Happy Independence Day!	Friday, July, 03, 2009
by John Fischer "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." (2 Corinthians 3:17) Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is proof—credibility—evidence of the fact that God is at work. (2 Corinthians 3:1-3) Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is adequacy—the ability to do what God wants us to do. (2 Corinthians 3:4-5) Where the Spirit of the Lord is, all rules are off. We're operating under the singular law of love that encompasses all others. (2 Corinthians 3:6) Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is life. The law kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:6) Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is boldness to be who you are. (2 Corinthians 3:12-13) Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is no need to hide, or cover up, or put on a false front. (2 Corinthians 3:16) Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is hope. (2 Corinthians 3:12) This weekend, while America celebrates its independence, we celebrate our independence from ourselves and our freedom to life in the Spirit. Risky, unpredictable, transparent, bold, adventurous, transforming life in the Spirit. Happy Independence Day!
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 3 Available]

The other side of the mountain	Thursday, July, 02, 2009
by John Fischer Life is difficult. Nothing worth anything is easy to come by. I'll never forget my first backpacking experience. I was 21 years old and hiking with a group of experienced high school students. I had never heard of this sport. We climbed over 3,000 feet the first day to get over a pass at 11,000 feet. Of course I had no idea how elated I was going to be reaching the top of the mountain and descending down the other side to a pristine High Sierra lake in the wilderness untouched by anyone other than backpackers on foot. All I could think of for the excruciating last two hours of that first ascent was what on earth was I doing this for? Barely managing one foot in front of the other, focused only on the pack of the kid in front of me, we slowly made our way up above the timberline through gravel and shale that made you slip back every few steps 'til it felt like you were taking two steps back for every one step forward. I knew nothing of the reward; I knew only to keep going — keep pushing through the pain of adding 35 pounds to my weight, and testing the muscles in my back, legs and lungs that had not been used to this kind of demand. But how all that changed when we reached the top! A lot of our spiritual journey is the same way. Obedience sometimes seems like nothing but hard work. We keep on moving forward — keep on believing — even when we have no clue how much farther we have to go or what's on the other side. But I have noticed one encouraging thing about this. My subsequent experiences of backpacking were easier to endure once I knew what was waiting for me on the other side of the mountain. A few rewards of faith under your belt will go a long way towards giving you the courage to believe again, even in testing times. Once you have believed God and found his faith to be real and full of actual substance in the midst of demanding circumstances, it makes it easier to believe him again when a new trail challenges you. So whether you are on this trail for the first time or the umpteenth time, keep your eyes fixed on the goal and your feet moving one in front of the other, even if you slip back from time to time. It will all be worth it (and much of the pain forgotten) on the other side. "Job is an example of a man who endured patiently. From his experience we see how the Lord's plan finally ended in good." (James 5:11)
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 9 Available]

Growing pains	Wednesday, July, 01, 2009
by John Fischer Often, as a child, when I complained about some ache or pain that had no clear physical explanation, the simple parental diagnosis was: “It’s just growing pains.” I used to imagine my muscles and bones actually hurting while they stretched and grew. While I know nothing about the scientific nature of this evaluation, I do know it has a spiritual application that is entirely accurate. It hurts to grow. It hurts to grow because we have to die to old ways in order to live anew, and old ways die hard. We place a high premium in life on dying peacefully, but in reality dying almost always is accompanied by pain. We have dependencies with coping mechanisms that have enslaved us. It’s hard letting go of our security blankets. In a touching scene from the romantic comedy, Mr. Mom, Michael Keaton has to coax his toddler’s “whoopee” blanket away from him. Upon rendering it up, the little boy asks for a moment to himself to grieve the loss and we can almost touch his pain. We would like similar moments to grieve our little daily deaths, but we have to learn to move on, because the pain of losing is followed by the greater joy of finding God always meets us on the other side of our loss. It hurts to grow because growing usually means facing into some fear or weakness that has limited us. Though God saves us through no effort of our own, he asks for our cooperation when it comes to our spiritual growth. Real spiritual growth only happens when our effort to act upon God’s word meets the provision of the Holy Spirit in us. Or as Paul teaches, “Put into action God’s saving work in your lives, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey Him and the power to do what pleases Him” (Philippians 2:12-13 NLT). This is always the spiritual principle of growth. We obey by stepping into our weakness or our fear, trusting in the fact that because it is something He asks of us, He will meet us somewhere along the way with the power to do it. This is almost always a painful proposition because it requires a step into the unknown. What if God doesn’t show up? I suppose we can ask that question, but we will never get the answer on this side of the risk. We have to take the step, believing that there is something there that we can’t see. And if that doesn’t hurt, it’s probably not faith. Old ways die hard, but new life dances on the gravestones.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 11 Available]

Finding good	Tuesday, June, 30, 2009
by John Fischer He who seeks good finds goodwill, but evil comes to him who searches for it. Proverbs 11:27 Why is it that we are often more fascinated by evil than by good? At least, according to this proverb, it appears that evil is easier to come by. Look for it and it will find you. It will be everywhere. Evil does appear to be a hot topic. It shows up in our movies and films. It dominates our intrigue in apocalyptic material. It permeates our science fiction. News about calamity is much more sensational than news about some good service that has been performed by someone. In contrast finding good takes a little work. It’s harder to create and harder to portray. It’s as if our default setting is for evil but good has to be searched out. Yet the fact that it can be found and enjoyed makes the search worthwhile. I’ve always seen this concept as a part of what daily worship is—worship that is not dependent on a religious context. The proverb says that if I look for good I will be rewarded, but it’s not going to come get me. Evil will come get me, but good won’t. Good, I have to wake up and find. It’s all about being alert to it. It’s about looking for God and truth in the daily activities of our lives. This may sound like a task, and I suppose it is, but it is not cumbersome. It’s a challenge and one with a great deal of joy attached, for the rewards are great. One big reward is discovering that I don’t have to wait for church to worship. I learn that I can worship anywhere to the extent that I have trained myself to seek out that which is good. Finding good is the same thing as finding God, because God is glorified in all that is good.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 10 Available]

Thank you, Michael	Monday, June, 29, 2009
by John Fischer As someone who understands what it means to be a singer, songwriter, recording and performing artist, and love every part of doing all these things, I must say how sad I am to lose such a gifted human being. The world has lost a great creative talent and I have lost an inspiration to excellence. It just doesn't seem right that Michael Jackson isn't here to share his God-given talents any more with the world. Regardless of what you might have thought of him, there was rhythm, music and fluidity exuding from the man in spades. People like this come along only a few times in a lifetime, so it is well and good that we grieve his passing as we celebrate his many accomplishments. Jackson joins a very short list of trendsetters such as Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe who have become larger-than-life icons of popular culture. They too died young, a testimony to the huge burden to fulfill a role that they recognized and accepted, but struggled to complete. I could join those who find fault with the man, and like any one of us, there is much to find, but not today. Today I'm only thinking of the giftedness that was from God, and the dedication and hard work that combined with it to send the whole world dancing. Thank you, Michael, for answering the call. May I draw that which is my portion and be faithful to it.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 31 Available]

Forgiveness and the fear of God	Friday, June, 26, 2009
by John Fischer The forgiveness of God teaches us to fear God. Seems like an odd connection—forgiveness and fear—but after you hear King David (from the Old Testament) talk about both of these things in one of his psalm lyrics, you begin to see why they are related. "Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you." (Psalm 130:3-4) Why would the Lord's forgiveness teach me to fear Him? Because I know, at all times, that without it I am toast! My life is hanging on God's forgiveness and God's forgiveness alone, and because my sins are so great, my very life rests solely on God's decision to forgive me. Should He ever change His mind about this, I have nothing else to fall back on. I am left with the magnitude of my sin, a righteous and demanding God who can extract an ounce of selfishness from a ton of good deeds, and nowhere to hide. When I realize the greatness of my sin, I have a healthy desperation for the forgiveness of God. I will not be prone to take advantage of that which is my only hope—a hope that rests on nothing but the sheer will of God to offer it. Sometimes I think we get too comfy with the forgiveness of God. Someone made a comment recently about "feel-good Christians." I think I've got some of that feel-good Christianity in my own thinking. If the forgiveness of God is only to make me feel good, it's certainly not going to be much of a deterrent to sin. Either I am taking the forgiveness of God too lightly, or I have not come to grips with how awful a sinner I am. "Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?"—that's the fear part. "But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you"—that's the forgiveness part, but it's a forgiveness that is always aware of who God is and what we really deserve. My multitude of sins + God's mercy = a forgiveness that just doesn't add up. And so I walk with a sense of undeserved pardon, not wanting to add to what has already made this a severely lopsided equation. I want to please God now. I don't want to be one to take this forgiveness lightly. [Yesterday, John from Pennsylvania wrote: "Gmail has a feature where I can choose to delete or archive messages for future reference. As with most days, I clicked "archive" today. Thanks for your daily writings! I wish to click 'donate' sometime in the future, but at this point, I cannot. Please accept my sincere appreciation for now." Gladly, John! But for others of you who could click on "Donate," today is crucial. Thank you in advance for following through.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

God so loved the world	Wednesday, June, 24, 2009
by John Fischer My wife often tells of how she came to know Christ through the library of a Christian man she was dating, even though he was taking a little vacation from the Lord at the time. She read his books because she presumed they were important to him. She says that had they all been about baseball, she would have read them just the same. Thankfully, his books were not taking the same vacation he was on, and my wife prayed and found Christ through the power and presence of the truth about God residing in this man's library. What he was interested in, or at least had been, became important to her. So, what happens when I find that God is interested in the world around me? Naturally, I want to find out about that world. What happens when I discover he's been intricately involved behind the scenes of history all along Suddenly history takes on new meaning. What happens when I realize that all scientific and mathematical knowledge reflects a world he created and an order he intended for the universe? That can only mean I have the potential of finding his smiling face hiding behind every equation and every problem that science presents. What happens when I see his image reflected in the attempts at art and glory that come from people he has created? I want to identify that shattered image and seek to put the pieces back together so that I might know, and help others to know more intimately, what God had in mind for us from the beginning. What happens when I find out the lush rain forests he planted in South America with their intricately interwoven life forms are being systematically destroyed? I will want to do what I can to save them. What happens when I learn that men and women he created are suffering the hunger and pain of war? I will want to know the truth about their situation and do what I can to help. As a Christian, as nearly and as often as possible, I want to look at the world and think God's thoughts. What he rejoices in becomes my joy. What breaks his heart breaks mine. I cannot love God and be detached from his world. [Please prayerfully consider a one-time gift today. The Fischtank needs your support. Together… seeking a wider angle on truth.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

What was that you said?	Tuesday, June, 23, 2009
by John Fischer My daughter has her own version of the English language and sometimes she let's us in on it. Most of the time, we are offering up words, in hopes that real communication will not get lost in translation. What wavers in the middle is what we have come to call in our family, an Annieism. The greatest Annieisms are now legendary—the stuff family stories are made of. My favorite one comes from her college days when she was out on a late night study break with a number of her dorm-mates. There were riddles and various pieces of trivia printed on the inside of their bottle-caps, and one had to do with the number of wharf towns on the coast of California. While the other girls were counting up coastal cities in California, Annie was confused. She was stuck on wharf towns. What was a wharf town? Finally she could stand it no longer and blurted out in frustration: "You mean to tell me there are whole towns made up of just little people?" Of course, she didn't stop there, she had to go on and on about all the ramifications of any number of cities designed exclusive for short little people. Even the other girls were confused for a while until one of them figured it out. "Dwarfs, Annie… you're thinking about dwarfs. These are wharf towns, Annie… towns along the coast. Stories like this always interest me because they show the value of listening carefully and communicating clearly. You can't always assume people hear what you think you said. Sometimes it's a good idea to ask the other person what they heard you say. Most of the time that should take care of it, except with someone like Annie, well, you never know…
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 20 Available]

Father's Day	Monday, June, 22, 2009
by John Fischer It was a most unusual Father's Day. It was what you have to call a working Father's Day. We took advantage of the fact that my two adult children would be here to celebrate, and decided to enlist their help cleaning out the attic. Half of the stuff that needed to come down was theirs anyway. And so it was that this Father's Day found me with my son and daughter—surgical masks strapped to our faces and rubber gloves on—going over the contents of box after box, trying to decide what to keep and what to throw away. I am terrible at this job. I can stand and stare for the longest time at a pile of stuff and not know what to do with it. I'm a detail person, and if I can't envision exactly where everything is going to go, I can't even get started. My wife, on the other hand, jumps in and starts moving stuff around and lo and behold, a plan unfolds. I don't know how she does this, but she just does. In fact she completely reorganized the cellar while we were just getting started on the attic. Part of the problem was that my son and daughter kept going over old letters and photographs they found and that significantly slowed down our progress. But really, what better thing to do on Father's Day than find old photographs of the Father and Daughter dance Anne and I went on when she was in high school, or school pictures when she and Christopher were 3 and 5 years old? Or watch them laugh over an old letter from my high school sweetheart—the one with whom I broke up and got back together at least five times all the way through college. The best was a letter she wrote me my senior year in high school. It was obviously after one of those back together times: "Are you happy with everything the way it is now? I hope you are because I really don't see how you could be unhappy when I'm so completely HAPPY!" That really cracked up my kids! And doesn't that explain everything? So (speaking of being happy) here is what really made me happy today: when all three of my children took me to the ball game between the Angels and Dodgers for Father's Day. That meant we had to leave behind all that stuff from the attic strewn all over the place. That was probably the best, because my wife had it all organized by the time we got back. (Good thing she doesn't like baseball.) So it's too late for this year, but maybe next year, if you have trouble coming up with what to do for Father's Day, try cleaning out the attic. It's probably full of memories that a father wouldn't want to forget.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

No sweat	Friday, June, 19, 2009
by John Fischer A few Catches back I used the word "excruciating" to express the pain I felt watching a good steak dinner go cold because my wife doesn't share my passion for food. She has many priorities that rank higher than dinner being ready (I can't think of one). Well we have an etymologist in our group. (Actually, I'm sure we have a few, but there's only one I know about.) He lives in Massachusetts and has a proofreading business so he is quite used to going over words and grammar with a fine-toothed comb. I hear from him from time to time when I commit a grammatical faux pas he can't pass up. (I'm sure he lets quite a few go by.) His last note dealt with something he knew about the origin of the word "excruciating" that made it hard for him to take my use of it in a flippant manner. "The word ‘excruciating' comes directly from the cross of Jesus," he wrote. And then he traced it for me: "Latin excruciatus, past participle of excruciare, from ex- + cruciare to crucify, from cruc-, crux cross." And then he made this observation: "Since I learned that, I’ve figured the word didn’t fit any pain I’ve gone through." How true. Something the writer of Hebrews also knew: "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." (Hebrews 12:4) He's referring, I'm sure, to Christ in the garden, on the night he was betrayed, struggling against the will of his Father. His agony was so great that he sweat blood, a hemorrhaging of the vessels supplying the sweat glands caused by severe stress. I don't know about you, but my struggle with sin hasn't taken on that magnitude. I doubt it ever will. Still… I wonder if my struggle with sin shouldn't be more of… well… a struggle. Do I give in too soon? Am I missing the battle somehow? I may never sweat blood in my struggle with sin, but I would like to think that in fleeing it I might need to at least break a sweat now and then.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 10 Available]

Go ahead; make his day	Thursday, June, 18, 2009
by John Fischer The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. Genesis 6:6 We can bring God joy, and we can bring him sadness and pain. It's pretty amazing when you consider the fact that we have this kind of power. We can, in our own words, make or mess up God's day. I recently had a spiritual mentor tell me to spend some time ministering to the Lord. At first that sounded a bit ostentatious, that I could minister to him, as if he needed anything. Well it's true, he doesn't need anything, but still he made us to reach out to him and perhaps find him. To do so, he would have had to make himself vulnerable to the process he created. Sometimes I wonder if God didn't purposely create a need in him for us when he made us, thus making him open to both the pain and the joy of a relationship. When working on my first novel (Saint Ben) it was this very idea that provided the grist for the story when I discovered what happens when you take the Pascalian idea of a God-shaped vacuum in every human heart and turn it around. That's when I came up with a Ben-shaped hole in the heart of God, just the size to fit Ben Beamering's ornery, non-conforming self. That God would carve out a place for us in his heart is a mystery. That we would fulfill it is privilege worthy of life itself. So go ahead; make God's day. Bring him joy and not sorrow. The choice is yours.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

Listening	Wednesday, June, 17, 2009
by John Fischer Recently at a mountain retreat, I spent some time alone with the Lord. In the morning fog, I walked until I came to a lookout spot where I could climb up on a large boulder and sit in front of a panoramic view. The sun was just breaking through the fog as if on cue, revealing a valley surrounding a deep blue lake. Early boaters were knifing through the water leaving short white streaks in their wake. Too far away to hear their motors they seemed to be tiny toys silently and mysteriously propelled. I was longing for God to speak to me—audibly would have been great, but I would take anything. It wasn't until later that I realized he did. You see, I asked God to speak to me… And he whispered with a cold wind on one side of my face, and warmed me with the early sun on the other. "I will counter the cold in your life with my warmth." I asked God to speak to me… And he sang to me in the birds. "I have taken pleasure in you. Do you not know that I have actually danced over you with singing? You are mine." I said, "Lord, speak to me…" And he warned me with the barking of a dog. "Spirit of fear, leave! Go! Let oppressive things be gone!" I asked the Lord to speak to me… And he lifted me up and set me on a rock. "I foreknew you and I predestined you to be conformed to my image. Were not my plans known even before you were born?" I asked God to speak to me… And the deep water reflected the blue of the heavens. "Do you not know that I am? I am that I am; and I am yours." I asked God to speak to me… And a large fat blue jay land landed four feet away and jabbered his head off in my direction. "Do you not know that I have spoken? Can you not hear me?"
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 15 Available]

The passion of the resurrection	Tuesday, June, 16, 2009
by John Fischer I saw The Passion of the Christ again this weekend. I hadn't seen it since the first week of its release. It was a very different experience, seeing it for the second time. The first time I saw only blood, and the cry of a sinner's absolve in the volume of what was spilled at the crucifixion of the Son of God. At first the sight of all that blood troubled me until I began to think about how much it would take to cover the sins of the world. By the end of the movie, all I could think of was how much it would take to cover mine. But this time I saw it from another perspective. I saw it from the standpoint of life, and what the cross gained for all of us in terms of our lives now. Not just salvation for everlasting life someday, but salvation for our lives today. I noticed Christ straining under the weight of the cross, all torn and bloody, but saying to Mary, who had knelt down to try and comfort him, "See mother, I am making all things new!" In the middle of all that pain and agony, Jesus had the wherewithal to look forward to what he was accomplishing—providing new life down through history to you and me, right now… today. Jesus is making everything new for you. And I noticed, in the flashback scenes, the sheer joy on Christ's face, and the brightness in his eyes as he taught the disciples the truth. And I noticed the brief portrayal of the last supper, and how Jesus lifted his cup and summoned everyone to drink to the new covenant in his blood. It was his impending death, but the toast was to life. But by far, the most vivid picture of Jesus in my mind now from this movie, is not the bloodied, suffering Jesus, but the resurrected one. We see him only briefly in the final scene in the movie, sitting up in his tomb while his grave-clothes fall empty beside him. It is just a profile, but his face is clean and bright as the sun streams in on it from the open tomb. And then he gets up and walks out. That is the one you have in your life right now. That man who walked out of the tomb, walked into our hearts, and through his Holy Spirit, he is manifesting his resurrection power in us, that we might overcome the sins he forever put to death on the cross. My wife has long believed that too often we stop at the cross when Christ wants us to come through the cross to an empowered life on the other side. May you and I begin to experience that life today. "For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, we shall also be [one with Him in sharing] His resurrection [by a new life lived for God]." (Romans 6:5 The Amplified Bible)
[ Want To Comment?]

The passion of the resurrection	Tuesday, June, 16, 2009
by John Fischer I saw The Passion of the Christ again this weekend. I hadn't seen it since the first week of its release. It was a very different experience, seeing it for the second time. The first time I saw only blood, and the cry of a sinner's absolve in the volume of what was spilled at the crucifixion of the Son of God. At first the sight of all that blood troubled me until I began to think about how much it would take to cover the sins of the world. By the end of the movie, all I could think of was how much it would take to cover mine. But this time I saw it from another perspective. I saw it from the standpoint of life, and what the cross gained for all of us in terms of our lives now. Not just salvation for everlasting life someday, but salvation for our lives today. I noticed Christ straining under the weight of the cross, all torn and bloody, but saying to Mary, who had knelt down to try and comfort him, "See mother, I am making all things new!" In the middle of all that pain and agony, Jesus had the wherewithal to look forward to what he was accomplishing—providing new life down through history to you and me, right now… today. Jesus is making everything new for you. And I noticed, in the flashback scenes, the sheer joy on Christ's face, and the brightness in his eyes as he taught the disciples the truth. And I noticed the brief portrayal of the last supper, and how Jesus lifted his cup and summoned everyone to drink to the new covenant in his blood. It was his impending death, but the toast was to life. But by far, the most vivid picture of Jesus in my mind now from this movie, is not the bloodied, suffering Jesus, but the resurrected one. We see him only briefly in the final scene in the movie, sitting up in his tomb while his grave-clothes fall empty beside him. It is just a profile, but his face is clean and bright as the sun streams in on it from the open tomb. And then he gets up and walks out. That is the one you have in your life right now. That man who walked out of the tomb, walked into our hearts, and through his Holy Spirit, he is manifesting his resurrection power in us, that we might overcome the sins he forever put to death on the cross. My wife has long believed that too often we stop at the cross when Christ wants us to come through the cross to an empowered life on the other side. May you and I begin to experience that life today. "For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, we shall also be [one with Him in sharing] His resurrection [by a new life lived for God]." (Romans 6:5 The Amplified Bible)
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 10 Available]

The passion of the resurrection	Monday, June, 15, 2009
by John Fischer I saw The Passion of the Christ again this weekend. I hadn't seen it since the first week of its release. It was a very different experience, seeing it for the second time. The first time I saw only blood, and the cry of a sinner's absolve in the volume of what was spilled at the crucifixion of the Son of God. At first the volume of blood troubled me until I began to think about how much it would take to cover the sins of the world. By the end of the movie, all I could think of was how much it would take to cover me. But this time I saw it from another perspective. I saw it from the standpoint of the resurrection, and what the cross gained for all of us in terms of our lives now. Not just salvation for everlasting life someday, but salvation for our lives today. I noticed Christ straining under the weight of the cross, all torn and bloody, but saying to Mary, who had knelt down to try and comfort him, "See mother, I am making all things new!" In the middle of all that pain and agony, Jesus had the wherewithal to look forward to what he was accomplishing—providing new life down through history to you and me, right now… today. And I noticed, in the flashback scenes, the sheer joy on Christ's face, and the brightness in his eyes as he taught the disciples the truth. And I noticed the brief portrayal of the last supper, and how Jesus lifted his cup and summoned everyone to drink to the new covenant in his blood. But by far, the most vivid picture of Jesus in my mind now from this movie, is not the bloodied, suffering Jesus, but the resurrected one. We see him only briefly in the final scene in the movie, sitting up in his tomb while his grave-clothes lay flat beside him. It is just a profile, but his face is clean and bright as the sun streams in on it from the open tomb. And then he gets up and walked out. That's my guy! That's the one whom I have in my life now. That man who walked out of the tomb is in my heart, and through his Holy Spirit is ready to provide that same power with which he walked out of the tomb for you and I today. We can overcome. "I have been united with him in his resurrection." (Romans 6:5)
[ Want To Comment?]

Get your head in the kingdom	Friday, June, 12, 2009
by John Fischer "I know that there has been more than one time in my life when I've walked away from a situation thinking the other person just doesn't get it, only to find later that I was the one who didn't get it," commented David from Georgia; and David, I must say… you nailed it. That is exactly what happened to me in a story I told yesterday, although it has taken the comments of our readers for me to fully see it. I am referring to yesterday's Catch when I talked about a clerk in a store who took $10.62 from me for a $6.63 transaction and gave me $3.99 in change. The error was in the assumption. When I asked if she would take $.62 after giving her a ten dollar bill, I meant: "Will you accommodate me by taking a penny less for this transaction so I can unload all this change in my pocket?" But what she heard was, for whatever reason, I wanted to give her $10.62, so she simply entered that in her computer and gave me what it called for in change. Where I was coming from: Smaller "mom and pop" stores with a penny dish on the counter. If a transaction is $2.98, I will give $3.00 and not wait for the 2 pennies. They go into the slush fund for the next guy who can use a penny or two to make up the difference with the change in his pocket. Pennies are meaningless. Where she was coming from: Could have been her first day at work. She was pretty inexperienced, and may have never had anyone ask the question I was asking. At any rate, it was a spanking new store with only one item to sell and a computer to handle it all. She had to account for every penny. She couldn't spot me a penny unless she took it out of her purse. Here's where I was totally out of line. I was asking her to take a penny less for this transaction for the sake of my own convenience, and then I criticized her in my head, and in front of all of you, for not being able to do that. The criticism was unwarranted. I honestly don't think she realized what I was asking and merely carried out the transaction as she was trained. She probably went home that day wondering about the dumb guy who wanted $.99 in change for some reason! But all this aside, Betty from Iowa has the last and the best word on this whole thing: "You could have easily solved the problem of too much loose change in your pocket by giving her a $.99 tip." Of course. Something tells me that if I had my head in the kingdom of God at the time, I might have thought of that!
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 10 Available]

At the register	Thursday, June, 11, 2009
by John Fischer Chandler and I have a new yogurt spot we like to frequent after I pick him up from school. It's one of those places where you serve yourself the flavor of soft yogurt you want from a row of wall dispensers and then you choose from a number of toppings and finally you pay for everything by the ounce. One day recently my bill came to $6.63. I gave the young girl behind the register a ten-dollar bill and, as is my custom, I searched my pocket for change. If I have the $.63 in coin, I like to get rid of the change in my pocket instead of adding to it. So I pulled out my change and found I had $.62—a penny short. "Will you take $.62?" I asked. The girl nodded, took my $.62 and I waited, fully expecting four dollars back. Instead, she fished out exactly $3.99 and counted it all out into my hand. "I don't want this," I said. "The whole idea was to get rid of change not add to it." She looked at me like she didn't know what I was talking about. I opened my mouth to try and explain, but one look in her face told me it was useless. "Here," I said holding out the $3.99. "I'll give you back this and we can start over. Just give me change for a ten." "Can't do that," she said. "The drawer is closed." Why would I bother giving someone $10.62 so they could give me $3.99 back? It defied logic, but then again, she was just doing her job… recording what I gave her into the computer and giving me back what the computer told her. I walked away realizing I was not going to get anywhere with this and finally able to laugh over it. The temptation was to call her something dumb in my head, but that wasn't going to help anything. Further reflection led me to realize this happens a lot when people don't understand each other. They are both seeing the same thing in a different way. It's not that one is right and the other is wrong; they simply have two different perspectives on the same thing. I've realized from this that I need to not always try and get someone to understand my point of view. Maybe I need to put forth a little extra effort and try and understand theirs.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 15 Available]

Dinner can wait	Wednesday, June, 10, 2009
by John Fischer I was halfway to Santa Ana when I got the call. It was last Thursday night and I was headed to the Women of Vision fundraiser I've been referring to lately here in the Catch. It was my wife and she was checking to make sure I got the things I was supposed to bring from the house. Ooops, I had forgotten the hair salon gift certificate that was going to be given out at the event. There was nothing I could do but turn around and go back for it. This was a real sacrifice for me because it meant I might miss some or all of the dinner. As fond of food as I am, this was a serious setback. As I started back, I decided to give up my expectancy for food and be satisfied to take what came. It was a small victory, but I won it. What came was dinner. They had started late, putting me right on time. As it was I got the better part of two dinners because my wife was up and down so many times tending to her position as the organizer of the evening that she hardly paid any attention to her plate. She had written a script for each of the participants and was trying to keep everyone on track. I kind of expected this; food has never been that important to Marti. It's been a bone of contention for the duration of our marriage. I like to focus on food; Marti likes to focus on people. So if the conversation is going well and everyone is having a good time and dinner is ready… well dinner can wait. Over the years this has caused excruciating pain for me, watching medium rare steaks turn well done and crisp asparagus turn to mush in an attempt to keep them warm, because Marti was not yet ready to serve it up. I come from a tradition where everything had to be hot and served at the proper time. Whatever else was happening gave way to dinner being ready. Food was king. I think I'm going to have to chalk this one up as a win for my wife. Who remembers any of those many dinners we slaved over? Yet the relationships live on. Like Mary, she chose the good part, and it won't be taken away from us.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

Our neighbors	Tuesday, June, 09, 2009
by John Fischer To most people who have heard it before, the name Gil Garcetti brings up other names we haven't heard in a while like Marcia Clark and Johnnie Cochran, as well as sayings like: "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit" associated with the O.J. Simpson trial 14 years ago. Gil Garcetti was the Los Angeles County District Attorney during that time, and his name will be forever associated with that pop-cultural event. So it should come as some surprise for you to hear that Mr. Garcetti was the featured speaker at the event my wife was in charge of last week as a volunteer chairperson for Women of Vision of Orange County, California, a division of World Vision International. I was certainly surprised when she first mentioned his name as a potential speaker. But that was before I saw his photographs of the women and children of West Africa taken on his trip there in 2006. The book is titled, Water is Key, and it is a beautiful and moving black & white photographic documentary of the difference that clean water from a deep well dug locally by modern machinery can make to a village, and especially to the lives of its women and young girls who, without it, have to spend all their valuable hours daily walking to and from unsanitary watering holes. No time for school. No time for anything but hauling dirty water on their heads in 5-gallon drums, walking in most cases 3-5 miles one way and often twice a day. There are few words needed, because the story is told on the faces of the people. From pain, disease and illiteracy caused by using every available body to haul water every day, to overwhelming joy over clean water gushing from the ground right in the middle of their village. Now the girls can go to school. Now their education can prepare them to start businesses and build schools and hospitals. Now they can wash their eyes out twice a day with clean water, thus alleviating the blindness born by diseases transferred by unsanitary water. It's hard to imagine a bigger difference that one simple thing—clean available water—can make for hundreds and thousands of people. But the greatest achievement of this documentary is the common humanity Garcetti has captured on every face—the obvious emotions that any of us would have in similar circumstances. These faces bring us close. They show us that these are not some distant peoples on some other planet we can't relate to. They are, in every sense of the word, our neighbors, for we are truly a global village. And what do our neighbors require? Well we know now how clean water is the number one intervention in every community where humanitarian aid is needed. Others of our neighbors require emergency relief. Many have been traumatized by war. We have neighbors all over the world who need our hand of care, yet not by promoting a victim mentality, but by supporting sustainable initiatives like education and micro enterprise that transform local communities through self-sufficiency. Whether we are poor or prosperous, we have only one world to share. Together, we all have the power to change our world if even through one relationship at a time, or maybe, as Marti would say, by picking a pocket or two (otherwise known as fundraising). We can change the world through volunteering our trades or skills. Conceivably, we can be wherever God is, because He will always be with the poor.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

One	Monday, June, 08, 2009
by John Fischer My wife has always wanted to do what I do. She wants a stage. When she used to be a flight attendant, she actually wished for a crash so she could get everyone safely off the plane and then tell the world from under the lights on the six o'clock news that it was nothing; she was just doing her job. But alas her gifts lie not in being on stage, but in putting other people there—sometimes even creating the stage itself. Such was the case last week when as event coordinator for a major fundraising banquet, she had a platform built out into the center of the room so that the M.C. and the speaker could be out among the people, while still on stage, and not hiding behind a podium on one side of the room. It was a brilliant idea and it came off splendidly. Actually the whole event was a silent tribute to her gifts and abilities that few noticed or ever will know about. But that's okay; that's the nature of the gift. I noticed. In fact the whole night I marveled at how smoothly everything ran. That's because she scripted the whole evening leaving little to chance. It occurred to me as I was taking in the program—the culmination of over a year of work—that I could no more do what she did than she could take my place on stage. And yet, weren't we both a part of the whole? Aren't we one? If I am truly one with my wife, then I am running the meeting with her and she is on stage with me. And what's more, isn't this is a picture of God in us and us in Him? We share in His universe; He shares in our joy. We need each other to complete the picture. There isn't anyone unimportant, from the least to the greatest; indeed, the least shall be the greatest, and the greatest shall be the least. "I pray... that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." (John 17:20-21)
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 4 Available]

