John Fischer The Catch

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled’

Posted on October 20, 2020 by jwfisch

Confusion will be my epitaph

As I crawl a cracked and broken path

If we make it we can all sit back and laugh

But I fear tomorrow I’ll be crying

Yes I fear tomorrow I’ll be crying

– Peter Sinfield from the song “Epitaph” by King Crimson

What is your life like on this side of eternity? Well first, we know it can’t be all bad because we know there is an eternity to be on this side of. There is life over there; there are people over there; there is a God over there and His Son is there waiting for us. Imagine if you didn’t know that and you believed there was nothing on the other side of this life. I think of the line from the King Crimson song, “Epitaph,” Will no one lay the laurel wreath when silence drowns the screams? What a tragic way to go out.

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Posted in discipleship | Tagged discipleship, peace | 1 Comment

In the in-between time

Posted on October 19, 2020 by jwfisch

“This Side of Eternity” can be the worst of all possible worlds, but it can also be the best. It depends totally on your perspective.

With so much bad news going around these days (I think we could all ring off a long list of terrible things right now) it’s time to focus on some good news — news that is ALWAYS true no matter what is going on on this side of eternity.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Wings to fly

Posted on October 16, 2020 by jwfisch

Do this and live the law commands,

But gives me neither feet nor hands.

A better way His grace doth bring;

It bids me fly, and gives me wings.

Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:4-6)

This is the crux of the matter — the means for reactivating the New Covenant. This is the fulcrum upon which everything pivots. It’s all about adequacy. This is the answer to the rhetorical question from chapter two: “And who is competent (adequate, sufficient) for these things?” (2 Corinthians 2:16) This is the answer. The ultimate answer is: “We are,” but only as it comes with a realization that we aren’t. I know that sounds like double talk, but it is exactly what Paul says here. He answers the question of adequacy by saying, in essence, “we aren’t adequate, but we are.” We are not adequate in and of ourselves, but in the New Covenant, God has made us adequate.

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Posted in Old/New Covenants | Tagged new covenant | Leave a comment

Mission: Reactivation

Posted on October 15, 2020 by jwfisch

Recovering and embracing the original purpose of the church.

Recapturing the lost experience of discipleship.

Reaching the worldwide community.

Reactivating the New Covenant

Your mission today, and every day, (should you choose to accept it), is to get yourself up out of bed and throw yourself out into the world. That’s right: Get up and get out. This is the way we reactivate the New Covenant every day of our lives.

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Posted in Old/New Covenants | Tagged new covenant | 3 Comments

No cruise control for the New Covenant Christian

Posted on October 14, 2020 by jwfisch

Let’s go back to that morning that started off the church with a bang. It all happened in one remarkable day. Estimates say there were roughly 120 believers gathered in Jerusalem during the celebration of the Passover when suddenly there was the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and what appeared to be flames of fire coming to rest on each of the believer’s heads as they began to speak in other languages so that the people around them were saying, “‘Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs — we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!’” (Acts 2:8-11) Others were saying they must have been drunk.

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Posted in church, Old/New Covenants | Tagged church, new covenant | 1 Comment

Reactivate the New Covenant

Posted on October 13, 2020 by jwfisch

The New Covenant is the most important truth about living the real Christian life that almost no one knows about. It runs counter to most of the teaching and assumptions Christians have about being a better person, doing the right thing, being holy, being religious, pleasing the Lord, living the victorious Christian life and I’m sure a host of other good things we could mention in the same breath — all wonderful things — all totally beyond the reach of any one of us. The problem is, we don’t know they are beyond our reach, so everybody just keeps on trying, and the longer someone works at this, the more frustrated they get. The problem is, we all think there must be someone somewhere for whom this is working. We all even think we know someone like that even though we can’t quite recall the person’s name. Somebody, somewhere has got it all together. Just not anybody I know.

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Posted in church, discipleship, Old/New Covenants | Tagged church history, new covenant, the Holy Spirit | 1 Comment

Reaching the worldwide community

Posted on October 12, 2020 by jwfisch

First, a quick review:

You might recall we were incorporated on September 14, 2012 as a cyber church. Over the last 8 years, we been building a measurable, sustainable, and reproducible foundation that requires our continued every day focus to the following:

Recovering and embracing the original purpose of the church.

Recapturing the lost experience of discipleship.

Reaching the worldwide community.

Reactivating the New Covenant

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Posted in church, community, gospel of welcome, Worldview | Tagged Christian worldview, church | 1 Comment

‘Make disciples of all the nations’

Posted on October 9, 2020 by jwfisch

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20

When my wife first became a Christian at 26, she heard that you could hear personally and directly from God by opening the Bible and putting your finger on a verse — any verse. This actually works for some people, sometimes, and for a brand new Christian with a simple, real faith, and an eagerness to hear from the Lord, I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit was in on this one. How else would you explain that her finger randomly landed on one of the most important verses in the New Testament — Christ’s commissioning of His disciples prior to His ascension into heaven (Matthew 28:18-20). It’s been her life verse ever since.

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Posted in church, discipleship | Tagged church, discipleship | 1 Comment

Gospel train

Posted on October 7, 2020 by jwfisch

People get ready, there’s a train a-comin’

Pickin’ up passengers coast to coast.

– Curtis Mayfield

Jesus has a plan to change the world. On the surface it looks rather ludicrous, but in reality it’s working. Here’s the plan: Come to earth as a human, recruit twelve regular guys and walk with them for three years, then leave, and turn everything over to them. It’s brilliant in its simplicity; insane in its expectations that these people would be able to pull this off. They certainly wouldn’t have, had He not left His Holy Spirit with them to indwell and empower them for the job. And thus He called them a church built on a rock that would challenge the very gates of hell. That gospel train has been picking up passengers ever since.

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