Fall Creek Christian Church

"... 'Aaron and Miriam!' he (God) called, and they stepped forward. And the Lord said to them,'Now listen to what I say: ... Of all my house, he (Moses) is the one I trust. ... He sees the Lord as he is. So why were you not afraid to criticize my servant Moses?' ..."  Numbers 12 As a soccer family for many years, I've seen youth sports bring out the worst in parents, including me. There is some sort of validation found in us parents whose children perform well. Likewise, there is some sort of diminishing of significance if one's child doesn't. This warped reality can lead to the most vicious and visceral criticizing imaginable. Coaches are maligned. Referees are met with screamed vitriol. Children fear the ride home from the game where they are berated for failure. They are taught to criticize teammates, coaches and referees with disdain. What ever happened to fun?  Moses' brother and sister got stuck on the criticism crazy train. The...

"... 'What is your request?' he asked. They replied, 'When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.' ... 'What do you want me to do for you?' Jesus asked. 'My Rabbi,' the blind man said, 'I want to see!'" Mark 10:35-52  There are some "asks" I wish I wouldn't have made. Likewise, there are others I wish I would have made. What about you? For example, I wish I never would have asked to take a turn trying to use a stand up paddle board. I nearly ripped off my fingernail and was stalked by a rather large and intimidating barracuda. On the other hand, I wish I would have asked someone about the wisdom of some of my financial decisions before I made them. Hmm...It's truly remarkable to consider the impact on the trajectory of our lives that our asks and non-asks have had. In our story for the day, James and John asked Jesus if they could ha...

"Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, 'Why are you arguing about having no bread?' ... 'Don't you remember anything at all? When I fed the 5000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?' 'Twelve,' they said. 'And when I fed the 4000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?' 'Seven,' they said. 'Don't you understand yet?' he asked them.'" Mark 8:17-21 It's a familiar scene in our house. The dirty dishes are in the sink and no one seems to notice except my wife. The rest of us are either oblivious to it or willfully ignoring it. After taking care of them for the millionth time, she's rightly more than a little frustrated at her unhelpful family. "What's the matter sweetheart?" I ask. "The dishes? Oh, did you want help with those?" Sometimes, actually often times, I wish I could get a word redo. The next 1...

"The Lord said to Moses: 'Give Aaron and his sons this command: These are the regulations for the burnt offering: The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar. ... The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously, it must not go out." Leviticus 6:8-13    "Do not put out the Spirit's fire." I Thessalonians 5:19 There's no way for me to calculate the number of campfires I've sat around. Even as a child, my parents had us at camp sharing wonderful fireside moments together. From then to today these fireside moments are filled with singing, praying, storytelling, laughter, tears and moments with God so all encompassing that time has no meaning. What is the common denominator to all of these thousands of moments? The fire. By light and by warmth it draws us into deep connection with God and each other. The only thing needed is to keep adding wood so it d...

"Oh what joy for those whose disobedience is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt ... Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. ... And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone." Psalm 32:1-5  I'm just barely old enough to remember people using phrases like Groovy! ,  Far out!,  and Outta sight!  My age group replaced them with Cool!  and Awesome!  I have no idea what the young people today use as equivalent expressions. Regardless, they all communicate a similar message. I like what is happening or what was just said. Throw an exclamation point on it and it means I really, really like whatever was said or done. As it turns out, people have had these types of expressions long before us. I get the feeling David was in the loop on all the latest and greatest sayings of his day. Here he uses What joy!  By using both the what  and the ! , he is over the top with jo...

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:13-14  I hadn't been much help to my team as I am a poor golfer at best. The scramble format where you use the best shot of the group is the only one in which I can contribute every now and then. This day, however, it just wasn't happening. My teammates were gracious with all my slices, hooks, and worm burners, but I was getting frustrated. With a decent amount of holes left to play, however, I was still confident I could somehow come through in the clutch. Not long after, we all yelled and cheered as my chip shot bounced and then rolled into the cup for an eagle. King David was feeling squeezed. He had opposition from within and without. Outnumbered and overwhelmed, he turned his attention to the Lord. "Don't abandon me now God!" The going was rough and he had no place left t...

  "Then Moses went back to the Lord and protested,'Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord? Why did you send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people. And you have done nothing to rescue them!'" Exodus 5:22-23  "Okay! Okay!" I said as one more prayer time had been interrupted by the Holy Spirit's conviction to take a step of faith in regards to our giving to the church. We were young, trying to juggle young children, keep up an old house and old cars all on a small single income. The thought of giving more literally took the oxygen right out of my lungs. I "argued" (code word for disobeyed) with God for a long time until I finally relented. Upon increasing our giving, our slow financial decline went into a free fall. "Seriously God! Why did you tell us to do this?!"  Have you ever been there? Moses was. In Exodus 5, any grand visions of marching in...