I love fishing. Well let me be clear, I love catching fish. If you look at my photos you will see me with 2 of the 5 fish I caught on a recent trip to Norway. However, day to day my fishing experience is not quite so positive.

In May I decided to buy my son a sea fishing rod for his birthday. Obviously, there was no point in just getting one for him, I needed one as well. So since then I have been down to the local sea dock with my rod, hook and lug worm. Of course, despite rumours of record fish in the vicinity, I have returned without any food for dinner! Why is that? Could it be there are no fish there? I think not. In reality the issue is more complex. You see, I do not try hard enough. I do not go often enough, I do not practice, I have little understanding of the theory and I am not interested enough to study and learn. In other words the ony way I will catch a fish is if it jumps on my hook and stays there while, in my own incompetent style, I reel it in.

We are all called to be fishers of men (Mark 1:17). The comparisons are obvious. Do we try hard enough? Do we understand the culture of those we seek to reach? Do we know our message? Are we using the best techniques, do we challenge people often enough with the Good News?

As I stood on the dockside last night I was challenged by this. How effective am I as a fisher of men?

Until next time sports fans....Come on England!