When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” – John 5:6 Community and missions are viewed differently out here in Colorado than it was back home. They had a missions day at church a few weeks back and no less than 12-15 different non-profit organizations lined the foyer. Many overlapped with each other, tackling the same issue and others had multiple goals(helping homeless, tutoring kids, and community renovation all wrapped in to one). I was stunned by how many opportunities there were and how many people were actively signing up on the sheets at each table. I’ve also spoke with 3 different people about helping them set up their nonprofits from human trafficking to a needs based website linking those with extra with those who need. All of this has… [Read More]
Posts Tagged ‘christians’
Shooting Ourselves in the Foot
March 4th, 2011 
Dana Fisher What will it take for us to get it through our thick skulls that bringing a fight is not the answer? That anger only begets more anger? That hatred has no place in the life of a Christian? That Jesus would never hold a picket sign of malice and in fact would be comforting those in pain and hurting. That he would be crying with them. I normally brush aside silly antics by misguided religious folk. The last thing they need is attention. If I’ve learned anything I’ve learned that attention just feeds the drama, causing it to grow unnecessarily. But sometimes it pushes the envelope to the point I’m embarrassed to say I’m a Christian and feel the need to defend the faith I’m passionate about. This is not how Christianity is! A few misguided people taint the whole bunch. Westboro Baptist Church is doing just that. A sign… [Read More]
Posted in American Christianity, Non-Violent Resistance 
Tags: baptist, Christ, Christian, Christianity, christians, church, death, faith, Father, God, Jesus, life, love, pain, pray, revenge, sin 
No Comments »Jesus Creed
February 23rd, 2011 Dana Fisher This was originally authored by John Shorack and posted by a friend of mine, Tim Colegrove on his blog site Tanks to Tractors. I couldn’t help but repost again. Manifesto We confess that Jesus is Lord, the full revelation of the God of the Old Testament and that before Him every knee will bow. We confess that Jesus is Christ, Israel’s Messiah, and Savior of the world who conquered the power of evil on the cross. We agree with Jesus’ call to undivided allegiance to God: “No one can serve two masters…” (Matt 6:24), and “Love the Lord your God with all your heart…and your neighbor as yourself.” We also reaffirm that: “God so loved the world…” and has sent us with that love to society’s outcasts and our country’s enemies. Like Jesus, we must say ‘yes’ to the kingdom of God, and ‘no’ to all allegiances that compromise the furthering of… [Read More]
Posted in Non-Violent Resistance, Prayers Tags: America, Broken Stones, change, Christ, Christian, christians, church, cross, death, evil, forgiveness, God, heart, Holy, Holy Spirit, israel, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, kingdom, kingdom of God, life, Lord, love, messiah, old testament, peace, power, Repent, resurrection, revelation, satan, Savior, sin, sinner, Spirit, violence, war, witness No Comments »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]
The 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]
religion and evil: a random rant
October 25th, 2010 dave is religion the cause of evil and suffering in this world? this is a question i have heard answered in the affirmative by many an atheist. while i can’t say that i blame them for feeling this way in our day, historically speaking, nothing could be further from the truth. in fact, just the opposite seems to be true. throughout history, it has been the powerful and educated in society who have manipulated the misinformed and undereducated in order to co-opt their faith with the ideological and/or political pursuits of the elite (see adolf hitler). even a cursory view of the history of the christian faith will prove that what drove the violence in the first 4 centuries a.d. was that of a pursuit of political power to be attained and/or maintained. early christian history proves that those who did not render full allegiance to the powers that be were… [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 OffLausanne Movement – Small Cogs
October 15th, 2010 Dana Fisher I realize the Bible says blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed(John 20:29), but for us as people, it proves very difficult. If it weren’t, all of us would perhaps be saved just by word of mouth and nothing more. To experience the Lausanne Congress from the inside is a unique perspective and while I can do my best to describe the sites, sounds, and experiences here it would not do justice to the great expansive effort being put forward here by everyone. Sometimes seeing is believing. Yesterday was spent in meetings, training, and a tour of the venue getting an overview of how things are going to play out. In the main hall crews worked through the night on lifts wiring up lighting, while other crews constructed a bookstore and registration booths. Early in the morning as we headed out to our offsite meeting things… [Read More]
Posted in Prayers Tags: bible, Cape Town 2010, Christ, Christian, christians, evangelization, glory, intercessory, John, joy, justice, Lausanne, Lausanne Movement, life, light, miracle, saved, sin, war Comments OffIt’s Real Love
August 16th, 2010 Dana Fisher But you – who are you to judge your neighbor? ~James 4:12 Last week a local newspaper headline began with the words “Bible Thumping Pastor…” A friend posted a status saying to call them and complain over the attack on Christians. Curious, I did a little searching and was able to find the article online and read it. After reading it, it didn’t seem so bad so I asked what was bad and if he had read it. His response: He hadn’t even read the article. Proverbs 21:23 says “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.” I have always read that and thought, “don’t call people jerks” or “don’t swear”, but this situation made me realize it also includes speaking inaccurately, and swaying peoples opinions on things I don’t know or fully understand. The comment itself wasn’t bad but swaying someone into believing a lie… [Read More]
Posted in American Christianity, Radical Christianity Tags: 1 peter, bible, Christ, Christian, Christianity, christians, compassion, grace, James, Jesus, love, mercy, proverbs, religion, sin, sinner Comments Off
