It’s entirely a God thing

Posted on September 18, 2019 by jwfisch

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But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? 2 Corinthians, Chapter 2:14-16

It’s all entirely a God thing. God has got something going on in our lives that we are mostly unaware of. We are the means by which God receives pleasure in the midst of the craziness of this mixed-up world. God is a major player in our lives and most of the time we are pretty oblivious to it. That’s because we have little to do with it. It goes on all the time in us, through us, and in spite of us. It does not depend on us in any way. All three manifestations of God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — have a role in this effort that uses us as receptacles of something deliciously sweet, and it’s first and foremost all for God.

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Posted in 21-day Challenge, Old/New Covenants, Uncategorized | Tagged | 3 Comments

Captives to victory

Posted on September 17, 2019 by jwfisch

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But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 2 Corinthians 2:14

I think it’s the most important “but” in the Bible. No, I’m not talking about anyone’s posterior; I’m talking about the conjunction. Paul has just confessed his anxiety that led to a blown opportunity for the gospel and forced him to leave town because he had no peace of mind.

“But …” he says, “thanks be to God!” Why is that? What turned this around so fast? Did he get news of Titus? Did he thank God when he finally found him and relieved his anxiety? No. So what turned a failure so quickly into a victory celebration? Here is precisely why Paul chose to reveal his story this way. He wanted to show us that his thanks to God had nothing to do with resolving the situation; the thanks had to do with the fact that whatever happens, including our mistakes and human limitations, God is still leading us in a victory celebration and still using us to get His work done in the world.

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Open doors and blown opportunities

Posted on September 16, 2019 by jwfisch

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When I came to the city of Troas to preach the Good News of Christ, the Lord opened a door of opportunity for me. But I had no peace of mind because my dear brother Titus hadn’t yet arrived with a report from you. So I said good-bye and went on to Macedonia to find him. (2 Corinthians 2:12-13)

Who in his right mind would begin a letter whose main purpose was to establish his credentials as a minister of the gospel with a confession? Who would share about a blown opportunity in the process of revealing the secret of his success? Who would admit to his own personal anxiety as keeping him from walking through a door the Lord had opened for him? Those are things you try and forget when talking about your successes and establishing some authority.

“Who? Who?” asks the owl of truth.

I’ll tell you who — and if I could somehow shout these next words in print I would, so I will borrow a trick from John Irving in his novel Prayer for Owen Meany and put it all in caps:

SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO MAKE PERFECTLY CLEAR FROM THE START, THAT SUCCESS IN THE MINISTRY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM AND EVERYTHING TO DO WITH GOD!

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Is Jesus Christ among you?

Posted on September 13, 2019 by jwfisch

Test yourselves. If you cannot tell that Jesus Christ is among you, it means you have failed the test. 2 Corinthians 13:5

How do you tell if Jesus is among you? You look for Him. Is He here? Is He there? How do you tell? Do you see someone who acts like a spiritual giant and go, “Well certainly He’s over there?” Do you see someone being like Him? The answer is actually no to all of these because we are trying to “see” Him so we’re looking for character evidence or growth markers in a person. 

This is what has been wrong with Christianity in America for years. It’s all individual. We size up each other’s personal spiritual “evidence.” We are so competitive and bent on self-actualization. Walk into a Christian bookstore and look for how many books are all about being happy, successful, fulfilled, even purpose-driven. How many books are sold on the basis of what they will do for you? Is this the way we are going to pass the test of Jesus among us by being happy, successful, fulfilled, purpose-driven people?

No, I don’t think this is it. We don’t see Jesus by sizing up individual Christians in a spiritual “line-up.” We experience Jesus in relationships. 

You spend a few hours with someone. You bare your soul. You pray. You cry. You experience the love, acceptance and forgiveness. And you give it back. You walk away, and you can’t necessarily say you saw Jesus, but you know you’ve been with Jesus. That’s the way you know Jesus Christ is among you. You don’t “see” Him, you experience Him in relationships. 

You know you’ve been with Jesus. There was an unexplainable presence and power.  You add up the elements of who was there and it doesn’t add up. There was more than what you can account for. And things happen that defy explanation. “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst” (Matthew 18:20).

You can go to church these days and not see Jesus. You can be lead in worship and hear an inspiring talk from the word of God  and go home feeling as alone as when you came. Why? You were not in relationship with anyone. There was nothing in that service that put you in relationship with those around you. You experience Jesus in relationships. 

In the last few years I have gotten to know a friend who is just one of these folks who likes to get people together, and he has taken it upon himself to gather a few brothers together for a lunch, or once a year, it’s a 3-day event at a retreat center with no agenda but to get together and share lives. He started inviting me to these and for a while I did not attend. I couldn’t imagine what you could accomplish just sitting around talking, and I was a little threatened about the idea of no agenda. Finally I decided to go to one of the 1/2 day events and I have now been to three or four of these. And I’ll go again. Why? Because one thing is consistently true: when it’s over, I know I’ve been with Jesus.

