Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ~Matthew 18:3 I got a note from my sister several weeks ago, posted to facebook, that said my nephew had prayed and asked Jesus into his heart. He’s 3. My sister figured he wouldn’t remember but later that night while praying before bed he prayed “thank you Jesus for coming into my heart, I love you God”. Several weeks before, I was visiting my brother in law who is going through some deep struggles of his own. Old Dana would have written him off. Angry and bitter, determined to let someone else’s problems be their own, I would have pulled the knowledge card. I know better, I’d never let myself get there, you deal with it. But when it all happened, as each new detail was revealed, I tried to… [Read More]
Posts Tagged ‘believer’
Through a Child’s eyes
April 21st, 2011 
Dana Fisher 
Posted in Mercy, Radical Christianity 
Tags: believer, bible, brother, change, Christ, Christian, Christianity, Community, compassion, desire, God, grace, heart, heaven, Jesus, joy, kingdom, kingdom of God, life, love, Matthew, pray, prayed, praying, radical christian, radical christianity, revenge, struggle, war, weakness 
No Comments »Why you should buy a Qur’an
April 4th, 2011 Dana Fisher Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul – Matthew 10:28 When you read this word: Muslim, what comes to mind? Hate? 9/11? Terrorists? Does your spin tingle a little and do you feel a little uncomfortable? Do you feel like they need to be “eradicated”? If this is you, if this feels familiar, you aren’t alone. I’d argue most feel like this but it’s important to understand that us trying to kill them is no better than them trying to kill us. Killing “in the name of God” is still killing and is explicitly forbidden by Jesus in Matthew 26:52 and the 10 commandments. Adding God to it is just defaming His name. I sat in church several weeks ago listing to a missionary who has been in Africa for 15 years(and is still there) with his family. He has set up… [Read More]
Posted in American Christianity, Missions Tags: believer, Christ, Christian, church, denomination, God, islam, Jesus, life, love, Matthew, missionary, muslim, muslin, pray, qur'an, radical, radical christian, radical christianity, sin, sinner, violence, witness No Comments »Everyone gets to Heaven
February 26th, 2011 Dana Fisher A little discussion for your minds: Who gets in to heaven? Take a look at the article on Rob Bell, written by Justin Taylor. If you don’t want to read the article, at least scroll down and watch the video(the most important part). Many know that I am a believer in non-violent resistence, and am frequently called a pacifist. Having a background laced with anger and violence and continually struggling with my temper it took 27 years to come to the realization that Jesus really did call us to something drastically different than how we operate as people and nations. I want to discuss this, not because I side with Rob Bell or find truth in his statements, but because I see those believing in nonviolent resistance and a loving God getting lumped into this ‘other’ group which, in my opinion, is veering off the path into a scary realm…. [Read More]
Posted in American Christianity, Non-Violent Resistance Tags: believer, Christ, death, God, gospel, heaven, hell, Jesus, Jesus Christ, justice, Lord, love, nonviolent resistance, rob bell, romans, salvation, Thessalonians, truth, violence Comments OffThe Sin you Love
November 16th, 2010 Dana Fisher But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. ~James 1:14-15 The sin you hate is the sin you love. Seems a little confusing right? Sin is always enticing, otherwise why do it? Each of us struggles with different things and while one thing may stumble you, it may not weaken me. Those things which stumble us most often are those that we can easily pick out in others. They drive us crazy. It’s impossible to save someone from themselves when you haven’t looked into yourself first. Matthew 7: 3-5 tells us this plainly. Yet for me, I’m constantly in the mode to critique others without first coming before God on my knees for my own struggles and inadeqacy. If you’ve ever played any… [Read More]
Lausanne Movement – Community
October 22nd, 2010 Dana Fisher My roommate Dave is one of the videographers here and was able to turn an idea he had into a great short video. I feel it is one of the more powerful pieces to come from the Lausanne Congress, at least for me personally. Take a minute to watch it: When signing up for the Cape Town 2010 Congress I had an option of where to stay and how many people to stay with. There were single, double, and quadruple rooms. For anyone who knows me well I don’t do well staying with people, especially people I don’t know. I knew I was doing this for a reason and so I chose to room in a quadruple room in order to interact with as many people as possible here in Cape Town. I was extremely hesitant about doing this but the Lord is faithful to those who do what He… [Read More]
