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 ‘brother’
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 »A friend in need in Japan – Help needed
March 22nd, 2011 Dana Fisher This is from a friend of mines wife. Her best friends brother and family are currently stuck in Japan trying to get back to the US. Please read the below and if you can help in any way email Taryn at tarynjoy@gmail.com. There are many many stories like this and if you feel so led to directly help one family in need it would be a great blessing to them. -Dana ———————– As all of you know, Caroline’s brother Chris and his family live in Fukushima, Japan. Chris moved there a few years back to teach English. He fell in love with the Japanese culture and also a wonderful Japanese woman, Kanako. They now have 2 beautiful daughters, Penny (2 yrs old) and Rosalind (7 months). Kanako also has a son who is 11 and his name is Youta. Some of you have gotten the pleasure to meet them when… [Read More]
Posted in Missions Tags: brother, earthquake, fukushima japan, God, Japan, joy, life, light, love, nuclear meltdown, pray, prayer, sin, war No Comments »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]
Lausanne Movement – Worship
October 28th, 2010 Dana Fisher Back in 2003 I was at Fenway Park for game 4 of the divisional series against the Oakland A’s. The Red Sox had lost the first two games and would need to win the next 3 in order to advance. They won game 3 to stay alive and as game 4 was winding down it appeared their season was over. Down in the bottom of the eighth their bats came alive and with two outs Big Papi strode to the plate. Back then he was menacing. A giant superman logo was etched in his chest and fire came from his nostrils. Okay I made that up. But back then when he came to the plate you always felt like you were watching something special. With two out it would take a miracle for them to win. Ortiz slapped a double down the right field line, scoring the go ahead run… [Read More]
Posted in American Christianity, Non-Violent Resistance, Radical Christianity Tags: America, brother, Cape Town, Cape Town 2010, Christ, church, faith, Father, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, Lausanne, Lausanne Movement, life, Lord, love, miracle, muslim, peace, power, pray, prayer, sin, South Africa, struggle, witness, worship Comments OffMisguided Hate
September 2nd, 2010 Dana Fisher On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” ~Matthew 9:12-13 Remember building sand castles on the beach when you were a kid? Big colorful pails, filled with sand and water; You’d dump them over, tap on the top and gently slide it up, hoping it didn’t crumble. I was never really good at it, only being able to build those cylinders from pails and never building anything close to some of those masterpieces you see on tv, but it was still fun to build, sculpt, and play with friends and nearby beach goers. I’d build competitively against my brother or friends, who could build the best, biggest, or coolest castle. Inevitably, as your back was turned taking a… [Read More]
alive in this old town
April 4th, 2010 dave a few weeks ago i was with my brother james in nashville, and we ended up writing a couple of songs. i wrote this one with easter on my mind. the very basic concept is that there is a way that the world functions. that was is violent and self-serving. Jesus gives us a way to be alive in the presence of death. blood is calling from the ground. Christ came to breath life into that which was dead. those of us who know him are alive in this old town. here you go: everyone came out to fight to save their land and protect their rights they stole, they killed, they died they took their brothers lives but i’m alive in this old town i’m alive in this old town some were shown a different way a way to build and not to break they know the way of… [Read More]
old and new
March 25th, 2010 dave genesis 4:3-11: “in the course of time cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. and the LORD had regard for abel and his offering, but for cain and his offering he had no regard. so cain was very angry, and his face fell. the LORD said to cain, “why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? if you do well, will you not be accepted? and if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” cain spoke to abel his brother. and when they were in the field, cain rose up against his brother abel and killed him. then the LORD said to cain, “where is abel your brother?” de said,”i do not… [Read More]
legislate this
January 9th, 2010 dave John 8:2-11 (esv) - ”Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard… [Read More]
the hardest way to live
October 6th, 2009 dave hey everyone, thanks so much for all of your fantastic insight into this issue. i resonate with everything that was written and struggle with the implications of being a peacemaker in this world of violence. it is quite simply the most difficult way to live. i have questioned, for quite some time, why it seems to be true that Christians (more than other people i speak with) have a hard time accepting that God asks us to love (and do good) to our enemies, to bless those who curse us and to turn the other cheek. not only does he ask us to live this way, but God himself lived this way through Jesus Christ. why is it that we praise the martyrs of 1st and 2nd century christianity, but we are now baffled by those who would rather die and kill? why do we continue to pluck out our… [Read More]
Posted in Non-Violent Resistance Tags: brother, Christ, Christian, Christianity, christians, cross, curse, desire, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, love, peace, praise, Savior, struggle, theology No Comments »Confrontation for Growth
September 28th, 2009 Dana Fisher Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ~Matthew 10:34 Confrontation is always a hard pill to swallow for all the people involved. It’s always awkward and almost always involves some one calling someone else out on an issue of sin in their lives. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:4, “How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?” We all have our issues but when is the time to tell that brother or sister that what they are doing needs to stop? For anyone who knows me, they understand that there is no in between with me. I’m rough around the edges and don’t shy away from situations I feel warrant a voice. Never-the-less it… [Read More]
