Fish Galore
Although I enjoy fishing, many times I’ve come home empty-handed. Several years ago my wife and I took our daughter’s family to a picturesque resort on the shore of Clear Lake in Northern California, well known for its annual large-mouth bass fishing tournament. We hired a local fishing guide to take my son-in-law, my grandson and me out on his boat for a half-day outing. He knew the best spots on the lake and which bait to use. We followed his advice and boy did it pay off! The three of us reeled in close to thirty fish weighing three to five pounds each (we kept two for dinner and let the rest go free.) Our guide was an expert and his knowledge of the lake made the difference between a bountiful catch and a wasted day.
The resurrected Jesus provided a living parable similar to this when he caught up with his disciples at the Sea of Galilee early one morning. Jesus had previously instructed them to go to Galilee and await his arrival. While waiting, the professional fishermen among them decided to take their boats out and fish through the night. They were following their earthly wisdom and techniques. John 21:5-6 ESV says that arriving at the shoreline early in the morning, Jesus called out to them “Children, do you have any fish?” When they responded, “No”, Jesus told them “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” When they followed his command the quantity of fish they caught was so great, they were unable to haul the net back into the boat.
As adopted children of the King, we may get a notion of something we feel called to do for God’s Kingdom. However, it’s not uncommon that even when using “our best efforts” we see little or no fruit. It’s easy to forget that if we want to reap a spiritual harvest we need to follow the wisdom and timing of the Spirit of God. His ways are not our ways! Old habits and earthly perspectives need to be replaced by trusting in the Holy Spirit. When we allow the Spirit of Jesus to lead our effort, even if we can’t understand the when, the why, or the how, it will yield a spiritual harvest. The apostles in the boat needed a reminder that they were just tools in the Master’s hands. May you likewise offer yourself as a tool for his use, whenever and however God may choose to use you. His ways may surprise you and the spiritual rewards will be great indeed!
Pastor Dave Korinek
Care Team
Unwavering Faith
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.
Peter was fishing that day, he was good at it, and put his whole heart into anything he did, so, of course, he wasn’t wearing his heavy cloak (coat.) When the “disciple whom Jesus loved” said “It is the Lord,” in full trust and devotion, Peter grabbed his cloak and jumped in. After all, he had done it once before and started to walk on the water, maybe this time it would work out better. Or not. He trusted Jesus to do the impossible, just as we can do the same in our lives. Peter went fishing that night on the Sea of Galilee with nothing to show for his effort. Jesus gave him special instructions and again the haul is beyond belief, really miraculous. Fast forward, Peter wasn’t perfect, even after three years with Jesus, in person! He still made arrogant comments, insisted he would never stumble, denied Jesus and his pride suffered greatly. But his faith never wavered.
I love Peter, he is the one person besides Jesus I can’t wait to meet. He is the one I most identify with. He is always questioning, (not doubting) because he wanted to understand the back story and the logistics involved. Me too. Yet, he was trusting, passionate, and not afraid to jump out of the boat to see his Lord even when he didn’t know all the answers. I’m still learning. How about you?
Jesus spent three years being the perfect example to Peter, smoothing his rough edges, and impulsive, sometimes reckless behavior into a God-honoring, humble man, focused leader, and preacher. He was equipping Peter, by not protecting him from the enemy sometimes, so that going through the hard stuff, he would become a leader of compassion who understood human weakness–and he understood it well. (Read 1 Peter 5:8-10)
The price of preaching would be Peter’s death on the cross upside down after watching his wife crucified. That kind of courage could only come from a seasoned man of God. Peter’s life could be summed up in the final words of his second epistle: “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). That is exactly what Simon Peter did, and that is why he became Rock—the great leader of the early church." (Adapted from Twelve Ordinary Men)
Can you relate to Peter’s life? Do you feel like your spiritual growth has been five steps forward, ten steps back sometimes and wondered why God allowed certain things to happen in your life? I have, but through the hardest times, I’ve learned when I surrender complete control I begin to see how he is working all things for good, I have his peace and a renewed spirit. We can all have Peter’s compassion for people and be ready to jump out of the boat for Jesus when we are focused on Him, willing to humble ourselves, and have unwavering faith like Peter.
