A Fish Story From the Fish’s Perspective

I’ve really been enjoying the current six-week FATC Book Study. We are going through John Eldredge’s book Beautiful Outlaw. We read three chapters in the book during the week, then meet on Tuesday evening to watch and listen to Eldredge’s video and then discuss it at our small-group tables. About 30 guys attend the study and we share dinner and fellowship together before the study begins, so it’s a great way to stay in touch with some of our FATC brothers. Maybe you’ve heard, It isn’t just about the fly fishing.

This process is really helping me see Christ from a different perspective, as well as discovering how my perspective has been blurred by a type of religious fog, as well as by cultural stereotyping. By actually looking at what Jesus said and reading firsthand, eye-witness accounts from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (The Gospel writers), I’m finally discovering Jesus’ real personality.

Theologians declare Jesus to be both 100% God and 100% man. I choose to accept that, but I admit it’s above my pay grade to really understand it. Through the process I’m finding Jesus to be relatable. He really is a fun loving and playful, honest, humble, generous guy. Unlike the “goody-two-shoes, halo-headed, super-pious, hard-to-relate-to God Jesus” I perceived as a youth and young man, I’m finding the real Jesus is a guy I enjoy hanging with and I really want to get to know.

The Gospel has been stolen…it’s happened many times over the centuries—not only on a large scale, but piece by piece. The Bible says, “For the Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). Perhaps we should all ask, “What was lost?”

Several things were lost: Eden, a literal idyllic paradise was lost; and now we’re stuck in a “broken” world. “Walking with God” was lost; and now we are separated from God. A close personal intimate relationship with our Creator and God of the Universe was lost; and mankind is stuck with a seemingly hopeless condition continually striving to be “good enough”.

But, it turns out, that hopelessness can be the doorway to hope. For me, I had to reach rock bottom staring at the gates of hell. Roughly 40 years ago, my life of duality had wounded my family and ended my marriage. It had created a sort of hell on earth for me, but the real wake up call was the realization one night that I truly deserved hell — and that if I died that night I would spend eternity in torment, separated from God with zero chance of a do-over.

I was “lost” and Jesus came to the rescue. He used some first responders in that at that moment of brutal clarity I remembered what I had heard about on KSIV (91.5 FM) inspirational radio — that Jesus paid my sin debt (IN FULL —past, present and future) by his suffering and death on the cross and his resurrection.

Notable Bible Teachers like John MacArthur, Chuck Swindoll, Charles Stanley and James Dobson each pointed to a concept or principle that I had totally missed during my youth and early adult life. The principle that Jesus provided The “doorway to hope”, The Way by offering his life as the only God-acceptable, substitutionary payment for my sins — a debt that I could never pay.

My first responders resuscitated me by explaining the concept of “grace” which I really never remember hearing in the first 30 years of my life. This principle, is as the Bible says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God, not by works, so that no one will boast (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV).

The New Living Translation (NLT) says it this way, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

They each said in one way or another, that the Way through the “door of hope” was to acknowledge my hopelessness and need of saving grace — and to then trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

I walked through the doorway of hope that scary night and have found peace and purpose since that moment. I started reading the Gospels and eventually all of the Bible after that night of rebirth. Later I read in my Bible where Jesus says, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends” (Revelation 3:20 NLT). That means something to me because I see meal-sharing as a beautiful form of relationship.

You may think this is a bit weird sharing my story on a fly fishing forum—but this is the FATC FORUM. It’s OK. We share fishing stories all the time, so if it helps, think of this as a fishing story from the fish’s point of view. Jesus was a “fisher of men” and he said he would make his followers “fishers of men.” That, I am happy to say, is me! I was hooked, I submitted and now he turned me into a fisher(of)men. This has led to the greatest adventure of my life — an adventure of real significance.

And besides that, I had to ask myself, “What kind of a “brother” and friend would I be if I didn’t share this good news?” I was lost and now I’m found; I was blind and now I see. If that’s not a story worth sharing, then what is?

Many of you have a story to tell of how God is or has worked in your life, I’d love to hear it —either personally or on the forum.

• This topic was modified 2 days ago by JOHN MUCKERMAN.