I thank you for your ever-mounting interest as we continue building a community of what I can best describe “On This Side of Eternity” as FinderSeekers.
God knows we like to be part of something bigger than ourselves. It is a part of His thinking — His design for each of us. He created us to seek new beginnings, to ask “why,” to think, to seek, to act upon the reality and the glory of His eternal Word.
God loves it when the giver delights in the giving. (2 Corinthians 9:7 MSG)
It is very clear, in all the biblical teachings on giving, that God doesn’t want gifts that are begrudgingly given. He doesn’t want pain in my heart as I give. He wants joy. In fact, if that which is brought is brought reluctantly, God would rather not see it. After all, He already owns all things anyway, so God is actually more concerned with what the gift does to us than anything it will address in the real world. It’s not like we have to give God a helping hand poor God out here. He doesn’t need it; we need it. We need to give. God is seeking our joy. He knows all about the joy of giving; He wants us to know it, too. Give, or shrivel up in selfishness.
We are living in a time of unprecedented fear and instability when news from any source is mostly bad. Outrage is the norm. You’ve got people talking vaguely about dark corners and deep shadows and everyone seems to know what they’re talking about. People are afraid. Kindness is in short supply. Bullies are everywhere. Some are expecting the worst. Everyone’s guard is up. It seems as if you have to be mean-spirited in order to get by.
NO LONGER DRIVING THE DISTANCE: The first thing I noticed was that the contribution was an odd number. ($___.32) Most contributions come in as whole numbers ($000.00). And then I saw a strange note attached to the record that read: “gasoline & pet care savings.” I first wondered if there was some mistake, and I had received a payment intended for another website. But then I received an email from the contributor with a clearer explanation. As it turns out, this Catch citizen had actually benefitted financially from the lifestyle changes caused by the coronavirus shutdown. In the habit of doing volunteer work regularly a number of miles from home, she was no longer driving the distance nor was she having to pay for pet sitting for her dog while she was gone. So she decided to calculate how much she would have spent on gasoline and pet care since March, and share the savings with the Catch Ministry. How about that? Who would have thought of that? But now that we all have, maybe something like that might work for you? You never know.
The Catch Ministry was launched in 2012 by five early members of the Vanguard who led the way for us into a new idea — a new form of worship — a cyber-church. Recognizing congregations all over the world were going to outgrow current facilities, they purchased “acreage” in cyber space. Many wondered why they would purchase property way out here.
No one is wondering now.
We’re all in this together
When we reach
We can fly
Know inside
We can make it
We’re all in this together
Once we see
Theres a chance
That we have
And we take it
Here at the Catch Ministry, we’ve taken a chance on virtual relationships and found out that virtual relationships are real relationships. We have a growing family, not just representing numbers in a data bank, but brothers and sisters with hearts and souls, joys and sorrows. We’ve been walking with each other — some of us going back as many as eight years to the beginning of the Catch Ministry as a cyber-church — and we have found we are friends; we are family; we are the body of Christ, and we are all in this together.
Having some fun. We Hope you enjoy this video. We also hope you will consider making a donation to the Catch. In addition to this daily message, we operate in 143 countries planting churches and nurturing ministries, we have our church at the Catch and International Bible Study live meetings, provide counseling services, operate Music that Matters radio, and publish The Catch Online Magazine. Join us as we grow into 2021.
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
These are truly the most comforting words I can think of right now, and I offer them to you for your consideration. One of the many names for Christ the Messiah given by the prophet Isaiah is Immanuel or “God with us.” From the beginning it was His design. We were created for fellowship. That’s why we are in His image; so we can communicate and understand each other. God wants to talk to you. He wants you to talk to Him. Continue reading
Why we chose High School Musical to be the go-to movie for our current campaign:
1. If you read into it, the song, “We’re All In This Together,” is like a celebration of the body of Christ. Just take these lyrics as a case in point: Everyone is special in their own way/We make each other strong/We’re not the same/We’re different in a good way/Together’s where we belong. Compare that to Romans 12:4-5. “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” We’re all different — we have different gifts — but we’re together and we belong to each other. That sense of belonging is huge. And by using our gifts in serving one another we make each other strong through the Holy Spirit.
John Fischer The Catch 