Posted in Prayers Tags: believer, Cape Town, Cape Town 2010, Christ, Christian, Christianity, christians, Community, desire, faith, faithful, heart, Lausanne, Lausanne Movement, Lord, Lord's Prayer, missions, power, sin Comments OffI met someone
February 27th, 2008 Dana Fisher I will lead the blind along ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. – Isaiah 42:16 Coming back from lunch, I parked in my familiar spot and reclined my chair. David Crowder was playing through my ipod as I day dreamed for the last 20 minutes of lunch. I like to zone out during lunch, take my mind off of things and just relax. I stare at a computer screen for 8hrs a day so breathing in some fresh air and closing my eyes does wonders to break up the day. Moments later I caught a silhouette in my side mirror, followed it through my rear view mirror, and then suddenly through the passenger side mirror… She was walking up to my door! She caught me off guard, with a… [Read More]
It smells so good!
January 16th, 2008 Dana Fisher Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. -Romans 6:11 A couple of months ago I was walking to my car after work and recognized an unmistakable smell; The smell of autumn. It was 45-50 degrees, the sun was beginning to set, and it just smelled like fall. I love that smell for some reason. Maybe it’s memories, maybe it’s the changing landscape but something about that smell seems calming. I started thinking about what the smell actually was and it dawned on me that it was leaves. And I started thinking about why leaves die and regrow, why they change color, and why do they smell so good in the fall. God gives us a perfect example of His word in a real world visual. See, leaves bud, the sun gives them light and they grow. They mature and turn in to a vibrant color… [Read More]
Don’t play house
January 4th, 2008 Dana Fisher Therefore what God has joined together, let man not seperate. – Matthew 19:6 I feel I must get on my soap box after having a conversation a couple of days ago with several non-believers. Two are around my age, one around my dad’s age. It troubled me to the point I needed a few days to grapple with what it really means. Recalling how the conversation actually started is difficult, and probably irrelevant, but we all somehow managed to get on the conversation of marriage. One spoke up and said he and his wife moved in together and then got married so marriage wasn’t a “big decision” for them. Another chimed in and confirmed, saying her and her husband even bought a house together before getting married. The older of the 3, in partial disbelief, said “what is the world coming to?”. And proclaimed that it was much different in… [Read More]
Devastated
December 27th, 2007 Dana Fisher The elements will be destroyed by fire. – 2 Peter 3:10 The smell of smoke and ash filled the air, choking out the breath in my lungs. But that wasn’t why my eyes began to water. Sitting on the cold, wet pavement just up the road was a young woman, wailing and sobbing. My brother came rushing in the door moments before. “Get out here, QUICK!” Confused and seeing the obvious excited panic in his eyes and went to the door in my socks. Not 500ft from my house flames licked the cold night sky. They stretched far out the top of the roof in the front, smoke billowing out from underneath the shingles in the back. It’s a sickening feeling knowing your helpless. I had heard the fire horn about 30 minutes before but thought nothing of it until now. As I walked down towards my neighbors house I… [Read More]
Holding on to long
December 5th, 2007 Dana Fisher Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. ~Romans 12: 9-10 We as a human race have a tendency to hold on to things just a tad to long. How about that favorite t-shirt? The one will the moth size holes all in it. That’s still sitting in your bottom drawer and you’ll pull out every now and then to wear working around the house or working out at the gym. It’s probably time to let go but we have memories, sentimental ones, that we just don’t want to let go. That may be a very simplistic example but consider this; We all have fleshly desires and pitfalls that regardless of how strong our walk is with God we continue to hold on to. The longer we hold on to these materialist desires the more we are… [Read More]
