James Reed's FORGE

Up to this point in the Book of Ruth, we have seen the loving and excellent character of two women—Naomi and Ruth. Although others have been mentioned, these two women are the only real actors up to this point. But now, in chapter 2 we will be introduced to the kinsman, Boaz. He’s the first male who’s not sick, dying, or disobedient to God we find in the story. Chapter 2 shows us Ruth’s faithfulne...

Ruth has been called the most beautiful piece of literature in the not only the Bible, but the entire world. This book is about the providence of God and His covenant community. Providence is God’s care, preparation in advance, and His guardianship over you. Ruth is about the kindness of God’s people. BTW- We do not get to be God’s people because we are kind. We are kind because we are God’s peopl...

No other passage shows the heart of love of the Lord seen in the Suffering Servant, the Messiah, Jesus, more than this one. And all this 700 years before Christ lived on earth. The NT quotes more from Isaiah than all the other prophets combined, with an amazing 308 references in the various NT books. For example, John quotes Isaiah in chapter 12 of his Gospel, and then he adds this commentary in v...

Some of you may remember the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas. There’s a scene where an exasperated Charlie Brown yells, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” I have to admit I’ve felt that way before. Amid the commercialism, materialism and the general confusion of the holiday, we probably all want to understand what happened to make Christmas the largest season in retail....

1. Are you troubled by the events, people, or circumstances in your life? 2. Are you worried about the events, people, or circumstances in your life? 3. Are you fearful because of the events, people or circumstances in your life? 4. Is your heart at peace? I’m going to suggest that if we’re honest, we are prone to being troubled, worried, and fearful. And we’re not alone. It’s common for all of us...

Today is our first Sunday of Advent. I love this time of year for a number of reasons. Advent is a time that we set aside each year to celebrate the birth of our Lord and King! It is a time when we are to long for or strongly desire His coming. The appropriate sense of the season is one of waiting with great anticipation for the Savior who will ransom captive Israel. This is the attitude of this p...

This is the final installment of our verse by verse study through Mark's Gospel. We will look at the resurrection of Jesus, His ascension into heaven, and the Great Commission.

In keeping with the theme of covenant, we are going to see today what I’m calling the covenant ratified through the death and burial of Jesus. In his book, The Roman Empire Colin Wells states, “The Romans had a highly developed and theatrical sense of the public ceremonial.” They loved the triumphal parade. You could say, “Everyone loves a parade.” What is happening here with Jesus is a mock trium...

We are continuing on with the theme of the acknowledged covenant as the arrest and trial of Jesus comes to an end. Lord willing, next week up to the first week of Advent, we will see the covenant ratified through Christ’s death and burial, and we will see it vindicated in His resurrection. That will get us through Mark 16:1-8, and we will finish with Christ’s victory as we consider verses 9-20. We...

Last week I gave us part 1 of what I’m calling “The Covenant Acknowledged.” What I mean by this is that the enemies of Christ have gathered around Him now to basically ask Him how He pleads to the charges they are bringing against Him, and in so doing they are in a way, acknowledging His teachings, miracles, and all other activities. One of the things which I have emphasized is that Christians are...

Last week I made many references to this particular Passover feast as the last supper, or the final Passover feast. Obviously, the Jews still celebrate Passover even to this day. I used those terms in spite of these continuing feasts because it was all fulfilled in Christ. These OT practices are finally fulfilled once and for all in Jesus. So, there are those, even among Christians who like to con...

We continue to learn about the creation of the Kingdom as seen in 5 parts, and examined through the concept of covenant.

Today is a special episode from the Book of Luke. We will be back to Mark, Lord willing, next week. There are religions out there, some of them even masquerading as some form of Christianity, which teach people in one form or another to work for salvation. They have a theology which requires certain things to achieve salvation. This kind of false teaching, at its core, does not see salvation as a...

Today we begin our journey through the last 3 chapters of Mark’s Gospel. In chapters 14-16, we are going to see the creation of the Kingdom.

Today we will take a break from the Gospel of Mark and look at the Parable of the Prodigal Son. May this be a blessing to you. Don't forget to share this podcast with others.

Something that we often miss in our culture today is the use of poetic, figurative, and judgment language in the Hebrew language. When we read of the sun being darkened, the moon not giving its light, stars falling from the sky, floods, fire, and smoke—these are very standard prophetic imagery for political and social collapse. It does not mean now, nor did it mean in the OT when the prophets said...

Today’s sermon is a continuation from last week’s sermon where we were discussing the Olivet Discourse. We are going to continue on today, but I am speaking specifically about what is called the “abomination of desolation”.

We live in a world which seems to be in constant turmoil. In fact, it has been stated that the 20th century was the bloodiest century of known history. From 1900 to 1988 170 million men, women, and children were shot, beaten, tortured, knifed, burned, starved, frozen, crushed, or worked to death. Governments invented ways to kill people. Burning, drowning, hanging, and bombing are just a few of th...

When we left off in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus had silenced His questioners and He had told this last one in particular that he was not far from the Kingdom of God. We brought out at that time that, “To be ‘in the kingdom’ one must do more than simply approve of Jesus’ teaching; one must submit entirely to His authority and person. We are not told what became of this last questioner. So, a question whic...

Now, the elders, scribes, and Pharisees send the Sadducees and the Herodians to Jesus. Will they catch Jesus in a trick question this time?

Pastor Jay Nelson was pulpit supply at Green Meadow Community Church. This is part of his series, "The Attributes of God". Here, he focuses on God's Holiness. May God bless the hearing and the reading of His holy word, the Bible.

Mark could be split into 2 parts. The first 10 chapters would be the Person of Jesus Christ; then beginning at chapter 11, the focus shifts to the Authority of Jesus’ Office. From Chapters 11-13 we begin to see not only the authority of our King Jesus, but we find Him dealing with the Kingdom of Israel in crisis. Our passage today will deal with the content of His judgment and the sentence brought...

Spiritual blindness and pride can hinder us in our walk with Christ. We can fail to see just exactly how close He is to us. And, when we fail to see His closeness it often leads to fear and unbelief. So, I want to encourage you today, take note of His nearness. Consider what He endured for you. It is very personal. And, then, as you consider these things, reach out to Him in prayer. He has utterly...

This was the message delivered at Green Meadow Community Church the day after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

Our King Jesus is also a Prophet and our Priest, and what we see in verse 11 is a temple inspection. We have talked about our Lord’s offices in previous episodes, and He acts here within the duties of these offices. He is King of Israel, the Prophet of God –foretelling with 100% accuracy the future events soon to take place, and the only High Priest you will ever need—in the order of Melchizedek....