John Fischer The Catch

Posted on October 29, 2021 by jwfisch

Day four: Friday, October 29. The Kingdom is our mutual priority

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Florence, our little snow queen, is not very happy in this picture. She is the daughter of a member of Marti’s current discipleship group, and she has just found out her mother has to go to the hospital (an important item of prayer as medications for kidney stones and migraine headaches have clashed). Followed by a picture of Florence upon finding out her mommy doesn’t have to stay in the hospital.

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Now that is what we call a real transformation!

But the transformation that is now upon us is not about a new movement or the catching of a new wave as we have so often experienced over the last 50 years.

This transformation is about the calling of a new breed of leaders, and the establishment of Christ’s kingdom, His lordship over our lives in the midst of crooked and troublesome times.

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. (Philippians 2:14-15)

God is calling His people to turn from what is counterfeit and not of Him. This represents not only the world’s form of power and authority but also includes those in the church who have been carried away into a form of captivity, where religious leaders are laboring to establish their own personal empires through combining religious beliefs with the world’s systems. During this time of transformation, God is separating His kingdom builders from those who are building their own personal empires, especially within the church.

Empire builders are primarily interested in how you can serve their agendas. They are engrossed with their own personal mission, and how your calling fits into their plan. They tend to be very hierarchical in nature and seek to control everything around them. It is also common for them to live outside of personal accountability and revel in the recognition and adoration of man.

Kingdom builders, on the other hand, have the heart of a servant. They want to know how they can come alongside and assist you in fulfilling the reason why you specifically are here at this time and place. They hold nothing in this world tightly and will eagerly surrender all when called upon. Kingdom builders build by relationships. The hierarchical structure of the empire builders is replaced by a functional understanding of gifting and calling where everyone on the team is equal, and understands their place and fit.

The Catch Ministry is a very concrete way to be in alignment with God and the building of His Kingdom. What is the Kingdom? Jesus is clear that if we make the Kingdom our first priority,

all these other things (questions of what to eat, drink and wear) will be given you as well (Matthew 6:33).

The Kingdom is where God provides for all that we need. It is the realm of sufficiency where we are no longer pulled here and there by anxiety about having enough.

So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself (Matthew. 6:34).

Jesus also compares the Kingdom to a mustard seed,

which, at the time of its sowing, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth. Yet once it is sown it grows into the biggest shrub of them all and puts out big branches so that the birds of the air can shelter in its shade (Mark 4:31-32).

Fund-raising as a ministry is a concrete way to be in alignment with God. Even a seemingly small act of generosity can grow into something far beyond what we could ever ask or imagine:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20).

Here at the Catch, we are creating a community of love in this world, and beyond this world, because wherever love grows, it is stronger than death:

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away (1 Corinthians 13:8).

We want to tell you about a fellow member of the Catch Ministry. George grew up in a spiritual tradition that lay, while it survived, near a primary root of American Christianity. He cut his teeth on the King James Bible among a group that refused to name or organize itself, but can be identified as Brethren, who in turn can be identified as descendants of the people who have come to be known as “the Pilgrims.” This particular group lived in reaction against the condition of the protestant church and scornfully swore off every trapping of churchiness. For George the Bible was priest and prophet, pastor, elder and deacon, the throne of the Holy Spirit, the only center and focus, the only subject of attention and reverence. The society of this group was principal oriented, and its services proceeded according to an accepted pattern without leadership and often in silence.

Like many of George’s friends parents, his mom and dad were emotionally absent parents who might as well have been physically removed from the lives of their children. This is why George thinks he never felt he belonged. He perceived everyone as judging him. So when discovered the Catch community, it transformed his whole idea of God and God’s people.

“This ministry is an absolute God send for all of us who are disenfranchised from a church or a caring community. The Catch Ministry, like Jesus, accepts me as I am. They invited me, of all people, to join this fellowship family and witness for myself and others, answered prayer every day. I am now on an adventure to present the Gospel of Welcome — Grace Turned Outward to many within my own community. And I promise you, there is great need for Grace, and, if they accept it as theirs from the Lord, His love will follow.”

