm 51. "To the choir master: a Psalm of David. When Nathan, the prophet, went to him after he had gone into Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly for my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgments. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have broken, rejoice.Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence. And take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgresses your way and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice or I would give it. You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken heart, a broken and contrite heart. O God, you will not despise. Do good in Zion in your good pleasure build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices and burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered up on your altar."Let us pray. Lord God, we thank you that you, a holy God, a just God are also a merciful God. We thank you for your long suffering and your loving kindness. Lord, we thank you that you have provided a way for each one of us to be reconciled with you. And Lord, we thank you for the grace that you offer us the very moment that we repent. And we thank you for the grace you offer us on a daily basis as you tell us to follow you. Lord, if there's anyone here who is not yet reconciled with you, I pray, Lord, convict their hearts and draw them to yourself. And I pray for us as believers, I pray, continue to make us people who are sensitive to your spirit and sensitive to your guidance. Continue to inform our consciences with your word and continue to make us a people who serve you from a good conscience. And we pray all this in Christ's holy name, amen.

 Adam Hall, Country Manager, Joseph Joseph Japan Prior to becoming head of Japan for Joseph Joseph, Adam Hall was Japan Country Manager for Weber-Stephen Products.  He is a graduate of Auckland University of Technology.

¿Había perdido la identidad el cuadro rojinegro? 

Join Pastor Jeff Cranston and Tiffany Coker as they explore the book of Genesis, discussing God's sovereign will, the theme of blessing, and how it relates to God's grace and love for his people. Learn about the unique family line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and uncover the impact of sin in the theme of blessing throughout the book. Tune in to strengthen your faith and love for Jesus and others.   [00:19 - 07:09] Exploration of Genesis and the Covenant with Abraham Genesis, written by Moses, covers 2000 years of history and is Israel's origin story God is introduced as the Creator in Genesis 1 and Abraham is chosen by God as the patriarch of a special nation [07:10 - 13:50] Tracing the Unique Family Line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Genesis Genesis sets the stage for the rest of the Pentateuch Genesis traces a unique family line from Adam to Ephraim through Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph Joseph, Jacob's youngest son, had prophetic dreams of greatness and became second in command over Egypt The family line sometimes goes to the second-born instead of the firstborn  [13:51 – 25:10] The Theme of Blessing in Genesis: God's Love and the Impact of Sin: Genesis 3:15 prophesies Jesus Christ's coming to defeat Satan and heal his heel God establishes an eternal covenant with Abraham, making him the father of many nations Jesus Christ brings to fulfillment the promises given to Abraham, according to Peter and Paul The covenant of circumcision guarantees God's blessings for those who acknowledge him as their king, making blessing the main theme of Genesis  Quotes:    “If your theology makes you increasingly bitter, ungenerous and critical, then it has filled your head and not your heart.” - Tiffany Coker      Join the Conversation        We love your feedback! If you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review. If you have any questions or comments on today's episode, email me at pastorjeff@lowcountrycc.org.        Visit my website https://www.jeffcranston.com and subscribe to my newsletter. Join me on Sunday mornings at LowCountry Community Church.         Check-in with us on Facebook or Instagram @pastorjeffcranston        Remember, the real power of theology is not only knowing it but applying it. Thanks for listening!

Continued reading of the book of Genesis. Fast and pray !!!!!

Hour 1 * Guest: James Edwards – Race, Politics & Hypocrisy in 21st Century America – thepoliticalcesspool.org * Guest: Chris Carlson – Without God, we can never win, With God, we can never lose, The Battle for Freedom is the Lord's, but we need to be engaged in the fight! * In the Bible, it was important for people to show that they were descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – to show that they were part of the covenant people. * The birthright goes to Joseph – Joseph's birthright blessing, through the loins of Ephraim, can be found in the Book of Jeremiah. * Who are these descendants of Joseph today? Could this great promise of “…push[ing] the people together to the ends of the earth…” be the great missionary efforts of Christians today? Modern-day Zionist Jews would love to claim the blessing of modern-day Ephraim. * Could the tribe of Joseph with all its rich blessings of prosperity, population, and devotion to missionary work be the modern-day Christian nations such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and Northern Europe in general? * In 930 bc the 10 tribes formed the independent Kingdom of Israel in the north and the two other tribes, Judah and Benjamin, set up the Kingdom of Judah in the south. Hour 2 * Sam Bushman Takes On Three Thugs! – Jason Wilson, Chuck Tanner, Isaac Stone Simonelli! * CONSTITUTIONAL SHERIFFS CHIEF RUNS ONLINE RADIO STATION FEATURING WHITE SUPREMACISTS – Jason Wilson, SPLC. * 20 State AGs: ‘SPLC Has Been Utterly Discredited as a Reliable Source'! – CNSNews.com * Jason's Failed Twitter Feed. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/loving-liberty/support

Jesus Ministries, Joan Boney  ...  Amos 5:15  Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.  

* Guest: James Edwards - Race, Politics & Hypocrisy in 21st Century America - thepoliticalcesspool.org * Guest: Chris Carlson - Without God, we can never win, With God, we can never lose, The Battle for Freedom is the Lord's, but we need to be engaged in the fight! * In the Bible, it was important for people to show that they were descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - to show that they were part of the covenant people. * The birthright goes to Joseph - Joseph's birthright blessing, through the loins of Ephraim, can be found in the Book of Jeremiah. * Who are these descendants of Joseph today? Could this great promise of “…push[ing] the people together to the ends of the earth…” be the great missionary efforts of Christians today? Modern-day Zionist Jews would love to claim the blessing of modern-day Ephraim. * Could the tribe of Joseph with all its rich blessings of prosperity, population, and devotion to missionary work be the modern-day Christian nations such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and Northern Europe in general? * In 930 bc the 10 tribes formed the independent Kingdom of Israel in the north and the two other tribes, Judah and Benjamin, set up the Kingdom of Judah in the south.

Pompe 'n Honey // Van Sessions at The Monarch   Recorded during Ogden's First Friday Art Stroll. Supported by a generous grant from Ogden City Arts along with love from The Monarch, and Roosters Brewing.   Thanks to everyone who came out to the live show! Join us every First Friday for recordings at The Monarch Building in Ogden, Utah.   MUSICIAN/BAND | Pompe 'n Honey   YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@nickmcmenamin5580 INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/pompenhoney/ SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/user-875616133   SUPPORTERS Ogden City Arts: https://www.ogdencity.com/707/Arts The Monarch Building: https://themonarchogden.com/ Roosters Brewing: https://www.roostersbrewingco.com/   CREDITS Producer / Host: R. Brandon Long, The Banyan Collective Logistics / Bookings: Todd Oberndorfer, The Banyan Collective Audio Mix: Scott Rogers Video Assistant: Natalie Haws Video Assistant: Crew Simpson Video Assistant: Isla Long Photographer: Ruth Silver   FOLLOW Van Sessions Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vansessions/ Van Sessions Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thevansessions   Like what you hear, buy us beer: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/banyanmedia   Bookings: todd@thebanyancollective.com