Deb Hill
Exec. Assistant to Ryan Paulson
Simple, Yes
The disciples followed Peter to the Sea of Galilee to go fishing. After all, out on the water was a good place to think and process all that had happened that seemed to steal their security and future. Their boat felt safe. Here they were competent and their diligence could pay off in tangible rewards to boost their confidence and give them hope. Until the opposite happened and they didn’t catch a single fish. Zip. Zilch. Nothing. Nada. Failure seemed to follow them.
Peter felt this failure with a particular heaviness that weighed him down in deep regret. Jesus had promised him a new vocation (fishing for men and building the church), but that was before he denied Him. He felt lost as he sat on a boat with an empty net, weak and unable to provide for himself.
Can you relate to Peter? I can. Hearing the Lord, I quickly obeyed only to have my heart and imagination get ahead of His voice to find that my expectations weren’t what God had in store. If only my heart had remembered the wisdom in Proverbs 16:9 “The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
If Peter could only remember where the journey began. The first steps began with a simple, “Yes.” From there, Peter’s steps of passionate obedience, with all of his flaws, led him to a new way of living infused with purpose. He had let his heart and imagination get ahead and found himself searching for a future trying to provide. But here, on a boat once again, he would encounter the voice of Jesus calling him back to the simple task of obediently following one “yes” at a time.
A voice came from shore with instructions to cast on the other side of the boat. “Sure, why not? But what difference could a few feet make?” All the difference in the world as the catch became the catch of a lifetime! Not because of the net's proximity in the water, but because of its proximity to the one who commands the seas. Peter hadn’t recognized the voice or the silhouette on the shore, but this?! This abundance was familiar! It was the tangible evidence of goodness following after him all the days of his life (Psalm 23.6). Even the days that held failure and weakness…maybe especially those.
The question I’ll leave with you today is this: What simple “yes” can you trust the Lord with today? Even if you lack the passionate “Yes!” and all you can muster is, “Sure, why not?” He just might show up and shower you with His goodness as you follow Him. One “yes” at a time.
Jessica Klootwyk
Group & Women’s Discipleship Director
Catching Nothing
Three years they followed him, the one who on this very shore of the sea of Galilee said, come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. And yet here they were late at night, back where they started, catching fish…..with nets….and failing.
It’s hard to go backward, back to where you started. It humbles you. Like a board game when you land on the dreaded spot…and it sends you back to the beginning like some sick joke. It’s frustrating, and disheartening to go backwards.
Peter and the disciples had twice seen the risen Lord, their Messiah—back from the dead—back to life, fully and more alive than ever. And yet here they were, back to their former trade, fishing in the sea where they’d seen the storms still, at Jesus’ rebuke. They’d seen their Savior walk on these waves, heal the demon-possessed, and feed 5,000 from a single sack lunch. This Sea of Galilee held memory after memory of the miraculous and the personal.
In John 21, I don’t think it’s unintentional that the Lord revealed himself to the disciples on the same shore where he first called them to trust him. The Sea of Galilee. It’s where Peter, Andrew, James, and John had their first identity crisis. Fishing was all they knew, it was all their fathers, grandfathers, and probably great-grandfathers knew. Fishing was important, requiring great strength and resilience—what today we call, grit. Jesus chose his first four disciples because they had grit. They forged character over the years, sure of what they hoped for whenever they heaved the weighty net into the deep dark mysterious sea.
I think Jesus met his disciples here because they were their most honest selves. Fishing had days of delight and depression; here they would be real. Here they could be vulnerable. They would be called to trust and follow him again until the end.