So, like George, when we give ourselves to planting and nurturing love here on earth, our efforts will reach out beyond our own chronological existence. Indeed, if we raise funds for the creation of a community of love, we are in alignment with God who is building His Kingdom. We are doing exactly what we are supposed to do as Christians. Paul is clear about this:

“Make love your aim” (1 Corinthians 14:1).

So whether we are asking for money or giving money, we are drawn together by God, who is about to do a new thing through our collaboration,

See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:19).

Check in with us over this weekend as we continue our story of transformation and to learn more about how we believe God is making His way through the wilderness, where we often find ourselves.

MATCHES ARE BRINGING US CLOSER TO GOAL!

Get this. At 9pm on Wednesday, I received an email from a Vanguard member saying that if I could raise $1,000 by the next morning at 6am, he would match it. Wow, I thought. Nine hours to raise $1,000! Can I do it? I later realized that he got his days wrong and he meant 6am the following day. But guess what? I got it anyway, and then some. So that 9-hour challenge was worth $2,500. And now we have two more matches to announce. Steve from Ontario, Canada is looking for other Canadians to match his $1,000, and our board member, Mike Boland, who has funded all my album remastering projects (thank you, Mike!), is putting up a $1,000 match as well. So think about this opportunity to share in the Catch Ministry vision, and double the impact of your gift!

An Exciting Announcement — Hurray!

We are very pleased to announce after our third day of fund-raising, we have received another $1,105 toward the $15,000 required, totaling now over $6,000! Many, many thanks to you who are sharing with us and they are:

Lyn
Neil from Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Athelyn from Phoenix, Arizona
John from Coralville, Iowa
Patrick from Dundee, Michigan
Lisa from Sunland, California
Michael from Cambria, California
Greg from Wilmington, North Carolina
Kathleen
Laura Campbell, California
Siri from Marin, California
Merlyn from Goodyear, Arizona
Rona from Northampton, UK
Joe from Sugar Land, Texas
Patrick from Dundee, Michigan
Victor from New Castle, Pennsylvania
Ann from Rockford, Illinois
Olivia from Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Larry from Plains, Montana
Steve from Keswick, Ontario, Canada

Partner with theses men and women by contributing today: or if you wish, send your contribution to The Catch Ministry, Inc., 1278 Glenneyre, Laguna Beach, California 92651.

Posted in community | 1 Comment

The common ground of God’s love

Posted on October 28, 2021 by jwfisch

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Day Three: Thursday, October 28. Transformed into new life in the Spirit of Christ.

When those with money and those who need money share a Vision and a Purpose, we see a shared sign of new life in the Spirit of Christ. We belong together in our work because Jesus has brought us together, and our fruitfulness depends on staying connected with Jesus who tells us:

I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5).

We are pleased to introduce to you a relatively new Catch Member, Heidi, who represents a sign of new life in the Spirit of Christ. She is a beneficiary of us meeting together on the command ground of God’s love.

“Staying sober was one thing,” says Heidi, “finding support was another. Doors shut everywhere I went.” Virtually all the resources Heidi needed to try to keep clean and out of jail were out of her reach because of her felony record.

“When you get locked up,” she says, “you get locked out — locked out of housing, jobs, assistance, all the things you need to return to a productive life once you are free.”

But because of the Catch Community and its network of on-the-ground ministries and resources, doors unlocked for Heidi. While our network kept us informed as to Heidi’s progress, we too kept in touch. There were no easy solutions but Heidi managed to recognize how the Lord was turning pain into power, despair into hope, and, because of a true transformation occurring, fear into love.

But just like dealing with an addiction, if there’s one thing the Catch has learned without a doubt: a system doesn’t work just because it is there. You have to make it work — and work it you did!

With Him, we can do anything because we know that God surrounds us with an abundance of blessings. Therefore, those who need money and those who can give money meet on the common ground of God’s love.

And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8). When this happens, we can indeed say with Paul, There is a new creation! (2 Corinthians 5:17). Where there is a new creation in Christ, there the Kingdom of God is made manifest to the world.