Just because they can	Friday, June, 05, 2009
by John Fischer Last weekend I got to experience dolphins at play. We were motoring to Catalina Island from Newport Beach, California on a rather dismal, overcast morning. There were four dads and sons on a 40-foot sailboat heading out to spend the weekend at a YMCA camp on the island as part of the Y-sponsored Indian Guides program. Some of you might remember when I wrote about this camp two years ago on my first trip with our new Coyote tribe. I'm a veteran now of these trips and am appreciating the relationships they have fostered. Though the weather was bad, the company made up for it. That, and the dolphins. Halfway across the channel, we came upon the largest school of dolphins I have ever seen in one place. Every direction you looked, the water was teeming with these beautiful creatures, and as they caught sight of our boat, they joined in the chase, like a dog after a car, except these "dogs" were not going to be outdone. Playful. Adventurous. Reckless. They took your breath away. But by far the most incredible sight was watching from the stern of the boat as five or six dolphins were running just ahead of our boat and vying for position as if they were having a contest over who would be first. As I watched this, it was impressed on me how impossible it would be to explain the behavior of the dolphin as anything but being simply downright fun. There is no practical explanation other than this. And when you see this, you can't help but give glory to the Creator with a big smile on your face. Apparently fun is a part of God's agenda for his creation and that would most certainly include us. So do something today for the sheer joy of it. It's godly. It's been sanctified by dolphins. [The Fischtank... casting for truth at the intersection of faith and culture. Help us keep afloat by sending a gift today. See the link above and thank you!]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 8 Available]

Marti on the line	Thursday, June, 04, 2009
by John Fischer For all who responded to my question about whether or not to pick up Arte Moreno's call to a friend of mine: thank you for weighing in. Yesterday's Catch and comments can be found at http://www.fischtank.com/ft/inthetank.cfm. Well I have to admit, I got sucked in. I got sidetracked into thinking that Angel owner Arte Moreno's caller I.D. on the cell phone of a friend was a big deal. Well it was, but only to me, and only for a while. Certainly to my friend as Senior Vice President with the Angels organization, it was no big deal. He gets calls from his boss quite often I'm sure. Now I realize that as much as I like the Angels, and as much as I like and admire Arte Moreno for what he has done for this franchise, and as much as I was excited over seeing his name on a cell phone, in the end, the call wasn't for me. It was for someone else. My calls are the ones that deserve my attention. I have my own celebrities. Marti, my sons and my daughter, my friends, my neighbors… these merit the same attention and anticipation that I gave Mr. Moreno. Not to mention the strangers in my midst who may be a link to real angels, not just the baseball ones. Yesterday it was Arte on the line; today it's Marti. How about that? It's not Arte; it's Marti!
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 6 Available]

Arte on the Phone	Wednesday, June, 03, 2009
by John Fischer Picture this. You're attending a father/son weekend at a camp on Catalina Island 26 miles off the shore of southern California. One of the dads brought his own boat so he could take three of the sons and their dads back across the channel Saturday morning in time to play in their Little League Championship game. But an hour before they are scheduled to leave, your friend discovers one of his two outboard motors won't start. They'll never make it in time on one engine. Quickly they seek out other options and come up with a helicopter service out of nearby Avalon. They can make Avalon in an hour. The helicopter ride is only 15 minutes. It's doable. So off they go with no time to spare, and in the rush of getting off the boat, arranging for someone to pick them up on the other end, and clamoring onto the helicopter, your friend somehow ends up with the cell phone of one of the dads in his pocket. It's the dad who happens to be a Senior Vice President of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the baseball team you've been following faithfully for 10 years. And just as the helicopter disappears under the low-lying clouds, the phone rings and it's Arte Moreno, owner of the Angels. Question: Do you answer it? Thank about it. It's Arte Moreno, for heaven's sake, owner of your favorite baseball team—the guy who brought winning back to southern California baseball in the form of a team that doesn’t bleed blue. The guy who brought down the price of beer and hot dogs at the ballpark so more people could afford the game. They guy who walks around the stadium and talks casually with the fans because he's a guy who started out with nothing, made a fortune in billboards, and bought a major league baseball team, but never forgot where he came from. The guy who is probably calling right now to get information on the Little League game of one of his VP's kids, because he's going to go to that game by golly; he's that kind of guy. He's calling on the phone. This is your chance. He doesn't know you from Adam, but who cares? You know him. The phone's ringing. You may never get a chance like this again. Do you answer it? [If you decide you can afford to send a gift to the Fischtank but haven't yet, please use the link below. This venture is for those who answer the call.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 39 Available]

In conflict	Tuesday, June, 02, 2009
by John Fischer I opened up my newspaper this morning to find people in conflict at seemingly every level. From the abortion doctor who was murdered in the narthex of his church while his wife was in the choir getting ready for the service, to the fight over the court's ratification of the gay marriage ban in California, to an article about the Palestinian conflict heating up, to the rising influence of the Taliban, to companies devouring each other in the Business section, to conflict in the Sports section over whether Manny Ramirez should be allowed to participate in Major League Baseball's All Star game, it seemed like every time I turned a page, someone was having a hard time getting along with someone else. What should be a Christian's role when issues of conflict become high-profile public issues? First and foremost I believe we need to seek to live in peace with those around us. That doesn't mean we don't have opinions and sides to take when, especially in a democracy, issues come down to a public vote. We just need to be careful not to get sucked into the emotional steam these issues can build up which exonerate one side and demonize the other. And then we need to realize how limited these conflicts and their proposed solutions are. Anything that relies on politics, public opinion, even legislation to accomplish its goals is going to be limited to human resources as a solution. That may be important, but it can only go so far. You cannot vote in the kingdom of God unless you are willing for the kingdom of God to be reduced to the kingdom of man. (Of course, it never will be; but that will be the perception.) We also need to realize that when we put our weight behind one side of a conflict, we immediately make ourselves out to be an enemy of the other side without even trying. This is unfortunate for at least two reasons: 1) We reduce the whole authority of the word of God and the church to the rhetorical argument of the side we choose, and 2) we are called to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. So somehow we need to strive to be wise about how we enter these discussions. We need to speak is respectful ways about everyone, and try and show that we accept and support the rights of those who believe differently than we do. For this, we must come up with our own words and our own statements. The ones provided reduce the counsel of God to a special interest group. God will undoubtedly have words for both sides of a conflict, not just the "other" side. We need to show we have things to straighten out, too. We too are under authority, and God's word is no respecter of persons. In short, we need to do a lot more homework, and be a lot more humble. And finally, as the scripture below indicates, we need to seek to live well with our neighbors. "This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 'Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper'" (Jeremiah 29:4-7). [A special thanks to all who stepped up and answered our recent call for assistance both in one-time gifts and new monthly contributors. If you have been intending to contribute to the Catch and missed last week's appeal, we could still use your thoughtful attention. Go to Donate link at the top of this page. Thank you all!]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

Future shock, 2009	Friday, May, 29, 2009
by John Fischer I'm always leery about what flies around the Internet. There is a video that has been around the block a few times that claims to have been shown at a corporate meeting of Sony executives. Whether it was, or whether its information is entirely accurate isn't really important for our purposes. The essence of what it portrays is something that is definitely real. It's all about the exponential times we live in, and how the population, information and technological explosion has made keeping up with the speed of change seemingly impossible. But most intriguing is the way the video ends—with a question. I thought that question would be great to reflect upon for today's Catch. "SO WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?" Of course no one can fully answer this question, but the attempt leads to some important considerations and I offer those for your reflection today. Technology will never replace the human being. Not in what it can do, but in its humanity as an expression of the image of God. According to the video, by 2049, a computer that can exceed the computational capabilities of the entire human species will cost about a thousand dollars. But a world full of those computers cannot hold a candle in value to the cry of one newborn baby in the night. America is not the center of the universe. Nothing new here (we never were), but it's going to come home now, more and more. And that's a good thing. We are a small part of a global community. We need to learn how to cooperate, not push around. There are places in the world that have never heard of the Super Bowl, Disneyland, Pet Rocks or Saddleback Church. Lots of people need to know Jesus. The video recorded how many babies had been born during the 5 minutes it took to watch it—67 in the U.S., 274 in China, 395 in India. That's 736 people who are, each one of them, important to God. Every single one needs Jesus. He died for every one of them. How important are these people to you... to me? Information is not everything. What you do with it is far more important than merely having it. It's the different between knowledge and wisdom. Hope is in the Lord, not in keeping up. Though we should try, because keeping up is important to communicating, we should rest in the knowledge that God is keeping up. Nothing escapes His control. No one and nothing can get ahead of God. Don't hitch your wagon to this earth. It's going to be amazing what we can do, but we cannot save ourselves or turn our hearts toward love. Without love we are nothing. Without each other we are lost. Without God, we perish. [Go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY if you'd like to view the video.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 1 Available]

Fishbowl theology	Thursday, May, 28, 2009
by John Fischer I have long been intrigued by the depiction of the human condition Paul delivered in his address to the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers of Athens upon their invitation to have him speak in the Aeropagus, a place where Athenians "spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas" (Acts 17:21)—a form of 1st century talk radio, I would say. Listen to what he said: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring'" Here's how this breaks down, as I see it. God made the world, put us in it, determined the times and the places we would occupy, but left out some valuable pieces of information as to who we are, who he is, and how he is to be known. He did this so that we would have to get answers. So on and on I go The seconds tick the time out There's so much left to know And I'm on the road to find out - Cat Stevens It's a God-given, universal human need. God purposely made us so that we would have to seek him, because he wants to be found. And yet—and here's the irony—he is all around us. So much so that we live, move and have our being in him. That would be a little like being a fish in a fishbowl and not knowing where God is, when, in fact, he is the water in which you swim. Such is the state of humanity.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 4 Available]

Growing Younger	Wednesday, May, 27, 2009
by John Fischer Ah, but I was so much older then I'm younger than that now - Bob Dylan We often think of spiritual growth as getting spiritually bigger and stronger. That would make sense since it’s the meaning of the word. We even have a term we use for those who have walked with God a long time: we call them “spiritual giants.” Yet I’m not sure they, or God, would support the metaphor. On a couple of occasions when the disciples of Jesus volunteered to shoo the children away, Jesus rebuked them and made a point of His preference for children, going as far as to say that the rest of us need to become like them if we have any desire of finding a heaven in our future. I wonder what part of being like children he meant. Obviously he didn’t mean we were to be like children in everything, because children are naïve and foolish sometimes. Children are immature and God is pointing us all to maturity in Christ. But in some things spiritual, children have the upper hand. The most obvious is their simple and total faith and trust in their parents, which becomes an example for us of how to trust our heavenly Father. Secondly, and not quite as obvious, is the wonder of a child. A small child is on a road of discovery and every new thing is full of delight. It does not take much to please young children because their imaginations are so active and their experiences are so new and fresh. Something else I’ve observed afresh with our nine-year-old Chandler is the ease by which children make friends. We can be at a local park or at the beach and I watch him immediately jump in with whoever is there—no introductions necessary—as if they were long lost buddies. And it's also always a contrast with parents around, how careful and suspicious we are of each other as we play out a little charade to determine whether or not we will introduce ourselves and bother getting into adult conversation while our children play. Our children have no problem with what can be a difficult barrier for us, and the contrast makes our isolation even more apparent. Take it from the kids: we need each other. We are all longing for contact; we are just afraid. Our mission in life revolves around relationships. Learn from the children. They are judgment-free, suspicion-free, un-self-conscious playmates, sharing in what they have in common, and jumping into the "now-ness" of being together. I don't know about you, but I could sure stand to be a lot more like that.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 9 Available]

Big deal	Tuesday, May, 26, 2009
by John Fischer Job argued with God. Moses bargained with Him. Jacob wrestled with Him. Nehemiah changed His mind. What do these amazing stories tell us about God if it isn't that He wants a relationship with us probably more than we want one with Him. What does it tell us about God if He is willing to be persuaded, cajoled, bargained with and wrestled? It tells us He created us like Him so we could participate in a relationship with Him that means something in terms of integrity. It's no small thing for God to be swayed by a puny human being, but such is the wonder of His will. The Psalmist has declared a similar wonder when he wrote, "When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you have set in place—what are mortals that you should think of us? For you made us only a little lower than the angels, and you crowned us with glory and honor. You put us in charge of everything you made, giving us authority over all things—the sheep and the cattle and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents" (Psalms 8:3-8 NLT). In other words: What's the big deal here? We're the big deal. Does this bring us glory? Yes, but that only brings Him more. That He would create us with this much power and authority says a lot about our Creator and what He created us for. He created us with intelligence and emotions. He created us like Him so He could relate to us and we could relate to Him. And He gave us the right to refuse Him, accept Him, argue with Him, badger Him—even tell Him to get lost if that's what we want to do. Think about that. Even unbelief has integrity. What kind of God would create a being that might not even believe in Him? A God who wants a relationship with him when he does! That's why the very next verse of this Psalm reads, "O Lord, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth" (Psalm 8:9)! We are part and parcel of God's glory. That He would do it this way—that He would create a world, people it with beings like Him, and then give them authority over that world—even the opportunity to believe Him or not—says as much about Him as it does about us. You and I are a big part of God's glory. And that's without even trying.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 4 Available]

Memorial Day, 2009	Monday, May, 25, 2009
by John Fischer War is hell. There's no way around this. It has always been this way. I used to think it was the Vietnam conflict that robbed war of its glory, but it was only the old Hollywood WWII movies that glamorized it. Steven Spielberg changed that forever in the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan—a sickeningly real depiction of the Normandy invasion at Omaha Beach that made John Wayne's movies seem like a visit to the Mickey Mouse Club set. So this Memorial Day, I'm thinking not of the great heroes who accomplished our freedom, but of the young kid in the front row of an amphibious transport vehicle who took the first round of enemy fire in his chest before he ever got to even leave the boat or shoot his rifle. And I'm thinking of the 5,000 other men who died on the beach that day, June 6, 1944, and what they died for. I'm thinking of the senselessness of it all—a young man's noble send-off, his training, his prayers, his shaky fingers around his last smoke after throwing up on the boat (was he seasick or just scared?), the front of the boat falling away, and the first bullet ending his all-too-short story. I'm thinking of his mom and dad sitting home in perhaps another Omaha (not the beach), listening to the news and wondering how their dear Billy is doing over there. How many times has this played itself out in just the brief history of America? And how many ways do we try and live with this? The ones who come back don't want the attention. They already feel guilty that they came back and their buddies didn't. That's why we honor the buddies today. But how do you memorialize so many who died such horrible deaths for reasons that often amount to nothing more than the pride and arrogance of a few powerful men? You try and remember why they did it. I'm thinking of my own peers who died in a war no one understood by reason of the number on their draft card. My name could just as easily be on that granite wall in Washington, but for a student ministerial deferment. They died for their country at a time when many in their country were spitting on their graves. They didn't deserve that. They were not warmongers. They were just doing their duty. Their number was up. They were high school football players and neighborhood cut-ups that answered the call. They did what a nation asked them to do, even when they didn't know why. They took the bullet for everyone who didn't go, and like Able, their blood cries out from the ground. Normandy's beaches are quiet now. Children laugh and play in the sand. Warm breezes blow. The sea has swallowed up its dead long ago, and the sands have washed away the memory, except for today. Today we try to remember. War is hell and has taken way too many young men and women in the prime of their life. We pray that in God's mercy, heaven has them now. [Thank you so much for your enthusiastic response to my request for funds at the end of last week. For any who still wish to contribute, our usual link is below. You guys are awesome!]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 7 Available]

The preposterously Good News	Friday, May, 22, 2009
by John Fischer I have some really good news for everyone today, but it's not just good news; it's preposterously Good News. "I, the Lord, made you, and will not forget to help you. I have swept away your sins like the morning mists. I have scattered your offenses like the clouds. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free." (Isaiah 44:21-22) Here it is: God forgave us first; then He invites us home. It could just as easily have been: Return to me and I will forgive your sins. That would have been remarkable enough. But instead, it's: Come home because you've already been forgiven. This was precisely the case for the prodigal son. He was forgiven before he ever reached the front driveway. That's why his old man was running to meet him. There was no discussion. No lesson. No: "I hope you learned your lesson." He needn't even ask for forgiveness, for it had already been granted. This is our message to the world: You have already been forgiven, so come home. Christ has already paid the price to set you free. He has removed the barrier between God and us. How can anyone resist so great a love? No wonder Paul calls it Good News. Can you imagine anything better when it comes to God and our sin? We know we are guilty. Our consciences tell us that. We know the demands of the law. We have the commandments for that, and we aren't doing very well by them. We know that if we mess up in just one thing, we are charged with breaking the whole law. God does not grade on the curve. Instead, He offers us a blanket pardon -- the only thing that could ever save us. "Oh, return to me, for I have [already] paid the price to set you free." Preposterous, isn't it?
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 2 Available]

Friends of God	Thursday, May, 21, 2009
by John Fischer What Jesus said: "Whoever is not against us is for us" (Mark 9:39). Or: Unless a person is an outright proclaimed enemy of the gospel, he can be considered a friend. That means there are lots of friends out there waiting to be claimed. What it seems like we heard: "Whoever is not for us is against us." Or in other words, anyone who is not one of us is our enemy. That would mean the world is populated mostly with our foes. These are actually statements of differing worldviews. How you think about the world determines which reality is true for you. Personally, I like the worldview where I assume friendship instead of anticipating enmity. I think as Christians in this culture, we have made lots of enemies we didn't have to make. We have drawn lines in the sand that were not there in the first place, and accused people on the other side of the line for the crime of being over there when we drew it. (We never gave them a chance, in other words.) It's almost as if we have had to create and maintain a good supply of enemies in order to fulfill this self-proclaimed animosity with the world that incorrectly defines us. This is not a good way to behave when representing the God of second chances—the God who, if He had not been abundantly gracious would never have called us His friends, and would never have given us even a first chance. I think it best to assume there are a lot of friends of God out there, just waiting to be found. The writer of Hebrews wrote: "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it" (Hebrews 13:2). That's truly giving the benefit of a doubt to those who are not "of us." It's a good place to begin. [Alert: The Fischtank is in need of immediate funds to maintain operation. I have come to you a few times before in the past with immediate needs that you have graciously helped address. If you've been thinking about pitching in financially, would you prayerfully consider today? Thank you, regardless.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 12 Available]

A mutual valuing	Wednesday, May, 20, 2009
by John Fischer One of the important comments from my New Age Catch yesterday made the point that we all have something to learn from everybody. To think that a person into New Age philosophy (or any other philosophy or religion for that matter) has nothing to teach us as Christians is not only a narrow angle on truth, it is inappropriately arrogant. No wonder I grew up feeling so separated from people. I was. And I know now that it was largely due to this kind of thinking. Our worldview didn't allow for anyone who wasn't a Christian to contribute to our lives in any way. You were either all right or all wrong. To receive something valuable from someone outside the church was a threat to one's theology. People needed help from us, we didn't need help from them; for them to help us in any way somehow weakened our faith argument. Of course none of these things were spelled out the way I have here. It was all subliminal, but it was there nonetheless, and thwarted whatever relationship potential we might have had with non-Christians. In 1983, I moved my family to New England from California, and I entered into this move trying to rid myself of this kind of false pretense. A song I wrote during that time carries an important sharing—a mutual valuing, that should be a part of all of our thinking. I offer the lyrics of that song for your reflection today. It would be good to always ask, "What does this person have to teach me today?" Here in New England by John Fischer and Dan Cunningham Life is old; winters are cold Minds are made up; blinds are down New ideas meet with a frown But ties are strong here And we've been drawn here There's something for us, and something for them, Here in New England The Patriots fame isn't a game The blood that was shed on neighboring hills Still paints them red when autumn chills The flag is respected And we are indebted There's something for us, and something for them, Here in New England Pacific blue is another hue But the frozen sunlight shines On whitened walls of older times Our faith is young here Our song is unsung here But there's something for us, and something for them, Here in New England
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 15 Available]

New light on New Age	Tuesday, May, 19, 2009
by John Fischer Someone asked what to do with a New Age friend with lots of objections to Christianity. Well first and last, you love him. Then you realize he is seeking the same God you know. He may be a Christian on a path to truth, and though that path may look like it is aimlessly winding nowhere, as far as God is concerned, it's a straight line to Him. When you realize this, then you realize you don't have to talk him out of believing anything. If given the opportunity, you want to talk him into Jesus. You are not trying to win an argument. You are not trying to prove Christianity or disprove New Age philosophy. Remember we are not confronting people; we are walking alongside, pointing. Mostly, you want him to talk. You want to learn as much as you can about what he believes. You want to learn as much as you can about New Age philosophy—not to shoot it down, but to find the "unknown God" that is present there. If he's into New Age, he's a spiritual person. He has realized there is a spiritual dimension to life that needs attention. This is good. You just can see something he can't see right now—that's all. That's okay… just keep pointing. Someday he will see (unless he is not meant to, in which case you can't do anything about it anyway) so just keep pointing. And to do so, you've got to get next to him. You can only see what someone else sees by getting next to them, and you can only show them what you see in the same manner.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 12 Available]

Not until the china falls	Monday, May, 18, 2009
by John Fischer "It's not really an earthquake until the china falls on the floor." We had just finished my birthday dinner out when the earth moved under our feet. Somewhere between the presents and the cake, the front windows of the restaurant started rippling like plastic wrap. It was a rolling sensation, as if we were suddenly on a ship in a turbulent sea. And then, as quickly as it came, it was gone. "What was that?" said the lady in the booth across from us, obviously not a veteran of southern California. "That was an earthquake," we said, probably too casually for the sense of dread which was building across her face. A guest at our table, a friend of our daughter's also not from California had a wild look on his face—one born more out of excitement than fear. "I've never felt anything like that before," he said. That's when the lady on the other side of us chimed in with her pronouncement about the falling china. Everyone was smiling at her table, as if to say to these greenhorns, "Don't be silly; we'll tell you when it's time to worry." Which made me think of the words most often spoken in the Bible when angels encountered the sons of men: "Fear not." Even Jesus employed this admonition on at least three occasions with his disciples (Luke 8:50; 12:7; 12:32), from which I have very loosely constructed this paraphrase for us today… "Fear not. My Father in heaven has everything under control. I am for you, not against you. A sparrow doesn't fall from the sky without my knowledge. I know the earth just moved, but the china is still on the shelf. I'll tell you when to worry, and as long as I am with you, it's not now."
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

Gifts and calling	Friday, May, 15, 2009
On Sunday I will be 62. Funny, I don't feel a day over nineteen (and some of my behaviors bear that out!). Nonetheless, God is starting something new in me and I am ready. These last couple days a woman named Muriel has encouraged us all. Part of that might have been that her approach to life is rare for someone of her age. But my wife reminded me that her age has nothing to do with it. Muriel would be Muriel at any age. I like that, because it automatically improves my numbers. In fact, it makes them irrelevant. It's possible to grow younger as you grow older. The older you get, the less hold shackles of expectation have on you. The less you care about what others think of you as long as you are doing what you are gifted and called to do. As a matter of fact, I woke up this morning to a slightly different world. In this world, My vision is a little clearer, Hope is a little stronger, Faith is a little more powerful, Love is a little deeper, Words are a little more accurate, and The arrow hits closer to the mark Now clearly the world did not change, but I did. I received a new word on behalf of my gifts and my call, and I'm not about to miss what it might mean should I take them seriously. There's always more ahead should you step out and trust God. Come on and join us. You can probably find me out near the front somewhere… right behind Muriel. "…for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." (Romans 11:29
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 26 Available]

Muriel's back	Thursday, May, 14, 2009
by John Fischer [Go back to yesterday's Catch if you don't know about Muriel.] Hey! Sweet Fellow, I am Muriel, and I wanted to catch you up on my life. Last May I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, operated on in June, started chemo in July, ended in October. So far I am in remission, Praise our Lord! I am in Stage #2. Again Praise our Lord! Wonderful that your email came today, as I see my oncologist today. I told him all about you, and you know what, he asked to pray over me! Can you imagine that? Your daily Fishtank has been so important in my bout with cancer. Some days when I read it I want to shout: "BRAVOI" The message fits my needs in a fantastic way, as though it was just meant for Muriel. I am making greeting cards (takes my mind off cancer), and I send them to the ill. I think they are received with pleasure. I was wondering why God chose to give me more time on this earth He created, when so many young ones were dying. I thought maybe I am fulfilling a plan He has for me and there is more work I need to do before He calls me home. My faith is strong, and when the Lord calls me home, it's OK, as I have had so many blessings—to quote the Bible, my blessings have been legion. I just LOVE you John Fischer, live long and well! In Christ, Muriel Carter PS: YES!! I started asking questions again! [How about that? Muriel's sending greeting cards to the ill. What does that make her? Sick enough to understand; well enough to care; feisty enough to do something about it. How about us? We're relatively well. Think about it.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 13 Available]

Remember Muriel?	Wednesday, May, 13, 2009
by John Fischer Remember Muriel? She was 84 years old when I first wrote about her and apparently she was trouble in her Bible class. "Our ministers are wonderful," she wrote me, "but sometimes cannot take the time to answer. In Bible class, I was criticized for asking. This person said I disrupted the class and slowed them down. Gee, and I thought that's what Bible study was all about—to learn. I do not ask that many questions—maybe one or two short ones in the hour, all pertaining to the study. Now I do not ask anymore." What would you tell Muriel, besides the fact that she sounds like the coolest 84-year-old you would ever want to know? (She started out her e-mail to me: "Boy! Was I ever glad to see you have an email." See what I mean?) I know what I would say. In fact, here is what I said: "Don't stop asking, Muriel. Make them sweat. People don't like questions because they really don't care about knowing the answers, or they are too uncomfortable leaving the difficult questions unanswered. As long as they think someone, somewhere, knows the answers, they are off the hook. (That's what all those Christian books are for, right?) Obviously, the point is not to learn, but to get through the study in the allotted time, probably because that is their spiritual obligation. You're doing great, Muriel. Don't let them silence you. Rock the boat. That's what you're there for. Rock on!" "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7) What does this mean, if it doesn't mean to persist? Shake the tree. Rattle the cage. Don't stop until you get an answer. Pound on the door in the middle of the night until the person you want gets up out of bed and comes to open it, if only to get rid of you (Matthew 11:5-10). Jesus said that He rewards people like this. People like Muriel. Would that more people were trouble in their Bible classes. Trouble in their churches. Trouble because they are thinking, asking, seeking and knocking, and they are not done yet – not by a long shot. Even at 84.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 13 Available]

The last line of defense God doesn't need and didn't ask for	Tuesday, May, 12, 2009
by John Fischer If you haven't checked out readers' comments from the last few days, I encourage you to go to http://www.fischtank.com/ft/inthetank.cfm and scroll down to "Read Comments" especially for Friday, May 8. There are some good things being said there. I was especially drawn to a comment made by Drew Snider, a pastor at Gospel Mission in Vancouver, B.C.. He pointed out that one of Satan's tactics is to keep us occupied with protests against things that offend God. Now that really sounds like something Satan would do. Instead of being the champion of every evil thing we stand against, wouldn't it be more like him to sidetrack us into something good, but not the best? This, of course, is the picture of Satan brilliantly portrayed C.S. Lewis in Screwtape Letters. Satan would worm his way into our ranks. He would occupy us with lesser things, and distract us from our central call of Christ to love God and our neighbor. Even Paul pointed out that Satan likes to disguise himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). And standing against things that offend God would certainly seem to most people to be a noble thing to do. Yet we could keep Christ in Christmas, God in the Pledge, prayer in the schools and the Ten Commandments on government lawns and guarantee absolutely nothing in terms of what it means to follow Christ. We could win all these battles and still have a Godless nation and a Godless church. I have no doubt that God would much rather have us put our efforts into keeping Christ in our hearts, God in our minds, prayer in our daily walk, and the Ten Commandments as the way we live life because we are loving God and serving our neighbor. If we were doing this, these battles would be irrelevant. The reality of a relationship with God would be self-evident.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 16 Available]

Temper your politics with a love for people	Monday, May, 11, 2009
by John Fischer I got to thinking after last week's Catches on worldviews and the resulting discussion that cast things once again in a political light, that a lot of sentiment held by Christians today is centered around the desire for America to be a Christian nation. We long to see our faith more fully and freely expressed in public life. But sometimes I don't think we go far enough with this. To what end do we want America to be a more Christian nation? And if we could get everything we wanted, what would that be? Would it mean more people would become Christians? Would more people be saved? Would more people come to know Jesus? Does anybody care about this? What if living in a Christian nation and knowing Christ were two different things didn't have anything to do with each other, or even more problematic, what if they were counter productive? What if a more Christian nation meant a more diluted Christianity? Actually a strong case could be made historically for this (see the Holy Roman Empire). A more current illustration of this would be the fact that one is more likely to find a vital Christianity thriving on a secular college campus than in a Christian college or university. The more Christian the environment, the more assumptions are made about everybody's Christianity, often resulting in apathy and disconnection when it comes to one's personal faith. It could be that a less Christian environment might foster a more vibrant Christian community. The early church and Christianity around the world show us over and over again that faith thrives amidst opposition. I'm not suggesting we let America go to hell in a handbasket, but I am suggesting we think through just how much time, money and emotional energy we should put into trying to make or keep this country "Christian." My suggestion: whatever attention we are putting into trying to save America, double that when it comes to seeking to love and save those who are lost. I'm not even sure what a Christian America is or would look like, but I do know what a Christian is, and a real Christian will be a Christian anywhere. …and that's where you and I come in.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 29 Available]

Down in the river	Friday, May, 08, 2009
by John Fischer [Warning: Reading today's Catch may be hazardous to your fear.] Yesterday's Catch presented two different worldviews. In case you missed it, here they are. Worldview #1: The world is our enemy. Satan is hiding out for us behind every bush. Secular humanists are conspiring to influence our children and take over our country, and everything we believe in and hold dear is being threatened by the culture around us. Worldview #2: This is our Father's world. Every bush is ablaze with the glory of God. The Holy Spirit is behind the past and current events of history, and no force on earth, heaven or under the earth can do anything outside of the will and knowledge of God Almighty who lives in us. To be sure, the Bible does warn us of Satan's wiles, but not for the purpose of keeping us in fear. The actual passage is 1 Peter 5:8, "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Peter's admonition to us in this regard is to resist him and stand firm (vs.9), and we do this by being self-controlled and alert (vs.8). And the admonition immediately prior to this warning is 1 Peter 5:6-7, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety [that would be fear] on him because he cares for you." No looking behind any bushes here. And no putting us in positions of power, either. "Humble yourselves…" Worldview #1 has served the Christian community for far too long. And yes, "served" is the right word. It has funded Christian ministries, mobilized boycotts and marches, even put people in the White House. It is a worldview that has turned Christians into a social force to be reckoned with. But for what purpose? We're here for the gospel. Remember? The gospel? What's the gospel? No one in the world would know because we haven't told them. We've been too busy trying to gain power. Mark my word, now that Obama is in the White House, WV#1 is enjoying new life as American Christians terrorize their fellow-believers spreading hate and fear daily around the Internet. I can't believe the stuff I'm receiving. It's as if Christian leaders think they can't control people, motivate them, or mobilize them without keeping them sufficiently afraid. It's time to stop it. NO MORE FEAR. It's time for a different worldview. (Check out WV#2 above for starters.) It's time to do what we should have been doing all along: spread the good news of God's love. And as I finish writing this, believe it or not, Alison Krause is doing just that over the speakers in this Starbucks where I write, which would mean it is most likely playing in Starbucks all over the world. Thank you, Alison. As I went down in the river to pray Studying about that good ol' way And who shall wear the starry crown? Good Lord show me the way O sinners, let's go down Let's go down, come on down O sinners, let's go down Down in the river to pray I'm on my way. Meet you there, everybody. Drop your fear, throw down your placard, and come on down…
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 43 Available]

The power of what you think	Thursday, May, 07, 2009
by John Fischer For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. (Proverbs 23:7) I think, therefore I am. (René Descartes) How we think is fundamental to who we are and what we do. To a large extent, the world will cooperate with what we think about it. If we think the world is our enemy, that Satan is hiding out for us behind every bush, that secular humanists are conspiring to influence our children and take over our country, and that everything we believe in and hold dear is threatened by the culture around us, well then… it is. But if we think that this is our Father's world, that every bush is ablaze with the glory of God, that the Holy Spirit is behind the past and current events of history, and that no force on earth or heaven or under the earth can do anything outside of the will and knowledge of God Almighty who lives in us, then that is the world we inhabit. You can see why one's worldview is a very powerful thing. It determines how one thinks and acts in the real world. These are not just examples of two different ways of thinking; they are the realities of two different people behaving entirely differently in the world because, in fact, their worlds are different. The fact that one view may be closer to the way things really are than another doesn't guarantee that will be the worldview that will win out. What we have come to believe about the world is often more deeply entrenched in us than what is truly true. It may take a lifetime to overcome a false worldview. Read the word of God with an open mind. Ask God to reveal to you the truth about the world we live in, and be ready to learn. And whatever you do, be willing to rethink everything while holding to the truth.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 10 Available]

