Fall Creek Christian Church

“Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are defiled. Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are despicable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good."  Titus  1:15-16 I'm sure there were moments in my life growing up where my parents wish they could've denied knowing me. Moments where it would have been easier to simply say, "Nope, I have no idea whose kid that is", than to deal with the reality of my actions. I'm thankful they didn't as I'm sure my kids are glad that I've never denied them. It's a real bummer to be denied, to be disowned, for someone we care about to just walk away. Here in Paul's letter to Titus, we find out that it's possible to deny God. Here, he's not speaking about the person who says, "I don't believe in God." He's talking about the pe...

“Remember that some people lead sinful lives, and everyone knows they will be judged. But there are others whose sin will not be revealed until later. In the same way, everyone knows how much good some people do, but there are others whose good deeds won't be known until later."   I Timothy 5:24-25 I was more than a little confused when I opened the letter. It was from the city of Dayton. It contained a picture of our van, a comparative analysis of our speed and the posted speed limit and finally an invitation to send them some money to make restitution for our transgression. The inability to see the driver in the photograph has led to an ongoing debate in our home as to who was actually driving at the time. Regardless, weeks after the incident we had to face justice and send them a check.  "Later" is a very common and significant theme in the Bible. The complete fulfillment of all the promises of God are reserved for later. Paul tells Timothy in this letter that ...

“So you received the message (of Jesus) with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. As a result, you have become an example ... And the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere ... for everywhere we go we find people telling us about your faith in God ..."  I Thessalonians 1:6-8 One of my near daily prayers for my children, and myself for that matter, is that they "shine a bright light." No fading into the crowd. No  -  just like everyone else . Stand up. Stand out ... for all the right reasons. The opportunity to both influence and be influenced is there every single day. The heart of my prayer for my family is that they would be influenced by the good and that they would influence others for the better. When Paul wrote this letter to this church in Thessalonica, he marveled at their example. Everywhere he went, people were talking about this church. They were Christ ...

“So now the Lord pleads, 'Stop right where you are! Look for the old, godly way and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, 'No, that's not the road we want!'"  Jeremiah  6:16 I've made it a point recently to go for drives with no particular place to go. No time crunch. No agenda. Just open windows and radio on. I'll turn somewhere thinking, "I wonder where this road leads." Off I go to find out. I've learned that every road ends up somewhere even if it's nowhere ... as in a dead end.   Through his prophet Jeremiah, God spoke about paths and roads too. We never just end up somewhere. We've made numerous choices along the way that have taken us exactly where we are right now. God told his people that the godly way, the right path laid out by God himself is the one that leads to a rest-filled soul. Yet, we reject it. "That's not the road I want!", we say. What's the condition o...