Sermon Video: Joseph: Reunited with his father Jacob - Genesis 45:25-47:12

 

In one of the most heartwarming scenes in all of scripture, Joseph and his father Jacob finally are reunited after a more than twenty year sundering.  While this plays out, the narrative of Genesis is careful to continue to emphasize the providential care of God for his covenant people as it notes key truths: (1) They have God's blessing to go to Egypt and in good time God will bring them back out again, (2) ALL of Jacob's family made the journey, none were left behind, and (3) when they arrived they were well situated with a chance to live in abundance and peace.

Catholic Bishops and the President: What everyone is missing in the controversial photo

 

Catholic Bishops pray for President Trump WITH Paula White

This past week 12 Catholic Bishops met, so they thought, privately with President Trump to discuss issues of relevance to the Catholic Church.  That this was scheduled to happen days before a major election could have been a warning sign that all was not right, but several of the bishops have since spoken-up to say that they didn't give permission to have the photo of them praying for the President published, as indeed it was.  {Bishops lament White House meeting that produced photo with Trump, say session was "manipulated" and "exploited" - cbsnews.com}

The public apology by Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Cob {A Public Apology - Archbishop Jeffrey Grob Oct 25, 2026} has led to potentially healthy conversations about the mixing of religion and politics, a topic that I have often spoken and written about given its massive historical track record of harming the reputation of the Church and witness of the Gospel.  I could reiterate those points here, but others are doing so and I've done so before.

What caught my eye was not the apology, nor the news articles discussing whether or not it was right or fair to make the meeting public for the sake of politics, but the photo itself.  Take a close look at the photo above, it reveals something far more significant than religious leaders potentially compromising themselves with a politician: Religious leaders compromising themselves with a known heretic.  This isn't a case of a Baptist calling a Methodist a heretic, or even a Protestant calling a Catholic a heretic.  No, what we are talking about here is a full-blown, clear and repeated, denial of the Gospel by replacing it with the monstrous Prosperity Gospel in ways that exploit the poor and vulnerable and great enrich the "faith leader" in question.  The terms heretic, false teacher, and charlatan are well earned and entirely deserved here.

The woman standing over President Trump's left shoulder with her hand upon him while the Bishop prays is Paul White.  For those who don't know who Paul White is, she's been the subject of numerous non-flattering posts previously: Sermon Video: Don't Mess with God - Jude 5-11 , Paula White: Charlatan, Heretic, and White House employee - terrifying in any administration , Sermon Video: God's Word, not our word - 1 Corinthians 14:36-40 , Paula White:The Prosperity Gospel, Celebrity, and Politics - A trifecta of Gospel compromise.  Don't take my word for it, you don't need to, just watch clips of Paula White speaking, find any objective article about her beliefs and practices.

The point is very simple: IF the bishops thought it was in the best interest of the Church to meet with and pray over the President, AND if the bishops thought it was in the best interest of the Catholic Church to meet with and pray over the President, AND if the bishops thought it was in their own best interest furthering their discipleship and developing their character to meet with and pray over the President, they still should have refused, absolutely refused to pray alongside with Paul White.  It should have been a deal-breaker, a bridge way too far.

2 Peter 2:1-3 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Galatians 1:8-10 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! 10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people?

Some will decide, with good principled reasons, that the bishops should not have attended this meeting based upon the harm it could cause to the Church, the Catholic Church, or their own discipleship.  Some will decide, with good principled reasons, that the potential benefits outweigh the risks.  Let us have that conversation with wisdom and civility and with our eyes open.

What nobody who professes the true historic, catholic, and apostolic faith of Jesus' followers can say without self-compromise and falsehood, is that Paul White is a representative of the Gospel.  To be photographed alongside Paula White is to lend your own legitimacy to her.  To lend your legitimacy to Paul White is to lend it to the Prosperity Gospel.  To lend it to the Prosperity Gospel is to damage the true Gospel that saves the Lost.

These Catholic Bishops are far from alone in this folly.  Prominent Evangelical leaders have also embraced this charlatan and heretic in order to gain access to political power.  

Paula White (in white) with "faith leaders" 2/7/25

Paula White next to Pastor Jeffress (1st Baptist of Dallas)

Paula White (in red) praying alongside other "faith leaders" 

If you compromise the Gospel for the sake of political power, what good are you?  If an unapologetic charlatan teachings a false Gospel isn't too much for you, what will be?

