Fall Creek Christian Church

"Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, 'Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.  Nothing outside a person can make them unclean by going into them.  Rather, it is what comes out of a person that makes them unclean."  Mark 7:14 - 16 While attending a martial arts class many years ago, we had some random man show up in a full ninja outfit, complete with mask and sword.  The instructor had seen him before so he wasn't too concerned.  At some point, he came back and took the instructor up on an offer to work out with him.  It turns out the man had absolutely no clue about martial arts.  He looked the part on the outside, but inside ... nothing. Jesus had a challenging time, as this passage in Mark reveals, convincing people that outward appearances of righteousness did not make a person right with God.  He continually drove people to evaluate the internal.  What's in the heart?  Is there a genuine love for God and others or ...

"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearances or his height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'"   I Samuel 16:7 As we turned down the road congested with warehouses and other industrial buildings, we began to wonder if the directions we had been given were accurate or if we had simply made a wrong turn.  In any event, nothing appeared to us like the quaint little local restaurant that had been described to us.  We called again to verify we were on the right road and were told to look carefully for a small obscure sign with the restaurant's name on it and an arrow directing us to its location.  We finally found the sign and followed the road between the buildings to a warmly lit and truly unique establishment.  It turned out to be our favorite restaurant of the whole trip.  With its uneven floors, tac...