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<DIV><FONT size=4>I once got a phone call from a retired minister who wanted an
appointment with me. When we were together, I kept waiting for the shoe to drop,
for the thing he had come for to reveal itself. Whatever it was, I knew it would
be concrete -- an illness, a lapse, a fear, an alienated loved one. It might
have been anything. And so we talked and I waited. Finally, as he was leaving, I
understood. There was something concrete that had brought him to me. But I was
totally unprepared for what it was. He never put it into words, but what he
wanted was to open the locked door of his retirement by praying for a younger
minister, someone who was doing each day the things that he used to do. He
wanted to pray the power he had known in his own life of service, to share the
commission, and so he knelt and took my hand and prayed for my ministry. With
his words and his posture, it was as if he breathed on me a power that was
neither his or mine. There was no one else in the room you would have been able
to see had you looked in the window--just two followers, one old, one younger,
but someone else was there giving both of us what we needed to serve
him.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://day1.org/518-handwitness_testimony">http://day1.org/518-handwitness_testimony</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Catherine Taylor</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>I discovered that Christians can become fixated on their
Sunday school theology and not move beyond it; and I also discovered that a
person can become fixated on their doubts and not move beyond them.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_c_thomas_the_doubter.htm">http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_c_thomas_the_doubter.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Edward F. Markquart</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>Centuries ago, Copernicus doubted that the
earth was the center of the universe and Christians round him were using the
Bible and quoting the Bible to prove that the earth was the center of the
universe. His doubt of their reading of the Bible lead him to a larger and
deeper understanding of the Christian faith.<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O:P>
</O:P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>Centuries ago, during the time of Columbus,
certain Christians were using the Bible and quoting the Bible that the earth was
flat and had edges and if you sailed too far, your boat would fall over the edge
off the earth. Columbus doubted the Christianity he had been taught, and his
doubts led to a deeper and larger faith.<O:P> </O:P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_a_thomas_a_honest_doubter.htm">http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_a_thomas_a_honest_doubter.htm</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Edward F. Markquart</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - -
-</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4>You see, peace is not simply the absence of conflict. Peace is
the presence of justice for all. No, you and I will not always agree on the way
to peace, yet in the power of the Holy Spirit, we are all sent into the violent
world to be peacemakers.<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/hanson_4714.htm">http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/hanson_4714.htm</A></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Mark Hanson, 2004</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - -
-</FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT color=#000000 size=2
face=Arial></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=4>Virginia was 19 years old and pregnant when she
went to live with her 15th set of foster parents. Her case file read like a
textbook example of neglect, abuse and bureaucratic failure. She sat silently in
a chair, hands neatly clasped, staring into her lap. The foster parents, whose
three children were in school, had been appraised of Virginia's story and
promised that this placement would be <EM>"temporary". </EM>(Temporary was the
story of Virginia's life.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P align=left><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=4>Finally, the foster mother said,
<EM>"Are you frightened, Virginia?"</EM></FONT></FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=4><EM>"Kinda," </EM>she replied
without looking up. Then, <EM>"I've been in lots of
homes."</EM></FONT></FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=4><EM>"Well,"</EM> the sympathetic
woman tried to reassure the bewildered young mother-to-be,<EM> "Let's hope this
time turns out for the best."</EM></FONT></FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=4>Virginia's reply is one of those
statements that sticks to your soul -- it was flat, without change of tone and
without Virginia even looking up -- <EM>"Hurts too much to
hope."</EM></FONT></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.lectionarysermons.com/pieces1.html">http://www.lectionarysermons.com/pieces1.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>John Jewell,<SPAN lang=en-us> </SPAN><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT
color=#000000>2000</FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>When we have left behind all objective probabilities about God
and the Christ, and all subjective approximations to God and the Christ, when
all preliminary certainties have disappeared, the ultimate certainty may appear
to us. And in the power of this certainty, though never secure and never without
temptation, we may walk from certainty to certainty.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=375&C=22">http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=375&C=22</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT size=4>Paul Tillich, 1955</FONT> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
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