a small group of guys that i am a part of has been discussing the atonement as a result of watching this video featuring mark driscoll, pastor of mars hill church in seattle, washington. i want to share some quotes with you all from this video: “god hates all who do evil.” “we sin, God hates us!” ”we do what we are!” interesting. how do we reconcile this with john 3:16, never mind a whole score of passages in scripture that speak of God’s intense love for humanity, despite their wickedness? interesting that it doesn’t say that god so hated the evildoers of the world that he sent his only son to redeem them. this is not to say that it doesn’t in fact say that God hates evildoers in psalm 5:5, but we must not take one verse and apply an emotion or characteristic to God that seems entirely inconsistent when… [Read More]
Posts Tagged ‘peace’
god hates us
May 28th, 2010 
dave 
Posted in American Christianity, Non-Violent Resistance 
Tags: Christ, Christianity, church, creation, evil, God, gospel, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, justice, kingdom, kingdom of God, love, Mark, mark driscoll, mars hill, mercy, peace, Psalm, revelation, scripture, sin, war 
No Comments »Keep 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 »peace at the fcm
April 12th, 2010 dave hola friends, peace came rolling into the faith covenant meal today. at around 12:45 a group of people doing a “peace walk”, aimed at ending the production of nuclear weapons, strolled into the first parish church in quincy asking if they could share a meal with me. the walk began in vermont and is ending at the united nations, just in time to make their voice heard before a discussion takes place regarding a nuclear non-proliferation treaty. this was a very cool experience for me, not only because i am a firm believer in non-violent resistance, but also because i found solidarity with folks from different faith traditions who hold to the same convictions that i do(they were 3 buddhist monks, a few unitarians and a couple christians). seeing these people in action made me want to follow the way of Jesus even more closely. they were passionate and kind,… [Read More]
Posted in Non-Violent Resistance, Social Justice Tags: church, faith, God, Jesus, love, peace, pray, witness No Comments »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]
This little light of mine
April 2nd, 2010 Dana Fisher I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ~2 Timothy 1:6 I’m sure most of you have heard the song, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine! Hide it under a bush, oh no! I’m gonna let it shine…” and I pose this question: Why do we always make it little?” We seem to do just enough to be Christian and just enough to conform to the world and not be labeled weirdos. In a world of black and white we live in shades of grey. Perhaps your grey is lighter than mine, but we fail to pick a side. Because of this our flame never gets any bigger. We keep it small, tend to it on Sundays and forget about it for the next 6 days. Revelation 3:15 says “I know your… [Read More]
Posted in American Christianity, Social Justice Tags: 2 timothy, change, Christ, Christian, desire, God, heart, Jesus, Jesus Christ, life, light, Lord, peace, pray, prayer, revelation, sin, Spirit, Vance Havner, war No Comments »all sins being equal
April 1st, 2010 dave over the past few years it has become blatantly obvious to me that homosexuality is considered (by most religions) to be one of the greater sins of humanity. many who express this viewpoint often hide behind the ‘no sin is greater than another’ statement, but in truth, homosexuality often takes the cake in thought and practice. with that in mind, i began to think about other sins that are tolerated and even glorified in our culture. some of you already know where i am going with this, so i might as well just say it…what about violence? murder? despising our enemies? revenge? these are all sins (according to the sermon on the mount and numerous other new testament passages) that are looked upon favorably in this nation of ours. it is very clear through the teachings of Christ and his disciples that a heart bent on revenge and violence is… [Read More]
Posted in American Christianity, Non-Violent Resistance Tags: bible, Christ, God, heart, homosexuality, kingdom, peace, revenge, scripture, sermon, sin, truth No Comments »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]
mustard seed kingdom
February 11th, 2010 dave mark 4:30-32 30 “and he said, “with what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? it is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” everything in this world is done to the max. $500,000,000 movies, 110 story buildings, double-decker planes, mega-churches, etc. Jesus came announcing something totally different. Jesus gave us a way out of the empire. he gave us a way to escape the onslaught of massive production and hype. the lowest of the low are exalted in this mustard seed kingdom. everyone who is seemingly meaningless and insignificant will be called great and… [Read More]
Posted in Radical Christianity Tags: church, death, God, Jesus, kingdom, kingdom of God, life, love, Mark, messiah, money, mustard seed, peace, power, truth No Comments »reality
January 31st, 2010 dave which ‘reality’ do you live in? option 1. there is the reality of the world that we live in each and every day. this is the natural world. a world where justice is a consumer product, where war is always at our doorstep and where peace is only found in fairy tales. option 2. there is the reality we create for ourselves. a world that answers only to our own circumstances. in this world nothing outside of our own sphere of influence can truly affect us. option 3. there is the reality of the world that Jesus taught us about. a world yet to come, but one hoped for and seen in moments and glimpses. a world where the meek are kings and queens. a world where the impoverished and starved are wealthy and well fed. do we hold onto this coming reality, seeking to advance its truth here and now, or do… [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 »
