Forge update #1

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been really encouraged by what I’m seeing happen through FORGE.

A lot of what we have talked about for a long time is starting to take shape in practical ways. Men from different churches are coming together, building relationships, serving alongside one another, and beginning to take more responsibility for the people and communities around them. That is a big part of what FORGE was intended to be from the beginning.

I have never wanted FORGE to become just another program for men to attend. We already have plenty of places where people can sit, listen, and go home. What I want to see is men actually growing as disciples of Christ and learning how to serve, lead, carry responsibility, and contribute to the Body of Christ in a meaningful way.

Romans 12:5 says that “we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another.”

That is a very different picture from what many experience. It means we actually belong to one another, and it also means that every believer has a role to play.

Serving Together in Rolling Meadows

One of the best examples of this recently was the meal we served in the Rolling Meadows community for working families.

Men from different churches came together to prepare food, serve meals, spend time with people, and simply be useful where there was a real need. There was nothing flashy about it, and that is part of what I appreciated about it. It was simply men showing up, working together, and serving people in a practical way.

James 2:15–16 says:

“If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” — NASB

That passage is pretty direct. If we see a need and have the ability to help, our faith should move us toward action rather than simply good intentions.

The Rolling Meadows meal was not some huge project, but it represented something I hope we see a lot more of. I want to see men from different churches getting outside their normal circles, working together, and serving people in ways that are tangible and useful.

That kind of fellowship means more to me than simply getting together for another meeting. When men serve together, relationships tend to form naturally, trust begins to develop, and we start to see the Body of Christ functioning in a way that goes beyond the walls of one local congregation.

Four Businesses Have Now Started Through FORGE

Another area where I’m encouraged is the entrepreneurship side of FORGE.

We now have four businesses that have been started in St. Charles County through FORGE mentoring and funding. Those businesses include photography, RV mobile repairs, RV rentals, and utility trailer rentals.

For me, this has never been about teaching young men how to get rich or using Christianity as a way to promote financial success. That is not what we are trying to build.

What I do believe is that business can be a very effective discipleship environment because it forces a man to deal with real responsibility. You have to show up, keep your word, communicate clearly, solve problems, handle money responsibly, treat people fairly, learn from mistakes, and keep moving forward when things do not work out the way you expected.

All of those things reveal character, and they also give us something practical to disciple.

Colossians 3:23 says:

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people.” — NASB

That applies to our work just as much as any other area of life.

I want young men to understand that work matters to God, stewardship matters to God, and responsibility matters to God. A healthy business can help a man provide for his family, serve customers well, create opportunities for other people, support Kingdom work, and become more capable of helping others.

At the same time, the order has to remain right. Christ comes first, character matters more than income, and stewardship matters more than status. The goal is not simply to help men become business owners; the goal is to help them become men who can be trusted with greater responsibility.

A New Book Is Coming: Institutionalized

I also want to share another project that has been in the works.

I have a new book coming called Institutionalized, with a planned release by Christmas.

The book deals with something I have been thinking about and wrestling with for a long time: what happens when Christians become comfortable attending church but lose sight of their responsibility within the Body of Christ?

I think we have developed a version of Christianity where it is very easy to become passive. A person can attend, listen, consume, and go home while a relatively small group of people carry most of the serving, teaching, discipling, caring, giving, and leading.

I have a hard time reconciling that with the New Testament.

First Corinthians 12:18 says:

“But now God has arranged the parts, each one of them in the body, just as He desired.” — NASB

And Ephesians 4:16 says:

“...from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” — NASB

Those passages describe a Body in which every member is expected to participate and contribute. They do not paint a picture of a few people doing the work while everyone else remains on the sidelines.

Institutionalized is going to look more deeply at Christian apathy, institutional thinking, and the way believers can slowly become conditioned to see church as something they attend rather than a body they actively belong to.

The book is not an argument against the institutional church. It is a call for believers to understand what the church actually is and to reclaim the responsibilities Scripture gives to every member of Christ’s Body.

I will share more about the book as we get closer to the release.

Why All of This Matters

At first glance, serving meals, helping men start businesses, and writing a book about the Body of Christ might seem like three different things. I do not really see them that way, because to me they are all connected by the same idea.

Discipleship is supposed to affect the whole life of a man. It should shape the way he works, serves, handles money, builds relationships, treats people, keeps his word, participates in the church, responds to need, and carries responsibility.

That is what I want FORGE to keep moving toward.

I want to see men who are grounded in the Gospel and growing in holiness, while also becoming dependable, productive, generous, useful, and actively engaged in the Body of Christ. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and our activity does not earn salvation, but the life Christ gives us is not meant to produce apathy. It should produce obedience, growth, service, generosity, responsibility, and fruit.

There is still a lot we are learning, and there is still a lot of work ahead. But when I look at what has happened over the last few weeks, I am encouraged because I can see some of the original vision of FORGE becoming tangible.

Men are building relationships across church lines, serving together, and learning how to carry greater spiritual and economic responsibility. Businesses are being started, practical needs are being met, and we are continuing to challenge the idea that following Jesus is something we can do passively.

That is the direction I want to keep moving in, and I am grateful for the men who are willing to step into it with us.