In this episode, you'll also hear:Three reasons why it's important for Christians to dream BIGBiblical examples of people who dared to dreamEight words to remember when the going gets toughThe Audience Attraction Formula, designed to help you turn your dreams into reality and make a difference in the world (link below!) 3 Reasons to Dream BigAs followers of Christ, we are called to dream big, to dare to pursue our passions and use our gifts to glorify God. Our dreams can become a reality, but it will take a combination of faith and obedience. So here are three reasons why it's important to dream big.1. To follow Jesus' example. Throughout Scripture, Jesus frequently encourages us to dream big and step out in faith. In Luke 1:37, He reminds us that nothing is impossible with God. And the same sentiment is echoed throughout the Gospels, as Jesus calls his disciples to trust in Him, to step out of their comfort zone, and to pursue something greater. By following Jesus' example, we can have courage to pursue our dreams and face the challenges that come along with them. 2. To live out our calling. We all have unique gifts and talents that God has given us for a purpose — to glorify Him through the work of our hands. If we're not striving towards fulfilling our calling, then we're not living up to the full potential that God has created within us. By dreaming big, we can take steps towards achieving our goals while honoring God along the way. 3. To spread joy and love. One of the greatest blessings of dreaming big is that it allows us to share God's joy and love with others, whose dreams then become a reality. Instead of holding back because fear or doubt gets in the way, boldly press onward, knowing that when you do so in faith, nothing will be impossible for you. Dreams come true when they bring glory to God above all else. Dream Big: Your Role as a ChristianIt's time to think about dreaming big as actually being a part of your role as a Christian. Let it be ingrained in how you think about yourself and what you do on a daily basis. Because when we dream big, we are acting like our Father and following in His footsteps. We are following Jesus' example. And when we dream big, we have the opportunity to live out our calling, spread joy and love around us, and to actually see what we're capable of doing. Consider the following biblical examples of people who were willing to step outside of the box. No matter how unlikely or impossible their circumstances seemed, these individuals found the courage and the strength to push forward. Let the stories of these three people who dared to dream inspire you to achieve remarkable success. Joseph: Joseph had a powerful dream that one day he would rise above his brothers and become a leader in his own right. Despite his brothers' envy and hatred toward him, Joseph persevered, determined to make that dream a reality. And sure enough, through a series of incredible events, Joseph became second in command over all of Egypt. Esther: Esther was an orphaned Jewish girl living in exile when the dream was presented to her to become the Queen of Persia. Through the providence of God and her own bravery, Esther was able to achieve that dream. Not only did she become queen, but she also saved her people from sudden death through her actions. David: David was just a shepherd boy when God gave him a big, hairy, audacious goal: to defeat Goliath. No one else was brave enough to face down this giant warrior, so David stepped up. And with faith in God leading him forward, he was able to defeat Goliath and gain fame throughout all of Israel as a great warrior king. We too can go forth with boldness if we trust God's will for our lives. The Bible is full of stories that show us what's possible when we dare to dream big, so let these stories inspire you to write your own story — one where you reach for your wildest dreams with courage and faith. And when you're in that space where the going gets tough, remember these eight words: you can achieve anything that God has promised you. If He's promised you something, He's going to come through. You just have to continue to dream big and trust Him to make the way. The Audience Attraction FormulaAre you ready to take the challenge and create something unique that will have a lasting impact on the world? If so, the Audience Attraction Formula is here to help. This formula can be used to turn your dreams into reality and make a difference in the world. We'll help you hone your target audience, figure out how to reach them, craft engaging content, and optimize it for maximum exposure. And you'll do this using the latest technology to create innovative work that shows off your expertise. This formula is designed to amplify your success, so get ready for an exhilarating journey of self-discovery and growth. 2023 is the year that you unleash your inner potential with the Audience Attraction Formula! Are YOU ready to dream big and make those dreams a reality?  BIO:My name is Tamara "Coach Tam" Jackson and I am a published author, Facebook© Certified Digital Marketer, host of the Top 100 Publishing Secrets podcast, and founder of The Christian Authors Network (C.A.N.) Facebook© community. I specialize in helping mission-driven authors, coaches, and entrepreneurs increase their exposure, impact, and income through strategic self-publishing and digital media appearances. Just say yes and we will work together to attract a tribe of loyal followers that 1) "get you", 2) love what you do, and 3) are happy to invest in your book, business, cause, or movement. Plus, we will accomplish all of this without fake, salesy, sleazy, or manipulative tactics. Yes you CAN write, publish, and profit in a way that honors God; join the community today at https://christianauthors.net/fbgroup.   GET CONNECTED:Connect with fellow Christian Authors: http://christianauthors.net/fbgroupDownload the Free Christian Author Marketing EBook: https://265point.com/secretsbook1Get Booked as a Guest Speaker for Free: http://christianauthors.netFollow Tam on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TamaraJacksonTransformationExpert/Interact with Tam on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fitnesstamara265/

Hopes are raised for Joseph once more. After some time in prison forgotten by all, and yet not by God – for remember God is showing kindness to Joseph – Joseph sees a possible way out.

Rabbinic Intern Yael Aranoff's Shabbat Learning at Temple Beth Am, Los Angeles, December 24, 2022. (Youtube/Zoom) Special Guest: Yael Aranoff.

Twin brothers Richard and Antony Joseph are founders and owners of one of the world's most iconic and innovative kitchenware brands. In this podcast, we are fortunate to be in conversation with Richard Joseph, who takes us through his journey from school, where design and technology played a key role in setting his future direction as a designer, through the early days of Joseph Joseph selling glass chopping boards made from a raw material donation from their father's factory. Through to today and running a successful and innovative design business with over two-hundred mission-driven staff across continents. This conversation provides an amazing insight into the development and carefully planned growth of a design business, a business where 'form follows function' is something of a mantra, and why Joseph Joseph endeavour to take often complex designs just that little bit further in development than their competitors in order to fulfil this design promise to their customers.   It also provides insight into how a successful business can be managed and led by twin brothers by splitting tasks and responsibilities but keeping design at the epicentre of every decision taken. Finally, we get an insight into the future of Joseph Joseph as Richard describes his passion for the company's products to use research and mission prioritisation to help solve some of the sustainability issues created by a capitalist and sales-led society. This was a great conversation to start 2023, I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation, and I know you will too.  This podcast has been recorded with the help of our sponsors, The Edge Foundation https://www.edge.co.uk/ inspiring the education system to give all young people across the UK the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to flourish in their future life and work and PTC Onshape Providing industry-standard cloud-based CAD to education  https://www.ptc.com/en/news/2020/ptc-onshape-education-enterprise-plan-available-free-of-charge. We are indebted to The Edge and PTC Onshape for their continued support.References within this podcast:https://www.josephjoseph.com/

