A quiet kind of revolution

Posted on October 31, 2018 by jwfisch

th-1

But something many have forgotten

There’s more than merely meets the eye

A quiet kind of revolution

Is coming down on us from the sky

 

You can’t read about it in your textbook

You can’t see it on your TV screen

But just the same it’s all around us

And what’s more, it’s always been

 

So if you want to know about it

There’s one book you really ought to read

And take a walk in a virgin forest

And let the Maker let you see

The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God

He who has ears let him hear

The Kingdom of God

He who has eyes let him see

The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God

        — from “Matthew’s Blues” by John Fischer, 1970

It is a great comfort to know that what we see is not all that we get. “There’s more than merely meets the eye.” I open the newspaper every morning to a world that does not tell the whole story, and thank God it doesn’t. God’s hand is moving behind the scenes of history. That’s His kingdom and He is accomplishing what He set out to do.

Despite the division and the hatred that seems to be surfacing right now, there is a revolution going on — a spiritual revolution — among the millennials in this country. Talk to any of them and you will find out that they are not buying into the hate and the isolation that seem so rampant not only here but all over the world. They are much more interested in building bridges than walls. They don’t see the huge political divide that so many of our leaders are embroiled in. They have common values and they will work with anyone to help accomplish them. They don’t care what party you represent. (They don’t care a whole lot for politics, period.) They just want to get things done that are good for the planet and good for everyone on it. And they are very open to spiritual solutions.

We are on the brink of a spiritual revolution that will bring a fresh wind of the Spirit of God upon the world, not unlike the Jesus movement we experienced in the ‘60s and ‘70s, though much different. It will be different because the times, the people and the needs are different, but the freedom and the presence of God will be there. It is a movement of the Kingdom of God, and it, too, will happen all over the world. It’s already here, but like the Kingdom, it’s not easily seen. The Jesus movement was the Kingdom of God becoming visible for a moment in time. That may or may not happen again, but the revolution is on nonetheless. Look for it. Think about what you can do to help it along. Listen carefully to any millennials you know. Find out what they’re all about. Ask them questions about the Lord and the church.

There is a world within a world where God’s will is done consistently, all the time. It’s called the Kingdom of God, and we’re in it, but it can also show up where you least expect it.

I have finally found a way to live

Just like I never could before.Blindfaithalternate

I know that I don’t have much to give,

But I can open any door.

Everybody knows the secret,

Everybody knows the score.

I have finally found a place to live

In the presence of the Lord.

          —  from “Presence of the Lord” by Eric Clapton (Blind Faith), 1969

Posted in kingdom of God, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Bringing the good news of the Kingdom

Posted on October 30, 2018 by jwfisch

 

th-11

One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”

Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.” Luke 17:20-21

The Pharisees are about to discover they asked a pretty dumb question. They asked the King, who had come down from His home in heaven in the form of a humble human being, when the Kingdom of God might come. If the King was standing there in front of them, talking to them, it would be pretty safe to say that the Kingdom had already come. Where the King is, there is the Kingdom. It’s just that the King was in disguise, and so, too, was the Kingdom.

Continue reading →

Posted in kingdom of God | Tagged | 3 Comments

“Render unto God …”

Posted on October 29, 2018 by jwfisch

th-10

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” Mark 12:15-17

The Jewish leaders who were always trying to show Jesus up before the people thought they had Him this time. They asked Him whether they should pay their taxes to the Roman occupation. If He said no, He and His followers would be in trouble with the Roman authorities; if He said yes, He would be condoning the worship of Caesar as God. So He countered with that now-famous quote, “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s.” It was a brilliant comeback that left His challengers dumbfounded.

Continue reading →

Posted in kingdom of God | Tagged | 8 Comments

Generosity doesn’t have to wait

Posted on October 26, 2018 by jwfisch

th-9

Here’s some good news. If you aren’t already a gracious giver, you can become one right now. You don’t have to wait. I always thought, “When I have enough money, I will be a generous person.” Now, I realize generosity does not have to wait. I’m realizing I’ve known of homeless people who are generous. Why didn’t that ever sink in? By the way, don’t buy my attempt to look like I know what I’m talking about here; after all I’ve been a generous giver for, oh, say about 12 hours? Long enough to realize that generosity is an attitude of the heart. You can be generous with whatever you have. Give it all if you need to. There’s more coming. I am actually looking forward to the fact, though a little nervous, that I can be a giver today.

Continue reading →

Posted in giving | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Overcoming the myth of never enough

Posted on October 25, 2018 by jwfisch

th-8

Bear with me here, please. This study on giving is revealing a personal struggle that is coming to a head as we work through the week and my precedent of honesty with you leaves me no choice but to let you in on it and even solicit your help. My struggle with giving is based on a firmly entrenched belief of never having enough. But when provision has been prophesied and promised otherwise, with accompanying word from the Lord, to persist in that negative belief is nothing short of unbelief. And in this case, this unbelief is costing not only my family, but it is holding back the ministry and ultimately the ongoing building of the kingdom of God which is part of the promise.