Coming alongside	Tuesday, May, 05, 2009
by John Fischer I am normally not a fan of ten steps to this or five ways to do that. But for one of my recent talks I came up with these six things to remember about being around those who may not yet be Christians, and thought some of you might find it useful. 1) Assume everyone is searching for God. Why? Because everyone is. We were created this way. God has purposely frustrated humanity by creating us with eternity in our hearts, yet with an inability to fathom what that is or what it means (Ecclesiastes 3:10-11). He has done this so that we might reach out for him and find him though He is not far from any of us for in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:27-28). 2) Come alongside. This is really the crux of it all. Just walk alongside people and enter into their lives. Listen. Talk. Laugh. Cry. Find out where you can contribute and what you can learn. There's something to give and something to receive in every relationship. 3) Point. You don't tell someone what the truth is; you point to it. "There it is over there," or "Here it is in my life." This is why we need to learn to identify truth in the context of the world around us. Truth isn't religious. You don't have to get into a certain posture to see it. It's not something that hasn't been there all along. 4) Find out what people already know before you set out to tell them anything. Don't ever think you have to clear the table and start over. This is why it's so important to listen first. Find out what's already on the table that you can use. 5) You don't have to tell everything you know. Just the next thing. 6) You don't have to correct everything someone says that is wrong. You are not the protector and defender of truth. You don't have to decide where to draw the line. You don't even have to be concerned if someone may be walking away with the wrong idea. You are not that smart anyway because you don't know what's in someone's head. As long as they have something to think about, that's a good thing. And now here's the one final thing that makes all this possible. It is the most important of all. (This is the one thing that makes all six of these make sense.) We don't save anybody, convince anybody, "win" anybody to Christ or close the deal. All that is God's business. The Holy Spirit is doing this all on His own terms and timetable. We are not salesmen, marketing reps, counselors or prosecutors. We are just friends who come alongside.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 14 Available]

Living like you belong in the big leagues	Monday, May, 04, 2009
by John Fischer Intimidated? Naw. Though he sure could have been. No name Matt Palmer of the Los Angeles Angels went up against the New York Yankees and their new ace, CC Sabathia on Saturday, in spanking new Yankee Stadium, and won. Palmer, who is 30 years old, considered by many to be too old to be starting a major league career, was pitching in only his fifth big league start, and on paper, David shouldn't even be on the same field with Goliath. Sabbathia is a 6 foot 7 inch 300 pound behemoth with a contract that pays him $23 million a year. Palmer is a half a foot shorter and will make the major league minimum of $400,000 this year. That's a difference of $22.6 million. But this time, the money didn't pay off. That's what you have to love about this game. Palmer won the game for the Angels with a 6 1/3 inning, three hit, one run effort, while Sabbathia gave up five runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings. Palmer gives credit to his wife, who consistently believed in his pitching abilities even when he wanted to give up and go into the landscape business, and to the Angels coaches who taught him to trust his "stuff" rather than try and finesse the ball. His coaches found that he had a natural movement on his fastball that confused hitters and basically taught him to trust his gifts and aggressively go after hitters. Well at least on Saturday, it worked out. What surprised me about this story is that Matt Palmer didn't request a souvenir from the game. (Players who accomplish something special often ask for a memento of some kind like a game ball.) He certainly was entitled. But when asked what he would take with him from this experience, he replied, "Just the feeling—you always have memories. I don't believe in souvenirs and all that. From here on out, it's all about competing and trying to stay here and showing the coaches and the staff and the team that I belong here." That's a take home for me. It's one thing to mark one victory—and that's fine—but it's another to perform at a level that guarantees a steady stream of them. We are all gifted by God. We've got a natural pitch. Learn to trust your gift and start to live at a level that requires it. I (Paul) urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. (Ephesians 4:1) [Clarification: Because the byline "by John Fischer" is permanently affixed to the Catch of the Day template, I didn't realize until my daughter pointed it out to me that last Friday's Catch made it appear that I was the author of the lyrics to the song, "Man in Black." In fact that is Johnny Cash's own lyrical answer to why he wears black.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 4 Available]

Man in black	Friday, May, 01, 2009
by John Fischer [Why Johnny Cash wore black.] Well, you wonder why I always dress in black, Why you never see bright colors on my back, And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone. Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on. I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, Living in the hopeless, hungry side of town, I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime, But is there because he's a victim of the times. I wear the black for those who never read, Or listened to the words that Jesus said, About the road to happiness through love and charity, Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me. Well, we're doing mighty fine, I do suppose, In our streak of lightning cars and fancy clothes, But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back, Up front there ought 'a be a man In black. I wear it for the sick and lonely old, For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold, I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been, Each week we lose a hundred fine young men. And, I wear it for the thousands who have died, Believen' that the Lord was on their side, I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died, Believen' that we all were on their side. Well, there's things that never will be right I know, And things need changin' everywhere you go, But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right, You'll never see me wear a suit of white. Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day, And tell the world that everything's OK, But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back, 'Till things are brighter, I'm the man In black. "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering." Isaiah 53:7
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

Johnny's dogs	Thursday, April, 30, 2009
by John Fischer Yesterday's mention of black and white Christians reminded me of an interview Johnny Cash gave in Rolling Stone magazine after his "American Recordings" came out in 1994. Towards the end of the interview, Johnny turns the tables on the interviewer by asking him, "Don't you want to ask me about the dogs on my album cover?" The cover is a black and white photograph of Johnny standing out in a field with a dog on either side of him. "Ah… yeah… sure, Johnny," said the interviewer, "tell us about the dogs on your cover!" "Well, you'll notice that one is mostly black with a little white on him, and the other is mostly white, with a little bit of black. That's because even the worst of us has a little bit of good in him, while the best of us still can't seem to shake that bad streak. That's why we all need to be redeemed." What a simple way of pointing out that our relative goodness or badness is irrelevant to our need for salvation. And what a great way to show how the gospel puts us all at the same level. It's not how good we are. It's never how good we are. What unites us all is simply our need for Jesus. There are no black and white Christians. Only Johnny Cash's dogs.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 7 Available]

Recovering sinners	Wednesday, April, 29, 2009
by John Fischer Meet Jim; I met him at a singles conference I spoke at last weekend. Jim is a recovering alcoholic and a Christian now for three years. During the course of my talks I touched on some issues concerning the less that exemplary behavior of Christian author/theologian/philosopher Francis Schaeffer that has now been revealed by his son, Frank, in a number of his books. My point in bringing this up was to show how no one is exempt from struggles with their human nature, and that it is more damaging to hide this than to reveal it and ask for help. Had Schaeffer done this, Frank probably would not have had to write these books. As it is, the truth had to come out somewhere. The other reason I talked about this was to show how God uses us anyway. Few have influenced me as deeply as Francis Schaeffer, and finding out about his human failings did not take anything away from that for me. In fact, it made him more believable, and convinced that what I had received from him was from the Lord anyway, not from him. This is where Jim comes in. Jim had also been greatly influenced by Francis Schaeffer, but when he found out that Schaeffer had dangerous mood swings and could be abusive to his family, he had stopped reading him because of the apparent hypocrisy. But my comments had set him free. At the end of the conference, he told me he couldn't wait to get home and get going on his Schaeffer material again. Then to show me how God was confirming this truth, he sent me the following in an email. It's a quote by Bill Wilson, founder of AA. "Acceptance and faith are capable of producing 100% sobriety ...but the moment we carry these attitudes into our emotional problems, we find that only relative results are possible. Nobody can be completely free from fear, anger, and pride. Hence in this life we shall attain nothing like perfect humility and love. So we shall have to settle for a very gradual progress, sometime punctuated by heavy setbacks. Our old time attitude of all or nothing will have to be abandoned." There is a lot of "all or nothing—black and white" in Christian ministry and those who attempt to live good Christian lives. It's unfortunate because it forces us into many unhealthy attitudes not the least of which is to be judgmental. Jim revealed to me that he had anger problems too, and he had to realize he was getting upset at Schaeffer as a means of not facing into his own problem and seeking forgiveness. See how convoluted this can get? Jim is a recovering alcoholic. Francis Schaeffer was a recovering mis-manager of anger. We are all of us recovering sinners. There are no black and white Christians. Only spotty ones. I will let Jim have the last word today. "Francis Schaeffer's very human temper problem does not negate his marvelous teaching about God, just as my anger issues do not make me a hypocritical Christian. God finally answered the question I had been praying about for weeks. He clearly told me to acknowledge my anger and my Christianity, for they are not incompatible, they're just human."
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 11 Available]

We Limit Not the Truth of God	Tuesday, April, 28, 2009
by John Fischer We limit not the truth of God to our poor reach of mind By notions of our day and sect, crude, partial and confined. No, let a new and better hope within our hearts be stirred-- The Lord hath yet more light and truth to break forth from his word. Who dares to bind to his dull sense the oracles of heaven For all the nations, tongues, and climes, and all the ages given? Than universe, how much unknown! That ocean unexplored! The Lord hath yet more light and truth to break forth from his word. O Father, Son and Spirit, send us Increase from above; Enlarge, expand all Christian souls to comprehend thy love, And make us all go on to know, with noble powers conferred, The Lord hath yet more light and truth to break forth from his word. (Text: George Rawson, 1807-1889) So states the inspiring lyrics of a nineteenth century hymn writer, showing that a widening worldview is not an idea born yesterday. Three things come to mind through these great lyrics: 1) We can't limit God or reduce Him to what we know. As Paul wrote, we know in part, and will continue to only have partial knowledge as long as we are human (1 Corinthians 13:9). Our undoing is always when we think our part is the whole, and that is the source of most of our conflicts and factions. This is why we need each other. Truth needs the whole body of Christ to be fully expressed. 2) The exploration of science, astronomy, and all of learning is also the exploration of the things of God. God is found in natural revelation as he is in the scriptures. Study the universe and you study God. There is no separation of things. There is no secular except to the secular mind. 3) The more we understand about God from the word and the world the more we understand of his love, since that is who he is. God is love (1 John 4:8). The more God we get, the more love we experience. The knowledge of God does not end in knowledge; it ends in love.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

Peace officer	Monday, April, 27, 2009
by John Fischer On Friday, my son, Christopher, received his badge making him an official member of the Los Angeles Police Department (the famous L.A.P.D.). Of all the names for a policeman, peace officer suits him best. That's because he is, and always has been, an administrator of the peace. When he told me that the majority of calls a policeman gets are for domestic disputes, I knew he had chosen the right profession. Christopher is a peaceful person. His whole demeanor exudes a sense of calm control. He's always been the arbitrator of our family battles. He will be able to calm things down by merely showing up. Shortly after Christopher was born, I wrote a song that has proven to be prophetic as far as he is concerned. Christopher knows Christopher's toes He just found them today Stuck in the air at the end of his chair Ten little toes just waiting to play It's hard to believe that these little feet Will walk into the next generation May they be feet that bring the gospel of peace To every situation Well it's now the next generation and those feet are walking into it. I always wondered about the word "situation." When I first wrote this lyric, it didn't seem quite right, too clinical. I remember trying other words and finding none that worked as well as this. Now I think of the situations into which his feet will be walking and running and realize the word has been fulfilled. All these years, every time I've sung this song, I've been praying for this. Christopher will need that gospel of peace for every situation. He has even told me of situations he has been prepared for when he will have to use force to maintain the peace and protect other lives from being taken. So say a prayer today for my son and all officers of the law that they will be minister of peace into our communities where violence lurks in so many forms. Sometimes I shrink at the hopeless world My helpless child must grow in That's why I pray As I'm watching him play That he might carry Christ in him Christopher means: "Bearer of Christ."
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 20 Available]

Looking for the right things	Friday, April, 24, 2009
by John Fischer Billy Graham calls him “the most respected clergyman in the world today.” He has authored numerous books, among them, "Basic Christianity," which has sold over 2 million copies worldwide. He is Rector Emeritus at All Souls Church Langham Place (London, England), and Extra Chaplain to the Queen. His name is John R.W. Stott and he is 88 years old. In a recent interview in Christianity Today someone asked if he was worried about how more and more secularized the culture is becoming. His response was quite to the contrary, and he went on to point out three reasons he had hope for this current culture. First, he said that people are looking for transcendence. They want mystery. They are over needing an explanation for everything. We put our faith in reason, science and education, and look where it has gotten us. People are open to spiritual solutions and thus more willing to hear about God, faith and mystery. Second, People are looking for significance. The mass appeal of The Purpose Driven Life, both inside and outside the church, is proof of how hungry our culture is for meaning. We want our lives to count for something. More than making money or being famous, people want to make a difference with their lives. And third, there is a great desire for community. Realizing that our culture has isolated and alienated us from each other, people today are aware of a void in their lives that only others can fill. Some are willing to give up cushy jobs and prestigious positions in order to function in a community of other like-minded people. In other words, instead of being an entirely secularized culture, this is a day when people are seeking the very things that the gospel provides. This means that you and I can be bold about what it means to follow Christ. Instead of having to get everyone to stop what they are doing and consider Christ, we can affirm what they are looking for, and suggest they look somewhere else. Think about it this way: even a dead clock is right twice a day. Now that doesn't mean the clock is right or that it is reliable; it just means that twice a day it agrees with the truth. You and I need to get better at noticing when the world is right—when and where it lines up with the truth. If John Stott can find it, we can, too.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 3 Available]

Five words	Thursday, April, 23, 2009
by John Fischer I was reminded recently of a story I used to tell about a man who was the last to share in his prayer group. They were going around in a circle, giving their personal requests for prayer when they came to him and he took a deep breath and proceeded to relate some very ugly things he was going through in his life right then including some anger at God and a real sense of being depressed. He had wanted to avoid these painful things and unresolved issues and just focus on how good God is, but the reality and intensity of his present state of affairs prevented him from telling anything but the truth. When he finished, there was a long pause, and the man related to me how in that silence he had regretted for a moment revealing as much as he did. It was then that someone broke the silence with five very special words: "Can we go around again?" Five words—that's all—but oh how important those five words are. Those five words say: You are not alone. If the rest of us had been as honest, we would all have equally challenging things to say. In fact, let's go around again so we can! What good is so-called prayer time if we don't get down to it? Who are we touching if we are not allowing ourselves to be touched? Just remember, whatever it is that you are afraid to reveal… do it. It will only mean that you will have to go back around again for the sake of everybody else.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 11 Available]

Attitude reality	Wednesday, April, 22, 2009
by John Fischer With all this focus over the last two days on attitude control, it was bound to come up. There are certain things that are just too horrendous and ugly to merely overcome with a good attitude. For instance, this week was the ten-year anniversary of the Columbine school shootings. How do you get a good attitude about that? What about senseless tragedy, natural disasters, or more specifically, the 22-year-old Angel pitcher mowed down on the brink of his career last week by a drunk driver with a suspended license? Most certainly there are times when reality defies any answers or neat clichés for overcoming the pain. In the wake of the pitcher's death, I aired my own raw emotions in the Catch without thoughts of curbing my attitude. Certainly the attitude we are seeking can't be something fake or painted on like a thin veneer. On the contrary, it needs to run deep—deeper than the pain itself. And most importantly, it needs to run long. Time is probably the most important factor in attitude reality. Regardless of how horrendous the crime or the devastation, resolve does come, forgiveness does conquer, and time heals all wounds. You can't stay in a hole forever. The Angels rose to the occasion in their first couple games after the tragedy, and then lapsed into a losing funk. Now who knows why, or whether this can be blamed on their emotional state, but one thing's for sure, if Nick Adenhart could come back to life and speak to his team, he would tell them to get off their butts and play the kind of baseball of which they are capable. You kick at the darkness as long as it is night, but when dawn comes, you get back to living your life and being responsible for your attitude. I think the Psalmist said it best: "Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." (Psalm 30:4-5) I like those odds—anger for a moment… favor for a lifetime. So yes, there is a time to weep, but there is also a time to dance. And the dance rules!
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 12 Available]

It all depends 2	Tuesday, April, 21, 2009
by John Fischer Today we have two readers to thank for their contribution to the Catch of the Day. First, Corey Johnson sent me the lyrics to a Terry Scott Taylor song, "It All Depends." Though I haven't heard it yet, I certainly resonate with the lyrics. This concept of what we make of the circumstances in our lives is central to living a life free of victimization. The other was from Danny Losekamp who wrote that he has a reminder on his desk of something Charles Swindoll once said, that about 98% of what happens to us is completely out of our control, and about the only thing we do have control over is our attitude towards all those things we cannot control. Which means that we really are in control. 98% of what happens to me may be not in my control, but 100% of my attitude is. It All Depends from the album "The Midget, The Speck and the Molecule" Words & music by Terry Scott Taylor ©2007 Terry Scott Taylor music (bmi) Razor wires and iron bars or three hots and a cot The glass half full or empty, desert waste or tourist spot Is this a cubic zirconia or a pretty diamond ring? I suppose it all depends (on) how you look at these things Faith to move a mountain or a zealots wishful thinkin’ A connoisseur of the finest wines or just another drunkard drinkin’ One more dirty whistle blower or a conscience coming clean I suppose it all depends (on) how you look at these things Well they took away dear Jesus and they hung him on a cross Some say he won in the end and some say he lost And the devils love fire and the angels love wings I suppose it all depends (on) how you look at these things One mans old garbage can be a poor man’s steak One man’s misfortune is another man’s break And some men’s worst nightmares are another's best dreams I suppose it all depends (on) how you look at these things Some got the patience of Job Some moods are pendulum swings I suppose it all depends on how you look at these things Some say more is best; some say less is more Some say death is a doornail; some say death is a door And that it’s all just beginning when the fat lady sings I suppose it all depends I suppose it all depends I suppose it all depends (on) how you look at these things
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 7 Available]

It all depends	Monday, April, 20, 2009
by John Fischer "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13) I arose one morning thinking about a new meaning for the title of Harper Lee's classic southern novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. I was thinking BB gun, sling shot, shotguns—anything I could kill a mockingbird with after hearing one go through its seemingly endless paces at four in the morning with nothing to cushion the loud shrill in the early morning silence. Why did it have to be so loud when no other bird could be heard anywhere? What arrogance possessed this feathered imposter to have to take up so much of the morning? As a musician, I tried to find a pattern in his litany of calls and then resented that my mind was so occupied before it needed to be. It wasn't until later in the morning that I found out I wasn't the only one whose sleep had been interrupted. My wife had been awake, too, in a sort of half sleep state. Except she had a completely different reaction. She was not only loving it, she was interacting with it in her mind. Each sound represented something else to her. One was a sneeze (a-choo, a-choo, a-choo!) Another was the opening of a car door (click-click, click-click, click-click.) As she related her adventure in bird land I began to realize how much of our experiences in the world are really a factor of our reaction to them. I could have just as easily been having my wife's pleasant interaction with the mockingbird instead of letting it torment me. It's really a factor of what eyes we choose to look through. We can look at the world through eyes of doubt or eyes of faith. We can see what we think is impossible or what is possible through Him who strengthens us. We can let the mockingbird mock us or we can sing along. It's our choice.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 11 Available]

Will and patience	Friday, April, 17, 2009
by John Fischer This is a story about our former dry cleaner, a Korean Christian. He is a dear man with a strong work ethic. Prominently displayed on the wall behind his counter was the following: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15)." He was well liked in town, and you could often see him scurrying about the streets and shops of Laguna smiling and carrying on with the locals. Ever since Chandler was a baby, he would go out of his way to carry on an interest in him. He would come out to the car when Chandler was still in his car seat and take his hand and speak kindly to him. He always asked about Chandler when I was there without him. I still remember the day when, out of nowhere, he asked me how far it was to Chandler's school. Chandler was probably 7 years old at the time. "Probably a couple miles," I answered. "He should walk to school," he said. Where is this coming from, I wondered. Is he on some sort of campaign? "How long would it take?" he continued. "Maybe ten to fifteen minutes each way," I replied. "That's nothing. American kids need to learn will and patience." I couldn't disagree with him on that. But I did say, "He's too young to walk by himself." He smiled and said what I already knew was coming: "You need the exercise." Will and patience. Sounds like a TV show. I remember that my grandparents walked five miles to school each way in the snow. Even when there wasn't any snow. That took will and patience. Just think, the next generation is probably not going to know that story anymore. Teaching patience, endurance, and the will to do what you don't want to do are huge character issues with a generation of kids that have so much done for them. Heck, what am I saying... they are huge issues for me. Every time I tell Chandler that a big part of growing up is learning to do what you have to do, even if you don't want to, I hear myself say it, and have to apply it to something in my life where I am struggling with this very thing. Maybe we should all take my former dry cleaner's advice and make the choices that build character—choices that require us to exercise will and patience. Take it from a man who could probably write the book, if not the next TV show, on these two qualities.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 9 Available]

Mixed messages	Thursday, April, 16, 2009
by John Fischer There is a bar in Laguna Beach, California that becomes a celebrated biker hangout every Sunday afternoon. There is always a live band playing and rows of gleaming Harleys on either side of the street, with people inspecting them as if they were in a showroom. The riders all leave their helmets out with their bikes, and I've found the helmets to be a study all their own. The most popular look like they are from World War I, with various kinds of rebel markings, and a few have little stickers that serve as a sort of biker bumper sticker. One I saw particularly caught my attention because it said, "JESUS LOVES YOU." Now I am aware that there are various biker ministries out there where committed followers ride for Christ and seek to spread the word about his grace and forgiveness. I have always loved this—the Gospel in a rebel context—being aware that the message of Christ is in some ways better suited there than it is in more respectable circles. You can't read about Jesus without coming to the conclusion that He would be right at home with the biker crowd. But as I got closer to the Jesus sticker, I noticed there was another message in much smaller print underneath the more visible "JESUS LOVES YOU." It read: "I think you're a jerk!" (That isn't exactly what it said, but it will work for our purposes.) At first, I was somewhat repulsed. Where I thought I had a Jesus biker, I actually had a form of sacrilege. But the more I thought about it, I realized there probably was more than a kernel of truth in this version of a familiar Christian message. I can think of times when I might as well have been sporting a "JESUS LOVES YOU; I think you're a jerk" sticker for all the thoughts I harbored toward the people to whom I was announcing His love. And, of a certainty, He does love them. The question is, do I? "How can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?" wrote James (2:1), or in the words of John: "If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar." (1 John 4:20) It's not enough just to announce the love of Jesus without loving the same people He loves. If "Jesus loves you" is going to be our message, we need to make sure that we do too. And then we need to put some muscle behind that love and truly reach out to those around us in loving ways. Until we can love someone, we probably shouldn't be telling them that Jesus does.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 14 Available]

Your mind on caffeine	Wednesday, April, 15, 2009
by John Fischer This is your mind. This is your mind on caffeine. Apparently they are two different things. Researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia released a study showing that caffeine makes people more open to logical argument, even when it runs counter to their previously held opinions. The caffeine group, across the board, tested out as being consistently more open-minded than the decaf group. This would definitely lend new credibility to the belief that conversations over coffee are a good thing. An open mind is necessary for any relationship to grow. You have to be open to another way of thinking to relate to someone, because we are all different – we have different backgrounds, different gifts, and we see things from different points of view. Lasting relationships grow out of accepting one another's differences. We appreciate each other more through consensus than through conformity. This kind of open-mindedness in relationships is important for more reasons than just our differences. It is important because we are always changing, and since we are all in process, we have to remain open to that process in each other. My road will not be yours; yours will not be mine, even if we walk together. God has different plans for each of us. Jesus Christ did not die to create clones. He died so He could fill each one of our unique natures with Himself. And finally, part of who we are becoming involves those closest to us. We are not who we are in a vacuum. We are a product of the people we know and how we have grown together. We shape each other. When this aspect is strong, there is a healthy push and pull at work. “As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend.” (Proverbs 27:17 NLT) Belief has commonly been associated with a closed mind. This is unfortunate because nothing could be further from the truth. Belief opens you up to God and gives you his Spirit to help reinterpret the world around you. Belief is all about discovery, and just as our relationships with each other are not static, neither is our relationship with God. We are constantly discovering more about God and his world, and we are constantly discovering more about ourselves and those around us. So pour another cup of brew for you and that friend. Open your hearts and minds to each other, and get ready for a surprise!
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 9 Available]

Timely advice from Elastigirl	Tuesday, April, 14, 2009
by John Fischer For such a time as this, I offer some advice from "Elastigirl," the "super" from the animated movie, "The Incredibles." Bob and Helen Par are superheroes trying to have a normal life, raising a family in the suburbs, when they get sucked back into their superhero stint of saving the world. The children have untested powers they have inherited from their parents DNA that they will need to draw upon in the current crisis. In a moment of truth, Helen ("Elastigirl") has to leave two of her children to fend for themselves while she goes off to rescue her husband, Bob ("Mr. Incredible"). It's her speech to the children that got my attention when I saw this fast-moving movie for the second time. Up until this moment, Helen has been discouraging her kids to play around with their latent powers so that they wouldn't stick out among the other kids in the neighborhood. In their physical competitions at school, they have to constantly hold back—even lose on purpose now and then, in order to live a "normal" life. This time, she has to reverse that rule. "But things are different now," she says to her daughter as she prepares to leave her and their son, Dash, in enemy territory, "and doubt is a luxury we can't afford any more, Sweetie. You have more power than you realize. Don't think, and don't worry. If the time comes, you'll know what to do. It's in your blood." Actually this sounds strikingly similar to the way Jesus prepared his disciples to go out without him. As followers of Christ, we have more power than we realize. Don't think too much, or in other words, don't psyche yourself out with rules and requirements. Step into the situation because you have what it takes; it will come to you when you need it. And remember... "It's in your blood," because the Holy Spirit is within you giving you what you need, when you need it. Doubt is simply a luxury we can't afford any more. "On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." (Matthew 10:18-20)
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 9 Available]

Kicking at the darkness	Monday, April, 13, 2009
by John Fischer You might have heard that a rookie pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim) was killed in a tragic car accident last week only hours after he pitched six scoreless innings in his first start this year. Being an Angel fan, this hit especially close to home having followed with interest the early career of Nick Adenhart. He was only 22 when he died, but he had been with the Angel organization for four years. The Angels signed him right out of high school knowing he would need major surgery on his arm and took a chance on rehabilitating him and getting him ready for the majors. And just when it looked like their investment of time, money and love was about to pay off, a drunk driver hurtled out of the night and said differently, ending the hopes and dreams of a 22-year-old just as he grasped them. These are times when very big questions fill our minds and threaten our faith. Such a senseless act. Such a random encounter. Why Nick? Why now? Couldn't God have prevented this? Just a few seconds either way was all it would have taken. In times like these, emotions can be a mixture of anger, sadness and confusion. If we could kick at the darkness—if it would do any good—we would. But we feel like we're kicking at nothing because we don't know what is there; we just know how helpless we feel. The truth of the matter is: Were we able to somehow bring Nick back, he probably would not want to come, knowing what he knows now. We are the ones who have to deal with the loss. And so we believe. We have to believe, or we are all randomly tumbling in a meaningless universe. The same God we question is the only one who can make any sense out of things like this. You can question God, you can rage at God, but whatever you do, don't let go of God. That's what it has to be. This is when faith is like kicking at the darkness—kicking at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight.* *From the song, "Lovers in a Dangerous Time," Bruce Cockburn, 1983.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 7 Available]

Looking in the wrong place	Friday, April, 10, 2009
by John Fischer Postscript on Nicodemus… Getting him down was the hardest part. Joseph, John, Nicodemus, and the remaining guards worked together to lift the cross out of its hole in the ground and lower it down. There was no need to be careful anymore, yet Mary, his mother, kept crying, "Careful! Careful!" As soon as his hands and feet were free, Mary wrestled her way through the men to Jesus and lifted the lifeless body in her arms, cradling it as a mother would a child. The men stepped back and left her alone with him. Silent tears ran down her face as she lovingly stroked his sacred head now wounded and caked with blood. Nicodemus noticed how awkward his body looked in her lap—his arms hanging down uncomfortably, his legs open and bowed. For a long time she hugged him, her face next to his. Then she laid him down gently next to the cross and backed away. Joseph and Nicodemus went to work wrapping the body. Nicodemus had brought with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes, in accordance with Jewish burial customs, which they spread over strips of linen as they wrapped. The tomb of Joseph of Arimathea was in a nearby garden. When it came time to transport the body, Nicodemus insisted. No. He would not listen to any protests. All the way to Joseph's tomb, Nicodemus carried the body of death. Sunday morning… THE SUN ROSE THAT first Easter morning on an entirely different world than the one that had existed hours earlier. For most people, to be sure, it was the same. Birds twittered as they usually did in their predawn revelry. Lazy dogs barked at the sound of the first early risers. In his penthouse in downtown Jerusalem, Pilate rolled over in bed and moaned at the mockingbird making racket on his veranda. He could feel his wife's stiffness next to him. He didn't even have to look to see her wide, sleepless eyes locked on a crack in the ceiling for fear of the dreams that might come back if she closed them. In the nearby barracks, a soldier snored on in thick oblivion. Soon his comrades would wake up to wicked hangovers from the night before, a usual Sunday morning experience. Things were always quiet on the Jewish Sabbath, so Saturdays became party time for the Roman soldiers. Out in the courtyard, roosters crowed, and Peter, curled up next to a stone wall, was sure he heard every last one of them. He hadn't been sleeping either. All those great plans and dreams for himself and his nation had vanished with three denials and two rooster crows. Roosters had been rattling and cackling in his brain for two nights. They wouldn't let him sleep, and they wouldn't let him forget that look on the Savior's face that left him frozen in his betrayal. On the edge of town, three women made their way quietly through abandoned narrow streets, clutching vials of sweet-smelling perfume. In the hazy light of early morning, they were headed for Joseph's garden, where the dead body of the man they once thought was the Son of God lay without proper respect. There had been no time on Friday to anoint the funeral wrappings, and such activity was forbidden on the Sabbath. Nicodemus and Joseph had done a credible job with limited time and little preparation, but it was barely adequate. The women had their own idea of how this needed to be done, and they were setting out to fulfill those requirements—as much for their own sake as for the sake of the custom. Just when they started to wonder who might help them move the huge stone they understood was over the face of the tomb, they found, lo and behold, that the stone had already been moved away. The soldiers guarding it shifted on the ground in a deep, impenetrable sleep; the wrappings that should have been around the body lay limply on the rocky shelf inside. And an angelic being bright as lightning asked a question that would change history forever: "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" TO WHICH WE COULD ADD: Why are you even here? Why are you looking back? Jesus is done with this. See those wrappings? That's all been left behind. That's the sin of the world—your sin—lying there with nothing to attach itself to. He walked out of here and wants you to follow him. Go!
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

Nicodemus at the cross	Thursday, April, 09, 2009
by John Fischer The last two days have been narratives of people and events surrounding holy week as we approach the celebration of Christ's death and resurrection this weekend. Though these are fictional pieces, they are based on imagining what could have happened given what we know about the people and events as reported in the New Testament. The purpose of this imagining is to bring these events closer to home by making them more human. If these conversations and feelings didn't happen, certainly what did happen was something like this, leaving much the same effect on us. Sometimes we exempt biblical characters from being human. That won't do at all. These are people like us—made up of the same hopes, dreams and fears we all have. So use your imagination, it will bring everything closer to home. For instance, use your imagination to imagine what must have transpired on the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples. In fact, you might want to celebrate the Lord's Supper around your own table tonight. You don't have to have credentials to do this. Jesus used what was common to all meals in that culture, and he said to do this as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup, which would have been every day. And in the spirit of imagining, we will return to the cross and look at Christ through the eyes of Nicodemus, the Pharisee whom Jesus spoke with about being born again, and who most likely did come to believe in the end that Jesus was the Messiah. Nicodemus brought himself up to the edge of the circle of torchlight. It flickered in his eyes. Like a cautious cat, he moved in and out of the circle of light, wanting to get closer, but afraid. Suddenly a tear-stained face filled his vision as if out of nowhere. "Aren't you…?" "Nicodemus." He finished it for the man. "I have followed from afar. I wanted to come closer, but I've been foolish and afraid. Now I am too late." "No, you aren't. You are here," said John, newly named son of Mary. "Come." John gently took Nicodemus's arm and guided him closer to the women who were still huddled near the cross. They were in shock, out of touch with everything, even grief. They sat quietly, stunned from staring too long at the impossible. Nicodemus had resisted John, but once he was in the light and in the company of the others, he broke into a thousand pieces inside and started to cry uncontrollably. Suddenly he was touched and held and surrounded by people he did not even know, and they all seemed thankful for a fresh supply of tears. Nicodemus looked into the faces of people he would have judged hours earlier and wondered at what he saw in their eyes. These were unlearned peasants, but they seemed to know and understand this grief better than he. Then he looked at the body of Jesus, and in the lifeless form on the cross he saw himself—a tired old self-righteous man, weary of justifications and the foolish arrogance that kept him from people. He saw the ugliness of his pride and the lies by which he tried to maintain his superiority. He saw it all and hated himself in that moment, and he wept bitterly, alternately abhorring and longing for the touch he was receiving from those around him. "He spoke of you often," said John with his arm on Nicodemus's shoulder. "He said you were one of the few in your position who could see." "He did?" Nicodemus raised his wet eyes and wiped them with the sleeve of his robe. "I didn't know myself… until now." "What will you do?" Nicodemus asked after a long pause. "Breathe in and breathe out," said John mechanically, his eyes fixed on the body of Jesus. Then he turned to Nicodemus and added, "If I can." "I will help bury him," said Nicodemus. "Joseph of Arimathea is coming."
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 11 Available]