James Melia is a British designer working in the fields of industrial design, branding, packaging visualization a UX/UI. A keen observer of human behaviours, he has been interested in unusual solutions to common problems for as long as he can remember. Since founding the studio Blond in 2015, he's worked with a variety of clients looking to disrupt their respective industries.   In this episode we're talking design with James, along with some of his work and outlook to the future.   About the podcast: Single Serves is a podcast where we interview experts on single issues of interest to architects and designers. The thought-provoking ideas shared here are intended to inspire our listeners to become well-rounded entrepreneurs who are the leaders of their field. Credits: ©2022 Produced by Révélateur Studio & edited by Chris Rodd   Transcript below edited for clarity and brevity: RVLTR: James Melia is a British designer working in the fields of industrial design, branding, packaging, visualization, and UX and UI. A keen observer of human behaviors, he has been interested in unusual solutions to common problems for as long as he can remember. Since founding the studio Blond in 2015, he's worked with a variety of clients looking to disrupt their respective industries. Today we're going to talk design with James, along with some of his work and outlook on to the future. So thank you very much, James, for being on the show. James Melia: Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. RVLTR: So can you tell us who you are and what you do in your own words, in three sentences or less? James Melia: Three sentences or less, okay. Challenge. We are a industrial design agency based in Central London. We primarily focus on industrial design, or we do have offshoots of that, visualization and UI and branding, which you've already mentioned. And fundamentally, as an agency, we focus on bringing a really deep-rooted narrative to the products that we produce, and focus on a very high level of quality as well. RVLTR: So when did you figure out that you wanted to become a designer? James Melia: Good question. I think I fell into it. I think I was kind of attracted to being a graphic designer, at school, and not for anything more than just being relatively superficial, and thinking it was quite a cool profession, and seeing that wearing suits and doing something that is maybe not conventional in this sort of academic sense. And then as I went through the school process, I started to realize I enjoyed making things and bringing 3D objects to life, your DT lessons and things like that you have in the UK. I don't know what you call it in the US, or in Canada. And then I went to university with the intention of being a BSC engineer, basically, a product engineer, design and engineering focus. Did a foundation course in engineering path. Surprisingly, maybe not surprisingly, and then realized though, at the end of that, that really wasn't for me. It was too technically focused. As much as I really enjoyed the technical element, I'm much more driven and drawn to the creative side of industrial design. So I mean it was a really lucky and fortunate path that led me to the creative industrial design profession. RVLTR: So we ... let's talk a bit about design in more general terms. We hear a lot about the idea of good design, and I personally have an opinion on what that would be. What is good design in your opinion? James Melia: Big question. A good design fundamentally has to consider sustainability. When we're talking about designing 3D products, which you're doing all the time, inevitably these things have a lifespan. So as an industrial designer you have to consider sustainability in everything that you do. That's the first thing. I mean it, almost frustratingly, entering design awards recently I've noticed that there's always a category for "sustainable design." It shouldn't be a category. It shouldn't even be a separate topic. It should just be embedded in every single one of the other categories. So that's the first thing. But to achieve that, maybe it's not always just about the materials you use. Sometimes it comes down to how you actually manage the aesthetics, and assuring there's no aesthetic obsolescence that is designed into something. So not following trends. And that's a big thing for Blond, my agency. We don't necessarily follow trends. I mean, obviously we're aware of them. We don't intentionally disregard them, we just are not drawn to them or follow them from a creative point of view. We design things and embed kind of an aesthetic and a narrative to our products that is really driven by the user's requirements, functionally, aesthetically. And from that you naturally get a product that has inherent longevity to it, because it's useful, and aesthetically it's not going to go out of date. So for me that's a good product. Yeah, I think so. RVLTR: Yeah, that makes sense. One of my favorite product brands is OXO. I'm sure you're familiar with them. James Melia: Yeah, they do good work. RVLTR: And while their products are pretty cheap, both in terms of price and quality, meaning that some of them eventually end up breaking, but I find myself going back to it because they're so well-designed from the perspective of the user experience and how they fit in your hands, because they're kitchen utensils, right. So I think a lot of the qualities you've described are in products like that. So when you start designing a product, you're given a brief, how do you go about making sure that all the things you've described are part of it, and what are some of the challenges you face when you're coming up with a new product for a client? James Melia: It's interesting, to circle back to your first point, that you mentioned OXO. Because we worked with one of their biggest competitors here in the UK, only really slightly larger, called Joseph Joseph. We designed a water bottle for them recently. They have, I would say, a very similar stance and benefits to their consumers. They're always looking for a USP that's actually beneficial. It's not just a gimmick. It really does solve a problem. And so working with them has been really enjoyable, because they have a certain synergy, I think, in the way we approach work. But to answer your second question, it depends upon the client, depends upon the brief. I mean every brief is so different. Sometimes you can get a paragraph from a large corporation and 20 pages from one certain client. And the first thing you need to do is to really, really define what the brief is and sort of collaborate on that. First of all, there's something that people don't necessarily talk about, they talk about doing their design work, but sometimes just collaborating on the brief to an extent is a really important step. Really understanding what the client wants, whether there's any way to make it better and to increase business strategy, or increase the way that we manage to benefit the user. From there, what we would do is look to conduct, with everything we do, depending on budget, obviously ... it scales up and down, but a holistic bit of product strategy, and obviously research before that. And that allows us to identify market opportunities from a commercial sense, but more importantly functional requirements, and often functional requirements that the user wouldn't know they even had, that help us answer problems and create a really meaningful and useful product. RVLTR: And so a big part of design, both industrial and I think in any other area of design, architecture, interior design, graphic, is really to take the brief, kind of study it, do your own research, so to speak, and see if you can come up with maybe a better brief or better solution to the client's problem. So that's pretty well understood by designers. Do you ever walk away from a client because you don't understand the brief, or the brief doesn't mesh with what your firm's about, or you always try to maybe show them a different way or a different path, or maybe an entirely different solution? James Melia: All of the above, actually, to an extent. I would never walk away from a brief if I don't understand it. We always make sure that we understood, first of all, before walking away. But we've turned ... we regularly turn down work. Just yesterday we turned down work for a vaping product. I mean, I don't know, for us as an agency, that my staff and me would want to be involved in anything nicotine-related. That's the first thing, has to gel with the studio, and what everyone's happy working on. You got to think about your staff as well as overheads and just your general morals. Obviously, you have to be in quite a fortunate position like we are to be able to turn down work like that, which is generally quite highly paid. We will turn down work after collaborating on a brief if it looks like ... if we think that it's not going to be successful or actually bring benefit, or have a reason to exist. That's the big one. It doesn't have a reason to exist, essentially it's purely commercial, and just for financial sake. We've turned down a few projects eventually, after sort of fleshing out the brief of the client, because it is clear that it will potentially be landfill waste in a year or so's time, and sold cheaply, and just made to make money primarily. Unless it has some kind of drive behind it to better human existence or make people's lives better or easier, then we wouldn't necessarily