<!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 8.00.6001.18975">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=4>What John points to is the God who is not willing to stand by
and wag the finger of judgment, tossing the unrighteous into unquenchable fire.
It's a God who is willing to enter the burning chaos of human life and save it.
John can only talk about those things that stand in the way of our faithful
living. He blusters. He yells. He spits out his judgment, but he remains in the
wilderness, far away from the lives of those who are streaming to him. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>Jesus, on the other hand, is the one who enters into the heart
of human life, takes into himself all those things that separate us from God. He
steps into the gap between our inner life and our external behavior. His work
ends, not in self-righteous satisfaction at letting those sinners have it. It
ends at the cross when the power of sin and separation and self-righteousness is
burned off like the morning dew. On Easter morning, what those sinners get is
his ongoing life. They may indeed be worthy of judgment, but what they get is
new life.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><A
href="http://day1.org/620-let_us_have_it">http://day1.org/620-let_us_have_it</A></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Bradley Schmeling, 2004</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>He was a rare man. He was an unusual man. It is not
every one who is reared in an orphanage out in the desert with very little
contact with human civilization or the city. Not every one is reared without a
mother or father, without brothers or sisters. Not every one is reared by a
group of old men in a monastery out in the desert far away from the city.
Of course, he would turn out a little strange. Wouldn’t you? He was a very
unusual man. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><A
href="http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_b_the_city_and_the_wilderness.htm"><FONT
size=4>http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_b_the_city_and_the_wilderness.htm</FONT></A></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Edward F. Markquart</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4>"Just wait 'til your father gets
home!"</FONT></SMALL></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4>With these words, Mother would attempt to
corral the behavior of my brother Michael and me. After a time those words
didn't quite do the trick, so she would say, "Your father will be home any
minute." This was better, but nothing would call us to attention and on
some occasions -- repentance like the words, "Your father is pulling into
the driveway!"</FONT></SMALL></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4><></FONT></SMALL></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4>The fear we had of "dad" was not a fear that
drove us away. Instead, it drew us to him -- to this day it wraps around
our spirits like a warm blanket of security. </FONT></SMALL></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4><></FONT></SMALL></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4><FONT face=Arial><STRONG>¹<FONT
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></STRONG></FONT><SMALL><FONT size=4>John the
Baptist's movement is mentioned in all four gospels and was strong enough to
persist into the earliest days of the Church. Acts 18:18ff tells of the
first days of the church at Ephesus. Shortly after Paul had begun the
work at Ephesus, a charismatic teacher named Apollos came with a teaching
ministry that was powerful. Apollos was a disciple of John the
Baptist. He became a christian teacher... but the story of the
Ephesian church shows the strength of John's movement. In John 3:25ff the
disciples of John come to him concerned that another (Jesus) was drawing people
to his movement. John's ministry is frequently understated or not fully
understood. His was a strong call to holiness and renewal that can speak
to us today.</FONT> </SMALL></FONT></SMALL></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://www.lectionarysermons.com/ADV2-98.html"><FONT
size=4>http://www.lectionarysermons.com/ADV2-98.html</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>John Jewell, 1998</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4> The change which came with Jesus was not one that people
expected, probably not the one John expected either. But his warning that it was
a time for "metanoia," a word meaning "total transformation" was valid for his
day. And for ours. We are called upon during advent and indeed through our whole
lives to transform ourselves, to break out of our old habits and begin life
again as a new person. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.agreeley.com/hom01/dec09.htm">http://www.agreeley.com/hom01/dec09.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Andrew M. Greeley, 2001</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV><FONT size=4>
<DIV>Always remember that the call to fruitfulness is not a contradiction of
grace, but rather a confirmation of it. Fruit does not call attention to itself
as the basis of its life. It doesn't produce itself. Fruit is the result of a
good tree, good soil and a wise and skillful gardener. If the wilderness of our
lives and of the world we live in is ever to blossom again, it will be the
result of God's grace at work. Fruit never points to itself, but rather always
points to the source and creator of it. Fruit shows that a tree is alive but it
does not point to itself as the basis of its life. So also our confession of sin
and our repentance must be adorned with fruit. But we never point to that fruit
as the basis of our life; we point only and always to Christ and his work–the
work he has done for us and continues to do in us. </DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://www.kerux.com/documents/KeruxV01N1A5.asp"><FONT
size=4>http://www.kerux.com/documents/KeruxV01N1A5.asp</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>
<DIV>Lawrence Semel</DIV>
<DIV>- - - - -</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></FONT></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>