Fall Creek Christian Church

"The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him.  Nahum 1:7 "He's stuck!!" shouted one of the guys. Our little afternoon spelunking adventure had just taken an unwanted turn. One of our guys had gotten wedged between two rock outcroppings. All the pushing and pulling we could muster failed to liberate him. Fear and even panic began to creep into our bones. Nudged by the Holy Spirit to pray, we cried to God who mercifully directed us to a different ledge that provided just the leverage we needed to get him out.  Nahum lived among a beaten down and discouraged group of people. The Assyrians, specifically those in the powerful city of Nineveh, had traumatized and brutalized the people of Israel over and over again. No end was in sight. Nahum came to tell them that the oppression they lived under was coming to an end. God told them, "I will break the yoke of bondage from your neck and tear off the chains of oppression....

"That is why the Lord says, 'Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don't tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.' Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. he is eager to relent and not punish." Joel 2:12-13  "Road Closed - Local Traffic Only," said the sign. I looked down the road and I didn't see any construction barrels or cones. No trucks. Nothing. I'm not a huge fan of detours, so I kept plowing ahead. After a few miles, I was feeling really great about my decision to stay the course. Past one more neighborhood then one more turn ... "Yikes!" Bridge out, trucks, construction workers, barrels ... A necessary u-turn back to the right track.    The prophet Joel, consistent with God's other prophets, was a straight shooter. The people of Israel were headed the wro...

"Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God." I John 3:18-20  Even before we were able to say it, "Mine!" was a passionate part of our lives. My kids growing up were quick to inform others whose toy that belonged to, whose clothes those were the other one was wearing or whose room we were standing in. Sometimes, it fell on me to bring the whining to an end by simply removing the item of contention and saying, "Mine." In his letter Jesus' best friend, John, was concerned about ownership as well. It wasn't the owning of things he had in view, but rather who had ownership of us. Who do we belong to? This Apostle of Jesus refused to make his message gray. He proclaimed we belong to one of two individuals, Jesus or the devil. He then added that the ownership of Jesus is revealed by a li...