We are learning together that fund-raising is always a call to transformation, and this call comes to both those who seek funds and those who have funds. Whether we are asking for money or giving money, we are drawn together by God, who is about to do a new thing today through our collaboration.

See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:19).

And so here is a challenge for you and for me: Let’s walk together in confidence, connected together because of our Vision and our Purpose. And let’s participate in the spirit of what we are about.

Come together under the common ground of God’s love.

An Exciting Announcement — Hurray!

We are very pleased to announce in our second day of fund-raising, we have received another $2,000 of the $15,000 required, totaling now almost $5,000! Many, many thanks to you who are sharing with us and they are:

Lyn
Neil from Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Athelyn from Phoenix, Arizona
John from Coralville, Iowa
Patrick from Dundee, Michigan
Lisa from Sunland, California
Michael from Cambria, California
Greg from Wilmington, North Carolina
Kathleen
Laura Campbell, California
Siri from Marin, California
David from Normandy Park, Washington
Merlyn from Goodyear, Arizona
Rona from Northampton, UK
Joe from Sugar Land, Texas
Patrick from Dundee, Michigan
Victor from New Castle, Pennsylvania
Ann from Rockford, Illinois

Partner with theses men and women by contributing today : or if you wish, send your contribution to The Catch Ministry, Inc., 1278 Glenneyre, Laguna Beach, California 92651.

An Important Notice

The Board of Directors are currently reviewing the 72-page One Voice, Many People Report prepared from the “Your Participation Matters!” questionnaire responses (the “Report”). We hope to turn around the Report in short order so that it can be in your hands soon.

In the next few weeks to come, we will be creating the Report’s Action Plan together. Stay tuned to learn how. We promise you — you are not going to want to miss out on this opportunity to be one of many people who speak with one voice — the Voice of Christ to this century’s generations.

Contribute Today Here is the link again. Contribute now.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged fundraising | 3 Comments

Let’s light some candles

Posted on October 27, 2021 by jwfisch

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Day Two: Wednesday, October 27: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds

Our son Chandler is a serious and inquisitive individual. He is unlikely to conform in accordance to anyone’s expectations, especially as a result of social pressure. He can generally be seen with frown lines on his forehead between and above the eyebrows. That is … until he smiles.

When he smiles, his entire character is converted into radiant light that can light a candle. It is a dramatic and complete change in appearance and character. When Chandler smiles, his whole self transforms. It is a deep shift from an ordinarily serious young man into a child-like person with high expectations as if it was Christmas morning. He has a whole new way of seeing things. The outlook for him moves from checking things to prove they are wrong to an attitude that is bright with anticipation and not too terribly different than the way the younger son did when he was starving far from his true home and coming into the celebration that awaits him (Luke 15:17-20). It’s called a transformation.

It’s a transformation from how we see and think and act. It is a shift of attention in which we set our mind on divine things,

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

As the guilty sinner that I am, I am often begging for funds. Yet the people I surround myself with remind me as business people that they would never get much money if they beg for it. These business people believe that they have something important to offer. Without apology they invite people to be a part of their endeavor or, you might say, vision.

And so as I am learning from my friends, I extend to you my new way of thinking as it relates to your resources. The Catch Ministry’s Vision is yours as is its Purpose. Yes, we want to extend our reach by introducing to everyone the Grace given to us so that it can be given to them. That is our vision. And our purpose or our business is developing disciples to go out wherever they are as Boots on the Ground to introduce Grace Turned Outward to everyone, everywhere. But if the Catch Ministry’s Vision and Purpose are not yours or you do not benefit from both, then you really ought not financially support the Ministry. If you do not experience a benefit by making your resources available to us, making your gift good only for us who receive it, it is not fund-raising in the spiritual sense. Fund-raising from the point of view of the gospel says to you: “I will take your money and invest it in this Vision only if it is good for your spiritual journey, only if it is good for your spiritual health.” In other words, we are calling you to an experience of transformation:

“You won’t become poorer; you will become richer by giving.” We can confidently declare with the Apostle Paul: “You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity…” (2 Corinthians 9:11).

