Fishing for Faith

I’ve spent most of my life on the water. I’ve built rods, chased fish, and been blessed to make a living doing what I love. But if you take away the boats, the tournaments and the business, here’s what’s left: my faith in Jesus Christ and my family. Everything else is built on that.

So I want to use this page to share the most important thing I know. It isn’t about fishing. It’s about the Gospel.

The good news starts with bad news

The word gospel means “good news.” But you can’t really understand good news until you understand the bad news it answers.

God is holy, and His standard is perfect. Every one of us has fallen short of it. Some of us look better than others on the outside, but we’re all in the same boat. The Bible says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and the result of sin is death, separation from God. No amount of good behavior can close that gap. I tried. You can’t earn your way across it.

What Jesus did

Here’s the good news. God loved us too much to leave us there. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Jesus lived the perfect life we couldn’t live. Then He went to the cross and took the punishment for our sin on Himself. He was buried, and on the third day He rose from the grave, and hundreds of people saw Him alive (1 Corinthians 15:3–6). He beat sin and death, and He offers to share that victory with anyone who trusts Him.

When Jesus said from the cross, “It is finished!” (John 19:30), He meant it. The debt was paid in full.

It’s a gift, not a wage

This is the part that changed everything for me. Salvation isn’t something you work for. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).

You don’t have to clean yourself up first. You come as you are, admit you’re a sinner who needs a Savior, and put your trust in what Jesus did for you. “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Why I’m not ashamed to share it

When Jesus called His first disciples, a lot of them were fishermen. He told them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). That’s what this page is about. I’d be a poor friend if I knew the best news in the world and kept it to myself.

Your next cast

If you’ve never trusted Jesus as your Savior, I’d encourage you not to put it off. Talk to God honestly. Tell Him you know you’ve sinned, that you believe Jesus died for you and rose again, and that you want to follow Him. Then find a Bible-believing church and someone who can walk with you as you grow.

If you have questions, or if you made that decision today, I’d genuinely love to hear from you. Send us a message.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.