Phish Bowl Ministries
February 2012
Matthew 4:19
“Chummin’ for Saints…until the nets are full”

Dear Saints,
Time is going by so quickly that I looked at my calendar today and remembered that Phish Bowl needed to be in the mail 4 days ago. It’s been a good month with Group taking up most of my time. We are getting down to the last two months before exit interviews. We have been told that this will be the hardest time in the program. We need to show that we understand and can use the tools we have been given. We also need to write 10 pages about the year before our crime which will be corrected no less than 3 times before it is accepted.
I’m in awe at just how fast the last 4 months have gone by! Looking back on this time, God has been with me each step of the way. He has truly carried me many days and even some weeks. Now that I turn a page and am looking at a couple of months that the heat is going to be turned up, I trust our Lord as I go forward. I can not help but think of the “Refiner’s Fire”. One of my daily prayers is that God will form me into the man He chose me to be. Dying to flesh is not easy; how we hold on tightly to the old, as though we are going to really die if we just surrender to His will. As I look back on this past year, I see a year of growth, even in the month where I was the most lost and confused. I see a change in thinking and in my walk.
Last year I was challenged a lot with questions of who am I, what I believe and even if I was called by Christ. This attack did not come from outside the Church, it came from the body, but with each personal attack, I saw two things. First was death to flesh, things that need to be dropped at the side of the road. Second was the confirmation to be who I am in the body. I learned that man and his ways are not my light. I say this because so many brothers had an opinion about my walk and they would contradict each other. This would not be the work of the Holy Spirit. I was always in awe when a good brother came to me with a revelation about me or Phish Bowl, and all I could see was “if it was mine, I would do it this way.”
I am so thankful to God for this year, for His discernment. I say this because years ago when God called me, I know what He was calling me to do and as I sit here today, that calling in my heart has not changed and is not divided. It comes with peace as opposed to man’s ways which come with doubts, confusion and personal attacks. In God’s path, I know the direction to go and trust He will get me there. In man’s ways, I was lost, confused, wounded and questioned our Lord. Today I see a new strength in me: the Holy Spirit at work. I do not know what lies ahead, but I do know that He will guide.
The church that I see spends too much time dressing up, looking right and “acting” in the “right way”; do this, don’t do that, and not being true to God’s calling on our lives. Recently I read where a young lady right out of nursing school was called to the mission field. Her parents, pastor and friends talked her out of it. For 20 years, she wandered the earth just existing by going to work, going to church, having a child out of wedlock and feeling empty. She felt alone and lost until one day she read a message about the need for nurses to go overseas to help. With her son in college, she decided to go, but once again, her parents, pastor, son and friends told her how much she was giving up and to just send money---“that was God’s will for her life”. This time, it was different. She listened to the call of God on her life and 10 years later, she would write of the joy, peace and true fulfillment in a life of Christ.
I tell you this because people will come up to you and tell you how you are to or are not to be. However, if we study the Scripture for ourselves and follow the lead of the Holy Spirit, we too will find ourselves in the will of Christ. Warning: most of the church will try to stop you and I believe at the end, most of the church will wish they had done something for the Kingdom.
As we move on in Acts, we will see how the Apostles meet opposition from what will seem to be “good” church men. This was a new teaching, one that the Sadducees were not teaching. Jesus had assured His followers “Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you…the people of the world will hate you…for you will be expelled from the synagogues”. John 15:20-21; 16:2

DANGER! TROUBLE AHEAD! (Acts 5:17-42) Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, "Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life." And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest and those with him came and called the council together, with all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, saying, "Indeed we found the prison shut securely, and the guards standing outside before the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside!" Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be. So one came and told them, saying, "Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!" Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man's blood on us!" But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men.”The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. "Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him." When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them. Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while. And he said to them: "Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men.”For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. "After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed. "And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; "but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it--lest you even be found to fight against God." And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. (NKJV)
The Apostles’ experienced power to do miracles, great boldness in preaching and God’s presence in their lives, yet they were not free from hatred and persecution. Faith in Christ does not make trouble disappear. Don’t expect everyone to react the way you would like them to when sharing your faith or following the path Jesus has chosen for you. Some will be jealous, afraid, or threatened by your new found freedom in Christ to be who he wishes you to be. Just love on these Saints as you walk the path which Christ put in front of you. Be strong in the Lord.
Please spend some time in these verses as we will be diving into each line to see what our walk and the walk of the Apostles look like. We will see them in jail, freed, preaching the message and defending what God is having them do. I would pray that one day the same can be said of you, Saint.

“The lives of the dead are alive in the living.” B.B.S.

Make your life one worth remembering because it was a life lived for Christ. The heroes of the faith never blended in. Be bold my friends.

UPDATES:
In December, I found out that my mom had a stroke and was in the hospital. Because of the way that Phish Bowl is written and sent out, this is the first time I could ask for prayers for her.

The church family (C.C.L.) had some wonderful Saints who blessed me over Christmas with money and a visit from Barb. Phish Bowl was able to help some men with needs and on Christmas, with the help of some other brothers, feed many men. Thank you and may God bless.

Some friends have asked whether I have heard from Bishop since he turned 18 in November. No word yet. Pray as God works on this in His timing.

Saints, I pray for you and love you. Remember that it is a life journey to understand that God will not disappoint us. There is soul healing in God’s loving Word and in the Church of the Messiah’s Misfits. Remember my chains as I remember yours. Watch! Hold fast in the faith. Be brave and be strong to the end. Let all you do, be done in love.


Semper Fidelis!

I Corinthians 16: 13-14

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Phish Bowl Coffee House, P.O. Box 153, Loveland, CO 80539.
http://inthephishbowl.blogspot.com
An outreach of Calvary Chapel Loveland




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