Well I’ve been up most the night trying to figure out what to tell you. Many of you have responded to our recent requests for funds quite generously and we are excited about that and so grateful, and yet we still face home-threatening issues. It’s a little like Chandler and his downhill skateboard. In the picture, it looks like he’s done, but you know that in no time, he’ll be altering this design for something else. Good work is never done; you just figure out how to do it better.
So we are sticking with our request for contributions knowing also that not everyone sees every email. So we appreciate the patience of those who have gone before.
Some of you are doing more; now we need more of you to do some.
The Catch had grown from a daily devotional into an online community, to that place where it hovers at the edge of viability as a “real” (rather than an “I-just-can’t-help-doing-this”) ministry. We simply cannot do other than to do everything to continue with this and do what needs to be done to pursue all his avenues of ministry and meet all our responsibilities.
Remember, we’re not there yet. The Catch is a prototype, not a stereotype, and we are still in the building stage. Come build with us; these are important days in the lives of many on the fringes. Many are seeking truth, but do not wish to identify with the popular version of Christianity that is commonly portrayed in the public arena. We are filling an important gap and we need you.
Blessings to all, and thank you in advance for your kindness.
John Fischer The Catch 
dear John
this may not be helpful but …… it might be that the Lord wants to keep it (and you) in the “building stage” because he wants you to stay dependant on Him. It might be about integrity and risk …. not necessarily helpful and certainly not comfortable but consistent with the Way.
He will bless you and Marti and Chandler and everyone of those others looking to you for support – hang on in there.
God bless you all
Sandra
John, I appreciate what you’re doing & wish that I could contribute again. Alas, we’re in the same boat – both with the home-threatening status & with being stuck in the building-a-ministry stage.
I pray for God’s peace & provision…
This is a really good question for discussion. I say that because this is exactly where I’ve been for the past two years.
All thru Scripture we see God’s promises to meet our needs. That doesn’t mean that we can be lazy and expect God to give us everything we want.
But when we’re working hard, and the income isn’t coming in, it causes us to wonder if we’re really doing what God wants. And of course, we wonder where is God.
And how often have we heard someone say, “If you just tithe, your storehouses will be full.” Doesn’t that reveal that we view God as being a sugar-daddy who must do exactly what we want?
And what if the income is short of our need, and tithing takes food off of the table, and you’ve already lost the house and the table?
Jesus said that the woman who gave her last two pennies, gave more than others who gave a bit out of their wealth. We aren’t told if the woman received everything she needed or not.
What do we do when everything is stripped away and our faith in God is all that’s left?
Hello John and Marti,
I am grateful to have found this ministry online. It has helped and continues to help me “shed” many unhealthy things that I learned about how to follow Christ and for that I’m grateful. I’m interested in helping by way of the $5.00/ PayPal. How do I help in this way? Thanks! Blessings to you, your needs and family.
Hello John and Marti!
I too am grateful for your ministry and your transparency. I don’t always understand what God is doing in my own life and the lives of those I love. I do know I can trust him. HIs heart toward us is good.
Many of your readers can’t afford even $5/month, and for some, it’s a budget decision. And for some of your readers, $100/month or perhaps $1000/month is not a budget decision – meaning that giving at that level doesn’t require sacrifice.
I have asked Jesus what he wants me to do to help you, and he told me to commit to $200/month. I encourage all your readers to ask Jesus the same question.
One other thought. You two were surely named John and Marti by your parents, like most of us. God, however, does not have a parent. He named himself. The names he chooses for himself are meant to reveal who he is to us. He has many names. One of my favorites for Jesus is in Revelation 19. In John’s vision of heaven, he saw Jesus as a conqueror on a white horse named “Faithful and True.”
Jesus IS Faithful and True. He has always been Faithful and True. He will always be Faithful and True. Try addressing him as “Faithful and True.” It must please him because it is one of the names he chose to describe himself.