take it on. RVLTR: Yeah, that makes sense. So can you speak a little bit to maybe your design heroes? Who are the people you respect, both in the industrial design world, maybe outside as well? James Melia: I'd been asked this question before, and is it maybe a cliche answer, but I've always enjoyed Dieter Rams' work and still do, particularly from an industrial design point of view, particularly after Jonathan Ive and the Apple team were heavily inspired by his work. He's been popularized and almost a household name, I guess, but he's still an influence to some extent. There are several studios that have been operating for 20-plus years that I respect, and their continual output of good-quality work. And then outside the industrial design world, or maybe crossing between industrial design and architecture, I've always enjoyed the likes of Jan Echolson and Bruno Munari, just from a design thinking point of view, and their ability to be able to create long-lasting objects, really elegant analog objects, that will always be enjoyed for generations. RVLTR: Yeah, and it's interesting what you say about long-lasting objects that don't become obsolete. And you've touched on that a couple of times throughout this conversation. It seems like that's a common thread across your work, but are there other kind of design principles or a kind of philosophy or common threads that you can talk about, that are very important to you? James Melia: Could you provide an example, potentially, and then I will ... RVLTR: Well, similar to what you just said about obsolescence, designing objects that people will enjoy for a long time, and not just discard because two years from now it looks like it's out of date, or it's been replaced by the latest gizmo. So maybe to reframe that question, speak about if you have any kind of principles that you can lay out that you have written down, or your philosophy about design and how you approach each project. James Melia: There's three main principles that make up what we call conscious design. These are, first of all, we would say that every product needs to be useful. So it should be ... have a purpose and a positive impact on the user's life. If it's not useful, what's the point of it existing? Second, needs to be deliberate. So no detail is superfluous, nothing. You can see that in our work. Everything's been stripped back. I quite often say to the designers, when I have design reviews, "Why do we have these three separate details in this one product? Can we split it across and make sure that there is a particular meaning for that detail existing?" And I think that bestows all the work that we do with minimalism, which is not intentional from an aesthetic point of view, but actually from a design story narrative point of view. And then thirdly, we like to think of it as aware, so needs to fit within the world we inhabit, and not just designed for today, but designed to be passed down and enjoyed by future generations. So again, touching upon the point that you ... the reoccurring theme of the podcast so far. RVLTR: I'm personally fascinated with objects that are designed predominantly because of how they function. I'm thinking about cameras or motorcycles or cars. There's room for a bit of design, but by the way of ... because they function a certain way and ... when you use a camera, the shutter is always more or less in the same place, and you hold it more or less the same way. There's some paradigms that you can't really change or it might be too disruptive to the way people use the object to change. What's your thought on that, and can some of those principles be applied to maybe less functional objects that have a little bit more room for design itself? Because I'm always fascinated ... I'm a photographer, so I ... cameras are, no matter what brand you use, it's always kind of the same way. And I understand why, but I'd love to hear your take on that. James Melia: And there's a couple of elements that I guess define that, more than what people are used to. What functionally just absolutely works. There's a thing in industrial design people say, "No one's been able to successfully redesign the umbrella," because it's so perfect and everyone's so used to it. There's an element of that, I guess, to those things. Also, maybe there's a kind of industry standard that people are worried about disrupting, maybe. Most of the controls in the camera to the right. Is that correct? I mean, what percentage of the world are right-handed? There's still a fundamental sort of concern about taking, especially on some of the larger, more analog cameras, the more professional ones, taking analog controls and making them digital. I think to ... it'd be quite a disruptive product to rethink something like that that's been exactly the same for what, a hundred years? RVLTR: Yeah, and there are a few examples. I mean the iPhone is the obvious one, where you took something that had a keyboard and a tiny screen, and then you turned the screen into the keyboard, and then kind of completely changed the paradigms. But those are pretty rare it seems. And once something start working, it's more of an evolution then. Because fundamentally, if you take a car, it's working the same way it has for 120 years. It's evolved. Obviously it's more elaborate, more complex, but the basic driving experience is basically the same. So that's always been fascinating to me. And I wonder if someone had to invent the car today with today's technology, if it would be completely different, or if you'd had a blank slate, which is not going to happen, obviously. James Melia: I wonder whether it's just the car, though. And if you had a blank slate on the way that the infrastructure worked, as in the roads and the light systems and the roundabouts, then I think it'd be a very different thing. But the fact is that you're ... even these brand new electric cars you're seeing that look very conceptual, but they're actually existing, which is exciting, you're still penned in with the same restrictions. The Tesla's got a floating iPad essentially, and nothing else, which is amazing, interesting, from a design point of view. They're still constrained by exactly the same parameters in terms of safety and road infrastructure. RVLTR: Yeah, because you have to contend with the same infrastructure. You have a very good point. So is there a project of yours in particular that you're the most proud of, or that kind of stands out? James Melia: There was one recently. It's actually the brand I've already mentioned in the podcast, Joseph Joseph. They're kind of similar to OXO, you've also mentioned. RVLTR: The water bottle? James Melia: Yeah. That one particularly. I mean it's very, very difficult space to innovate in, if you're not just sticking technology in something. I mean, people have put LEDs and UV cleaning elements in water bottles, which is arguably innovative and useful, but eventually will time out and break. I think we always try to find some analog solution to a problem, or we know that we find. But first of all, I think actually being able to identify a opportunity in a space that's been so heavily occupied was really successful, was very happy with. We actually did a lot of observational research. You ask people about water bottle, not going to say, "Oh, I have deep thoughts," about their water bottle, to an extent. So we went out into London just before the pandemic, and took a couple of days just observing people using water bottles, and what we found was, people on the phone had the water bottle in their hand, newspaper, and they're kind of like struggling with this cap they've taken off. And so we just found this opportunity to try to somehow make the cap less of a thing that could be lost, or could just be an extra thing you have to hold in your hand. So from that observational research, which I'm the largest advocate of, as opposed to interviewing one on one or even on a bigger scale, we were able to create a method where the cap just slides over the neck of the bottle and it stays there whilst you drink. So also has the benefits in terms of hygiene and storage. So if you take the cap off the neck and store it inside the cupboard, you're not going to get the smell when it's being contained and sealed. That I'm particularly proud of, and even more so proud of it that people don't recognize it. It goes slightly unnoticed, which from a commercial point of view is a bit frustrating. There needs messaging to sort of show that you can use this function, but if you manage to create such a great USP, and it not be screaming at you, then that answers all of the Blond ethos, everything we've been trying to achieve. And even though it's just a simple water bottle it's probably the thing that I'm most proud of, because of that. RVLTR: That's interesting. So how do you go about doing those observational studies? Where do you go to observe people using drinking bottles? That's a very interesting question to me. James Melia: Yeah, it's a bit of a spying, isn't it? And obviously don't want to take too many pictures because it's not ... It's a bit strange. But we went out to London, the Underground, the Tube, and particularly where it's hot, the central line, and luckily it was summer, so we saw people carrying water bottles constantly, in a typical sort of tourist hotspot in London, like Trafalgar Square and the Tate Museum and various other places in London, and just sat there and