John Fischer The Catch

There were times, during Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, when the people got discouraged and came close to giving up. Whenever we attempt to address some weakness in our lives – be it an addiction, a sinful attitude, an unwillingness to change – opposition will come. In the case of the men and women of Israel, that opposition came in the form of the grandiose nature of the task before them and the taunts and negative propaganda of those neighboring nations who did not want to see Israel strong again.

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Our recent focus on the story of Nehemiah is not a mere historical study, but a reflection of our current journey. Just as Nehemiah was tasked with rebuilding, we too are in a phase of significant growth, aligning our vision with the expanding needs of our community and beyond.

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by Patrick Klever

I am a Civil Engineer with a lifetime of doing contract administration and construction management for the Government. During one assignment, I was told that a bona fide emergency took 14 months to get from recognition of the emergency to award of a contract. I even saw the project planning policy spelled out in official planning documents. But the headquarters’ policies laid out that the “normal” timeline indicated a more reasonable time to be 36-60 months!

I have heard it said that it takes the Mormons three days to build a Kingdom Hall on a prepared foundation. It’s something that I’d love to see. And the show Extreme Home Makeover has torn down and rebuilt marvelous new homes in just one week. What they don’t tell you is about all the planning, logistics, and permits and crews of hundreds working together with dozens of heavy lifting equipment. That alone takes months of planning and vetting and developing construction plans.

Well, Nehemiah didn’t have computers, didn’t have heavy construction equipment, and didn’t have any documentation to start with. And his efforts were derided by their unfriendly neighbors. But what he had was prayer, praise, and supplication based on faith in God. As the Israelites started returning to Jerusalem, Nehemiah apportioned the work on the wall to families that lived next to the torn down wall to be the ones to build back to the glory of God. And that was enough. Nehemiah started out as an individual man of faith and ended up shepherding over 50,000 people who joined him. The wall was rebuilt in just 52 days, including a Sabbath each week! The length of the wall was 4.5 miles with an average height of 39 feet and thickness of 8 feet. The walls contained 34 watchtowers and seven main gates open for traffic, with two minor gates reopened by archaeologists. And it was built with bricks and stone weighing tons.

Nehemiah started out as an individual man of faith and vision and ended up shepherding over 50,000 people who joined him in obedience to God.

Much, much later, Jesus performed miracles of the same magnitude (water to wine, loaves and fishes, etc.) — all because he was practicing obedience to God.

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Why Patrick is a MemberPartner

I am a “recovering Catholic.” It’s something that you never quite get over. I have been a believer for most of my life, but mainly since college. My wife and I got married in 1982 with a priest and a Lutheran minister co-officiating. In our first 20 years, we were regular attendees at whatever mass or services were available, and in a military career, we moved often. We’ve attended Lutheran, Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Southern Baptist, Vineyards, Church of God, Church of Christ, and who knows what other services. We’ve been to churches where we were warmly welcomed and at least two churches where we were invisible. At one point, my goal was to have, “Here lies a man who loved God,” as my epitaph. We’ve been unchurched since 2008, but we’ve at least tried to live by faith. I looked at daily devotionals from various entities but settled on a Purpose Driven Life’s daily messages.

Sometime in 2007, I was reading a substitute teacher named John Fischer. He was working for a Purpose-Driven Life at the time. John’s little logo at the bottom of those messages was a fishing pole leaning against a bucket with a caption (as I remember) of The Catch at Fischtank. At some point, John became a central figure in the devotionals I read. He got “it!” He celebrated “it!” He could find God in everyday life, whether giving roses to his wife every Wednesday, attending spring training with the Angels baseball team, or writing about the wonder of adopting a son when most people would think about their golden years. And John made no bones about it: he was a sinner like me, and God loves us anyway.

I was hooked!

Finally, there came a time when John asked for donations to build an internet cyber church; I gladly sent in $10. Eventually, when The Catch Ministry was born in 2012, I donated monthly. As a MemberPartner, I wanted to see John and Marti make it. Such lofty goals, but Marti and John had no qualms about moving forward, bringing the Gospel of Welcome to everyone everywhere. I increased my donations and increased the frequency. John probably has the best take of anyone I know on what it means to be a Christian, and embraces everyone with Grace Turned Outward.

At a time in history where rabid politics threaten the very fabric of our lives and where meanness, pettiness, and hatred have become normalized, John and Marti continue to welcome sinners everywhere with a constant message: God loves you just the way you are. And that has softened my rigid upbringing. You are welcome in our presence just as we are welcomed in yours. Ultimately, all of these labels, divisions, and hatred are pushed back because it doesn’t matter about all of that. It only matters that God loves you! And that is why I am a MemberPartner today. It changes everything. Even me.

Click here to learn more about becoming a MemberPartner and to sign up!

On October 31 the people assembled again, and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners as they confessed their own sins and the sins of their ancestors. They remained standing in place for three hours while the Book of the Law of the Lord their God was read aloud to them. Then for three more hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord their God. Then the leaders of the Levites … called out to the people: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting!” Nehemiah 9:1-5

Any move of God begins with the conviction of sin. It’s like clearing the deck before God can begin something new. So the people, well aware of how their sin had put them in their current predicament, began the day by showing up dressed in burlap with dust on their heads and empty stomachs as a sign of humiliation, repentance and a willingness to do whatever might be necessary to get right with God. Then they stood for three hours and heard the word of the Lord read in the Book of the Law of Moses — three hours of which, they would have been convicted of their sins, because hearing what God expected of them would have only pointed out how much they had missed the mark. When you live outside the word of God for a long time, you live in the justifications and rationalizations of your own mind for what you know intuitively to be wrong, but you won’t admit to it. Hearing the word cuts through all that and renders us all sinners in need of a savior.