If this confident approach and invitation is lacking, then we are disconnected from our Vision and have lost the direction of our Purpose. We also will be cut off from you, because we will find ourselves begging for money and you will find yourself merely handing us a check. No real connection has been created because we have not asked you to come and be with us. We have not given you an opportunity to participate in the spirit of what we are about. We may have completed a successful transaction, but we have not entered into a successful relationship. Here we see that if fund-raising as ministry invites you to a new relationship with your wealth, it also calls us to be transitioned in relation to our needs. If we come back from asking you for money and we feel exhausted and somehow tainted by unspiritual activity, there is something wrong. We must not let ourselves be tricked into thinking that fund-raising is only a secular activity. As a form of ministry, fund-raising is as spiritual as giving a sermon, entering a time of prayer, visiting the sick, or caring for the poor. So fundraising has to help us with our transformation too.

Now here is the hard question and it is directed to me: Am I willing to be transformed from my fear of asking, my anxiety about being rejected or feeling humiliated, my depression when someone says, “No, I’m not interested in giving to the Ministry”? Have I gained the freedom to ask without fear, to truly love fund-raising as a form of ministry? I have to be honest with you. I am transitioning — half way into Chandler’s smile. Yet, if I believe what I am writing is true, and I do, and if I am willing to act on my belief, then fund-raising will be good for my spiritual life. And so I ask you to pray for me as I pray for any of you who are in the process of transitioning into this new way of seeing fund-raising as ministry that invites you to a new relationship with your wealth. It’s a two-way street this thing called fund-raising as a ministry. It calls us to be transitioned in relation to your resources and the Ministry’s needs.

Fund-raising is always a call to transformation And this call comes to both those who seek funds and those who have funds. Whether we are asking for money or giving money, we are drawn together by God, who is about to do a new thing through our collaboration,

See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:19).

And so here is a challenge for you and for me: Let’s walk together in confidence, connected together because of our Vision and our Purpose. And let’s participate in the spirit of what we are about.

Let’s light some candles!

An Exciting Announcement — Hurray!

We are very pleased to announce in our very first day of fund-raising, we have received $2,000 of the $15,000 required. Many, many thanks to you who are out in front and they are:

Lyn
Neil from Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Athelyn from Phoenix, Arizona
John from Coralville, Iowa
Patrick from Dundee, Michigan
Lisa from Sunland, California
Michael from Cambria, California
Greg from Wilmington, North Carolina
Kathleen

Partner with theses men and women by contributing today and click here: or if you wish, send your contribution to The Catch Ministry, Inc., 1278 Glenneyre, Laguna Beach, California 92651.

An Important Notice

Contribute Today

Here is the link again.

Posted in community | Tagged fundraising | 1 Comment

A Glimpse of the Face of God — Here and Now

Posted on October 26, 2021 by jwfisch

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Ministry is, first of all, receiving God’s blessing from those to whom we minister. What is this blessing? It is a glimpse of the face of God — Here and Now.

Announcing the Vision and the Purpose

From the perspective of the gospel, fundraising is a form of Ministry. It is a way of announcing our Vision, which is to introduce the Gospel of Welcome — Grace Turned Outward — to Everyone, Everywhere, and inviting people into our Purpose, which is to develop disciples. The Catch Ministry’s Vision and Purpose are so central to the life of God’s people that without a Vision we perish and without Purpose we lose our way.

Therefore, from the perspective of the gospel, fundraising is not a response to a crisis.

John Fischer panics

However, this is where I blow it. As the minister of this Ministry, I panic when I think the Vision and the Purpose are in danger of faltering.

Even before the pandemic, it was known that the Catch Ministry, as any other nonprofit organization, is required to raise funds to cover the budgeted monthly expenses by conducting annual, semi-annual, and membership campaigns, and by our MemberPartners responding to our Vision and Purpose by providing individual gifts.

However, during the pandemic when many within the Catch community were experiencing economic hardship, these campaigns were postponed and later canceled. This significant loss and the 30% drop in contributions while at the same time, investing further monies to keep up with the increased demand for our services, soliciting monies on an emergency basis was required. This caused an entirely negative cast to be imposed on what is a very positive thing, namely, the deep commitment of donors in support of the Catch’s Vision and Purpose.