Join us for church Sunday at 6pm on facebook.com/thecatch. It’s live and interactive and Jesus will be there among us!

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Weakness on display

Posted on September 12, 2019 by jwfisch

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I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message. (2 Corinthians 12:6)

Upon further review, it has come to my attention that the interpretation of this statement in 2 Corinthians 12:6 I made yesterday may have led to some unintended conclusions. I want to be sure that is not the case. “I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message,” is what he wrote, and I took that to mean that Paul’s life backs up what He says. Well that’s true, but what Paul actually says here is that he should not be credited beyond what we can see or hear from him.  He knows he is weak and doesn’t want to be worshipped or thought of as larger-than-life; worship should turn only towards Christ, who is larger than all of our lives. This is not just the general principle of walking the talk — living what you preach. That can easily lead to legalism, deception and a show of spiritual superiority.

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A pock on the skyline

Posted on September 11, 2019 by jwfisch

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I looked at my phone this morning and saw “Wednesday, September 11” right under the time, and thought, “Oh my goodness, it’s 9/11.” I guess I knew it was coming — I knew it was somewhere in the vicinity — I had heard rumors, but it hadn’t really registered. On the one hand, it’s just another beautiful September day; on the other hand, it’s a deep pockmark on the face of a nation. You can date the movie you are watching by the look of the New York skyline. It’s a permanent pock on our skyline to remind us of our weakness and vulnerability — how a mere handful of hate-filled people could cause so much damage, fear and loss of life.

At the same time, I read in 2 Corinthians 12 this morning where Paul is wishing to boast in his many visionary revelations from God or his religious pedigree, but he chose to boast instead about his weaknesses including a “thorn” in his flesh — “a messenger from Satan” to torment him — in order to keep him from getting proud. No one knows what this was, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s not what it was but what it did for him. It set off the power of Christ in his life. “I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

It’s all about power. Where does the power come from? Does it come from us — our personality strengths, our clever manipulation of events and outcomes, our superior knowledge, even our experiences, or does it come from God? The only way to really tell is when we are powerless. When we are weak and vulnerable. And what does God use to keep you and me on edge?

Next week in the Catch, we are kicking off a three-week Membership Campaign with the study of a passage in scripture I know better than any other, but I will be looking personally at it this time for something I know I don’t have. We’re going to be talking about power — power to live in the Spirit, power to change, power to go beyond our limits, and power to be the person God made us to be. So if you know all about that, feel free to sit out the next three weeks, but if you don’t (and I don’t think many do) then don’t miss a day of discovery, because, I promise you, I don’t even know at this point what I will be uncovering, I just know I won’t settle for anything less than the real thing. And on top of that, I have a wife who will insist on this being more than just a head trip.

The title for our series will be, “Where the Spirit is.” And what I will be seeking is the ability to say, along with Paul, “I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message” (2 Corinthians 12:6). In other words, if you walk alongside me and can’t see what I’m talking about, then unsubscribe.

So on 9/11/2019, what’s the pock on your landscape? What’s the thorn in your flesh? What are your weaknesses, and are you willing to boast about them? Why or why not?

Posted in Tragedy, walk by faith | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The only way to be without sin

Posted on September 10, 2019 by jwfisch

th-21There is a section in the Book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament where God has the prophet Jeremiah proclaim destruction on the Babylonian empire. (Babylon was one of the great empires of the world, but as it turned out, their power came from God, who raised them up for the sole purpose of punishing His disobedient chosen people in the nations of Israel and Judah by conquering them and carrying them off into exile and captivity.) But Jeremiah also prophesied that God would preserve a remnant of His people who would remain true to Him, and He would bring them back home.

“In those days,” says the Lord, “no sin will be found in Israel or in Judah, for I will forgive the remnant I preserve” (Jeremiah 50:20).

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Grace is to give away

Posted on September 9, 2019 by jwfisch

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When you think about it, there is really no such thing as Grace alone without being Grace Turned Outward. I don’t think you can have it. It’s not like two stages of grace: you get one, and then sometime later, you get the other like some kind of “:second blessing.” When you receive Grace, it forever changes the playing field. It removes the competition. It erases “us” and “them” (there is just “us” — all of us). It’s basically game over on comparison, measurement and judgment.

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On the road again

Posted on September 6, 2019 by jwfisch

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It’s simple, really. Caring for people from creation to restoration is seeing the value and importance of every human being on this planet regardless. There is no one insignificant. No one who doesn’t count. No one who is an outcast as far as God is concerned. No one without worth or dignity. No leaving anyone out.

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Posted in God's love, relationships | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Loving the whole person

Posted on September 5, 2019 by jwfisch

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Thank you to those who commented both publicly and privately to yesterday’s Catch. Bottom line is: I probably could have been better informed about what I was trying to say, but I do believe most of you got it anyway. I was simply trying to say that the whole person is important. People are important. The planet is important. Animals are important. Life is important. It’s all important. Care about it all if you love God, because God created it and He is in the process of restoring all that He made to its intended glory.

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Posted in Friendship, relationships | Tagged , | 6 Comments