Fall Creek Christian Church

"No dear friends, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven." Philippians 3:13-14 In a conversation recently, the theme of skeletons in the closet came up. It was dawning on this person that a great deal of life had been lived by others before they were around. We acknowledged the reality that everyone has made choices they wish they could "unchoose." I do. Ugly choices. Hurtful choices. We decided, once properly addressed, there are old bones that don't need to be rattled anymore.  Confession, repentance, forgiveness, and restitution are the appropriate Biblical responses to our moral failures. Once these response have been taken, Paul calls all Jesus followers to a new focus: Look Forward. In the newness of grace, the past ...

"So now the Lord says, 'I will bring disaster on you (King Ahab) and consume you ... for you have made me very angry and have led Israel into sin.' ... But when Ahab heard this message, he tore his clothing, dressed in burlap, and fasted. He even slept in burlap and went about in deep mourning."  I Kings 21:21,27 There are regrets and then there are deep regrets. Deep regrets haunt us. We don't want to think about them, talk about them or even remember they ever existed. Normal regrets are bad enough, but the deep regrets leave us wondering if forgiveness is truly possible. Something inside of us crumbles at the sight of the devastation caused by choices we've made. Is there any hope?  King Ahab was a mess. His rebellion against God was thorough and unending. He worshiped idols. He stole. He murdered. He encouraged his people to turn away from God. His wife Jezebel was right there to fuel his rebellion against God. Along came God's prophet to ...

“I, the Lord, was very angry with your ancestors. Therefore, say to the people, 'This is what the Lord Almighty says: Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord Almighty."  Zechariah 1:2-3 Having watched my children play soccer for many years, it took them a long time to learn that sometimes they needed to return the ball to the back in order for it to go forward. It's counter-intuitive, but critical to changing the point of attack to exploit the weaknesses of an opponent.   In our verses for the day, God let the people know they had some returning to do. Before they could move forward as a nation, they had to go back and return to the one they had left. They had to own their past mistakes, look hard into the mirror of reality and then come clean before God.  Returning can be an extremely tough proposition. It typically involves apologies, restitution and a large helping of humble pie. Are there any places you need to return to? It may be that your next breakth...

"And so the Lord says, 'These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away ..." Is. 29:13 As parents, my wife and I try our best, failing often to be sure, to do the right thing to prepare our kids for a future out from under our roof. When they were little, we would often repeat a scene certainly familiar to you that looked something like this ... An offense against a sibling was committed. The offended sibling cried or yelled or simply just tattled. The offender presented a defense that almost always broke down under cross-examination. The offender was then properly chastised and instructed to apologize to the offended sibling for their offense. The words, "I'm sorry" passed through their lips, but tone and body language revealed their insincerity, never mind the fact that they normally did the same thing again the next day. In the Bible verse for today, God calls out his people for the insincerity of th...

"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you -- even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets." Acts 3:19-21 With the dust so thick and the temperature so high, I was beginning to doubt that we would make it out of that barn alive. However, after hours of loading wagons and stacking hay bales, the field was cleared. The dust covered us from head to toe. Our arms stung from all the scratches earned by heaving the bales high onto the wagon and into the upper recesses of the barn rafters. We made our way out of the barn as the dust descended upon us like a light snow. The relief of the fresh air was quickly overcome by the scorching sun beating down upon us. There was only one thing on our minds. Water. To say we were sweaty and thirsty woul...