Fall Creek Christian Church

"Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. But now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he made the universe and everything in it. The Son reflects God's own glory, and everything about him represents God exactly. He sustains the universe by the mighty power of his command. After he died to cleanse us from the stain of sin, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God of heaven." Hebrews 1:1-3 As a point of confession, there are many times where I come up dreadfully short in the listening department. As a point of example, there are occasions when my wife communicate

"... I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return." II Timothy 1:12 On a regular basis, I meet with my financial adviser. Given the not so bigness of the finances under discussion, our conversations are pretty short and sweet. We make sure my life insurance coverage is at the appropriate levels and that the funds I'm invested in are returning what we need them to in order to reach our retirement goals, etc. It's all pretty typical planning, implementing, and monitoring type activity. Mostly, we just enjoy each other's company and catch up with what's happening with our families. If, however, someone were to ask me, "Why are you working with him?" It would come down to a three word answer, "I trust him." Fundamentally, I trust him because I know him. I don't believe for a second that he would do anything to harm my family or me. Trust is a big

"Then he said to them, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet forfeit his very self?  Luke 9:23-25 I keep this quote taped on my bookshelf: "Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter."  It reminds me to ask myself some very important questions when making decisions and setting priorities.  Is this decision about God's Kingdom or is it about my little kingdom?  Do my priorities reflect Biblical values or do they reflect my personal preferences?  I often ponder how terrible it would be to come to the end of my days and then realize that my life didn't matter.  The older I get, the more acutely aware I become of the fact that my days are numbered.  I want them to count for something

"Tell Archippus: 'See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.'" Colossians 4:17 As I rounded the second turn, it occurred to me that I was not only in last place, but I was in last place by a lot. My fragile little 8th grade ego was not prepared to face the humiliation of such an embarrassing defeat. So, I simply just walked off the track unnoticed as I was so far behind. At a meet later in the year, another slow sap got picked to run the same race and found himself in the same dust eating place I had been. However, instead of quitting, he tightened his jaw and gave it all that he had. To my surprise, no one made fun of him. No insults or slow jokes. Instead, they cheered. I cheered! Not a little ho-hum cheer; I mean we yelled at the top of our lungs. He was the only one left on the track and we cheered for him more than the kid who won. Hmm ... it seems perseverance and courage moves even the junior high crowd. In our verse for

"Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. But those who desert him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you. But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do." Psalm 73:25-28 Not too long ago, I had the privilege of sharing a cup of coffee and some riveting conversation with one of our WWII heroes. As a Marine, he fought in the Pacific theater from one island to the other in brutal, close contact, jungle warfare. In one fight, his position was being overrun with all, except him, being killed. He stood firing his machine gun into the charging enemy waiting for his turn to die. At the very last moment, he was rescued by another nearby unit who had flanked the charging enemy and killed them before their bullets or their bay