Although just a servant in Potiphar’s house, Joseph became very successful. It was no secret that the Lord was the reason for Joseph’s success. Even Potiphar knew this, which led him to entrust everything he had to Joseph’s charge. But one day that all changed. Potiphar’s wife, upset she could not attain Joseph to satisfy her sexual desires, lied to the men of her household, and then to her own husband, accusing Joseph of trying to rape her (Gen. 39:1-18). So Potiphar put Joseph in prison. But the same Lord who was present with and prospered Joseph in Potiphar’s house was present with and prospered him in prison (Gen. 40:1-22).

When you’re in distressing circumstances, it’s hard to rest in God’s providence. Just ask the young married couple who recently buried their first child, or the mother who just learned her son has leukemia. Speak with the couple who is facing great financial loss after years of smart planning and saving. Talk to the woman who has just been served with divorce papers after finding out her husband is in love with another woman. Ask the man who is caring for his aging parents, watching them decline rapidly after serving God faithfully for a lifetime. Speak with the college student whose accident has impacted his or her life forever. Or talk to the young adult who is grieving over a broken engagement. In the midst of trials it is hard to remember that God is providentially bringing His purposes to pass through the very circumstances we are tempted to despise. But the story of Joseph’s life in Genesis 37 and 39-41 reminds us that we can trust God whether we’re in the pits or palaces of life.
From Pit to Potiphar
Joseph was the favored son of Jacob, so it’s no surprise that his brothers hated him. Their anger only intensified when Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father, and told his brothers about his dreams that revealed he would rule over them. One day, while on his way to check on his brothers for his father, Joseph’s brothers spotted him from afar and made a plan to kill him. But Reuben came up with a different plan to spare Joseph’s life. They would strip him and throw him into an empty pit with no food and no water.
While Reuben was away, likely tending the flocks, the other brothers saw a caravan of Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt, and Judah suggested they sell their brother. So they lifted Joseph out of the pit and sold him for a slave’s price. When Reuben returned he was greatly distressed (Gen. 37:30). Sadly, the brothers concealed their dirty deed with the blood of an animal. They dipped Joseph’s robe in the blood and showed it to their father, who concluded a fierce animal had devoured Joseph and deeply grieved the loss of his son. In the meantime, Joseph was sold in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officers. 
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Polyamory is a particularly apt illustration of how the sexual revolution encourages us to try to have our cake and eat it too—to have not just pleasure, but also the joys of love, while keeping our options open and never really giving all of ourselves to anyone. This is also why it is so destructive.

For fearmongering hicks, conservative Christians are remarkably prescient. Our latest prophetic triumph is seen in another New York Times puff piece pushing legal recognition for polygamy. Correction—another New York Times puff piece pushing legal recognition for polyamory. The difference is that while polygamy traditionally consisted of a man having more than one wife, polyamory consists of a group of men and/or women all having each other in various permutations.
Once again, we have gone from “you’re a bigot for suggesting that this will ever happen” to “you’re a bigot for not supporting this.” The subject of the Times piece is Somerville, a city in Massachusetts that has spent the past few years creating new legal rights for polyamorous partner groups.
As the Times notes, “Interest in nonmonogamy seems to be on the rise across the country.” Once again, the conservative Christian alarmists were right. And they were right for precisely the reasons they gave at the time. The poly movement’s champions see their cause as a natural extension of the LGBT movement, which has been all-conquering in Massachusetts.
Thus, the NYT describes how “Somerville is alive with events like Indecent, a fetish- and kink-positive party, and Boudoir, a queer underground dance party. There are polyamorous speed-dating evenings, drag shows at the venue Crystal Ballroom and a gender-neutral CrossFit gym.” If that is not clear enough, the Times reports, “There is a significant crossover between those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and pansexual and those who practice nonmonogamy, according to multiple studies.”
Oh.
Apparently, the math is more complicated than those equal-sign bumper stickers made it seem. On the one hand, there is marriage as one man and one woman, which unites the two halves of the human race and provides a stable basis for begetting and raising the next generations. On the other hand, there are relational webs such that of one “Mr. Malone, who … currently has a nesting partner, a long-term partner, two long-distance partners and a kink-based relationship with another person.” I guess that love is love is love is a kink-based relationship.
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A quick search of the PPP databases suggests that hundreds of local PCA churches received relief funds as well. One large PCA church with an associated school was approved for almost $3.2 million. Others, such as Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, AL, never applied for funds.

