If you’re a fan of true battle stories you’ll want to listen to this lesson to learn about a battle that determined Israel’s future for many years. Find out that when they lost the first skirmish, they decided to take the Ark of the Covenant with them as a good luck charm. Learn that they lost even more disastrously, including the enemy capturing the Ark, and when the news was brought back to the high priest, he fell backwards and died. Find out what the name his daughter-in-law gave her new bab...
Sep 22, 2015•1 hr 1 min
Warning! This lesson may make you uncomfortable. Learn how individuals and nations who do not follow divine institutions and obey God will implode. Find out about a time in Israel when they were being oppressed by the Philistines and were trying to solve their troubles their own way rather than follow God. See that when the Israelites were defeated in a battle they decided to use the Ark of the Covenant as a good luck charm. Learn about the Ark of the Covenant, its characteristics, and what it r...
Sep 15, 2015•1 hr 3 min
How should we handle the problems that wreck our lives? Advice is given to us from every side for quick solutions but listen to this lesson to see that only the Bible has all the answers. Understand that we need to learn the basic foundation of the events of the Bible in order to apply the doctrinal principles. See that in the days of Samuel the people were turning to their cultural solutions rather than trusting God. Begin to realize the depths of depravity of our sin natures and see that we ca...
Sep 08, 2015•58 min
What does morality have to do with freedom? Listen to this lesson to learn that obedience to God’s standards has consequences in all areas of life. Begin an outline of the book of 1 Samuel and see how God works to bring about a shift in the direction of Israel. Learn the time frame for these events and the correlation between Judges and 1 Samuel. When problems in our life or in our nation have us in a downward spiral, accept that the only solution is to turn to the Word of God which is sufficien...
Sep 01, 2015•58 min
Light versus darkness. Self destruction or illumination and hope. Listen to this lesson to hear about a time in Israel very much like our own when moral degeneracy was rampant and there was little knowledge of God’s Word in the land. Hear about how Samuel obeyed the Lord while Eli, the high priest, stumbled around in the darkness. Hear the doctrine of the silence of God and the reason for His silence at different periods. Reflect upon your own life and ask yourself if you are a light in the dark...
Aug 25, 2015•58 min
Guilty! God pronounced judgment on the degenerate sons of Eli, the high priest. In contrast, listen to this lesson to learn how the child, Samuel, obeyed the Lord. Hear about how cultures who reject God become sexually degenerate and manifest this in countless ways, such as in our country today. Learn that God has provided a Mediator between Himself and mankind in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, who provides salvation.
Aug 11, 2015•59 min
“If it feels good, do it.” Remember that old slogan from the 70s? Listen to this lesson to hear that at any given time we are either serving God or serving our sin nature. Learn about the contrast between Samuel who pleased the Lord and the evil debauchery of the two sons of the high priest. Hear about a prophecy that illustrates the faithfulness of God. Look at life through the grid of God’s Word and take God’s holiness seriously. Daily go on a seek-and-destroy mission to root out the evil that...
Jul 28, 2015•1 hr 8 min
Have things gone too far off the rails for our country to ever recover? Listen to this lesson to hear how Hannah and the writers of the Psalms describe God’s sovereignty. He is the one who controls life and death and everything in between. He alone can thwart the evil plans against us. When we think through life’s problems, we need to remember the attributes of God and trust Him to always provide and protect us. Since people who appear to be powerful will be brought down by God and those who are...
Jul 21, 2015•1 hr 3 min
Who decides what’s right and what’s wrong? The law? The courts? Public opinion? Listen to this lesson to learn that the creator God is sovereign and only He rules on what is right. See that what God decrees, He always carries out. Learn that He intervenes to reverse the plans of corrupt humanity and ultimately will break the power of those who think they are winning. Learn more about how Hannah’s psalm shows the power and majesty of God and how she praises Him. Because God has given mankind free...
Jun 30, 2015•59 min
Do you have trouble sleeping some nights after listening to news about disaster after disaster? Listen to this lesson to learn that God is sovereign which means that He rules over His creation. Explore the question of causation and see how God gives mankind the freedom to make choices. See the difference between God’s decreed will and His permissive will. Take comfort in the fact that power and might do not make right. Trust that no matter what evil schemes are being devised, God intervenes in h...
Jun 23, 2015•1 hr 11 min
Do you know someone who thinks they’re better than everyone else and even thinks they know better than God what is best for them? Listen to this lesson to learn that all of us are arrogant and self centered. See what God thinks of arrogance. Learn about the sin nature we are born with which basically makes us evil, including even the sweetest looking baby. Find out about our trends and our evil desires and how we try to hide our arrogance by doing good deeds to impress others. See the contrast b...
Jun 09, 2015•1 hr 5 min
Thinking is hard work. It’s easy to rely on clichés and automatic responses but to actually think through something can be exhausting. Listen to this lesson to see how Hannah oriented her thinking away from herself and her problems and concentrated on the greatness of God. Living in a fallen world with demonic influences makes it even more important that we understand that God is the only one who solves our problems. Gain an understanding of how our thinking can be brought into line with God’s t...
May 26, 2015•58 min
Me? Write a prayer or a poem? That’s too hard! Listen to this lesson to see how Hannah’s happiness overflowed over all that God had done for her and she wrote this powerful prayer song. See how Hannah moves from the trauma in her own life to God’s ultimate victory over Satan. Find out who our three basic enemies are and realize that our enemies are God’s enemies. Begin seeing that everything that happens in our life is part of God’s grand design and that our happiness should never be based on th...