In Pilate's chambers	Wednesday, April, 08, 2009
by John Fischer "I'm sorry to disturb you, Pilate, but there's someone here to see you… says he wants to do something with the body." "What body? Don't you know it's after hours? Send him back tomorrow." "The body of that Jewish messiah," said the temple guard with the slur of a man who had already started on his happy hour before he left the office. Pilate looked at him with disgust. He would have ripped the man's job out from under him right then and there if he hadn't been one of Caesar's appointments. All of his problems, it seemed to Pilate, were Caesar's appointments. "I wouldn't have bothered you except that he is a rather prominent man from Arimathea. I'm sure he will make it worth your while," he said, patting his coin belt and pulling back his lips to reveal a Cheshire-cat smile fat with the feathers of its own fresh bribe. "All right. Bring me my robe and send him in. Wait a minute… you aren't talking about that Jesus character, are you? The one we crucified this afternoon?" "Yes," said the guard, as Pilate's personal valet help him into his robe. "That's the one." "Impossible. No one dies that quickly on a cross. Have you any confirmation?" "No, sir." "Well, I'm certainly not going to give anyone the body of a criminal without confirmation of death. Get me the centurion in charge of today's operation." He waved the guard away. "Jesus… the 'King of the Jews,'" he reminded himself under his breath. "Will I ever be done with this man?" Pilate adjusted his robe and strolled to the window while the footsteps of the guard disappeared down the hall. It seemed to him that the sun went down early on this day. It was one day he would just as soon forget anyway. He wondered why it felt like the middle of the night. "Gaius," he said to his valet, "what time is it?" "It's time to close the office, sir." "But why is it so dark?" "It's been this way since the middle of the afternoon, sir. I don't know why. Nothing but dark clouds without rain." Suddenly a centurion guard appeared at the entrance to the room. "How did you get here so fast? Why aren't you at the site? What's going on here? Am I the only person who knows it's not the middle of the night?" "Sir, we left the site an hour ago. I gave most of the men the night off. We broke the legs of two of them. Strangest thing, though. The other one is already dead." "The Jew?" "Yes, sir." "Will you vouch for that?" "Sir, I personally shoved my spear right up to his heart. He was dead. No breath. No movement. Strangest thing: Blood and water came out. Never saw that before." "Blood and water?" Pilate walked back to the window and thought. Lots of things happening today that people had never seen before. What was going on? "How many guards are there now?" "Two, sir. The crowd has fairly dispersed. Only a couple of women crying over the dead one." "Very well. You may go. Guard, bring me Mr. Fat Belt from Arimathea." The temple guard flashed his toothy smile again, but Pilate only stared at him. "Thank you, Your Honor, for seeing me after hours," Joseph said nervously as he hurried into the room. "I am prepared to make it worth—" "No need. I have already washed my hands of this matter, and I do not wish to dirty them again. What is it you want?" "We would like the body of Jesus of Nazareth for burial. I have a tomb on my property already prepared." "Why tonight? He can come down tomorrow with the others." "Your Honor, if you would, please. Our custom is that no work be done on the Sabbath. Today is our Day of Preparation. I have made all the proper arrangements. I will take care of everything." Pilate noticed Joseph's clothes and wondered what interest a well-to-do businessman would have in a poor country preacher whose luck had obviously run out. "Are you related to him?" Joseph hesitated and then surprised himself with what on the one hand was a lie but on the other was the most certain truth he had ever spoken. "Yes." "All right. You may have your dead man, but you will have two guards with you to ensure that the body gets put in that tomb and sealed properly. Guard, fetch me the centurion again!" [from the book, On a Hill Too Far Away, by John Fischer]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

At the cross	Tuesday, April, 07, 2009
by John Fischer The wounds on his hands bled slowly. Pressure from the weight of his body held back the flow. If there had been no other sounds that afternoon, it probably would have sounded like the slow, steady drip off the eaves of a mountain cabin on a damp foggy night. But there were many sounds. Taunts from the soldiers, weeping and wailing from the women near the feet of Jesus, even careless laughter from children playing haphazardly around the perimeter of the crucifixion hill, oblivious to the significance of this particular execution. Small dark puddles would gather briefly under the top beam of the cross, only to be covered by the shuffle of a guard's feet. And then it would start in again: drip… drip… drip—little droplets seen but not heard. Mary saw them. She stared at the puddle through her bloodshot eyes while his life flashed before her, and it seemed to her that the earth swallowed his blood as if it had been created for this. As if it were drinking its fill and would thirst no more. Then she slowly turned her eyes up to his face, and her breath failed her. He already had her in the grasp of his eyes. It was the first time he had looked at her from the cross, and his eyes were full of the deepest despair and the deepest love she had ever known. In his eyes, it seemed as if she were falling—falling into a bottomless abyss. She looked until she could bear it no more and turned her eyes away so she could catch her breath again. Once more her gaze went to the small puddle in the dirt, and it seemed now that she, and only she, could hear the droplets landing, loud enough to shut out all other sounds. Then she heard the words spoken to her: "Dear woman, here is your son." And to the disciple he loved, "Here is your mother." [from the book, On a Hill Too Far Away, by John Fischer]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 7 Available]

The incredible significance of being born	Monday, April, 06, 2009
by John Fischer From the time I could talk, I have heard about the importance of being born again. Having been raised in an evangelical family that went to church at least three days a week, not to mention youth group, and summer, fall and winter camps, I was in an environment where "Ye must be born again," was heard so often, that it eclipsed being born. It didn't matter that you were born; what mattered was that you were born again. In fact, if you were never born again, you might as well have not been born. It wasn't until much later in life that I realized how severely this colored the way I looked at people. It resulted in a devaluing of life. If the whole point was to be saved, someone who wasn't saved almost didn't count. I know this is hard to believe that one could think this way, but it is true. I can remember like yesterday the first time I realized being born—the first time—was a big deal, all by itself. For reasons of my own, the realization was so cathartic, I wanted to run up and hug the first person I saw and announce to them the good news: God wanted us to be born! Such a basic understanding sometime escapes us, unless some awareness causes us to focus on it. Such is the case for our reflection today. If you are alive and breathing, it's because God wanted you born, and that, my friend, is a big deal. In his commencement address at Marquette University in 2001, Fred (Mister) Rogers, undisputed champion of the value of being born (at least in my book), opened with the following paragraph: "For a long time I wondered why I felt like bowing when people showed their appreciation for the work that I've been privileged to do. What I've come to understand is that we who bow are probably—whether we know it or not—acknowledging the presence of the eternal: we're bowing to the eternal in our neighbor. You see, I believe that appreciation is a holy thing, that when we look for what's best in the person we happen to be with at the moment, we're doing what God does. So, in loving and appreciating our neighbor, we're participating in something truly sacred." We will all live today in the company of people God wanted alive, from the man on the street to the clerk behind the counter—from the boss to the janitor. May God show us how to value and serve each one of them with the respect due.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 12 Available]

When you don't like what God does	Friday, April, 03, 2009
by John Fischer Yesterday I got word of the death of Bobby Michaels, recording artist, missionary… friend. Bobby has used his good looks and Sinatra-style voice to sing has way into China and North Korea when no one else could, and has used music and charm to spread the gospel all over the world. I met Bobby twenty-five years ago in South Africa and later visited him and his new wife and kids in their home in Florida. My most colorful memory of him was having him talk me into trolling behind his boat with goggles and snorkel as he pulled me through canals in the Florida Keys to research a novel I was writing. Bobby's thick blond hair, baby blue eyes and Ken-doll looks made you wonder, when you first met him, if he was for real. Then if you got a chance, as I did, to get to know him, you found out about his struggles with addiction, his astonishment at the grace of God, his love of kids, his compassion for the poor, and his marriage to a single mom whom he treated like a queen and her kids like his own blood, and you realized he was one of the genuine ones. If you want to look at a long list of accolades from those who knew and loved him (and getting longer I'm sure as people find out), go to Facebook.com and search his name. I made my own entry, which I am going to copy as part of today's Catch. I think it may be helpful and instructive to those of you who have recently experienced loss. We can keep on believing that God knows what He is doing when someone is taken away from us like this. That doesn't mean we have to like it. Here is what I wrote yesterday upon hearing about Bobby's death: Oh that winsome smile! That snappy walk! The dashing dresser! The golden voice! And the most sincere, golden heart... has stopped beating, at least for us. He is His now, and I am not happy with this. I will register my complaint with the Almighty. I will not cover up my loss with sweet words, because this world is short on good men and Bobby was a good man. Maybe the best. Damn! And even though I haven't seen him in a long time, and might not have were he still here, I still am crying that he is not somewhere on this planet doing good. To Lee (Bobby's wife), The above is just my fingers flying on the keyboard through tears. Not much thought, just what I'm feeling right now. My thoughts and prayers are with you. I am so happy for the redemption God has wrought in both your lives and that you had what you had together. Yours is a wonderful story... just not this part. I'm sure the rest will be good, too. But not right now. This is not good.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 14 Available]

"Remember me…"	Thursday, April, 02, 2009
by John Fischer I just had an epiphany while replying to a reader's comment about yesterday's Catch. Sylveen from Argentina had responded to my childhood road trip story with memories of her own dad, and regrets that at his deathbed, she didn't know Jesus yet, so she couldn't tell him about the plan of salvation. That led me to remind her, as I have written here before, that you never know what transpires in those last moments before death. God is a God of second, third, fourth, awe heck… many chances. Right up until the end. And John said that Jesus was "the true light that gives light to every man" (John 1:9), which would lead me to believe that everyone has some light to respond to, however great or small that might be. And then I thought of the thief on the cross next to Jesus—the one who believed. That was what you might call a "last breath" conversion. And just what did he say? Did he pray the sinner's prayer? Did he receive Jesus into his heart as his personal Lord and savior? Did he agree to the four spiritual laws? He simply said, "Remember me…" and that was enough. Think of that guy. What a way to go. Right next to Jesus, and on into eternity. There's no way he could have known the profound significance of this particular death—that he was hanging next to the only begotten Son of God in the vortex of human history—that he was sharing something all the prophets pointed to, and all the apostles built upon. All he knew was that Jesus was some sort of king, he had a kingdom, he was dying as an innocent man, and he had just forgiven the ones who put him wrongfully on the cross. From that he concluded that this guy wasn't like the rest of us. This guy was different. He must really be a king. And so he said, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom." And Jesus said, "Today you will be with me in paradise." Those with evangelical backgrounds are no doubt familiar with all the various ways of making sure your prayer of salvation really "took." Depending on your particular denomination there were certain catch phrases to use, verses to quote or prayers to pray. In the end, I don't think God is that picky. Anyway, He can see our hearts, so He knows. Actually, I think "Remember me…" will do just fine.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 17 Available]

Texas trip	Wednesday, April, 01, 2009
by John Fischer Ever wonder why God leaves us with so many unanswered questions? Why is ambiguity and uncertainty still a part of a believer's experience? Why doesn't faith remove all doubt? Sometimes it has nothing to do with answers… When I was a child, my family would take a long trip every summer from southern California to visit relatives and friends in Texas where they grew up. We had a 1950 Ford to which my father would attach a cylindrical cooler on the right front window to help us make it around the hot southwestern United States in August. He would also plan our trip to leave in the early evening so as to pass through the California desert in the relative cool of the night, arriving at our first stop in Arizona sometime the following morning. The Starlight Motel in Flagstaff, to be exact. I remember it to this day. My father was a creature of habit. He would make the entire twelve-hour drive by himself, well… with my help, that is. By midnight the other three members of my family would all be fast asleep, but not me. These are, in fact, my earliest and fondest childhood memories—standing up on the front seat next to my father and having him all to myself. My eyelids didn't even get heavy they were so wide open with wonder, because, you see, my father was a college professor. He taught mathematics and physics to big kids. That means when I asked him stuff about telephone poles and electricity and clouds and lightening and stars and planets and gravity and bug guts on the window… he had answers. Did I end up with fewer questions after these sessions? No, always more. Was my universe more manageable because I got answers to my questions? No. It was worse, because usually the answers were harder to understand than the questions. But what I did get was a firm conviction about one thing: My father was smart. He was, in fact, the smartest man in the whole world. Whatever question I had—whatever question existed in the whole spinning universe for that matter—my father had the answer. Didn't matter if I didn't understand it. He did. Remove paradox, complexity, ambiguity and uncertainty from your worldview and you will miss the most important thing of all for a believer—moments like this with your heavenly Father.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 11 Available]

Who's in heaven?	Tuesday, March, 31, 2009
by John Fischer I love this poem and I don't know who sent it to me, so if it was you, my apologies for not crediting it properly. Perhaps someone will know its origin. Let me know if you do. I have found this particular poem has the greatest impact if you read it out loud. I was shocked, confused, bewildered As I entered Heaven's door, Not by the beauty of it all, Nor the lights, or its decor. But it was the folks in Heaven Who made me sputter and gasp-- The thieves, the liars, the sinners, The alcoholics, and the trash. There stood the kid from seventh grade Who swiped my lunch money twice. Next to him was my old neighbor Who never said anything nice. Herb, who I always thought Was rotting away in hell, Was sitting pretty on cloud nine, Looking incredibly well. I nudged Jesus, 'What's the deal? I would love to hear Your take. How'd all these sinners get up here? God must've made a mistake. "And why's everyone so quiet, So somber - give me a clue." "Hush, child,' He said, "they're all in shock. No one thought they'd be seeing you." You have no idea how fitting this is for me right now, given what I have been admitting to myself the last few days. I needed to point that out, lest you think I was pointing the finger at you through this poem. Although, if the shoe fits…
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 14 Available]

Codependent town	Monday, March, 30, 2009
by John Fischer Change always means adjusting to what's uncomfortable. All change, even for the good, is upsetting. It is a big responsibility to be well. There is a story in the New Testament where Jesus heals a man possessed by a legion of demons who, when facing expulsion by Jesus, ask to be sent into a herd of 2,000 pigs. Jesus grants their request and the whole herd rushes headlong into the sea and drowns. You might think the town would be happy to be rid of this menacing madman, but that's not the case. "A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, but they were frightened when they saw the man who had been demon possessed, for he was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane. Those who had seen what happened to the man and to the pigs told everyone about it, and the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone." (Mark 5:15-17) Although at first it sounds odd that they would want Jesus to go away after healing someone, I don't have to think very far past my own dysfunctions to understand this. The demon-possessed guy belongs in the graveyard, screaming, breaking his chains, and terrorizing the neighborhood. And the pigs belong on the hillside gently grazing. This is definitely a codependent town, comfortable with its accepted blend of sickness and tranquility. Until Jesus comes and messes everything up. He can make us well, you know, but it's going to mean lots of changes. You and I have to decide if we want that. So what will it be: the challenge of change, or send Jesus away?
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 7 Available]

Rodd is great	Friday, March, 27, 2009
by John Fischer It was at least 30 years ago when we found "Rodd is Great" scrawled in the dew on the back window of our car. Rodd was the 7-year-old son of dear friends of ours, and I can remember at first wondering if it was okay for a 7-year-old to feel this way about himself. I had always been taught that it was the truly spiritual thing to do to put yourself down, so at first I didn't know what to think of it. Sounded pretty arrogant for a 7-year-old. Then I began to wonder about what God thinks of Rodd, and I came up with the same conclusion… God thinks He's pretty great, too. Well what's okay for God should be okay for Rodd, too, and anyone else for that matter—myself included. And now, 30 years later, Rodd the Great is sitting around a fire on the beach with three sons basking in the fire's glow and talking to me about his ministry as the teaching pastor of a church in Idaho. And as I listen to him and observe him with his wife and family, I am impressed with one thing, and one thing only: He was right. Rodd is great. …and so am I. …and so are you.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 10 Available]

From evangelism to neighborliness	Thursday, March, 26, 2009
by John Fischer A couple of our readers made some quotable comments from yesterday's Catch about making people who don't know Jesus yet happy that they know you. Ray wrote: "Five minutes to show that you recognize someone as a person and an individual can make that person's day. I live in a two-college town, so most are students. One way to notice someone is to ask where they are going to school and if they seem responsive, what their major is. None of this takes a Bible scholar. It only takes a minute." And then Steven wrote: "Our churches provide lots of teaching on evangelism, which admittedly is important. I do think, however, that we need more teaching on neighborliness. Who is my neighbor and how do I love him?" It just might be that if we were friendlier neighbors, kinder customers, more gracious hosts, that more people will end up knowing Jesus because of us. In a fragmented society where not everyone speaks the same language, everyone understands a message of loving service. A cup of cold water offered in the name of Jesus needs no translation. In his letters to the early Christians scattered throughout Asia, the apostle Peter wanted them to have a reputation for making their towns better places in which to live. The point was to silence the critics of the gospel by the contributions Christians were making in their communities. What if a businessman disliked Christians and then found out that the Little League coach who spent extra time instilling confidence in his son was a Christian? What if a social activist criticized Christians but kept running into them working overtime at the social agencies in town? What if a working mother put down Christians and then found that her children's favorite schoolteacher was one? What if a homosexual liked to bash Christians, and then discovered that one of them visits him regularly now that he has AIDS. What if a CEO tried to put down Christians, and then discovered a respected leader in the Chamber of Commerce is a Christian and noted philanthropist in the community? Remember, caring for people doesn't take a Bible scholar; it only takes a minute.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 11 Available]

Make someone's day	Wednesday, March, 25, 2009
by John Fischer Here are some questions to mull over and then hopefully do something about. How are we as Christians making the world a better place for people who aren't Christians to live? Are we improving the lives of those around us? Are we adding to someone's day or taking away from it? Can you honestly say that the world around you is a better place because you are in it? Are you making a contribution in the neighborhood? Are you bringing people together? Did you smile at someone today? Did you notice someone? Did you ask someone to tell you about their hopes and dreams? Did you ask them about their kids? And did you listen when they told you? Did you try and find out about someone just to find out, not to get somewhere or do anything with the information? Spring is coming. The weather is going to get warmer. How about organizing a block party with all your neighbors? Or just invite someone over. Is the P.T.A. asking for help? Does your teacher need volunteers to drive on the field trip? Does the soccer team need a parent manager? And what about the Chamber of Commerce? Are you a member? Or the library? Or the soup kitchen (no, not the one your church is sponsoring but the one the community set up)? Got an extra ticket to the ball game? Take the guy across the street instead of your best Christian buddy. What are you doing right now? Can you make someone's day? Do you know Jesus? Do you want others to know Him too? A good place to begin would be to make someone who doesn't know Jesus happy that they know you.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 11 Available]

Anybody remember Mike Jovica?	Tuesday, March, 24, 2009
by John Fischer The picture on the cover of the Los Angeles Times this morning caught me as being hauntingly familiar. It was a picture of a desolate graveyard, brown grass and treeless except for a distant stand of evergreens. Neglected gravestones line a broken curb on either side of a dirt road, rutted with frozen mud. In the distance, but still within the confines of the graveyard, was a ball of flame and a plume of black smoke where a plane had just crashed killing everyone on board including 7 children. As I mulled over this horrible tragedy, I couldn't escape something familiar about the graveyard in the foreground. Then I saw references to the Holy Cross Cemetery and the nearby airport in Butte, Montana, and realized this was the cemetery I jogged through for three days in a row while I spoke in a hotel across the street a little over a year ago, and wrote about it in the Catch of the Day. I wondered then at the cemetery's close proximity to the runway as I watched small planes take off and land no more than a football field away. And now a plane had crashed right where I ran, putting that unlikely graveyard I thought I'd never see again on the front page of my morning newspaper. It's the graveyard where Anna, the beloved wife of Mike Jovica, was buried in 1925, after being shot twice in the stomach by the spurned lover of their daughter Lena. How do I know this? While I was running, I had noticed a "JOVICA" headstone with Anna 1884-1925, and Mike 1866 – (no deceased date), and that had prompted thoughts of those who die homeless and unmarked. During the ensuing days following my Butte, Montana comments, some of our Catch readers did some unsolicited research and the strange story slowly unfolded. Though we never found out where Mike ended up, we did learn how Anna died such a violent death, and how their daughter, who survived the bizarre attack, ended up eventually in San Mateo, CA. And now this plane crash… What do I make of this? Well, for one thing, I can't avoid writing about it—this place with its secrets that still has such a strange pull on me. Perhaps, among other things, it is the fact that the story goes on, and the things we call consequences are all potential connections. It's all intertwined. Our histories all connect, and God is the one who holds it all together. To us, so much remains a mystery. So much appears senseless, chaotic. To God, it is all woven into a tapestry of interlocking stories where no one is forgotten, and no one dies alone, especially the children.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 6 Available]

A funny thing happened on the way to a poem	Monday, March, 23, 2009
by John Fischer A funny thing happened on the way to a poem: I unearthed a controversy I had no intention of addressing. But since it came up, let's see what we can do with this. I'm referring to the subject of tattoos and body-piercing that came up when I used the metaphor of a tattoo to describe our names that have been engraved upon the palm of God's hand. Some, who were accustomed to sharing the Catch with the whole family, were concerned their kids might see the metaphor as encouraging the practice of marking their bodies which as parents they disapprove of. Still others were elated to find at least an inclusive reference to tattoos in a context they wouldn't expect. They were overjoyed with being able to take what had been for so many a source of division, and use it as a link for parents and kids—a bridge across a formerly insurmountable cultural divide. This is what I wish to affirm today: an attitude of seizing every opportunity for reconciliation that we can find. There is so much that divides us without even trying. We need to put our efforts into what brings us together. "…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:2-3)
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 11 Available]

God's tattoos	Friday, March, 20, 2009
by John Fischer See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. (Isaiah 49:16) Not in the sky, because the sky is too high Not in the clouds, because the clouds can't hold you Not on a stone, for a stone is too cold Not on silver or gold, lest anyone think you could be sold Not in a book, because a book could be lost But on the palms of His hands On the flesh Where you can't be lost, sold or forgotten On the flesh Where He sees you all the time On the flesh Where the pain was measured out in love On the flesh In the warm skin of the Savior There you are… Permanent Indelible Part of… Engraved Cut into Scarred forever As God's tattoos
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 12 Available]

Love>Fear	Thursday, March, 19, 2009
by John Fischer If you remember your algebra, you will remember that the symbols (><) mean greater than/lesser than… So love>fear is saying that love is greater than fear. This is, in fact, a bumper sticker one of our readers sent me. It's an abbreviated version of 1 John 4:18, "Perfect love casts out fear." Another one of our readers is correct in explaining how we have gotten here, where fear and hatred seem to predominate. "Largely we've been sold a bill of goods in the past 25 years by evangelical leaders who have mistakenly taught us that Christianity is about protecting a way of life—a Christian nation, a civil/social morality. For many years now, Christians have been drawing lines, putting sinners on one side and themselves on the other, and saying, "Be afraid of those people over there. They are out to get you. They will ruin your country, your lifestyle, your government… you name it. "What is tragic about this is how it reduces Christianity to politics, economics, social and lifestyle issues, and everything outside of this is threatening to those who believe this way. Those affected by this thinking end up too afraid to love, they are so threatened by the world around them. They define their Christian lives around the framework they've built to protect them from the pains, sorrows, and realities of real life. They have no idea how real grace can work in their lives." It really comes down to a choice between love and fear. And I think sometimes we actually prefer fear. Fear means we don't have to be responsible. We are victims and there are people to blame for our predicament. But love means I enter into whatever is producing the fear and work it out. Love is taking responsibility instead of blaming. Love is almost always about being vulnerable, outside our comfort zones. So remember, love>fear. It's harder, but then again, who said it would be easy?
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 20 Available]

'But they will in a minute…'	Wednesday, March, 18, 2009
by John Fischer I recently heard the story of a young kindergartener who, when asked by her teacher what she was going to create for her art project proudly announced she was going to draw a picture of God. To which the teacher announced, "But no one knows what God looks like." "They will in a minute," came the bold reply. She's right, you know. She's about to paint what God looks like to her, in her imagination, and she will be right. Not that God is relative to everyone's idea of Him, but that He is so multifaceted that no one picture can capture all of Him, nor can all of the pictures together make Him up. She is also right about the fact that we bring God to people, not only because are we are in His image, but because He dwells in us by faith. What I love most assuredly about this statement is its audacity. "Oh, they'll know all right, because I am about to reveal Him to them." Would that we were all that confident about our ability to represent Christ to the world. This was a major part of Christ's role while on earth—to represent God to the world. "He who has seen me has seen the Father." Our task is no less significant. If part of Jesus' purpose was to reveal God to us, part of ours is to reveal Jesus to others. "Christ in you, the hope of glory," Paul wrote. What a great thing to focus on as we prepare to do anything—go anywhere—see anybody… "No one knows what God looks like?" we can say to ourselves, "But they will in a minute…"
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

Store up love	Tuesday, March, 17, 2009
by John Fischer A number of you have written to express questions about my conjecture that God doesn't use fear to accomplish anything. What about the prophets that prophesied judgment upon Israel to try and get people to repent? What about the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom? What about Jesus telling us not to fear the one who can destroy our body, but fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell? Okay, I'll grant you that, but I want you to seriously think about something. I have tried to think of an instance when fear motivated someone to anything other than a move towards self-preservation, and I cannot. It may be that God knows us well enough to know that it will take fearing for our own skin to get us to come to Him. It's not out of some high calling to serve our fellow man that we first come to Christ; it's out of a much lower desperation to save our own lives. But having acknowledged that God may use fear to bring people to Him, I will be quick to point out that this is not anywhere near the same fear that is being stirred up by these alarming letters and emails sent out to people who are already Christians and should know better. (Better stockpile three weeks of groceries because of the coming terrorist attack.) No these are messages that stir up a fear of terrorists, or a fear of Satan, or a fear of gays and lesbians who are going to destroy our families, or a fear of a conspiracy that is going to turn America away from God, or a fear of secular humanists who are going to seduce our kids, or a fear of liberals who are going to take all our guns away so we can't defend ourselves anymore. These are the kinds of fears that are being touted in letters and emails to Christians, and this is what has no place in the kingdom of God. First, it's not even a fear of God that is being spread around. And second, Christians should be well beyond needing to be motivated by self-preservation. It may have taken that to get us to first believe, but now we should be about loving and serving and caring for one another as motivated by the Holy Spirit of God of which fear has no part. What good are three weeks of groceries when the end of all things is at hand, anyway, and we've known that ever since Peter wrote it in 1 Peter 4:7-10. "The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." Does that sound like fear or panic? Does that sound like stockpiling? Does that sound like self-preservation? If you're going to set aside anything, store up three weeks of love. You may need it. Because perfect love casts out all fear. (1 John 4:18)
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 44 Available]

The last word	Monday, March, 16, 2009
by John Fischer Last week I defined the last word as our own opinion that resonates in our own mind as we walk away from an argument. So both parties are having the last word in their own heads, meaning nothing was accomplished by the conversation. Then I read through your comments—some of them posted, others sent to me privately—and I realized many of you deserved to have the real last word. So today's Catch is made up of last words. Each paragraph is a separate quote from a different person. No names have been entered so we can focus on the content (and you do need to spend a little time with each one—there is much here). It is ok to have an opinion but it is not ok to be opinionated. It makes me wonder why it is that I can feel so insecure when someone else believes a little differently than I. I still like to be right, but no longer need to be. I am discovering that being right is not the point; being loved and accepted is. Remember, you don't have to be wrong for me to be right. (This one is mine… actually, it is the title of Rabbi Brad Hirschfield's book that was the subject of an earlier Catch.) What we need is for Christians to take their faith into the public square and treat everyone, especially those with whom they disagree, in a Christ-like manner. Neither your guy nor mine—whoever they may be on this earth—can fix what really ails our society. To deal with an uncertain future and still move forward, people are advised to have strong opinions, which are weakly held. There's a big difference between "knowing your own mind" and "having your mind made up." The former means you understand, and are committed to what you believe, but are open to hearing what others think. The latter means that you are unwilling to even listen to others. I think the more important aspect of all of this, at least in my own life, is to not let any of our strong opinions, political or otherwise, become a barrier in any way [in a relationship] with another person. It is my prayer that our religion and our politics don't hinder us from sharing with our neighbor, our family, and our public officials the healing power of God's love, and the peace that passes understanding. "Hate the politics, love the politically active." We're all just bit players in the much larger story of God's plan! And finally for the last, last word, here is a comment from someone who admitted to being addicted to being right prior to last week. As she refers to the quote that began Friday's Catch, and the last sentence of the same, I am including both. "It is wise to remember that you are one of those who can be fooled some of the time." - Laurence J. Peter And may we all take Mr. Peter's advice, and remember that sometimes the real fool just might be the one doing the talking. – The Catch The very first line by Mr. Peter blew me away, and your last line caused me to laugh my "fool" head off. Thank you Mr. John, and thank you Jesus. I finally get it!
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 4 Available]

Fool on the hill	Friday, March, 13, 2009
by John Fischer "It is wise to remember that you are one of those who can be fooled some of the time." - Laurence J. Peter Well it's been an interesting week swimming around in the Fischtank, hasn't it? It started off with what I still think is a rather good quote from President Obama's inaugural address that I bet half of you can't even remember anymore. I can't. The quote itself was so quickly drowned out by so many opinions of the man who said it, followed by defenses, counter defenses, and a few diversionary attempts. It made me recall years ago, after writing a standing column in Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) magazine for almost 15 years and getting very little feedback, I made the foolish mistake of intimating that I might have thought Jimmy Carter was a better president than Ronald Reagan, and the mailroom was flooded with outrage. It made me physically ill to realize that out of all the things I had toiled over in 15 years and 180 articles, this was what made people get out their paper and pens and take it to the post office. What is it about politics that does this to us? I'm not even sure I can answer that, but I can say that after this week, I want to learn how to exhibit more humility. Strong feelings are attached to strong opinions, which in turn are attached to a certain interpretation of the facts that at least in the explanation is impervious to error. In other words, we all are pretty convinced we are right. So when we disagree it is my interpretation against yours. Certain things are obvious to me that are not even in your wheelhouse. So how can we even talk? We seem to be losing the ability to have a civil debate. Perhaps part of this is a postmodern era where truth is relative. If truth is objective, we have something outside of our own opinions and insights to appeal to. But if truth begins and ends with each of us, then it is simply my truth against yours, and the one with the last word wins. (Of course I'm referring to the last word being that which is in each of our heads as we walk away.) So consider this Catch a call for civility. And may we all take Mr. Peter's advice, and remember that sometimes the real fool just might be the one doing the talking.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 59 Available]

Of brakes and horns	Thursday, March, 12, 2009
by John Fischer "I couldn't repair your brakes so I made your horn louder." Now I can no more cite the reference for this quote than I can confirm half the stuff that circulates around the Internet as authentic. But this one I just snatched out of cyberspace. I have no idea where it came from or who to credit for it, so if I'm violating someone's right to ownership, I apologize in advance, but I can't resist the pathetic, but accurate metaphor in the statement. Isn't it just like human nature to compensate for one weakness by overdoing another? "I couldn't repair your brakes so I made your horn louder." Suddenly, I see a whole society racing out of control, blaring its horn all the way. Of course, what good does that do? Inevitably you will hit something and come to a gruesome and painful stop. It's a crash course with no direction — a foolish way to solve a problem. But don't we live our lives a lot like this? Our brakes go out so we speed up, blowing our horns until we run into something. One of the tragedies about this observation is that it reminds us that people are often blowing their horns but no one seems to be able to hear. Prisons are full of lives that crashed, and no one bothered to hear their horns blowing. Kids crash the same way. Some blow their horns, but it's already too late. A lot of our horn blowing is often just a cover-up for the fact that we don't know when to stop. If you can stop, you hardly need your horn at all. "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." (Matthew 5:37)
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 7 Available]

