<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18812">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Whenever the Divine appears, it is a radical attack on
everything that is good in man, and therefore man must repel it, must push it
away, must crucify it. Whenever the Divine manifests Itself as the new reality,
it must be rejected by the representatives of the old reality. For the Divine
does not complete the human; it revolts against the human. Because of that, the
human must defend itself against it, must reject it, and must try to destroy it.
</FONT><FONT size=4 face="Times New Roman">Yet when the Divine is rejected, it
takes the rejection upon Itself. it accepts our crucifixion, our pushing away,
the defense of ourselves against it. It accepts our refusal to accept, and thus
conquers us. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=378&C=82"><FONT
size=4>http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=378&C=82</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Paul Tillich, 1955 </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>A few years ago, a large department store tried marketing a
doll in the form of the baby Jesus. The advertisements described it as being
"washable, cuddly, and unbreakable," and it was neatly packaged in straw, satin,
and plastic. To complete the package, the manufacturer added biblical text
appropriate to the baby Jesus. To the department store executives, it looked
like a sure-fire winner, a real moneymaker. But they were wrong. It didn't sell.
In a last-ditch effort to get rid of these dolls, one of the store managers
placed a huge sign in one of the store windows. It read:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=4>Jesus Christ <BR>Marked down 50% <BR>Get him while you
can.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>Before we're too critical of the markdown, let's think of how we
ask people to get involved in the church. <BR>* It doesn't demand much of you.
<BR>* It doesn't take much time </FONT></P>
<P><A href="http://day1.org/498-read_the_fine_print"><FONT
size=4>http://day1.org/498-read_the_fine_print</FONT></A></P>
<P><FONT size=4>The Rev. Dr. B. Wiley Stephens, 2003</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Harriet Tubman was a brave woman who escaped slavery during
the Civil War. Despite a huge reward for her capture, she returned to the
slave-holding states over nineteen times to lead hundreds of African-Americans
out of slavery's clutches into territory where they could live with liberty.
Harriet Tubman was a Christian and she became a great warrior in the battle to
dismantle the cruel institution of slavery. When asked about the source of her
fearless strength, she would always say: "It wasn't me, it was the Lord. I
always told him, ?I trust you. I don't know where to go or what to do, but I
expect you to lead me.¹ And he always did." Harriet Tubman, the Black Moses, was
never captured</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://day1.org/664-lead_follow_or_get_out_of_the_way"><FONT
size=4>http://day1.org/664-lead_follow_or_get_out_of_the_way</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>The Rev. Dr. Harvard Stephens, Jr., </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Simon Peter doesn't understand this and, frankly, I can't
blame him. It's a difficult message to hear. If anybody wants help from Jesus,
they must remember how he endured suffering and rejection. Jesus did not swoop
down from heaven ready to snatch us from the earth. Rather, he came down to
earth and stayed here until he was buried in the ground. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://day1.org/690-revising_the_agenda"><FONT
size=4>http://day1.org/690-revising_the_agenda</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The Rev. William Carter, 2000</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>By following a crucified Christ, we can come clean with our
own vulnerability. No longer do we have to hide behind a mask of stoic control
nor wear the protective armor of vulnerability. We can face our weaknesses, and
even share with Paul the assurance that "when I am weak then I am strong." We
can take up a cross with the full assurance that One has gone before us and now
shares its weight and pain.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://day1.org/830-why_follow_christ"><FONT
size=4>http://day1.org/830-why_follow_christ</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The Reverend Kenneth L. Carder</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Philip Yancey in his book ?The Jesus I Never Knew,? writes
about this joy. He says that his career as a journalist afforded him
opportunities to interview famous people, "stars", including NFL football
greats, authors, politicians and so on. These are the people who dominate the
media, folks whose lives seem overflowing with blessings. Instead he found a
group of people tormented by self-doubt and worse. </FONT><FONT size=4>He
also spent time among the people he calls "servants." Doctors and nurses who
work among the outcast, a Princeton graduate who runs a hotel for homeless in
Chicago, relief workers in Somalia, and ordinary folks who devote themselves to
caring for one another. He said he was prepared to honor and admire the
"servants", to hold them up as inspiring examples. He was not, however, prepared
to envy them. But he did. He found the "servants" possessed qualities of depth
and richness and even joy that he had not found elsewhere.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://day1.org/859-living_loving_and_giving"><FONT
size=4>http://day1.org/859-living_loving_and_giving</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The Rev. Winifred Collin, 1997 </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>