evangelism

Gone Fishing

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Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. John 21:3 NKJV

Thirty years ago, when we lived in a small farming village, I was often astonished at the hours, the handful businesses kept. Our tiny bank was only open on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The post office closed for lunch, and one general store was sometimes unexpectedly closed, leaving a sign in the door, “Gone fishing!” Today’s verse comes about one week after the miracles, the drama, the tears and the joys of Holy week. Just like us, the disciples wondered what to do with what came next. Maybe some of the other people who played a part in the Easter story also asked the same question. Have you ever wondered what the soldiers, who guarded his tomb, said to their wives when they went home? Did Joseph of Arimathea open his shop again on Monday morning? Did Nicodemus return to teaching in the synagogue? You might think that when the disciples of Jesus woke up, they would have talked about the earthquake and darkness after Jesus died, or the reports of the guards falling like dead men when the angel rolled back the stone. We can’t be sure of all their conversations, but John tells us that one evening Peter, much our like neighbors, said: “Let’s go fishing!” It is easy to laugh or criticize Peter, but Peter couldn’t read ahead in the Bible, he didn’t know what to do, so he went back to the ordinary things he understood. After a night our fishing, Jesus showed up on the shore, He didn’t scold the disciples for fishing. In fact, Jesus had been fishing that night too! The only difference was that Jesus actually caught fish and they didn’t! No, instead of lecturing, Jesus came to meet them for breakfast, and Jesus wants to meet with us in the same way today. Even when we aren’t involved in a religious activity, Jesus shows up. He wants to talk to us while we are mowing our lawn. doing the dishes or sitting in the break room at work. Jesus knows where we are, even when we are out fishing and He loves to come to us in the simplest activities of our day and listen to our conversations. After the Cross, the grave and the resurrection, Jesus came to them even when they went fishing, and He is sending us to others, not just when they come to the prayer meeting, or some other church activity. Instead, He asks us to carry His message to the grocery store, the gas station, and our neighborhoods, to all kinds of people, even when they have gone fishing!

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The Great Commission Has Not expired!

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Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

The pastor has tattoos and preaches in flipflops, the music is too loud, and the crowd is too big. are just a few of the items on the laundry list of reasons people today give to turn down an invitation to church. Ironically, the list we heard thirty years ago was, all they sing is old hymns, you have to wear a shirt and tie, the pastor is boring, and only a few old people go there. The church has faced pushback, ridicule, and even outright persecution, in every generation. It may feel discouraging, pointless, or old-fashioned to continue presenting the claims of Christ and asking people to make a decision to follow Him. But the presence of opposition in no way invalidates the necessity of continuing to do the job that Jesus gave us to do.

The Great Commission has no expiration date, and even in this age of an AI Jesus and slick marketing, a simple, person to person, gospel message is still the most effective way to lead a person to Jesus Christ. It isn’t hopeless, someone else’s job, or a forgone conclusion that the church will fail. God’s word, honestly and fearlessly spoken, still has power. But we don’t need to start knocking on doors or even begin preaching on street corners to reach lost souls. God will put individuals in our path or will arrange for us to be in theirs. Our only job is to tell people about God and share what He has done in our life. Keep inviting anyone who will listen to come to Jesus and keep believing that what the Holy Spirit has done for 2,000 years, He will continue to do till Jesus returns!

Nose Rings and Tattoos

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Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come. Psalm 77:18 NKJV

One year it almost never snowed, so as a contractor whose Winter income came from snow removal, I ended up working about six weeks in a warehouse among some pretty rough looking characters. I tried my best getting along, but those tattooed younger fellows, some of whom had nose rings and I had very little in common. As one of them put it, “Pete, did you ever wonder where all those guys who were sent to after school detention ended up working?” Now, I am the sort of person who tends to get cranked up over tattoos and nose rings, because the only critters with nose rings I knew were our hogs, so that they wouldn’t destroy their own pasture and tattoos were for the old guys who had been sailors in WW2. Yet, God didn’t seem to be as hung up as I was. Instead, He focused, not on how good or bad the other guys looked, but one whether I was telling them about Jesus.

As the weeks dragged by, I tried ignoring their less than wholesome jokes, and spent my lunch times, looking for a quiet corner to eat and read my New Testament. It didn’t seem even possible to talk to anyone about Jesus, till one day as we were emptying pallets from one of the trailers, the guy next to me earnestly asked in a whisper, “So what does hallelujah mean anyway?”  Rather than laughing, I delightedly did my best to explain and discovered that day, that God can give an opportunity at the most unexpected time to tell someone about His faithfulness and mercy. We just need to remind ourselves that God is delighted to accept some pretty strange characters into His family, because after all He sent Jesus to the cross to forgive, even me and you!

By the way, I loved this video about telling our grandchildren about the good old days Be sure to tell them that Jesus was the only thing good about some of those days!