observed. Basically took a couple of Tube stops, sat on some benches, watched people going about their lunch break with their reusable or non-reusable water bottle, and just how they were carrying it, how they're using it, how they're drinking from it. Yeah. RVLTR: So you basically get paid to people watch. James Melia: Basically. This is a great job. Hey. RVLTR: That's amazing. So you've alluded to that in the talking about the bottle, the use of technology and industrial design. And I think that's a great segue to talk about more how big tech ... or how tech in general, is getting used in industrial design, and how do you see that looking in the future? James Melia: It's a difficult thing to respond to. I think there's some exciting opportunities from industrial design process with technology, and how you present your work to clients, augmented reality and VR. From a product point of view, there are some great opportunities for us to be able to better the world we live in, especially with, for example, EVs and electric transportation mobility in general. RVLTR: What would be maybe a dream project? Maybe there's an assignment that you've thought about that you'd like to get, but you haven't gotten a chance to. What would that look like to you? James Melia: I'm a furniture designer by trade, so I actually have a degree in furniture design. And I think actually a dream project now would be some expanding of my furniture portfolio. So a desk chair, something really that benefits the ergonomics of ... and benefits just in the way that people sit, and their posture and general ergonomics of working. That would be an absolutely lovely project. That would be a dream project. Also, because we're relatively large, and when you run an agency, small projects, as much as they're really fun, it's nice to have a long, large project that takes a while to develop, and you can really get your teeth sunk into. And that, and then my answer's always the same. I mean I've been asked it one or two times. As an agency, I always ensure that we have a variety of work coming through the door. I mean, we design within the same month coat hangers and refrigerators and air conditioners and glass Tupperware. So the variety's really important, I think, just to ensure that everyone is on their toes and interested, and every day is different for them, and they enjoy coming into work. And so the dream brief is one that's different to the previous briefs, which is a slightly non-answer I suppose, but it's true. So. RVLTR: That's a very designer answer. James Melia: Yeah. RVLTR: One of the last questions I have for you, it's a bit on the lighter side. Where does the name Blond come from, and what does it mean to you? James Melia: On the lighter side, but it has a long answer. Yeah. I had a podcast a couple weeks ago, and apparently the person did lots of question-asking for the audience beforehand to say, "What were your questions for James?" And it was the main asked question, apparently. I understand why. I was looking for names for a long time, and I did lots of workshop sessions with my friends, and I was trying to create this name that had this meaning, and the way that we bring design details together, and there's some process we're looking to adopt as an agency. And the first ... one of the first names that landed, kind of thought, that's it, was a name called Cohesion, right. Cohesion. And I thought ... we both thought, "That's it. That's it. We found the name." And the person I was working with at the time, he's actually recently come back to the business. And we went to bed and woke up, and we'd both forgotten what the name was. So it was quite evident that that wasn't the name, because it wasn't memorable. So from there I was on a quest to look for something memorable. And in doing so I was thinking about lots of different band names or company names or anything that sticks out in my head. And there's two that always stuck out in my head, which were Acne, which is a clothing brand, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, not a band I like, but I remember their name for some reason. I think about them. And I was trying to analyze- RVLTR: Do you know what the Red Hot Chili Peppers' first name was? James Melia: No. No, no. Go on. RVLTR: So if I remember correctly, because it's a bit long and complicated, it's [Tony Flow and the] Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem. James Melia: I did know that. I did know that. I was a big fan of their first couple of albums, particularly Californication. So I had heard that, I think. Yeah. Interesting. It's much better. Red Hot Chili Peppers must have been more memorable. RVLTR: Yeah, yeah. It's probably a bit too punk maybe for what they're doing now. James Melia: Yeah, maybe. And so basically I was analyzing those, and I thought they were really interesting case studies, because you don't think about the actual chili pepper when you think about Red Hot Chili Peppers. You think about the band. And likewise with Acne, you don't think about spots. Again, I'm not ... still haven't looked it up, probably should, but I think it's a French brand. I think it means something else in French maybe. But anyway, you think about the really beautiful bits of clothing they make, particularly if you know the brand. And therefore I was looking for a name that stuck out in people's minds and they remembered. Equally, it needed to have some kind of meaning. And I came along ... I came up with the name of Blond, basically based upon the color of wood. So being relatively unintrusive, not shouting, some kind of longevity to it aesthetically. As you've noticed, that's a running theme. And then also the other fact that it has this connotation of hair color, which does make people smile and almost laugh, basically, at you. Because of that, it doesn't get forgotten. I always give this example of when I was completely validated. I went into the room with LG UK one day, was really early days, my first time in the company. And one of the design directors said, as soon as he walked through the door, I think it was even before hello, "I expected you to be wearing blonde wigs." And he was taking the piss completely. Fine though, justified. But at that moment, as much as he was taking the mick, I knew that we'd found a name that people would remember and ask about, as part of enjoying it. RVLTR: Do you go to meetings wearing blonde wigs? James Melia: No. RVLTR: Because that would be a great icebreaker if you wore like a ... what is it called, a bob cut? Or that's kind of really straight chin length hair with bangs. That would be hilarious. James Melia: Yeah. You call it bangs, don't you? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that would be funny. No, I don't. And then, other reasons are slightly less interesting. RVLTR: And it's funny how a good name keeps on giving you new meanings over time, right? James Melia: Yeah. RVLTR: That's how you know whether you've picked a good name or not, if you keep coming up with new meanings for it. One of the last questions I have, to get back to a slightly more serious topic, what are some of the lessons you've learned from being a successful industrial designer that you think could apply to architecture and interior design? James Melia: The running of a business, probably. I think that crosses everything from all aspects of creativity and beyond. And starting a company. Some of the lessons I learned early on maybe could transfer across for someone looking to start an architecture business, maybe. I started it with no clients, and no portfolio. I took a £15K loan to basically fund six months-plus of mortgage repayments, and hoped that I would get some work. And my advice to people would be to take more if you're going to take a loan, because that was naive, and that was far too little. But to go for it. And that's the way to do it, is to add that pressure. Obviously there was a big risk there, but I had to make it work. There was a ... And I always had this ... sort of relatively scared of public speaking, even doing this kind of thing. I'd be quite nervous, I mean most throughout my whole life. And then during those first six months, when I had the ticking pressure of the financial side of things, as much as I probably lost a bit of hair in the process, all those barriers, that I want to worry, gone. Suddenly I'd stop being nervous, talk to people, trying to get work, doing these kinds of things. And so some of the biggest learnings I've had is just to, if you want to do it, you want to create your own business, just do it, take the risk, but maybe give yourself a little bit more of a buffer than probably six months worth of overheads. RVLTR: And so how long was it until you got your first job? James Melia: We were really lucky. I think we got one within the first ... Well, we had a very small one right at the beginning, within the first couple of days. But then I think the big one came within three or four weeks. RVLTR: That's pretty fast. James Melia: I had been building a website, and I incorporated the company the year before, when I was working full-time. And every single weekend I'd been building a portfolio, albeit conceptual. So it wasn't starting completely from scratch. I had something to hit the floor running with. RVLTR: Gotcha. That's all for the questions I had today. James Melia: Thank you very much for having me on, and thank you very much everybody for listening.

