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There are over 900
stories and commentaries on this blog that began Nov 24, 2009. It is added to
daily.
To Visit neil's other blog
Wyrick's Writings click on the following (Here you will find selected sermons that he has preached during
the last 58 years.) Just click on the URL below
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PLEASE PASS THIS
ON...THE WORLD COULD BECOME SO
MUCH BETTER...IT REALLY COULDA boy said to his father, "Dad, can you write in the dark?" "I think so. What is it you want me to write?" "Your name on this report card."
The late Rev. Peter
Marshall wrote, "It is not the length of life that matters but how it is
lived. That is the thing that counts. It
is not how long but how well."
Peter died at 47 but his preaching and
presence lives on.
Abraham Lincoln died a decade and a half
before the noted seventy but he lived long enough to leave a legacy that is
matched by very few.
Add to this list a family name or friend
who did not waste the shorter period of a lifetime given them.
And looking at ourselves we all know we
could do a better job in this wonderful adventure called life...
But...suppose...you
were told you that you could never be better...never improve over what you have
become...that you were spiritually, emotionally, physically frozen in time.
A special messenger from heaven standing
before you and saying, "Your chance for loving your neighbor as yourself
is past." "Your chance for
greater commitment to your God is past."
"Your chance for forgiving those you have not forgiven is
past." Your chance to become more
kind, more loving, one who is more of light than darkness...all this is
past."
How would you feel? What
would you do? Would you fall to your
knees and cry out, "Please God...give me one more day to make
amends."
And
if your prayer was answered and you were given 24 hours to heal the hurts you
have caused and repay anyone you have stolen from...whatever kind of stealing
the stealing was.
Where would you start?
What
would you rush to do that might be inspiring enough to talk about in the
reality of heaven?
This
is no small question for remember your time is short...and the proper response
is more than important...more indeed...the philosopher Horace spoke to what
happens when the need to change is ignored, "Unless
the vessel is clean, whatsoever you pour into it turns sour."
It
might do well to fuel your commitment toward personal betterment by remembering that old philosophical truth, "It is not truth that makes man great, but man that
makes truth great."
Remember...you
do not have much time to translate the following truth into an attitude but
even 24 hours of living with the following truth is worth the effort, "A
great man is he who has not lost the heart of a child."
Jesus said that...now didn't he..."Except ye become as
little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven."
The
final judgment of any individual is the kind of society he turns out.
In
short , all events are related to all other events. An ounce of hate can cause a pound of
trouble. A word of faith can stop a
suicide or start a mission field. None
of us ever know who is listening to our prattle and looking at our deeds...but
they are many...in a single day...many indeed...
What then will you do in this
extra 24 hours? I would think that you and I...for I would want these
extra 24 hours too...would
seek to make every word and every deed only the best and the brightest of our
entire lifetime.
Would you seek to be more holy in this extra 24 hours? Well then...what is that? It is better than kindness, superior to love,
head and shoulders above understanding.
It is not your occupation that makes
you more or less holy...that is for sure...but rather how you occupy your
occupation.
A
reminder...for we all need to be reminded of what we have often heard and
surely know, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and
have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand
all mysteries, and all knowledge and though I have all faith, so that I could
remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though i bestow all my goods to feed the
poor, and though I give my body to be buried and have not love, it profiteth me
nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
"Live a good life. In the end it is
not the years in a life, but the life in the years.”
― Abraham Lincoln
― Abraham Lincoln
William Barclay
There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why.
There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why.
Albert Einstein
There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
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We welcome you to put some
of these thoughts in your personal newsletter or on your churches newsletter or
your blog...and we thank those of you who have put it on your Facebook page
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"Wyrick's
Writings" are selected sermons from those Neil has preached during the
last 55 years
Click
on the URL below to take you to them
Below is a quote from Neil's other blog
Wyrick's Writings...posted Sunday May 27th
Entitled BELIEVE
YOUR BELIEFS, GIVE THEM SPIRTUAL MUSCLES
How can
we keep our faith from being a weak and fruitless thing? How can we not be foolish little men and
women groveling in the dark shadows of overeager egos.
Well, first we must do more than just
pray. We must believe in our own
prayers.
Below is a quote from Neil's other blog
Wyrick's Writings...posted Thursday May 10
SERMON TITLE...HOW TO
LESSEN ANXIETY
Anxiety out of proportion makes us become like a centipede trying to
put his best foot forward.
Below is a quote from Neil's other blog
Wyrick's Writings...posted Thursday May 3
SERMON TITLE...HOW TO
LESSEN ANXIETY
It's an old joke, I went to the doctor and I
said, “Doc, when I do this, it hurts.” And the doctor said, “Then don't do
that.”
