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 ‘sinner’
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 »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]
Why you should buy a Qur’an
April 4th, 2011 Dana Fisher Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul – Matthew 10:28 When you read this word: Muslim, what comes to mind? Hate? 9/11? Terrorists? Does your spin tingle a little and do you feel a little uncomfortable? Do you feel like they need to be “eradicated”? If this is you, if this feels familiar, you aren’t alone. I’d argue most feel like this but it’s important to understand that us trying to kill them is no better than them trying to kill us. Killing “in the name of God” is still killing and is explicitly forbidden by Jesus in Matthew 26:52 and the 10 commandments. Adding God to it is just defaming His name. I sat in church several weeks ago listing to a missionary who has been in Africa for 15 years(and is still there) with his family. He has set up… [Read More]
Posted in American Christianity, Missions Tags: believer, Christ, Christian, church, denomination, God, islam, Jesus, life, love, Matthew, missionary, muslim, muslin, pray, qur'an, radical, radical christian, radical christianity, sin, sinner, violence, witness 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 »It’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 OffYour religion teaches that?
May 31st, 2010 Dana Fisher When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” ~Matthew 12:2 I’ve been having some great challenging conversations with my new boss over the last several months. She’s Jewish and only believes the Old Testament but even from there her viewpoint is really of a secular nature. Our talks, during work no less, have covered sin, the flood, creation, Jesus’s life, and most recently Christians in general. Each time I have been challenged, stumped, and enlightened in some way and while I wasn’t shocked by the last one, it still sort of sat in my stomach for a while with a sickening feeling like eating a bad burrito. We started talking about illegal immigration, similar to my story several weeks ago about the immigration bill. I really don’t need to rehash the whole story, being that it was so… [Read More]
Posted in Non-Violent Resistance, Social Justice Tags: Christ, Christian, Christianity, christians, compassion, God, Jesus, Jew, John, love, Matthew, old testament, Pharisees, religion, sin, sinner No Comments »Revival at what cost?
May 19th, 2010 Dana Fisher There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling. ~Ephesians 4:4 I had been thinking about this over the last few weeks, how desperately we were all seeking revival and a change of heart. Not only in this country but around the world. My conversation last week with Christians about immigration(see here) spurred me to really think about it more. My conclusion is the Lord is moving…despite Christians. We can’t get out of our own way. It’s ridiculous. There is so much in-fighting. So much he-said / she-said bickering that the Lord is forced to use others in our place. You’re church is not “the body”, my church is not “the body”. We are ALL the body. Knock it off. Without a doubt, God is up there saying Knock it off. There is a lot of prayer going on around the… [Read More]
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 »Salt Water Taffy
March 19th, 2008 Dana Fisher …but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. – John 4:14 I love salt water taffy! One minute you’re chewing on cinnamon, the next mint chocolate. Any flavor you can imagine probably exists as a piece of salt water taffy somewhere. One of the best and worst parts is how chewy and sticky it really is. It gets stuck so far down in your teeth you taste it for hours. As I grabbed a piece from the candy jar at the pet store the other day it got me thinking; I’m just like this little piece of taffy. In the scope of things this little piece of taffy is insignificant. If it fell on the ground, or got dirty and was unusable we’d throw it away. We get dirty every day with sins we don’t even realize we commit. Yet Jesus comes along and cleans us off,… [Read More]
It smells so good!
January 16th, 2008 Dana Fisher Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. -Romans 6:11 A couple of months ago I was walking to my car after work and recognized an unmistakable smell; The smell of autumn. It was 45-50 degrees, the sun was beginning to set, and it just smelled like fall. I love that smell for some reason. Maybe it’s memories, maybe it’s the changing landscape but something about that smell seems calming. I started thinking about what the smell actually was and it dawned on me that it was leaves. And I started thinking about why leaves die and regrow, why they change color, and why do they smell so good in the fall. God gives us a perfect example of His word in a real world visual. See, leaves bud, the sun gives them light and they grow. They mature and turn in to a vibrant color… [Read More]
