Category: Friendship
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Seeing with the eye of the Lord
(Click here for a video of John reading today’s Catch.) Today’s Catch comes from a text I received last night from my daughter, Anne, who is an ER doctor in Hawaii and an avid surfer.
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Knowing what you don’t know
Chandler is a leader. He may not have all the tools, or know how to use them, but that doesn’t matter. He leads anyway by sheer will. I am also constantly surprised by how much he knows. He will enter into conversations on various topics and engage with understanding to where I will have to…
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‘High School Musical’
Why we chose High School Musical to be the go-to movie for our current campaign: 1. If you read into it, the song, “We’re All In This Together,” is like a celebration of the body of Christ. Just take these lyrics as a case in point: Everyone is special in their own way/We make each…
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‘Jesus, He’s my friend’
Jesus, He’s my friend. He took me by the hand; Led me far from this land. – Arthur Reynolds from the song, “Jesus is Just Alright” I got a friend in Jesus. – Norman Greenbaum from the song, “Spirit in the Sky”…
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a sacrificial poet
This is the logo for one of the open mic’s John attends. John wants to welcome any Chicago visitors to “The Catch,” and thank them for welcoming him into their community. John Shirk is a missionary to Chicago … sort of. His actual job title is “ambassador.” Missionary is a complicated word…
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Do it now
We’ve never been through anything like this before. This pandemic is testing our faith, our stamina, our patience, our confidence, our endurance, and what I’m especially thinking about this morning — our love. There appear to be no guarantees. You never know who and when it will hit, and should it hit close to home,…
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Isolating the isolated
One of the down sides of this pandemic that is affecting us all is the fact that we are all being forced into isolation. That might not necessarily be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that we are already too isolated as individuals in society. It’s a part of our social fabric. We…
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Becoming friends with your enemies
So now that we have all of you with boots on the ground refusing to enter into gossip, rumors, and negative talk with friends about perceived enemies — now that there are so many of you, as Bob has suggested in his comments yesterday, being “loving, gracious, humble, and forgiving until the very end –…
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The miracle of forgiveness
Catch MemberPartner, Robert, from Seattle, shared with us a “sore thumb” story about forgiveness. The story was featured on TV, so it reached a large number of people and makes a statement that no sermon could ever equal. And even though it took place 14 years ago, the story is still playing on the internet.…
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Sinners “R” them (or us?)
This has been a tough week for me. I’ve been trying to grasp and write about mercy but it’s been alluding me. Twice I’ve had to abandon my first attempt at a Catch because it didn’t get by my first critic — my wife — sending me writing well into the afternoon, which I can’t…
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Mercy, not sacrifice
“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13 Do you ever find yourself wishing someone would get theirs? Maybe you’ve been wronged and you wish someone would even the score. Or maybe someone’s done something wrong that harmed…
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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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Pilgrimage
There was no question. As soon as I found out Ron Ritchie was under hospice care at home, and his sons had been called in, I had to go. It was not a nice thing to do; it was a requirement. Not fully knowing why at the time, I just knew I had to be…
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Faith more real than faith
It was most likely my last time to see Ron Ritchie. His body is shutting down. They are not trying to treat the cancer, only to keep him comfortable, which they are doing. As of yesterday, at least, he’s in no pain. A few days ago, he slept for six days. But he was surprisingly…
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Loving the whole person
Thank you to those who commented both publicly and privately to yesterday’s Catch. Bottom line is: I probably could have been better informed about what I was trying to say, but I do believe most of you got it anyway. I was simply trying to say that the whole person is important. People are important.…
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Our lives tell the story
We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also. 2 Corinthians 6:11-13 Ministry – including evangelism and discipleship — is people touching people; life on…
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Alone or together?
“Yours for the Journey” means we are not alone. It means we belong to each other for the duration. It means that if you choose to mess up, you take me with you; and if I mess up, I take you with me. That’s the kind of thing that might make us think twice before…
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What the heart knows
Here is something you can know about every human being regardless of faith or religion, even if they say something to the contrary: They are searching for God. How can I be so sure about this? Because we were made this way. God put the need for Him in each one of us. Every people…
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Close to you
On the day that you were born the angels got together And decided to create a dream come true So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair And golden starlight in your eyes of blue Remember this one by the Carpenters? It should be a theme song for Christians as a reminder of how we…
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Less agreement; more love
Too much agreement kills a chat. – Eldridge Cleaver The worst thing about American political parties is that there are only two of them. To be sure, there are additional parties, but these are too small to make much of a dent in the political landscape except for taking some people away from one or…