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<DIV><FONT size=4>...we see in this passage interpreted in a new light, Jesus is
not calling on people to be non-resistant. He is calling on them to be
non-violent. He is calling on them to resist, yes, but to resist in a way that
is not injurious or harmful to the other person.</FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>In just the last few year, non-violence has emerged in a way
that no one ever dreamed it could emerge in this world. In 1989 alone, there
were thirteen nations that underwent non-violent revolutions. All of them
successful except one, China. That year 1.7 billion people were engaged in
national non-violent revolutions. That is a third of humanity. If you throw in
all of the other non-violent revolutions in all the other nations in this
century, you get the astonishing figure of 3.34 billion people involved in
non-violent revolutions. That is two-thirds of the human race. No one can ever
again say that non-violence doesn't work.</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/wink_3707.htm"><FONT
size=4>http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/wink_3707.htm</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Walter Wink, 1993 <BR><STRONG>- - - -
-</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt"><FONT size=4>In
1930 a movie was made about World War I called "All Quiet on the Western Front."
In one scene some American "doughboys" were talking. A comic character asked,
"Where do wars come from anyway?" Another replied, "Well, one country gets mad
at another country, and they start fighting." The first soldier asked, "Do you
mean that one piece of land gets mad at another piece of land?" "No," the other
replied. "The people of one country get mad at the people of the other." The
first soldier picked up his rifle and started walking away. When asked where he
was going, he said, "I'm going home. I'm not mad at anybody."
</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=4><></FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT size=4>On TV this past week, the news interviewed a
young soldier that was helping to distribute clean water and supplies in
Iraq.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Several children were coming
up to the soldier, smiling and thanking him.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The news commentator asked him how he
felt.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The soldier’s eyes filled
with tears of compassion for the children and he said, “Now I know why I’m
here.”</FONT><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_a_iraq_a_just_war.htm"><STRONG>http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_a_iraq_a_just_war.htm</STRONG></A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Edward Markquart</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Several years ago it was my good fortune to attend a World Cup
soccer game being played in our nation's capital, Washington, D.C. <>
During the game, we would hear chants of "Mexico!" then "Italia!" while opposing
players who had roughly tackled each other would then stoop down to help their
opponent off the ground. After the game, the opposing players hugged one another
and exchanged jerseys.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=4>I could not help but think that this World Cup soccer game
played minutes away from Capitol Hill represented a piece of America at our
best. </FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://day1.org/674-independence_day">http://day1.org/674-independence_day</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Samuel G. Candler </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT size=4>G.K. Chesterton once remarked, it is not that
Christianity has been tried and found wanting, but found hard and not
tried.</FONT> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.agreeley.com/homilies96/feb1896.html">http://www.agreeley.com/homilies96/feb1896.html</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1><FONT size=4>Andrew M. Greeley, 1996</FONT> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><STRONG><FONT size=4>- - - -
-</FONT></STRONG></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=4></FONT></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Legalism is an attitude which equates righteousness with
external compliance with a code of conduct. This code may be correct or
incorrect. Our conduct may or may not measure up to the standard. The reasons
why it is so devastating are:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>-it ignores or underestimates the role of inner attitude and
motivation; </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>-it focuses upon self-effort rather than on divine enablement;
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>-it encourages pride rather than humble dependence upon God;
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>-it tends to ‘use’ the Scriptures to reinforce our own
preconceived ideas and preferences; </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>-it tends to conceive of our acceptance with God as
performance oriented; </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>-it arouses the flesh and incites us to sin, rather than the
avoidance of sin; </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>-it tends to impose one’s personal convictions on others, and
to condemn them if they fail to live up to our rules. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=bodytext><FONT size=4>Legalism cannot save you, my friend, and
neither can it sanctify. Praise God!</FONT><STRONG><FONT
size=4></FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://bible.org/seriespage/fatal-failures-religion-2-legalism-matthew-517-48">http://bible.org/seriespage/fatal-failures-religion-2-legalism-matthew-517-48</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Bob Deffinbaugh</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV><FONT size=4>
<DIV>If God treats evil persons, his enemies -- and which of us are not his
enemies? -- with mercy, so we too should treat our enemies in the same manner.
If God spares nothing, not even his beloved son, for the sake of his enemies,
ought we not sacrifice ourselves for the other, even the enemy? Turn the other
cheek. Sell all you have and give to the poor. Take no heed for the morrow. (You
have God’s love; how can you ever be anxious about anything again?) The Sermon
on the Mount is nothing more or less than the manifesto of the reckless love of
God. It is a cloudburst of blessing. It washes away our sins and our need to
judge ourselves or others. It opens up a new standard of living, a new way to
calculate our profits and losses. It offers us a vision of a new landscape
washed clean, made green and glorious by the rain of God.</DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1732">http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1732</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>Ronald Goetz, 1980</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
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