The agencies, institutions, and committees of the Presbyterian Church in America were approved for at least $13.5 million in relief from the U.S. Small Business Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in 2020. All the loans appear to have been forgiven according to publicly-available information.
A few mentions of the loans were made in last year’s General Assembly minutes and reports, but a complete picture is not yet available. Also unknown is how many (if any) of the loans were repaid or returned in part or in full.
According to the U.S Department of the Treasury website:
The Paycheck Protection Program established by the CARES Act, is implemented by the Small Business Administration with support from the Department of the Treasury.  This program provides small businesses with funds to pay up to 8 weeks of payroll costs including benefits. Funds can also be used to pay interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities.
The ProPublica website, one of many tracking the PPP loans, reported that 11.5 million loans were approved and $714 billion out of $793 billion approved were forgiven.
A quick search of the PPP databases suggests that hundreds of local PCA churches received relief funds as well. One large PCA church with an associated school was approved for almost $3.2 million. Others, such as Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, AL, never applied for funds, and Briarwood pastor Dr. Harry Reeder wrote forcefully against taking the Federal funds in April of 2020.
Discussion of the ethics, advisability, and wisdom of churches or church institutions, agencies, or committees receiving Federal funds of this type has been scant. Decisions to apply were taken quickly, lest the funds run out. There is anecdotal evidence of churches receiving funds and quickly returning them for reasons of conscience or as it became obvious that funds would not be necessary for the continued operation of churches during Covid.
Doubtless, some churches suffered greatly in 2020 and 2021, but there are many stories of churches whose giving stayed constant or increased in the same period. The non-effect of Covid on finances was also evident in the case of the PCA Administrative Committee, according to a report included in this year’s General Assembly Commissioners’ Handbook. And the PPP funds were part of the reason for an increase in “income.” After noting strong contributions, the report said:
The higher Earned Income was, of course, driven by the largest General Assembly in our brief history. All of this was enhanced by the “Below the Line” income (the earnings from investments and the PPP Grant) of $367,374, enabling Total Net Income for the year to reach $418,918.
The Stated Clerk’s report to this year’s General Assembly suggests the PCA was more generally blessed:
Remarkably, despite some early pandemic shudders, (local) church giving has been strong overall. Total PCA disbursements were up $25 million, approaching $1 billion. Total contributions were down $43 million last year due to some unusually large gifts in 2020 but are still trending up significantly for the 5-year period. Despite the downturn in church attendance due to Covid, giving in most of our local churches has stayed strong. Those always faithful have seen the necessity of their generosity in a tenuous time, and have continued faithful, particularly to local church efforts. Per capita giving has actually risen during the Covid years.
The question may seem like Monday-morning quarterbacking, but it must be asked: Did most PCA churches, agencies, committees, and institutions who took the PPP funds even need them? As many have noted, those public funds were not “free money.” Public funds are more properly thought of as the taxes our neighbors have paid if not the public debt our grandchildren will inherit.
The PCA’s 49th General Assembly will meet next week in Birmingham (June 20-24, 2022), and though the exact disposition of PPP funds received is unclear, there are a host of committees of commissioners who will examine minutes of the denomination’s agencies, committees, and institutions and question their officials and leaders. Faithfully fulfilling this duty of oversight may help prepare the denomination for the next crisis.
Here are the amounts of the PPP funds approved and “forgiven” by the Federal government for PCA entities:

Two loans of $270,684 and $116,289 for the “Presbyterian Church in America” and “Presbyterian Church in America, Inc.” in Lawrenceville, GA, assumedly for the  Administrative Committee (and possibly another committee) totaling $386,953
Committee on Discipleship Ministries – $108,063
Reformed University Fellowship – $5,325,019
Mission to North America – $877,000
Mission to the World – $1,918,630
PCA Retirement and Benefits, Inc. – $351,601
Covenant College, Inc, – $3,240,522
Covenant Theological Seminary – $1,102,300
Ridge Haven (camp and conference center) – $196,700
Denominational total: $13,506,788

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