Jospeh is summoned to interpret Pharaoh's dreams.

Joseph demonstrates his maturity in how he handles the dreams.

Back in 1909, John Thompson Street Brown was looking for a design for the Old Prentice Distillery. That design still stands today, under the Four Roses banner. Who designed this beautiful Spanish Mission pastiche? Would it surprise you to hear it is the same company that has developed many of the other iconic distilleries across the Kentucky Bourbon Trail? Listen in to find out how these designs come to life and the ideas behind taking historic structures and filling them with stills and fermenters!

Joseph's response to being unjustly accused.

Joseph's response to temptation.

Joseph is led by God as he arrives in Egypt.

Joseph's brothers execute their plan against Joseph.

What is the significance of Joseph being sent by his father to see his brothers?

The response to and meaning of Joseph's second dream.

2022-06-05 : Pastor Mark Quist – Life of Joseph #5: Joseph and His Brothers Round 2 – Genesis 42-47

God gives Joseph a dream which he communicates to his brothers.

Joseph Wilkins founded ProCreative a marketing agency focused on infomercials, TV commercials, and online video. Previous clients include Google, Linkedin, and McDonalds.   With two decades of experience, hundreds of millions of online views, and over $50 MILLION in tracked sales, Joseph enjoys sharing his simple 8-step process any business can copy to drive immediate online sales.  Introducing Joseph Wilkins What problem do you solve? He is going to solve the problem of how to take a customer who knows nothing about his business and get them to want to learn more in three minutes or less. What three problems do you solve? How do I grab the customers' attention? What kind of companies are a good fit for what kinds of videos? He will list the 8 steps that he takes every project through. Show Notes: Humor gets results. Companies that have humans as their targets get results. Humor has to be relevant and has to be targeted at the right audience. People go onto social media platforms to be entertained so that will resonate with them better. TV types ads won't work on social media. Joseph's 8 Steps to Funny Sales Videos Step 1 - Research You've got to do your research before doing anything. It's the foundation. The first step of research is learning about the consumer and the first thing you need to do is to listen to your customer. Read 100 customer reviews about your product.  What are the most common reasons that people like and buy your product? Don't try to be everything to everyone. Step 2 - Brainstorming Who is the character for this video, and what's the big problem that we're going to solve? Don't worry about getting good ideas. Throw out as many bad ideas as possible. Step 3 - Scripting Bring in a skilled storyteller and writer. Create a story arc where someone starts with a big painful problem that your audience can feel. Then, have them meet someone who presents a solution to their problem. Finally, show how the character's life has been transformed by implementing that solution. Step 4 - Add Comedy Bring in comedy writers who will add to your existing story and bring it to the next level. Step 5 - Production Everyone has the ability and the equipment to create a video, but you have to know how to use it. When looking for actors, look for who adds to your script. Who keeps your attention? Ask your applicants back for a live addition. How do they react on the spot? Step 6 - Editing Comedy is all about timing. You need a good editor. People stop watching videos because they're bored or it's not relevant to them. You have 5 seconds to get someone's attention. Then you have to get it for another 15 seconds. Then again. You need to interweave your product information with hooks that keep your audience watching. Joseph creates several versions of his videos to meet the needs of certain platforms and situations. Step 7 - Testing What is your retention curve like? Where are people bouncing? Most people bounce when the product is introduced. Step 8 - Forget About Viral It's not about going viral. It's not a one-and-done. Keep at it. You have to build this funnel, and then fuel it. Joseph Wilkins' Recharge Round What habit do you think has led to success in your life? Joseph is a creature of habit and has a routine and personal time for himself. He says that he writes down his goals and sticks to them every single day. If you had one do-over, what would it be? He would have sought advice more and sought a mentorship sooner. Connect with Joseph: Joseph's website:  funnysalesvideos.com Facebook Twitter Get a free ebook from Funny Sales Videos Learn more about Gary's Mastermind group at goascend.biz/mastermind/  

rough notes 8. How can I cultivate the attitude of giving in my life and those in my family? Give because it is a good thing to do Give because we have all received the free gift of salvation worth more than anything we can give Let your family see you give but don't do it for credit If it's not genuine people will feel it 9. I lost everything now what? Recognize you still have lived the most precious gift Crying is okay and in most cases necessary Thank God like Job in the bible Make small plans to recoup where possible and practical Crush bitterness in your heart as soon as you feel it bible examples and stories. 10. Life has not turned out the way I had hoped. Help Most people can say that their perfect narrative has not worked out exactly Don't stop working at life Make small attainable goals Take it day by day or hour by hour whatever makes sense for you Read the story of Job and or Joseph (Joseph story is easier) 11. Watching shows and movies listening to music all made by unbelievers Although quite fun very dangerous Books even more so Listening to twisted ungodly catch tunes can have you doing what you wouldn't have otherwise ( if you are an emotional and musical person this might be worse for you) but that is just my opinion People really do have soundtracks to their lives if you don't know what it is here is some homework: If you are able to recall serious losses, triumphs, no experience, heartache, bad decisions, by year even month and day ie.. your sweet 16 years lookup music use to listen to or even the billboard charts at that time or just think about a time in your life and chances are you can remember a song that gives you a certain feeling every time you hear it or see it video or movie ( even a play might have more of an effect). Example from my life: Fine young cannibals - I've been thinking about you Chicago - songs and the Karate Kid Bobby Brown- Roni Mint condition - pretty Brown eyes Across the bridge- church song Song by t-pain - everybody's hands goes up etc… The Cranberries - Linger Cindy Lauper - True Colours Movies- if you are taken away by them and enter the world of the Characters it can affect you profoundly. Examples Lawless - three brothers fight through life during prohibition Shawshank - Andy Duphrenes life of misfortune Sling Blade - Green Mile- (Michael Clark Duncan & Tom Hanks The passion of the Christ Prince of Egypt The Ten Commandments - Charlton Heston The Sound of Music Kuch Kuch Hota Hai S Khan (SRK) Kal ho Naho - S Khan Foreigner - Jackie Chan Django unchain - Jamie Foxx So consider when you watch and listen The following scripture obviously is not talking about music and movies but if you can grasp the concept of being free from fleshly emotions of doing certain things that are legalistic but unprofitable in the grand scheme of life. We can consider that tugging at our emotions by music lyrics beautiful voices, lavish lifestyle horrible occurrences, rapturing emotions brought to us by unsaved ungodly and unwell people. It's a deep level of consideration that one has to go through to come to this conclusion. But if you know what I mean then you know it is just that simple. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/youreprobablyright/message