Fishing and following have much in common. They’re both hard, requiring patience and endurance. Fishing and following both begin with faith. And the question for each of us is—is it worth staying the course, is it worth the effort? Fishing and following are harder if done alone. But when done with others, fishing and following feels possible.
The message wasn’t different; the call didn’t change. Fishing was fine for a time but following is the goal forever. When following gets hard, returning to the familiar is easy. Fishing is simpler, Fishing I’ve figured out. Following means a lot of unknowns, not doing what I want but instead trusting the one who leads me.
Donielle Winter
EFCC Member
The Twin
Growing up, I always thought it would be fun to have a twin. Those who are twins might beg to disagree, but I imagined that having a built-in best friend, someone who inherently understood me, and a companion to walk through life with sounded awesome. Did you know that one of Jesus’ disciples was a twin? John told us so. He wrote, "Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came." (John 20:24)
We call Thomas “Doubting Thomas,” but he had a moniker before he obtained that unfortunate nickname. He was called “The Twin”. Which begs the question, where was his twin? Who was his twin? There’s not a lot of consensus on that, but I think I know. He’s my twin… he’s your twin!
I can remember when I first started following Jesus. I began reading through the Old Testament and I was struggling with some of the stories. The people of God seemed a bit fickle in their devotion. Everybody fell short of what God asked them to do. I was growing a bit disillusioned, so I asked a mentor of mine to help me understand how to read these accounts in a way that would bring life. His advice was so good. He told me we really can’t hear the stories of the Bible until we hear them as stories about ourselves. He suggested that we have to imagine our way into them.
The story of Thomas is a story we read best when we read it, nodding our heads, whispering “Me too.” I too want to know for certain. I too want to put my hands in his side. I want to have a divine encounter with Jesus. I’m Thomas’ twin. Some people receive a revelation of Jesus that changes everything. There are numerous stories of Muslims coming to faith in Jesus because Jesus meets them in a dream. If you’re interested in some breathtaking stories of encounters, I’d suggest a book called A Wind in the House of Islam by David Garrison. It will fuel your faith.
However, others don’t seem to get the kind of proof they’re looking for. It’s to those people Jesus speaks a blessing saying, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29) When Jesus meets us in our questions and doubts, he doesn’t leave us to wallow in our uncertainty and he doesn’t chastise us for our human frailty. He teaches us in the middle of the night like Nicodemus, he runs to us on the road like the Prodigal Father, he heals us as we cry out, “Help my unbelief,” he reaches down to save us as we’re sinking in the water, and he tenderly shows us his scars and proclaims, “It’s really me.”
So today, maybe you name Thomas as your twin; but don’t only follow him into his doubt, follow him into his faith. Follow him in meeting the Risen Messiah and bowing in reverence at his nail-scarred feet.
Pastor Ryan Paulson
Logical Thomas
Oh, Thomas! How I love him. Do you think he really was doubting or simply asking clarifying questions? Wanting a few more visuals to make a decision. He certainly didn’t take the disciple's word for truth. He wanted to see for himself.
“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were in, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it” John 20:25. A statement amid trying to wrap his mind around the disciples' encounter with Jesus. Once some of his conditions of belief were met, he was all in. For years I lived under “if/then” statements to move forward in a decision. Think about that, for a moment. Do you have conditions when it comes to belief?
But what had Jesus told the disciples? In John 16 the disciples were saying they didn’t understand where he was going and what was happening, and Jesus says, “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” When we don’t see a situation clearly or don’t have a definitive understanding we tend to lose faith.
Hebrews 11:1, states “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” We know that with the faith of a mustard seed, we can move mountains! My friend, April Motl shares in Christianity.com that the tiny mustard seed holds the potential to grow into a 30-foot bush! Assurance, hope, and conviction give the unseen great potential.
