<!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>I went with a group of FTE Ministry Fellows to visit
Church of the Saviour in Washington, D.C., a model for leadership and
congregational life that is very different. And we were privileged to sit "in
the house" with Gordon Cosby, the ninety-two year old founder of this
intentional Christian community formed around the call of every person. In a
simple circle, there we sat with this frail little man with a gentle voice
turning our ideas of church and ministry upside down.
<P>He warned us at the outset that he would respond to our questions--that are
very much alive in him--in ways that we were not accustomed to. We were not
prepared for what he said. To be called, he said, is a calling to be a new
creature in Christ; to be a new being. So the vocation question for him is,
"Will you become who you are intended to be?" </P>
<P>Cosby's focus is on the being of leadership--the who of leadership--and not
the doing. "Doing is easier," he said. There are some questions to be asked
regarding this becoming: Are you holding on to control--can you relinquish
control? Do you feel safe enough to let go--are you fearless? Are you enlarging
the family--are you welcoming strangers and little children? Are you deepening
those relationships? Then he told us, contemplative prayer, practicing letting
Jesus into our lives, is the way to prepare for a life in these questions. </P>
<P><A href="http://day1.org/1435-insignificant_greatness"><FONT
size=4>http://day1.org/1435-insignificant_greatness</FONT></A></P>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Stephen Lewis, 2009</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In antiquity, childhood was a time of terror. 1/3 of live
births ended in death. 2/3 of children died before the age of 16. Disease and
hygiene wiped out 2/3 of the child population. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/archiv-8/060924-7-e.html">http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/archiv-8/060924-7-e.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Jim Mueller, 2006<BR>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=4>In his later years, Shanghai invited some of his friends from
Boston to visit him on his ranch. He toured them throughout the complex,
braggadociously noting his considerable accomplishments in developing this
veritable city. As they rode through the dusty streets in a buggy driven by two
white horses, Shanghai would point out the various landmarks. "Well, over
there's the commissary. Best in the territory. And over there's the school. Two
rooms, not one. And over there's the livery. The best blacksmith in the state of
Texas. And over there is the saloon. Finest whiskey on this side of the
Mississippi." And the list went on and on, as Shanghai puffed out his chest like
his namesake rooster.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>As they were continuing on Shanghai's tour, one of his guests
spotted the steeple of a church set in a group of mesquite trees. He asked his
host, "Shanghai, do you belong to that church?" Shanghai spat out some tobacco
juice and bellowed, "Hell, no! That church belongs to me."</FONT></P>
<P><A href="http://day1.org/1009-shanghaied"><FONT
size=4>http://day1.org/1009-shanghaied</FONT></A></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>David Galloway </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>I looked up pictures from the Internet under the category
“Jesus, children.” There were more than 16,000 pictures of Jesus with children.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=4><></FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Yesterday, I had a wedding and a funeral. I would like to
share with you the story of the funeral. It was the funeral of Bill Grant who
died at age 59 from pancreatic cancer. Bill was married to Mary for almost forty
years. Our sanctuary was nearly full. Here in the front right were seated men
and women who went to Mississippi with Bill to help rebuild homes after the
hurricane. Bill was in charge of the feeding of 300 folks each day, beginning at
4:00 AM and ending at 8:00 PM. Over there on the left were the young men and
women from Bill and Mary's restaurant who worked for Bill and Mary and thought
that they had the best bosses in the world.
<P>During the open microphone time, a young man stood up to speak. He was in his
young twenties and he was one of the twenty four infants who Bill and Mary had
taken care of in his first two years of life. Yes, Bill and Mary had been foster
parents to twenty four infants. He told how he didn't remember but knew that he
had been raised by Bill and Mary for this first two years. After that, Bill and
Mary sent him and his brothers and sisters cards twice a year, at Christmas and
at their birthdays. He said that he loved those birthday cards and Christmas
cards. This young man told of going to the state mental hospital each year to
see his biological mother who was declared legally incompetent to care for him,
even when he was an infant. As this young man went to see his biological mother
in the mental hospital, he said that as he read the list of people who visited
his biological mother, he realized his emotionally disturbed mother had four
visitors a year. This young man told that Bill and his son Michael went to see
his biological mother on this past Christmas day to see his biological mother,
even though Bill and son didn't know this woman. This young man was deeply
touched by Bill's compassion for his mom. </P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_b_jesus_loves_all_the_little_children_of_the_world.htm"><FONT
size=4>http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_b_jesus_loves_all_the_little_children_of_the_world.htm</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=4></FONT></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Edward F. Markquart</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML>