as a preface to the second part of my ‘growing up christian’ post i’d like to make it clear that i am in no way attempting to be negative or overly critical. i am simply interested in digging up my past in a way that will move me forward to being more Christ-like. if it ever comes of like i’m preaching, it’s because i’m pleading with myself to keep going. i got way off track in my first post and didn’t bother to edit it, so i will try to be more focused in this one. preface done. so much of what we learn as evangelicals is that there are a specific set of core beliefs that one must affirm in order to be considered “in the fold,” so to speak. this list includes the following doctrinal affirmations: God created the world in six days (literal or figurative), we are… [Read More]
Posts Tagged ‘God’
growing up christian (part dos)
August 5th, 2011 
dave 
Posted in American Christianity 
Tags: angel, bullhorn, Christ, Christian, cross, Dave Capozzi, death, disciples, eternal, faith, faithful, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, life, love, religion, resurrection, scripture, sin, sinner, sins, struggle, turn or burn, war 
No Comments »growing up christian
July 18th, 2011 dave 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]
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 »Love lacks a deadline
July 4th, 2011 Dana Fisher When I was a young teenager my uncle came out and told us he was gay. I remember some shock from family, but I don’t remember too much overall. There were no mass hysterics(at least not visibly amongst us kids) and he certainly wasn’t ostracized. In essence, nothing really changed inside the family dynamic. The foundation of love still existed. Years later at 19 years old I took a job as an intern at Bayer Diagnostics working with my dad. Not long before that my uncle had been diagnosed with lung cancer after smoking most of his life. He lived fairly close, and having worked there himself at one point, would come down often to visit former friends and co-workers. I spent quite a few lunch breaks walking to the local pizza shop with him and my dad, hanging out and just chatting. That summer means a lot to me. … [Read More]
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]
Jubilee
June 18th, 2011 Dana Fisher Creation sees you and starts composing -Michael Gungor As I relaxed on the second floor porch letting the warm breeze rush across my face I watched dark thunderstorms roll over the rockies. Chris was out there with me casually smoking a cigarette, as we somehow began reminiscing about when we were younger. “Remember when we used to catch frogs?” he said after a few back and forth memories going through the years in chronological order. I hadn’t thought about it in so long as a rush of memories came flooding back into the plains of my mind. Bogs and woods, staying out past dark building forts in the most dangerous of trees. I’ll never figure out how one of us or our friends weren’t horribly hurt falling 30 feet out of some tree fort built with old scraps of wood we found behind houses. Not far from our childhood house… [Read More]
Posted in Justice, Politics Tags: America, change, creation, cross, God, heart, homelessness, life, lion, Michael Gungor, sin, war No Comments »Awake from your Slumber
May 24th, 2011 Dana Fisher pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks ~1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 My prayer life has sucked lately. It’s one of those things you don’t dare say as a Christian but if we are honest with each other I think we can all admit we have times where we just struggle with some particular part of our walk, whether it be prayer or reading or being kind or patient. For whatever reason though it’s okay to admit we are struggling with patience but prayer and staying in the Word seem uncouth as if we lose part of our Christianity if we dare admit it. I’m unclear why I felt dried up in this area. In reflection there are things on the horizon for me which will require deeper strength and diligence and wisdom. Perhaps like a tree without water I needed to be thirsty in order to grow roots much deeper into… [Read More]
Posted in Radical Christianity Tags: Christ, Christian, Christianity, Community, fervent prayer, God, patience, prayer, romans, sin, Spirit, Thessalonians, trust, weakness No Comments »
Constant Tweaks
May 8th, 2011 Dana Fisher But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. – Jeremiah 18:4 Out in the Denver art museum lies my favorite piece of art called Release Your Plans by Daniel Sprick. I’m not much of an art buff, I don’t understand all the underlying meanings, I couldn’t tell you much if anything about the techniques someone used but every now and then some piece catches my eye and ignites the imagination. The painting is tucked in a corner surrounded by a cushioned bench so you can sit and gaze for a few moments. This time I spent 5-10 minutes in front of it studying it’s intricacies and looking for things I had missed. I noticed on the side wall next to the bench a small book sitting in a shelf… [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]
Guns for Gloves
April 25th, 2011 Dana Fisher Lord, should we strike with our swords? And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him. ~Luke 22:49-51 I picture life as concentric circles, like a tree with age rings, spiraling outward. Each moment has a beginning and an end but failing to learn from any one of them can have you spinning, tracing the same circle over and over. Learn from your mistake and start a new circle and like a tree with a new growth ring, so you grow as well. In 2006 I got what is known as an “LTC”, it’s a license to carry concealed firearms. Me and a buddy got it together with plans of hunting and protecting our homes. It seemed cool and macho and what a good Christian does. To… [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 »
