Life's Inanities and Ironies

  Scripture Reading: Genesis 40:1–23; Genesis 41:1–14 Key Verse: “Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.” — Genesis 40:23 (KJV)  The Silence of Two Full Years Few things in this fallen world sting quite like being forgotten. Deep beneath the royal courts of Egypt, in the damp chill of Pharaoh’s state prison, sat young Joseph. He was a man with every earthly reason to be bitter: betrayed by his own flesh and blood, sold as a chattel slave into a foreign land, and falsely accused of a heinous crime he refused to commit out of reverence for God ( “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Genesis 39:9). Yet even in chains, God’s favor rested upon Joseph. When Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer—a high official cast into prison under suspicion of treason—woke troubled by a vivid nocturnal vision, it was Joseph who unraveled the dream under divine inspiration. The message was glorious news for the cupbearer: in three days, Pharaoh would li...

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ. As we approach Memorial Day weekend, I want to speak to you not about the holiday as it is often observed today—with backyard barbecues, retail sales, and the beginning of summer—but as it was kept in the United States some sixty years ago. In the mid-1960s, Memorial Day (still widely called Decoration Day by many) fell solemnly on May 30 every year. Families, churches, and entire communities paused. They visited cemeteries, decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers, flags, and wreaths, attended memorial services, and offered prayers for permanent peace. Businesses in many towns closed. Parades honored the dead with dignity rather than mere spectacle. It was a day of remembrance, gratitude, and sober reflection on sacrifice. Why should conservative Christians today recover and observe this traditional spirit? Because Scripture calls us to remember, to honor sacrifice, and to give thanks to God for the freedoms secured by tho...