The Centurion and the Canaanite woman both amazed Jesus with their unquestioning faith. The Centurion simply knew that when Jesus spoke to his paralyzed servant, he would be healed. Nothing more was needed for the Centurion to believe. The Canaanite woman requested Jesus heal her daughter. Jesus responds with “It's not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs”, she profoundly replies “But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table.” Wow. This is sheer bold faith.
Thomas, the Centurion, and the Canaanite woman, all had questions concerning Jesus and his power. Two of them were questions because of their faith and one had questions due to lack of faith. Are your questions a roadblock to your faith? Grab hold of that mustard seed today!
Tammy De Armas
EFCC Member
Honest Thomas
“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe” – Thomas’ words from John 20:25.
He wouldn’t trust the words of his friends. He didn’t even believe this from Jesus; as Jesus spoke ahead of time about his approaching death and resurrection. Thomas didn’t offer a prayer to God for truth. He didn’t make a request of his friends who had been with Jesus. This was Thomas putting his foot down and staking out his position. “I’ve gotta see it and feel it myself.”
It may seem unspiritual or untraditionally Christian, but God likes frankness and honesty. God values faith in people above all, but he also seems to respond to honest doubts and real human expressions of emotion. Is that why David could be named a man after God’s own heart, but also pen these words, “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Ps 13:1) and these words, “Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Ps 10:1.) These are not accurate accusations of what God does, but they are expressions of how David felt, and they were directed to God.
King David and Honest Thomas were desperate for God’s presence. They wished to experience him personally. There was no substitute they would accept. In God’s time and in his way he met them both. God meets us in our honesty. Sometimes bringing emotions to people leads to trouble, but honesty with God is good, especially when connecting with God, knowing him more, or finding what is needed in or through him is a part of the plea.
Pastor John Riley
Grieving Thomas
Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him,“We have seen the LORD!” But he told them, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it.”
John 20:24-25
Doubting Thomas? Really? It is easy to give him this nickname but what caused the doubt? To me, Thomas was not so much doubting but he was grieving. He was devastated. Thomas had been ‘all in.’ He had been with Jesus for three years of hearing, seeing, and touching Jesus. He had been there for the miracles and fully believed Jesus was the answer to all, to
hope and to a future. In John 11:16 when Jesus had been counseled against returning to Jerusalem but turned His face toward it, Thomas said, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” All in! In John 14:5, Thomas asks the question on everyone’s mind, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Which introduced the foundational verse 6, where Jesus declared He was the way, and the truth, and the life. Thomas wanted all to follow Jesus.
But Jesus was dead. Hope was gone. All Thomas had believed and lived for was over. He was bereft of everything. Bereft comes from the word to bereave when done by force. Nothing remained and perhaps in his grief there was also shame and guilt because he was one of those who had fled the Garden in fear when Jesus was arrested. This pain was intense in every way, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Perhaps when the other disciples proclaimed Jesus’ resurrection, he could not dare hope it was true because going through that pain again would be unthinkable. Can we who have felt this pain to some degree give Thomas grace for doubting, even trying to protect himself? He was afraid of risking that again. But God knew exactly what Thomas needed.
In just eight days, the verse from Psalm 30:11 would be true for Thomas,
“You turned my wailing into dancing; You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.”
It was not wrong for Thomas to react as he did; the Lord does not condemn us for doubting or grieving. He is present with us even when we don’t feel His presence. Ponder the promise that you find in these lyrics from a Jeremy Camp song called There Will Be a Day:
But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings There will be a place of no more suffering. There will be a day with no more tears, With no more pain and with no more fears. There will be a day when the burdens of this place Will be no more and we’ll see Jesus face to face.
