Fall Creek Christian Church

“Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he gave them a deliverer----Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite.  The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab."  Judges 3:15 As my car spun out of control on the snowy highway, all I could do was wait for it to stop.  Neither braking nor turning the steering wheel made any difference whatsoever.  We came to a stop in the plowed snow on the  other  side of the highway just as the oncoming traffic blew by.  What could have been our last day on earth instead became a simple phone call to get towed out.  The difference between those two outcomes?  Timing.  A second earlier, a second later ... disaster.  Fundamentally, timing involves two things - people and circumstances.  Consider your introduction to your spouse.  Two people at the same place at the same time who happened to be predisposed to being attracted to each o...

Definitions to consider: a network of friends, colleagues, and other personal contacts: Strong social networks can  encourage healthy behaviors. an online community of people with a common interest who use a Web site or other technologies to communicate with each other and share information I spent a day this month in a meeting learning about social media as part of being on a task force for our  company. The above definitions really got my attention especially some of the key words above such as  “Encourage Healthy Behaviors” and a “Community of People.” About 4 hours into our meeting it hit me that the really cool piece of this online community is that  most people don’t have a clue about what anyone looks like or what they use to be known as in the  community etc, so you guessed it the prejudices that are unfortunately built into us from a young age  don’t exist. We just simply connect with people based on common interests, and sharing...

"Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go ... for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:7,9b Whether we can readily articulate it or not, we all have a list of desires for our children. At times, this list can be too long, too demanding, too unrealistic, and in all honesty, too important. Many a child has been crushed under the weight of their parents' expectations. I've had to come face to face with some wrong-headed desires I've had for my children more often then I care to admit. On paper, the desires seem reasonable and even responsible. However, regardless of whether or not the problem is intrinsic to the desire or whether it's in the communication of said desire, the results are often times ... bad. Hurt feelings, mistrust, and questioned love are a few of the examples of bad resul...

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?'  The expert in the law replied, 'The one who had mercy on him.'  Jesus told him, 'Go and do likewise.'" -  Luke 10:36-37 Our home group Bible study had just finished dinner and we were beginning to settle in for a time of sharing, prayer, and study.  It was a beautiful evening and the kids were out playing.  Our neighbors were walking dogs, doing yard work or just sitting on their porches enjoying the sunset.  It was one of those Norman Rockwell moments - Americana at its finest.  Our conversation inside was lively and warm as we listened to each other's life updates and reflected on some thought provoking Bible verses.  About that time, the once distant sound of lawn mowing began to grow louder and louder.  It sounded like it was just outside the window.  The eyes of the group members told me immediately that it was...

This is the time of year that is we often hear people start to talk in terms of this Spring Cleaning Attitude that they are getting into, and this means something different for everyone. The Garage is the place that we typically tackle with this Spring Cleaning attitude.  We remove all the items, sweep it out, empty the shelves and dust them off and next comes the fun.  We play with things we had forgotten were there and then discuss what is still in good shape that we don’t need that someone else could use and if we know someone specific or if we should donate it.  The next step is more difficult and that is we discuss what needs to be disposed of because for whatever reason it doesn’t have a place in our life any longer. In surveying the garage last night I started to take mental notes of items that might fall into that last category and then occurred to me that that this Spring Cleaning Attitude fits right in line with Matthew 12: 43-45. "When an impure spir...

"I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Luke 3:16 On a regular basis in my home, my beautiful wife generates quite the extensive "to-do" list. The list includes cleaning bathrooms, laundry, fix-its, vacuuming, dusting, yard chores, light bulb changes ... well, you get the picture. For any one person, it would be a formidable list, to say the least. Mercifully, however, one person is never charged with the whole list. We all get our own list. The alphabetized sub-categories are cleanly divided between the familial labor force. We all moan and groan equally. Yet, at the end of the day, we are all thankful for at least three things: none of us had to do the entire list, the house is clean, and mama's happy. John the Baptist had a job to do. He was preparing the path for Jesus. He cleared out the overgrown vegetation...

This is the time of year when whether you are an NCAA basketball fan or not you are going to hear about basketball.  If you are a fan, then you have no doubt been working through your bracket, trying to figure out who is going to win each game and ultimately win the National Championship. You are truly excited that March Madness has arrived.  I will admit that this is a fun time of year for me as I really enjoy college basketball.  This many quality games back to back is just a lot of fun to watch and enjoy with friends and family.  Sunday, after the selection show, I was watching all the commentary regarding the brackets from quite a few individuals with a great deal of knowledge about these teams.  It really struck me how they all put their personal spin on what team would eventually be the National Champion.  It seemed funny that they all had the same information, the same teams, and yet, they each put th...