Fall Creek Christian Church

"That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision.  Then Daniel praised the God of heaven, saying, 'Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he alone has all wisdom and power.  He determines the course of world events; he removes kings and sets others on the throne.  He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars.'"  Daniel  2:19-21 I like to keep tabs on current events.  It's no fun being the last to know.  However, I treat current events much the same way I treat my speedometer when I'm driving.   I glance at it every once in awhile, but I don't dwell on it.  The greater issue is the road in front of me, namely that I remain on it.  So, that's where I focus. Daniel had quite a ride with God during his turn on the earth.  He served in the circle of the powerful.  He walked with the great kings of Babylon, but never once did he lose sight of the Greater.  He knew those sitting on their thrones were t...

"When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.'  For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.  Then, after desire has been conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."     James 1:13-15 I really really enjoy fishing or more accurately - catching.  If I stop catching, I'm done fishing.  I know the fishing purist might find that attitude mildly offensive, but I'm just being honest.  If I find a fishing lure that works, meaning it successfully tempts fish to bite it, I'll use it all day.  I don't need to experiment.  When it comes to fishing and lures, I am an incurable pragmatist. In our verses for the day, James has some insights about temptation as well.  First, it's not from God.  Nope, it's an internal matter.  Within each of our hearts are desires that are incurably...

"What is faith?  It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.  It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.  God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith.  By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen."    Hebrews 11:1-3  Promises are a big deal.  I've made quite a few of them in my life.  My intentions were good and sincere when I made most of them.  I didn't want to let my wife down, my child down, my co-worker down, my friend down, my family down, my church down, but on occasion I have.  Unforeseen circumstances, human limitations, failure to think before speaking, and dissipating motivation have steam-rolled my best intentions.  The net result is I feel awful and their faith in me is shaken.  Promises are a big deal. God makes promises too.  To date, he's batting a...

"Son of man, you live among rebels, who could see the truth if they wanted to, but they don't want to.  They could hear me if they would listen, but they won't listen because they are rebellious."  Ezekiel 12:2  Every once in awhile, I'll hear this sound coming from somewhere way in the distance accompanied by a fuzzy image of someone's face.  After a few moments of intense investigation, I'll realize that the sound is the voice of the person sitting or standing nearby who is also the owner of the fuzzy face that I can now see clearly.  It's not that my senses are fading in and out, it's more a function of my will choosing to disengage.  It's amazing how often this phenomena occurs during a football game... God spoke to Ezekiel about the people's attention problem.  Their problem wasn't a simple distraction.  It was rebellion.  Truth was right in front of them, but they wouldn't look at it.  The words of life were ringing in their e...