Continue reading →

Posted in giving | Tagged | 4 Comments

New math

Posted on October 24, 2018 by jwfisch

th-7

Grace doesn’t add up. Two plus two doesn’t always equal four. Grace defies obligation. Grace is not bound by promises and oaths; it’s not bound by anything, for that matter. Grace doesn’t make sense. Grace opens us up like a flower. It makes us completely and utterly vulnerable. It is not tied to anything we do or don’t do. Grace can’t be earned or bought. Grace is so free that it’s laughable. It’s over the top. It’s lavish. For a miser like me, grace feels almost illegal. Something must be wrong. Check the numbers again; this is a lot more than I deserve.

Continue reading →

Posted in giving, Uncategorized | Tagged | 4 Comments

A hilarious giver

Posted on October 23, 2018 by jwfisch
th-5.jpg
A recent survey of our key readers turned up a few important suggestions we plan to incorporate this week. One comment that was echoed by the majority of responders said, “You haven’t taken full advantage of the opportunity to teach about stewardship and the spiritual practice of giving as part of our faith walk.” So to continue with God Loves a Hilarious Giver, we look today at just what is hilarious about this giving. 
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 help 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.
To be sure there were needs to be met with the funds that were given when Paul wrote this. The early churches were mostly poor with lots of persecution going on. There were plenty of needs everywhere, but God was certainly capable of meeting those needs. He was seeking, more importantly, the benefit to the giver, as Paul goes on to write: 
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. (2 Corinthians 9:10-11)
See what’s happening here? There’s joy all around, and an increase in generosity. 
It’s a principle of biblical giving. When you give, more will be given to you. I am not talking about prosperity doctrine – that doctrine of great material wealth to the giver as a motivation to give. That is the wrong emphasis, yet it grows out of an overwhelming amount of evidence, in both the Old and New Testaments, of the blessings of giving. It’s just that we are not to seek the blessing, but the giving, the joy of giving and an overwhelming appreciation for the amazing grace of the Giver who makes it all possible. God brings increase with joyful giving so we can give more. 
“God loves a cheerful giver” (9:7). The word “cheerful” is the Greek word from which we get our word “hilarious.” Thus, God loves a hilarious giver, and the reason for that hilarity is manifold, but my favorite is the hilarity of God’s grace to me. When I take a good long look at the fallibility, frailty and downright foolishness of my human nature, and then I grasp the fact that God loves me and has bestowed His grace upon me in abundance to where He sees no flaws in me, the true reaction to this is comic. It is astonishing. It is improbable and impossible. It is nothing short of hilarious. As Robert Capon calls it, “the grandest joke ever told.” 
And when you realize you are the recipient of this bold, audacious grace, and you are filled up with God’s undeserved favor and love, you can only laugh hilariously at your incredible good fortune, and give it out to everyone around you.
I remember the day I realized God wanted me to live – no, I wasn’t recovering from some life-threatening illness, I simply realized that God wanted me alive on the earth so He could know and love me – I had an uncontrollable urge to walk up to everyone I saw, hug them, and tell them that God wanted them alive, too! That’s just what the Spirit of God does in us. Fills us up and spills over into everyone around us. When we submit to the Holy Spirit, we become completely and utterly vulnerable, and there’s no telling what might happen then. We might just become a hilarious giver!  
____________________
Lisa writes:
I once visited friends on a fixed income and left them $100 slightly hidden in their bedroom as a gift. They said they found it later, and they needed a battery for the car and it came to exactly $100 so they really felt it was a “God thing” for that to appear.  Sure brought a smile to my face!  Amazing to me, and perhaps even hilarious. 
Tell us your hilarious giving story, or create one right now by giving to the Catch Ministry or another cause of your choice, and write us about it be replying to this email.

We are jealous for you to have the pleasure of giving. Don’t put it off. We are currently featuring our work to expand the kingdom of God worldwide, which is in its biggest expansion ever, increasing services with boots on the ground in 141 different countries, and we would welcome your contribution toward our goal of $15,000. Throughout the week we will be sharing our plans with you – those that have already begun and those that are in process. We must provide new ways to bring the message about Jesus and how His gospel relates to the deep, unresolved needs of our generation and that of the millennials (and all generations) for love, meaning, community, peace and justice. Whether you give to the Catch or to another worthy cause, we urge you to give as the Macedonians gave, of their own free will, beyond what they could afford, with great joy, as you have given yourselves to the Lord.

