wow, it’s been a while. i miss the blogosphere community that once was, and hope that it hasn’t forgotten about me! lately i have been thinking a lot about my life and the events/systems of thinking that have shaped the way i interact with God, people and nature. this current stream of thoughts has led me to remember the stumbling blocks that once stood in the way of embracing the Father of my Rabbi. i remembered the first of many questions that would jump start my inevitable crisis of faith, and recalled my inability to embrace the teaching that Jesus lived and died to forgive me of my sins and that his death opened up the pathway to go to heaven. this came during a time that i remember hearing the notion that if i were the only person on earth, Jesus would still have died for my sins. i… [Read More]
Posts Tagged ‘bible’
growing up christian
July 18th, 2011 
dave 
Posted in American Christianity 
Tags: bible, Christ, Christian, Community, faith, God, grace, Jesus, kingdom, kingdom of God, pray, sermon on the mount, sin 
No Comments »What Jesus may have said
June 29th, 2011 Dana Fisher I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. – John 13:17 There are many things I will take away from my time at the Wild Goose Festival in North Carolina this past weekend of which I plan to write in depth on after a little(and much needed) digestion. One question raised in passing during one conversation was the wish that we had more, if not all, of what Jesus said. It is true that we have just a small portion of his 33 years of life wrapped up in the pages of our Bibles but I had never heard this sort of disappointment almost at the fact we did not have more. Mainly for my own benefit I wanted to hash that out in words. In order… [Read More]
Superman a Christian?
April 28th, 2011 Dana Fisher When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere. ~Luke 9:1-2, 6 I read a neat article today about the latest superman comic book. In short, superman goes to support protests in the Middle East. The U.S.A. is pissed that he did it, and Iran views his actions as that of the U.S.(and president) and an act of war. Realizing that he wants to go beyond helping one specific subset of people and that the only way to avoid the political red tape/mess he renounces his citizenship so he can become more global and less national. One of the interesting quotes from the… [Read More]
Through a Child’s eyes
April 21st, 2011 Dana Fisher 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]
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 »Become a movement
March 25th, 2011 Dana Fisher If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. ~Philippians 2:1-4(The Message) Imagine losing everything. Imagine uprooting your entire family. Your house is gone. Your clothes. Your children’s toy and books, your photographs and memories crushed. Imagine your job is gone and the only option you have left is to leave your country. Imagine. What kind of panic would settle in your mind? What kind… [Read More]
Sacrifice for a King
March 10th, 2011 Dana Fisher “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter- when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; Isaiah 58: 6-8 I would encourage you to read the whole chapter of Isaiah 58. What a cool picture of true fasting. A day removed from the beginning of lent I started to reflect on the beginning of my journey. Not yesterday, but my journey from my previous thoughts on fasting to where I am now as I start out on my 40 days. I humbly… [Read More]
Suffering for Christ
January 30th, 2011 Dana Fisher But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. ~1 Peter 4:13 You ever notice the more you veer towards the Lord the harder life becomes? That straight and narrow path is narrow for a reason and sometimes, certainly for me, it feels as if either side is a ledge. When I look back at some of the big trials in my life I see a moment in time on that same point where I made a decision for Christ and against the World. We don’t teach that in Sunday School. We teach hey come give your life to Jesus and watch the blessings flow. I believe Christianity need come with a warning. Those blessings do abound but they come at a price. They also often come inside peace that surpasses understanding. I realize this is hard… [Read More]
Posted in American Christianity Tags: 1 peter, 2 timothy, bible, blessings, Christ, Christian, Christianity, christians, death, devil, evil, fear, glory, God, Isaiah, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, life, Lord, love, Luke, peace, Peter, Psalm, satan, scripture, sin, Spirit, spiritual, Timothy, trial, trials, trust, truth, war Comments OffHidden Idols
January 12th, 2011 Dana Fisher While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. ~Acts 17:16 In our Monday study we breached the subject of idols this week. As we talked about what some idols are the basics came up, television, wealth, success, sex, etc.. but the conversation took a deeper turn. What are hidden idols? What are idols that Christians sometimes use and justify? One girl posed a great question. “I wonder if we can sometimes project our lives into our beliefs and make them(Christian beliefs skewed by our life choices) idols?” Tim Keller in his book Counterfeit Gods uses Jonah as an example. Knowing that the Ninevites were an enemy of Israel, if God was willing to grant them grace it could potentially mean bad things for Israel. Jonah’s willingness to protect Israel went against God’s will. I heard a leader… [Read More]
Distant Thanksgiving
November 30th, 2010 Dana Fisher You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. ~2 Corinthians 9:11 For the first time in my life I didn’t wake up to the smell of Thanksgiving day. There was no turkey in the oven, no pies on the counter, no potatoes being boiled. I was in a foreign place, completely across the country without the usual cast of characters(family and friends) around me. Coming here was something I knew I had to do and I certainly felt an air of confidence that the Lord would fulfill me if I was patient, but it was still a little weird waking up this morning. When I first got here my friend said a friend of his had invited us all over for Thanksgiving. I wasn’t overly excited about it but it would… [Read More]
Posted in Christian Living, Radical Christianity Tags: 2 corinthians, bible, Community, Corinthians, faith, faithful, God, Lord, sin Comments OffWielding your Knife
November 10th, 2010 Dana Fisher Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ~Genesis 22:10 As I made my way through customs on U.S. soil I knew the attacks would be coming swiftly. No sooner do we come down off the mountain with Jesus then the wave of doubt and destruction and hardships come crashing against us like the ocean hitting the sea wall. Sure enough, I set my bags in the car, sat down in the passenger seat and it began. I would be headed to Denver soon, uprooting my entire life, leaving my friends, family, and church behind. Most of my possessions would be gone and I would be traveling with only what would fit in two cars. It was not an easy decision by any means and one with which I wrestled for a very long time(and even still struggle with even after the fact). It… [Read More]
