JOE: Welcome to FJM TV, I'm Joe Jordan. I'm here today
with Kris Jordan, my wife. Gina Thompson.
Excited to be here with you, to be able to share from
God's word and from some of the truths from God's
word, and it is for you today. We want to just be a
blessing, share some hope, share some encouragement with you, and
just share a little bit more of the love of God with you. But
you know this is also an exciting year for us. It's our
80th year in ministry from 1944 to 2024. 44 to 24 is how we call
it, and it's going to be an amazing year, but you know maybe
you're viewing for the first time or you've only seen it a
time or two and you're like, what is Fred Jordan Missions?
What is FJM TV? Well, no one better to tell you than Gina.
How can they get involved? How can they know more? And how can
they see more of Fred Jordan Missions?
GINA: Well, first of all, 80 years, this is a ministry
that you can give financially to and know that it's
upstanding, that every, you're going to know where
every penny goes to. The faithfulness of Fred Jordan
mission is just beyond, and that's just a beautiful
testimony in of itself. Not in spite of all the lives
that have been touched and changed, but just
the faithfulness to God, faithfulness to those that are
hurting on Skid Row and that are in need. And so the need is
great. So just go to fjm.org and see how you can get involved. We
need your finances, we need your prayers. We need you to come and
volunteer at our events. We've got some wonderful events coming
up this year, and just because maybe it's at Christmas or
Thanksgiving doesn't mean we're not starting to plan right now.
So the finances are very, very needed at this time of year. And
also our doors are open 24/7 there at Fred Jordan Mission.
We're doing you know lunches and dinners and we're giving out
foods and snack during the day and just blankets right now and
things to keep them warm along with the love of Jesus so,
just go to fjm.org, see how you can get involved,
how you can help. We greatly appreciate it.
JOE: What about social? There's a lot of stuff on social media.
GINA: Yes, we love our social media and it's just a great
community. Get over there. You get encouraged and
see what's going on, how you can get involved. And
then also texts from Joe. What did they text the bible?
JOE: Yeah there's a number. Yeah, Bible 626-314-7703.
GINA: That's Right.
JOE: What is it though?
GINA: And you get a text from Joe, a scripture and just
a word of encouragement. And I love it because it
is short, sweet, and powerful, and it's right there
on your phone. Whatever you're doing during the day,
if you need a little word of encouragement,
you can go right to that. The scripture comes up
and then just how you can apply it. So, it's great.
JOE: Yeah, absolutely.
GINA: Go check it out.
JOE: I even love it because you know I wake up and
about seven, eight o'clock every morning, Monday through
Friday, there's a text from myself to me and it's great.
Like one day, it was John 3:16. Hey, remember this,
Joe, for God so loved the world, that means
you, that he gave his one and only son, that whoever
believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. It's
just, it's a promise that lets me know that God in heaven loves
me, that Jesus died for me, that I put my faith and trust in him.
So I'm not going to perish and go to hell, but I have promised
eternal life into heaven. I have the eternal hope that no matter
what happens on this crazy earth to me, my family, that I'm going
to be with Jesus. And that's just such a reassurance. And I
want you to know that too as our viewers, that God loves you and
he's there for you. So you can text that. You can get it every
day. You can go to FJ, @FJMissions on Facebook,
Instagram, or just go to fjm.org, like Gina said, we'd
love for you to be a part of Fred Jordan Missions. But also
we have a television program, FJM TV. It's been on since 1951.
Ladies, that's 73 years now. So for 73 years, every single
Sunday, this program starting with my dad, then my
mom, and now me, it's been coming into your home
and we are so blessed to be a part of that.
GINA: I remember I watched it when I was a young girl.
Every Sunday I'd be getting ready for church and I'd
be waiting there in the living room and there would
come Church In The Home.
JOE: Church In The Home, Fred Jordan. And it was an
hour program back then.
GINA: And all you kids would be sitting there.
JOE: Yep, yep. We were made to sit there and it was
great. We were made to watch it every Sunday
too with our parents. It was just part of being
a PK. If you don't know what that is, it's a pastor's
kid. But you know what? I'm so grateful being you know
people say, oh yeah, this, that, this, that. I was drugged to
church. What do you mean? They drug you and took you to church?
No, they drug us to church. But I'm so grateful because if they
didn't you know I wouldn't be here today. I don't know if I'd
know Jesus. I don't know if you would know Jesus.
KRIS: Clearly not.
