Fall Creek Christian Church

"Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights." Habakkuk 3:17-19 50 was a particularly distressing birthday. I determined to keep myself busy to not think about it. As I hurried to an appointment that morning, I neglected to pay attention to my speed. Unfortunately, an attentive state trooper did. After noting it was my birthday, he rightfully gave me my speed earned ticket. Even though the day started out rough, I decided to just be thankful I was around to have another birthday.    During Habakkuk's time as a prophet, the spiritual condition of God's people was in sad shape. He was bummed out b...

"Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I don't concern myself with matters too great for me to grasp. Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother's milk. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the Lord -- now and always." Psalm 131:1-3 "Grow up!" I remember hearing this from my sister when I was a kid. A really annoying kid. I don't know what the motivation for me was to be annoying. I just was ... a loudmouth know-it-all, selfish person with plenty of mean words. My family really couldn't wait for me to grow up. The annoying stage had worn out its welcome. David painted a powerful picture of spiritual maturity is his short Psalm. The mature are not proud. They avoid the "I'm better than you" attitude. They've set aside their futile attempts to create little boxes for God. They don't fear his immensity, they embrace ...

"This is real love -- not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression."  I John 4:10-12 Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. The cooler evenings and the changing of the leaves. Good stuff. We have a tall tree in our front yard whose leaves are some of the most brilliant orange and red I've ever seen. The colors slowly turn until one day ... Wow! They hit full expression. Driving in one evening with sunset colors hitting the glowing leaves, my wife said, "Now, it's just showing off." Jesus' best friend, John, wrote his account of Jesus' life and his letters much later than the others did. He was the only disciple to see old age. His reflections and observations from that unique perspective led ...

"The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins." I Peter 4:7-8 Being a part of a family that loves to watch movies, we fancy ourselves as armchair movie critics. We all throw out our two cents about the plot, the pace, the acting, etc, but the thumbs up or thumbs down is disproportionately dependent upon the ending. Lousy ending = Lousy movie. Endings really stick with you. Peter, who wrote our verses for the day, had an ending in mind when he wrote this particular letter. It wasn't a movie ending though. It was the end of the world. That's right. The big finish of everything. That time when tomorrows will cease. He said it's coming soon. We need to be ready for it. How? Pray. Love. Wow! If we get those two things right, a great ending lies ahead for us. Peter wrote these words 2000 years ago, but here we still are. It...

"So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw close to God and he will draw close to you... "  James 4:7-8a Our family loves to take walks in the woods. When they were too little to walk, they rode on our shoulders. As they grew, they moved up to holding our hands. Eventually, they just took off. Exploring. Searching. Climbing. Running. Pausing only for the occasional photo. We're very excited for the opportunity to repeat this journey with the next generation. In our verses for the day, James lays out a path towards spiritual maturity. It begins the moment we set our prideful selves aside. God is God. We're not. Immediately we are confronted with a relentless enemy that must be resisted and, with God's help, overcome. Then, we grab a hold of God for all we're worth and in so doing we find his grip on us tightening as well.  Humble yourself. Resist the devil. Draw close to God. When this happens...

"I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I would not have to destroy the land, but I found no one."  Ezekiel 22:30 I should have returned to the main trail much sooner. Wandering off alone in the woods is never a good idea to begin with, but there I was clinging to a rock on a narrow ledge with absolutely no where to turn. I frantically looked around. I cried out for help. No rescue 911. No SWAT helicopter. Nobody showed up. For several minutes, which felt like hours, certain doom flooded my heart and mind. The prophet Ezekiel records God's intense search for help too. He didn't help. The people of Israel did. They were piling up sin and wickedness setting the table for certain and utter destruction. God was trying to avoid executing justice. He prefers mercy and grace. However, no one was found to stand in the gap of the wall. There were no righteous peop...

"Let us hold tightly without wavering from the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:23-25 After launching back into a home Bible study after being out of one for awhile, I was powerfully reminded of the "why." There wasn't any trembling of the house or angelic appearance. There was no earth shattering revelations or seismic breakthroughs. It was just simple brothers and sisters in Jesus together time. We talked, laughed, ate, shared and prayed, but the sum total was so much more. Why? Jesus was there. Our verses today remind us that "together in Jesus" is a big deal. In God's economy, it's not optional. There are no substitutes. Kingdom advancement requires kingdom members being togeth...