Making Right an Unfortunate Shortfall

This is an unfortunate shortfall on my part, a blind spot which is being corrected in the following manner:

Toward the desire to give dignity back to their major supportive roles, a thoughtful, annual plan for the involvement of our major investors with the ministry will be executed early enough in the new year to be able to treat both their support and the ministry with due respect.
To emphasize the importance of the MemberPartner efforts and contributions. we plan to introduce a recognition program that identifies known efforts, always with gratitude. We believe that in doing this, we will increase the sense of trust and appreciation, and motivate MemberPartners to remain engaged with the ministry.

A Vanguard Salute followed by Applause

I ask the Catch community to join me in saluting these men and women who answered the door each time I banged on it or when I shouted even louder to let me in. Each time, they responded by opening up their hearts and their financial resources in support of the Catch Ministry.

They provided the financial stability as the ministry has labored through a pandemic during a time while many organizations did not stand.

These gracious people disappointed the enemy

All of us within the Catch community must be grateful for these gracious people. The enemy is not happy that we maintained our Boots on the Ground — those who introduced the Gospel of Welcome — Grace Turned Outward — to everyone they encountered. He is not pleased that we continue to work to bring light to a broken world through one of the darkest times in human history. And I promise you he tore off his hat and stomped on it because, in spite of the pandemic and the desire to look inward, the Catch community elected as a response to our “Your Participation Matters!” questionnaire to put their weight in support of the Catch Ministry as the voice of Christ to this century’s generations — to introduce Jesus to a new generation. Although we face financial, physical, spiritual and emotional stress like most of us have never suffered before, the enemy remains defeated.

Thank you members of the Vanguard. Like a house on fire that keeps on burning, you might feel like you are too tired to fight the fire any more or it feels like water supply has run out. But the Vision and the Purpose of the Catch Ministry still stands, which gives us reason for heartfelt thanksgiving.

Invest yourselves

So now we have an unexceptionally short time to ask those who are recovering from the pandemic to participate with us in this Vision and Purpose of ours by inviting you to invest yourself through the resources that God has given you— your energy, your prayers, and your money—in this work to which God has called us. Our invitation is clear and confident because we trust that our Vision and Purpose are like “trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season and their leaves do not wither” (Psalms 1:3).

We are seeking to raise $15,000 — starting here, starting now.

An impossible feat? Not if we collectively work together.

Impossible, you say?

That would have been my response before witnessing the Catch Ministry’s Vanguard and its pronouncement to those whose Grace is dormant and to those who do not know yet the Grace of God, the promise of the Catch Ministry’s Vision and Purpose.

A call for a real transformation

Therefore, the Catch Ministry leadership and I join the Vanguard to call all of us within the Catch community to a real transformation. And this call comes to both those who seek funds and those who have funds. Whether we are asking for money or giving money, we are drawn together by God, who is about to do a new thing through our collaboration,

See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:19).

Let us all receive God’s blessing. What is this blessing? It is a glimpse of the face of God — Here and Now.

Join Us

Join us on this first day of challenge to raise the $15,000 in support of the Catch Ministry’s Vision and Purpose. Please contribute by clicking on this link.

PS: The One Voice, Many People Report from the “Your Participation Matters!” responses is currently in the hands of the Board of Directors.

The One Voice, Many People is 72 pages long and is broken into two parts:

Part One of the report incorporates the responses from those who participated in the “Your Partition Matters!” questionnaire. Together, they discovered the real needs of the Ministry and identified the expertise and financial needs required to conduct the business at hand, which is to serve as the Voice of Christ to this century’s generations. Their understandings helped us identify goals, recognize areas that need improvement, and other pain points the Ministry is experiencing.

Part Two accesses the Catch Ministry’s community point of view and willingness to stand together as the Voice of Christ for this century’s generations.

What to expect:

Following the Board of Director’s review, an unabridged copy of One Voice, Many People will be made available to all participants in “Your Participation Matters!” Questionnaire for their good thinking as to whether we captured the essence of what was said. Following the document’s rewrite based on their comments, we will make the study available to all Catch citizens.

