A voice of Christ to this Century’s Generation

Posted on August 5, 2021 by jwfisch

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[I wrote that yesterday’s Catch was worth at least three. So I’m going to give everyone another day to digest it. Plus, our volunteer editor has gone over it and corrected many errors I missed. As I mentioned yesterday, we think of this as a manifesto (a public declaration of policy and aims) regarding our commitment to millennials as those who will preside over the next spiritual revolution. For the Catch ministry to live on, it is vital that we learn to understand one another.]

Our dear friend found John’s recent BlogTalkRadio interview regarding the millennials with Deborah Mullan and Elizabeth Shirk to not be too different from the answers he would have given had John interviewed him some 50 years ago while attending Wheaten College.

He is right that the millennials are currently undergoing the same societal stresses and asking many of the same questions those of us alive in the late 60’s and early 70’s asked about the deep, unresolved needs of our generation for love, meaning, community, peace and justice. We “Jesus freaks” of the “Jesus Movement” melded the freedom of the ‘60s and the Jesus of the Gospels into a new way of looking at Christianity. We were considered the Transformation Generation, living between the promise of a fairy-tale future and the possibility of the perfect storm.

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Staying awake to the world

Posted on August 2, 2021 by jwfisch

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My father sat in on an L.A. studio session in 1970 during the recording of my second album, “Have You Seen Jesus My Lord?”. He was not there because he liked the music (he didn’t), he was there for me, and I appreciated that, though it would have been a lot more fun had he been engaged in some way with what was really happening that day. Unfortunately he just sat there in the control room looking overwhelmed and somewhat annoyed by the high volumes in the room, while my songs were coming to life right before his very eyes and ears.

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Posted in discipleship, diversity, gospel of welcome, grace turned outward, Millennials, Transformation Generation | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Many but one

Posted on July 30, 2021 by jwfisch

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“Each generation has distinct attitudes, behaviors, expectations, habits and motivational buttons. Generational differences need not divide us. Every generation has valuable lessons that they can teach…

When members of different generations are encouraged to work together, it builds understanding and trust, helping create a cohesive, yet diverse community.”

~ Miranda Allen (CEO of Radiofrequency Safety International)

Sending out a thank you to Bob from Seattle for the quote above. I also want to thank Bob for the following breakdown of existing generations that will help us understand each other better. 

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Warming up to millennials

Posted on July 29, 2021 by jwfisch

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Last night on on BlogTalkRadio we received an excellent primer for understanding millennials from two of our millennial leaders here at the Catch. Deborah Mullan and Elizabeth Shirk answered a number of questions about their peers, such as: What are millennials looking for in life? What are they afraid of? Why are millennials dealing with loneliness and anxiety? What would a real relationship with a millennial look like? What barriers do we have to overcome in order to be friends across the generations? What are the things that are most important to millennials?

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Posted in community, grace turned outward, Millennials | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Signs not shrines

Posted on July 28, 2021 by jwfisch

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John, one of our regular readers, went through an experience adjusting to the deaths of his parents while living in the same house he grew up in that they occupied for 45 years. He spoke of similar feelings that I wrote about being in my neighbor’s house which was for sale following her passing, yet still had her furniture and everything arranged the way she had it. I related that I had felt the presence of my neighbor somehow in the house, and John experienced the same thing with his parents, until he decided to rearrange the furniture, add some new pieces — a new bedspread here, a table and lamp over there — and change things around from the way his parents had it, and lo and behold, it felt like a different place, no longer “haunted” by the old memories. Now we’re not talking about ghosts here, just memories, and feeling unable to break away from former feelings and impressions. The new arrangement gave him a fresh start.

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Posted in diversity, grace turned outward, Millennials, revolution, the gospel | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Bad start

Posted on July 27, 2021 by jwfisch
Bored businessman and secretary playing with pencil and having fun in office meeting room. Horizontal shape, front view, waist up

You know what I just caught myself doing this morning? Putting down someone else’s ministry. Now how is that helping anything? It’s not. It’s only making me feel better for a while, especially when this guy is bigger than me in my eyes. So if I can bring him down, I can stand taller without doing anything. I haven’t grown at all. In fact, I’ve shrunk. 

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Sweet summer surprise

Posted on July 26, 2021 by jwfisch

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Marti and I were talking in the kitchen last night as we often do in the evening when we were interrupted by a strange noise. It forced us to stop and stare at each other for a moment. What was that sound? It seemed to be coming from everywhere. Was it the rumble of an approaching earthquake? Were the water pipes rattling again? Had a gathering of dancing squirrels decided to throw a party on our roof? 

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Better than we could possibly have imagined

Posted on July 23, 2021 by jwfisch

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For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. (Romans 12:3)

I want to draw your attention to Billy’s comment after yesterday’s Catch. It’s a good one. “We are definitely worse than we thought, and He is better than we could possibly have imagined.” 

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Posted in Dealing with sin, grace | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Grace that is greater than all our sin

Posted on July 22, 2021 by jwfisch

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“Gee, it’s worse than I thought.”

“Yeah but the cross is bigger than I thought.”

Jim posted the observations above on our website following Tuesday’s Catch where I commented on what my sin must have looked like to me 45 years ago compared to today. The picture above was on the back of the album, Inside, where I recorded the song about “the mess I’ve made of me.” Does this picture look like a truly repentant guy? Then why does he look so smug? Just going by this picture, I’d guess he thinks his “mess” is next to nothing compared with yours. 

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Posted in Dealing with sin, grace | Tagged , | 5 Comments

God loves us because He loves us

Posted on July 21, 2021 by jwfisch

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I noticed in the comments from yesterday’s Catch that there was an overwhelming sense of wonder as to what God saw in us that was valuable enough to make us worth saving when we know how messed up we are. And that made me think again, why does God love us? Is it something in us that is somehow lovable? I think not. I don’t think that God is responding to something in us as much as He is acting out something in Himself. His own love for us. That’s why John wrote “God is love.” 

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Posted in Dealing with sin, grace, love | Tagged , , | 7 Comments