Fall Creek Christian Church

 "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth ... And the one sitting on the throne said,'Look, I am making everything new!' And then he said to me,'Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.'" Revelation 21:1-5 After giving our minivan a good cleaning, I noticed something just wasn't quite right. "What's missing?" I asked myself. Then it dawned on me that although it was clean, the smell was off - a few too many trips to the drive-thru. A quick inspection of the auto section of the store put me in front of any number of car air fresheners. The winner? "New Car Scent" There's nothing like new when the old has gotten really old. John was a blessed man. In Revelation, he was able to see the new before the new even was. It wasn't a new car, a new house, or a new pair of shoes. It was a new world! A new heaven. A new earth. A new everything! He reports to us that this new world is both like and completely unli...

"Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  Matthew 11:28-30 The night dragged on and on as the clock seemed to move in slow motion. I couldn't sleep, inconsolably restless over a disturbing series of events. There was an unsettling absence of a clear path. I was surrounded by a thick fog of confusion, hurt, and unanswered questions. I was looking for some serious divine intervention. Thankfully, it came. As Jesus spoke to the crowd gathered in our verses for the day, they were also lacking in the peace department. They were restless and Jesus knew it. It was a restlessness that went far deeper than one too many cups of coffee. It was soul deep. Big questions haunted them. Patterns of failure stalked them. Jesus' antidote was not a pill, a program, or a parad...

“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...

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..." Ephesians 3:21 Before the poster found its way into my son's room, it used to hang in my office. Under the picture, I wrote in marker the words, "No Limits". The poster is a frozen moment of one of Michael Jordan's many highlight reel feats. It captures him in mid-flight between the free throw line and the basket during a late 80's slam dunk competition. Needless to say, he won. The picture served as a reminder for me that the impossible is possible with God. Seriously, I'm just as likely to slam a basketball as I am to catch a bullet with my teeth or make an elephant tap out in a wrestling match. It's just not going to happen. So, to see the "impossible" expands my vision. Paul thought about limitlessness as well. He writes here that God can do infinitely more than anything that we can ask or ima...

"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...