During the weeks to come we will be drawing together the Road Map or Action Plan as to how best we, the many people, will move out with the one voice of Christ to this century’s generations. Stay tuned to learn how. We promise you — you are not going to want to miss out on this opportunity to be one of many people who speak with one voice — the Voice of Christ to this century’s generation.

Be one of the first to join the Vanguard. Contribute now.

Posted in community, pandemic | Tagged community, fundraising | 2 Comments

Love over barriers

Posted on October 25, 2021 by jwfisch

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For the past three weeks, Hebrews 13 has been revealing its treasures to us daily. There are many and they are prophetic, and they are so very timely. And I am personally excited because I have been praying for this. Of course, all of scripture is prophetic and certainly timely, but some passages seem to speak directly into what is needed in the current situation.

Continue reading →

Posted in family, grace, grace turned outward, love | Tagged family of God, grace turned outward, love | 2 Comments

One more reason why church should be like an AA meeting

Posted on October 22, 2021 by jwfisch

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Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. Hebrews 13:13

“Hi, my name is John, and I’m a sinner.”

“Hi John!”

That’s the way church should begin. Before the Call to Worship; before the opening hymn — even the Invocation. Church should start with, “Hi, my name is John, and I’m a sinner,” to which the entire congregation responds in a resounding voice, “Hi John!” as if to say, “We get it, John. We’re sinners, too. You’re one of us! You’re at home here!”

Continue reading →

Posted in Dealing with sin, grace, grace turned outward | Tagged Recovering sinners, sinners | 9 Comments

Lighthouse in a storm

Posted on October 21, 2021 by jwfisch

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These last few days have been very hard for Marti and me. I find it difficult to think, sleep or care for her or anyone else, for that matter. Our land is threatened and temporarily overtaken by the enemy. Unlike David in Psalm 41 and 42, I accepted the spirit of depression and did nothing to shake it.

You see, late in David’s reign, his son, Absalom, took over the kingdom temporarily and David was driven into exile outside Jerusalem. Clearly it is a time of depression and frustration. But David does not give in to that spirit of depression, like I have a tendency to do; he seeks to do something about it. He embraces it, expresses it, and fights with it, as if he could wrestle it to the ground like Jacob wrestled with the angel.

None of us can escape times of depression; they will come. But when they come, instead of succumbing to them, we need to do what David did.

There are three stages of David’s experience, and at the end of each stage there comes the refrain that describes what brought him through:

“Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my help and my God.”

The first stage is one of intense longing and desire. He is experiencing a sense of God’s delay. There is no doubt in his heart that there is help for him in God. He expects to find it. He knows God has met his need in the past and he expects Him to meet it again. But, for some reason, after glorying in the memory specific times God has met his need, it still seems that help is delayed and this is hard for him to bear.

So he reminds himself in the refrain of this song:

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall yet praise him,
my help and my God. (Psalms 42:5)

But his trial is not over. He has reached a second stage and he tries another tactic. He says,

My soul is cast down within me,
  therefore I remember Thee
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
  from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
  at the thunder of Thy cataracts;
all thy waves and Thy billows
  have gone over me.
By day the Lord commands His steadfast love;
  and at night His song is within me,
a prayer to the God of my life. (Psalms 42:6-8)

Here he remembers something else: an experience on a mountain, where he heard the waterfalls and the thundering white water. They seemed to be calling to one another, “deep calling unto deep,” and it reminded him that the depths in God call out to the depths in him: the depth of the love of God, and the joy of God, calling out to the corresponding depth of prayer in the believer. Even though he does not feel anything, they are there; these silent deeps in God calling out to the deeps in man. Depression can drive us deeper to where we can find God in the depths.

But still he is not met with any comfort or resolve. So he expresses his disappointment in Verses 9-10:

I say to God, my rock:
  “Why hast Thou forgotten me?
Why go I mourning
  because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As with a deadly wound in my body,
  my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me continually,
  “Where is your God?” (Psalms 42:9-10)

As if to say “Well God, you heard them; where are you?”

