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]
Posts Tagged ‘hell’
Hey Rob, I gave Love Wins away
March 29th, 2011 
Dana Fisher I gave your book away. With all the controversy surrounding Love Wins, rather than take someones word for it I wanted to read it for myself. So when it was finally released, I ordered myself a copy and had it shipped out. It arrived just in time for a plane ride to Boston and I read half of it on the way there Friday night. Early Tuesday morning I boarded my plane back to Denver. Exhausted from a whirlwind weekend of visiting friends, family, and a missions trip presentation, I plopped into my window seat ready for a 4hr nap. But sometimes that isn’t what the Lord has for us. About a half hour into the flight they moved a lady into the empty seat next to me because her tv didn’t work. With my eyes closed and head resting against the wall of the plane I ignored it and… [Read More]
Why I love Buddha
March 6th, 2011 Dana Fisher Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. -1 Peter 4:8 A few years ago, me and Dave would grab coffee in downtown Quincy after serving meals at the Crisis Center and just talk about controversial topics in Christianity: war, soldiers, guns, world religions, etc… Having grown up together, we could do this with civility even with opposing views because we loved each other regardless. Our differing views didn’t prevent either of us from going to heaven, we weren’t debating whether Jesus was just a man, but merely things with which many a Christian struggles to define. He had already known where I was coming from, both growing up in similar church surroundings(and sometimes the same one), and I wanted to understand better where he was coming from. The ideas he was throwing at me were strange, yet sounded and felt right in my… [Read More]
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 OffKeep your sword, I’ll keep my Jesus
May 10th, 2010 Dana Fisher I am stunned by the lack of compassion and the brutal use of force by Christians. My Jesus never did any of that. I’m at a loss. The below conversation is real. I’ve only removed the names for anonymity. Below it you will find my thoughts about the whole thing. This conversation started as a result of a comment about the immigration law that was recently passed in Arizona PERSON 1 “is planning a trip out to Az. I will support them regardless of what the uninformed Boston city council says.” Now, these are the comments that followed: Dana Fisher: Maybe we should reread James 2. Maybe their motives aren’t pure and maybe they are trying to take advantage but who are we to judge? Hasn’t Christ called us to something higher than persecuting someone because they are from another country? Since when was this land “ours” and not the… [Read More]
Posted in American Christianity, Social Justice Tags: America, bible, change, Christ, Christian, Christianity, christians, compassion, cross, death, Ephesians, eternal, fear, God, gospel, hell, James, Jesus, justice, kingdom, life, Lord, love, Luke, Mark, Matthew, money, murder, old testament, peace, Peter, romans, satan, sin, sinner, sins, Spirit, spiritual, struggle, temple, truth, uncategorized, violence, war No Comments »Move with a sense of urgency
April 9th, 2010 Dana Fisher Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first… 2 Thessalonians 2:3 I see two things happening recently that are disturbing and exciting at the same time: A lack of enthusiasm and energy from Christians In-fighting within Christian circles I have a couple of friends that lead youth groups or young adult studies at various churches. A once vibrant young adults study of 30-40 has fallen to 1-2 people a week. Another which was 15 or so is now dwindled to those same numbers of just 1 or 2. From church to church the effort to do for Christ has shifted to “do for me”. Everyone is becoming lazy and apathetic. Kids aren’t excited to go to youth group, they are excited for events. “What can keep me entertained?” As people leave one church and head to another(for various… [Read More]
Posted in American Christianity Tags: Christ, Christian, Christianity, church, destruction, hell, Herod, Jew, messiah, Paul, satan, Saul, Thessalonians No Comments »Are you satisfied?
March 26th, 2010 Dana Fisher …that they might be with Him and the he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. ~Mark 3:14-15 Am I satisfied with 2 out of 3? We can be complacent and okay with being with him and speaking about Him openly but what about the authority He has given us? The authority to bring change to someone else life. Am I willing to take that next step and grab hold of the authority? The short answer, for me anyway, is no. I’ve been completely satisfied rolling along in my life living day by day. And each day I wake up and ask myself “what am I doing?”, yet I keep doing it over and over. I’m saved, and if it gets brought up I’m happy to say that I believe in Jesus and what He’s done for me, but I lack the faith… [Read More]
why does God allow satan to live?
November 28th, 2008 dave this little excerpt is taken from John Piper’s blog (you can read the rest here): Why does God allow Satan to live? …before I answer it, let’s make sure that we agree that it is true that God could take Satan out anytime he chose. Because I think there are some who would say, “He really can’t, because of some rights (or authority, independence, free will, etc.) that Satan has.” But the reason I know God can take Satan out without turning me into an automaton or breaking any rules is because he is going to take him out. He is going to throw him in the lake of fire. And the question is, “Why didn’t he do it yesterday? If he had done it yesterday I wouldn’t be tempted the way I am today. The Bible says, ‘Lead me not into temptation.’ Well, the best way not to be… [Read More]
Posted in American Christianity Tags: authority, bible, calvinism, Christ, death, eternal, God, gospel, hell, Holy, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, kingdom, life, love, murder, pain, power, relationship, satan, sin, Spirit, struggle, temptation No Comments »You’re an equal
January 30th, 2008 Dana Fisher …Proclaim to it the message I give to you. – Jonah 3:2 Yesterday was media day at the Super Bowl. A general circus of reporters clamour for players attention and ask some of the most ludicrous questions you could imagine. My team, the Patriots, are in the Super Bowl this year and as such I was interested in what would be said, who would be talking, etc… About 20 minutes in to the event a reporter asked Tom Brady what his purpose in life was. “Why do you have this platform?” he asked. Hmmm… Jonah had a platform. He was charged with going into Nineveh and proclaiming God’s message. Scared, he ran from God but our God is so big there’s nowhere to hide. God will never force us to do what he asks but we will face trials by disobeying. Once we obey we find that what He asks… [Read More]
Posted in Christian Living, Radical Christianity Tags: brother, change, Christ, Christian, destruction, God, hell, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jonah, life, Lord, Nineveh, praise, Psalm, salvation, saved, sin, trial, trials No Comments »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]
