Forge Church

Paul and his team in Rome write the Brothers and Sisters in Colossae, laying out the necessity of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and discernment. These elements of believing in and following Christ result in constant fruit bearing.

Paul is writing from Rome to the Colossian church that began under Epaphras and Philemon. He commends the believers in Colossae for their faith, their love, and their hope in Christ Jesus.

The epistle to the Colossian church is one of the prison letters sent by Paul the Apostle when he was under house arrest in Rome, waiting for Nero to rule on his appeal. The Colossian church was planted by Epaphras during the two years that Paul had been teaching out of the School of Tyrrannus in Ephesus, 100 miles away. Now there comes news of significant pressure on the Church in Colossae to modify, if not depart from their faith in Christ Jesus.

Samuel is sent to anoint one of Jesse's sons in Bethlehem. Only when the youngest, David, is sent for and presented does the Lord say "this one!" Later, David has to flee Saul, and comes to Samuel in Ramah. Samuel dies and is honored by all the nation. Finally, Saul is desperate for some word about the impending and dreaded battle with the Phlistines...but chooses to go to a medium that channels a demon to call up the dead to speak to Saul.

Samuel delivers the word of the Lord to Saul....today, you will wipe Amalek's memory from the earth. Amalek had attacked israel at Rephidim as they struggled in the Sinai desert. Saul does not keep the commandment of the Lord, but instead, selects the best of the booty. The Lord God has had it with him as king over Israel, and announces that his tearing away the kingdom from Saul and giving it to another. Samuel has to finish the job of killing Agag in Gilgal.

King Saul starts a war of liberation, and gets a maximal response out of the Philistines....30,000 chariots, 6,000 cavalry, and a multitude of foot solders coming at him. In fear and frustration, seeing his army melt away , knowing that the chariot corps is 1 hour away, and Samuel is late for their appointment, Saul steps up and offers the burnt offering, then tries to talk his way out of his failure to fear the Lord, first of all. Samuel informs him that his kingdom is done, and God has chosen a man after His own heart.

The coronation of King Saul has been completed. Samuel calls all Israel to judge him and his character. They bear witness that he has lived a flawless life as a Judge of Israel. The Samuel jerks them all to their feet and challenges them to listen to the Lord and obey him....the people and the King. If they will not, they will be judged just like their fathers. What started as a retirement address ends with Samuel agreeing to pray for the people and to teach them the good and right ways.

These 4 chapters of narrative show what God was doing behind the scenes as Samuel was tasked to appoint a king that Israel had demanded. Saul is chosen at Mizpah, and then has to lead the armies to rescue a besieged Jabesh-Gilead. Samuel, for being an old man, keeps up and leads the nation to Gilgal for a coronation.

Samuel has grown old, and appointed his two sons to judge Israel, nut they become corrupt. The elders of Israel come to Samuel to demand that a king be appointed over them. Samuel discerns that it is an evil request, but prays to the Lord. The Lord assures Samuel that the elders are rejecting Him, not Samuel. He instructs Samuel to listen to the elders, and warn them about the ways of Kings. Even warned, the people won't consider anything but a King.

Israel goes off on its own hook, not consulting God or Samuel, and fights the Philistines. They lose 34,000 men, then flee, and the Ark of God is taken as a battle trophy. The Ark is passed from city to city, as plagues break out, until the Philistines warlocks and priests decide to send it back...but it is received wrongly, resulting in more death. Finally it is stored,, and 20 years pass. Israel is in the pits. All Israel cries out for God, and Samuel is there to lead Israel back to Him, and lead the nation to defeat the Philistines.

Samuel has grown in stature and responsibilities as he ministers to the Lord in Shiloh. One very early morning, pre-dawn, he is sleeping in proximity to the wall that separates him from the Holy of Holies, where the Ark resides. He is ripped from sleep by a voice calling his name. He leaps up...3 times, and runs 3 times to Eli, who finally gets it that God is at work. Samuel rises to face the LORD, to receive a prophetic message, and to be ushered into a relationship with the God he did not know until that moment.

Samuel is growing up, serving the Lord in the Tabernac;le. However, he is surrounded by the presence and influence of wicked men....in the Tabernacle. As we zoom in on his growth, and zoom out to see what God was going to do with the sons of Eli, we see the consistent track record of Samuel to grow in stature and righteousness that was visible to all the people. Then God steps in to prophecy the end of Eli's sons and his family line as priests.

Ist Samuel is one of the most illustrative books in the Bible...Samuel wants us to know of his roots. This podcast out of chapters 1 & 2 introduce us to the child, Samuel. But behind family squabbles and deep pain, God is at work to begin something new in Israel.

1 * 2 Samuel are one book in the Hebrew Scriptures. When the Septuagint translation into Greek dealt with that text, it was divided into 2 books. The man Samuel probably wrote ch. 1-24 of 1 Samuel, and later, David, Nathan and Gad added their writings. Isaiah is perhaps the compiler of these writings, producing the books of Samuel. God placed the man in the late period of the Judges, and is himself to be a Judge, a prophet, a kingmaker, and a priest.

James wants his congregations to know how to "be" Church the right way. He begins with trials, then leads them through ways to manifest the presence of God in their midst....from prayer, to singing, to confession, to restoration....and more.

James rails at wealthy landowners who have defrauded the destitute workers of their wages. using prophetic language to detail God's judgment on them and their wealth. Then he turns to instruct his assemblies how to respond to trials.....with patience, with perseverance, being careful to not fall into complaint against one another. In fact, he said do that latter exercise....no complaint....first.

James moves to interdict reports coming in from the scattered assemblies that practical atheism and self-made independence was spreading due to successful merchants. These men had planned, traveled, established, bought low and sold high, and made a profit. Now they were boasting about it, and James comes back with his challenge: Did you even think about God in your planning? Where is the "If God Wills" humility? And in so doing, James crawls right up into our 21st Century culture with the same questions.

James is addressing BIG issues in the scattered churches he oversees. Quarrels and fights up to and including murder have set chaos loose in the midst of the congregations. His corrective words are Old Testament Prophet with a flame thrower....hard words to hear. There is a shift in the middle, where James begins to layout a way back to fellowship with God by Holy Spirit for those who have been seduced to love the world. Such are some of us.

James oversees many assemblies, scattered through Synagogues in the easter part of the Roman Empire. His congregations are struggling with the tongue, and now his focus is on wisdom, its source, and its application. That wisdom may be bitter and filled with strife, or it may be from the Father in Heaven, filled with purity, peace, and humility. We need to choose what and Whom we draw on.

James is deeply concerned about speech....by the teaches in his congregations and by the influence of the tongue set on fire by a world view that is unrighteous. Drawing on familiar marketplace illustrations and Palestinian images, James teaches his flocks that the tongue can be so out of control as to be fired by hell, doing vast damage. Our own culture of criticism, innuendo, fake news, and slander is right up to date with James' warnings, and we have great needs for Holy Spirit power to be in control of our own tongues.