Jesus in; fear out	Wednesday, March, 11, 2009
by John Fischer One of our readers sent me an email today and wondered what I thought of it. You've no doubt seen messages like it. They are messages that are laced with words of fear and alarm. Often they are used to get you to give money or to vote a certain way or support a certain candidate. But the thing they all have in common is fear. This particular one was not even asking for anything. It was just the person who sent it "unburdening" himself. The message said one thing and one thing alone: "Be afraid. Be very much afraid." It was from a recognized Christian leader. So he can sleep now, I guess, because he "unburdened" himself of his fear and passed it on to the rest of us. Now there is one thing I know I can say in full confidence: This kind of message cannot possibly be from God. God does not use fear to motivate His children. God would say, "Don't be afraid." In fact, that's exactly what He said in 1 Peter 3:14-15: "'Do not fear what they fear. Do not be frightened.' But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord." (That first part is a quote from Isaiah 8:12: "Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.") I would go as far as to say that anyone who uses fear to motivate people towards anything for the sake of the kingdom of God is a false teacher. God has never, nor will He ever use fear to motivate his children. He loves His children and moves them through love to action. These people are lining their pocketbooks and bolstering their power on the fears of those they have snared. Do not fall prey to their devices. Ask yourself, "Is fear anywhere behind this?" And if it is anywhere in the picture, reject the whole package. Instead, set up Christ as Lord, and hail Him as the one and only matchless Ruler of your heart. Jesus and fear cannot occupy the same throne.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 34 Available]

Yesterday's Catch today	Tuesday, March, 10, 2009
by John Fischer I have received some less than favorable comments about yesterday's Catch from some who have concerns about Barack Obama's first few weeks in office. While I understand this, I also believe there is another point to consider. I've had the Obama quote in my notes ever since the Inauguration. My wife had found it and shared it with me, thinking it would make a good Catch. I just now got around to it. Besides, it has even greater personal significance to me now than it did six weeks ago. Had I written about it a day after the Inauguration, I doubt I would have received even one concerned comment. But now that the new President has had some time to make some decisions and effect some changes that not everyone agrees with, the temptation is to see the comment in a different light. But should it be? If the statement is the truth, and it inspired me six weeks ago, shouldn't it still be just as useful today? And shouldn't we all be able to gain from it, and even pass it on, regardless of what we might think about the man and his policies? The reason I can receive inspiration from a quote by Barack Obama today is the same reason why I can take good things from the world that are useful to the truth, regardless of the source. The world, and everyone in it, myself included, is a complicated mixture of right and wrong, good and evil. We have to be better at ferreting out the good messages around us, and resist the more popular temptation to either demonize or lionize the messenger. Truth can come from the most unlikely places. Learn to look for it everywhere, and rejoice when you find it. And I hope that regardless of his policies, that we will all pray for and respect the man who is the President, if only for the fact that the position we elected him to requires it. [For a great example of jumping in and taking responsibility for the community, check out www.stimulatecolumbiamo.org and thanks to Tom Seagraves for passing this on.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 50 Available]

A new era of responsibility	Monday, March, 09, 2009
by John Fischer "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility... that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task." – President Barack Obama, Inaugural address I begin with this quote this morning because I need it, and I figure that if I need it, perhaps there's a chance some of you do too. These days are defining times for all of us. Perhaps never in our lifetime has more been required of us. And how are you doing? In a devotional like this, you might expect some spiritual insight to impart new strength or reveal a key to unlock some added motivation. Not this time. I don't think that is what God is asking or offering. This is not a time to wait for a miracle. It is not a time to hope for the best. Nor is it a time to be rescued. It is a time to step up and seize the day. Everyone is in the same boat. It's not like any one of us has it worse off than anyone else, relatively speaking. We are all being stretched to our own limits. The question is, how are we greeting the challenge—and our president has defined the options well—grudgingly or gladly? The issue is not the challenge, but how we will meet it. Will we meet it reluctantly with fear, or eagerly as an opportunity to "satisfy our spirits" and "define our characters?" This is not to say the Holy Spirit isn't a part of this process, it's just that the Holy Spirit doesn't do everything for us. We bring ourselves to the task at hand. The Holy Spirit is there to empower, but only as we get ourselves to the place where that power has something to work with. Our attitude, faithfulness, ingenuity and determination are the raw materials of the Spirit. It's giving nothing less than our all to meet His provision. It's a new era of responsibility. How will you greet it? Mr. Obama has suggested that it can be both satisfying and defining to our character to greet it well.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 17 Available]

Living with a dilemma	Friday, March, 06, 2009
by John Fischer One of our readers wrote: "Your text today goes along with something that has been troubling me for years. You say that Christ died for everyone's sins and it is up to us to choose him. The reader said, 'He guards our right to choose Him and to follow Him, because we decide to do so, not because we are forced to.' This is what I believe but everywhere I turn, including a church we left, people are pushing the idea that God decided who would choose him and who would go to hell. I am so confused by this idea. It seems to be the 'intellectual' way of thinking but I don't want to be intellectual. Could you help me with this dilemma? Thank you so much." Okay, this will not be a theological answer to this debate because it has been going on for centuries and will most likely continue, and I would be amiss to think I could address it and solve it in a short piece like this. But I am going to suggest a perspective—a way to think about this that might help us live with the paradox, because that, in essence, is what I believe it is, and why it is impossible to solve with our finite brains. It is a paradox—two contradictory truths and we are asked to believe them both. The scriptures speak of both our responsibility to choose and God's sovereignty in choosing us. They are simply two truths that are both represented at different places in the scriptures. To base everything on one or the other is to fail to grasp the whole picture as God sees it. My solution may be a simplistic one, but I choose to leave all the passages about God's sovereignty up to Him and live according to the ones that require something of me. What God knows is not my business anyway. It's a little like the "What is that to you?" question we talked about earlier this week. If God already knows those He has chosen, what is that to me? The point for me is: I don't. So I will tell everybody I can, when I get the opportunity, about the good news. For all I know, God could be controlling the minutest detail of everyone's life, but that is nothing to me since I don't know that. What I do know is that no one can hear unless they have a preacher so I will preach the word, and do the things He has asked me to do. Everything I do and everything you do, matters. I once came upon a simple metaphor for this that works for me at most levels. It's as if, when we get to heaven, we pass through an arch with a different verse on either side of it. On this side, as we walk up to it, it says, "And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17). On the other side, as we walk into heaven and turn around and look at the same arch, we see another inscription: "Chosen before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4). One was my perspective; the other is God's. One day, God's perspective will become mine, but until then, I see as through a dark glass, so I stick with what I know. What is it to me, what God knows? I have enough to deal with based on what I know that I'm not living up to. That's got to be my focus.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 33 Available]

The dignity of unbelief	Thursday, March, 05, 2009
by John Fischer "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings." (Proverbs 25:2) Why does God hide His stuff? Why does He play hard to get? Why is it His glory to conceal it? Well think about it this way. If God were fully visible, it would be a real bummer for people who didn't want to believe. "Elephant in the room? What elephant in the room? Do you see an elephant in the room?" I think one of the reasons God remains obscure is to protect his own dignity, and the dignity of the unbeliever. God has made room in His universe for credible unbelief. You can [not] believe in God and get away with it, at least in this lifetime. God hides because He would be too big to miss otherwise, and you would be a fool for not believing what was right in front of your face. And if He were that obvious, people might believe reluctantly, or for the wrong reasons. As it stands now, you are a fool if you do believe, and we who believe can afford to entertain that foolishness since our belief itself is the evidence of our faith. We have been asked to do this. "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29). In this way God insures the integrity of everyone. Frank Sinatra's "I Did It My Way" has been on the play list at the Starbucks that has become my office of late, and I have often thought of that song as the theme song of hell, but I am changing my mind about that. It's either the theme song of hell or one helluva statement of the value God places on the individual. If a person wants to walk into hell with head held high singing, "I Did It My Way," no one's going to stop them. It would be a tragedy, but it would also be an illustration of the dignity of unbelief. And if God allows this in His universe, we might want to learn to respect those who choose it in spite of the tragedy.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 10 Available]

Let the worship begin	Wednesday, March, 04, 2009
by John Fischer We can laugh and we can cry And never see the strong hand of love hidden in the shadows We can dance and we can sigh And never see the strong hand of love hidden in the shadows - by Mark Heard from the song, "Strong Hand of Love" I think it's a great idea. The chaplain here at this Christian university I am visiting wants to put a sign over the archway that students walk under when they exit the chapel after a time of worship, and he wants it to read: "Let the worship begin." Yes, you read that right. On their way out of the building they read: "Let the worship begin." After the worship service. After leaving the house of worship. After being led in worship by someone else, the real worship begins. It begins with me and with you, and it begins in earnest. It begins all by myself, because I am beginning it; and if it stops, it stops because I stopped it. No one else is responsible for this. Worship is not a service. It's not a string of songs perfectly placed. It's not a moving choir number or even a stirring sermon. It's not a reflective moment separated from the rest of my day. Worship is an attitude. It's a way of looking at life that sees God behind everything. It's a way of walking into the world, not away from it. Worship is always there. It's always available to everyone, but not everyone sees it. And no one sees it all the time. But it's there nonetheless. It's there because God is there—because He created the world and put us in it and He inhabits the whole earth. There is no place you can go that He is not there. "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." (Psalm 139:7-10)
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 17 Available]

The presence of the holy	Tuesday, March, 03, 2009
by John Fischer Last week's Catch about the Seminole Indians in Florida ended with a call for respect. Rachelle, one of our readers, sent me some excellent thoughts on this. She has a favorite quote about respect although she doesn't remember the source: "Respect… you give it, you get it; you don't, you won't." You may have heard it said that you need to earn respect in order to receive it. I suppose at some level respect is something earned, as in one's area of expertise or one's career. But in terms of personhood, there is a basic level of respect that everyone deserves regardless of one's position or performance. It's what everyone should receive freely from the beginning by nature of being made in the image of God. Otherwise, respect will be determined by nationality, race, religion, physical/mental attributes, or some other category made important by the group or designated point of view. At its basic level, respect is a spiritual thing. It's ultimately based on an understanding of who we all are in the eyes of God. In his 2001 commencement address at Marquette University, the late Fred (Mister) Rogers said: "For a long time I wondered why I felt like bowing when people showed their appreciation for the work that I've been privileged to do. What I've come to understand is that we who bow are probably—whether we know it or not—acknowledging the presence of the eternal: we're bowing to the eternal in our neighbor. You see, I believe that appreciation is a holy thing, that when we look for what's best in the person we happen to be with at the moment, we're doing what God does. So, in loving and appreciating our neighbor, we're participating in something truly sacred." How much difference would it make in the way we treated people, if whenever we were in someone else's presence, we were aware of being in the presence of the holy? Today, make a decision to think more about giving respect than getting it.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 9 Available]

The gospel for little brown birds	Monday, March, 02, 2009
by John Fischer Heaven is going to be full of little brown birds. That's according to one of our readers who wrote: "I am avid about backyard birds and have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to feed the cardinals and blue jays, without attracting all the house finches and sparrows. One day I realized that I am one of the little brown birds in God’s human flock and that changed my attitude. I now thoroughly enjoy feeding all of the birds that show up in my yard." This is a great metaphor for what we so often get wrong about the gospel. We say the gospel is for everybody, but we don't necessarily mean it. We like to associate with pretty people, upwardly mobile people—attractive types who give a good face on what we believe. We also like to associate with people who are like us—people of the same race, same economic status, same political beliefs, who send their kids to the same schools. We gravitate towards sameness and find comfort in the familiar. But the gospel of Jesus Christ is big and wide and messy. It is for everyone, even people we don't like. It is for those on both sides of the tracks—those we admire and those we would rather not associate with. Most of all it is for sinners like us, and that's what we all have in common. Remember the parable Jesus told about the kingdom of heaven being like a rich man who threw a wedding banquet, but the invited guests all had excuses why they couldn't come? So the master said to his servants, "The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see." (Matthew 22:8-9) Everyone you see? There is no discrimination here. That's a pretty daring and dangerous proposition. No telling what kind of vermin such an open-ended invitation might turn up! And I'm sure it has done so, because, lo and behold, it turned up me. The spreading of the gospel and the growing of the church is very much like Bill's experience with his backyard birds. Put the message out and welcome all who come to feed. Especially the little brown birds.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 9 Available]

'What is that to you?'	Friday, February, 27, 2009
by John Fischer "Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them... When Peter saw him, he asked, 'Lord, what about him?' Jesus answered, 'If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.'" (John 21:20-22) There is a popular argument for not believing that Jesus is the only way to heaven. How could Jesus be the only way to heaven when not everyone on the planet has even heard about Jesus? Would a just and loving God condemn people to hell for the crime of growing up where they never heard about Jesus? There is more than one approach to this question, but one of the most important is that introduced by the example of Jesus and Peter in the dialogue above. Peter is wondering how John was going to die, and Jesus says, "What is that to you? You must follow me." What about the guy who grows up a Buddhist and never hears about Jesus? The answer is the same: "What is that to you? You must follow me." One has to already know a good deal about Jesus to even be asking this question, and to use it as an excuse not to believe is ludicrous. That's saying you are not going to be accountable to what you know about Jesus, or could find out if you tried, because there is a guy somewhere in the world who in your estimation can't find out. When Jesus said: "You follow me," He was saying: "You follow what you know of me -- what has been revealed to you. You are not responsible for what has been revealed to someone else; that is between my Father and that person." This also applies to our experience in life. When you want to compare your life to someone else's -- someone else has had it easier than you -- guess what Jesus says. "What is that to you? You must follow me."
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 12 Available]

Texas Everglades	Thursday, February, 26, 2009
by John Fischer I have been in Texas for the last three days, driving around in a rental car and listening to my new James Taylor "Covers" CD that I got some time ago at Starbucks and just recently discovered. Now I realize it sounds like that's all I've been doing and that's surely not the case, but I must say that my drive time has been dominated by one song on this CD, the beautiful and evocative "Seminole Wind" by country artist John Anderson. I can't get enough of it. This song haunts me. It's full of references to the Florida Everglades—sawgrass, alligators, gar fish, and the memory of the Seminole Indians, all of which I am familiar with because of a novel I wrote a few years ago called "Ashes on the Wind," part of which takes place in south Florida. To educate myself for this story, I drove through the Everglades, studied about the flora and fauna and stumbled on a bit of history concerning the Florida Seminole Indians, a proud tribe that was reduced to barely 3,000 members but never surrendered to the United States government. So names like Okeechobee, Micanopy and the Seminole chief, Osceola that turn up in this song are names that resonate with me. I think what haunts me the most about this song is the way it captures the history and lifestyle of an entire Native American culture as a ghostly wind blowing over the dying Everglades. I often find myself reflecting on the tragedy of how my ancestors displaced a graceful, nature-loving, God-fearing civilization in the name of progress. It's a whole way of life, gone. And they called the Indians "savages." So what's my point today? I know so little of what I speak, but I feel it nonetheless. And I think we need to consider whom we are disregarding today in the name of civilization and progress. Certainly the unborn would head that list. And what about the elderly, the mentally and physically challenged, immigrants, or to get very personal, simply anyone or any people whose way of life I don't understand? Maybe that's what I'm thinking when I feel this song tug at my heart. I think mostly it has to do with putting respect back where it belongs. Respect for anybody and everybody. Here… you read the lyrics and see what speaks to you. And if any of our Catch audience is Native American, write me, please, so I can pass your wisdom on. Seminole Wind by John Anderson Ever since the days of old Men would search for wealth untold They'd dig for silver and for gold And they'd leave the empty holes Way down south in the Everglades Where the backwater rolls and the sawgrass waves The eagles fly and the otters play In the land of the Seminole Blow, blow, Seminole wind Blow like you're never gonna blow again Coming to you like the long lost friend 'Cause I know who you are Blow, blow from Okeechobee Way up to Micanopy Blow 'cross the home of the Seminole The alligator and the gar Progress came and took its toll And in the name of flood control They made their plans and they drained the land And now the glades are going dry The last time I walked in the swamp I sat down on a cypress stump I listened close and I heard the ghost Of Osceola cry Blow, blow, Seminole wind Blow like you're never gonna blow again Coming to you like the long lost friend 'Cause I know who you are Blow, blow from Okeechobee Way up to Micanopy Blow 'cross the home of the Seminole The alligator and the gar [For the songwriter's version go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGoBQIhyFFM]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 11 Available]

First Church of the Big Curl	Wednesday, February, 25, 2009
by John Fischer I ran across a wonderful piece of writing the other day that I copied down to share with you. In it, the late nature writer T.H. Watkins described a bodysurfing experience in the late 1940s in an area where I've done a lot of bodysurfing, though never quite like this. "The lip of the wave curved over my head, and for one brief instant I found myself in a long, green translucent tunnel that stretched 40 or 50 feet on either side of me. That moment was when I heard the Sound, a high, hollow, almost metallic keening that cut through the outside roar of the surf until it was all that could be heard. It seemed to come from a great distance, like a cry out of the ancestral night, then swept over me and moved on just as the wave seized my helpless body and plunged it through the water and into the sand. …When I finally surfaced I was certain I had been privileged to experience one of the essential mysteries. …I remain as convinced today as I was then that I had heard nothing less than the voice of the sea itself." I like this as much for the writing as for the experience it conveys. Both are important. The writing is important because it shows how good art can capture the essence of an experience and pass it on to others who may never get the chance to experience the same thing. This is so well done, I feel like I've just been spit up on the shore. And what it conveys is important because it shows how the deepest appreciation of God's creation is, at its essence, an act of worship in itself. Which makes me think of one of my favorite hymns: O the deep, deep love of Jesus Vast unmeasured, boundless, free Rolling as a mighty ocean In its fullness over me Underneath me; all around me Is the current of Thy love Leading onward; leading homeward To my glorious rest above O the deep, deep love of Jesus Spread His praise from shore to shore How He loveth, ever loveth Changeth never, nevermore How He watches o’er His loved ones Died to call them all His own How for them He intercedeth Watcheth o’er them from the throne O the deep, deep love of Jesus Love of every love the best ’Tis an ocean vast of blessing ’Tis a haven sweet of rest O the deep, deep love of Jesus 'Tis a heaven of heavens to me And it lifts me up to glory For it lifts me up to Thee -- Samuel Trevor Francis (1834-1925) For a truly beautiful rendition of this hymn, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc6XewzY0Xk
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 1 Available]

The glorious inequity of grace	Tuesday, February, 24, 2009
by John Fischer "But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." - Jesus Christ (Luke 6:35) If you want to get a little taste of what God is like, try loving your enemies, lending money to those you know won't pay you back, and then try being kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. What does this do to one's sense of justice and fairness? What could this possibly be about? Jesus can't be serious about this, can he? Here's what I think. I think Jesus is getting us to think this way because he wants us to see something important about ourselves. After all, what are we thinking here… that we are God's friends, that we always pay back what we borrow, and that we are most certainly grateful and holy, and that's why it's so hard for us to understand why God would ask us, the holy ones, to be kind to all these wicked and ungrateful folks? Gee, somehow we're going to have to find it in ourselves to love these awful people. But I suppose that if God can do it, we can too. It will be a stretch, but we will try… Is that what this is about? Hardly. Here's what I think it means: There is relatively little difference between the most ungrateful, wicked people I can think of and me, and I had better be deeply grateful that God is, in fact, "unfair" in this way, because otherwise there would be no hope for me. I know this is what Jesus is saying because the very next verse is: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful [to you]." And that is followed up with: "Do not judge and you will not be judged." See where He's going with this? When you look at it this way, it changes the whole picture. Love your enemies and be kind to those who, like you, have received the kindness of God when you didn't deserve it. And if you are ever tempted to think of God as being unfair, then go all the way and rejoice in the glorious inequity of grace that has made unlikely room for you and me, and in that same spirit of "unfairness," make room in your heart for others.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

Oscar night	Monday, February, 23, 2009
by John Fischer Did you watch the Academy Awards last night? When you see the Oscars, you get a peek into the lives of the people who make pictures. It's not just good looks and popularity that make these people so extraordinary, it's the ability to dig deep into the reservoir of the human heart, and bring up, again and again, what is authentically human. I thought this year, especially, in the personal, unscripted introduction of nominees for individual acting roles by their peers and former Oscar winners, we saw the deep amount of love and respect these people hold for each other. Though all would acknowledge a certain element of the film industry is a calculated Hollywood exploitation of the mass market, there remains that level of film that is truly an art form, calling for something higher and deeper in human nature, and the Academy has always sought to reward those types of efforts. Proof of this is how unfamiliar most people are with the top films that received nominations this year. There were much bigger box office hits that were largely ignored. These were films that explored hope, love, uncertainty, conflict, oppression, hatred and redemption—all of which are a part of the human, yes, even the biblical drama. Movies of the best kind help us understand what is human. They fill in the edges of human experience that we have missed or could never know because we weren't there, or because we are different, or believe differently than what is being expressed. And even in the case of lifestyles or behavior with which we disagree, there is an important element of humanity film touches that can help us understand why people feel the way they do. Understanding someone is a big part of loving someone, and understanding has to reach beyond my own skin. Movies can help me get inside someone else's shoes and learn what the world looks like from a different point of view. It's essential that we do this if we are going to get close enough to people to be carriers of a message of hope and salvation. To be effective witnesses, we must be good listeners, and that means we listen to understand first, not to disagree, find fault or get a chance to make our point. If we understand first, we will speak with compassion. Like any art form, movies help us see ourselves, and others, in a new light. God gave us these dramatic gifts, I believe, for the very purpose of understanding. It's a good place to begin.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 6 Available]

Not what we're cracked up to be	Friday, February, 20, 2009
by John Fischer Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything That's how the light gets in - from "Anthem" by Leonard Cohen For how long have we thought that the secret to a useful life was a perfect offering? We would get ourselves together, offer ourselves to God and make an impact for Christ. These were the kinds of people who were always held up as examples—you know, the ones with all their bells ringing. How we disqualify ourselves for any kind of effectiveness in someone else's life because we are not perfect yet. "When I get it together, then God can use me." How we excuse ourselves from service because of our own brokenness. How we falsely elevate those around us who apparently do have it together. Not good for them, and certainly not good for us. But we do it anyway. We like to believe that someone, somewhere is getting it right, so that someday soon, we might too. But what if everyone's broken? What if there's a crack in everything? And even more important, what if that is the whole point? "But we have this treasure (the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ) in jars of clay (ordinary cracked? clay pots) to show (make it obvious) that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Corinthians 4:7). Yes, the crack let's the light in, as Leonard Cohen suggests, but it also lets the light out so that the real source of the power can be seen. So you see if we try to be perfect, or simply anything more than what we are, we work against the purposes of God. (And I don't think you want to do that.) [Thanks to Suzanne Morgan Varona for the Leonard Cohen lyrics.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 8 Available]

The first stone	Thursday, February, 19, 2009
by John Fischer Jesus once set a guilty woman free from her accusers by showing that the people who were judging her were just as guilty of sin as she was. “All right, stone her,” He said to the religious leaders who were ready with stones in hand, to deliver the judgment she indeed deserved. “But let those who have never sinned throw the first stones” (John 8:7 NLT)! This incident shows us something very important about our purpose as Christians living in the world. Our job is not to throw judgment upon others, but to identify with them. The Pharisees and religious leaders were trying to separate themselves from this sinful woman they had found in the act of committing adultery. By judging her, they were going to be able to feel good about themselves in comparison. Jesus put a stop to their little charade by putting them in the same boat with the woman they were accusing. They were just as guilty. It is so tempting to think, especially after being a Christian for a while and spending a lot of time around Christians, that you are better than other people. You start to separate yourself from others, forgetting it was your sin that brought you to Christ in the first place. The gospel is represented best from people who identify with the sins of others, because they have become so familiar with their own sin. It is noted in the account that as the self-righteous leaders were convicted by the presence of sin in their own lives, “they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest” (John 8:9 NLT). That makes sense. The oldest would be the ones most aware of their own sinfulness. There comes a time in your life when you can’t fool yourself anymore. The young idealists hung on as long as possible, but even they had to finally give in to the truth about their own guilt. The proliferation of both spoken and unspoken judgment found among Christians has forced many into the world without a Christian friend to walk alongside them. We are constantly trying to separate ourselves from a world that Jesus wants us in. Not only that, He wants us to see our own sin and not make such a big fuss over everyone else’s. Our sin nature is our connection with our neighbor, our salvation is our hope, and the good news of the gospel is our message. Anyone can spot a mile away the hypocrisy of proclaiming a gospel about the forgiveness of everyone’s sins but their own.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 10 Available]

The value of women	Wednesday, February, 18, 2009
by John Fischer This morning, I attended a Women of Vision breakfast where Dean Hirsch, President of World Vision International, addressed an audience of concerned women and their husbands about the needs of the world today. It was amazing how he was able to give us a better picture of the world in 30 minutes than you could get by reading the newspaper every day for a year. Because he travels in influential circles with heads of state and heads of corporations, he has a firsthand sense of what is really going on especially in the troubled spots around the globe. Of course politics plays a huge role in most of the impoverished areas of the world where men and tribes struggle for power. One thing he pointed out was that apart from U.S. involvement in the Middle East, all wars currently being fought are within the borders of countries. They are all internal struggles for power, depleting resources with weapons and war, and the ones who suffer most are the children. Then he let us in on a very significant observation: loans made to women in impoverished countries stand a far greater chance of being used for humanitarian, useful purposes than loans to states and governments. And in areas of the world where this has been practiced, the entire economy of the country has benefited, lessening the desperate state of affairs that fuels so much unrest. As I listened to this man talk, I realized in a deeper way than ever before, that what happens to women is crucial to the way the world works. Where women are being degraded and abused, society as a whole suffers. Where women are given respect and the opportunity to influence the outcome of their efforts, the whole society benefits—especially the children, and healthy children are the hope of any age. So here's the Catch… returning respect to women is vital to a healthy society. Are you a woman? Then realize the importance of your place in the world, and seek to use your influence to affect the causes you value. Are you a man? Hold the women you know in high esteem and value their perspective. The woman in Proverbs 31 was a landowner and a merchant. She had her own business, and there were influential women who were disciples of Christ who later helped add to the church with their contributions of time and money. Remember, when it comes to important issues, men have their egos to contend with; women have the children in mind.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 10 Available]

Finding what we weren't seeking	Tuesday, February, 17, 2009
by John Fischer In the early part of most anyone's Christian life, everything is about finding. Your witness is that you found the way. Life prior to knowing Christ was all about coming up empty. You were seeking something more to life and when you found Christ, you found it. There used to be a bumper sticker that made the rounds as part of a Campus Crusade for Christ evangelistic campaign that announced, "I found it." People were supposed to ask you what it was that you found, and that would present you with a golden opportunity to tell them how much better life is now that you are a Christian. No wonder it was so easy to assume that once you found it, the search was off. Why keep seeking when you've found everything in Christ? In fact, to still be seeking or questioning anything might indicate that you were unsatisfied with Christ. But then, at some point along one's growth, a second wave of questions comes along. Some people worry about this, thinking that they are losing their faith. Suddenly it seems some of the answers you have been using appear shallow to you. Faith may start to look too simple for life, as life becomes more and more complex. As it turns out, your life may not be that much better than it was before Christ. For some, it may be worse. Those who try to "sell" Christianity based on the success/happiness/overall well being of the final product may look like shysters based on what you now know. I think a lot of this disappointment is due to a common misunderstanding of what it is that we find when we find Christ. We don't find a bunch of answers, or a system of beliefs that work, or a god that is going to guarantee us everything our culture has taught us to desire. We found a relationship with God, and finding this relationship is only the beginning. What we have found is a lifetime of learning, growing and deepening in that relationship with God. Some of that involves pain. Some involves losing. It all involves a redirecting of our lives from one way of looking at the world to another. What makes it worthwhile is not the end product, but the fact that, all along the way, the living God—the one who will be the center of our eternity, accompanies us. If you read the Psalms of David, what you come away with is not the triumph of David's exemplary life, but the heart relationship with God that holds it all together through victory and defeat, joy and sorrow, friends and friendlessness, depression and elation—the presence of God and the seeming absence of God. It's not an altogether pretty picture. It's not what some TV preachers promise. It's what God gives. Himself. And a major part of the finding is finding out that He indeed is enough. He is everything. That's what you find when you "find" Christ. It's a little like finding what you weren't seeking, but really wanted all along. [At the end of last week, I thanked those who had responded to my immediate request for funds, and I realize now that made it look like the crisis was over, when, in fact, it is not. This is because the Catch is my major source of income right now, and until I gain more work, I need as many of you who can to step up and help out. Not to put a greater burden on those who have already been so generous, but to encourage those of you who haven't shared with us to consider what you might be able to do. In the meantime, thanks to all of you for helping to expand our base. For the Donate button, scroll to the top of the page. Thank you!]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 8 Available]

Getting over your 'afraid'	Friday, February, 13, 2009
by John Fischer "When I am afraid, I will trust in you." Psalm 56:3 Chandler and I were talking the other day about doing something that's hard to do. I forget exactly what it was, now, but I wrote down what he said, because it was one of those priceless things that kids say: "You have to get over your afraid." Turning "afraid" into a noun is something a nine-year-old gets to do, and in some ways it captures the truth better than the word he wanted, which would have been "fear." I've thought a lot about getting over my fear, but I've never thought about getting over my afraid. Come to think of it, getting over my "afraid" makes a lot of sense. Fear is a human emotion. It is a dark cloud or a freezing hesitation or a claustrophobic entrapment. It may or may not be attached to what's actually happening. Fear can get you all by itself, but your "afraid" has to have an antecedent. You're afraid of something. Your fear can be vague, but your "afraid" is specific, and it helps to identify what it is. You are afraid of what? Often when we face into what we're really afraid of we discover 1) it isn't as overwhelming as we thought, 2) it's just in our head, 3) we can actually find something to do about it—take manageable steps toward a solution. Start with what you're afraid of, compare that to the Lord in your life, and do something about it. I'm going to suggest this for all of us: Take Chandler's advice and get over your "afraid!"
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 2 Available]

"Somebody in back..."	Thursday, February, 12, 2009
by John Fischer The following exchange took place in a CBS interview Katie Couric conducted recently with the crew members of US Airways Flight 1549 that went down January 16 in the Hudson River with all passengers remarkably surviving. "Did you, at any point, pray?" Ms. Couric asked the pilot, Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. "I would imagine somebody in back was taking care of that for me while I was flying the airplane," he replied. It was a loaded question, and a stellar answer. The man had literally seconds to make a decision where to land the plane, gliding 77 tons of metal, jet fuel and precious human cargo into a perfect water landing that did not break the plane into bits and pieces. "Let's bow our heads for a few moments of silent prayer" was probably not on his agenda at the moment. But "somebody in back" was most likely taking care of that for him. Prayer is vital to a Christian's life. Prayer is our link to the eternal and an act based solely on our faith in an unseen God. It's probably something we could all use more of in both cases of our own prayer experience with God, and the support of others praying for us. But sometimes, you've got to just concentrate on landing the plane and count on the fact that somebody in back is praying. Often, these days, I feel like I'm trying to keep my plane from crashing, and although it's not like I don't have time to pray, it's nonetheless comforting to know that somebody in back is. In truth, I think we need to be in both of these positions at the same time. We need someone in back praying for us, and we need to be that someone for someone else. And remember, as important as prayer is, sometimes you just have to land the plane. [Note: A special thanks to those of you who stepped up and responded to my recent request for funds. Your support of the Daily Catch is vital to its continuation.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 11 Available]