He is still deeply troubled. His usual means for dispelling depression have not helped him this time. He has not been able to shake his sense of God’s untimely delay, and now it has grown into a nagging, torturing doubt, “Why hast Thou forgotten me?”

He has reached the place of despair. “Why have You abandoned me? I’ve taken refuge in You, God, and yet You do nothing, absolutely nothing. I feel utterly forsaken.”

But then he realizes, at last, a way out:

Oh send out Thy light and Thy truth;
  let them lead me,
let them bring me to Thy holy hill
  and to Thy dwelling!
Then I will go to the altar of God,
  to God my exceeding joy;
and I will praise Thee with the lyre,
  O God, my God. (Psalms 43:3-4)

What a word of triumph! Now he understands that what God is doing is driving him step by step to the ultimate refuge of any believer in any time of testing: the word of God. It is the truth of God coupled with the light that will lead Him. The truth is God’s word; the light is our understanding of it. What he is crying out for is an understanding of the word as he reads it; light, breaking out of these promises, to encourage and strengthen his heart.

There comes a time in all of our lives when we discover for ourselves that our ultimate refuge is in the word of God — what God has said. That is what David is saying. When you have depression of spirit, where nothing seems to relieve it; when you have tried to remember a joyful time with God in the past, and tried to recall the unshakable, unchangeable relationship that exist between you and God, but nothing helps; then there is nothing left but to rest upon His word, His truth, and to allow that to heal your heart.

So David isn’t actually able to wrestle his depression to the ground, but he is able to come to something even stronger than his depression — the truth and light of the word of God. Like a lighthouse in a storm, we can hold on through to calmer days.

So David closes once more with the refrain that catches up the whole meaning of this song:

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him,
my help and my God.” (Psalms 43:5)

Yes, hope in God, for He is working out His purposes at all times. That is what the New Testament means when it says, “Having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13).

Our Prayer Ministry Pastor, Merv Keck, has been a huge encouragement to me during this difficult time. Even his prayer requests are uplifting. As in: “Pray for financial stability as the ministry has labored through a pandemic during a time while many organizations did not stand.” And: “Pray that by the Grace of God we can focus our ministry on meeting the needs of a broken world, introducing Grace turned outward to everyone we encounter, and introduce Jesus to a new generation.”

Amen!

So why are you cast down O my soul? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my help and my God!

Posted in Depressionj, pain | Tagged depression | 4 Comments

No enduring city

Posted on October 15, 2021 by jwfisch

Man walking in abandoned futuristic city.

For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Hebrews 13:14

Outside. Everything happens outside. Jesus died outside the camp. We go to meet Him outside the camp where He meets our disgrace with His grace. Once that’s happened and that grace has turned us outward toward others, why would we want to go back inside? Everybody’s out here. People inside already know, and they’re pretty much just sitting there. Outside is where the action is.

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Posted in end times, grace turned outward | Tagged end times | 2 Comments

Where grace meets disgrace

Posted on October 14, 2021 by jwfisch

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And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. Hebrews 13:12-13

What happened?

According to this verse there is something disgraceful about meeting Jesus outside the camp. Did we miss something? Do you feel like you are walking around in a state of disgrace? I think we are trying everything we can to avoid disgrace.

Have we so bought into the American myth of success that we are attempting to “market” Christianity as helping make you wealthy, healthy, and successful, when none of that is guaranteed in the Bible? In fact, the truth is more likely to call us into failure in order to learn how to depend on Him. Failure is a far better teacher than success.

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Posted in Dealing with sin, forgiveness, God's love, grace, the gospel | Tagged gospel, grace, prodigal son | 3 Comments

Breaking camp

Posted on October 13, 2021 by jwfisch

OIP-23

We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. Hebrews 13:10

An altar is a place of slaughter. The lamb or bull that was brought in as a sacrifice for sin would be slain on the altar and the blood was spread around in various places as the priests were directed in the Law of Moses. The remainder of the blood was poured out at the base of the altar. Certain parts of the animal were designated as food for the priests, the rest was taken out and burned outside the camp. Only the priests were allowed to handle this activity.

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