Fall Creek Christian Church

A friend of mine shared this story with me this week: a few weeks ago he was at a large event and he saw a friend of his in a line and went up and stood right behind his friend. The friend, in the midst of several hundred other people was "Unaware" of his presence, so in typical 2012 fashion he texted his friend, and then decided to call his friend and the entire time the friend was still "Unaware" he was right behind him. Finally he reached up and tapped his friend on the shoulder and the friend was completely startled with his presence. This story really got me thinking about how often we get caught up in all that is going on and are completely "Unaware" of Gods Presence. In Genesis Jacob is startled by this as well as he didn't know that God was accessible from anywhere and Jacob even acknowledges that he wasn't even aware! I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you ...

"When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, 'Who are these?'  'They are the sons God has given me here,' Joseph said to his father.  Then Israel said, 'Bring them to me so that I may bless them.'  Now Israel's eyes were failing because of his old age, and he could hardly see.  So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.  Israel said to Joseph, 'I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.'"    Genesis 48:8-11 Fresh off another one of my bratty little fits, my dad came into my room.  I, of course, pretended not to be listening but I was.  To the best of my recollection ... "Thomas Lee Wiles ... You know you're named after ...  He ... "  I caught myself asking him a question even though I was still trying to pout.  He continued, "Yes, not only that but ... "  When he was done, he left and I laid there ...

Webster’s Definition:   Continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition Wow…I don’t know about you but that describes more than one area of my life right now and over the past few weeks I have gained great comfort in understanding that as I pray for Gods Will that his will is for me to persevere.  Let me share a great story with you on perseverance that I learned from my 14 year old daughter this week.  Over Christmas Break she had a pretty tough basketball tournament and was disappointed in how she performed.  We went to the gym later and worked on a few things and had fun hanging out.  During this time together she shared her discouragement that her shot wasn’t falling and that she hadn’t hit a “3” all season.  I tried hard to give her some sound advice such as it will fall, hang in there, but in the mean time step up and hit the open jump shots, free throws and layups.  This was intended to be encouragin...

We all have seen or have had or have been the little bratty kid who defiantly looked into some grown-up's face and said, "You aren't the boss of me!!"  My wife recently witnessed a father/daughter exchange where the 13 year old girl told her dad, "You know I always win", complete with the condescending tone.  If you are like me, even the retelling of these scenes makes you want to grab a paddle and have a short and sweet conversation with these two.  Everyone is asking, "What's wrong with these kids today?!"  Additionally, we are seeing more and more people drifting by the millions into the morass of relativism ... "If that works for you, cool, but it's not my thing."  I present to you that one of the root causes for both of these sad developments is a disrespect for authority.  It seems we human beings are born with a default to wanting to do what we want to do when we want to do it the way we want to do it.  Hmmm .. sounds a wh...

So he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what do You want me to do? Then the Lord  said to him, Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.  -  Acts 9:6 Saul (Paul) who had been persecuting the Disciples, within a matter of moments quickly had the correct response to Jesus and that was “Lord, what do You want me to do?” How many of us have looked not only to a New Year but each day and not bothered to stop and ask this question? This question changed Paul's life, and without a doubt it can change ours also. I had a very wise Elder tell me about 8 years ago that it is more important to ask all the right questions than it is to know all the right answers. As a believer in Christ could there be a more important question that we should be asking? How much different can today, tomorrow and 2012 be if we ask that question vs. asking for God to bless our plans and our decisions? What if we not only ask but that we ...

Jesus replied:  "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.    This is the first and greatest commandment.   And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself."'   Matthew 22:37-39 It is very clear that the  essence of scripture is Love.   Through Love we have a relationship with Jesus Christ and can celebrate his birthday this weekend as our Lord and Savior.  The question for us this week is, "Do our relationships mirror the scripture above?"   Love and relationships can at times be a challenging proposition for us men.  However, I haven’t found any gender exclusion in this scripture so  we were built and designed to Love.   (Psalm 139:13) A very good friend passed away this past week and I cried for the first time in I don’t know how long and it felt very manly.  I was very thankful that I had developed a good enough relationship...

"And they sang a new song: 'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.  You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.'"  Revelation 5:9-10   Worthiness   My teenage daughter asked me the other day, "Hey dad, when you first met mom were you like 'Wow, I'm so outta my league.'"  "Ouch!", I responded.  "C'mon I'm not that bad am I?"  We laughed a little bit as she truly wasn't trying to put me down.  It just came out a little awkwardly.  The truthful answer to that question however, is "Yes".  I do not think that I am worthy to be her husband.  As a matter of fact, if I understand the Bible correctly, there is only one thing that I am actually worthy of and that is hell.  Thankfully, because of Jesus, I do not h...