Starkville's flower pickin' forgiveness	Wednesday, February, 11, 2009
by John Fischer In May of 1965, Johnny Cash was arrested for picking flowers on private property in Starkville, Mississippi. In 1970, he recorded "Starkville City Jail," memorializing the event in a song that was released, appropriately, on his San Quentin live album. A year ago last October, the city of Starkville inaugurated an annual flower picking music festival posthumously pardoning Cash of his crime and the pardon is good for one year, renewable at the next year's festival. Johnny Cash would be proud. Such an event celebrates two of his favorite themes: sin and redemption. I like this for three reasons. The return to the scene of the crime. Sin is real. It can't be erased, and there are consequences. Nor is anyone above the law. I don't know what the legal charges against him were, but "drunk and disorderly" was probably a part of the flower picking caper, thus a night in the Starkville city jail. We may allow a smile about this sin, but there are sins we are all guilty of that bring only sorrow. Sin must be confessed and paid for. In the case of Johnny Cash and the rest of us, Christ has already served the sentence. That doesn't erase the crime; it issues a pardon. The renewable pardon (as long as it's accompanied by music and celebration). The pardon is good as long as you make sure you celebrate it. I think we could make good on more celebrations of our forgiveness. I guess that's what Easter is all about, but somehow, some of it gets lost in religious tradition. The Starkville flower pickin' festival brings it home. I like the idea of an annual pardon, good until next year's celebration. Sounds a little the Jewish Day of Atonement. Of course God's pardon through Christ is once and for all, but celebrating it every year is a good reminder of how much we need it. The music. It's a little like dancing on your own grave. God clearly likes festivals. He instituted a number of them for the nation of Israel, and some go on for days. How about you? Where would you want to stage your atonement party? The 2nd annual Starkville festival featured Johnny's two daughters and his favorite songwriting buddy. Who would you want at your pardon party? You know, you have to really believe it to celebrate it.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 6 Available]

Poster Catch	Tuesday, February, 10, 2009
by John Fischer I heard from one of our readers that a Catch last week earned the moniker: Poster Catch. That means it got printed up and put on his wall. Wow. That's significant. I have one thing on my wall I printed up. It's a personal letter, typed out on an old upright, and signed by the late Herb Caen, long time columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. In it he compliments me on one of my books I had sent him because it had a piece in it about his column that I wrote when we lived in the Bay Area. I framed the letter and still have it on the wall of my office as a trophy and an encouragement. Herb Caen liked my book enough to write me and tell me about it. (I had also heard that until his death, he always typed out all of his personal letters himself on his old Royal.) What's worth putting on your wall? Our refrigerator and surrounding pantry area is a gallery for Chandler's artwork. Now that's definitely worth it. I remember visiting a little black church in Soweto, South Africa that had an encouraging letter from Ralph Carmichael framed on a wall in the office. Once I saw my own letter on someone's wall where I was visiting. What qualifies to be put on a wall or a refrigerator? Things that encourage us. Things that signal an achievement of some kind. Things that capture something learned we don't want to forget. Things that remember a moment. Here's an idea: Let me know what you have on your wall. Maybe I can pass on some things. And don't you know that God's got His refrigerator plastered with pictures we've done—all of us. Did you know He's proud of you? He is, you know. [We're having problems with our server and some of you may have missed yesterday, and one or two days last week. Our apologies for the inconvenience. Keep in mind you can always go online to www.fischtank.com and find the current Catch and archives by clicking on "In the Tank." This also means an important request for financial assistance missed reaching some of you so I will include it one more time. In case you've missed our requests that went out last week, the Fischtank is still in need of immediate assistance. Thank you so much to those who have already stepped up to help. Use the box below to register a donation via PayPal or if you prefer, send a check to John Fischer at 1278 Glenneyre, Laguna Beach, CA 92651.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 42 Available]

Up to Speed	Thursday, February, 05, 2009
by John Fischer It’s a conversation that allegedly took place between Abraham Lincoln and his best friend, Joshua Speed. Speed, upon finding Lincoln reading the Bible, laid a hand on his shoulder and remarked, "I am glad to see you profitably engaged." "I am profitably engaged," was the affirming reply. "Well, if you have recovered from your skepticism, I am sorry to say that I have not." "You are wrong, Speed," said Lincoln, looking up from the pages of his Bible. "Take all of this book upon reason that you can, and the balance on faith, and you will die a happier and better man." I like this for numerous reasons. 1) It's Abraham Lincoln, an obviously smart and great man who gave God respect, believed the Bible, and relied on Christ for strength to lead America through one of it's most trying times. 2) It's a great statement on the cooperation of reason and faith. Christianity is not unreasonable. It does not require blind or stupid faith. It requires a reasonable faith. That would be, as Lincoln described it, a faith that travels along with reason until reason can go no further, at which point faith goes the rest of the way alone. That says that faith is not antagonistic to reason, it's just that reason alone isn't enough. 3) Joshua Speed, who was Lincoln's best friend, did not share Lincoln's belief. This is a good example for us, because we tend to gravitate, especially with best friends, to people who support the same belief systems we hold. We might have acquaintances that are not believers, but rarely best friends. This account lists Speed as Lincoln's best friend. I'd be curious as to whether Mr. Speed will be in heaven. It's hard to imagine a long, close friendship with a man like Lincoln that wouldn't have convinced Joshua Speed about the reality of all that Lincoln believed at some point. At any rate, it's a great example of the kind of friendships I believe we as Christians need to cultivate—relationships of mutual respect with unbelievers (or what I like to call: "not yet believers"). [Some of you may not have received the Catch of the Day yesterday due to unknown server problems. Along with yesterday's Catch I repeated a special request for funds I will include again for those who missed it: There is an immediate need for funds at the Fischtank. If you haven't donated to the Daily Catch in a while, or you have been intending to contribute sometime in the near future, please consider today.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 3 Available]

No one is too… for God	Wednesday, February, 04, 2009
by John Fischer I love this, and I'm not sure where I got it. I think it might have been from one of you. I just copied it down in my idea folder and forgot to put any information as to where it came from. It's simply this quote: "No one is too anything for God." Now obviously this needs to be explained, but not too much, because I bet you get the gist. The idea would be to put in any obstacle that you think might disqualify someone for a relationship with God, such as "No one is too bad for God." Or "No one is too stubborn… ornery… unfaithful… ugly… pretty… smart… stupid… too anything for God." How about those who think they are too far gone for God? Not the case. Maybe someone thinks that he or she has sinned just one too many times. Or maybe you can't forgive someone, so how could you be forgiven? Or maybe you have a bone to pick with God, which would make you too mad for God. But that's just the thing. No one is too anything for God. There is nothing that can keep you from the love of God—nothing that cannot be overcome by His grace. So if you've been thinking that God might be for some people, but not for you, because you are too… well, think again, because no one is too anything for God. [Note: Not everyone catches the Catch every day. For those who missed it, I am running last Friday's message one more time: There is an immediate need for funds at the Fischtank. If you haven't donated to the Daily Catch in a while, or you have been intending to contribute sometime in the near future, please consider today.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

Sign of the times	Tuesday, February, 03, 2009
by John Fischer A writer for the Los Angeles Times ended his article today on Super Bowl ads by remarking on the Bud Light commercial that ended with a guy being thrown out of a second story window. "Next, you'll be saying they will lay off guys who sit around and review commercials." He concluded. "Don't be ridic…. (Editor's note: This review has been ended because of cutbacks. We wish the writer success in his future endeavors.)" * There's no reason to believe this is a joke. Yesterday I heard that the Times just cut 500 jobs. Many are saying it's going to get worse before it gets better. The economy right now feels a little like an airplane in a tailspin; and we wonder when or if the engines will kick in and allow us to pull out of this free fall before we all hit the ground. What should the spiritual response to this be? Just be cool, everything's in God's hands? I'm not so sure it's that easy. Fear is most likely the biggest obstacle. I know it is for me. Fear is a natural human emotion and not very easy to control, even though Jesus and His angels often said, "Fear not." It's hard to tell yourself not to be afraid. But fear can also be a healthy motivation to change. We let fear get the best of us when we allow ourselves to be frozen by it. If fear creates inactivity in us, it has succeeded in overcoming us. But if, instead, we use fear to motivate ourselves to step out in spite of our fear and seek creative alternatives to our problems, then we are actually turning fear into a positive force. It can be done. The storm is raging, the boat, carrying the disciples, is in peril, but Jesus is out on the water. You can brace yourself in fear on the boat, or get out of the boat and go join Jesus on the water. On the boat there's just fear and paralysis. On the water, there may be fear, too, but there's also one heck of an adventure waiting for you! So what will it be? (*"Not totally sold on ads" by Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, p.D8)
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 7 Available]

New for old	Monday, February, 02, 2009
by John Fischer Jesus once warned against trying to patch an old garment with new cloth or put new wine into old wineskins. In the case of the garment, the new unshrunk piece of cloth will tear away from the rest when the clothing is first washed. And in the case of the wineskins, the new wine will be too acidic for the old skins and they will burst. New wine and new skins need to grow old together. I used to wonder about exactly what this meant. I'd heard it taught as being related to new methods of sharing the Gospel and pretty much left it at that. Recently I found something new. I found out that Jesus told this story right after being criticized for hanging around tax collectors and sinners at Matthew's house. When the religious leaders (Pharisees) questioned Jesus as to his choice of friends, he promptly replied, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Matthew 9:13) Which translated meant, I didn't come for you; I came for them. And shortly after that is when Jesus is suddenly discussing garment repair and proper wine storage. Here's what I think. I think that little piece of advice was meant for the Pharisees. It was meant to announce to them that God was now going to usher in a new thing entirely. Jesus did not come just to fix religion. He did not come to patch up the Old Covenant. Nor did He come to pour new life into it (new wine into old wineskins). He came to do something entirely new. And in order to “get it” you can’t come in through the existing door. The standard framework of thinking about God and religion will forever prevent us from being able to understand and partake in something new -- what Jesus came to establish. Therefore, Jesus is pleased to start with people who have no preconceptions of God and how to please Him; they just know they’re messed up. That’s all Jesus wants. He doesn’t want the religious sacrifices of “good” people. He wants the entire lives of people who know they are sinners and failures so he can begin something entirely new with them—new clothes... new wine... new skins. Now all this should come as terribly good news to anyone who knows he or she is not a good person. That's precisely the point. Jesus didn't come for good people; He came for sinners. This isn't a remodel; it's a total makeover.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 7 Available]

Las Vegas junket	Friday, January, 30, 2009
by John Fischer I'm only flying home from three days in Minneapolis, but I somehow ended up on the Las Vegas junket on Super Bowl weekend. My USAir flight connects in Las Vegas, but a number of people on this flight are not connecting in Las Vegas with anything but a good time. They're a friendly lot, chatting all over the plane like the party's already underway. I've experienced this before on flights into Las Vegas. And remember, this is a flight from Minneapolis in deep January. I would be excited just to be getting out of the bitter cold for a few days. I understand their delight. I find myself observing the out-going and fun-loving nature of these people and wanting to be a part of it. Sometimes I wonder if sinners have more fun. I remember when smoking was still allowed in the back of the plane, the smokers were always more talkative. At least it appeared that they were having more fun. Probably more than anything, what I'm observing is the camaraderie of something shared in common. On the few occasions that I have traveled with a group, I remember being boisterous and a little cocky; there was strength in numbers. I think the truth is that people sharing something together have more fun. My days of judging this kind of thing are over. I like these people. I wish I were going with them. More and more, I want to find out what I have in common with people. I am seeing them through the eyes of God who made them in His image and died in their place. Would He not want them to experience some joy here on His earth? I'm beginning to realize that God is a people lover. I believe He enjoys it when people have a good time. Jesus certainly was one to enjoy a good party—celebrating Matthew's induction as a disciple with his tax collecting buddies and performing his first miracle at a wedding reception. Our human experiences are worth something. Everything doesn't have to be spiritualized to have meaning. Prayer: God, give me pure eyes to see people as you see them and to love them with your love. Save me from ever thinking there are worse sinners out there than I am. Teach me to weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice. [Note: There is an immediate need for funds at the Fischtank. If you haven't donated to the Daily Catch in a while, or you have been intending to contribute sometime in the near future, please consider today.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

Look up from your life	Thursday, January, 29, 2009
by John Fischer Under risk of going way too far with this James Taylor thing, I'm including one more lyric to a song mentioned by one of our readers that I have never heard. It does a kind of trick on you, making you think, "Uh oh, maybe good old JT isn't a believer after all…" "So much for your moment of prayer God's not at home There is no there there Lost in the stars That's what you are Left here on your own You can only hope to live on this earth This here is it, for all it's worth Nothing else awaits you No second birth No starry crown For an un-believer like you There's not much they can do" So the whole song is addressed to the person who can't believe. And to that person, Mr. Taylor would say: "We must find you a way to Look up from your life Up from your life Look on up from your life Look up from your life There's a river running under your feet Under this house Under this street Straight from the heart Ancient and sweet On its way back home Even in the middle of your sadness The everyday madness The ongoing game Even when you can't find a reason Still there is a reason You don't need to name it Look on up Look up from your life Only for a minute To find yourself in it To wait by the stream To drop out of your dream Look on up Look up from your life" - from "Look Up from Your Life" by James Taylor Looking up from your life is a great picture. Like you were stuck down in it. I know the feeling. I'm one of those with a tendency to get stuck in my life—all tangled up in myself. And if you're stuck there, it's an awful place to be, because that's all you can see. There's no solution—no help—until you look somewhere else. So don't get stuck in your life. Look up from there. There's so much more than that. There's a reason when you can't find one. There's hope when you're hopeless. Look up from your life, and see why you have a life in the first place. Look up and see someone else. Look up and see the Lord.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 12 Available]

What James Taylor felt on a country road	Wednesday, January, 28, 2009
by John Fischer "Sail on home to Jesus won't you good girls and boys I'm all in pieces; you can have your own choice But I can hear a heavenly band full of angels And they're coming to set me free I don't know nothing 'bout the why or when But I can tell that it's bound to be Because I could feel it, child, yeah On a country road" - from "Country Road" by James Taylor Sorry. I'm onto James Taylor and into preaching from pop culture, or better yet, letting pop culture preach for itself, and I can't help it. There's enough of it out here to do that if you let it, and if you listen, I actually think you can hear the Holy Spirit having fun. Yesterday's Catch was about Taylor revisiting a Leonard Cohen song on a current recording, but you don't need to go outside of James's own songs to find Jesus showing up. And it's always when he's all come apart and unraveled. When he's in pieces, only Jesus can put them back together. And angels coming to set him free are what JT feels on a country road. Everything right and good and true. And then there's "Fire and Rain," a song I still believe he wrote for 9/11/2001, a sunny day we thought would never end. It was a song he wrote with no one to send it to until 30 years later when he sang it to an audience of 6,000 fire, police and emergency crews that had been spending the last few weeks combing the rubble of the World Trade Center looking for a friend they always thought they'd see at least one more time again. With sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground, it became clearly evident who this song was really for. "Won't you look down upon me, Jesus You've got to help me make a stand You've just got to see me through another day My body's aching and my time is at hand And I won't make it any other way" - from "Fire and Rain" by James Taylor
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 14 Available]

Suzanne and Jesus	Tuesday, January, 27, 2009
by John Fischer And Jesus was a sailor When he walked upon the water And he spent a long time watching From his lonely wooden tower And when he knew for certain Only drowning men could see him He said "All men will be sailors then Until the sea shall free them" But he himself was broken Long before the sky would open Forsaken, almost human He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone And you want to travel with him And you want to travel blind And you think maybe you'll trust him For he's touched your perfect body with his mind. These lyrics are part of the song "Suzanne" written by Leonard Cohen and sung by various artists, the most recent recording being one by James Taylor on his "Covers" CD sold at Starbucks. I never understood these mysterious lyrics, and I don't pretend to now, except to say that they haunt me like something I can't quite reach. And I share them today not to confuse you but to amaze you with what amazes people about Jesus. That artists can get so close makes you wonder how much they know. It makes me love Jesus more just to see what he brings out in people, especially artists, who can reach him on levels they themselves probably do not understand. And James Taylor, who wrote Jesus into his own lyrics a few times, revisits the source again… Just can't stay away.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 7 Available]

God's arms may spread wider than we know	Monday, January, 26, 2009
by John Fischer I wish hell were not a part of Christian doctrine. I'd love to do away with it, except that Jesus talked about it quite a lot so that makes that kind of hard to do. I also understand theologically why there has to be punishment for sin and a sentence to be paid, it's just hard for my little mind to grasp this and the love of God at the same time, and it's harder still to explain to someone whose main barrier to faith seems to be this very question. I'm not going to try and fix this for anyone because I can't. As the musical suggests, my arms are too short to box with God. But I am going to propose, as someone passed on to me, that "God's arms may spread wider than we know," or in other words: His grace may go farther than we can see or explain. I have a feeling this might be true, but I can't base it on anything other than my own propensity to judge which is continually being undermined by God's grace every day. Not that God is somehow going to violate his own rules -- He can't do that -- but I do feel our perception of God leans more towards God the judge than it does Christ the savior. So here are three reasons why I think God's arms may spread wider than we know. 1) We are less forgiving than God. God has said that as far as the east is from the west, that's how far he has removed our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:12) How about you? Can you do that? Can you just forget about that evil that was done to you? Can you remove it from your memory? It appears that God can. We bring up our sin constantly in our minds and we often bring it to God, and I wish we could see His face, because on it would be a look of bewilderment. "What are you talking about?" He says when we bring up our sin. Would that we could forget like He does. 2) We don't know what kinds of transactions have gone on in the last seconds of a person's life in the privacy of their own mind and heart. We simply have no access to that information. This is where I believe angels do a lot of business. Especially for people who have had the consistent witness of loving believers in their life. When it comes down to it, who would you think of when the last breath comes? Your doubles partner? Your fitness coach? Your business competitor? Or the person who loved you, and always told you about how to meet God in eternity? 3) We can't see the heart. Even the apostle Paul has written, "I do not even judge myself... wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts." (1 Corinthians 4:3-5) In the Old Testament, Abraham's cousin, Lot, appears no better than a chicken-hearted scoundrel. But in the New Testament, Peter records, "for that righteous man [Lot], living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard."(2 Peter 2:8) Only God saw that part. You can't always judge by what you see on the outside. One last thought. I bet just about everyone in heaven, when they sit down at the big banquet, is going to look across the table and see someone who is the last person they would have expected to find there. And they will say, "How on earth did you get here?" And that person will answer, "Same way as you."
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 19 Available]

Holding on to a very thin line	Friday, January, 23, 2009
by John Fischer I can see how it could happen. A preacher with a television ministry is talking with a guest on his show whose comment reminds him of a verse: Psalm 27:13, "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." The preacher is trying to encourage his guest, and more importantly, his television audience, so he emphasizes that David is expecting to get relief from whatever bind he was in soon, not in some far off by and by: "...in the land of the living," he stresses. And then he says, "Imagine what David's life would have been like had he not known the Lord? He would have been depressed; he would have been discouraged..." and on and on, "but look at David and look at what a great man he became, and the same thing can happen to you if you believe." That might not have all been articulated, but that's the kind of thinking that was definitely behind what the preacher was saying. And as I saw this, my little "wait a minute" truth flag went up. Wait a minute, I thought, David was depressed. He was discouraged. He committed devastating sins; He bore huge consequences for those sins. In fact, through his poetry, we know more about the spiritual/emotional makeup of this man than we do of some of our best friends, and we know that sometimes he felt completely abandoned by the Lord, and sometimes his prayers seemed to go nowhere, and all of this happened while he knew the Lord! I wanted to scream when I saw this, but it wouldn't have done any good because no one could hear me on TV, so I'm screaming now, for the sake of those of you who have heard things like this and gotten discouraged. Because you hear this not once, but over and over again from lots of teachers and preachers and you make the conclusion that if you are depressed, discouraged or devastated by sin, that there must be something wrong with you, because your life doesn't match up to what is being presented, and maybe you don't even know the Lord, because you are in the land of the living and you haven't seen the goodness of the Lord since you can even remember. "Imagine what David's life would have been like had he not known the Lord," is not the point. The point is: David knew the Lord and his life was full of struggle and pain. So take heart. Your struggle is not the end of the world or the end of your faith. Like David, you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living; it just might not be today. It was the right verse, just the wrong impression. Sometimes faith is a very thin line, but it will get you through, nonetheless.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 31 Available]

Look and live	Thursday, January, 22, 2009
by John Fischer "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up." – John 3:14 Do you ever wonder why Jesus had to die such an awful death? I wonder about this from time to time. I wonder about the whole sacrifice thing in the Old Testament and what slaughtering innocent animals had to do with people's sin (except that it might have made them think twice if they had to watch an animal cut up every time they got caught in someone else's business). It all pointed to Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice—and I know that—but then we still haven't answered why there had to be a sacrifice in the first place. Theologians tell us it's all about God's justice. Adam sinned—the rest of us followed suit—and since the punishment for sin is death, well, that kind of does in the whole human race, unless someone dies in our place—someone who hasn't fallen like we did, who would appease the justice of God because he was perfect. That intellectually makes sense, but I still don't really get it. And after all this, I think I can truly say: At some point it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that you understand it; it only matters that you believe it. Jesus once likened his death on a cross to a snake on a pole in the desert—the bronze snake that God directed Moses to make in order to save the lives of those bitten by a deadly strain of venomous vipers. "Make a snake," God told Moses, "and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live" (Numbers 21:8). I've often wondered about this too. What a silly thing, this snake on a pole. Those people wouldn't have had a clue what this was all about, but do you think that mattered? If you were bitten and dying, and all you needed to do to live was look at a bronze statue, would you care? You'd just look, wouldn't you? I'm not condoning being stupid. I'm the first one I know to champion questions and try and get to the bottom of things, but at some point, when the chips are down, and it comes to your own life and death, and someone offers you life, you take it. It's true for us all. Bitten by sin? Look upon Jesus and live.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 6 Available]

Inaugural call	Wednesday, January, 21, 2009
by John Fischer So many prayers, hopes and new beginnings… "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24) The message I heard from yesterday's inaugural is one of responsibility. It's an old message, regarding basic values, many of which have skipped my generation, or just skipped me—values like service, integrity and hard work. I am ready to answer President Obama's call in my own personal life. He might be talking to a nation, but I'm applying it to me. What is true for the country is also true for me. What has come easily will now be harder. What was given must now be earned. More will be required now, not less. Many of us grew up with stories of five-mile walks to school and back in the snow. Of fighting for freedoms and sacrificing for something greater. Of doing without. Of dying for your ideals if need be. These are not my values, but they need to be. The times are calling on us all to change. It won't be easy, and it won't be quick, but change is required. Don't you need to change? Don't you need to be more of what is required? What applies to the country, applies to me. Question: So what is God asking of you? Time to step up and do it.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 10 Available]

Character shows	Tuesday, January, 20, 2009
by John Fischer "I have a dream… I have a dream that 46 years from now, on the day after a national holiday celebrating my birth, and on these very same steps, a black man will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States." No, Martin Luther King, Jr. did not say this in his famous speech, but if he had, no one would have believed it possible. They would have considered it a miracle if such a thing could happen. Well it's happening. Today is a great day for African Americans, and a great day for America. Most moving to me have been the on-the-street interviews with African Americans who have made the trip to Washington to witness this inauguration in person. Their pride is a given, but their character and faith show through with such graceful strength, especially among the older who remember what it was like 46 years ago—how inconceivable is this day. Those who speak with knowledge speak from a place of deep pain. Their faith is what has carried them through. Their redemption is sweet, their salvation is secure, and their hope is that which comes from holding onto a dream through the darkest of times. The Bible teaches us, "suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us" (Romans 5:3-5). True, this hope we are seeing today is not a permanent one. There is no guarantee for the future of America, and our new President is not the Messiah. But he is a symbol of perseverance to many people who have held onto their dream. So look on the faces of those today that have so much to be proud of, and think of the character awaiting all who persevere in faith. It shows.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 9 Available]

Father knows best	Friday, January, 16, 2009
by John Fischer It seems to be more and more the case that science confirms religion. For instance, studies in human behavior -- even physical health -- prove that those who forgive are healthier than those who do not. Should we be surprised at this? Probably not, but it is always a boost to my faith when another article or book shows up that confirms, from a secular source or vantage point, what God has told us all along. Think of how difficult it would be if this were not the case -- say, if it was actually better for you mentally and physically to have revenge on those who have harmed you, or that holding grudges and hatred in your heart actually made you live longer (the opposite is clearly the case). I think we would be shocked to find this out. If what God says in the Bible was constantly being disproved by our experience in the real world, it would make it indeed a challenge to believe. But this is not the case, thank God. Time and time again, science backs up what God has said all along -- sometimes in completely unrelated fields. For instance, what were explicitly religious commands in the Old Testament about washing and the eating or shunning of certain foods can be shown to have very obvious health reasons behind them -- things people would not have possessed the knowledge to understand at the time. I'm thinking of two conclusions along these lines that are important for us to remember. First, God has our best interests at heart. He does not tell us to do or not do certain things just because He has nothing better to do, or He wants to watch us squirm a little. He is a loving God who put us together a certain way and knows how we can have the best life possible. And secondly, because this is the case, science and research are really exploring more of God's handiwork in creation, and our ongoing experience of life is a continual participation in the creation process, In other words, it is never over. God didn't create the world and walk away. He is intimately involved at every level. To experience life is to experience God. To study human behavior and the world around us is to study about Him. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, said the Psalmist, and the more we learn about our world and ourselves, the more we find out that Father really does know best!
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 4 Available]

"What was your name again?"	Thursday, January, 15, 2009
by John Fischer In humility, consider others better than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3) Do you ever have trouble remembering someone's name? You may have asked them for their name but you weren't listening when they told you, and now you have to ask them again. Don't you hate it when that happens? I met a man this weekend (his name is Mardy, by the way; I did manage to remember that) that said he used to have trouble remembering people's names until he realized why. He was focusing on his introduction of himself when he met someone new, and not on the person he was meeting. Once he got it through his head that the important one was the person he was meeting, not the one he was introducing, he was able to focus on people and remember their names. How remarkable, and remarkably simple. As I thought this over I had to go one painful step further. If I forget someone's name, it's because I don't care. I'm not valuing the meeting. I used to think you could just excuse yourself as being one of those people who have a hard time with names. Whether that's true for someone else, I can't say, but I must admit it is not true for me. I just don't care enough to listen. If, on the other hand, I concentrate on the person I am meeting—give them 100% of my attention—I can remember a name. I can remember quite a few names if I put my mind to it. But to do that, of course, I will have to empty my head of its favorite topic (myself) to make room for someone else. Think about it: a name is important. In some cultures it's everything. The Bible makes a big deal about the name of Jesus. At the name of Jesus, many things happen. Our names are significant, too. Make somebody's name important to you today. Remember it.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

"Where are you?"	Wednesday, January, 14, 2009
by John Fischer If you were in a place you didn't belong, trying to be someone you were not, do you think you would be willing to admit that? I'm not so sure I would even recognize it, much less admit it. That's why we were so surprised when one of my oldest son's best friends, in a phone conversation with us on Thanksgiving day, when asked how he was, blurted out: "In a place I don't belong, trying to be someone I'm not." He might have said that because he belonged with us. He'd been with us most other Thanksgivings. Even though he has family, we have been family for him since he and Christopher became friends their sophomore year in high school, fourteen years ago. I found myself missing him and that caught me by surprise. He's not the kind of friend I would have chosen for my son, but then, my son's friends were not mine to choose. (That has been a difficult lesson to learn.) We did choose to have our home and our lives open to all of our children's friends, regardless, and that has taught me a lot about acceptance. I can't say I have always learned the lesson being taught, but I have found some rewards, and one of those was wishing this friend could be with us, and feeling the pain in his voice and the stark honesty of his inner disconnectedness. We were at the Thanksgiving table, enjoying friends and loved ones, some who had traveled a great distance to share this day with us, and our three children were huddled around a cell phone on speaker, when he laid it out there: "Where are you Scott?" "I'm in a place I don't belong, trying to be someone I'm not." Doesn't that just rip your heart out? Actually, I think that we all can feel this to some degree—sometimes more than others. And I think it would be great if we could set out to consciously do the opposite for folks: give them some sense of belonging and unconditional acceptance for who they are. I can't think of anyone who couldn't use some of that!
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 4 Available]

Holy ground	Tuesday, January, 13, 2009
by John Fischer When God met Moses through a burning bush, He told him to take off his shoes because He was standing on holy ground. I've been thinking about that holy ground lately and wondering why God had Moses remove his shoes. In my research I came upon the teachings of a few rabbis whom I would assume have the inside track on the cultural meaning of this practice. I found there were not one, but a number of possible explanations. One possibility is to symbolically remove the dust and dirt (contamination) from the world so as to enter the holy place. The priests in the temple remove their shoes in this manner. Another was the idea of humility. One rabbi remarked how Jews cover their heads as a sign of respect, but uncover their feet. That would seem to indicate to both humility and vulnerability. Rabbi Yaacov Haber commented about that vulnerability. "With shoes, one can walk over stones, glass, water, even fire and not feel a thing. Without shoes, one can feel everything. Step on the slightest protrusion, even a little Lego, and the pain climbs right up the spine." If you're going to be a leader... you must remove the insulation that you wear to protect yourself.... It will hurt but you must be able to feel every bump, every nick and cranny; you must be able to feel the pain. A person who is responsive to external conditions or stimulation is a person who will be susceptible to the attitudes, feelings, or circumstances of others. It is this individual who can develop a meaningful relationship." As if this wasn't enough, there is still one more interpretation of the metaphor, and perhaps it is the most important. For Moses, the burning bush represented the presence of God. Today, the kingdom of God has come; His Holy Spirit is here; and thus the presence of God is everywhere. So Rabbi Melanie Aron can say, "The place upon which you are standing, that is the exact situation in which you find yourself, is a holy place. In whatever distracting and difficult situation you find yourself, there are opportunities for holiness." Days pass and the years vanish and we walk sightless among miracles. Lord, fill our eyes with seeing and our minds with knowing. Let there me moments when your presence like lightning illuminates the darkness in which we walk. Help us to see, wherever we gaze, that the bush burns, unconsumed. And we, clay touched by God, will reach out for holiness and exclaim in wonder, "How filled with awe is this place and we did not know it." - Old Hebrew Prayer
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

Let's look a little deeper	Monday, January, 12, 2009
by John Fischer In the process of gleaning some truth from a Jackson Browne song, I came in touch with what some called his pagan Christmas song. Not knowing anything about this song, I did an Internet search and came up with this. I assume it is the song in question. That some Christians would put this song in a negative or anti-Christian light surprises me. I find it quite the opposite. The Rebel Jesus by Jackson Browne "The streets are filled with laughter and light And the music of the season And the merchants' windows are all bright With the faces of the children And the families hurrying to their homes As the sky darkens and freezes Will be gathering around their hearths and tables Giving thanks for God's graces And the birth of the rebel Jesus" Okay so far. Being a child of the '60s, the "rebel Jesus" fits right in for me. We were more likely to use the term "radical," but the effect is pretty much the same. In relation to the existing religious institutions of His day—the law and prophets and Pharisees and Sadducees—Jesus was most definitely a rebel. If he didn't upend the religious structures of the day, He certainly advocated a radically different way of thinking about them. "They call him by the "Prince Of Peace" And they call him by "The Savior" And they pray to him upon the sea And in every bold endeavor And they fill his churches with their pride and gold As their faith in him increases But they've turned the nature that I worship in From a temple to a robber's den In the words of the rebel Jesus" It's hard to take issue with this when Jackson Brown is clearly quoting Jesus: "My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers" (Matthew 21:3). He merely applies it to today's church. Now some may think that's too harsh, but he is certainly not the first to suggest that if Jesus were here today, He might have a few tables to turn among those who are making money off the gospel. It is certainly not a new idea. "We guard our world with locks and guns And we guard our fine possessions And once a year when Christmas comes We give to our relations" Jackson Browne may not have realized this, but he is mirroring something Jesus said here when He pointed out how easy it was to love those who love us back. (Luke 6:32) "And perhaps we give a little to the poor If the generosity should seize us But if anyone of us should interfere In the business of why there are poor They get the same as the rebel Jesus" Now we're getting more controversial, but still in the ballpark of acceptable criticism. Helping the poor is one thing; changing the social structures that keep people poor is another. Mr. Browne is suggesting that those structures are so firmly implanted and controlled that to try and change them is to risk losing your life (what they did to Jesus) at the hands of those who are benefiting from them. Not a new thought either, and at the risk of ruffling the feathers of those who feel capitalism is next to godliness, it is a point worth making. Much harder to change the things that keep people poor than to hand them a few bucks now and then and continue to promote wealth for the few. "But pardon me if I have seemed To take the tone of judgment For I've no wish to come between This day and your enjoyment In a life of hardship and of earthly toil There's a need for anything that frees us So I bid you pleasure and I bid you cheer From a heathen and a pagan On the side of the rebel Jesus" I believe this is genuine well-wishing here. I don't think Jackson Browne really wanted to rain bad cheer on anyone's Christmas parade, but I do think he wanted to make a point or two, and in my book, he did. However this last statement is worth the whole song, because he is actually saying that though he considers himself a heathen and a pagan, he is nonetheless eager to come alongside this Jesus—this rebel Jesus—who, as he has described him so far, sounds pretty much like the same Jesus I know and love. And it may even be that his use of "heathen" and "pagan" to describe himself is for the benefit of those whom he thinks might consider him such, rather than something he would claim for himself in another context. If this is the pagan Christmas song that some are worrying about, then I'm not worried. I already joined up with the rebel Jesus a while back.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 31 Available]

