John Fischer The Catch

Making God sad?

Posted on May 13, 2020 by jwfisch

Jesus loves me, this I know,

“… and in the in-between time …”

For the Bible tells me so.

Little ones to Him belong;

They are weak but He is strong.

Jesus loves me—loves me still,

Though I’m very weak and ill;

From his shining throne on high,

Comes to watch me where I lie.

Jesus loves me—he will stay,

Close beside me all the way.

Then his little child will take,

Up to heaven for his dear sake.

The children’s song, Jesus Loves Me, has had a roundabout history. The lyrics, printed above, are a poem by Anna Bartlett Warner that was included in a novel by her sister, Susan Warner, published in 1860. The reason the other two verses are so moribund is that in the story, the poem was written to comfort a dying child. Not exactly what you want children singing in children’s church.

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Posted in forgiveness, God's love, grace, Old/New Covenants, parenting | Tagged forgiveness, God's love, grace, new covenant | 11 Comments

Yes, Jesus loves me

Posted on May 12, 2020 by jwfisch

Jesus love me this I know

For the Bible tells me so

Little ones to Him belong

They are weak but He is strong

Marti tells me this is the first song she remembers me singing. It was before we met, and I was singing at a church she attended only because she was dating the pastor’s son. Ironically, the son was taking a bit of vacation from the Lord at the time, but that didn’t stop the Lord from using his library, his dad, and other Christians in his circle to bring her to faith and set her off on a solid track of discipleship. I always love that story because it so clearly indicates who leads us to the Lord. The Lord does, and He can use anybody and anything.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

What does God require?

Posted on May 11, 2020 by jwfisch

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Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” John 6:28-29

This is the work God requires: to believe. This statement does not make sense. Work and belief are in two different realms, and Jesus puts them together here. One is the other. The people would have been scratching their heads over this one. We still are.

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Posted in Old/New Covenants, walk by faith | Tagged belief in God, faith | 5 Comments

Those toilet paper blues

Posted on May 7, 2020 by jwfisch

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I came home from the local grocery store the other day with a big 20-roll package of toilet paper. I figured I’d made a score. I didn’t even question the brand; I didn’t have a choice. It was the only thing available, and after getting used to seeing these shelves empty, I felt compelled to get it. There were only a handful of packages left and we were down to two rolls at home. The only thing I was uneasy about was the unfamiliar brand. It was the store’s parent company generic brand, and I’ve been generally pretty happy with that for other products. Besides, we’re in a pandemic, I reasoned; gotta take what you can get when you can get it.

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Posted in pandemic | Tagged pandemic | 5 Comments

Spiritual first responders

Posted on May 6, 2020 by jwfisch

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Empathy: to step into someone else’s shoes and feel what they feel.

If you missed our BlogTalkRadio interview with Doug Stevens last night, I urge you, if your boots are on the ground anywhere, to listen to the podcast at your earliest convenience. We talked a lot about the pandemic, the divide in this country and how we as Christians can respond to the current situation. I also encourage you to go to our website and check out the excellent comments on yesterday’s Catch “The army of the Lord.”

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Posted in Facing death, pandemic | Tagged compassion, death, empathy, pandemic | 4 Comments

The army of the Lord

Posted on May 5, 2020 by jwfisch

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So I published yesterday’s Catch on the local Neighborhood Watch which was starting to get rather nasty between the-government-is-keeping-us-safe people and the-government-needs-to-get-its-nose-out-of-my-business people. It was nice to see 13 positive reactions to my article, and a few thankful comments. This is just indicative of the war that is going to go on at many different levels in our society today, and how you and I as believers can represent the kingdom of God without taking sides.

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Posted in Christianity and politics, community, discipleship, grace turned outward, kingdom of God | Tagged community, grace turned outward, Marketplace Christian, pandemic, politics | 14 Comments

Let freedom ring?

Posted on May 4, 2020 by jwfisch

We’re hearing a lot about freedom now. People are getting tired of being shut up in their homes. It’s understandable. People need to go back to work. Breadwinners aren’t able to provide for their families. And then there are people who simply want to get out and enjoy the warmer weather in parks and at beaches and recreation areas that remain closed. Those in charge have to juggle the economy and people’s safety, and it’s not just about keeping people safe as much as it is keeping them safe from each other. But that’s hard to do when you’re treading on everyone’s civil liberties fighting an unseen enemy. This is a time which is going to require a lot of patience from all of us. We aren’t even close to being over this pandemic and people are already getting very restless.

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Posted in freedom, pandemic | Tagged freedom, pandemic, responsibility | 12 Comments

Death in the City 2

Posted on May 1, 2020 by jwfisch

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O Lord remember what has come upon us

Look down on our nation

The crown has fallen from atop our head

Woe, for we have sinned

Why forget us Lord forever

Why forsake us so long

Turn us to you, and we shall be restored

And renewed as of old

Or have you rejected us?

– from the song “Death in the City” by John Fischer

The last four lines of this song are taken from the last three verses of Lamentations in the Bible. The book is a collection of acrostic poems that express the sorrow and the suffering of the nation of Israel after Jerusalem was destroyed and the people were carried off into exile by the Babylonians. It is a prophetic lesson in suffering and how to manage it that was spelled out in yesterday’s Catch from Lamentations 3. Here it is again in case you missed it.

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Posted in pandemic, Tragedy | Tagged pandemic, suffering | Leave a comment

What to do about suffering

Posted on April 30, 2020 by jwfisch

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Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;

therefore I will wait for him.” (Lamentations. 3:22-24)

For no one is cast off

by the Lord forever.

Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,

so great is his unfailing love.

For he does not willingly bring affliction

or grief to anyone. (Lamentations 3:31-33)

Lamentations is a book of suffering. It is a collection of poems of lament over the destruction of Jerusalem and the children of Israel being led into captivity by the Babylonians — something God allowed to happen because of their disobedience in going after other gods. It was God’s last resort. Repeatedly He warned them and tried to get them to repent and turn back to Him, but nothing doing, so He finally had to use the Babylonians to punish them. You could say He got their attention, and the poems in this book are a chronicle of their suffering experience.

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