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Become a MemberPartner in the Army of Nehemiah

Restoration, reconciliation, rebuilding—these are not mere aspirations of a bygone era, but the timeless yearnings of every human soul. Just as Nehemiah envisioned a future where broken walls were rebuilt, hearts reconciled, and communities restored, so too do we carry forward this sacred mission.

Welcome to the heart of Nehemiah’s hope. Welcome to the essence of the Catch and its ministries.

Why Join Us Now?

In a world rife with division, pain, and brokenness, our mission stands as a beacon of hope. We are not bystanders; we are builders, healers, and agents of transformation. By becoming a MemberPartner, you align yourself with a cause greater than any individual—a cause that speaks to the deepest longings of the human spirit.

What Does it Mean to Be a MemberPartner?

As a MemberPartner, you are not merely a supporter; you are an integral part of our movement. Your contribution is more than just financial—it is a commitment to the message of restoration, reconciliation, and rebuilding. It is a pledge to stand shoulder to shoulder with us as we strive to bring healing and wholeness to a hurting world.

Your Impact Matters

Every moment you dedicate has the power to catalyze change. Together, we can tear down walls of injustice, mend broken relationships, and build bridges of understanding. Your support fuels our efforts and amplifies our impact, allowing us to reach further, touch more lives, and bring hope to the hopeless.

Join Us Today

The call to join the army of Nehemiah is not just a call to action—it is a call to purpose, to significance, to legacy. Together, let us carry forward the timeless purpose of restoration, reconciliation, and rebuilding. Together, let us be the change we wish to see in the world.

Join us now by becoming a contributing MemberPartner and help us further the message of Restoration, Reconciliation, Rebuilding. Together, we can make a difference that echoes through your life and that of generations.

To sign up, click on the link above and be sure and check the Monthly tab.

YOUR PARTICIPATION MATTERS

Six days after they finished rebuilding the wall, the whole assembly of Jews who had returned to Jerusalem and had joined Nehemiah in the rebuilding process, gathered together in an open square just inside the Water Gate. They came together “with a unified purpose,” to hear the reading of the Book of the Law of Moses.

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So on October 2 the wall was finished — just fifty-two days after we had begun. Nehemiah 6:15

Fifty-two days, (minus 7 Sabbaths makes it 45 working days). Fifty-two days to rebuild a wall four and a half miles long, four stories high, and over eight feet wide at the top. Fifty-two days would be almost impossible even by today’s standards with the use of heavy equipment, earth movers and giant cranes.

And think about this — this wasn’t all they did. Remember, they had to be prepared for an attack, so someone had to stand guard while the others built. And even those who built, worked with weapons strapped around their waist. And that says nothing of everyone’s list of things to do at home. You think my work on the wall is going to get me out of sanding and painting all the nicks on the doorjambs I promised my wife I would do over the weekends? Nope, I doubt it. My wife is definitely for the wall, but she’s for the doorjambs too! Life goes on.

One important point here, they had to be always prepared for an attack that never came. That’s just like us. We must be prepared for spiritual warfare all the time whether we see it or not. Often times we don’t, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. In fact, we are often unaware of the spiritual warfare that is going on around us. That’s why we must be ready in season and out of season, because the roaring lion seeking to devour us is always on the prowl. Satan knows no season.

When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it [the finished wall], they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God. (6:16)

It was obvious. Fifty-two days shut the mouths of naysayers and enemies alike. Even they knew a miracle had taken place, because what the returned exiles accomplished in that span of time was not humanly possible. We hear nothing more from Sanballat or Tobiah after this. They turned out to be just a lot of hot air. Good thing Nehemiah paid them no mind. Do you have any enemies like that? Just keep rebuilding.

And are you aware that as a subscriber to the Catch, we have Prayer Warriors on the front lines of spiritual warfare praying for you at all times? Their goal is to see your faith grow and your prayer life increase until the Lord completes every work. So just as in Nehemiah’s day — they are watching and praying while you build.

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This is rebuilding time at the Catch, too. The walls of Jerusalem were indeed down, but the foundation was still there. That was the good part of the task before them, and many of the building materials were still there too, they had been reduced to rubble, but most of the rubble was raw materials for a new wall just waiting to be rebuilt upon the existing foundation.

The Catch is aging, but ready to be rejuvenated. Our leadership may be getting older, but we’re “younger than that now.” We are rebuilding on a strong foundation laid by our founding board twelve years ago. They are the ones who envisioned a cyber-church, and here we are, led by our MemberPartners and seeking more MemberPartners to help us rebuild. Numbers are important. One reason why they were able to finish the wall so fast was because they had over 40,000 people working on it.

We are asking God for more MemberPartners. We are rebuilding for a relationship movement across generations. Nehemiah was thinking about the future generations of God’s people and we are too. We want to connect. Come help us rebuild so we can connect with the next generation. And speaking of the next generation, welcome our new MemberPartners, Brian Gutierrez and Cathryn Heilig from Sonoma, California.

And joining them are Caitlyn Gutierrez and Alaina Gutierrez. Yes, that’s four new MemberPartners altogether! (That’s also our prayer pastor, Cynthia Cody Vera on the left.)

How to join?

It’s simple!

Click on our contribution link to set up automated deductions. Make your donation regular by clicking on the box “Make this a monthly donation.” Your commitment will instantly elevate you to the ranks of our cherished MemberPartners, where you’ll find fulfillment in making a tangible difference.