Joseph’s Alabaster Box

It is not so with all houses. A neighbor’s house is the habitation of people who deny the Lord any access to their lives. They do not seem to be wild revelers, but nevertheless, they live in a house in which the curse of the Lord resides. That’s right, Proverbs 3:33 says, “The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked:. . . .” That is one of the most ominous statements in the whole Word of God. Notice that the verse says that the curse of God is in the house of the wicked
That means that the wicked live with the curse of the Lord in the most secure place in their life. The curse of the Lord is in the refrigerator, the clothes closet, the bed. I would be totally mesmerized with fear if I lived in a house without the Lord. When the curse of the Lord comes in, all blessings depart. When God’s blessings go, then the place becomes the habitation of demons. Every corner is a place for lurking danger. Every mouse is a threat. The thought of living in a house with the curse of God in it ought to scare the wits out of the most intransigent sinner.
Pity the poor child living in a house with the curse of God in it. That child has not the prayers of parents because God will not hear the prayers of those who reject the atoning blood of God’s Lamb. It is only by the authority of the shed blood of Jesus Christ that we have the authority to stand before the throne of grace. It is only because of the blood that God commands us to come before Him. Without that blood a sinner is an intruder in the throne room of God. I remember how concerned I was when I had to take my little boys to the doctor. I trembled as I pled with the kind heavenly Father to lay His healing hands on my little children. Oh, the tragedy of living in a house with the curse of God in it.
Home should be a place of worship. Home should be a place where prayer is given for food and blessings before every meal. Home should be a place filled with the blessings of God. Home should be the habitation of the righteous, and a true home is just that. The house of the wicked is no more than a house. It is a vacant, cold, hollow thing that rattles with emptiness. A house can be filled with all the good things a home should be. God’s welcome makes the difference.
Most people do not understand what the wicked are. Most folks think of the wicked as the people in prison, or gang members, or drug pushers, and the like. Many people in prison are righteous, because the Son of God has no qualms about going into a prison to rescue a poor repentant sinner from the curse and penalty of sin, but all those other people are wicked. There’s no doubt about that. But there are multitudes of wicked people working in the stock market, and playing golf at the country club, and running big banks and churches. There are wicked people working for charitable organizations, and many of the people who support them big time are wicked people.
Wicked people are people who deny the Saviour. Any person who rejects the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and treads through his precious blood as if it were something detestable is a wicked individual. A person who claims to know Jesus Christ as his Saviour, but brings shame and reproach upon His precious name by adding something to His finished work of redemption, or taking something away from it is a wicked person.
“The curse of eke LORD is in the house of the wicked:” What an awful habitation. It would be like a little foretaste of Hell itself to live in the house of the wicked. Oh, friend, you may be sweet, gentle, generous, loving, and all of that, but if you have not repented of your sins and turned to Jesus Christ for your salvation, you are a wicked one, and the curse of the Lord is in your house. What a prospect to go from a cursed house to a devil’s hell. What sort of way is that to live your eternal life? Come to the Lord Jesus now.
Psalm 71:3: “Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.” Psalm 91:9-10: “Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;” 10 “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.”

Dear Gus,

Christ told us little about His Heaven
When He was here on Earth,
The mortal mind so stained with sin
Could ne’er conceive such wonders.

We sifted His words for nuggets of knowledge,
Scant clues appeared that left us in awe,
Crowns? A golden street? A pure river of water?
Trees of life with twelve manner of fruits?

All these I found and many more
Since my arrival here in Heaven,
Escorted by angels, and welcomed by Christ,
As the gates of pearl before me swung.

I have a room in the Father’s house
Which Christ prepared for me,
It’s like a mansion all fitted for me.
Gus, I surely wish you were here.

Your Friend,
George

God always keeps His promise,
On this you may depend.
He always carries out His word
To foe, the same as friend.
Rely upon God’s promise;
Your heart you may assure,
And you’ll not miss your rich reward.
His promise will endure.

A flood, the world He promised
In Noah’s ancient day,
But folks would not believe Him -
That’s the human way.
But raindrops healed their unbelief,
They rushed the Ark in terror,
Determined to get in.
But the Ark was sealed by God’s own hand.

God always keeps His promise.
You must take the Calvary path,
Or you will rush to death’s dark door,
And die in a flood of God’s wrath.

Joseph Kennedy was born in 1927 in Bristol, Virginia. He loved Sunday school and taught Sunday school at age 11. While active in the Boy Scouts, in which he rose to Life Scout, he volunteered for the Army Air Corps, and served in Germany during W. W. II. In 1954 he and Opal Pearl Begley married. They had three sons. He took his family to Chattanooga, Tennessee where he earned a B.A. in Bible and history at Tennessee Temple University. Over the next years he was principal/teacher at four Christian schools and a state school before being fired in 1980 for teaching Bible in his classroom.

While teaching school he earned a Master’s at the University of Alabama, and a D.C. Ed. from Freedom Seminary. He was principal of four Christian schools, two of which he set up. The two schools he organized are now very successful, while two are defunct. Trinity Christian in Chattanooga had more than a thousand students while he was there. Coosa Christian and Forrest Park Christian schools are large and thriving.

During his school teaching years he developed a ministry to Sunday school bus children. He dressed as a clown and went on roller skates, carrying a crutch, and ringing a bell, helping bus workers enroll boy and girls for Sunday school. During Sunday school he did “magic” tricks, and then preached, using large wooden figures on a platform to illustrate the stories he was telling. He was “Dr. K., the story preacher.” Two of these events were attended by more than six hundred middle school kids, and more than half of them made professions of faith.

After his termination he took a job driving over-the-road trucks until his retirement. Then he made two trips: one to Latvia where he taught Bible in high school, and the second to Siberia where he taught Bible and creation in Russian universities. Upon returning home he wrote and published several books. He also developed a creation ministry which reached many people with the creation story. He used slides to illustrate the difference in creation and evolution. During this time he maintained a daily radio broadcast on FBN, reaching all over the world.

He now gives full time to writing and publishing his books under the name The Alabaster Box. Today he and Pearl are enjoying their work, and their three sons, six grandchildren, and their families, including great granddaughter Hannah Kate. All are sound in mind and character, and love the Lord.