Francie Overstreet
Commissioned for Forgiveness
In John 20:23, Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon his closest disciples and commissioned them with the words: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (Jn. 20:23, NKJV)
While growing up in the Catholic Church, I was taught that to be forgiven we had to confess our sin to a priest who was empowered to dispense forgiveness and assign acts of penance to us on God’s behalf. I confess that I never cared much for that system of forgiveness! When I later became an evangelical Christian, I came to have an entirely new understanding of God’s forgiveness toward believers. The life of Jesus provides a compelling model of forgiveness. His main purpose for coming to earth was to forgive, to embrace, to heal, and to redeem. He forgave the sins of a woman caught in adultery, even though she didn’t ask him for forgiveness. He simply gave and she received. Likewise, while hanging upon the cross he asked his heavenly father to forgive Roman soldiers “for they know not what they do.” And he willingly forgave a repentant criminal who was being crucified beside him.
When Jesus told his closest disciples that any sins they forgive are forgiven by God, he pronounced this immediately after breathing the Spirit upon them. So, there seems to be a close connection between the indwelling of the Spirit and knowing what to forgive and what not to forgive. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to lead the apostles in all truth. A major part of that promise would be fulfilled by the divine inspiration given to apostles for proclaiming holy scripture (i.e., books of the New Testament). When the New Testament speaks of something being sinful or wrong we tend to view that as applying universally to the Church. Conversely, if the scriptures speak of something as permitted or good, we also tend to accept that as universally true in the Church. This is one way we can see how the apostles both “forgave” and “withheld” forgiveness (e.g., permission). While most Protestant ministers wouldn’t claim to serve as God’s agents to either judge or forgive, they assure fellow believers of their confidence that the Lord forgives every believer who confesses a sin to God.
Even though we are far removed from the apostles in both time and authority, all believers have a responsibility to forgive those who have offended us, (which doesn't always mean relationship restoration). While such forgiveness takes place on a horizontal plane, the act of forgiving can release us from the prison of an unforgiving heart and also keep us in a right relationship “vertically” with God our Savior. So, may you and I rejoice to be forgiven, forgivers!
Pastor Dave Korinek
Holy Breath
“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Have you ever had something take your breath away? We recently received news of our youngest son seriously injured while body surfing in Mexico, and all of the oxygen in the air seemed to evaporate in that instant. It felt like I couldn’t breathe fully for days. Whether the air is physically knocked out of us or metaphorically, the result is the same. For a moment in time, life-sustaining oxygen is absent or our brain’s neurons don’t transmit the need to breathe in the trauma of the moment, the unexpected traumas of life we all experience eventually.
After the resurrection, John 20 tells us that Jesus appeared and breathed on the disciples to receive the Holy Spirit who were trying to process the empty tomb and Jesus’ unknown whereabouts. The unknowns of life always scare us, don’t they? Often in a panic, in fight or flight mode, I’ve tried to take the wheel myself and fix things. Jesus knew that would be the case, and made sure we all have the Helper and we’re never alone.
When Jesus breathed on his disciples he said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The disciples were scattered to their own concerns and and interests apart from Jesus, and now the reality of Jesus missing was more than they could bear. Their faith was real but disordered and unfocused and not really applied to the important realities of life. I look back and realize I was in that same place many times.
All we are called to do is receive the gift he has given . . . and enjoy everything that means. He reveals himself to us as we exercise our faith and trust in him. Life is hard and full of challenges, but in our anxiety, sorrow, and grief the Comforter sends a new friend or gives us a scripture or a song to lighten our load. Do we see his hand at work in bad times as well as good? Or are we only focused on the blessings he gives?
Mark Batterson says it this way, “In my experience, take the Holy Spirit out of the equation of your life and it spells boring. Add it into the equation of your life and you never know where you are going to go, what you are going to do, or who you are going to meet.” I love that the Holy Spirit gives us the power to take risks to share the gospel, reach out to new people with no agenda except to be kind and especially to love even our enemies. We are each uniquely gifted and have a superpower the Spirit not only reveals but empowers us to use for his glory.
Ephesians 3:16-17 NLT is my prayer for all of us today. “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong.”
Deb Hill
Exec. Assistant to Pastor Paulson