May 19, 2015•1 hr
Get ready! Life is a battleground as cosmic warfare rages around us. Listen to this lesson to learn about the spiritual warfare that involves God and Satan. As Christians we are assaulted continuously and just as Hannah prayed for deliverance and received it, we can trust God’s sovereign control of history. Learn that the Book of Psalms, which are the songs of the Bible, can strengthen us as we read and sing hymns about God’s victories in our life. Learn how to choose hymns, both the lyrics and ...
May 12, 2015•1 hr 1 min
“Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. Nobody knows but Jesus.” This well-known old folk song is how we often feel when we’re laid low by suffering. Listen to this lesson to see how Hannah poured out her troubles to the Lord and made a vow to Him. See God’s purpose for adversity in a believer’s life and understand the difference between adversity and stress. Learn about ten problem-solving spiritual skills that we can apply in our lives. See how God answered Hannah’s prayer and understand that we,...
May 05, 2015•1 hr 5 min
What can we learn from intense grief and sorrow? Are they just emotional reactions that are out of our control? Listen to this lesson to learn the Biblical truth about sorrow. See how Jesus agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane concerning His coming crucifixion. Follow Paul’s remarks to the Corinthians concerning sorrow. Find out the meaning of Godly sorrow and how it can lead us to repentance. Learn how to comfort those who are mourning and experience a new level of truth about grief and sorrow ...
Apr 28, 2015•1 hr 10 min
Can we trust our feelings and reactions to determine what we should do? Or do our responses lead us astray? Listen to this lesson to learn the correct role for emotion in the Christian life. Learn that emotion, in and of itself, is not wrong but that we cannot run our lives based on our feelings alone. Hear examples of weeping in the Bible and see that weeping can be for legitimate reasons or a sign of self-pity and manipulation. Instead of depending on emotions to guide our actions, we need to ...
Apr 21, 2015•1 hr 5 min
Whom the Lord loves He makes comfortable? No, the Bible doesn’t teach that our aim in life should be comfort. Instead, listen to this lesson to learn about Hannah, who suffered from her inability to have a child and went through many painful emotions as she sought an answer from the Lord. Hear the doctrine of the barren woman which was one of the hardest burdens for a woman to bear in Old Testament days. Find out what “bitterness of soul” means and whether or not it is a sin. Understand what the...
Apr 14, 2015•59 min
Desperately longing for a child, Hannah cannot be comforted by her loving husband. At the tabernacle one day she prays silently, pouring out her troubles to the Lord and the high priest assumes she’s drunk. Listen to this lesson to see God’s marvelous answer to her prayer. Learn about Hannah’s devotion to the Lord. Understand that heartaches and trouble should always drive us to God for the solution, knowing that it may take time to learn to trust Him fully. See that no matter how hard our diffi...
Apr 07, 2015•1 hr 7 min
In a collapsing world filled with violence and chaos comes a little known, sorrowful woman who humbles herself before God and trusts in Him for help. Listen to this lesson to hear the story of how one woman and the son who was the answer to her prayer changed the course of history for Israel. See how God is always in control and honors humility and faith. Find out how Samuel stood at the crossroads of one of his country’s darkest hours and set in motion their deliverance from the Philistines. He...
Mar 31, 2015•1 hr 1 min
Get ready for a high-stakes adventure as God is at work preparing to deliver Israel from what seems like a hopeless situation in the time of Samuel. See that the people of the land were evil and disobedient, including the priests in the Tabernacle. Listen to this lesson to hear that one obscure, anguished woman trusts God and gives her son, Samuel, to the Lord. Change comes slowly as God is disciplining the people and teaching them lessons they must learn. Find out how the angelic conflict is in...
Mar 24, 2015•1 hr 7 min
What this country needs are some good leaders to turn it around. Wrong! Listen to this lesson to see that what any country needs are people who turn to God and His Word for guidance. Hear about Israel under the judges which had reached a low ebb and had no respect for God or His Law. See how when a nation rejects objective truth it becomes subjective and each one only does what is right in his own eyes. Note the contrast between Samson and Samuel. Find out about a grandson of Moses who was a fai...
Mar 17, 2015•1 hr 6 min
What does the ancient country of Israel in the time of Samuel have to do with us today? Listen to this lesson to see that just as Israel neglected to obey God’s commandments and began to act just like their pagan neighbors, so we slip into thinking that we have no need of God, also. Find out the purpose of the book of Samuel and why it is categorized with the prophecies. Understand the negative cycle the Israelites went through that culminated in divine discipline to bring them back to God. Lear...
Feb 24, 2015•1 hr 7 min
What can we learn from history to help us solve the enormous problems we face in our country today? Listen to this lesson to learn that only when a period of history is based on revelation from God can it be instructive. Follow a timeline of the history of the nation, Israel, and see that they cycled from periods of spiritual truth to disobedience to God where they deteriorated into hopelessness, economic downturn, and despair. Learn that when they turned back and walked in obedience to God they...
Feb 17, 2015•1 hr 7 min
If you’ve always thought of the Bible as an obscure, pious book filled with stories of great Biblical heroes, think again. Listen to this lesson to learn about a country dominated by earthy, flawed, and sinful men, much as we have in our country today. Follow a dark period in Israel’s history and learn about three very different men, Samuel, Saul, and David. Learn about a murderous king influenced by demonism. See that as the book begins, God is working behind the scene, preparing to deliver Isr...
Feb 10, 2015•1 hr 8 min
Attention all history buffs! Get ready to begin a study of ancient history that addresses challenging events in a nation in chaos that would be right at home on our nightly news. Learn about Samuel who was a prophet, priest, and judge and why he cannot be the sole author of this book. Understand the difficulty of dating when the book was written and follow a timeline of the chronology of events that take place in it. Learn that this book was written for the Jews in Solomon’s generation as a warn...
Feb 03, 2015•59 min
