Wednesday, June 13, 2012

WOULD YOU?


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       There are over 900 stories and commentaries on this blog that began Nov 24, 2009. It is added to daily.

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     A common ordinary barnyard egg before it becomes a delectable omelet or scrambled delight must have its shell cracked. 

If having done so you throw out the egg with the shell you would be considered a fool and rightly so.

     A watermelon consist of two fundamental parts, a green and uneatable rind, and red juicy and tasty inner fruit.  If you throw out the fruit with the rind you would be considered a fool and rightly so.

     Suppose you had a dirty baby and clean water and after a washing you had a clean baby and dirty water...what if then you threw out the baby with the bathwater...would you be considered a fool and rightly so.

     People do this all the time with religion.  Because they find parts they do not like they throw everything connected with it out the window.

     Some picks at one of their scriptural and biblical beliefs and they throw up their hands and  say, "It's all too confusing.  I quit.  I give up."

     Or they come in contact with a particularly obnoxious Christian and say, "If that's a Christian then I give up on Christianity."

     Or someone says that to be a Christian you must read 5 chapters of your Bible each and every day, or pray one hour and 32 minutes or ...and some in exasperation respond, "If that's Christianity, I'll spend my time and effort and inclination with something else."

     I am not about to tell you that if you do not pray you are not a Christian but I will tell you that if you do not learn to talk with your God you cannot very well know your God.

     I would not consider naming the number of Bible verses or chapters you should read each day...but I would suggest your soul will miss the wisdom and inspiration that otherwise you would find.

     I would comment that no one should relegate God to second place because some of his followers in the church act in a second class manner.

     What to do about this problem.  Pray not to be broad-minded or narrow-minded but as the Bible says "like-minded with the Lord."

     Rousseau, one of the great opponents of Christianity declared, "If the life and death of Socrates are those of a philosopher, then the life and death of Jesus Christ are those of a God."

     And there is what Christianity is all about...not letting pitiful minutiae get in the way of a faith on its way to a first class flourishing.

     "This is my Son in whom I am well pleased" boomed out a voice from heaven at the Baptism of Christ.  Let that roar from heaven push away any foolishness that might otherwise try to hold you in its grasp.

     Jesus,  more meek than Moses, more patient than Job, more compassionate than Daniel, more wise than Solomon, possessd of more zeal than Paul, and brimming with more zeal than John.

     What will you find if you do not let foolishness drive you from the presence of other Christians and the joy of prayer and worship toward the throne of grace?

     You will find meekness but not weakness, joy without frivolity, sorrow without phlegmatism, sympathy without sentimentality, friendliness without patrony, generosity without condescension. generosity without condescension.

     An old Chinese hearing the story of the cross for the first time responded, "I always thought there ought to be a God like that."

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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

      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.)(check below for sample quotes from these sermons over the last number of weeks)  Just click on the URL below


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When you come to communion, there are what might be called four imperatives to give it meaning.  You have been given the choice; to accept all four, or three, or two, or one, or none and just go through the motions.

          There is repentance - which allows you to use a mistake as a stepping stone instead of a stumbling block.  It is renouncing a bad yesterday for a better tomorrow.  How you define it is your choice.  Whether you repent or not is God’s imperative.

          The second of the four imperatives I hope you bring to the communion table is overwhelming love for God and your fellowman.  Sometimes, for some people, it is easier to say, “I am sorry I was bad” than it is to love the neighbor you have been bad to.  To love the unlovely is a challenge, but that is exactly what partaking of Communion is…a challenge.

          Third...


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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.

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Anxiety out of proportion makes us become like a centipede trying to put his best foot forward.

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        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.”

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        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 do that.”

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        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 anything. None of us are perfect.

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          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

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      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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