First John

Clutter and mess show me that John’s life is being lived. In the past, he holds his breath in suspended animation while I tidy.

As an artist, John makes messes to discover who he is while widening and expanding his writing so we can experience our sense of life. Every morning, John serves us breakfast; he feeds our soul by making us shake our heads with the exactness of the truth, laugh about ourselves or life, resulting in a buoyancy restored for the new day just about to be experienced.

As real Christians he encourages us to dance and for those too timid or unable, he claps along with us. We stomp in time to the music. We laugh and cry freely about the absurdity of life. And this is far better then being squashed by the ridiculous over and over again. It’s like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can’t stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.

John’s mess is a miracle actually. His words we read each morning unfold a little bit more about us in our world; they show us what community and friendship mean; his words can sing to us, comfort and quiet or excite us; they show us how to live and die.  John’s words tell us why we are here.

I, on the other hand, came to Jesus just as I was—a foul-mouthed woman who surrendered to Him in my very own version of the sinner’s prayer, punctuated with the f-word. That’s because He told me that He loved me just the way I was but that he loved me too much to let me stay like I was.

I have a zany passion for Jesus.

To be sure – not everyone likes me. Several disagree with me on many fronts. However deeper within me than my outspoken experiences and concentrated concerns for creativity, bad hair days, and the meaning of life, is a reality that has won me many friends – a mixed bag of hilariously sustainable affections.

It is not necessarily true, that to know me is to love me, but thankfully, you will never mistaken me for John and his heart for Christians to enter and participate amongst mankind so that Christ (and not you and me) are revealed. Christians in the marketplace is what John has and always will live for regardless of his physical needs (house, insurance, vehicle, and even his son’s special school education).

I have a lot of faith. I am also afraid a lot, and have no real certainty about things. Faith can include doubt and does not necessarily entertain certainty. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns, which is where you all fit in.

As participants in the Catch and already comfortable with uncomfortable things, we look to your influence to attract and enlist others willing to consider joining an assignment in weight training for life.

I think joy and sweetness and affection are a spiritual path. We’re here to know God, to love and serve God, and to be blown away by the beauty and miracle of Him. While we need to get rid of baggage to be light enough to dance, to sing, to play, there is a responsibility to sensitivities that cannot carry grudges; there is not time to cling to the need to be right.

When God is going to do something wonderful, He starts with a hardship; when God is going to do something amazing, He starts with an impossibility.

We believe that we are on the edge of something amazing in the form of a cyberchurch and invite you to look at the following results of our research into this current phenomena, and let it inform your thinking about the Catch of the future and your giving as well.

We encourage you to cast in your line in continued support of our vision and us. Contributions are acceptable via the link below (remember you can use your own credit card if you prefer; you do not have to have a PayPal account) or via check.

All of us are born broken. Jesus Christ lives by mending us with the grace of God as if He were the glue.