JOE: Because my wife of almost 36 years came to know
Jesus because I was a little away from Jesus when
we met. But then through some challenges and everything
else in our relationship when we were just kids,
I shared the gospel with you, and then my dad came
and led you to Jesus and now we've been in full-time
ministry together for 36 years. But anyway, let's get back to it
because we want to encourage you from God's word today. And we're
talking about from evil to good. Now, Genesis has a story of
Joseph. I'm named after Joseph and it's so cool because his
life was kind of meant to go in a bad way for him, and it did go
bad for a while, but there was a great ending to it and God
always has the last word. That's what I love about life. This is
what Genesis says in 5:20. It says, you intended to harm me,
but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this
position so I could save the lives of many people. This is
the story of Joseph. And Joseph was the son of Jacob. Some say
the favorite child. But anyway, there was a lot of jealousy with
all of his brothers. So what did his brothers do back in the day?
They sold him into slavery. Can you imagine rotten, bigger
brothers? They sold Joseph into slavery. They were jealous of
him. There's you know a lot of family issues in a lot of our
family's lives. We all you know have something. But I'm
grateful. I was never sold into slavery. I mean, my brothers
probably thought about it once or twice.
GINA: I wasn't going to bring that up.
JOE: But you know and I probably deserved it. But
anyway, but what's great is that he was
sold into slavery, he was put in prison,
he was in Egypt. But while he was in prison, God used
him to interpret dreams that Pharaoh had. And Pharaoh was the
great leader of Egypt then. And what was amazing about the story
is what was meant for evil, what the devil meant for bad against
him in harm. God turned it around. He rose Joseph up to
second in command. That's like being the vice president you
know? If Pharaoh was the president today, that would be
the vice president. And what's amazing about it is, is that God
used Joseph as second in command to help save Egypt during a time
of famine. The story of Joseph shows us the sovereignty and the
grace of God for those who are faithful and followers of Jesus.
And even though Jesus was sold into slavery by his brothers, he
remained faithful and he trusted God to deliver him, and God did.
So my question, Gina, is this to you. Why does God allow us to go
through those kind of situations like Joseph in our lives?
GINA: I love everything about this story. I love
what it teaches us. I mean here, Joseph
is in prison. He's been sold you know into
slavery just like you said, but God still used him. And so
therefore it shows me that no matter where I'm at, what I'm
going through, whatever is so bad in my life, God can still
use me in that situation. And I love the fact that Joseph didn't
get all down about looking at a surrounding of here I've been
sold in slavery and everything's so horrible and exactly where
the enemy wants us to be when we're going through a horrible
situation, get our eyes on that situation off of Jesus and that
you know it's like, okay, it's over and done for me. No, Joseph
just kept his eyes on the Lord, and God did amazing
things and still used him right there in
prison. And so I love this story.
JOE: It's a great story. It's a great story.
GINA: And your question was, I'm sorry?
JOE: And even though I wasn't sold into slavery,
I identify with this because you know there's
so many times in my own life and in all
of our lives that you know we've been sold out by the enemy
to try to ruin us and destroy us and hurt us. But God has the
last say in it, and I love that. What about you? What do you
think about that? Why does God allow those difficult situations
and those things that happen to us?
KRIS: Well, I mean, again, like one of the things, I think
there's a misconception about Christianity. It's like,
oh, if you just become a Christian, your whole life
everything's going to be wonderful. It's
going to be roses and butterflies and
dandelions, you're never going to have
struggles. It's not true. I mean, we live in a fallen world
with fallen sinful people and bad things happen. But the good
part of that story is that God is still God and he is a
redemptive God. I mean, Joseph is perfect example of that. But
one of the things that I love, I mean Paul talks about it in
fact, I wanted to share it, It's in Romans Chapter 5 and talking
about like, okay, why does God allow bad things to happen?
Well, here's one of the reasons why he allows it. I don't
believe that he causes it. He's not, you know he doesn't want
evil for us but it says in Romans chapter 5 verse 3, okay,
Paul writes and he says, and not only that, but we also glory in
tribulations knowing that tribulation produces
perseverance and perseverance, character and character, hope.
And I think sometimes the tough situations we go through, the
difficult time, the things that challenge our faith, they build
our faith, they make us stronger. And like you were
saying about Joseph, you know he's in this prison and he could
have become bitter. I'm sure that the enemy was like, don't
trust God look what he did to you. And yet Joseph was faithful
and God was faithful, and he used that and he redeemed that.
And I think Joseph's faith grew stronger through that
experience. And so I just think that's one of the reasons why
God allows it is because he wants to grow us.
He wants to develop our faith, nurture our faith, grow
our faith, and bring us to maturity in him.
JOE: Absolutely and you know when we're on the top
of the mountain and just, awww, and everything's great
and you're just following Jesus and everything else,
and everything's just smooth sailing, you know many
times you just don't really hone in and focus
on Jesus and his word and everything as much because
things are so good. But I'll tell you, when you're like
Joseph and you're thrown in a pit or you're thrown in a prison
or you're thrown you know out to the dogs and the wolves by your
brothers and sold out into slavery, you really turn to God
and you start looking you know to, how can I grow my faith and
trust in him and let God take me through this? And it's just so
important to keep our eyes on Jesus.