The most damning controversy in the photo is the presence of Paula White.

Immoral political ads are a sin - This shouldn't be unclear to you.

This week saw an example well beyond even the sadly normal low bar of political ads that ought to remind us that such speech is NOT exempt from the judgment of God respecting sin.

Ramaswamy takes responsibility for ad with Amy Acton’s mother and will spend millions to promote it

{Here is the opinion of the National Review, a conservative site, about the evidence that the ad contained known lies: Amy Acton’s Mom Claims Candidate Lied About Childhood in Attack Ad — Despite Extensive Record of Abuse Update: Since the article was published, the Ramaswamy campaign admitted to making the ad}

 That ad was in Ohio where the Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy admitted to having created an ad featuring the estranged mother of his opponent.  That fact alone would constitute normal politics, estranged family members have been used before, but this one is both spectacularly gross and exceedingly vile: Why was Amy Acton (his opponent) estranged from her mother since the 1970's?  The answer is simple, her mother remained married to the man charged with repeatedly raping her as a minor child (he fled justice and was never tried) until the day he died.  The state of Ohio removed both Amy and her brother from their mother's care after her stepfather was arrested.  If we cannot, as people who claim to follow Jesus Christ, agree that child sexual abuse is out-of-bounds even in political contests, God help us.

This is perhaps the worst political attack ad in this cycle, if not several cycles, but it is far from an isolated example.  This year's contests have also been flooded with AI generated fake videos featuring opponents saying and doing things that they most certainly did not in reality.  These ads are lies, period.  AI generated lies still count as lies.  They will fool some people into thinking that they are true in spite of the uncanny video and audio, but effectiveness or lack thereof is not the point, is it?  The ads are lies.  Doesn't that matter to us as Christians?  Shouldn't we be LESS likely to vote for the candidate who would use such ads in order to try to gain power?  Shouldn't these ads have the opposite of their intended effect upon us, upon people who a trying to walk by the Fruit of the Spirit?

The harsh reality is that many self-professed followers of Jesus are willing to suspend the ethics they themselves seek to live by when it comes to politics.  I would not do such a thing, the thinking goes, but it is ok for the team I root for to do it because winning matters too much.  To put it bluntly, this is a lie from Satan.  There are no exceptions to the conduct that is required of those who would claim to be disciples of Jesus, no exceptions for the pursuit of money, no exceptions to satisfy lust, and no exceptions to gain power in this world.  

Our witness, our ability to share the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is harmed each and every time we make a deal with the devil for the sake of this world.  Shame on us who go along with the flow, shame on us who make excuses, and even more shame on us who cheer this sin on because it benefits "us" and hurts "them".  Chose this day whom you will serve.

Galatians 5:19-25 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Sermon Video: Joseph: A tearful reunion with his brothers - Genesis 45:1-24

As Joseph's story reaches its climax, we have an emotion-filled Joseph startling (and scaring) his brothers by revealing his true identity to them.  The brothers expect vengeance for what they did to him twenty plus years ago, but instead Joseph offers them a warm embrace.  How? Why?

Joseph came to terms with his enslavement in imprisonment years ago after he realized that the hand of God had been guiding his steps from the day his brothers conspired against him until this very day.  His brothers made a selfish evil choice, but God worked to put Joseph in a place of great responsibility in spirt of it.  With hindsight Joseph could see God's providential care over his life, so he had let go of whatever anger toward his brothers he once knew.

“The Missing Piece in Your Faith Journey” by Damian Eisner, Torah Club Director at Malchut Conference 2026: A Rebuttal by Pastor Powell

In this extraordinary speech at the 2026 Malchut Conference, First Fruits of Zion's Torah Club Director, Damian Eisner, says the quiet part out loud: (1) FFOZ expects you to lose friends, family, and your church when you embrace the path they are selling.  It isn't a bug, it is by design, it isn't a warning sign at all, but a necessary sacrifice to be celebrated. (2) Neither Christianity, Judaism, nor Messianic Judaism has what is "missing," only FFOZ has the answers.  

This speech is deeply cultic, embracing the tactics they use to tell the "chosen few" that it is ok that their commitment to the organization has cost them so much, that nobody else has the answers, and that if you keep trusting the wise leaders of the group it'll all be ok in the end.