Tuesday, October 9, 2012

WILL YOU OUTLIVE THE LIFE YOU HAVE ONLY ONE SHOT AT?

These One A Days are added to daily.  There are over 1100 stories and commentaries on this blog
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       There are over 1100 stories and commentaries on this blog that began Nov 24, 2009. It is added to daily.
click on the following URL http://www.speakerneil.com/and watch Neil in his award winning one man damas.(B. Franklin, Luther, Lincoln.Wesley

       Click on http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com to read selected Sermons from over 50 years of Rev. Wyrick's ministry.

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck

       It makes sense to get do all we can to get the most of this life God has given us.  To go with what we have and try to improve on. To learn from experience and enhance our tomorrows from the mistakes of yesterdays. 

       To be wise rather than foolish, patient rather than persistently less so, to love the Lord and show it to ourselves and those around us.

       I believe you will agree with me that your acceptance of Christ as a savior was a home run but what of all the other choices you have made.

       How many of them were timid bunts or out and out strikeouts or courageous stealing of a base and thereby moving ahead when the odds were against you?

       Think of all the opportunities you took advantage of and some that took advantage of you.

       I am a history buff and pray to be able to have it speak to me well enough that I will learn how to mimic a goodly moment of the past and pass by the foolishness of a yesterday and sometimes all on the same day.

        "Repent and change your ways..." cried out John the Baptist in the wilderness but change comes so hard.  That does not come easy, of course, because we are sot and soggy in our ways.

              What I'm really asking is "Will you outlive your life?"  Will you make such a wonder of your decisions and your relationships that people will talk about you with pleasure long after you have gone.

       Will they say things such as "Joe was so kind." or "Mary was so patient." or "Troy was always helping people." or "Jane was the one who brought me to my faith" or....

       Will you outlive the life you have only one shot at?

       I still remember a minister at a youth camp almost 70 years ago.  I can still see the man but even more I can still recall his skill at teaching and motivating the 16 year old in front of him.  I had been thinking of going into the ministry.  After those summer conference days with him I made the final decision.

       In me...he out lived his life.  And there have been others.  And I can only hope and pray I may have done the same.

       By how we live...we are filling up scrapbooks...scrapbooks of many folk we never knew we influenced...outliving our lives for good or bad or Mr. In-between.

       How's your aim?  If you have no goals you have no aim you will constantly be hitting targets you just stumbled across.  And things we just stumble across aren't always that good.

       Michelangelo put well, “The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”

       In the process of living have you had a dream or dreams that lay shattered at your feet?  Did you then give up and cave in or did you aim in a different direction toward a different dream that still had the gift of wonder in it?

       Such as Oscar Pitorius who ran in the Olympics this summer on his artificial legs.  Qualified for the Semi-finals in the 400 meter sprint.

       So what was Oscar saying by what he did?  He was saying that we may have to turn right when we had planned to turn left.  We may have half as much energy because of an illness but like Robert Louis Stevenson (wrote Treasure Island) who was so weak he could write only a few minutes at a time...but still wrote those few minutes...plus a pause...plus a few more minutes...plus a pause...plus a few more minutes...

       It's your life.  Make the most and the best of it.  Guard it against intruders.  Feed it nothing but the best and God. 

       When you have learned what best is don't allow your best to be destroyed or weakened by distractions.

       Do not mishandle your opportunities.  There will not be that many of them and they deserve nothing but your prayerful best.

       You have only one shot at life so just before you take your last breath may you shout with joy "Hallelujah."

              QUOTES ON HAVING A GOOD LIFE

       The purpose of life is a life of purpose. ~Attributed to both Ludwig Wittgenstein and Robert Byrne

       Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you're alive, it isn't. ~Richard Bach

              Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once. ~Lillian Dickson

                              ANOTHER WAY TO SHARE THESE ONE A DAYS WITH FREIENDS...CLICK ON "MORE" AT TOP LEFT OF THIS BLOG PAGE AND  FROM THERE IT SHOULD BE EASY

       CHURCH BOOK CLUBS ARE USING REV. WYRICK'S 9TH BOOK "The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln." 

       It is available on amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and many other book sites.

     A new quote  (posted SEPT 21) below from Rev. Wyrick's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN (read the rave reviews below the quote)

 If Mary had not instigated another of her famous feuds the assassination might never have happened, at least at this time in this way. 

She had raised the ire of the wife of Ulysses S. Grant and so Julia Grant refused to attend the play at Ford Theater in her company. 

Had the General been present that evening, there might have been more guards. 

Instead, the Lincoln’s sat alone enjoying “Our American Cousin,” until John Wilkes Booth put a bullet in his head. 

It placed him in a coma and pushed the nation further toward chaos. 

The time was 10:15. 

       "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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QUOTE BELOW IS FROM WYRICK'S WRITINGS

          There is no other organization in the world like the church.  It is a breed unto itself.  It is a congregation of sinners, not a country club for saints.  To become a member you have to profess your unworthiness. 

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING TO TAKE YOU THERE


      (These are selected sermons from over 50 years of ministry and as a worldwide evangelist Rev. Wyrick preached them all the United States and all over the world)

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            CLICK ON  www.go60.us   IT WILL TAKE YOU A NEW WEBSITE FOR SENIORS....click on "Voice" on the home page and then on the list of authors click on Neil Wyrick

Recent articles Rev. Wyrick has written for this web site are:  REFLECTIONS


·         Here Comes Summer (July 2012)

·         Spring (May 2012)

·         Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow (April 2012)

·         Wayward and Windy (April 2012)

 

Just remember that “the pain of discipline will cost you pennies, whereas the pain of regret will cost you millions.”

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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.

      

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