What must it have been like for Peter to step out onto the raging swells of the Sea of Galilee? The first step of an adventure is always the most difficult, take it from a procrastinator.

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This painting is about beginning the journey. It is an invitation to a life of adventurous faith, which echoes my own acceptance of a call to youth ministry in 1996—a faith-filled beginning for Sara and me. Fishermen doesn’t ask you to play savior to the entire world... it is simply a call to begin. It doesn’t reveal all the challenges ahead (but neither does it hide them from you). It is a summons heralding from the realm of the uncertain (you’re stepping into a first century fishing boat, no less)… but the sun is shining, it’s breezy, and the open sea is all yours—begin.

‍“‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men’” (Matthew 4:19).

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