KRIS: Well, I was just going to say like one of our favorite
sayings is that there is more growth that takes place
in the valleys of life than on the mountaintop. And
because when life is good, we tend to kind
of just put Jesus off to the side. And yet when
life is hard and we're facing struggles and
difficulties, that's where we dig down deep and we really
cling to Jesus and we recognize how much we need him and we grow
in those places. And so you know even though I don't look forward
to trials, and I don't look forward to difficult times like
that, I don't like them. But I'm so grateful because I can see
how God's taken me through those and just made me stronger,
deepened my faith, deepened my trust in him, and my reliance on
him knowing that he's with me and he's going to get me through
it and I don't have to worry. You know?
GINA: And it's a great reminder that when we are in
those seasons that are good, how important it
is to have God's word in our heart, in our minds. So
when those trials hit, we can stand firm and strong
and know that we know that we know God's word is in
our heart, and we can line our thoughts, our words up with
those scriptures and those God's promises to get us through.
KRIS: And to walk it out in those tough times.
GINA: And to walk it out. Yes.
JOE: So if you're going through a trial or a struggle or you're
not. If you're on top of the mountain or in the deepest
valley, keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep your trust and
faith in God. His promises is his word,
keep in his word. Keep that relationship going and strong
and tight because if you do, if you do, you'll go further
up the mountain and you will come out of
that valley even better than when you ended up at the bottom
of it, because God will strengthen you
and build your faith. Stay tuned.
ANNOUNCER: Jesus once said, what you do for the least of
these, you do for me. With your generous support,
Fred Jordan Mission has been fulfilling this calling
for over 80 years by feeding hungry people
here on Skid Row. Together we made a difference.
Together, we have given hope to those less fortunate. And
together we have demonstrated the love of Jesus to those in
need. We deeply appreciate your support, and we ask that you
please continue to give to this life-changing mission. Go online
to give at fjm.org. Whatever the amount, great or small, your
donation is greatly appreciated.
ANNOUNCER: Join the conversation by connecting with us on social
media. We are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more.
Visit us at social.fjm.org.
JOE: Well welcome back. You know I just want to encourage
you go to fjm.org. You can see everything there. You
can see all of our media. You can see how to volunteer,
how to get connected, how to give, how to pray
for us. And also, you can DM us on any of our social media
@FJMissions. Send us a message and let us know
how we can pray for you and stand with you in your
situations. But you know? What's amazing is, is that God is able
to turn any mess into a message. And as I like to say it, he can
turn any mess into a miracle. He does it on Skid Row all the
time. He's done it in our life countless times. We couldn't
even get a calculator that would go up that high. But what I love
is that Satan means harm to us. He means bad and evil, but yet
God turns it around and uses it for good. The devil tries to
deceive us, to accuse us, to oppress us. But God brings the
truth and he sets us free. And we know in the end, the enemy
gets destroyed. He gets cast into the lake of fire. And it's
so amazing because the various tactics that the enemy tries to
use, the plans, sow seeds of doubt, temptation, false
teaching, creating division, and chaos, all of that is wiped away
by the truth because the Bible says the truth will set us free.
So I have a question for you both. And the question is just
simply this. When you don't see any way possible
for something to be fixed, how does God step in
and fix that situation when you just don't see a way?
KRIS: I've been there and there have been many times where
I am praying and praying and praying and asking, God,
change this, fix this. And he chooses to give me grace
to endure it instead of fixing it. And there's one
of my favorite pastors has said this quote,
and I just, I love it. It's one of my favorites. And he
says, God is not as interested in changing your circumstances
as he is in using your circumstances to change you.
GINA: That's great.
KRIS: And when you think about that, it's so true. And
it kind of goes back to what we were talking about
earlier, is that God will allow difficulties,
challenges, tragedies in our lives, but he's going
to use them for a purpose, a greater purpose,
and to change us, and ultimately to make us more like
him because as children of God, that's his desires to make us
more like him. And so yeah, anyway, that just-
GINA: Well, and for me, when I'm in a situation like
that, I have learned that if I start speaking God's
words, start claiming his promises, I can do
all things through Christ who strengthens me.
He is for me. He has a hope and a future. Nothing can
separate me from his love. And as I begin to speak his word
over myself, over my situation and begin to praise him, the
atmosphere changes. That worry and doubt starts to leave, and
joy and peace and comfort comes in its place. And so that's just
what I've learned to do when I've just been faced and
overwhelmed in a situation where I can't see the message yet in
such a mess that I have learned time and time again. God is
faithful and nothing can separate me from his love and
that he is for me, and that as I begin to speak his promises
and just praise, put on some praise music and get
my eyes on him, I'm off the situation. Yeah.