How many things have you been anxious
about that were things which you knew before you got into them were probably
going to create some problems for you?
And if you asked your doctor, or your minister, or common sense and your
God, all of them would have said, “Don’t to that.”
Below
is a quote from Neil's other blog Wyrick's Writings...posted TUESDAY MAY 1
To buy into the community of accountability we have to realize that
like bikers we are divided into two categories. Those who have fallen and those who will
fall for None of us are perfect.
Think on it this way, some philosopher of
old wrote it and it endures because there is so much truth in it… every right implies a responsibility; every
opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty
Below
is a quote from Neil's other blog Wyrick's Writings...posted Sunday April
29th....
One writer put it this way: “If we could see
ourselves as God sees us, we would rise up and never be the same again.”
TO GO
TO "WYRICK'S WRITINGS" TO
READ SELECTED SERMONS FROM OVER 50 YEARS OF HIS MINISTRY
CLICK ON THE URL
BELOW
Some
of the sermon titles posted recently
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Before you decide
to purchase or not purchase his book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN.... view his Award Winning One Man
Dramatization of Lincoln (since he wrote the script
for this drama it will give you an insight into what you will find in the book
itself)
Available on
Amazon.com in printed form and on Amazon Kindle Books. and at
many other sites
TO VIEW THE LINCOLN
One Man DRAMA and 3 other dramas; Ben Franklin, Martin Luther & Charles
Wesley
click on the
following URL
http://www.speakerneil.com/
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BELOW
ARE MORE QUOTES FROM NEIL'S RECENTLY POSTED SERMONS
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A QUOTE FROM THOUGHTS POSTED ON MY
OTHER BLOG WYRICK'S WRITINGS ON SUNDAY APRIL 15. ENTITILED
Two stores faced each other across a very
busy street. Their owners were in constant competition
with each other. One day, the owner of
one store put out a sign that read – If
you want it, we have it!
Almost immediately the other owner put out a
sign –If we don’t have it, you don’t
need it!
A QUOTE FROM THOUGHTS POSTED ON MY
OTHER BLOG WYRICK'S WRITINGS ON THURSDAY APRIL 13TH. ENTITILED
WHO ARE
YOU?
NO…WHOSE ARE YOU?
Who are you? Whose are
you?
You influence and are influenced
according to the answer you give.
Are you are the flavor of the month because
you are determined to be like everyone else no matter what? If so, consider being more independent in our
thinking and actions...because God wants you to grow up.
It may be easier being someone's shadow but
wouldn't you really rather be a sun.
QUOTE FROM THOUGHTS POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITINGS THURSDAY APRIL 5 FROM THOUGHT ENTITLED "Who
Are You? Whose Are You?"
This is an old quote, and a romantic one
as well but, nevertheless, can anyone say of you, “I love you not because of who you are,
but because of who I am when I am with you.”
QUOTE FROM THOUGHT PIECE POSTED
ON WYRICK'S WRITINGS TUESDAY APRIL 3 FROM THOUGHT ENTITLED
" WHEN A NATION STRAYS TOO FAR FROM BEING MORAL IT IS WELL ON IT'S WAY
TO BECOMING A MESS
James 4:17
To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it,
to him it is sin.
Someone once said: “A
belief is what you hold, a conviction is what holds you!”
So what holds you, constructs
you, leads you with a push when needed?
Quotes
POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITING THURSDAY MARCH 29th THOUGHTS ENTITLED WHO
ARE YOU?
NO…WHOSE ARE YOU?
In a Peanuts
cartoon strip Peppermint Patty is shown talking to Charlie Brown.
“Guess what, Chuck? It’s the first day
of school and I got sent to the principal’s office.
And it’s your fault!”
Charlie Brown responds, “My fault? How
could it be my fault? Why do you say everything is my fault?”
To which she declares, “You’re my
friend, aren’t you, Chuck? You should have been a better influence on me.”
In the comics, it’s funny… but in real life it’s much more
complicated.
Would you like to read the entire thought
piece? Then... TO TAKE YOU TO THE WYRICK'S WRITING'S
SITE
click on
the following
Yes, God loves you the way you
are but he loves you too much to let you stay that way.
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Click on the URL below to WATCH NEIL IN
HIS WORLD FAMOUS ONE MAN DRAMATIZATIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN,
CHARLES WESLEY AND MARTIN LUTHER
To
Order and Read
Neil's 9th book THE
SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN
GO TO amazon.com
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
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