John Fischer The Catch

Tweets and beats

Posted on January 12, 2023 by jwfisch

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I just spent a hour with my “riding on the coattails of the Millennials” son. (He is our mid-life crisis.) For over an hour, he taught me about twitter. And I can honestly say that after an hour, I learned … well, I learned … actually, I’m not sure what I learned. Okay, I did learn that if you click on the little blue circle with the plus sign in the middle, you can post a tweet. That’s if you can find the little blue circle with the plus sign in the middle. It’s not on every page you go to in twitter.

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Jesus Movement | 3 Comments

Nothing but this

Posted on January 11, 2023 by jwfisch

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And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

If I told you we were going to change the world with a message about someone who died which we would deliver without any finesse and with great fear and trembling, you would tell me to go find another strategy. Yet that is exactly what Paul, the great apostle and founder of the church did. And the original Jesus Music artists all would agree. The message of Christ on the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit to drive it home are the two most important things about the Jesus Movement then and now.

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Jesus Movement | 1 Comment

The prophets of the Jesus Movement

Posted on January 10, 2023 by jwfisch

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The early songwriters, musicians and performers were the unwitting prophets of the Jesus Movement. Unwitting, because, by and large, they were unaware of the importance of their role in this movement. Ask them. They will tell you they were just doing what they had to do. The song was laid on their heart. They had to write it. And once they wrote it, they had to sing it; and once they sang it, they had to talk about it. Thus, not only were they the prophets of the movement, they were, in effect, the preachers (though most of them would deny that).

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Jesus Movement | 1 Comment

In Larry Norman’s kitchen

Posted on January 9, 2023 by jwfisch

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Last Friday I had the privilege of interviewing Randy Stonehill and you now have the privilege of watching it. And it is a privilege. Randy is so quirky and unpredictable that he’s just entertaining to be around. In this interview Randy talks about his conversion experience in Larry Norman’s kitchen upon their first meeting, and about the Jesus Movement, and what we can learn from it for today.

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Jesus Movement | 4 Comments

Alice Cooper nails it

Posted on January 6, 2023 by jwfisch

“I don’t think we accept Christ, I think we accept the fact that He accepted us.” Alice Cooper

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Once again, an unexpected source is spot on. In this one Alice Cooper (Vincent Damon Furnier), a declared Christian and regular church goer, states that it’s probably more accurate to say Christ accepted us rather than the more frequently used evangelical assertion, “accept Christ as your personal savior,” a phrase, incidentally, that is not found anywhere in the Scriptures.

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged grace | 10 Comments

The riddle of grace

Posted on January 5, 2023 by jwfisch

Riddle: Once you get it, you have to give it; and if you can’t give it, you never got it. What is it?

God’s grace is radical. God’s grace is so radical that it doesn’t just change the rules; it overrules the rules. It makes the rules no longer necessary. God’s grace creates a fundamental change in the way we relate to God. It rewrites the book on religion and the whole idea of pleasing God. The idea behind religion is to find out what God wants us to do and not do, and try to follow it to the best of our ability. Whether it’s crawling on our hands and knees, or confessing, or obeying, or memorizing, or chanting, or meditating, or sacrificing, or flagellating oneself, none of it means anything in light of God’s grace, because God’s grace does not depend on anything from us. That’s what makes it so hard on one hand and so easy on another. Hard, because we can’t do anything to get to Him, and easy, because He has already done everything to get to us.

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged grace turned outward | 8 Comments

A challenging time to be a Christian

Posted on January 4, 2023 by jwfisch

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This is a challenging time to be a Christian. There is a big difference between being culturally Christian and being a Christian in culture.

One is concerned with policy; the other is concerned with people.

One wants to create a separate world; the other seeks to inform the world we have.

One is concerned with safety; the other relishes danger.

One is driven by fear; the other driven by hope.

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Christian subculture | 5 Comments

New Year’s Greeting

Posted on January 3, 2023 by jwfisch

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My wife, Marti Fischer, CEO of the Catch Ministry, texted this New Years message to our immediate family and I thought it would be appropriate for our entire Catch community. After all, we are a family, too, and we are here for each other.

No matter what occurs or as far as we are concerned, let’s promise each other to hold in our hearts the fact that we are a family with deep roots, because of the love we hold for each other. And might I recommend we call each member to our minds with supreme fondness and call our hearts to pray for each other by name each day.

May we never forget the poetic genius of God to bring his power in the form of our Savior in straw poverty — a poverty that brings each of us to our knees in gracious gratitude. We are loved, and because of His unconditional love, we can love each other like no other can. This New Year offers many, many new beginnings for each other, intended to bring us closer together as one amazing family.

God Bless this family of ours and Happy Near Year to us all!

John & Marti Fischer

The Catch Ministry Board of Directors

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

It’s a Wonderful Life: Video #7

Posted on December 31, 2022 by jwfisch

Well, we have learned much on this brief dance through “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Is it? It depends on how you look at it. George Bailey had a much different perspective on life at the end of the story than he did at the beginning though nothing really changed except his perspective. It really is a statement of how grace turned outward can change everything.

How easy it is for us to judge instead of reaching out in love. In this story, one woman chooses to overcome judgment with grace and forgiveness and in so doing, she provides a means for others who have been treated poorly to replace perceived judgement with God’s grace.

This is our seventh and final video. The midnight hour approaches. If you can give, please do so while you still can receive your tax deduction for 2022. Thank you to all who have taken part, and remember, it’s still not too late for your year-end donation.

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Click below for our latest video #7 and we include links to the others in case you missed them. These videos are fun adaptations of a Radio Theater production of “It’s A Wonderful Life.” You can also click on the button below to contribute.

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It’s a Wonderful Life: Video #6

Posted on December 31, 2022 by jwfisch

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God speaks through a store window.

Like all these stories, this is true. You will have to listen to our two angels, Clarence and Joseph, to get the story on this one, but this is the story of how a Nobody became Somebody through what she saw in a window.

Time is running out on your opportunity to give in 2022 and our opportunity to meet our goal. Please consider a gift now to partner with our boots on the ground worldwide. We are looking for you to come alongside us now, more than ever.

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Click below for our latest video #6 and we include links to the others in case you missed them. These videos are fun adaptations of a Radio Theater production of “It’s A Wonderful Life.” You can also click on the button below to contribute.