Fall Creek Christian Church

Jesus replied:  "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.    This is the first and greatest commandment.   And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself."'   Matthew 22:37-39 It is very clear that the  essence of scripture is Love.   Through Love we have a relationship with Jesus Christ and can celebrate his birthday this weekend as our Lord and Savior.  The question for us this week is, "Do our relationships mirror the scripture above?"   Love and relationships can at times be a challenging proposition for us men.  However, I haven’t found any gender exclusion in this scripture so  we were built and designed to Love.   (Psalm 139:13) A very good friend passed away this past week and I cried for the first time in I don’t know how long and it felt very manly.  I was very thankful that I had developed a good enough relationship with another man that I could honestly say I loved him and wo

"And they sang a new song: 'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.  You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.'"  Revelation 5:9-10   Worthiness   My teenage daughter asked me the other day, "Hey dad, when you first met mom were you like 'Wow, I'm so outta my league.'"  "Ouch!", I responded.  "C'mon I'm not that bad am I?"  We laughed a little bit as she truly wasn't trying to put me down.  It just came out a little awkwardly.  The truthful answer to that question however, is "Yes".  I do not think that I am worthy to be her husband.  As a matter of fact, if I understand the Bible correctly, there is only one thing that I am actually worthy of and that is hell.  Thankfully, because of Jesus, I do not h

This morning as I sat down to pray about what challenges were in my life right now and searching for Gods word to  help direct me, I found myself being drawn towards the following: Needing to be still and remove the busyness of life and focus on prayer and true Quiet time with God. (Jesus Example of this in Mark 1:35) Needing to take that same approach with my family and quite frankly was just a little disappointed in how busy I was feeling. The Christmas Season is great time for Satan to distract us and keep us so busy that we distance ourselves from  the very relationship for the season. The newsletter below, from Jon Gordon, hit my inbox today at 9:30 AM and it was so on target with where God  was leading me that I wanted to send it as written. Enjoy, Matthew Likens -- Sharp Knives...and focusing on what matters most! I was speaking to the employees of a hotel/resort the other day and the head chef shared a comment that really  stuck with me. "Yep, I'm a

"This is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN    This is what these words mean:  Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.  Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.  Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."   Daniel 5:25-28   Judgment As the words of condemnation rumbled through my soul like a tidal wave, I found myself drowning in a sea of negative emotions ... anger, shame, regret, bitterness, guilt, and even malice if I am going to be completely honest.  After all, who are they to judge me?!  The intensity of emotional disturbance in times of personal assault can be completely consuming and paralyzing.  It is only by God's grace that we can navigate our way through to health and perspective.  We have all had people who, for whatever reason, felt the need to express their disappoinment with us.  On their grading card of self-righteousness, we flunked out.  Mo

How come we get so excited or defeated and let our emotions get so wrapped up in sports and outcomes of how our favorite teams do? I have been a long time Colts fan (1984) and this season has been discouraging but really how come we get so frustrated?  This weekend was a nice break I admit that as they didn’t lose, of course they didn’t play however my Boilers did manage to provide me a football loss and mens basketball loss just to make sure I didn’t forget that feeling of defeat. If you haven’t picked up on it yet, I have been laughing at myself that I actually think of these things and that a win can make me jump off the coach and throw my hands in the air and a loss can aggravate us and put us in a bad mood.  It disappoints me in what will make me jump up off the coach or out of my seat and raise my hands in victory about or should I say in what I don’t jump out of my seat and raise my hands in VICTORY FOR. 1 Corinthians 15:57 "But thanks be to God! He gives us the vict

"At that time, his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, 'Once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.'  The words, 'once more' indicate the removing of what can be shaken -- that is, created things -- so that what cannot be shaken may remain.  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'"      Hebrews 12:26-29    Unshaken I have a family of amusement park junkies.  It is simply not possible to satisfy their thirst for wild rides.  The faster, the twistier, the crazier, the better.  Their favorite time of the day is right about closing time when the crowd has thinned out enough for them to ride the rides over and over and over again.  Me ... not so much.  Motion sickness has relegated me to the cheering fan leaning on the fence as they fly by upside down "just one more time"

Lately the TV shows that I used to watch as a kid have been on my mind and I have found myself looking for clips from some of them on YouTube just to take that little walk down memory lane. The one that I continually find myself talking about is the SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN as Steve Austin was just so cool to me and I can remember needing to be home every Sunday night in time to see it as there wasn’t a way to record the show if you missed it then you had to wait for re-runs.  For those of you who are like "what show is he talking about?" please click this link: http://youtu.be/HofoK_QQxGc watch and then finish up reading. :) What was it about Steve Austin that made me love that show so much and run around the house pretending to be Steve Austin?  Was it the cool sound that came on when he was running, jumping, throwing something with is bionic arm?   I think it was the fact that he looked like an average guy that had some bad luck (accident as an astronaut) and

