John Fischer The Catch

A Call to Failure

Posted on January 29, 2021 by jwfisch

by Marti Fischer

What to do with failure? Hide it? No, unless you like being alone to yourself.

“So how are you?” someone inquires and you say, “I am fine. I am all right. I absolutely couldn’t be better.” And if pressed to continue, you will find past successes to tell about. But you will still be isolated in your failure, hiding condemning feelings and the agonizing thoughts of regret. These thoughts and feelings work overtime in your mind causing you to be intimidated by your very own shadow, not to mention by the people you regard and respect.

Continue reading →

Posted in Tragedy | Tagged failure, going through hard times | 6 Comments

Never Forget

Posted on January 28, 2021 by jwfisch

A Special Remembrance of a Horrible Atrocity

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” – Martin Niemöller, a Lutheran pastor from Germany

I was just about to post today’s Catch when the following came by way of our good friend Bob from Seattle. With a new wave of racism raising its ugly head in this country, let us remind ourselves where the road of supremacist thinking ends.

Continue reading →

Posted in diversity, racism, Veteran's Day | Tagged diversity, racism | 6 Comments

Zooming with Jesus

Posted on January 27, 2021 by jwfisch

OIP-2

For where two or three gather together in my name, I am there among them. Matthew 18:20

I met with a fellow pastor yesterday for about 45 minutes on a zoom call. I must admit, this pandemic is changing a lot of our patterns of doing things, but not all of them are bad. Take this meeting for instance. This was someone I have never met, though we have many mutual friends. Had we not had this meeting on zoom, it would have meant getting in my car and driving about 40 minutes to get to a Starbucks equidistant from each other, where we could meet, order a latte, and sit down and talk. Say we met for the same 45 minutes, you have to add roughly an hour and a half driving both ways, figure a few more minutes transition getting yourself and the car ready, then getting back into whatever you were doing before all this started, and whole thing has pretty much eaten up the whole afternoon. Whereas, this way, I see it’s time for our meeting, I click on the zoom link and there is my new friend staring me in the face.

Continue reading →

Posted in church, relationships | Tagged body of Christ, relationships | 2 Comments

Jesus was a brown-skinned, Middle Eastern Jew

Posted on January 26, 2021 by jwfisch

7ec928b5a57a43bd3384914bbe603505

Red and yellow, black and white

All are precious in His sight

Jesus loves the little children of the world

Clare Herbert Woolston

When will we ever be able to get on with getting along? Since when has it been so hard to put up with each other’s differences? Who ever said being alike was a virtue? The virtue is getting along when we’re different. The virtue is seeing all people as equals. The virtue is recognizing — even worshiping — the image of God in everyone. Do you have two eyes, two ears, a nose, a mouth, walk on two feet and speak a known language somewhere on the planet? And if you don’t have one or more of these things, what tragedy has happened to you that we all can have compassion for and marvel at your ability to overcome?

Continue reading →

Posted in diversity, racism | Tagged diversity, racism | 2 Comments

What price discipleship?

Posted on January 25, 2021 by jwfisch

OIP

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. Matthew 16:24-25 (NLT)

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. – Jim Elliot, one of the five missionaries martyred in Ecuador in 1956.

Here at the Catch, we are all about discipleship. Discipleship is what it means to follow Christ on a day-to-day, moment-by-moment basis. And these verses in Matthew are probably the most direct and clearest statement about what Christ said it means to follow Him. This isn’t the most popular thing about being a Christian because it doesn’t necessarily fit into our idea of promising the good life by which we often try to entice people into becoming Christians. This is not what you call fun. And it’s not necessarily what we all want to do. Jesus said that if we want to follow Him, we must deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and get in line. Whoopee!

Continue reading →

Posted in discipleship | Tagged discipleship | 8 Comments

Catching up with church

Posted on January 22, 2021 by jwfisch

download

God’s answer for carrying on the presence of His Son, Jesus Christ, in the world today, and accomplishing His work here, is the church. The church is an organic, living organism of believers in Christ all over the world. It is called the body of Christ because it represents His hands and feet continuing until He returns the ministry He began.

Continue reading →

Posted in body life, church | Tagged body of Christ, church | 4 Comments

Virtual relationships

Posted on January 21, 2021 by jwfisch

R8c202d2ed80ff5dec51dec1c5277f97b

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” Genesis 2:18

Aside from the devastating consequences of sickness and death that this pandemic has wreaked on the world is something even more widespread that has affected us all, and that is the isolation that has been the result of protecting ourselves and others from the spread of the virus. There is a long-term effect to this that may not always be obvious, but it nevertheless is there.

Continue reading →

Posted in body life, relationships | Tagged body life, relationships | 4 Comments

Inauguration Day 2021

Posted on January 20, 2021 by jwfisch

amanda-gorman-inauguration-poet-5-more-poems-nc-tease-012021_9694b2519d54a686cf037f8a5422ba67.social_share_1200x630_center

Amanda Gorman, 22

Mankind was made of clay

Each of us in the very same way

from “The Very Last Day” by Peter, Paul & Mary

Fingers crossed. The nation holding its breath. Today’s inauguration brought new meaning to the term, “the peaceful transition of power” that up until now, has been one of the hallmarks of this democracy. Rumors and fake tweets about martial law persisted even this morning. What does the outgoing President have in mind we wonder? Will violent extremists somehow get through 25,000 National Guard?

Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity and politics, love, politics | Tagged love, politics, unity | 7 Comments

Our wishful Washington concert

Posted on January 19, 2021 by jwfisch

OIP-1

What a concert!

Yesterday I wrote a Catch about how music might have affected the large political gathering at the Capitol building last week the way music addressed another political crowd gathered near the nation’s capitol back in 1963 during the civil rights march on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. Peter, Paul and Mary; Bob Dylan; Joan Baez and Mahalia Jackson were some of the singers at that event. We could have benefited from some singers last Wednesday.

Continue reading →