DON'T THROW THE BABY AWAY WITH THE BATH WATER

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A common ordinary barnyard egg before it becomes a delectable omelet or delightfully mixed with grits or perfectly fried piece of bacon, must have it's shell cracked.

      A luscious green watermelon consists of two parts, a green, un=eatable rind, and a red, juicy, tasty inner fruit.  If you throw out the fruit with the rind you would be considerable bereft of your right mind.

      Suppose you had a dirty baby and some clean water and an ample sized piece of soap.  What you would then do was meld these three elements and in a very short time have a clean baby.

      It would then be time to rid yourself of the dirty water.  You would not, however, rid yourself of the clean baby at the same time.  You would not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

      But this is what people do all the time with religion.  Because they find things they do not like they throw everything connected with it out the window.

      Someone stabs them with a scriptural interpretation contrary to their own and they go into a spiritual spasm and cry out, "It's all too confusing" and throw up their hands and quit.

      Or they know someone in their church who acts like a non Christian on a regular basis and they cry out, "If Christianity can't make he/she perfect like me, then I give up on. I'm going to stop wasting my time at church."  And they miss the point that we are all a work in progress, some having more progress to sustain than others...admittedly...but still all of us a work in progress.

      Or someone says that to be a true Christian you must read 5 chapters in your Bible and pray a minimum of 47 minutes of prayers a day or you are not a Christian.  And threatened by such an admonition they say, "I can't do that.  I won't do that."  And they don't do that...and they feel threatened...and they think "If that's what being a Christian is all about, maybe I'm in the wrong place."  And they throw the baby out with the bathwater.

      I am not about to tell you how many minutes per day you are supposed to pray...but I do suggest that it is habit good to seek after and well done if you practice it with some regularity.

      I am not about to tell you how many chapters of the Bible you should put beneath your mental belt in the process of foraging through a 24 hour day...but I do suggest that reading about God and God's works and God's ways will strengthen your soul.

      In short, keep the fundamentals while you are throwing out the foolish.  Behind you on the highways of yesterdays are the religious experiences of zillions and yours properly followed are then added to them. 

      And therein lies the strength of our faith...our God...our Saviour...our King.

      And therein lies the reason why no one should relegate their faith to the role of a second class citizen simple because there are some bad apples or bad ideas wandering around.

      And in the process of building your faith rather than battering it...think on the following.

      Woe to the individual who believes in nothing...for earning a spiritual ranking of zero is a tragedy of the first degree.

      Feed your faith often and it cannot help but often grow.

      I do have to know all there is to know about God.  I only have to be totally committed to what I do know and firmly believe.

       Definition of faith: Hebrews 11:1. "What is faith, unless it is to believe what you cannot see." (Augustine)
Faith is derived from the Word of God: Romans 10:17
Faith's demand: Hebrews 11:6
Faith's design: 2 Corinthians 5:7
The dualism of faith: Hebrews 4:2
Faith's duty: Romans 1:17--live by it.

 

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QUOTES ABOUT THIS WONDERFUL INSPIRING INFORMATIVE book

STILL RECEIVING RAVE REVIEWS 8 YEARS AFTER IT'S PUBLICATION.

"Positive, powerful utterances...skillfully enhancing our understanding and appreciation of Lincoln while revealing the Divine source of his strength."

Lt. Colonel C.A. Olsen (Ret.) Asbury College (Professor Ret.)

"The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln is an extremely well written book that investigates what might be termed the spiritual side of President Lincoln. It's both scholarly and very readable. I came away impressed at Mr. Wyrick's portrayal of the President and with an altered and enlarged vision of the man:'

William Hoffman, Award winning fiction writer; author of Blood and Guile, and Wild Thorn

"Wyrick has authored a wonderful examination of the spirituality of one of American history's most devoutly religious leaders...a pleasant and readable book that has a rich depth of information."

 Maynard Pittendreigh Presbyterian minister

 

        "When it comes to invoking religion in support of any of their decisions, politicians need to sit at the feet of Abraham Lincoln. Reinhold Niebuhr once called him 'America's greatest theologian.' Why so great? Because he invariably distinguished between human works and the works of the Almighty. As Wyrick says, 'He wore the mantle of humility easily: because he was more impressed with what God was doing in the world than with what he, president of the United States in the midst of an awful crisis, was doing. That is why in his last major speech he distinguished between both human causes in the Civil War and the Almighty's 'own purposes.' Lincoln would have agreed that it is better to leave God-talk out of politics than to decorate human proposals with divinity. This is a book for our American time. Through his careful study of Lincoln's career, Wyrick compels us to remember that piety belongs in politics only when piety transcends politics."

Dr. Donald W. Shriver

Emeritus professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Author of An Ethic for Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics

        "v. Neil Wyrick's fine work allows the reader to appreciate Abraham Lincoln's Christian commitment and his prophetic role in American history. Should have a wide readership."

James H. Smylie Professor of Church History (Ret.) Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia

       "Neil Wyrick's The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln should be read by anyone attempting to understand the man who was probably the most complex person to ever hold the office of president of the United States. Dr. Wyrick is intent on demonstrating that the spirituality so often expressed in Lincoln's writings and speeches was not merely lip service to a Deity, but rather expressions of a profound faith in a real God. It was this faith that provided the wisdom, compassion, insight and sometimes steel that Lincoln would need in full measure as he led the United States through the Civil War. Dr. Wyrick's clear and unpretentious style of presentation is very much in keeping with the character ofhis subject, and in so doing, Wyrick makes his point very well that Lincoln, his beliefs, and the faith that formed them, are as relevant to a troubled America in 2004 as they were in 1863."

  

Daniel Allen Butler, author of "Unsinkable"; The Full Story of the RMS Titanic, The Lusitania and The Age o f Cunard