There's a method to the madness	Friday, January, 09, 2009
by John Fischer Yesterday, God spoke to me through a Jackson Browne song. Then someone pointed out that there are some questions about Jackson Browne's alleged treatment of women, his current or former drug use, and his New Age beliefs. I am glad this came up, because it allows me to extrapolate on one of my favorite and freeing worldview principles: All truth is God's truth. If something is true, it belongs to God regardless of the source, and God is not stingy with His truth. He doesn't only let good, upstanding, righteous, God-fearing people access to it. (Actually if that were true, we'd all be out of luck, but I won't go there!) Anyone can play in the big pool of inspiration. In fact, severely imbalanced people are the ones who historically seem to have more access to what's there than others. I used to have a T-shirt that read, "Conform, go crazy, or become an artist," meaning being an artist somehow legitimizes borderline madness. Artists are traditionally imbalanced—the consequences of paying attention to only half of your brain. It's part of the requirement. Over and over it's true that the great masters led troubled lives. Alcoholism, abuse, depression, asylum are common among brilliant artists including even some of the more famous writers of hymns. I share this with you not to burden or judge, but to set us all free to celebrate the truth wherever we find it, and learn how to train ourselves to expect God to speak at all times, through anything or anyone. He does not limit Himself; we do. The ability to write a song that has truth the Holy Spirit can use in someone's life has nothing to do with the songwriter's own spiritual condition, and even if it did, we are not anyone's judge anyway. I have always found lots of truth in Jackson Browne's songs. I have no idea what is going on in his head and heart. I have a feeling it's quite a lot.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 53 Available]

Alive in the world	Thursday, January, 08, 2009
by John Fischer "I want to live in the world Not inside my head." As I took the Christmas tree down and thought about the new year ahead, I keyed up one of my Jackson Browne albums not expecting God to speak to me. I just wanted a break from Christmas music, but I got much more – a call to be a Christian with a world view. "I want to live in the world Not behind some wall." How many walls have we built around ourselves? How many safe places have we created so we can avoid the unsafe realities just outside our doors? How much comfort do we receive from being separate? We think we've created a holy place when, in fact, we have created only a place to hide. Who ever promised us safety anyway? Did the martyrs feel safe? I think what we need is courage, not safety. Courage, out beyond the walls. "I want to live in the world Where I will hear if another voice should call." How in the world do we expect to ever help anyone if we are too far away to hear someone cry? You have to be close enough to hear. You have to be where the voices are calling out, and then you have to train yourself to hear them, because they are everywhere. They are embedded in our culture, holed up in our work places, and staring in their drinks after hours. "To the prisoner inside me To the captive of my doubt Who among his fantasies harbors the dream of breaking out, And taking his chances Alive in the world?" Though we don't need to take chances because we don't leave this to chance. Christ didn't. And He has gone before us. He is the one who prayed, "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one… As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world" (John 17:15,18). So I am praying two things in relation to this next year and the days you and I will spend in it: "To open my eyes and wake up alive in the world; To open my eyes and fully arrive in the world." [Lyrics are from the song, "Alive in the World," by Jackson Browne.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 4 Available]

My Starbucks nose	Wednesday, January, 07, 2009
by John Fischer After much deliberation and some concern, I have finally come to believe that I have a Starbucks nose. This has nothing to do with my nose's olfactory function; it's something I wear on the outside of my nose. My wife and I have been noticing a pale black mark on the tip of my nose on and off for the last few weeks. The on and off part is what made it so difficult. Sometimes there are even two spots, and then other times there is nothing. At my age, you learn to not pass off anything that might indicate abnormal or unusual cell growth. Then one morning, when I was drinking my coffee, my nose pressed against the snap-on lid of my Starbucks mug that keeps it hot, it hit me. It's either a coffee stain from the inside of the lid that folds back, or some of the black plastic wearing off with age. So that's it. I have a Starbucks nose—evidence that my nose is deeply embedded in the daily consumption of dark-roasted fresh-brewed coffee. Which makes me wonder what we would expect to see on a follower of Christ that is evidence of being with Jesus? A spot of love? A smudge of kindness? A mark of patience? Certainly you would expect one who has been around Jesus for a long time to have a special compassion for the poor and disenfranchised. They might even have a sort of bent out of shape nose when it comes to privilege, power and position. For sure you would see an absence of condemnation and an abundance of mercy. Forgiveness would be a strong mark. There would certainly be humility present in a form that was not conscious of itself. All of this would manifest itself in character strength wrapped in gentleness. It's there; you can see it. Drink in a lot of Jesus. Look for the marks.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 9 Available]

Taking down Christmas	Tuesday, January, 06, 2009
by John Fischer This is always a difficult part of the holiday ritual: taking everything down and packing Christmas away for another year. It seems like every year, the house never looked better, or the tree was never so perfect, and it all becomes so empty when it's gone. Like the guy on a "car-talk" radio program I heard recently who explained the hole in his dashboard left by someone who "borrowed his car stereo without asking" as "nothing but torn wires and sadness." I thought it was such an apt description that I jotted it down, and now I'm feeling a little like my house is all about torn wires and sadness. There is a depression that sets in after major events in our lives. We struggle with getting back to normal. What can help us move on? First, we can remember that we take the risen Christ of Christmas with us into the New Year. On Christmas, we focus so much on a baby in a manger that we sometimes forget the baby grew into a man who conquered death once and for all and now sits at the right hand of God the Father where He intercedes for us constantly. That means you and I have continuous representation at the highest level. All these decorations celebrated His birth, but walking into whatever our lives hold for us on January 6, 2009 is a celebration of resurrection and of power. We will never walk alone. Second, I suggest you do like we do: leave something up -- some little reminder of the season. Maybe an ornament on a mantle, or the wreath on the door. In areas of New England and especially Pennsylvania, many homeowners leave a single light in their windows throughout the winter. I always wondered why they did that, and now I may have come up with at least my own reason. The light Christ has brought into our lives has forever dispelled the darkness. Nothing will ever be the same. Maybe it would be good to leave a little light on around the house that wasn't there before, just to remember what remains from Christmas. The whole point of His birth into our torn world was to show the lengths He would go to in order to get to us. And now He is here. That is the point. We might take down Christmas, but Christ remains in our lives, and no one can ever take Him away! For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made His light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

Yellow tabula rasa	Monday, January, 05, 2009
by John Fischer So it starts here: the new year—clean slate—like a fat new legal pad with nothing on it. If you're anything like me, you hate putting the first few marks down on that clean yellow page. It's the possibility that's attractive. The blank page holds so much potential. Yet somewhere between the possibility and the end result is the execution, and it's the execution we're after. Execute. Do it now. It's time to fill in the first pages of 2009. Whether you want to or not, you are marking up the new year, so let's be deliberate. There's a new man entering the executive branch of our government—the branch that executes. Everyone wants to know what he will do. The real question is, what will we do? How will we execute our privileges? What will we do with our blank page? By the time you read this we'll already be five days into it. The pad is already marked up. That beautiful legal pad was clean for only a second. Now the first few pages are already curling from being folded back a few times and scribbles and notes are everywhere. There will be no scribbles that don't count. Each entry is an action in real life. You don't get to redo anything, but you do get to do it again better, if you choose. "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 2 Available]

Brightest and Best	Wednesday, December, 24, 2008
Words by Reginald Heber (1793-1826) Music by John Fischer Brightest and best of the sons of the morning Dawn on our darkness and lend us Thine aid Star of the east the horizon adorning Guide where our infant redeemer is laid Cold on His cradle the dewdrops are shining Low lies His head with the beasts of the stall Angels adore Him in slumber reclining Maker and Monarch and Savior of all Say shall we yield Him in costly devotion Odors of Edom and offerings divine Gems from the mountain and pearls from the ocean Myrrh from the forest or gold from the mine Vainly we offer each ample oblation Vainly with gifts would His favor secure Richer by far is the heart's adoration Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor [to download this and other Christmas songs, go to http://www.fischtank.com/ft/christmascollection.cfm] Merry Christmas, everyone! Gather close to your family and love each member for who he or she is. Take a moment sometime in the next 36 hours to stop, pull back, and notice every face. Snap mental pictures. God has done a good thing here. Adore God with your heart, and realize where your poverty lies, that your prayers might be dear to Him. Merry Christmas!
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 7 Available]

The scandal of Christmas	Tuesday, December, 23, 2008
by John Fischer You've got to just come apart over this. This is the most unbelievable thing God has done. It has to be God because no one would ever have thought of this. No religion could propose it. No government could command it. No human being could ever think of it, and even when we try to think about it now, we don't get it, or we get so little of it that we wonder if it's really true. If you thought up a god, would you have him take on the form of his own creation, go to them to save them, and have them reject him and kill him? And then would you raise him from the dead and have his resurrected being witnessed by over a hundred people, yet unconfirmed by science, so it would be disputed for the rest of human history. And then would you have his church begun by a rag tag team of followers with little credibility and no social clout? See what I mean? It's preposterous. It's unthinkable. It's enough to prove its true. Besides, on top of everything, who would make forgiveness of sins and the eternal life Christ brings something he hands out free? No one, because I know enough about human nature to know that if we had anything to do with this, we would make people have to work to get into heaven, and we would manipulate the requirements so we could control who gets in and who we doesn't. (We shake our heads over the indictment Jesus gave the Pharisees as those who hold the keys to the kingdom and use them to keep people out, without realizing we do this every single day in our minds.) Imagine someone arranging religion, to put himself on the outside of it, and then bringing a savior for him and his other outsider friends, and then carry them right on into the lap of the living God? I don't think any human being would in his or her wildest imagination come up with this. But this is exactly what God has done. He let Religion condemn us so He could send His Son to join the human caravan in order to save us. There's really only one thing you can do when you finally get this… "Rejoice!" Rejoice! Words and Music by John Fischer Rejoice! Rejoice! In between what was and what will be He has entered history Down the corridor of time Across a theater of mime I have seen the Son of Man In the human caravan Rejoice! Rejoice! Can you see the maker of thunder Walking under cloudy skies? He who makes the eagle soar Seeks the shade of the sycamore See Him laugh See Him plead Slit His side See Him bleed Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice! In between the now and the never He has filled in every line All that we will ever face He's redeeming by His grace So push the bars Free the gate Open up Celebrate ! Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!
[ Want To Comment?]

Born to die	Monday, December, 22, 2008
Words and Music by John Fischer Dark clouds hide the sunlit sky In the barn a baby cries Does He know He's born to die ? Rest now while Your trials are few Only Your Father knows why He was not a mighty king He could make a hammer ring Touch a heart and make it sing His hands were the hands of strength Hands that would pull men free Bright sun tanned His weathered face Dusty were the roads He traced Spreading news of love and grace Binding the broken heart Soothing the sorrow-torn face Dark clouds hide the sunlit sky In the town a baby cries On a hill a savior dies Dies of His own free will He can tell you why We are born to die too by John Fischer The wise men brought with them gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Of these gifts, two were fit for royalty, but the third was a bitter omen. In Jesus' day, bodies were wrapped in myrrh for burial. Myrrh's pungent odor neutralized the smell of decomposing flesh. Thus, even the gifts that were brought to the Christ child announced his ultimate purpose. This was not some cruel joke; the wise men understood why this king had come. Death is usually the furthest thing from anyone's mind upon a baby's birth. Someone who would even bring up the subject would be thought of as morbid, insensitive, and unfit to join in the celebration. And yet these wise men had traveled long and far to see this child and bestow these gifts upon him. They knew this was to be no ordinary life and no ordinary death. This life embraced its bleak destiny from the beginning. Christ came to serve, but his death was the ultimate act of service. The Scripture says that he became “obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8) That word “obedient” implies servitude. It is expected that servants will be obedient; otherwise you would never hire them. Jesus was sent by his Father to die for the sins of the world, and he went willingly (albeit, after a struggle). This should make the difficult thing God is asking you to be obedient to seem like a small thing compared to Christ's assignment. Christ took it all the way to the cross, and sweat drops of blood over it in the garden the night before as he fought with himself over drinking the bitter cup before Him. He knew this was required of Him; He just didn't know how hard it was going to be until He got there and faced it head-on. And then He drank the cup. With all of this ahead for the little Christ child, it makes you realize how wise these wise men really were. A lot wiser than we give them credit for. They knew enough to strike out on this mysterious journey that most likely took a number of years to complete. They knew enough to know that the child would be a king. But they also knew that it would be in the stone-cold grip of the grave that this child's greatest work would be accomplished. And because He stayed obedient to the end, we have hope, for He left that grave as empty and cold as He found it… but that's another celebration! We are born to die too. It is inevitable that these human cells can only take us so far before they give out. But just as Christ's death made possible a new eternal house for His soul, so our daily deaths can birth hope into these mortal lives and those around us. So we are born to die, too, not just once, but over and over again, or as a sign I once saw on a Chinese laundry read: "OUR EXPERTS ARE DYING DAILY." Not a bad idea.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 3 Available]

Assumptions and Annunciations	Friday, December, 19, 2008
by John Fischer Jesus was born amidst a good deal of struggle to believe. There was doubt and disbelief surrounding His birth, even as there is today when He is born anew in someone. It takes two different accounts to piece the story together (Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:18-24), and factoring in the human element, it's hard to imagine it was all sweetness and light. There were two angelic visitations, one to Mary (called the Annunciation by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches) and one to Joseph, and it's pretty clear that Mary got hers first, because Joseph was contemplating divorcing her over the disgrace of her pregnancy. It's hard to imagine Mary not telling Joseph about her visit with the angel, and assuming she told him, it's equally hard to imagine Joseph believing her. I mean there aren't too many options for a father here. There's Joseph, someone else, or God. If you were Joseph, which one would you believe? I would call God the long shot at best. And even if Joseph could believe Mary, I doubt anyone else would. So you have a good deal of tension that was relieved, at least for the two of them, in Joseph's eventual visitation confirming Mary's story. That did nothing to quell the public pressure, but you can endure anything if you are convinced yourself. There are at least two lessons I can think of that this story teaches. 1) Believe what people tell you about their spiritual experiences. Who are we to judge? As a matter of fact, believing people, period, is usually the best way to go. If they are lying, the truth will eventually come out without you having to train yourself in suspicion, or turn yourself into someone who can't trust anybody. "Love… always trusts" (1 Corinthians 13:7). 2) Resist the temptation to make assumptions about people. Imagine the assumptions going on around Mary and Joseph. It most likely went on most of their lives. When Chandler was a newborn, I remember doing Christmas shopping for my wife and taking my daughter, Anne, with me. This was Chandler's first Christmas, so he was a little over 3 months old, and Anne was 18. Dad, at 52, got more than a few winks and behind the back thumbs-up from male store clerks. I just smiled and let them believe whatever they wanted to believe. Of all the options that could have produced this odd threesome, the truth was probably the farthest from anyone's mind—that they were both my kids. I try to remember that experience when I'm tempted to jump to conclusions about people. If we live in assumptions all the time, we miss what God is doing, because He usually works outside of the obvious. Don't assume anything where God is concerned. Stay wide-eyed and filled with wonder. Don't let the highly touted commercialization of the season ruin Christmas for you. It's a believer's celebration, all the way around. [People everywhere say music is universal—it can make people vulnerable to change in their lives. With Christmas music heard everywhere, everyone’s hearts are exposed to the celebration of Christ's birth. Let’s increase the free flow! As my gift to you, each day through next Wednesday, we invite you to download one of my Christmas songs to enjoy and to share with your Family, Friends, and Associates. Don’t forget to read our Daily Catch below, which will mirror the contents of each song through commentary. Go to http://www.fischtank.com/ft/christmascollection.cfm for today's download and sing to the top of your lungs. No one but God is listening.] Mary and Joseph Words and Music by Pam Mark Hall (Mary) Joseph, my beloved, come walk with me a while I have something to share with you this evening An angel of God has appeared unto me And this is the greeting that he gave me The Spirit of God has overcome you And you shall bear His child And you shall call His name Jesus For He'll save His people from sin (Joseph) Mary, O Mary, how can this be true? How can I believe the words you're saying? I've kept you a virgin, but now you are with child How can I be sure you are not lying? (Mary) Joseph, O Joseph, I've loved no other man And I've served only one God Jehovah Please know I am not deceiving you I am only believing in His promise The Spirit of God has overcome me And I shall bear His child And I shall call His name Jesus For He'll save His people from sin (Joseph) Mary, my beloved, come walk with me a while I have something to share with you this morning An angel of God has appeared unto me And this is the greeting that He gave me The Spirit of God has overcome her And she will bear His child And you shall call His name Jesus For He'll save His people from sin (Mary) The Spirit of God has overcome me And I shall bear His child (Mary and Joseph) And we shall call His name Jesus For He'll save His people from sin
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

First in line	Thursday, December, 18, 2008
by John Fischer [People everywhere say music is universal—it can make people vulnerable to change in their lives. With Christmas music heard everywhere, everyone’s hearts are exposed to the celebration of Christ's birth. Let’s increase the free flow! As my gift to you, each day through next Wednesday, we invite you to download one of my Christmas songs to enjoy and to share with your Family, Friends, and Associates. Don’t forget to read our Daily Catch below, which will mirror the contents of each song through commentary. Go to http://www.fischtank.com/ft/christmascollection.cfm for today's download and sing to the top of your lungs. No one but God is listening.] Angel's Song Words and Music by John Fischer In the town of Bethlehem A king and ruler child was born Not too many people noticed Just some shepherds on their farm Plus a few hundred thousand angels Breaking the heavens with their song And the rocks and the mountains joined them For their time had come God had promised a Redeemer Through the prophet's willing tongue Time had reached its culmination To reveal His only Son Born of a virgin child of the earth With her seed conceived of God Fully human but in His veins flowed Precious Godly blood And that precious blood was soon To be poured out in cruel death For the healing of the nations And all those who feel His breath Lift up your voice and sing to the heavens With the angels sing your song Jesus has come to wipe out the darkness Take us to His home Even though today our nation Celebrates this holy birth Yet so few men truly know Him If you do then sing this verse Lift up your voice and sing to the heavens With the angels sing your song Jesus has come to wipe out the darkness Take us to His home. What a magnificent announcement that some would think was wasted on peasant shepherds and no one else! All this just for a handful of sheepherders by trade. Did you ever stop to consider that no one would have been there to witness this momentous birth but a few barnyard animals, had the angels not broken the silence of that quiet night with their singing? God wanted someone there, and what company He chose! I also think God wanted Mary and Joseph to know this was indeed the real deal He had predicted. The stories of the shepherds' angelic encounter must have been a huge confirmation. Had there been no one there, I imagine they might have been tempted to wonder if they were kidding themselves. But for the shepherds, it could have been their minds playing tricks on them. Ah, but those shepherds! Thank God for the shepherds. He could have picked anyone and He picked them. God wanted to share this moment with those who spend their lives taking care of dumb, smelly sheep and goats. Kings, tax collectors, merchants, shipbuilders, tentmakers, seamstresses, landowners… they would all come later. This was the moment for shepherds to shine. Something tells me this was an indication of who was going to respond to the message of salvation brought by this baby in a manger. The poor and hungry and oppressed have always been high on God's list. The last shall be first. First in line. First to the stable.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 1 Available]

Still blowin' in the wind	Wednesday, December, 17, 2008
by John Fischer "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." (John 3:8) So the answer really is blowin' in the wind (from yesterday's Catch). My wife reminded me of the truth of that statement. You see, most of the questions in that song written by Bob Dylan are unanswerable from a human standpoint. As in: "How many roads must a man walk down before they call him a man?" or "How many deaths will it take 'til he knows that too many people have died?" Who but God can answer those questions? And who but the Holy Spirit blows like the wind? So thank you, Mr. Dylan, for our time together in prayer this morning. Our gift to you… Beginning tomorrow and continuing until Christmas day, we will be offering a different song each day as a free download with commentary in the Catch of the Day. I have written a number of songs over the years that celebrate the coming of Christ. We thought it would help enhance your celebration of the season to have the whole collection. We also encourage you to let the gift make a way for the Giver to bless others by sharing the link with friends and family. It's our way of saying Merry Christmas and thank you for your partnership both prayerfully and financially, and we look forward to continuing our relationship into the New Year.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 4 Available]

The immortal virtue of song	Tuesday, December, 16, 2008
by John Fischer I'm in a Starbucks in Tustin, CA and the Peter Paul & Mary version of "Blowin' in the Wind" comes on the overhead speaker. Though I've heard it in the Starbucks song rotation before, this time something is different. I am suddenly overcome with a truckload of memories. I'm in my college dorm room with my Peter Paul & Mary album on the KLH turntable. I'm remembering other songs on the album and what I was feeling then, and why I had chosen to listen to this album. I was reaching for a certain emotion and found it. The song delivered it. And all these years later, it still does. What else can you call this but the immortal virtue of song? And this time of year, the same thing is at work in a host of Christmas songs that are being played everywhere you go. No other season has been captured so fully by music than Christmas. Songs, carols, musicals, oratorios, and operas, from Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" right down to "Rudolph…" and "Jingle Bells," they just keep on playing. No doubt you have a certain song that is pregnant with meaning at this time of year more than any other. How does one explain this except that music is in the universe and in us in ways that defy sheer scientific explanation? Music is mystery. Its hold on us is deeper than the mind. It somehow connects mind, heart and our physical frame. Something resonates in our bones, and years later, you can be in the same place you were years ago just be hearing a song. The power for me this season is the way that the gospel message gets around so well in the marketplace. Deep statements of the gospel and Christ's coming are embedded in carols such as "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," "O, Little Town of Bethlehem," and "Silent Night." These songs continuously declare the birth of a Savior and just what that means to the world. "Joy to the World." It means at least that. Do something with music this Christmas. Go to a Messiah sing-a-long, or go caroling, or just stop what you're doing and listen to the music that is playing on your radio, or the supermarket, or the elevator, or coffee shop, and reflect on the emotions. And then hear the words. And if you're looking for an answer to why music does all this, I have it. The answer is blowin' in the wind. Sorry, just had to!
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 6 Available]

Small group fellowship	Monday, December, 15, 2008
by John Fischer It occurs to me that the first fellowship group around Christ is probably represented somewhere in your house right now. It has some common shepherds in peasant's clothes, three princes in royal robes, a man and a woman holding a newborn baby, and a random assortment of farm animals seeking shelter in a run-down barn. That these figures represent two different visits roughly two years apart in two different locations isn't a concern for today's reflections. Taken together, they constitute the first welcoming committee and, in a way, the first small group brought together by Jesus. They are the only people we know about, aside from Mary and Joseph, who had any clue what was going on with this miraculous birth. An angel had told the shepherds; the magi had deduced it from the stars. They represented most likely Jews and Arabs, perhaps multiple races, a broad social class division, different nationalities and religions, and a large gap in intellectual knowledge. And there they were gathered around Jesus, and the one thing they had in common was that they were invited. They all heard from God. They were hand picked for the occasion. I wonder if you could call this the first small group fellowship. Given that it was the first fellowship group, what do you suppose they talked about? I can imagine they talked about how they got there – what the angel said, how the stars were positioned in the sky, what the ancient books of knowledge indicated, or how their ears were still ringing from the angelic choir. They must have heard some of the story from Mary and Joseph and they would have been trying to put all the pieces together, while still left with plenty of pieces that didn't fit. But most of all, I believe they were filled with wonder over why they were there and not someone else. Today, we're still gathering together around Jesus. We're amazed that he invited us. We're telling stories about how we came to know about him, and we're talking a lot about how our lives have never been the same since. We've been thrown together from all walks of life with one thing in common. We, too, don't have all the pieces together, but we are most amazed that among all the people in the world, he would choose us.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 6 Available]

Intellectual curiosity	Friday, December, 12, 2008
by John Fischer One of our readers wrote: "I like how Colin Powell described [President-elect Barack] Obama when he endorsed him. He said he was 'intellectually curious.' I think what he meant is that he was humble enough to realize he doesn't know everything and yet diligently seeks answers from a number of sources. Whether or not Powell's assessment of Obama is accurate is yet to be seen, but the type of person he describes is needed in our day." I couldn't agree more. In fact, I think he has also described what I believe all Christians should be: intellectually curious—humble enough to realize we don't know everything, yet diligently seeking truth from a number of sources. Now most Christians would agree with the humility part, but many might raise questions at the thought of checking out a number of sources. Isn't that dangerous? Shouldn't the Bible be enough? Isn't the Bible where we go for answers? Many Christians think this way. They stop at the Bible. Their intellectual curiosity goes no farther than the stated doctrines of the Christian faith (and the words of their pastors). But knowing God is not the end of intellectual curiosity, it enhances it. Coming into a relationship with God connects you with the God of the universe and author of all truth. It's as if you now have the ultimate guide through all of recorded history and the fruits of human intellect. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and part of following Him is understanding why, and learning how to explain why He is the way from a number of varying intellectual vantage points. Other sources are not to be feared, because, if He is the truth (and He is), all sources will bear this out in one way or another. A good part of our worship is to discover and rediscover this over and over again—finding out that Jesus is the way from virtually any starting point. So you could say that intellectual curiosity for the Christian is actually a form of worship. The wise men that followed the eastern star to Bethlehem would certainly agree, for that is exactly what they did when they found Him. They worshiped Him. Their intellectual curiosity led them to Jesus as it still does today, for all who earnestly seek Him.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 8 Available]

Wise Men Still Seek Him	Thursday, December, 11, 2008
by John Fischer It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. (Proverbs 25:2 NIV) It's the only bumper sticker I've ever really liked: WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM. I like it because it says at least two things. 1) Those who seek God are wise. God affirms the dignity of the searcher and the search. The fact that God has set it up this way — has concealed His matters and invited us to search for Him — confirms our nobility. It says we have enough smarts to look for Him and recognize Him when we find Him. In fact, the proverb puts the searcher in the realm of kings. It's a noble task to seek after God. 2) Those who seek God are given the benefit of the doubt, that if they seek Him, they will find Him. This is actually a promise in scripture: "…He rewards those who earnestly seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6 NIV). This is why those of us who already know Him don't have to jump all over those who don't when they get something wrong or don't put it in exactly the right words. If they are truly seeking, it will be God who opens their eyes anyway. We need to respect the search of those we know who are seeking and not get impatient with them or think of them as stupid for not seeing what we see. When it's time, they will. This may mean you might have to bite your tongue a little bit and not say everything you know all the time. Better to listen for those parts of the truth the seeker has already found and affirm them. Jesus didn't spill all the beans as soon as He started preaching. He let a little bit out at a time. He talked in code (parables). He asked a lot of questions. He protected the search. He didn't give what was sacred to dogs or throw out pearls to pigs. He always said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear," and then He went on to not say everything. He made them hang on His words and come back for more. All of this protects not only the dignity of the search and the searcher, but also the dignity of the truth. So you can't put all that on a bumper sticker, but you can put: WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM."
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 3 Available]

Gifts for Guns	Wednesday, December, 10, 2008
by John Fischer Since 2005, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department has offered a Christmas exchange program in one of its prime gang-related crime areas—giving out $100 gift cards at popular stores in exchange for firearms. Last year they collected 387 guns; this year, 965 so far, along with 80 pounds of ammunition and two grenades. It's a notable exchange indeed with implications far beyond city violence. A major plank in the Christian platform of the last few decades has been to create a form of cultural confrontation. Christians were going to save society from godlessness, take back America, and usher in a Christian nation. Though there might have been occasional talk about contributing in a positive way to society, the exhilaration over fighting all that is bad about the world—and winning—was much more compelling, and so we took up our "guns" and waged culture war. As a result we have created more enemies in the world than friends and have positioned Christians and the church as antagonistic to culture. I've been a Christian most of my life, and yet this idea of sharing my gifts with the world around me is a new one. Why is that? We would think in terms of giving ourselves to the church, to other believers or to our immediate family, but not to the pagan culture we were trying to endure. It's time to think about giving oneself to the neighborhood or the community? Why is that? Why not consider our place in the world as part of our calling? Why not contribute to making the world a better place instead of complaining about how bad everything is getting? I think it's time to initiate our own "Gifts for Guns" program for Christians in the world. Come to Jesus, turn in your guns, and pick up your gifts designed to contribute to the world around you and make it a better place. I have another reason for wanting these guns off the street. This week is my oldest son's first week at the LAPD Police Academy and I kind of like the fact that 965 guns that could be potentially pointed in his direction, won't be.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 10 Available]

"O Come All Ye Faithful…"	Tuesday, December, 09, 2008
by John Fischer …And not so faithful, too. There is a saying that was popular in the early days of the church. Paul called it a "trustworthy saying" in a letter to Timothy: "If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will disown us; if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself" (2 Timothy 2:11-13 NIV). Have you ever come to the Christmas season, caught yourself singing, "O Come All Ye Faithful," and wondered: "Who's that? Who can say they have been faithful to Christ?" If we were honest, could anyone say they were entirely faithful in their walk with God? I would want to add, "Compared to what?" because "faithful" would have to be a relative thing. We all fail Him. We all struggle with faith. We all prove to be unfaithful partners with God. In other words, if our security with God depended on our faithfulness to Him, I'm afraid we would all be in bad shape; but the good news is: our security with God depends on His faithfulness to us. Jesus chided his disciples for having "little faith," but He did not kick them off the team for it. He called His followers an "unbelieving generation," but He did not abandon them. And in spite of the saying above about disowning those who disown Him, Jesus apparently made an exception to that rule for Peter, who on three occasions disowned having any part of Christ. He later forgave Peter and accepted him back. As we come to the end of another year, I'm sure we can all recall times when we struggled with faith, had a hard time finding it, or perhaps found ourselves unfaithful to God. Some may be in such a place right now. This is a time to worship God for His faithfulness to us. We may have let go of Him, but He will never let go of us, because we are His, and He cannot disown what belongs to Him. So for us, faith is a relative thing. We all struggle with our own demons. Maybe for you, "faithful" means you're ready to get yourself back in the fold. Can't think of a better time to do it. "O come all ye faithful…" and not so faithful, too! It doesn't matter as much how you come, but that you come. Get yourself to Him; that's what counts.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 1 Available]

Priceless Gift	Monday, December, 08, 2008
by John Fischer Gift of service: Warm a cold heart with a blanket. Price: $35.00. Gift of encouragement: Take flowers to a friend battling cancer. Price: $50.00. Gift of leadership: Throw a Christmas party for your small group. Price: $200. Gift of Christ to your next-door neighbor: Priceless. Christmas is all about gift giving -- making lists of gifts, purchasing gifts, wrapping gifts, giving gifts and opening gifts (and probably returning some, too). All of this is because of one priceless gift given to the human race two thousand years ago -- the gift of God’s Son. And this gift came about as the result of God’s unfathomable mercy and grace. He did not have to do this. Nothing in us required it. He decided to be merciful to his own creation made in His image -- all of us having turned our backs on Him and gone our own way. Somehow we got fortunate. It’s definitely not because we’re cute. There is no merit here -- nothing we deserve. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve; mercy is not getting what you do deserve. We have been given both. We don’t deserve anything from God except punishment for our sins, and what did He do? His mercy up and cancelled the punishment so His grace could give us life. Two priceless gifts; one awesome God. What can we do except be filled with gratitude and mimic His gift giving to the extent of our creativity and our resources? And while we’re at it, let’s think of a spiritual gift we can give, based on what has been given to us. Regardless of our material resources, we are all rich in spiritual gifts. Give this some thought. Think of your spiritual gift (encouragement, wisdom, administration, mercy, service, teaching, etc.) and how you might turn it into a real present for someone this Christmas season. Make it something you can plan and accomplish as a deliberate act. Put a bow around it if it’s appropriate. Part of giving the gift of Christ this Christmas comes through passing on the gift He has given us. His gifts to each of us are always for someone else anyway. Christmas is spiritual, full of gifts and gift giving. Let’s not forget to give the gift of Christ this Christmas. It’s the one gift among all the others that is truly priceless.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 3 Available]

"A Soalin’"	Friday, December, 05, 2008
by John Fischer "Hey ho, nobody home, Meat nor drink nor money have I none. Yet shall we be merry, Hey ho, nobody home; Hey ho, nobody home." – Stookey/Batteaste/Mezzetti Peter, Paul, and Mary made this traditional English folk tune a holiday favorite in the mid-60s. My personal trophy was learning the guitar part as a high school student and singing this song in my own version of the folk super group, except we were “Jim, John, and Gail.” (No wonder we were never famous.) The song is about the London tradition of poor children caroling in front of people’s homes expecting to be given treats or money in return for their winter serenade. This part of the song is anticipating that in the worst case (nobody home) they will choose to make merry anyway. Most of our giving at Christmas involves an even exchange of gifts – something appropriate to the friendship or the family connection. We sometimes base our gifts on what we received the year before. But the Bible talks about giving as well to those who can’t give anything back. This is the way God gave that first Christmas. He owes us nothing, yet he has given us everything in his only Son, and he asks for nothing other than for us to believe it and receive it. We, in turn, can give nothing back that comes anywhere near the value of his gift to us. The closest we can come is to give him our own lives in service and obedience, which in truth is all that we have. That makes our service not a duty, but a gift. Not an obligation, but a joy. Our service to God is our gift back. It’s nothing we can buy and wrap up. It costs more than that. This Christmas, as you work on your lists, think of giving to someone who is not in a position to give back. And do it quietly, perhaps even anonymously, so the person receiving feels no obligation to the giver. This will give us a small taste of what God feels all the time. "The streets are very dirty; my shoes are very thin. I have a little pocket to put a penny in. If you haven't got a penny, a ha' penny will do. If you haven't got a ha' penny then God bless you."
[ Want To Comment?]

Strange goings on	Thursday, December, 04, 2008
by John Fischer It's that time of year. Time for twinkling lights and jingling bells and announcements ringing from angelic choirs. Time to wrestle boxes from where they've been hiding for the last 11 months and find out what's in them—expected memories and perhaps some forgotten surprises. Time to set up the shepherds once more under the sagging eaves of what was most surely a leaky roof. Time for long journeys and the inquisition of foreign kings to end where the star came to rest. Time to remember those first visitors, such an unlikely group. They were witnesses to the focal point of history, and yet we hear about them just this once and never again. Those shepherds in the field—they were nameless and probably to a large extent, clueless, like a bunch of folks from a small town brought in off the street at the last minute to be extras in a movie they will never understand. What happened to those shepherds anyway? Ever wonder if any of them were still around when the movie came out thirty years later? "Hey, that's the guy who was born in Bethlehem! I was there!" And the magi—those eastern kings. Mystical. Brooding. Psychic. They were pouring over celestial maps and ancient charts of the heavens, and someone saw it. Someone else confirmed it. Some unexplainable alignment of the stars. Perhaps they had somehow procured the Torah to confirm these signs, but that is unlikely. More probable that God allowed their own holy books to contain it. After all, they were invited guests, and the invitation had to go out. He probably would have left it lying around in one or more of the books they commonly read. I have a feeling we would be surprised and perhaps more than just a little uneasy about who would turn out to be today's counterpart to the magi and about what they would be looking into today in order to see any new metaphysical signs in the universe. Ever wonder if any of these same accompaniments are possible today? Are people who aren't even looking ever surprised by Christ? Do people who are looking, but in the wrong places, ever end up finding Jesus anyway? Do lights ever go on for folks who are simply standing out in a field tending their responsibilities, or do the searches of modern sages ever lead someone through the mazes of the supernatural to the real living Christ? I wouldn't put anything past a God who chose this odd group of guests to attend Jesus' birth, and gave them such a unique array of pathways to get there. Isn't it great how God can lead people to Himself even without our help?
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 2 Available]

Finding God amidst the glitter	Wednesday, December, 03, 2008
by John Fischer In the little town of Bethlehem, the most important birth in all of human history took place on what we now consider the first Christmas. It was sparsely attended by some bleating farm animals and a handful of shepherds who wouldn't have been there had not the sky lit up with a multitude of heavenly hosts only minutes before, praising God and inviting the shepherds to the stable. With the exception of that outburst, however, no one else knew. Oh yes, there were some astrologers from the East who figured out what was going on by studying the stars and some ancient manuscripts, but they didn't make it to town until at least a year or two later when the baby was a child. Why such an uneventful welcome for such an auspicious event? It's God's way. He's always been quiet about his work on earth. "How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift was given/So God imparts to human hearts, the blessings of his heaven." He's even pretty quiet about the way he works in our lives. Silently, he came into the world; silently, he comes into our hearts. No fanfare. No welcoming committee. God has never been into self-promotion. He lets his work speak for itself. And that would be you and me. Believers are the result of Christ's coming. It is all about good news and glad tidings for all people. A Savior has been born and he has been born for us. Or as the angel announced it: "The Savior -- yes, the Messiah, the Lord -- has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David!" (Luke 2:11 NLT) The fanfare and glitter of this season we are embarking on once again already seems a little different this year, doesn't it? We're all wondering how far we can go with all this celebration when our economy is in shambles and so many people are losing money and jobs. The over-commercialism of Christmas may appear especially frivolous this year. But, you know, we will find a way. Why? Because it's too important. It's going to happen anyway. Trees will go up; lights will go on; gifts will be purchased and given. And you and I as believers can enter in. There's no law against sanctifying Christmas in your own heart and mind. It's what we make of these things that count, anyway. Every single light can represent another soul secured in eternity as the result of what Christ did when He came. There was no room available for the Son of God when He came the first time. Let's make sure there's room in our hearts this Christmas, and don't let anyone take away what is good about the glad tidings of Christ's birth!
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 6 Available]

Wonder	Tuesday, December, 02, 2008
by John Fischer I wonder as I wander out under the sky, How Jesus the Savior did come for to die, For poor orn'ry people like you and like I. I wonder as I wander… out under the sky. – John Jacob Niles I sometimes think that wonder is like an endangered species – we don't have enough of it and are in danger of losing it altogether. You lose wonder when you try and explain everything. Wonder is wasted in seminars, and "how-to" books, and manuals for living, and steps to a more victorious Christian life. Wonder is what takes over after you have explained all you can explain and answered all you can answer. In my experience, we have tried to answer too much. Wonder is what finite, sinful creatures do when we encounter the holy. Wonder is what Mary did after an angel told her she was going to conceive of God and bear the savior of the world. Wonder is what shepherds did when they found a baby wrapped up and lying in a feed trough after being led to a stable by a choir of angelic beings whose singing still rang in their ears. Wonder is what great and wealthy kings do when they enter the presence of a child whose glory and significance was only matched by the interstellar GPS system that got them there in the first place. Christmas is a time of wonder, what with the lights, the music, the magic, the snow (fake or real), and the children... always the children. Christmas is for children because they still know how to wonder. Grown-ups outgrow wonder all too soon. We get good at explanations. We have reasons for things. We seem to prefer an organized reality. Children just experience things; Adults take notes. Children ask questions; Adults are supposed to know. Children wonder why; Adults wonder if. When Mary birthed Jesus 'twas in a cow's stall, With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all; And high from God's heaven a star's light did fall, And the promise of the ages they then did recall. If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing, A star in the sky or a bird on the wing, Or all of God's angels in heaven to sing, He surely could've had it... 'cause he was the King. But He didn't, and that right there is probably the biggest wonder of all.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 3 Available]

Get up and get out	Monday, December, 01, 2008
by John Fischer Your mission today (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. My, how daring we are! Well, yes, when you consider how dangerous a place the world is, and how inadequate we feel when we try to make a difference in it. But just read this: "For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?" (2 Corinthians 2:15-16 NIV) Now there is a picture: You and me having a significant effect on people, churning up reactions as varied as life and death by our mere presence. It's no surprise Paul would wonder, in the next breath, who, if any, might be equal to this task. It's a rhetorical question that he intends to answer, and he does in the next chapter. "Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God who has made us adequate …." (2 Corinthians 3:5-6 NIV) In other words, we aren't adequate, but we are. We aren't adequate in ourselves, but we are in Christ. And we find this out when we jump into the world, believing. By believing, you are taking the particular characteristics of a believer (a person in whom God's presence is a factor) out into the world, and by nature of your presence in the world and the presence of Christ in your life, you will make a difference. So, you see, it is all about literally throwing yourself out there and trusting that God shows up when you do, even when you don't exactly know what's going to happen next, you just know you'll be ready when it does by nature of the Spirit of God in you. How about that for living dangerously? As a friend of mine said once, almost nonchalantly, a true Christian is choosing the most dangerous occupation in the world. I think he's right, not only because Satan is alive and well on planet earth working to discredit those who believe, but because God likes us living on the edge in believing him. I really don't think faith is mainstream. I don't think it gets the popular vote. Real faith does not win mass-market appeal. True faith is a challenge of wits. It's the mover and shaker of the status quo. Faith kicks us out of our safety net and into the world. If nothing's on the line, then there's no faith required. That's dangerous, but all the more exhilarating when God shows up and shows himself to be true to his promises. So get up and get out. It's the only way to truly find out!
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 3 Available]

A worldview of thankfulness	Wednesday, November, 26, 2008
by John Fischer The worst moment for an atheist comes when he is really thankful and has no one to thank. -- (Author unknown) Thanksgiving is not just one day a year, it is the theme song of the Christian. For a Christian not to be thankful is like a dog not wagging his tail at his owner's approach. Thankful Christians walk around grateful for every breath, every sunset, every new morning, every color in the color spectrum, and every star in the sky. Like an alcoholic who is clean and sober, noticing beauty and taste for the first time, we are grateful just to be alive because we have been dead for so long. It's hard to think of one vice that the virtue of thankfulness cannot render useless. One does not need to steal when one is thankful. A man does not covet his neighbor's wife when he is thankful for his own. No one craves more when he is grateful for what he has. In the same way, a thankful heart cancels out pride and arrogance. No need to judge other people when you are thankful for who you are. No need to measure yourself by and compare yourself to others when you are thankful for what God has done in your life. No need to keep anyone out of the kingdom of God when you know you don't deserve to get in. (God can let in anyone He wants. I am simply glad to be counted among the saved.) You don't care if you get the important seat at the table when you are overcome with gratitude at simply being invited to the dinner. You don't put heavy weights on other people's shoulders when you are thankful that God has lightened your own load. You are not obsessed with what other people think of you when you are overwhelmed with the fact that God is thinking about you all the time. You don't demand respect when you are thankful for your place. You don't have to hide your own sin when you are already thankful for God's forgiveness. You don't have to protect your image when you are already number one with God. You don't have to condemn other people's blindness when it's only the grace of God that has allowed you to see. You don't have to try for the highest place when you are already grateful for whatever place you were given. You don't have to make a show of spirituality when you are thankful for having received the Spirit. You don't have to clothe yourself in holy robes when you have been already clothed in righteousness. (Or as a friend of mine used to say, "Why be cute when you're already beautiful?") You don't have to be full of yourself when you are thankful that God has filled you up with Himself. Not only do we have a lot to be thankful for, our thankfulness can accomplish much. [I want to take this opportunity again to thank you for being a part of this online congregation. I believe we are on the cutting edge of a new way of thinking about the world. The way we have inherited isn't even biblical. Together we will make a new way to influence culture. Exciting things are in store, but we still need more of you to step up with your support. Will you join others who have gone before and give a one-time gift or sign up for a monthly PayPal deduction? It's easy, just click the link above, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 3 Available]

Why I'm (practically) not a Christian	Tuesday, November, 25, 2008
by John Fischer One of the things you will find out if you start to listen to non-Christians is why they don't like Christianity. My guess is, when you hear their reasons, you may actually agree with some of them, because the Christianity they are against is quite often not true Christianity anyway. So right there you can have something in common. You can both not like Christianity (the wrong one, of course). I know that seems odd, but these are strange days anyway. How ironic is it, that the thing we would have in common with non-Christians is the fact that neither of us like Christianity? Believe it or not, you can turn this "anti-Christian" commonality into an opportunity to talk about none other than Jesus. Here are the people we are on the lookout for in this current age: Those who would be Christians if they knew who Jesus was and is and what it means to follow Him. This is what was revolutionary about the Jesus People movement of the early 1970s: people were discovering Jesus. They may have gone to church all their lives and never connected with Jesus. No matter, this Jesus of the New Testament was someone we never realized until we started paying attention. It seems to me that you could say this in almost any age. Jesus was misunderstood when He was here, and still misunderstood today. All this is good news for uncovering the truth that has been hidden – good news for cutting through the confusion and coming up with the real, live, always-controversial Jesus. I have a friend who became a Christian during the Jesus movement and then got involved with a cult that really messed up her mind and poisoned her experience with God. For a long time since she has been understandably anti-Christian, due to those unfortunate early experiences. And yet now, she is more and more seeking Christ. She's still against much of Christianity, but is embracing Christ once again. She's come full circle, and it is credit to none other than God Himself for hanging onto her in spite of so many bad examples. If Christianity is what many of my non-Christian friends are against, then I am not a Christian either, because I find I am against many of the same things they are against. And once we get that out of the way, imagine how exciting this could become as we look to find out what we are for in keeping with the true gospel. We are suddenly in new, fresh territory where God is concerned, and that's where He wants us anyway. No preconceptions. No assumptions. Just discovering Him new, afresh… and discovering Him together. Isn't this the way it's supposed to be anyway? [As Thanksgiving Day approaches, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for being a part of this online congregation. I believe we are on the edge of something new. We need a new way of thinking about the world. The one we have inherited isn't even biblical. Together we will make a new way to influence culture. Exciting things are in store, but we still need more of you to step up with your support. Will you join others who have gone before and give a one-time gift or sign up for a monthly PayPal deduction? It's easy, just click the link below.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 13 Available]

From truth to truth	Monday, November, 24, 2008
by John Fischer It's best to not use the Bible as an authority when discussing religion with someone who doesn't accept it as such. As Christians we make this mistake often. We use scripture to prove things without first finding out what authority, if any, a person accepts. When Paul spoke to stoic philosophers in Athens (Acts 17:16-34), he made reference to an idol from their own religion, one of their popular poets, and lots of common sense reason. In other words, he listened first, and found out what of their own culture was useful to him. We need not be threatened by other systems and worldviews. Our job is not to correct every error or shoot down every falsehood. Letting a false statement go by unchecked does not mean we have agreed with it. It means we are listening to everything and looking for that one thing we can use. It also means we believe that the Holy Spirit – not us – guides people into all truth. The challenge is to find out what a person's beliefs are based on, who are their authorities, who are their influences, and then reason from the point of view you have found. You help show someone the truth based on the truth they already know. You don't have to clear the table of everything they believe first in order to tell them about Jesus. You find out where Jesus is already lurking This kind of worldview is what allows you to come alongside a person rather than face them head on and try and win a fight. This is not a fight, at least not with a person. We don't wrestle flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12). We're not out to correct everyone, but to complete the picture they already have, and to do that, you have to care enough to find out what it is. It's the difference between listening and waiting to talk.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 8 Available]

'Should I stay or should I go?'	Friday, November, 21, 2008
by John Fischer He was ill at ease and out of his element. At one time in his life, this would have been tame, but that was before he met Christ and everything changed. He had been a rising rock star in his native country in Eastern Europe, but a trip to America had brought him in touch with Christians and Christian music and the idea of singing for something much bigger than himself took hold, launching him and his group into national recognition as one of the premier Christian rock bands in the country. But the lure of his homeland made him long to return and test his newfound faith in the marketplace. Christian music is a separate market only in America. In Europe and Eastern Europe there is only music. Popular music. And he knew a strong album could re-establish his presence in that country's pop market, giving him an opportunity to influence young people from the vantage point of his music. So he had gone to one of the best producers in the business in London, England, and during the recording process the producer had taken him to a punk club where one of his bands was playing, and that's when his struggle began. The environment troubled him. "Should I stay or should I go," was the question on his mind when God spoke to him in an audible voice. Now if I didn't know the man, I would wonder about his claim about hearing God speak. He told me this story personally and had no reason to make it up or embellish it. And it's also what he heard God say to him that convinced me it was true. For as he was deliberating whether he should stay or go, he heard a message from God, "It's okay, you can leave if you want to, but I'm staying." This is one of the more powerful pictures I have in my memory bank of what a Christian worldview is and is not. It is not a retreat from the world. It is not fostering a righteousness that sets itself over and above everyone else. It is not living in isolation, but entering into the risk of relationship and compassion. And I can't help but think that if God said He was staying in this harsh and painful world, then He has been there all along. While the whole Christian world panicked and left the world, He stayed – and He's still in it, waiting for us to join Him.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 12 Available]

The big itch	Thursday, November, 20, 2008
by John Fischer Here is a thought as big as a worldview. Functioning as a believer in the world begins by thinking like this. The wise King Solomon once wrote: "He [God] has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people can't see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end." (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT) In other words, it seems God has purposely frustrated us. He made us with a capacity for eternal things yet he keeps us from knowing fully what he is up to. And why would he do that unless he wanted us to seek after him and perhaps even find him? This is God's way. We can't grasp much of this, but we can see that God has set things up so that we are a part of his creation and in participation with it. Part of that participation involves scratching a very big itch. The itch is that we belong to God and live in a universe he made, but he has remained relatively hidden from view. That means a whole lot of people are groping around looking for what they're not even sure of. They might say they don't believe in God, but they are looking for him nonetheless. They have this itch. Every thinker has it. Every artist has it. Every atheist has it. Every poor and needy person has it. Everyone has an itch to know God. People on drugs are looking for God. Criminals are looking for God. Scientists are looking for God. Philosophers are looking for God. Gays are looking for God. Intellectuals who argue against his existence are looking for God. Now if this is the case, and we live in a universe like this, if you happen to know God (through the revealed Word of God), have an idea what he looks like (Jesus), and would know him if you saw him (through the things that he has made), then you suddenly have something in common with all these people. You have what they're all looking for. That means that by just being around them, you might bring them some comfort. And for you to be around them is to have your own knowledge of God confirmed by their itch to know him even if they don't admit it. While I was writing this, my little boy turned on the radio and an Elton John song came on with the following lyrics: Life is precious/Every day's a prize/And sometimes you find an answer in the sky. If you listen for the big itch, you can find it almost anywhere.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 9 Available]

The last thing we need is a Christian world	Wednesday, November, 19, 2008
by John Fischer First, I begin with a word to some of you who have had difficulty receiving your Catch over the last two days. We have had some problems with our server. To those who were affected: my apologies. Should such events occur again, go to our website www.fischtank.com and click on "In the Tank" for current as well as previous Catches. Second, a heart-to-heart. To date, the Catch still does not justify time and resources committed, but we are growing, and I am becoming more drawn to you all through reading your comments and offering counseling. And after over 30 years of ministry at large, I can say that you have become my congregation. We need to close this loop. I realize you receive many requests for your attention and I am grateful you have chosen the Catch to be a part of your everyday life in the marketplace. Together, we can make a difference. To that end, your financial support is requested, and thank you. And now, our worldview thought for today… One of the saddest developments in Christian worldview in the last few decades has been a tendency to retreat from culture, band together socially, politically, and litigiously and more and more participate in a Christian-arbitrated worldview that does not enter into dialogue with culture, but rather sets itself up against it. None of this is in Christ's master plan to change the world. This was someone else's idea. God's will would be for Christians to take up positions throughout all segments of society making appropriate relationships built on shared values, interests and responsibilities, and through those relationships to bring the kingdom of God to the world, because we are IT – the means by which Christ is represented in the world through His Holy Spirit now that He is at the right hand of the Father in heaven, making intercession for us. The world never needed Christian music anyway; it needs Christians making music. The world never needed Christian movies; it needs Christians in Hollywood. The world never needed Christian television; it needs Christians in television. The world never needed Christian legal counsel fighting the causes of Christians against the world – trying to litigate a Christian society over people who aren't Christians and don't want a Christian society; it needs Christians who are good lawyers, fighting causes of social justice, mercy and representing those who are too poor to have their own counsel. And these are just a few examples. I bet you can come up with your own, and better yet, examples in which you have an influence. I'd love to see what you come up with.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 22 Available]

Not wrong as much as lost	Tuesday, November, 18, 2008
by John Fischer Here is one of the most helpful worldview axioms I can pass on to you. Get this right and you will get a hundred other things right without even trying. Here it is: "The world is not wrong as much as it is lost." Imagine someone coming at you who is of a mind to think that you are wrong and it is his or her responsibility before God to set you straight. How happy would you be to see such a person? And just how much of a chance do you give them to change your mind? I think the answers to these questions are pretty obvious. Now imagine someone coming to you who is simply happy to see you because they thought they had lost you forever. How would you feel about being around them? Pretty darn good, I would guess. Besides, the world is right about a number of things, and we would do well to be students of these things. These are bridges to relationships that lead to opportunities to share Christ with someone. Unfortunately, Christians have trained themselves over the last 50 years to finding and maintaining that which makes them different from those who aren't Christians. In many cases making up stuff that makes us different just so we can say we are, and keep our distance. It's time for Christians to reconnect with the human race. Embrace what makes us human that we might have a right to share what makes us saved.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 11 Available]

The Great Mandate	Monday, November, 17, 2008
by John Fischer The second part of our worldview mandate is taken from Genesis 1:28 when God told the first man and woman, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." In other words, take care of the world I gave you. For us today, that means that we each have a mandate from God to look after that portion of God's creation that we touch. Now that may not seem like much, but it is. Today we live in a vast complex technologically specialized world where our dominion has been broken down to the minutest parts. Your dominion or my dominion may seem of little consequence compared to the fish of the seas, the birds of the air and every living creature moving on the ground that Adam and Eve ruled over, but it is no less significant. Whatever you are responsible for in the world is to be considered your mandate from God, and vitally important to His eternal kingdom We are here to have our eyes opened to the every day majesty of our existence. God's will can be found in everything we do. Doing His will on earth as it is in heaven is not just a wishful part of a prayer He taught us, it is what we accomplish every day that gives our lives meaning. Doing the smallest thing as unto Him makes it a big thing in His eternal kingdom. This is why our lives are important and why everyone counts, even those who think they don't. One of those who has struggled with realizing this has written the following to the Catch: "I am one of those isolated people that has been reached through the Catch. I enjoy what I read and it brings me hope that there is a possibility of a better tomorrow – something never there before. I wish that I could give you something every month for the many broken, down and out people out there just like me. I want to thank those who have been able to support [the Daily Catch] because they helped you reach me through Christ. They helped me stay alive through a difficult time. Their gift matters more than they might realize. I say thanks to all of them." Think of it. We have a unique opportunity here. We have a safe place to connect which provides a moment of quiet reflection amidst the clutter of our daily lives – a place where meaning can be imparted and the value of every individual can be grasped without having to be anything but who we are. Open your eyes, not only to the needs, but also to the provision to meet those needs in Christ. This is life; this is what it's supposed to be. This is God loving you and me. [To donate, click on Donate link at the top of this page.]
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 2 Available]

Bits and pieces of worldview	Friday, November, 14, 2008
by John Fischer Actually these are by both my wife and me. We have been growing this list since we started this discussion of worldview on the Daily Catch. Each stands alone and some require a good deal of thought, which makes this your assignment this weekend – to reflect on these and come up with some of your own. When you do, pass them on to me so we can expand this list. Don't forget to check out the PayPal options we have added to the link below to help you find a monthly subscription payment that suits your budget. 1. It may be problematic and a lot of work to ‘Love thy Neighbor’ in the global village, making it that much easier to care about your neighbor who lives next door. 2. We all can pray as much outside the church as we do inside. For me, listening to some songs is praying. Think, for example of Bob Dylan’s ‘How many roads must a man walk down?’ It's more than a parable except, it's a question directed to God. When you think about it, isn’t it a question we all want to know the answer to? Come to think about it, who else would know the answer? Thanks, Bob, for our time together in prayer this afternoon. 3. People everywhere say music is universal. What do you think? Music does make people vulnerable to change in their lives. But in the end, you've got to become the change you want to see in the world. If you do not have any favorite artists, pull out a book of Hymns. In fact, pull out a book of hymns anyway and sing to the top of your lungs – no one but God is listening. 4. Ever notice how the world lives by various sets of laws? They are messages converted from normal language and communicated secretly. We actually live by these codes. For example, one set of codes includes ‘what you put out comes back to you,’ ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,’ and from the law of physics, ‘every action has reaction.’ Then, along comes Grace to challenge reason and logic. It interrupts consequences, which is good news – at least for me. 5. To be one with another is a great thing but not at the loss of respecting the right to be different. 6. Every age has its defining struggles. The fate of Africa or Jerusalem/West Bank/Gaza; or Iraq; Afghanistan; or a challenge résistance in your own backyard is yours to grapple and wrestle with. The history books will tell what we did or did not do. Today, however, history is watching. It's taking notes. And it's going to hold us all accountable. Whether the defining struggle for you is one of the above or something else, it is a proving ground for the idea of equality. I hope you'll pick a fight and get in it and replace the lies with truth. It is critical for you act. When the story of these times gets written, we want it to say that we did all we could, and it was more than anyone could have imagined. 7. My heroes are all alive – each one lies within you – and you – and you. 8. It's time to stop trying to give our opinion every time someone doesn't have the same views as we do. It's more important and better for creating bridges to point out when we think people are right than when we think they are wrong. Thank God truth does not have to begin and end with me. There is a God. He has a Son who is the embodiment of truth, and a Holy Spirit to lead everyone (including me) into all truth. 9. You Don't Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right, by Brad Hirschfield, should be either in everyone's library or in everyone's workable worldview. 10. "Somehow or other, and with the best of intentions, we have shown the world the typical Christian in the likeness of a crashing and rather ill-natured bore--and this in the name of one who assuredly never bored a soul in those thirty-three years which he passed through the world like a flame. Let us, in Heaven's name, drag out the divine drama from under the dreadful accumulation of slipshod thinking and trashy sentiment heaped upon it, and set it on an open stage to startle the world into some sort of vigorous reaction." – Dorothy Sayers 11. The arts are all about human heart, mind and soul (intuition) and therefore an excellent vehicle with which to love God since these are the very parts of our human make-up that Jesus calls us to love God with. The arts can love God without requiring the artist to know God, since the image of God has been implanted in everyone. 12. The following is a cultural mandate to be responsible stewards of the earth and our place in it. "God blessed them [the first man and the first woman] and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground'" (Genesis 1:28). The way the world works now, this applies to your eight-to-five and mine. It's right down to the nub of everything we do to make a living and provide for those we love. 13. God is not looking for money. God is looking for action.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 12 Available]

The Great Commission	Thursday, November, 13, 2008
by John Fischer As promised, I am focusing for the next few days on some wide angle thoughts in regards to a true Christian worldview – what it needs to be in order to accompany us in the world at all times and render us effective for the Christ we know and love. I think, overall, that we can assume that God is much more intimately involved in the world at large than we have a tendency to give Him credit for. For instance, the Great Commission mandate to preach the gospel to every creature is much more sweeping than what we tend to turn it into – a memorized recitation of the gospel message or a rendering of the "Four Spiritual Laws" in a coerced haphazard moment – what we commonly call "witnessing." What does the gospel tell us except that Christ loves the human race and everyone who makes it up, even those who we don't happen to like or don't think deserve to be in it. Actually, one of our Catch readers put it better than I could. Ken from Georgia wrote: "I was abruptly reminded that Christ died for all, not only for our 'sins' as we so often are reminded, but also for the right to make our own decisions, to use our agency. His love is for all of creation, even those who choose to hate and despise others and to spitefully use them. The scriptures confirm this and even give guidance for us to pray for them as well as those we 'love'… I [am] amazed anew at the depth of God’s love for his creation, for each of us, and how jealously He guards our right to choose Him and to follow Him, because we decide to do so, not because we are forced to." That implies that those who choose not to follow Christ are of equal value and importance to God and so to us. Christ's death is not only a statement of the extent of God's love, it is a statement of the worth He places on human beings… all human beings… every human being. So that whenever you are around people of any kind, shape, color, religious or sexual preference, you are around that which is sacred. Fred Rogers once said that he always felt like bowing when he was around any human being as if he were in the presence of royalty, because, in his worldview, he was. This is what it means to preach the gospel to every creature. It starts with walking alongside people and treating them as those who have been included in that gospel – that they are someone for whom Christ died… because, in fact, He did. Note: If you haven’t had an opportunity to respond to our request to financially support our endeavors, we invite you to take advantage of the new PayPal options by clicking on the "Donate" link above. As some prefer, you are most welcome to forward your commitment by mail to: The Daily Catch 1278 Glenneyre Laguna Beach, California 92651 (Make checks payable to John Fischer)
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 5 Available]

Expanding our borders	Wednesday, November, 12, 2008
[Part I of a series on Worldview] For over two decades all around the country with tremendous success, I have been teaching a Biblically based worldview model toward implementing the Great Commission mandate (Mark 16:15) to preach the “good news” and the fulfillment of Genesis 1:28 to responsibly employ the gift God has given each of us to bring His kingdom into all sectors of society. In many locations, grass roots movements have sprouted to carry the message of freedom and empowerment into local communities. The challenge, however, has always been how to get the message out to a broader audience – how to permeate whole networks with a worldview message. The answer, in part, is the Daily Catch and you. As a voluntary partnership of men and women – each an intricate part of a growing community of online citizens – the goal of the Daily Catch is to help each other overcome our own personal barriers so that we might participate in God’s business, specifically within the marketplace – where the “butcher, baker, and candlestick maker” live. Aware of our foibles and contradictions, we nonetheless link with each other to experience the richness of Christ in our own lives and, in turn, discover the value in the lives of others worldwide and within our communities. One objective of the Catch has always been to help you align your lives with your potential and grasp the reality that a huge number of the Earth's population is incarcerated by the perceived inability to reach outside of itself for the stupidest of reasons… fear. Our challenge is to learn to relieve that tragic suffering in others and the resulting loneliness that perpetuates this kind of secluded poverty. On any given day, we are the co-creators of the daily devotional experience. The Daily Catch messages have the power to define the moment for those around us; for our values, for the culture that we live in; and for the diversity represented in all of us. We can and some do transform lives. As your guide, I have no interest to being Saint John, nor do I want to become an idealized poster-child for Christ. Rather, just like your stories, my stories are like parables for why we live. I look to you to enter into your passion and become common heroes in the warfare of pain, and get really busy toward removing the causes of this unnecessary isolation. I recognize you must receive many opportunities to support others, but I, through the Daily Catch, ask you to seriously consider being a little more willing to make a better way for the men, women, and children in your communities and all over the world to convert from solitude to making real the hope that right now only exists in their dreams. "As with our own personal sojourn," Bono wrote in a letter to President-elect Barack Obama, "so it is with country and community – we discover who we are in service to others." With such great implications come associated costs – the cost of doing business with committed time to write and provide one-on-one counsel. Your financial investment “keeps the lights on,” literally, to study, write, and individually guide. To those who are currently supporting this endeavor on a regular basis – Thank You! Several Daily Catch citizens contribute through the Post by sending a check to 1278 Glenneyre, Laguna Beach, California 92651. Others provide monthly through PayPal. Still others have indicated a desire to support the Daily Catch if the monthly contribution option was more within their budget. I understand, and for this reason I am pleased to announce an expanded PayPal partnership with a greater selection of payment options for convenient monthly deductions from your checking account. We eagerly await your answer through your renewed or new financial commitment. Regardless of your capability to give, I am full of gratitude to you and wish you would invite others to join our online citizens as fellow shareholders in the lives of many, where the yield is a greater connection between each other and thus a greater community for us all – across the world and in our own backyards.
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 2 Available]

The Grand "Aha!"	Tuesday, November, 11, 2008
by John Fischer It can happen in a glance, from the corner of an eye. Or flash across the canopy of a star-studded sky. It can hide inside the childlike caverns of the mind Over a broken date with the Maker of time. You can miss it in the shadows, and then find it again In the soft warm fold of a baby's new skin. It can happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, Or in the final laps a runner's last try. It's the kiss in the corner of a coy mother's mouth. It's the question that makes a flock of geese fly south. It's the moment the heavens pull back time To reveal a peek at the grand design. It's a shaft of light from a golden sky That strips the Creator of His alibi. It's when the divine comes down to earth, And gives us an inkling of what we are worth. It's the way we look in a bride's new dress. It's the way we know what we can't confess. It's in the heart of the smallest child, And makes us want to run free and wild. It is hidden in the veins of the smallest leaf, Yet able to cross the gulf of unbelief. Out of the shadows of a dream you once saw— Glimpsed in a moment: It's the Grand "Aha!"
[ Want To Comment?] [ Read Comments - 7 Available]

At the Laundromat	Monday, November, 10, 2008
by John Fischer The TV on the wall is into its second consecutive Bill Cosby Show daytime rerun. I have six loads of wash going plus a triple-load commercial washer for the comforter and mattress cover. I've gone next door for change three times because I'm still thinking about what it used to cost me to do this the last time I was in a Laundromat… thi