About this time yesterday, I sat down at my home computer to crank out another blog entry. I was all geared up when, suddenly, a convoy of cars and vans came speeding into our cul-de-sac. The SWAT team, fully armed, descended en mass on a neighbor's house. For the next six hours, I was too distracted to write.
With apologies to Mr. Rogers, yesterday was a crazy day in the neighborhood!
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So I thought Fresno was supposed to be 100 degrees by now. Where has this weather come from? Not that I'm complaining, but wow, a 71 degree forecasted high for June. And that with only 30% humidity.
Perfect.
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Two quotes I have been mulling over in my mind all this week:
"The man I am becoming is disgusted by the man I used to be" and "The turning point in our lives is when we stop seeking the God we want and start seeking the God who is."
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Wednesday night, we discussed the call of Simon by Jesus in Luke 5.1-11. You remember the "fished all night and caught no fishes" episode that moves Simon from respecting Jesus as "Master" to revering Jesus as "Lord."
What I found interesting is the manner in which Jesus calls Simon in verse 11. Jesus meets Simon on his turf, in the course of his everyday career, and invites him to a new task - to "catch people alive." When a person goes fishing and comes home with a stringer full or a live-well full of fish, what happens to the fish? Inevitably, they are cleaned and wind up dead. Simon's call (and ours) by Jesus is polar opposite! We are called as disciples of Jesus to "catch people alive" (the Greek word zogrein, from the Greek root zoe, literally means "alive" or "fully alive").
Catching people for Jesus ushers them into the very abundant life Jesus offers. It is our calling - to catch people alive.
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Finally, our summer kickoff at Woodward Park (in spite of the unseasonably cool weather) begins this weekend with the installation of 19 new Deacons to ministries of service in our church family. Sunday evening is the first-ever Valley Area-Wide Youth Rally at Woodward Park. Ashley Frizzell's dad, Keith Parker, will be the guest speaker.
Sunday should be a great day in the neighborhood!
