Pastor Freddy Washington Jr. on Genesis 50 – “Forgiveness: Being Given, Being Received and What We Learn from Both”

Pastor Freddy Washington Jr. is Mark’s very special guest on the podcast this week. Freddy is a worship leader and songwriter who began his career in music production and later garnered Grammy, Stellar and Dove Award nominations for production with several artists in Gospel and Christian music. He has traveled throughout the world, leading worship and preaching the Gospel message of hope, and has also released his own full-length album entitled ‘The Jesus Record’. The text he has chosen to discuss with Mark is Genesis 50. The conversation starts off with Freddy sharing his summary of the passage, its significance for him, and the demonstration of God’s favor on Joseph’s life found within it. He and Mark then embark upon an extensive discussion regarding forgiveness, including its invention, the lessons from the text regarding it, its divine nature, and why it is so very necessary these days. They also explore the notions of God working in every moment of our lives, His greater plan for each of us, the stupidity of lying, and Joseph’s transformation. As every guest does, Freddy draws the episode to a close by sharing the lessons he has learned about humankind. Given the current state of the world, today’s conversation eliciting this text’s eternal lesson regarding how to respond to those who wrong you, could not be more timely. Episode Highlights: · Freddy’s summary of the passage and its significance for him · God’s favor on Joseph’s life · The invention of the idea of forgiveness · What this passage teaches about how to treat those who wrong us · The divine nature of forgiveness and why it is so necessary these days · God’s greater plan for us · The stupidity of lying · Joseph’s transformation · God working in every moment of our lives · The lessons that Freddy has learned about humankind Quotes: “His greatness, even though he’s a Jew, is acknowledged by the Egyptians.” “God, He does want us to mourn, and I think it’s healthy.” “Joseph invents forgiveness.” “The notion of forgiveness is so counterintuitive, it’s