A few weeks ago I was taking my 10 ten year old (Madison) to a friend’s house to play and within a few minutes of our drive she said “Dad I’m confused about something”.  I quickly turned down the radio and prepared myself to take this Dad opportunity on and solve this dilemma for her and clear things up and since she started this conversation as we were turning past the Church I was ready for a spiritual discussion, should that be where this discussion is heading.  With the radio down I said “what’s confusing you?”  She replied with “I don’t understand how to know when you are suppose to use a turn signal.”  I quickly replied with “every time you turn or pass another vehicle...uhh….did I not use one back there?”  She with full honesty continued with “no and lots of times I notice you don’t and then sometimes you do”.  I quickly replied with a lot of humility “thank you for asking that question and I am sorry that I confused you and this conversation has reminded me that I need to

"If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you."   Proverbs 25:21-22   Enemy.  That's a very strong word.  I have been made fun of and have been made to look bad in the eyes of others.  I have had people smile to my face and then seize the first moment do me wrong in some way.  Not very nice behavior to be sure, but "enemy"?  I listen to the stories of veterans as well as active duty military and I hear about enemies - prepared to kill you enemies.  I read stories of those suffering political, racial, ethnic, or religious persecution.  They know enemies.  I recently read of three Christians who, just a few years ago, were systematically butchered in Turkey by Islamic terrorists for nearly three hours before authorities were alerted and intervened.  They knew enemies.  After reading their story, I was filled with anger and imagin

"Make it your ambition to a lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."    I Thessalonians 4:11-12   In visiting with a friend recently, he found himself in the all too familiar story of a company making cutbacks.  Rumors.  Phone calls.  Anxiety.  Painful waiting.  All these experiences and emotions swirled around his life and heart as his livelihood was on the line.  As the cutbacks rolled out, people began to call and ask if he was let go as well.  After an agonizing weekend of waiting, he finally called his boss and asked if he still had a job.  The answer was "yes".  After additional conversations, he found out why.  As it turns out, those in charge had been taking careful notice of the performance and attitude of their employees.  He had distinguished himself as the one who made the fewest mistakes

"...that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,..."  Colossians 1:10   I will always remember the first time that I saw my wife walking through the dorm courtyard.  I thought, "Wow, she is someone I definitely need to get to know."  From then on, I looked for every opportunity to "run" into her.  The guys on my dorm floor had noticed her as well, so I had plenty of help keeping track of her even though they didn't know that they were a part of my wishful thinking at the time.  Thankfully, the moment finally arrived, where I was able to engage her in conversation and she became even more attractive to me.  I used every excuse that I could come up with to spend time with her in order to grow in the knowledge of and the love for her.  These 25 plus years of being in relationship with her, including dating and marriage, have ever deepened my love and c

"...for it is light that makes everything visible.  This is why it is said: 'Wake up O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.'  Be very careful, then, how you live-- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is."  Ephesians 5:14-17   Some people are morning people.  Some are not.  As we get older, responsibility and obligations do not not allow us to stay in our particular niche, but kids and teens, however, simply can't hide it.  I have two children who are night owls ... who, subsequently, are not morning people.  In their world, mornings are pure torture.  They are nothing short of angry if they have to get up before noon.  They despise being woken up and have no problem communicating that fact.  Whichever parent is charged with the unenviable task of waking them up is quick to receive barbed objections from the disgr

"For you, dear friends have been called to live in freedom--not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love.  For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'   But instead of showing love among yourselves you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out!  Beware of destroying one another.  Galatians 5:13-15 "Ouch!!", was all I could say.  It was a subconscious response to the wound that I had just received.  In this instance, however, it was not a hammer to my thumb, nor was it a stubbed toe on the dresser.  It was an attempt of a friend to be funny that went wrong.  Later, when we were by ourselves, I told them that I knew they didn't intend to hurt me, but that the words they spoke really stung.  They knew that and were very apologetic and both us are careful these days to speak well to and about each other.  There are times though when the challenging moments do n

Gentlemen! ANNOUNCEMENTS:   Men's Breakfast /Bible Study / Wednesday Mornings / 6:30am - 7:30am / Burger King at Hwy 38 and I 69 Men's Basketball / Thursday Nights / 8:30 - 10:00pm Men's Bent Club Classic / Sunday, September 25 / $35 / Kilbuck Golf Course / 1:30pm Good to see everyone signing up at church for the event!  Be sure to do so over the next two weeks if you haven't yet.  Also, be sure to sign up any friends that you are bringing with you.  We want to do our best to create the teams before that day.  ESPN coverage begins at 1pm with interviews and behind the scenes human interest stories. :0) "The Lord Almighty has sworn, 'Surely, as I have planned so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen.  I will crush the Assyrian in my land; on my mountains I will trample him down.  His yoke will be taken from my people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.'  This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretch