Category: discipleship
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Afraid of being well
I scored twelve rolls of toilet paper yesterday morning. I was so happy. I had to go to two stores before 8am on a Sunday to find it, but I did. It’s a good thing because I refused to stockpile toilet paper and we were down to our last roll. I still believe this was…
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The end of all things is near
Make no mistake, it feels a little like the end of the world out there, if you do get out. I was out driving at 1:30 am Sunday night and during a twenty-minute stretch on the most traveled road around here, Pacific Coast Highway, better known as PCH, or Hwy 1, I saw a total…
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Getting creative
What an interesting time we live in. Just a few weeks ago, Corona was a bottle of beer with a slice of lime peeking out of it, and I would have guessed COVID-19 was a distant planet just discovered that might support life. Now it’s a virus that is threatening life for some, and totally…
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Love your enemies
Guest writer for the Catch today is Doug Stevens. Doug served many years as Senior Pastor of Hillside Covenant Church in Walnut Creek, California. He was Executive Director of The Renewal Project and The Leadership Connection and has most recently served as Transitional Pastor to five different churches where he specializes in congregational healing and…
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A salty dog
Salty Dog – a cocktail drink originally with gin, grapefruit juice and salt on the rim. Salty Dog – a nickname for an ornery sailor who has spent much of his or her life aboard a ship at sea. “Arrrrr.” Being the salt of the earth could mean a lot of things. No one is…
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The salt of the earth
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Matthew 5:13 This verse has always puzzled me. I’m going to try to put some pieces together for all…
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Happy Birthday, Peter Herschend
by John & Marti Fischer We are taking this opportunity to acknowledge a man who has single-handedly influenced the Catch more than any other. As our first Chairman of the Board, and working closely with Marti, Peter has left his mark everywhere — on our vision, our mission/purpose, and on what it means to be…
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Numbering our days
Boy, that went fast. Was that summer that I just saw fly by? Just a minute while I wave. “Bye-bye summer.”
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Beggar’s banquet
Yesterday I tried to capture what it looks like to be a Grace Turned Outward Christian. It’s hard to nail down because what makes someone a Grace Turned Outward Christian might not be apparent on the surface. You have to go a little deeper. The following paragraph from the vision and purpose of the Catch…
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The Big One
Californians are talking about earthquakes again. Faults, and tectonic plates, and shifts in the earth’s crust are all the rage. After 20 years of relative calm, everyone is wondering when and where the next one will come. And here in southern California, they’re talking again about the Big One — the one that’s going to…
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You are an influencer
You are an influencer if: you want to make a difference in somebody’s life; you have a gift and you want to use it; you want to be found doing the will of God when the Lord comes back; you want to make right what’s gone wrong; you want people to feel like they’ve been…
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The Book of Questions
Questions are so much better than answers. If I had a Book of Answers to sell you or a Book of Questions, which one would you be interested in? There was a time when I would have bought the Book of Answers, because that’s what I was looking for. I wanted the answers to life’s…
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A proper disregard for the law
[Note: If you’ve been reading the Catch all week, you can skip the first two paragraphs.]
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Lay down your swords
“So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him [Nabal] by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.” (1 Samuel 25:22 KJV) No doubt about it; David was pissed. He had just had a handful of his fighting men sent away by…
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Four things that stand out about my class reunion
I attended my first college reunion last weekend. It was my 50th. There have been plenty of other opportunities to go back over the years that never interested me, but this one got my attention. Fifty was a good round number, and I figured, in terms of all of the possible reunions, it might be…
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A single mom’s Mother’s Day
We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. We need compassion. Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) During this all-important Mother’s Day weekend, let’s take a look at the one segment of women we rarely consider celebrating and yet they are probably the most…
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Los Angeles – Chicago via 66
I’m on board on my flight to Chicago for my 50th reunion with the Class of 1969. All those years flying United to appearances all over the country has paid off. After logging a million miles, I became Premier Gold for the rest of my life. There are some perks. No bag fee, Premier lines…