Click on the picture below to enjoy our God Loves a Hilarious Giver video and ask if He might have you invest (or further invest) in the Catch today.
Is John crying or laughing? Some people aren’t sure. Click on the picture to find out!
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:7-8)
Posted in giving, Uncategorized | Tagged | 4 Comments

Turning grace outward through giving

Posted on October 22, 2018 by jwfisch

 

A recent survey of our MemberPartners turned up a few important suggestions we plan to incorporate this week. One comment in particular said, “You haven’t taken full advantage of the opportunity to teach about stewardship and the spiritual practice of giving as part of our faith walk.” So to continue with God Loves a Hilarious Giver, we begin today with a teaching on the preeminence of the power of Grace to overflow into joyous giving. That is Grace Turned Outward at its best. For an example of this, we turn to 2 Corinthians where Paul is writing to the Corinthian Christians about the Macedonian churches who refused to be left out of the joy of giving just because of their own poverty. Read on:

Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.

For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do. (2 Corinthians 8:1-5)

Can you imagine begging for the opportunity to give? Most of us with lots of church experience are used to the pastor begging the people to give, not the other way around. Something special must have definitely been going on with these Macedonian believers. They were filled with joy and the eagerness to give in spite of their poverty and their many troubles. How could this be?

First it says a spirit of generous giving doesn’t come from outside us. It has nothing to do with our physical condition, our circumstances or how much money we have or don’t have. It generates strictly from within and spills over into “rich generosity.” This is none other than our theme here at the Catch: Grace Turned Outward. God’s grace, by definition of what it is, naturally turns outward to others. It spills over. I can’t sit on the grace of God. I can’t hoard it or keep it to myself. If I am, then it’s something other than grace I am imagining.

Secondly, it expresses its joy by giving more than expected — more than they could afford. Like the story told about a man who said, “I could give $10 and not even feel it.” To which the usher replied, “Why don’t you give $20 and feel it?” That’s what these Macedonian believers did. They gave until they felt it, and they loved that feeling! It didn’t hurt; it felt good!

And finally, they considered it a privilege to give. A true test that God has touched a heart is one that considers giving a privilege. And here’s where all this springs from: “for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord.” In giving ourselves to the Lord, we lose ourselves in Him, so He already has everything. To give a tangible gift is simply to confirm what has already happened. It’s all His anyway. This is where the hilarious giving comes in. We must let go, and when we let go is when we get it, and there is laughter and abandonment. We have been taken by the obvious! We’ve been holding on to what wasn’t ours to begin with, and what a relief to let it go!

So we are jealous for you to have the pleasure of giving. Don’t put it off. We are currently featuring our work to expand the kingdom of God worldwide, which is in its biggest expansion ever, increasing services with boots on the ground in 141 different countries, and we would welcome your contribution toward our goal of $15,000. Throughout the week we will be sharing our plans with you — those that have already begun and those that are in process. We must provide new ways to bring the message about Jesus and how His gospel relates to the deep, unresolved needs of our generation and that of the millennials (and all generations) for love, meaning, community, peace and justice. Whether you give to the Catch or to another worthy cause, we urge you to give as the Macedonians gave, of their own free will, beyond what they could afford, with great joy, as you have given yourselves to the Lord.

_____________________

Another suggestion from our survey was: “No one can tell their story better than they can.” I will be telling mine this week, but we’d like to hear from you as well. Do you have a Hilarious Giving story of your own to share with us? Send it to me in a reply to this email. We’d love to include it with others we receive.

Click on the picture below to enjoy our God Loves a Hilarious Giver video and ask if He might have you invest (or further invest) in the Catch today.

johnlaughing

Is John crying or laughing? Some people aren’t sure. Click on the picture to find out!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Open heart; open hand

Posted on October 19, 2018 by jwfisch

th-3

I grew up in a family that existed at or near the Evangelical Poverty Line (EPL). The EPL (my construct) is an imaginary line of acceptable wealth where a family can exist without raising suspicion of having too much, especially if the family is a part of the funded leadership of the church. My father was the choir director so we qualified. I grew up thinking that we were being at all times scrutinized by the rest of the congregation. We probably were. At any rate, we couldn’t look too good, my dad could own nothing better than a Ford, and my mother’s dresses had to come from GEMCO.

Continue reading →

Posted in giving | Tagged | 6 Comments

Reckless giving

Posted on October 18, 2018 by jwfisch

th-2

I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. — C.S. Lewis.

There is a precedent in the Bible for giving recklessly. It’s about giving and living with a sense of abandon. Go overboard. Give until it hurts. Give beyond what we can account for. Adventurous giving gets us out beyond where faith has to play a role. It’s just not all calculated. It shouldn’t all make sense.

Continue reading →

Posted in giving | Tagged | 3 Comments