Fall Creek Christian Church

"As the deer pants for streams of living water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God." Psalm 42:1-2 After a long hard day of yard work in the heat, I simply cannot wait for those first gulps of ice cold water. When my stomach is growling and it's mid-afternoon, the taste of that hold-me-over candy bar is indescribably satisfying. After being separated from my wife for a few days, the aching in my arms and heart for her can only be eased with a long embrace. We all understand longing, thirsting, and desiring something so bad that, simply put, it just hurts. In our verses for the day, David introduces us to the longing of all longings - the longing for God. In the deepest part of our soul, there is a reality that we either embrace or attempt to erase. That reality is that we have been made by God and for God and until we understand that, life just won't make sense. The longing for God is the greatest longing that we have. Whether we re...

"If you keep your mouth shut, you will stay out of trouble." Proverbs 21:23 As a young pastor, I seemed to find myself in awkward conversations more often then I care to admit. Upon introducing myself to a guest one Sunday morning, I noted who she was with and then turned back to her and asked, "Are you her mom?" After a shriek of horror, she let me know that they were sisters. I attempted to apologize, but was rebuffed most severely. My foot was firmly entrenched in my mouth and there was no escape. She left with great anger and disgust never to visit again. Yikes! I felt horrible. Thankfully, those moments are decreasing with age and experience, but every once in awhile I still visit the terrible land of Foot-In-Mouth. In our verse for the day, the Bible is so completely clear and concise in regards to our words. Just keep your mouth shut. Ponder this question for awhile, "How different would your marriage be, your family be, your workplace, yo...

"And the Levites, too, quieted the people, telling them, 'Hush! Don't weep! For this is a sacred day.' So the people went away to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food, and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God's words and understood them." Nehemiah 8:11-12 Over the last several years, my level of attention and appreciation for that moment of reflection and respect during the national anthem has grown tremendously. Sure, part of it is just that natural maturing with time. However, I believe it has much more to do with the people that I've met who in some profound way have been shaped by sacrifice and duty for their country. It doesn't take too many conversations with veterans and/or active duty military personnel and their families to begin to appreciate the price of our freedoms. In our scripture today, we see God's people re-encountering his word. As the Book of the Law was opened, all the people rose...

Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they immediately began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord. They did this each morning and evening." Ezra 3:3 At some point in our lives, most of us have experienced the grief of bullying either personally or through the eyes of someone we love. Bullying is an egregious attempt on someone's part to elevate themselves or their agenda at the expense of someone else's dignity or efforts. It is horrible through and through. As a grade school kid, I was pretty excited when the local paper boy said that he would pay me to deliver the paper route for him from time to time. I honored my half of the bargain only to discover later that he had no intention of honoring his. He was quite a bit older and bigger than me and I was afraid of him. I had a choice to make. I could either keep being used or I could stand up to him and tell him that I wasn't ...

And when trouble came to King Ahaz, he became even more unfaithful to the Lord. He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus who had defeated him, for he said, 'These gods helped the kings of Aram, so they will help me, too, if I sacrifice to them.' But instead, they led to his ruin and the ruin of all Israel." II Chronicles 28:22-23 After about the fourth or fifth pop rivet that tore away from the metal I was working with, I finally concluded that pop rivets just might not be the solution to my problem. I know, I know ... I'm a genius. One attempt wasn't enough. Not 2, Not 3, Not 4 ... You've been here before haven't you? The billion dollar question for the day is ... Why is it, after proving an idea to be bad, do we continue to try it thinking that the outcomes will be different the next time. If I only give it more time, more energy and more resources, it will finally work. So ... we pour more money into a sinking business. We stick with rel...