Students of Christ

Posted on August 1, 2019 by jwfisch

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And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

Disciple: a follower or student of a teacher

If you are a believer, Jesus calls you a disciple — one of His followers or students. That means at least two things.

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Beggar’s banquet

Posted on July 31, 2019 by jwfisch

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Yesterday I tried to capture what it looks like to be a Grace Turned Outward Christian. It’s hard to nail down because what makes someone a Grace Turned Outward Christian might not be apparent on the surface. You have to go a little deeper. The following paragraph from the vision and purpose of the Catch is the best explanation I’ve found so far on paper.

The citizens of the Catch are God’s walking, talking people for his plan and action, the Gospel of Welcome (Grace Turned Outward), which is to hone in on this life; to go where God is, which is always with the vulnerable; to repair what is broken and remove the debris of wasted opportunity and lives; to offer to others the same grace and redemption given for our own broken and misguided selves, to participate in God’s rescue efforts and to always introduce the work of Jesus Christ for reconciliation.

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Why Grace Turned Outward is so important

Posted on July 30, 2019 by jwfisch
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Some people on whom God has had mercy.

Once, you Gentiles [all non-Jews] were rebels against God, but when the people of Israel rebelled against him, God was merciful to you instead. Now they are the rebels, and God’s mercy has come to you so that they, too, will share in God’s mercy. For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone.   (Romans 11:30-32 NLT)

This is just a part of the incomprehensible strategy of God. Yes, and strategy is the right word. I know it seems kind of strange to associate a marketing term with God’s plan of salvation, but that is just how the Bible reveals God’s plan in three chapters in the Book of Romans (9-11). God has created a strategy for saving the world, and it’s not what anyone normally thinks. It’s a strategy that runs counter to our way of thinking and doing things. It puts failure in front of success and disobedience in front of mercy.

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Everyone, everywhere

Posted on July 29, 2019 by jwfisch

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The vision of the Catch Ministry is: To introduce the Gospel of Welcome — Grace Turned Outward — to everyone, everywhere.

“Everyone, everywhere” is not just an overstatement for a whole lot of people, nor is it a way of creating a goal that we will never reach so we will always have something to shoot for. We’re not playing around here. It means only one thing: it means “everyone, everywhere.”

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Less agreement; more love

Posted on July 26, 2019 by jwfisch

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Too much agreement kills a chat.  – Eldridge Cleaver

The worst thing about American political parties is that there are only two of them. To be sure, there are additional parties, but these are too small to make much of a dent in the political landscape except for taking some people away from one or both of the two major parties. This is why the polarization we are experiencing right now is so devastating and debilitating to moving ahead. You mean there are only two answers to EVERYTHING? Two ways to solve a problem? Two perspectives of looking at a thing? And one is always right, and the other is always wrong? Any thinking person can see how short-sighted and literally impossible this is.

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Posted in Friendship, relationships | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Caught in the act of fixing something

Posted on July 25, 2019 by jwfisch

 

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My wife, Marti, doesn’t believe I ever fix anything around the house, so much so that when she caught me tightening the loose screws on the back door latch last night, she had to run and get the camera so she could record of this momentous occasion.

Now she draws this conclusion from the number of things around the house that never get fixed. Well, that’s because I’m too busy fixing all the things she’ll never know about, like — well … er … I can’t think of anything right now, but the list is definitely long. I mean, I don’t tell her every time I replace a lightbulb.

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Countercultural faith

Posted on July 24, 2019 by jwfisch

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One of the greatest injustices we do to our young people is to ask them to be conservative. Christianity is not conservative, but revolutionary.  – Francis Schaeffer

You have been strategically placed right where you are for one reason: to bring the kingdom of God to your corner of the world. It matters not where that is; it matters that you are there and you are intentional about being a carrier of Christ and a spreader of the gospel of welcome — grace turned outward — to everyone, everywhere. And if you’re not sure what that is, stick with us; we’re learning together.

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Wisdom from the first President

Posted on July 23, 2019 by jwfisch

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Excessive attachment to political parties agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one party against another, and opens the door to foreign influence and corruption. – George Washington

Where is George when we need him?

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Two wills and a destiny

Posted on July 22, 2019 by jwfisch
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Kawasaki Ninja H2R

So I woke up in Phoenix this morning but there’s no baseball in sight, unless the Diamondbacks are home tonight.  But I wouldn’t know that because I am not here for baseball, I’m here for my son, Chandler. He has found a technical school he wants to attend here that will certify him to work on motorcycles, by brand, and he is focusing on Kawasaki because in his opinion they are the fastest, and that’s what he wants: speed. He says he wants to eventually race these things, and I shudder when he talks about speeds on a motorcycle in excess of 250 mph. And that’s not in a video game; that’s on a racetrack.

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A long and winding road

Posted on July 19, 2019 by jwfisch

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I’m one hundred times more passionate about creating Christians and churches that will be faithful, biblical, countercultural, and spiritually minded in a socialist America, in a Muslim America, in a communist America, than I am in preventing a Muslim America or a communist America. … My main calling is not to help America be anything, but to help the church be the church.                              – John Piper

Over the next 16 months, America is going to be embroiled in one of the most bitter political campaigns ever witnessed. It’s already started.  Politicians will use anything to further their own personal or ideological ends. And don’t think they won’t use Christians, too, for the same purpose, or the church, if they can. That’s why we must not be naive.  Christians need to resist the temptation to think that any kind of spiritual victory or any points for the kingdom of God can be won at the polls. The minute we think that kingdom ends can be serviced by political means is the minute we bow down to the idol of power. Truth must speak to power, not the other way around. If we succumb to power, we forfeit the truth. We become pawns in a game we shouldn’t be playing in the first place. We lose our voice. In many ways we have already lost it. That’s why the Millennials can help us get our voice back. They won’t take the political bait. They know nothing of the Moral Majority or the Christian Coalition or the thinking behind these organizations.

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Posted in Christianity and politics | Tagged , | 6 Comments