JOE: You know the Bible talks about the joy of the Lord
as our strength and I used to look at that and I said,
there is no joy at all in this Lord, but you know I think
I confused a lot of times joy and happiness because
there's a difference. You know? We're not always happy.
I can tell you this, if you think you're going to be happy
in every situation in your life that you face,
you won't. There's a lot of really bad situations
that happen to us, and they're not happy times.
They're sad times, they're tragic times. They're times that
we are scared and fearful and don't know exactly what's going
to happen, but that's where we just have to trust God and let
the joy be our strength. And you're like, well, so as I think
about joy, I think about the things that make me who I am,
created by God, saved by God, sustained by God. And the joy
that I have inside that gives me strength is knowing that I know
that I know that Jesus saved me, that I'm going to heaven and no
matter what is against me or who is against me or who is trying
to do something against me, that God is for me. And like you
said, if God is for us, who can be against us? And you know
what? If you're facing something and someone's against you, just
know that God is for you. And he's greater than all that.
Greater is He who is in us, the Bible says than he that is in
the world. So you know as we close on this kind of great
story of Joseph, just some thoughts. One thing that I think
is amazing about Joseph is Joseph had to forgive his
brothers. He didn't have to, but he chose to. Joseph, forgiving
his brothers was one thing that honored God through his life. It
brought peace to Joseph. It brought freedom, and it kept
Joseph from bitterness. If there's someone in your life
trying to hurt you or hurting you or a situation in your life
you know? It's not always forgiving them for their sake,
but sometimes we just need to forgive for our sake so that we
don't become bitter and angry and let that rotten stuff
destroy us. So Joseph forgave and he got freedom through it
all in his life. And then I love it because you know God took
what was meant for evil and harm, and he turned it around
for Joseph, what the devil meant to make upside down in his life.
He turned right side up in his life and Joseph, through all the
rest of the situations in his life, trusted God. And
that's amazing. Will you trust God today with
your life? I hope so. We'll be right back
JOE: Here at Fred Jordan Missions every day we see all,
all types of people. I remember as a kid, my father, Fred
and my mom, Willie, teaching me a song about
Jesus loves the little children of the world. Red
and yellow, black and white, we are all precious
in God's sight. I still know that song. I taught it to
my children. And that's exactly what we see here at Fred Jordan
Mission every day, red and yellow, black and white, every
single person that you could think of from children all the
way to seniors are here on the streets living in LA, and they
come to our doors to be loved on, to be shared with that Jesus
loves you and Jesus saves. You know we hand out water, we hand
out drinks, we hand out snacks. We preach the gospel. We have
hot meals, we do special events. But if you want to know who
comes through our doors, it's all of us. There's no certain
person, there's no certain look. But like I said, in that song,
red and yellow, black and white, we're all precious in God's
sight. That's who we see here every day at Fred Jordan
Mission. People from all around this country that end up on
these streets can come through our door, and we will
serve them as we declare and demonstrate
the love of Jesus to those in need.
JOE: Well, thanks for being with us today here at FJM TV.
I just want you to know that just like Joseph's life,
God has a plan for your life. And you know Joseph
was thrown into slavery. He was thrown into a lot
of bad situations. If you want to read the
story, just go and read it for yourself. It's amazing the
story of Joseph's life, but God has a plan for you. He has a
plan for your life. So just trust him. Go to him and ask God
to guide you through it all. And if you want to help us with all
of those who have broken lives and broken dreams on Skid Row,
on the streets of LA and wherever we minister as we have
for 80 years, we need partners like you to continue to stand
with us financially in prayer and volunteering. Because as the
needs continue to grow, so does the need for people to hear
about Jesus. Because people need deliverance. They need food, and
they need the love of God. And you're such a great part of
that. I like to say it like this. I can do a good thing and
we can do a good thing, and you can do a good thing, but
together we can do extraordinary things as Jesus uses us to bless
the lives of others. God bless you.
ANNOUNCER: Join the conversation by connecting with us on social
media. We are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and
more. Visit us at social.fjm.org.
FEMALE: (Singing) When the night comes and there's no one,
and you feel hopeless and abandoned, just take
my hand and lift your eyes. Change is coming, love has
arrived. We will overcome this sorrow. We will see the
dawn tomorrow. We will soldier on down this
road as we reach for hope, reach for hope.
ANNOUNCER: Please, will you join us in feeding hungry
children and their families by phoning today, 844-FJM-FOOD
or donating online, fjm.org. That's fjm.org, or mail your
check to Fred Jordan Mission, PO Box 12345,
Covina, California 91722. Please, will you help?
FEMALE: (Singing) Reach for hope.
ANNOUNCER: The proceeding program was sponsored by
generous friends and partners of Fred Jordan Missions.