Danielle kicks off by asking Rebecca what “collective identity” means to her. As a Black American woman she has a sense of herself as a part of a community that is larger than herself. It is a community she can rely on and one that she feels a strong sense of responsibility to the collective as a whole and the people in it. Danielle wonders what collective identity mean for the Mexican Americans community, feeling that Latinx or Latin Community is too big. “It's more specific to country and culture and ethnicity…” in the way our identity id developed and in the way we think about Advent.Rebecca is mindful as Danielle is speaking around the American or US way of thinking around race and ethnicity. There's a tendency to put things into boxes, she says the census is a perfect example: there's no place for you to identify as “Mexican” or “Cuban” or “Puerto Rican”, you have to pick Hispanic. She said she refers to herself as a Black American Woman and for African American, there is the loss from the transatlantic slave trade of the ability to name a particular country or tribe. She's aware of the differences in their stories and each of their ability to name who they belong to, who's their tribes. Rebecca says “Black American Woman” when she identifies herself because she has been to the continent of Africa more than once. She's knows that her roots are in African but she is aware that there is something distinctly American about her orientation to the world. She remembers visiting Nigeria and when they began to de-board the plane, her blue-covered American Passport gave her preference to exit the plane first. “It might be the first time in my life I've ever had a sense of privilege.” She had the distinct and keen awareness that this was because she was American. In the US she doesn't feel privileged as a Black person living here. And while she cognitively knows her roots and ancestry are in Africa, she is very aware of the second part of the hyphen (in African-American.)Danielle mentioned an article that Rebecca sent her saying, “Collective identity refers to the shared definition of a group that derives from its members common interests, experiences and solidities. It is the social movements answer to who we are locating the movement within the field of political actors.” Danielle remarks it is both very specific as well as nuanced. For Rebecca, she remembers turning on the news to see that at the death of Philando Castile, right on the heels of Alton Sterling, that there was a shooting of police officers in Dallas by a Black male. She remembers feeling those three events like it was her own family. Even though she never met Philando Castile or Alton Sterling; she's wasn't in Dallas… Her sense of belonging in and to this community, seeing something happen to any member of the community, whether they act or are acted upon, she feels the sense of “this affects me” and needing to understand her reaction and responsibility. How do I pass what I know of this to my two teenage children?Rebecca came of age when Affirmative Action was in it's heyday, and when the country elected the first African American to the Oval office. There is almost a sense of perhaps we have already reached these moments of overcoming, that perhaps the racial violence as she has known through the Civil Rights Movement is over. But then Treyvon Martin. Then Sandra Brown. Then Michael Brown. And a long list of names. So when it came to Philandro Castile and Alton Sterling, she knew she needed to talk to her kids, because she is raising them in a time when racial violence against them is a very real thing. At that time of Philandro, her son was still a kid (8 years old) and she thought “I have more time, he's just a little kid.” Except Tamir Rice was her son's age when he lost his life in park as a police officer mistook his nerf gun for a real gun. Rebecca had a sense was that perhaps she didn't have to talk to her daughter because “girls are more safe then black men” except Sandra Bland was a Black Woman (and also a member of her same sorority Sigma Gamma Ro, a historically Black). The sense on the morning of Philandro was that “I am out of time and I need to educate my kids about the world that they grew up in. It's looking like Barak Obama is more of an anomaly and a Trevon Martin is more of a common occurrence in their world. That is where collective identity hit both as a trauma and a need for a person, who belongs to a community that is victimized in that trauma, to actually protect my kids and arm them with a sense of awareness so they can protect themselves.” Rebecca says this is a part of collective identity development: How do we make meaning out of the traumas we see? And how do we pass and interpret that meaning to the next generation?To make meaning of the Trauma for Danielle, from her cultural perspective, when Adam Toledo was murdered in the Chicago area, with the exception of the massacre outside of a Walmart in El Paso, it was the first experience she had where she knew someone's name. Usually we don't know their names, thinking of the lynchings along the border, usually there are no names unless you're in the thick of it. Collective identity and orientation around trauma from her perspective has been around how do we bury it? How do we hide it? How do we make sure the story is not re-told because at some level they cannot bear that it happened in the first place.Having this conversation illustrates the difference in their collective identity experience and orientation to trauma, offering a broader context to understand what's happening internally for individuals as well as the White Supremacy in the world. Culturally we respond differently to trauma, Rebecca says. And each culture calls its members to respond. In the African American community there is an active campaign called “Say her Name” (or Say Their Names) and it is a call for the community to tell the stories over and over again so the name doesn't disappear. This comes from a want and a need to control their own narrative for fear that the Establishment will tell a false/untrue narrative. This causes her to ask both, what is the larger establishment asking us to understand the narrative to mean? And what is our cultural orientation asking us to do about the narrative?Rebecca returns to Danielle's comment about “the names you don't know” referring to the hundreds of kids at the US-Mexico border who are separated from the parents and are lost in the foster care system in the US; we don't know their names or where they are or even the names of the relatives they travelled with to the US … We cannot reconnect them with their family. She wonders, how will we metabolize this in the generations to come, the generation of kids that were lost in that space?Danielle said what she wanted Rebecca to say to her is that collective identity doesn't involved trauma and there is a pure form of it, but what she is hearing from her is that collective identity is nuanced and connected. There are parts of collective identity and trauma that are together and painful, and yet we've created ways to deal with it. At the same time, it's important to know how trauma has shaped collective identities. Rebecca said there probably is a pure form of collective identity that isn't touched by trauma but what's hard to orient identity around is dealing with a hyphenated existence: “African-American.” For her that means a people who exist only out of the trauma of slavery, but for that there would be no orientation African-American. Rebecca said it's hard to imagine a collective identity that isn't marked by trauma and she admits that is coming out of her story. Its just hard to imagine an identity that isn't borne out of trauma. It's the same for Danielle and yet she wants something different. Longing for something different feels especially connected to Advent. For Mexican-American community there's a sense of “we were here first;” indigenous communities colonized by Europeans and then recolonized/colonized again by the so-called “United States Americans.” How do you find your identity in that? It paralyzing: that's where we come from but where do we go from here?Talking about the good or generous parts of collective identity, Rebecca turns to “what's on the table at Christmas dinner?” For her it is a reflection of my identity as African-American: macaroni and cheese, collard greens, candied yams. These recipes are connected to a long line of Black women who learned to make something fantastic out of nothing. When she makes these dishes, it is a shout out to these women (Mama Bland in West Virginia!). The table is a reflection of cultural identity and pays homage as a celebration, but it comes with a hint of trauma. For Danielle, she didn't know about Posadas growing up because her family had become Evangelical and viewed Catholic as not Christian. There is a Catholic Tradition that is starting actually right now on these dates where you go to someone's house and there is a call and response of singing asking if there is any room in the inn, the house that you're visiting. There's usually candles and a gathering of people singing at a house and once the singing is done you go in the house and eat or have a traditional drink. You do this over a period of nights, going to different houses on different nights and it's a retelling of the story of Mary and Joseph were trying to look for space. Danielle thinks when you put this tradition up against what's happening with the immigrants at the border or displaced Mexican Americans, it feels so relevant; it's this migrant pattern of looking for space; “where is there space for us? Where can we come eat?” When she started participating in this tradition a few years ago it was like a deep breath. For Rebecca, that moment came 5-6 years ago when she was listening to a sermon by a Black preacher who re-told the story of Jesus from the perspective of a Man-of-Color who was wrongly accused, wrongly convicted and then wrongly executed. For the first time she understood her orientation as a Christian in a different sense. She recalls in Scripture it says we have a God that understands us; that we have a high priest that has been where we are, so when we go before Him, we can go with confidence. To understand that Jesus was the first Man-of-Color who was wrongly accused, wrongly convicted and then wrongly executed… makes the following Tamir Rices, Michael Browns, Treyvon Martins take on an entirely different orientation for her. There's a sense that she follows a God that understands the pain of that story, the depth of what it costs and this has opened up Advent for her in a new way. Danielle said she had not thought of it in that way, but the idea that our cultures can add a search for belonging and an identity that Jesus came into the world and was set up from birth to have to endure this injustice. This changes the story of his birth. It changes the impact. Rebecca agrees.Danielle continues, it changes the legacy that would have left with Mary and Joseph… Joseph was the adopted dad. “Yeah, the baby daddy.” Rebecca adds. The other thing that comes to her mind in a conversion story of an East Indian man, who talked about what drew him to Jesus was the story of the nativity. As a Black American with a Baptist background, the nativity is about Mary, Joseph and Jesus. But this man the thing that drew him to the Gospel was the three kings of the Orient who traveled far. In that reference what he saw is the traditions of his people and their deep reverence and understanding of the stars and the celestial bodies that comes out of the religions that are native to his people. In that one small piece of the story that often gets over looked in an American Orientation, this man saw an invitation to his entire people to go on the search for the child. And when they reached him, they would be welcomed.  Rebecca has never forgotten that story and how amazed she is that someone from an Eastern country saw themselves in the story, a piece that she may skip over. Danielle asks, what does this tells us about the importance of collective identity in engaging not only our own stories but also the advent story and how we actually do need to hear from one another?Rebecca is struck by Revelation 7:9 where it says that every tribe and every tongue will be present at the thrown of grace. What is noted in this passage is ethnic identity and collective identity – of tribes and people groups. We noted not by gender or age not even by faith but by our collective identity based on ethnicity. Jesus shows Himself in each people group that is unique. Somehow my picture of God is incomplete if every tribe and every tongue is not present, and the story of how God shows himself in that culture is not told, I'm missing something of the God I serve. What Rebecca learned from Danielle today from her orientation as a Mexican woman is the story of looking for a place to belong, as one as an invitation to an immigrant. I learned something new about Jesus today and that makes my picture of God a little more fuller. This is my sense of what we need.Danielle says this is the beauty of being in community. It is invitational to know where you come from and it's an invitation to know Jesus, your faith, and to know your own face more. It's not the circle of people facing out with swords saying you can't come in.Rebecca says, yes an invitation to know my own face AND an invitation to know your face better. It's also an invitation to know the hands, voice and face of God in a more complete sense because of the way He shows himself in different cultures.

The Saint Lucia Fire and Emergency Services was on Friday, October 22, 2021 graced with an official visit by Honourable Dr. Virginia Albert- Poyotte, the Minister for Home Affairs. The minister led a delegation which included the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs Mrs. Elizabeth Bailey, Deputy Permanent Secretary Mr. Ricky Quinlan and Chief Fire Officer Mr. Joseph Joseph.

*想得到《GUCCI：豪門謀殺案》書籍嗎？趕快寄信到 yourfinnotes@gmail.com 回答問題，期限只到1月28日止！* 小額贊助老周，讓我們一起聆聽更多訪談、分享更多商業知識！ https://pay.firstory.me/user/moneytalk 聽完了嗎？快留言給老周，你對這一集的想法： https://open.firstory.me/story/cktbneveldpo708225tp5gp7m?m=comment表現平平的人，會拿到4個月薪資遣散費。決策不必上級層層核准。公告財報前先讓員工知道數字。這些做法，任誰聽了肯定都要大喊「豪洨！」，但這可是Netflix創辦人親口說明的公司文化。 上市19年，投資報酬率600倍（是倍，不是％），幾乎是世界串流王者，NETFLIX到底為何這麼成功？我懷抱著疑問讀完了「零規則」，有些收穫，但也覺得自己一人沒辦法完整表達感想，所以找來同樣大力推崇這本書的布爾喬亞公關顧問創辦人鄧耀中Joseph，透過我和Joseph對談，試著從更有高度的視野，提供大家如何把一家公司玩得出神入化！ 我們準備了3本「零規則」，要送給本集的聽眾朋友。請在APPLE PODCAST留言，告訴老周：1）你在NETFLIX看過最棒的節目是什麼？2）你認為NETFLIX能維持顛峰多久？回答完整問題，就有機會得到這本書～ 非常謝謝你讀到這裡。能在眾多影像和聲音節目中成為你的選擇，我老周何其有幸。想聽到更多精彩訪談、得到更即時商業知識嗎？歡迎你到apple podcast給本節目按五顆星，並且留下你想鼓勵或告訴我們的話，或者來信給我們，或是在INSTAGRAM搜尋"ourmoneytalk"然後私訊給我，等你的訊息！ --- Instagram: ourmoneytalk 粉絲團：bit.ly/2Y6Agql 合作聯繫：yourfinnotes@gmail.com #105 Powered by Firstory Hosting

Regardons les derniers versets du Livre de la Genèse, chapitre 50, versets 15 à 26. Les fils de Jacob vont craindre la réaction de leur frère Joseph suite au décès du dernier Patriarche. Joseph allait-il se venger ? Dans cet épisode, nous allons regarder : - Après la mort de leur père, les frères de Joseph craignent l'attitude de Joseph - Joseph pardonne la faute de ses frères - Joseph, une durée de vie inférieure à celle des autres membres de sa famille - Dieu accomplit sa promesse de donner une terre à Israël - Pourquoi Joseph n'est pas considéré comme un patriarche - Joseph est provisoirement enterré en Egypte, avant de retrouver ensuite la terre de Canaan Liens mentionnés dans cet épisode : Episode 10 – Noé et le déluge (Genèse 6) https://etudierlabible.fr/episode/noe-et-le-deluge-arche-bible-genese/ Episode 12 – La fin du déluge et la sortie de l'arche (Genèse 8) https://etudierlabible.fr/episode/fin-du-deluge-sortie-arche-de-noe-colombe/ Episode 63 – Jacob et sa famille en Égypte (Genèse 46) https://etudierlabible.fr/episode/jacob-israel-et-famille-en-egypte-bible-genese-46/ Vous trouverez une synthèse de ce podcast en version texte sur https://etudierlabible.fr/episode/mort-joseph-en-egypte-bible-genese-50/ Si vous appréciez ce Podcast, n'hésitez pas à mettre une note ou un commentaire sur Apple Podcasts, et à le partager sur les réseaux sociaux avec le hashtag #EtudierLaBible !

The faith of Joseph- Joseph had plenty of excuses he could have used to turn his back on God. He experienced death and dysfunction in his family from a young age. God seemed to be silent through it all, but Joseph's faith never wavered, and God was with him all the way until his final breath.

The following remarks were given at the Joseph Smith Restoration Conference 2021 in Meridian, Idaho on June 26th, 2021. The post Joseph, Joseph, Joseph appeared first on Restoration Archives Blog.

Its Thursday Team and we are off and running, with pasta that can only go in High end Tupperware according to Jack, a caller who has a bucket list wish for his birthday to to throw a TV out a 10th floor window and ride a mechanical bull (not at the same time possibly) and then there is Joseph Joseph and a second guy called Dave! What?You' will need to listen to find out what's going on there! Enjoy Today, and keep smiling! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

His name is known by very few, and only in the most illustrious circles, seen only in the highest of high end corner store milk bars and only called on for the most prestigious occasions.When your pasta can go no where else, you call on Joseph Joseph and hope you can get the lid on !Enjoy the mini today everyone....See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Its Thursday Team and we are off and running, with pasta that can only go in High end Tupperware according to Jack, a caller who has a bucket list wish for his birthday to to throw a TV out a 10th floor window and ride a mechanical bull (not at the same time possibly) and then there is Joseph Joseph and a second guy called Dave! What? You' will need to listen to find out what's going on there! Enjoy Today, and keep smiling!

His name is known by very few, and only in the most illustrious circles, seen only in the highest of high end corner store milk bars and only called on for the most prestigious occasions. When your pasta can go no where else, you call on Joseph Joseph and hope you can get the lid on ! Enjoy the mini today everyone....

In this weeks episode, Dermot and Joe reflect on St Joseph's third angelic encounter in a dream. They begin with a reading from Matthew's Gospel 2:19-21 and consider how as men we can be protectors and courageous in our relationships with family and others.The Return from EgyptBut when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead.”  And he rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. let's continue to reflect on the life of St Joseph. We Recommend Fr Don Calloways Book Consecration to St Joseph, an excellent read and brings you closer to Christ.

In this video I Iook at the the symbolism and meaning of Jesus being laid in a manger as well why there is a Joseph (Jesus' adopted father) at the beginning and and a Joseph (Joseph of Arimathea) a the end of the (some) of the Gospels. Support the Channel: https://www.patreon.com/thebibleisart Website: https://www.thebibleisart.com Email: thisdivineart@gmail.com Twitter: @johnbhiggins | Best Books on How to Learn to Read the Bible as Literary Art | Reading Biblical Narrative: An Introductory Guide (https://amzn.to/30LzaRa) Narrative Art in the Bible (https://amzn.to/30RVGIb) The Art of Biblical Narrative (https://amzn.to/3aDrIfk) Old Testament Narrative: A Guide to Interpretation (https://amzn.to/38rcE2C) The Poetics of Biblical Narrative (https://amzn.to/2Gh4cqE)